International risk management Essay

A Letter of Credit is a document issued by a bank at the request of its customer promising to pay the exporter for the goods and services provided that the exporter provides all the documents as stated in the terms and conditions. To the exporter a letter of credit guarantees payment and reduces production risk if the buyer has a change of his order. It ensures that buyers cannot refuse to pay due to complain raised over the goods. It also provides a chance to get financing incase of delayed payment. The importer can structure their payment plan, it helps confirm the shipment of the goods, helps them reduce pre-payment, it as well ensures that the exporter delivers exactly what the importer required it also creates confidence for bigger transactions in future. A bill of exchange is a document that acts as the evidence of a debt and informs the importer to pay the exporter a certain fixed sum of money at a certain specific time. They act as a guarantee that goods of certain stated specifications have been shipped and that and that that require payment. The Export-Import Bank of United States of America helps in financing sales of goods and services by proving guarantee of working capital loans, it helps crate jobs through export of goods, the bank guarantees the repayment of loans to foreign purchasers, it also provides credit insurance for U. S. exporters against. The disadvantage of the Export-Import Bank is that for it to support the products at least 50 percent of them must be from U. S and they should not have any negative effect to the economy. It also does not offer help to importers outside U. S. In conclusion, the letter of credit, the bill of exchange and the Export-Import Bank are very important for the import-Export business to prosper not only in U. S but also any where in the world.

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 27~28

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN The Found World The whale ship opened its mouth, and Nate and the crew spilled out onto the shore like sentient drool, which was some coincidence, since that's exactly what lay beneath the hard shell of the landing. They were met by a group of whaley boys, one of whom handed Nate a pair of Nikes, then went off to trade clicks and squeals and greeting rubs with the returning crew. It was so bright after nearly ten days in the whale ship that Nate couldn't immediately tell what was happening. The rest of the human crew were wearing sunglasses as they sat down on the ground to put on their shoes, only a few feet from the ship's mouth. From the rigid feel of the ground, Nate thought they might be on a dock of some kind, but then Cal Burdick took off his own sunglasses and handed them to Nate. â€Å"Go ahead. I've been looking at all of this for a lot of years, but I think you'll find it interesting.† With the dark glasses, Nate was able to see. His eyes were fine, but his mind was having a hard time processing what they were telling him. It was as light as daylight (on an overcast day, at least), but they were not outdoors. They were inside a grotto so immense that Nate could not even make out the edges of it. A dozen stadiums could have fit inside the space and still left room for a state fair, a casino, and the Vatican if you snipped off a basilica or two. The entire ceiling was a source of light, cold light, it appeared – some sections yellow, some blue – great blotches of light in irregular shapes, as if Jackson Pollock had painted a solar storm across the ceiling. Half of the grotto was water, flat and reflective as a mirror, the smoothness broken by small whaley boys porpoising here and there in groups of five and six, their blowholes sending up synchronized blasts of steam every few yards. Whaley kids, he thought. Fifty or so whale ships of different spec ies pulled up to the shore, their crews coming and going. Huge segmented pipes that looked like giant earthworms were attached to each of the ships, one on each side of the head, and ran off to connections on shore. The ground – the ground was red, and as hard as linoleum, polished, yet not quite shiny. It ran out for hundreds of yards, perhaps over a mile, and appeared to continue halfway up the walls of the immense grotto. Nate could see openings in the walls, oval passages or doorways or tunnels or something. From the size of the people and whaley boys passing in and out, he could tell that some of the openings were perhaps thirty feet around, while others seemed only the size of normal doors. There were windows next to some of the smaller ones – or what he guessed were windows – their shapes all curves and slopes. There wasn't a right angle in the grotto. Hundreds of people moved about amid as many whaley boys, maintaining the ships, moving supplies an d equipment on what seemed very normal hand trucks and carts. â€Å"Where in the hell are we?† Nate said, nearly wrenching his neck trying to look at all of it at once. â€Å"I mean, what in the hell is this?† â€Å"Pretty amazing,† Cal said. â€Å"I like to watch people when they see Gooville for the first time.† Nate ran his hand over the ground, or floor, or whatever this surface was they were sitting on. â€Å"What is this stuff?† It appeared smooth, but it had texture, pores, a hidden roughness, like stoneware or – â€Å"It's living carapace. Like a lobster shell. This whole place is living, Nate. Everything – the ceiling, the floor, the walls, the passageway in from the sea, our homes – it's all one huge organism. We call it the Goo.† â€Å"The Goo. Then this is Gooville?† â€Å"Yes,† Cal said, with a big smile that revealed perfect teeth. â€Å"And that would make you?† â€Å"That's right. The Goos. There's a wonderful Seussian logic to it, don't you think?† â€Å"I can't think, Cal. You know how all your life you hear people talk about things that are mind-boggling? It's just a meaningless clich – a hyperbole – like saying that you're wasted or that something is bloodcurdling?† â€Å"Yep.† â€Å"Well, I'm boggled. I'm totally boggled.† â€Å"You thought the ships were impressive, huh?† â€Å"Yeah, but this? One living organism shaped itself into this complex†¦ what? System? I'm boggled.† â€Å"Imagine how the bacteria who live in your intestinal tract feel about you.† â€Å"Well, right now I think they're pissed off at me.† A group of whaley boys was gathering about ten yards away from them, pointing at Nate and snickering. â€Å"They're coming down to check out the newcomer. Don't be surprised if you get rubbed up against in the streets. They're just saying hi.† â€Å"Streets?† â€Å"We call them streets. They're sort of streets.† Now, out of the dim yellow light of the whale ships, Nate realized that there was a wide variety in the whaley boys' coloring. Some were actually mottled blue, like the skin of a blue whale, while others were black like a pilot whale, or light gray like a minke whale. Some even had the black-on-white coloring of killers and Pacific white-sided dolphins, while a few here and there were stark white like a beluga. The body shapes of all were very similar, differing only in size, with the killer whaley boys, who were taller by a foot and heavier by perhaps a hundred pounds, having jaws twice the width of the others'. He also noticed in the brighter light that he was the only human who had a tan. The people, even Cal and the crew, looked healthy; it just appeared that none of them had ever seen the sun. Like the British. Nuà ±ez came over and helped Cal, and then Nate, to his feet. â€Å"How're the shoes?† she asked Nate. â€Å"They're strange after not wearing any for so long.† â€Å"You'll be wobbly for a few hours, too. You'll feel the motion when you stand still for a day or so. No different from having been at sea in normal ship. I'll take you to your new quarters, show you around a little, get you settled in. The Colonel will probably send for you before too long. People will help you out, humans and whaley boys. They'll all know you're new.† â€Å"How many, Cielle?† â€Å"Humans? Almost five thousand live here. Whaley boys, maybe half that many.† â€Å"Where is here? Where are we?† â€Å"I told him about Gooville,† said Cal. Nuà ±ez looked up at Nate and then pulled her sunglasses down on her nose so he could see her eyes. â€Å"Don't freak out on me, huh?† Nate shook his head. What did she think, that whatever she was going to tell him was going to be weirder, grander, or scarier than what he'd seen already? â€Å"The roof above this ceiling – which is thick rock, although we're not exactly sure how thick – anyway, it's around six hundred feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. We're about two hundred miles off the coast of Chile, under the continental shelf. In fact, we came in through a cliff in the continental rise, a cliff face. â€Å"We're six hundred feet underwater right now. The pressure?† â€Å"We came in through a very long tunnel, a series of pressure locks that pass the ships along until we're at surface pressure. I would have shown you as we came through, but I didn't want to wake you.† â€Å"Yeah, thanks for that.† â€Å"Let's get you to your new house. We've got a long walk ahead of us.† She headed away from the water, motioning for him to follow. Nate nearly stumbled trying to look back at the whale ships lining the harbor. Tim caught him by the arm. â€Å"It's a lot to take in. People really have freaked out. You just have to accept that the Goo won't let anything bad happen to you. The rest is simply a series of surprises. Like life.† Nate looked into the younger man's dark eyes to see if there was any irony showing there, but he was as open and sincere as a bowl of milk. â€Å"The Goo will take care of me?† â€Å"That's right,† said Tim, helping him along toward the grotto wall, toward the actual village of Gooville, with its organically shaped doorways and windows, its knobs and nodules, its lobster-shell pathways, its whaley-boy pods working together or playing in the water, where was housed an entire village of what Nate assumed were all happy human wackjobs. After two days of looking for meaning in hash marks on waveforms and ones and ohs on legal pads that were hastily typed into the machine, Kona found a surfer/hacker on the North Shore named Lolo who agreed to write it all into a Linux routine in exchange for Kona's old long board and a half ounce of the dankest nugs[1]. â€Å"Won't he just take cash?† asked Clay. â€Å"He's an artist,† explained Kona. â€Å"Everyone has cash.† â€Å"I don't know what I'm going to put that under for the accountant.† â€Å"Nugs, dank?† Clay looked forlornly at the legal-pad pages piling up on the desk next to where Margaret Painborne was typing. He handed a roll of bills over to Kona. â€Å"Go. Buy nugs. Bring him back. Bring back my change.† â€Å"I'm throwing in my board for the cause,† said Kona. â€Å"I could use some time in the mystic myself.† â€Å"Do you want me to tell Auntie Clair that you tried to extort me?† Clay had taken to using Clair as a sort of sword of Damocles/assistant principal/evil dominatrix threat over Kona, and it seemed to work swimmingly. â€Å"Must blaze, brah. Cool runnings.† Suddenly something sparked in Clay's head, a dj vu trigger snapping electric with connections. â€Å"Wait, Kona.† The surfer paused in the doorway, turned. â€Å"The first day you came here, the day that Nate sent you to the lab to get the film – did you actually do it?† Kona shook his head, â€Å"Nah, boss, the Snowy Biscuit see me going. She say keep the money and she go to the lab. When I come back with my ganja, she give me the pictures to give to Nate.† â€Å"I was sort of afraid of that,† Clay said. â€Å"Go, blaze, be gone. Get what we need.† So three days later they all stood watching as Lolo hit the return key and the subsonic waveform from a blue-whale call began scrolling across the bottom of the screen, while above it letters were transcribed from the data. Lolo was a year older than Kona, a Japanese-American burned nut brown by the sun with ducky-yellow minidreads and a tapestry of Maori tattoos across his back and shoulders. Lolo spun in the chair to face them. â€Å"I mixed down a fifty-minute trance track with sixty percussion loops that was way harder than this.† Lolo's prior forays into sound processing had been as a computer DJ at a dance club in Honolulu. â€Å"It's not saying anything,† said Libby Quinn. â€Å"It's just random, Clay.† â€Å"Well, that's the way it's gone so far, right?† â€Å"But there's been nothing since that first day.† â€Å"We knew that might happen, that there couldn't be messages on all of them. We just have to find the right ones.† Libby's eyes were pleading. â€Å"Clay, it's a short season. We have to get out in the field. Now that you have this program, you don't need the manpower. Margaret and I will bring back more tapes – we have them coming in from people we trust – but we can't afford to blow off the season.† â€Å"And we need to go public with the torpedo range,† Margaret added, less sympathetic than Libby had been. Clay nodded and looked at his bare feet against the hardwood floor. He took a deep breath, and when he looked up, he smiled. â€Å"You're right. But don't just blow a whistle and hope someone will notice. Cliff Hyland told me that the diving data was the only thing they were worried about. You're going to need proof that humpbacks dive close to the bottom of the channel, or the navy will claim that you're just being whale buggers and there's no danger to the animals. Even with the range.† â€Å"You're okay if we go public, then?† asked Libby. â€Å"People are going to know about the torpedo range soon enough. I don't think that's dangerous for you. Just don't say anything about the rest of this, okay?† The two women looked at each other, then nodded. â€Å"We have to go,† Libby said. â€Å"We'll call you, Clay. We're not running out on you.† â€Å"I know,† Clay said. After they left, Clay turned to the two surfers. Thirty years working with the best scientists and divers in the world, and this was what it came down to: two stoner kids. â€Å"If you guys need to go do things, I understand.† â€Å"Outta here,† said Lolo, on his feet and bounding toward the door. Clay looked at the screen where Lolo had been sitting. Scrolling across it: WILL ARRIVE GV APPRX 1300 MONDAY__HAVE__SIZE 11 SNEAKERS WAITING FOR QUINN__END MSS__AAAA__BAXYXABUDAB. â€Å"Get him back,† Clay said to Kona. â€Å"We need to know which tape this was.† â€Å"Libby gave them all to him.† â€Å"I know that. I need to know where she got it. Where and when it was recorded. Call Libby's cell phone. See if you can get hold of her.† Clay was trying to make the screen print before the message scrolled away. â€Å"How the hell does this thing work?† â€Å"How you know I'm not leaving?† â€Å"You woke up this morning, Kona. Did you have a reason to get out of bed other than waves or pot?† â€Å"Yah, mon, need to find Nate.† â€Å"How'd that feel?† â€Å"I'm calling Libby, boss.† â€Å"Loyalty is important, son. I'll go catch Lolo. Confirm which tape it was.† â€Å"Shut up, boss. I'm trying to dial.† Behind them the cryptic message scrolled out of the printer. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT Single-Celled Animal Stockholm syndrome or not, Nate was starting to get tired of the whole hippie-commune, everything-is-wonderful-and-the-Goo-will-provide attitude. Nuà ±ez had come by for three days running to take him out on the town, and every person he met was just a little too damn satisfied with the whole idea that they were living inside a giant organism six hundred feet under the ocean. Like this was a normal thing. Like he just wasn't getting with the program because he continued to ask questions. At least the whaley boys would blow wet raspberries at him and snicker as he walked by. At least they had some sense of the absurdity of all this, despite the fact that they shouldn't even have existed in the first place, which did seem to be a large point of denial on their part. They'd installed him in what he guessed was a premier apartment, or what you'd call an apartment, on the second floor, looking out over the grotto. The windows were oval, and the glass in them, although perfectly clear, was flexible. It was like looking out on the world through a condom, and that was just the beginning of the things that creeped him out about this place. He had a kitchen sink, a bathroom sink, and a shower – all of which had big honking sphincters in the bottom of them – and the seal on the door around his refrigerator, if that's what you called it, appeared to be made out of slugs, or at least something that left an iridescent slime on you if you brushed up against it. There was also a toothed garbage disposal in the kitchen, which he wouldn't even go near. The worst of it was that the apartment didn't make any attempt to conceal that it was alive. His first day there, when the human crew from the whale ship had come by for a drink – a ho usewarming – there had been a scaly knob on the wall by the front door that when pushed would cause the door to open. After the crew left and Nate returned from his shower, the doorknob had healed over. There was a scar there in the shell, but that was all. Nate was locked in. There was a tom-tom thrumming of stones hitting his front picture window. Nate went to the window, looked out on the vast grotto and harbor, then down on the source of his torment. A pod of whaley-boy kids was winging stones at his window. Thump, thump-a, thump. The stones bounced off, leaving no mark. When Nate appeared at the window, the thumping became more furious, as the whaley kids picked up the pace and aimed right at him, as if a well-placed shot might drop him in a dunking tank. â€Å"There's a reason cetaceans don't have hands in the real world!† Nate screamed at them. â€Å"You are that reason! You little freaks!† Thump, thump-a, thump, thump, clack. Occasionally a missed throw hit the shell-like frame of the window, sounding like a marble hitting tile. I sound like Old Man Spangler yelling at my brother and me for raiding his apple trees, Nate thought. When did I turn into that guy? I don't want to be that guy. There was a soft knock on the shell of his front door. As he turned, the door flipped open like shutters, two pieces of shell retracting on muscles hidden in the wall. Nate felt like a surprised box turtle. Cielle Nuà ±ez stood in the doorway with canvas shopping bags folded under her arm. She was a pleasant woman, attractive, competent, and non-threatening; Nate was sure that's why she'd been chosen to be his guide. â€Å"You ready to do some shopping, Nate? I called to tell you I was coming, but you didn't answer.† The apartment had a speaking apparatus, a sort of ornate tube thing that whistled and buzzed green metallic beetle wings when there was a call. Nate was afraid of it. â€Å"Cielle, can we drop any pretense that we are just buddies out for the day? You lock me in here when you leave.† â€Å"For your own safety.† â€Å"Somehow that always seems to be the argument the jailer uses.† â€Å"You want to go get some food and clothes or not?† Nate shrugged and followed her out the door. They walked along the perimeter of the grotto, which seemed a cross between an old English village and an Art Nouveau hobbit housing project: irregularly shaped doors and windows looking into shops that displayed baked goods and other prepared foods. Evidently the Goo wasn't big on having fire around for home cooking. All the cooked foods were prepared somewhere else in the complex. There was a warming cabinet in Nate's apartment that looked like a breadbox made out of a giant armadillo shell. It worked great. You rolled the top open, put the food in, then promptly lost your appetite. â€Å"Let's get you something to wear today,† Cielle said. â€Å"Those khakis are on loan. Only the whale-ship crews are supposed to wear them.† As they walked, a half dozen whaley kids followed them, chirping and giggling all the way. â€Å"So I'd get in trouble if I started kicking whaley kids down the street?† â€Å"Of course,† Cielle laughed. â€Å"We have laws here, just like anywhere else.† â€Å"Evidently not ones that forbid kidnapping and unjustified imprisonment.† Nuà ±ez stopped and grabbed his arm. â€Å"Look, what are you complaining about? This is a good place to be. You're not being mistreated. Everyone's been kind to you. What's the problem?† â€Å"What's the problem? The problem is that all you people were yanked out of your lives, taken away from your families and friends, taken from everything that you knew, and you all act like it doesn't bother you in the least. Well, it bothers me, Cielle. It fucking bothers me a lot. And I don't understand this whole colony, or city, or whatever this thing is. How does it even exist without anyone knowing about it? In all these years, why has no one gotten out and spoiled the secret of this place?† â€Å"I told you, we were all going to drown –  » â€Å"Bullshit. I don't buy that for a second. That gratitude toward your rescuer only lasts for a short while. I've seen it. It doesn't take over your life. Everyone I've met is blissed out. You people worship the Goo, don't you?† â€Å"Nate, you don't want to be locked in, you won't be locked in. You can have the run of Gooville – go anywhere you want. There's hundreds of miles of passages. Some of them even I haven't seen. Go. Leave the grotto and go down any one of those passages. But you know what? You'll be back looking for your apartment tonight. You are not a prisoner, you're just living in a different place and a different way.† â€Å"You didn't answer my question.† â€Å"The Goo is the source, Nate. You'll see. The Colonel – ; â€Å"Fuck the Colonel. The Colonel is a fucking myth.† â€Å"Should we get some coffee? You seem grumpy.† â€Å"Damn it, Cielle, my caffeine headache is not relevant.† Actually it was, sort of. He hadn't had any coffee today. â€Å"Besides, how do I know it's coffee we're drinking? It's probably some mutant sea otter/coffee bean hybrid beverage.† â€Å"Is that what you want?† â€Å"No, that's not what I want. What I want is a doorknob. And not an organic nodule thing – I want a dead doorknob. One that always has been dead, too. Not something that you used to be friends with.† Cielle Nuà ±ez had backed away from him several feet, and the whaley kids who'd been following them had quieted down and gone into a defensive pod formation, the big kids on the outside. People who were out walking, and who normally made a point of nodding and smiling as they passed, took a wide detour around Nate. There was an inordinate amount of whistling among the milling whaley boys. â€Å"That going to do it for you?† Nu;ez asked. â€Å"A doorknob. I get you a doorknob, you're a happy man?† Why should he be embarrassed? Because he'd scared the kids? Because he'd made his captors uncomfortable? Nevertheless, he was embarrassed. â€Å"I could use some earplugs, too, if you have them. For sleeping.† For ten hours out of twenty-four, the grotto went dark. Cielle explained that this was for the comfort of the humans, to help them keep some semblance of their normal circadian rhythms. People needed day and night – without the change many people couldn't sleep. The problem was, the whaley boys didn't sleep. They rested, but they didn't sleep. So when the grotto went dark, they went on about their business. In the dark, however, they were all constantly emitting sonar clicks. At night the grotto sounded like it was being marched upon by an army of tap dancers. Consequently, so did Nate's apartment. Nu;ez nodded. â€Å"We can probably do that. You want to go get a steaming hot cup of sea otter now?† â€Å"What?† â€Å"I'm just kidding. Lighten up, Nate.† â€Å"I want to go home.† He'd said it before he even realized it. â€Å"That's not going to happen. But I'll send word. I think it's time you met with the Colonel.† They spent the day going to shops. Nate found some cotton slacks that fitted him, some socks and underwear, and a pile of T-shirts from one tiny shop. There was no currency exchanged. Nuà ±ez would just nod to the shopkeeper, and Nate would take what he needed. There was little variety in any of the shops, and most of what they carried was goods from the real world: clothes, fabric, books, razor blades, shoes, and small electronics. But a few shops carried items that appeared to have been grown or made right there in Gooville: toothbrushes, soaps, lotions. All the packaging seemed to come out of the seventeenth century – the shopkeepers wrapped parcels in a ubiquitous oilcloth that Nate thought smelled vaguely of seaweed and indeed had the same olive color as giant kelp. Patrons brought their own jars to carry oils, pickles, and other soft goods. Nate had seen everything from a modern mayonnaise jar to hand-thrown crockery that had to have been made a hundred years ago. â€Å"How long, Cielle?† he asked as he watched a shopkeeper count sugared dates into a hand-blown glass jar and seal it with wax. â€Å"How long have people been down here?† She followed his gaze to the jar. â€Å"We get a lot of the surface goods from shipwrecks, so don't be impressed if you see antiques; the sea is a good preserver. We may have salvaged it only a week ago. A friend of mine keeps potatoes in a Grecian wine amphora that's two thousand years old.† â€Å"Yeah, and I'm using the Holy Grail to catch my spare change. How long?† â€Å"You are so hostile today. I don't know how long, Nate. A long time.† He had dozens, hundreds more questions, like where the hell did they get potatoes when they didn't have sunlight to grow anything? They weren't bringing potatoes up from a shipwreck. But Cielle was letting him get only so far before claiming ignorance. They had lunch at a four-stool lunch counter where the proprietor was a striking Irishwoman with stunning green eyes and a massive spill of red hair and who, like everyone, it seemed, knew Cielle and knew who Nate was. â€Å"Got you a Walkman then, Dr. Quinn? Whaley boys will drive you to drink with that sonar at night.† â€Å"We're going to get him some earplugs today, Brennan,† Cielle said. â€Å"Music, that's the way to wash the whaley-boy whistles,† the woman said. Then she was off to her kitchen. The walls of the cafe were decorated with a collection of antique beer trays, glued in place, as Nate had learned, with an adhesive that was similar to what barnacles secreted to fasten themselves to ships. Nailing things up was frowned upon, as the walls would bleed for a while if injured. Nate took a bite of his sandwich, meatballs and mozzarella on good crusty French bread. â€Å"How?† he asked Cielle, blowing crumbs on the counter. â€Å"How does any of this stuff get made if there's no flame?† Cielle shrugged. â€Å"No idea. A bakery, I'd guess. They make all the prepared food outside the grotto. I've never been there.† â€Å"You don't know how? How can that be?† Cielle Nuà ±ez put down her own sandwich and leaned on one elbow, smiling at Nate. She had remarkably kind eyes, and Nate had to remind himself that she had been ordered to be his friend. Interesting, he thought, that they'd choose a woman. Was she bait? â€Å"You ever read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Nate?† â€Å"Of course, everybody does.† â€Å"And that guy goes back to Camelot from the late nineteenth century and dazzles everyone with his scientific knowledge, mainly because he can make gunpowder, right?† â€Å"Yes, so?† â€Å"You're a scientist, so you might do better than most, but take your average citizen, a guy who works at a discount store, say. Drop him in the twelfth century, you know what he'll achieve?† â€Å"Make your point?† â€Å"Death by bacterial infection, more than likely. And the last words on his lips will probably be, ‘There's such a thing as an antibiotic, really. My point is, I don't know how this stuff is made because I haven't needed to know. Nobody knows how to make the things they use. I suppose I could find out and get back to you, but I promise you I'm not holding out on you just to be mysterious. We do a lot of salvage on the whale ships, and we have a trade network into the real world that gets us a lot of our goods. When a freighter leaves pallets of goods for the people on remote islands in the Pacific, all they know is that they've been paid and they've delivered to shore. They don't stay to see who takes the goods away. The old-timers say that it used to be that the Goo provided everything. Nothing came in from the outside that wasn't on their backs when they got here.† Nate took a bite of his sandwich and nodded as if considering what she'd just said. Since he'd arrived in Gooville, he had spent every waking moment thinking about two things: one, how this whole place could possibly function; and two, how to get out of it. The Goo had to get energy from somewhere. The energy to light the huge grotto alone would require tens of millions of calories. If it got energy from outside, maybe you could use that same pathway to get out. â€Å"So do you guys feed it? The Goo?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Well, then-â€Å" â€Å"Don't know, Nate. I just don't know. How does dry-cleaning work?† â€Å"Well, I assume that they use solvents, that, uh – Look, biologists don't have a lot of stuff that needs to be dry-cleaned. I'm sure it's not that complicated a process.† â€Å"Yeah, well, right back at you on all of your questions about the Goo.† Cielle stood and gathered up her parcels. â€Å"Let's go, Nate. I'm taking you back to your apartment. Then I'm going right to the whaley-boy den and find out if they can get the Colonel to see you. Today.† Nate still had a couple bites of his sandwich left. â€Å"Hey, I've still got a couple of bites of my sandwich left,† he said. â€Å"Really? Well, did you ask yourself where in Gooville we got meatballs? What sort of meat might be in them?† Nate dropped his sandwich. â€Å"Bit of the whining wussy boy, aren't we?† said Brennan as she came out of the kitchen to take away their plates. Nate was reading a cheesy lawyer novel that he'd found in the small library in his apartment when the whaley boys came for him. There were three of them, two large males with killer-whale coloring and a smaller female blue. Only when the blue squeaked â€Å"Hi Nate† in a mashed-elf voice did he recognize it as Emily 7. â€Å"Wow, hi, Emily. Is just Emily okay, or should I always say the Seven?† Nate always felt awkward with someone afterward, even if there wasn't anything for the ward to be after. She crossed her arms over her chest and bugged out her left eye at him. â€Å"Okay,† Nate said, moving on, â€Å"I guess we'll be going, then. Did you see my new doorknob? Brand-new. Stainless steel. I realize it doesn't go with everything else, but, you know, it feels a little like freedom.† Right, Nate. It's a doorknob, he thought. They led him around the perimeter of the grotto, beyond the village, and into one of the huge passageways that led away from the grotto. They walked for half an hour, tracing a labyrinth of passageways that got narrower and narrower the farther off they went, the bright red lobster-shell surface fading into something that looked like mother-of-pearl the deeper in they went. It glowed faintly, just enough so they could see where they were going. Finally the passageway started to broaden again and open into a large room that looked like some sort of oval amphitheater, all of it pearlescent and providing its own light. Benches lined the walls around the room, all in view of a wide ramp that led to a round portal the size of a garage door, closed now with an iris of black shell. â€Å"Ooooh, the great and powerful Oz will see you now,† Nate said. The whaley boys, who normally found practically anything funny, just looked away. One of the black-and-whites started whistling a soft tune from his blowhole. â€Å"In the Hall of the Mountain King† or a Streisand tune – something creepy, Nate thought. Emily 7 backhanded the whistler in the chest, and he stopped abruptly. Then she put her hand on Nate's shoulder and gestured for him to go up the steps to the round portal. â€Å"Okay, I guess this is it.† Nate started backing up the ramp as the whaley boys started backing away from him. â€Å"You guys better not leave me, because I'll never find my way back.† Emily 7 grinned, that lovely hack-a-salmon-in-half smile of hers, and waved him on. â€Å"Thanks, Em. You look good, you know. Did I mention? Shiny.† He hoped shiny was good. The iris opened behind him, and the whaley boys fell to their knees and touched their lower jaws to the floor. Nate turned to see that the pearlescent ramp led into a vibrant red chamber that was pulsing with light and glistening with moisture as the walls appeared to breathe. Now, this looked like a living thing – the inside of a living thing. Really much more what he'd expected to see when the whale had eaten him. He made his way forward. A few steps in, the ramp melded into the reddish flesh, which Nate could now see was shot through with blood vessels and what might be nerves. He couldn't get the size of the space he was in. It just seemed to expand to receive him and contract behind him, as if a bubble were moving along with him inside it. When the iris disappeared into the pink Goo, Nate felt a wave of panic go through him. He took a deep breath – damp, fecund air – and strangely enough he remembered what Poynter and Poe had told him back on the humpb ack ship: It's easier if you just accept that you're already dead. He took another deep breath and ventured forward a few more feet, then stopped. â€Å"I feel like a friggin' sperm in here!† he yelled. What the hell, he was dead anyway. â€Å"I'm supposed to have a meeting with the Colonel.† On cue, the Goo began to open in front of him, like the view of a flower opening from the inside. A brighter light illuminated the newly opened chamber, now just large enough to house Nate, another person, and about ten feet of conversational distance. Reclining in a great pink mass of goo, dressed in tropical safari wear and a San Francisco Giants baseball hat, was the Colonel. â€Å"Nathan Quinn, good to see you. It's been a long time,† he said.

Lsi – Gm591 Leadership and Organization Behavior

LSI GM591 Leadership and Organization Behavior September 9, 2011 According to my LSI, my Primary personal thinking style is avoidance at 80% and my back-up personal thinking style is affiliative at 75%. I agree with my primary personal thinking style, avoidance and my back-up personal thinking style, affiliative. With the avoidance style, I can live life more positively and I can confront the people that cause my distress. With the affiliative style, I can acquire stronger interpersonal skills that will help form healthy relationships. Some of the statements about avoidance are true about me, while others aren’t. Example of true statements are: having few strong interests, having difficulty making decisions, uncomfortable discussing feelings and self-doubting and self-blaming. Some of the false statements are: lacking initiative, having difficulty establishing relationships, preoccupied with my own concerns, recently experienced something traumatic and feeling overwhelmed by circumstances. If you tally the true and false statements up, then you would see that I have more false statements than true ones, which tells me that I am less avoidance-oriented now. However, if you look at the definition of avoidance, as avoiding situations that may cause distress, then I would be a more avoidance-oriented person. When I get upset with a friend or family member, then I tend to shut down completely and avoid them for a few days till I am able to discuss what is wrong with me. I also agree with the affiliative style being my back-up personal thinking style because I don’t have a hard time meeting people, I don’t lack effectiveness at work, I don’t avoid group activities, I am able to relax around people and I don’t feel unimportant or disliked. I might feel lonely sometimes, but everyone does at one point or another. Being in the affiliative style benefits me with being liked and feeling a sense of belonging. I would identify achievement as limiting personal thinking style because it was my lowest scoring percentile at 21%. Being achievement-oriented involves recognizing where your efforts make a difference, deciding on a desired outcome, and setting specific goals to help you accomplish it. I would say that my achievement style is lowered because I feel like my efforts makes little differences, I on’t set goals, and I lack interest. However, I don’t lack initiative at work, I take responsibility for my actions and I don’t blame other people for my problems. In school I don’t do homework to achieve or excel, I just do it to get it done and hopefully pass. My dependent, approval, and conventional personal thinking styles all being at 69% percentile could be preventing me from being an achiever. Fo r me to become more achievement-oriented I need to start pleasing myself and stop focusing on what I think I should be doing and instead do what is important to me. I am not a manager yet, but I am pursuing that degree and field now. After reviewing my LSI and learning what it all means, I am going to have a hard time achieving a manager type persona. I think that a manager needs to be encouraging and have a high percentile in the humanistic-encouraging style and mine is only at 25%. I am not uncomfortable with interacting with others, nor do I lack close relationships, nor do I have a problem working in groups. However, I do have a difficult time communicating in terms of speaking in public and telling people what do to or how to do something. Improving my humanistic-encouraging style will improve my ability to lead, manage and teach. Looking back now, it’s weird to see some connections with my growing up strategies with certain personal thinking styles. I remember my mom never making me do any homework or bribing me with rewards if I got all A’s or anything like that, so I have a feeling that had an affect on why I don’t feel a big need to be more achievement-oriented. When my mom got upset with my brother, and me she would just run to her room and I guess, â€Å"avoid† us. So, now when I am upset with a friend, I â€Å"run† away and let it just pass by. My mom was always encouraging me to do things and always said that I can do whatever I put my mind to, so I don’t know why my encouraging style is in the lower percentile. I have learned a lot about myself while taking and reviewing my LSI results. This exercise made me aware of knew things about myself, while letting me admit to myself some other things. For example, I had a feeling I had avoidance problems, but taking this survey and it finding out that information made me think that it is actually real and hurting me more than I thought. I would love to improve my avoidance personal thinking style.

The Spectacle of Terror Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Spectacle of Terror - Essay Example Now a day, violence on television has become concrete representation of class conflict in the society. The easy accessibility to the media technology helped quickly revealing many significant events across the country. For instance, the police trial and consequent unrest in Los Angeles, the Rodney King beating, and the 9/11, together with the alarming revelation of the country’s vulnerability towards international terrorist attacks. The media has become an integral part of the real and essential assemblies of various social institutions like, hospitals, schools, political, administrative and military systems, even in religions. The media has the power to lead gathering and transmitting news, advertising, conducting campaigns. In the same way, there is a widely accepted belief that â€Å"those who make the headlines have the power.† Moreover, the media plays significant role for successfully conducting and executing wars, educational programs, entertainment, and socializ ation. The influences the media have on such social enterprises are legitimate points for evaluating the impacts of saturation too. Even though the general individual homicide rates in U.S. have been steady for many years, there is an increase in the number of school-aged children towards homicidal attitudes. Since 1980s, there have been a sudden rise in the gun-related homicides among the teens and several publicized murders have taken place in schools making the issue too complicated to handle. The violence among youth is attributed to the permutation of various factors, which impede their emotional ad social developments. Obviously, visual media has played a great role in creating such drastic situation. Today, visual media has become an invasive element of American family life, and symbolic violence illustrated in such medium has become a significant social issue. Therefore, such obvious revelation underlines the question of media’s ability to form awareness and attitude within the mass, especially the youth. We find it too hard to form counterbalancing factors to the violent death themes exemplified by the media. Moreover, the ability to discrete between fantasy and reality is very less in the children, adversely affecting them by creating misconception of death in their mind. Hence, consequences are getting enlarged in an age of media modernization, expansion, and saturation. When the media content is in progress with technology and culture, it influences the method in which reality is comprehended. The modern perceptive and assessment of violence at the hands of government representatives and terrorists are customized and memorized by the present media technologies. In the same way, visual media often undergoes a phenomenon called â€Å"disaster marathons,† days and weeks of intense and continuous media coverage of massive tragedies such as, the 9/11 and its aftermath. In the opinion of Fischoff (2005), it creates all kind of possible dest ructive consequences on viewers and on journalists’ ethics due to the emotionally saturated over coverage of these traumatizing events. Undoubtedly, the media passes on entertainment and related diversions to all segments of people. The foremost audio-visual medium that

Acquisition of Northrop Grumman Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Acquisition of Northrop Grumman - Term Paper Example The primary objective of this paper is to recognize the overall structure of the company and whether acquiring it in order to obtain the company’s technological patent rights is a profitable venture or not. This paper has been formed by also considering the long-term future perspectives of the firm. Northrop Grumman was formed in the year 1994, by way of the purchase by Northrop. It is headquartered in Virginia, United States (Northrop Grumman, 2014). Northrop Grumman is one of the largest companies dealing in defense and aerospace technology. The main business sectors of the company are Aerospace systems, Electronic systems, Information systems and Technical services. The core values on which the firm is based on are quality, customer satisfaction, leadership as a company and as individuals, integrity in all actions as well as valuing employees and suppliers as effective members of the firm. Excellence, speed, collaboration and open communication are some of the key elements of behavior observed in this company. The firm gives adequate importance to its corporate responsibilities, ethics and business conduct. It uses advanced technology to deliver the best performance and to provide high-quality service for clients located across the globe. The security solutions provided by Northrop Grumman are highly innovative and is developed keeping in mind the importance of security and freedom for nations worldwide. Delivering such service is considered by them as not only a part of business goals but also a moral responsibility. Such values and philosophies make this company stand tall. Northrop Grumman aims at delivering technology solutions at maximized cost efficiency. They also pay attention towards developing innovative technical solutions for which they have formed an effective team of researchers and scientists who work towards discovering new and effective ways of dealing with aerospace and defense.

How has the solicitor's regulation changed in the UK Essay

How has the solicitor's regulation changed in the UK - Essay Example In this paper, a position is taken that the most effective form of change to regulation relating to solicitors can only achieve its intended purposes if the changes are comprehensive and holistic enough. In the light of this, changes that have taken place over the years by way of training system as well as regulatory structure governing solicitors are all subjected to critical review. There will also be a special review of the Human Rights Act 1998 to examine how it has impacted on the regulation of solicitors. The issue of self-regulation by the solicitors’ profession will also be reviewed. Training and ethics are two important phenomena in ensuring quality standard of practice by solicitors everywhere across the globe (Cooper, 2013). This is because through training, prospective lawyers are given the kind of education and professional nurturing, needed to ensure that they go about their duties as exceptional professionals. Meanwhile, a person’s individual ethical standards can also be a determining factor as to whether or not the person would heed to training instructions and practice professionally (Boon, 2014). To reconcile these two positions therefore, it is important that the training system for solicitors in UK will be structured in a way that ensures that only people who can be deemed as ethical individuals are admitted. Indeed many have questioned the importance of ensuring that admission for training for solicitors is based on only people who can be considered as ethical individuals. In response to this, Case (2013) observed that the law profession is a highly sensitive one, requiring strong and high standards of practice to ensure that a practitioner will hold fast to doing what is right. What this means is that lawyers have a lot of discretion in their practice as far as their actions are based on law. For this reason, it is

Do an analysis synthesis of the chosen texts, cross pollinate issues Essay

Do an analysis synthesis of the chosen texts, cross pollinate issues raised in various texts - Essay Example In Gogol's The Overcoat, one can see the personification of this 'common man', in Akaky Akakiyevich who lived almost an invisible life in the society until he felt a wish to have a distinct identity by acquiring a new overcoat, a wish that costs him his life (Gogol). In the beginning of the story itself, he is depicted as some one â€Å"who cannot bite back† (Gogol, 29). Gogol has spend a lot of his narrative time explaining the name, Akaky Akakiyevich, even referring to his family name, Bashmachkin, which is supposed to have originated from the word, bashmak, which meant, shoe (29). Here, accidently, but rather meaningfully, we see a reference to shoe both in Heaney's poem as well as in Gogol's story. And the word shoe, is synonymous with the concept, downtrodden, in both these contexts. Throughout Gogol's story, Akaky Akakiyevich is treated as a shoe, which is a symbol of getting insulted, getting trampled under the feet. A shoe is thrown away when it is of no more use. In t he same way, the protagonist in this story is replaced by some other person in his office without worries from any side, as soon as the story of his death reaches there (Gogol, 55). Akaky Akakiyevich had been a man who was deeply immersed in his mechanical ways of work and life as if he himself was a well-oiled machine until he saw that his overcoat was worn out and it was making him cold while moving outdoors (Gogol, 35). It was using the savings from depriving himself of the meager comforts that he could afford added with an act of benevolence from his director that Akaky Akakiyevich could find the money to buy a new overcoat. Once he bought the coat and started using it, he was elated from his position as a commoner though for a brief while (Gogol, 44). A party was held to celebrate his new overcoat but after the party, as he was returning home, his coat was stolen, his efforts to get a legal remedy was stiffled by official apathy, he was insulted and fell ill and soon he dies (G ogol). In the narrative, Akaky Akakiyevich passes away just like the shoe that is dipped into the water and grows cold with an â€Å" unpredictable fantail of sparks Or hiss† (Gogol, Heaney 4). And Gogol has said in the story that, â€Å"at last he began to curse, uttering the most horrible words, so that his aged landlady crossed herself, never in her life having heard anything of the kind from him† (54). This image is so similar to the sparks or hiss that came out from the shoe just before the heat died out (Heaney). And it is a wasted protest. The progress of the story on these lines, show that when a down trodden person tries to improve his social status, it is treated as a crime and the punishment is death. When Heaney, in another poem of his titled At a Potato Digging, says that, â€Å" going down and down/ for the good turf, digging,† the same concept is implied- a search for dignity and depth that ends up in darkness and unending toils (23-24). An effort to rise above one's social backwardness appears to be an individual's personal problem on surface, but once he/she actually makes an effort to do that, suddenly it becomes evident that there are forces in action which would not let it happen. And

Lit 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lit 9 - Essay Example Homeless People and Homelessness (Houseless & Houselessness), is a useful website that provides sufficient material to understand what homelessness is. This website has arranged different topics related with homelessness and has published the details of homeless people, pictures, statistics, News, Homeless children, and so on. (Homeless). Divorce appears as a quite common theme in the contemporary realistic fiction and the website ‘JWI Jewish Women International’ (What is Divorce), is useful for those who seeks for the details of divorce. One can use the additional links provided in this web page for an understanding of divorce and related topics. The online article, ‘Coming of age in the years of living dangerously’ by Brill Briggs clearly expresses the issue, ‘coming-of-age.’ It is available at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31670059/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/ (Briggs). ‘The problem death and disease’ is the website that deals with the topics of death and disease. It also discusses the reasons for deaths caused with the abuse of tobacco and other drugs. (The Problem Death and Disease). ‘Monster’ by Myers is a widely discussed novel that fulfills most of the characteristics of realistic fiction. One of the main features of the novel concerns with the presentation of its content in such an honest way that the readers feel nothing exaggerated with the characters or the setting. â€Å"The mood is very dark and filled with despair as we see Steve learning to cope with what may be the outcome of this trial.† (Myers). The protagonist of the novel Steve is a true representative of youngsters who had spent their life in jail either as an after effect of their crime or becomes prey of the existing social customs. The novel exposes social as well as the personal values through Steve and his identity remains as a question to society. The novel allows the readers to reach

AICP Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

AICP - Research Paper Example An organization like American Society of CPAs relies so much on internal auditors. Such auditors need to apply and uphold the ethical principles such as integrity to give a basis on reliance on their judgment. Secondly, they need to observe objectivity that makes them not to be led by their interest but the truth. Confidentiality and competency are another lot that need to be observed. The most important aspect of ethical principles is their consistency maintenance, implementation, and determination of their effectiveness to an institution such as American Society of CPAs (Braxton, 2012). The maintenance of ethical code of professional conduct is the most important in making sense of the codes to the institution. The maintenance is due to ever changing conducts of the professionals working to an institution. It ensures that the most current code of ethics is consistent with demand of the institution. To fulfill the maintenance of code of ethics, surveillance need to be done continuously on the auditors behavior to note on any aspect that may compromise the professionalism of auditing. An institution like American Society of CPAs need to update the code of ethics now and then as the demand arises (Cascarino, 2007). According to Braxton (2012), the presence of sound code of ethics in any institution without implementation is as good as not having one. In that light, the implementation now brings the essence of the code of ethics. The implementation comes with changes that the code of ethics is made to fulfill. For an organization such as American society of CPAs to implement the code of ethics, it has to come up with institutional policies that will safe guide the interest of the code of ethics. If any auditor goes against the policy of observing the code of ethic then disciplinary action should be taken. It is only through institutionalization of policies that will ensure the code of ethics is

Seperation of a Mixture Lab Report Essay Example for Free

Seperation of a Mixture Lab Report Essay 1.Mixture is taken, and has to be measured in order to meet the requirements of 2-3g. 2.The mass of the tray is measured and then the scale is zeroed out and the mixture is added to find out the mass of the original mixture. 3.Next, find the mass of the 250mL beaker, zero out the scale, pour the mixture in, and weigh to find the mass. Find the mass of the 100mL beaker as well. 4.In order to separate the iron from the mixture, take a bar magnet inside of a Ziploc bag, and swirl it through the mixture. 5.The iron will stick to the magnet, and lift the magnet out of the mixture. All iron in the mixture should be on the magnet. 6.The iron taken out of the mixture is then measured to find the mass of the retrieved iron. 7.Next, the salt will be separated from the mixture. In order to do this, a ring stand must be set up with an iron ring and a glass funnel. Take a piece of filter paper and fold it as demonstrated by Mrs. Montoney, and place it in the funnel. 8.Place a 250mL beaker under the funnel for the filtered water. 9.Put the remaining mixture in the funnel. 10.Pour some water in a beaker, record the amount of water and pour it in the funnel. The mixture will begin to filter and drain the salt, leaving behind the sand. More water may need to be added depending on if the salt particles are fully desolved or not. 11.The sand has been recovered. Take the filter paper, unfold it, weigh its mass, and place it in the chemical oven to dry before measuring. 12.While the sand is in the chemical oven, take a hot plate, and place the beaker with the filtered salt water on the hot plate. The water will begin to boil, and eventually, the salt will be  clearly visible and separated. 13.Once the salt is fully dried out, and no water remains in the beaker, remove the beaker with tongs for it will be extremely hot. Measure the beaker with the salt in it and subtract the original mass of the 250mL beaker to find the mass of the recovered salt. 14.The sand should be dry by now. Take the sand on the filter paper out of the chemical oven with extreme caution, place it on the scale, measure its mass, and then subtract the original mass of the filter paper in order to find the mass of the recovered sand. 15.The mixture is now separated into the three substances of sand, salt, and iron. Scientific Background: In order to complete this lab report, the following concepts must be understood. First, the difference between a mixture and a pure substance. A mixture is two or more pure substances combined, that keep their separate chemical identities and properties. The amounts of each pure substance in a mixture can change therefore the physical properties of a mixture depend on its composition, and the composition of a pure substance is constant giving pure substances characteristic physical properties that do not change. Physical properties that are used to describe pure substances include solubility, magnetism, and boiling point, which are all characteristics used in this lab. The next concept is physical changes. Physical changes separate the components of a mixture, such as separating the iron, sand, and salt in this lab. Physical changes that can be used to separate mixtures include filtration, evaporation, and distillation. Mass percent composition is a way to express the real composition of a mixture by the amount of each component. In order to do this, the substances must be separated quantitatively. Lastly, percent yield which describes the efficiency of the â€Å"recovery operation† is calculated to separate the mixture. (Handout) Observations: The observations for this lab are as follows: †¢The original mixture is a brownish color, and the difference between the different substances can easily be determined by sight. †¢When the water was poured into the mixture of sand and salt during the filteration process, the filtered water was coming through slowly in large drops. †¢During the  filtration process, the salt seemed to not be dissolving as quickly as thought, and more water was needed. †¢When the salt water was being boiled, all of the sudden the water turned into what looked like foam and the salt started popping. †¢When the sand was taken out of the chemical oven, salt particles that had not been dissolved were found on the bottom of the filter paper. †¢The iron had a high magnetism, while sand and salt had none at all. †¢The salt had a high solubility in water while the sand did not. †¢The physical appearance of the iron resembled rough tiny little black hairs.

Issues of Company Co-Ownership

Issues of Company Co-Ownership MEMORANDUM 1 i. When in a state of co-ownership, the decision to make alterations and repairs is one in which it is necessary, that both parties must have made a common agreement before any changes are made to a property.[1] It should also be noted that in previous cases where exceptional circumstances arise and the property is in need of necessary repairs that any one of the co-owners is able to make changes to the property.[2]. This can be determined by firstly and very basically establishing that they are in a co ownership,[3] and also that the case provided sees changes made to the property are not repairs as defined as necessary operations in rebuilding, repairing.[4] This means a unanimous agreement was therefore necessary and that the only other way Victor would be entitled to make the changes are seen in Rafique v Amin in which personal bar is referred which would only be relevant if Jack already knew about the changes that were going to be made but chose to do nothing as even though no agreement was reached yet no objection was made. This is also seen not to be the case as Jack was not present or notified at the time of the alterations. Since alterations (not repairs) have been made to the property and not minor changes that are permissible, it can be quite clearly stated that Victor was not permitted to carry out such alterations on the flat. On the one hand there is room for Victor to plead that what is being proposed is so trivial as to fall within the principle enshrined in the brocard à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [5] , on the other hand it seems that the changes made could be classified as more than trivial so it seems that Victor was not entitled to carry out the changes made to the property. ii. The issue of whether Jack can do anything to prevent Victor from making more changes can be rather complex. As found in Barkley v Scott(1983) 10 Sh Ct Rep 23 and owner is quite entitled to make changes to a property as long as they are regarded as de minimis meaning that they are minimal such as previously mentioned above.[6] This would be a an ordinary use of the property in which Jack could not prevent although would need further enquiry. It should also be noted that unauthorised actions will become subject to an interdict. This would prevent Victor from carrying out any more alterations to the property. Such action would require court action which in multiple cases sees declarator granted along with interdict and on occasion a reinstatement in favour of the pursuer who at the time was not contacted.[7] It seems that in this case to stop Jack making further amendments an indictment would have to be placed upon him with the penalties for breaking such indictment becoming ever more serious.[8] So, it can be said with absolute certainty that the common proprietor has the right to veto that will therefore prevent further alterations on the property regardless of whether the property they are disputing over is able to be sold or not.[9] On occasion the pursuer often seeks for a financial return through damages. This would see Victor have to pay for the damage he has done, although often the amount to pay out through damages is hard to quantify[10] and it has been said that for a breach there has to be shown to have suffered material damage from such a breach[11]. For that reason, sometimes the repayment of damage maybe in this case is not suitable. So, it can be said that perhaps indictment is one of the most feasible routes here to prevent Victor from making further changes to the flat. Often, this results in Jack who has been greatly inconvenienced to look to dispone his shares of the flat. This would be at Jacks discretion as whilst not directly linked to preventing Victor from making further unwanted changes to the flat this often occurs when there is a break down in cooperation and in practice the best remedy for this is actually the sale and division of the property. iii. Despite it being clear that Victor does not want Jack to sell the property it can be hard to prevent. The selling of a property is of thought to often depend on, mutual compatibility goodwill, and understanding.[12] Providing that this still exists between Jack and Victor the usual step would be to sell shares of the property or sell the property as a whole. It is said in Latin that both in communionemà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ nemo compellitur invitus detineri[13] and that regardless of the relationship communion est mater rixarum.[14] This is particularly significant in Victors case as it means that if the issue is raised in court each party as pro indiviso owners has an absolute entitlement to the right of division and sale.[15] When the division and sale takes place the property will either be sold all together and then split between co-owners or the property is physically divided into the extent of the shares so in this case it would be evenly split. This does seem to then favour division of the property which would prevent sale however, in a situation where it is seen as far from practical or grossly unsuitable it will end in the sale of a property.[16] This is very much so relevant to issues involving common property that cannot be sold at all such as a commonly used stairwell,[17] or that the co-owners are married in which case would have separate rules or that one of the co-owners has been sequestrated, both are irrelevant to Jack and Victor.[18] It is even possible that it is not sold on the market and that Jack can ask Victor to transfer his share of the of the property to him for half its value, however this is the right to buy out is a contentious one but entirely plausible. It seems therefore, that there is very little Victor can do to prevent Jack from selling the flat. iV. As said previously situations in which property is sold is entirely different for married couples as they follow a separate set of rules regarding the sale of property between co owners. In Jack and Victors current situation at common law both cohabitants initially had no legally recognised status. Although unmarried separation rights are the exact same in property terms when the relationship breaks down it is then they are both distinguishable. Due to Jack and Victor not being married if their relationship was to break down their property would be divided into his his and theirs[19] where each couple will claim exactly what is they individually own. This is different if Jack and Victor were married as if they were then the property would be divided into what it is felt each party needs, like in some cases for example, the husband will leave the matrimonial home to be transferred to his ex-wife, along with the fact that matrimonial couples are seen as one unit rather than being treat ed as complete strangers. As at the end of a relationship in divorce it is to be shared equally[20] as special circumstances can be accounted for and these decisions are generally fully down to judicial discretion as it is then that it is decided to what property the property can be valued as. to what value it has. As at the end of divorce it is all calculated towards a figure as matrimonial property seems to only have significant importance during divorce proceedings which can lead to money being exchanged to make a property transfer order. [21]These are considerations Jack and Victor dont need to currently make as they are not married and the only Act that would apply to cohabitants would be the Family Law Scotland Act.[22] This only goes as far as giving the option of financial provisions and also to make sure that goods are perceived as co owned, cohabitants have similar but not entirely equal occupancy rights (such as occupancy rights only up to 6 months ) as contained in the M atrimonial Homes Act 1981. This highlights the problems of couples who live together outside of marriage (such as Jack and Victor) face when their relationship breaks down as while they have some rights protected by some Acts they are not as greatly protected as married couples are. i A lease can be defined as a contract between one person who grants permission for the other to use their property for a set amount of time in return for payment, which is known as rent. There are 3 types commercial, agricultural and residential property. Navid seemingly falls into the commercial property bracket. There are 4 main elements for a valid lease to be present. The first is that there must be a general agreement between the two parties the lessor and the lessee. Secondly, there must be property. The lessee must be given possession of the property and unless in special cases such as shooting rights which can be leased although this must be clarified so the subject of the lease is found.[23] Rent is another which is usual paid periodically and in most circumstance on a monthly basis but can be paid in various different ways such as through services and not only through money.[24] The court may also find a lease exists as long as the other three elements are found.[25] Finally for a lease to be valid there has to be a duration on the lease. So in theory it is allowed for a lease to last for many years.[26] So far it can easily be established that both Navid and Isa have a valid lease in place. Furthermore, the formality of whether or not the lease was signed is irrelevant if the lease lasts one year or less, and longer and both parties must have a written agreement.[27] So, if Navid has entered into a lease for over with Isa for it to be valid it is hoped that there was a written agreement in place along with the other four elements listed above. In most cases a lease will contain the rights of both the tenant and the landlord. This is because the lease is recognised by the law with its own set of terms. The first is possession and that the landlord is obligated (so in this case Isa) to give the tenant what is known as natural possession, one that the landlord should not interfere with.[28] The tenant as a consequence must be present in the property with only short absences allowed as without such a possession of the property the lease can be regarded as a material breach such as when a tenant was absent from a prison due to detention in prison.[29] The second reason is that rent must be paid by the tenant when it is due. The reason leases are so short and are often changed is due to changes in external factors such as inflation, if the new rate set is not agreed on it is for the third party to decide, which will see the rent set in line with market rates. Thirdly, the property must be sufficiently plenished by the landlord to a reasonable standard in which it would be expected to be equitable for the payment of rent, as without this an interdict can be put in place against the land lord.[30] The tenant is also obligated to use the property for the purposes of let and may not alter or invert this which will cause a breach of the lease, however, The Landlord is obliged to make sure that the property in question is fit for the circumstances under in which it will be let, which can lead Isa to be questioned on her upkeep of her property. Finally, the property must be maintained by the landlord, so the landlord must carry out the maintenance to the property within a reasonable time and if he does not he is liable.[31] The landlord however is not liable if an Act of God occurs such as a flood, a third party causes damage ( in which case they are liable) or the tenant will be liable if they breach the obligation to take care of a property in which case they will be made to pay. There are reasons for either Landlord or tenant in this situation to bring the lease to an end. Firstly, Isa could feel the need for the lease to end due to the fact Navid has not paid rent for the past 6 months. This is a clear obligation of a lease, and the onus is very much on Navid to pay that money. Without Navid paying that money it can be cause for Isa to take action against Navid the remedies available include what is known as action for payment. This remedy is typically used for situations including this one in which rent is not paid, this results in the execution of the lease which is often found as a clause within the lease. This enables a judge to carry out what is known as summary diligence which sometimes does not even need court action.[32] Isa is also entitled to rescind the lease due to a material breach of a monetary obligation in which it would require her to give Navid a 14 day notice to pay the unpaid rent. Furthermore, Isa herself as a landlord has a right to th e goods brought into the property by the tenant known as invecta et illata for rent. It however, seems Navid has the stronger case as Isa has quite clearly fell short of providing a suitable standard of property due to the dampness that has ruined Navids stock. This entitles him to either; seek damages for the fact the landlord has failed to carry out the required repairs that will leed to Navid suffering monetary loss although defining the quantification of such a breach is difficult to determine. He is also able to seek the remedy of specific implement which sees the landlord required by the courts to carry out repairs on Navids shop. This is a remedy specific to Scottish courts which unlike England do not offer such a remedy to the keep open clause. A final option for Navid is to keep suspending his obligation to pay rent due to Isa breaching her obligation to repair the dampness on the premises as he is very much allowed to continue to retain the rent from Isa as long as he has not been paying her for months when she has been failing to meet her obligations. [1] Rafique v Amin 1997 SLT 1385 [2] Rafique v Amin 1997 SLT 1385 [3] Cargill v Muir 1837 [4] Bell Principles 1075 [5] Rafique v Amin 1997 SLT 1385 [6] Kleyn, D and Wortley, S Co ownership on Zimmerman, Visser and Reid Mixed Legal Systems. [7] Rafique v Amin 1997 SLT 1385 [8] http://www.lawscot.org.uk/news/2015/02/prison-sentence-for-john-odonnell/ [9] Deans V Woolfson 1922 SLT 165 [10] Barkley v Scott [11] http://www.jandhmitchell.com/pdf/Title%20Conditions%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf [12] Mclead v Cedar Holding Ltd. 1989 SLT 620. [13] No one can be forced to remain in co ownership [14] Common property is the mother of quarrels. [15] Upper Crathes Fishing Ltd v Baileys Exrs 1991 SLT 747 [16] Thom v Macbeth 1875 3 R 161. [17] Bells Principle 1082 [18] Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985, s 40 [19] http://www.terry.co.uk/cohabs.html [20] [21] [22] [23] Conway v Glasgow City Council 1999 SCLR 248 [24] Paisley Land Laww para 79 [25] Glen v Roy (1882) 10 R 239 [26] Welwood v Husband (1874) I R 507 [27] RoW(S) A 1995, S 1 [28] Graham v Black and Stevenson [29] Blair Trust Co v Gilbert [30] Co-operative Insurance Society v Halford Ltd 1998 SLT 90 [31] Wolfson v Forrester 1910 SC 675 [32] Cowie v Martalo 2011 GWD 32-676

Why Some Revolutions Fail

Why Some Revolutions Fail Many revolutions occurred around the world in the past hundreds years, mainly in the developing world, and some of them succeed, while others failed. In this essay, the aim is to examine the why is that some have succeeded while others failed. Before proceeding to the examination of the question, it is necessary to define the term ‘revolution’ and how to define a revolution as success or failure. In this essay, I understand revolution as â€Å"any and all instances in which a state or political regime is overthrown and thereby transformed by a popular movement in an irregular, extra-constitutional, and/or violent fashion.† [1] And base on this definition, a successful revolution is one that can overthrow the existing regime. Interestingly, this definition provides some insight to the question, as revolution involves popular movement, therefore not surprisingly; the popularity of the mobilisation of the masses is one factor to consider for the question. Revolutions are never solely a result of economic injustice or even exploitation; they are a response to a brutal, oppressive government. This is the principle of this essay. I will argue that certain political factors, namely the exclusionary nature of t he existing regime and the formation of the revolutionary coalition and its popularity, helps to make revolutions more likely to succeed. The first factor I will discuss is the formation of the revolutionary coalitions and its popularity. Quite often, revolution begins with a particular sector of the society, and then others join in to form a coalition, united by common objective. In the third world, where revolutions are usually responses to imperialism, nationalism served as a very useful political tool. The role of peasants is very central in uprisings. However my argument is that to succeed in a revolution, there must be a coalition. Ideally it will comprise different ethnic or social classes. One key group that can be significantly decisive to the outcome is the professional revolutionary organisation. This is the urban intellectuals or the middle class. The argument here is not that a particular group is more important than others; each group plays an important role in organising the revolution movement in their own way. However, for the revolution movement to be a successful one, it is necessary for these groups to work together. Indeed, successful revolution movement in Vietnam and Nicaragua, the coalition by the revolution had the peasants and middle class, â€Å"but also of landless and migrant laborers, rural artisans, rich peasants, and even landlord.† [2] It is the supports form different sectors of the society that will increase the chance of success. The ability for the revolutionary coalition to be as inclusive as possible has a role in determining the likelihood of success. A revolution fails because like the regime it is trying to overthrow, the revolutionary force also fails to address to the grievances of different social groups. To be able to organise a coalition with wide ranging groups can avoid this weakness. The next question regarding the formation of revolution coalition is why different groups join together. A coalition that has internal tension and rivalry is not going to last long, let alone making the revolution more likely to success. The answer, drawing from observations based on successful revolutions, is that revolutionary coalition will employ different discourses, like religious and nationalist. Under these discourses, the coalition can legitimate the resistant movement to the regime and also grouping different social classes. The Marxist ideology, the notion of class struggle will not been particularly beneficial as a discourse. The coalition needs to attract as many, diverse classes as possible, and by emphasising class struggle will defeat the point. Therefore ironically, revolutionary coalition led by Marxists group had been more successful when they had put less emphasises on class struggle. The most common discourse, also the most powerful discourse is nationalism. It h as proven to be more inclusive, has a more appealing effect on different social classes. So far, I have identified nationalism as a popular and powerful discourse for revolutionary movements to gain momentum and thrive for success. However, the revolution cannot simply be an ideological one. A popular revolutionary coalition need to deliver something physical, delivering collective goods had proven to be the key. This is especially the case for economically less developed countries, where the existing regime has rarely provided anything for its population. The argument is that the coalition strengthened support by providing collective goods, generating progress and eventually overthrows the existing regime. The coalition maintains supports by its actions, which helps to develop its own loyal client network. This is especially relevant to the question, failed attempt of revolutions, are the ones that fail to turn action into words. A successful revolutionary coalition is one that can gather social groups, groups that are originally excluded by the existing regime. So if the coalition can incorporate a broader level of social groups, it will make the revolution more likely to success. To determine how broad the level of social groups that are available to incorporate, this correlated to the second factor I consider to be important, the exclusionary nature of the existing regime. The argument is that the more exclusive the regime, meaning the less social groups it chose to incorporate with, the more potential the coalition can incorporate and mobilise with. Revolution itself is a reactionary product and is not breed in a political vacuum. The political context which revolution movements operate in is determined by the nature of the existing regime. Needless to say, revolution is usually against an authoritarian regime. And it is the closed or exclusionary one where if a revolution took place, it is more likely to succeed. On the contrary, a more inclusionary authoritarian regime is difficult to overthrow. Despite the lack of civil rights and public participation in public affairs, these inclusionary authoritarian regimes maintain in power through patronage, they incorporated with social groups that they deemed their supports are important, where they will give benefits to these groups in return for their loyalty. This narrows the political spaces for the revolutionary coalition can take place, hence diminish the probability of a successful revolution. An exclusionary regime are advantageous for the revolutionary coalition, the coalition will be more likely to have a broader combination of social groups. This is because of a number of reasons. Firstly, groups that are excluded by the regime, when there is economic discontent as a result, will be politicised. Trade Unions are one example, whereby excluded by the regime, their functions will be severely limited. The politicisation of trade unions is inevitable because they must gain political power within the political structure in order to function properly. This applies to other lower class groups and their relevant organisation. The second reason is concerned with the lack of political legitimacy of the exclusionary regime. This lack of political legitimacy is a common challenge faced by any type of authoritarian regime, any kind of discontent in regards to social, political or economic issues will combined into questioning the legitimacy of the existing regime. The illegitimate n ature of the regime will solidified the legitimacy of the revolutionary movement. And lastly, because of this exclusionary nature of the regime, it cannot incorporate necessary social groups into its political structure, which would have enabled the regime to dilute the formation of the revolutionary coalition and prevent any revolutions. It should be noted that so far I have discussed how an exclusionary regime is unable to provide channel for participations of social groups, however there is a possibility of an exclusionary regime, perhaps under wise leadership, decided to adapt into a more inclusionary approach to handle the threat of revolution. Therefore, I would argue that not only exclusionary nature of regime is necessary for a revolution to succeed; the regime also has to be incapable of reform, it is inflexible. An inflexible, exclusionary regime is usually one of the following two types, a colonial government of direct ruled by the imperial power or a dictator ruled regime. The inflexible nature of this two type will makes this type of regime an ideal type for revolutionary coalition to succeed. The common between these two types is its relation with foreign power. The relation between a colonial government and foreign power is self-evident; a dictator, if being seen as the best option for stability in a chaotic region or a reliable anti-communist alliance during the cold war period, will usually find backing from abroad. This foreign power backing fuels the popularity and legitimacy of nationalist discourse employed by the revolutionary coalition to unite different social groups. As mention before, nationalism appeals across different level of social groups and the association of the regime with foreign power will provide a more powerful, clear image of a common enemy. Hence, foreign backi ngs contribute to uniting revolutionary coalition. Foreign backing is also one of the reasons why these exclusionary regimes are particularly inflexible. Dictator acted as stability force in the region, may enjoy financial rewards for their effort, however, it also means they render their autonomy on certain domestic issues. Any attempts for the dictator to widen participations can back fire with discontent from abroad. The foreign interest in the regime is for it to maintain stable, any changes in the political structure, even with good intentions, invite uncertainty to stability. The possibilities of revolutions are not of concerns for the foreign power, and when revolutionary coalition can incorporate local elites and middle class, groups that are ideal for establishing liberal democracy, foreign power will withdraw their support for the dictator. In the case of direct colonial government, it will also generate momentum for the revolutionary coalition’s nationalist discour se. The interest of colonialists to hold position in senior level administrative role and profitable business sectors will fuse frustration of the elite and middle class, as a consequence, these groups will join the revolutionary coalition. And it will not consider widening participation of these domestic social groups, as that will weaken the power of the foreign power, contradict to the purpose of direct ruled. The conclusion is an association between the regime and foreign powers will provide a common enemy, a negative coalition can be formed against this common enemy. And as previously argue, a revolutionary coalition with broad support across the society is more likely to succeed, the image of foreign power helps the coalition to broaden its support. The existing regime becomes a symbol of antinational, standing on the opposite end of the nationalism discourse the revolutionary coalition is advancing. Foreign backing, associating with the existing regime makes the revolution more likely to succeed. Foreign backing on the revolutionary coalition will also have a positive effect on the outcome of the revolution. The argument is brought forward by Robert Dix, where he used the revolution in Cuba and Nicaragua as example: â€Å"The anti-regime coalition included key international actors that served as sources of refuge, training, and material and diplomatic support for the revolutionaries†¦.Thus Castros forces were able to assemble and train in Mexico, and received various kinds of assistance from the governments of Venezuela and Costa Rica†¦.The United States cut off military aid to Batista in April 1958†¦. The Nicaraguan revolutionaries received aid from several of that countrys Central American and Caribbean neighbors†¦.Other Latin American revolutionaries have been sorely lacking in this regard†¦.None were able to obtain either the level of international legitimacy or the degree of tangible assistance gained by their counterparts in Cuba or Nicaragua.† [3] Dix examples of Cuba and Nicaragua showed how foreign states can affect the outcome, actively engage in the case of the Venezuela and Costa Rica, by providing assistance to Castro, or passively in the case of Unit ed States, by withdrawing support from the existing regime. However, I would add that such foreign backing, especially the â€Å"active† kind can easily back fire. The revolutionary coalition under the name of nationalism would seem contradicting once its dependence on this foreign assistance exceeds a certain point. Indeed, this certain point is matter of degree and it is not possible to draw a line in practice. This point I am trying to illustrate is that foreign backing on revolutionary coalition can be a reason why revolution succeed, however at the same time, it can be a reason why revolution fail. Leon Trotsky once wrote that â€Å"the mere existence of privations is not enough to cause an insurrection; if it were, the masses would be always in revolt.† [4] In this essay, I have demonstrated how Trotsky’s word is still relevant. I have argued that it is the political factors that have a crucial impact of the determining the outcome of revolution. The two factors I consider to be important are the success of forming a revolutionary coalition, where it encompasses a broad level of different social groups and the existing political context, which is determine by the existing regime and the more exclusive and inflexible ones are particularly vulnerable to revolution. The argument I advanced is that the political relationship between the existing regime, various sections within the society and foreign states, provide insight in why revolution is more likely to succeed under particular circumstance. The formation of revolutionary coalition is closely linked to this pol itical relationship, and I have examined how successful coalition had worked under this circumstance. It should be noted that these factors do not guarantee the success; however the lack or absent of these factors will make failure as an inevitable outcome. Bibliography [1] Jeff Goodwin, No other way out : states and revolutionary movements, 1945-1991, (Cambridge: 2001) [2] Theda Skocpol, Social revolutions in the modern world, (Cambridge: 1994) [3] Robert Dix, â€Å"Why revolution succeed failed† in Polity, (Vol. 16, No. 3, Spring 1984) [4] Leon Trotsky, The history of the Russian Revolution, trans. Max Eastman (New York, 1961)

Geometry Golden :: essays research papers

T0e ancient Parthenon in Athens is an example of the Golden rectangle used in Architecture. These are examples of the Golden Rectangle in Art. The Chambered Nautilus Is an example of the spiral shape that fits inside the golden rectangle. Constructing the Golden Rectangle Using The Golden Ratio The ratio, called the Golden Ratio, is the ratio of the length to the width of what is said to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing rectangular shapes. This rectangle, called the Golden Rectangle, appears in nature and is used by humans in both art and architecture. The Golden Ratio can be noticed in the way trees grow, in the proportions of both human and animal bodies, and in the frequency of rabbit births. The ratio is close to 1.618. Whoever first discovered these intriguing manifestations of geometry in nature must have been very excited about the discovery. A study of the Golden Ratio provides an intereting setting for enrichement activities for older students. Ideas involved are: ratio, similarity, sequences, constructions, and other concepts of algebra and goemetry. Finding the Golden Ratio. Consider a line segment of a length x+1 such that the ratio of the whole line segment x+1 to the longer segment x is the same as the ratio of the line segment, x, to the shorter segment, 1. ? Thus, ?. The resulting quadratic equation is ?. A positive root of this equation is ?, or 1.61803... This irrational number, or its reciprocal ?, is known as the Golden Ratio, phi . Now we will construct the Golden Rectangle. First we will construct a squate ABCD. ? Now we will construct the midpoint E of DC. ? Extend DC. With center E and radius EB, draw an arc crossing EC extended at C. ? Construct a perpendicular to DF at F. ? Extend AB to intersect the perpendicular at G. ? AGFD is a Golden Rectangle. Now we will measure the length and width of the rectangle. Then we will find the ratio of the length to the width.

A Critical Exploration of Klein’s Discarded Factory in Connection With

There is an undoubtedly enormous influence on the world by consumerism. Consumerism and capitalism shape the nation that we live in today. Everyone knows this because they see advertisements all day long on television, on the radio, on billboards and through hundreds of other mediums. Unfortunately, what the world is not exposed to is what goes on behind the marketing and the ultimate final sale. There is a dark side to capitalism created not only by shady merchants, but the worldwide multi-national companies as well. What both of these excerpts portray is the idea that there is more to the products we buy than we are told, or unfortunately, that we bother to ask about. Through the use of interviewing, traveling, and criticism, these authors do a fine job in analyzing the relationships between branding and marketing, and more importantly, between our modern day consumption habits and hidden production processes. Based on what we see through advertising and what we are told by sales associates in stores, we assume that many of the products that we are exposed to are of high quality, which justifies the high prices. For example, we pay higher prices for a Nike shoe than a brand less shoe because from what we know, it is made better. While some people have the sense to realize that a name doesn’t make that much of a difference, the scale to which we are misled is much greater than we think. Stoller points out one instance on the streets of Harlem in the following passage: And so they traveled uptown to invest in bolts of wholesale ‘Ghanaian kente,’ which they brought to their sweatshops in lower Manhattan, producing hundreds of ‘kente’ caps at a price cheaper than one could get by buying cloth on 125th Street and commission... ...rs were buying the African image. These two authors proved in different ways that there are flaws in consumerism. While Stoller didn’t attack the market as Klein did, he shed light on an underground society that people did not know too much about, even though we see them every day. That idea is eerily similar to multi-national brands that we see every day, doing things that we as consumers unfortunately, do not know too much about. This grand scheme of giving up ethics for an increased profit is not only inconveniencing us consumers on the streets of Manhattan with fake cloth, thanks to Klein, we can see that it is literally destroying the world. Works Cited Stoller, Paul. 2002. Money Has No Smell: The Africanization of New York City. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Klein, Naomi. 1999. No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. Canada: Knopf Canada.