Essay About The Journey On The Novel, The Grapes

Essay About The Journey On The Novel, The Grapes The Grapes of Wrath Essay - Journey Author John Steinbeck's messages and ideas are effectively delivered to the readers through themes and key events in several levels that dominate the novel. The journey is a suitable key to unlock and dramatize Steinbeck's ideas in his novel, The Grapes of Wrath. In general overview of the novel, there are three levels of the journey. To begin with, the first level (a literal level) is unmistakably the Journey of the Joad family that sets up the story. Second level, or the general level, is Migrations of Workers journeying ambitiously towards and inside the state of California. And lastly, the Journey of Humanity would be the symbolic level that's probably being delivered not directly but more effectively to the readers. In every level of the journey, Steinbeck describes his point of view of the sullen society in turmoil during the Dust Bowl Era.we fit right in

Tappan Brothers, Abolitionist Philanthropists

Tappan Brothers, Abolitionist Philanthropists The Tappan brothers were a pair of wealthy New York City businessmen who used their fortunes to assist the abolitionist movement from the 1830s through the 1850s. The philanthropic efforts of Arthur and Lewis Tappan were instrumental in the founding of the American Anti-Slavery Society as well as other reform movements and educational endeavors. The brothers became prominent enough that a mob sacked Lewiss house in lower Manhattan during the abolitionist riots of July 1834. And a year later a mob in Charleston, South Carolina, burned Arthur in effigy because he had financed a program to mail abolitionist pamphlets from New York City to the South. The brothers remained undaunted, and continued to assist the anti-slavery movement. They set an example that others followed, such as the Secret Six, the men who secretly funded the abolitionist fanatic John Brown before his fateful raid on Harpers Ferry. Business Background of the Tappan Brothers The Tappan brothers were born in Northampton, Massachusetts, into a family of 11 children. Arthur was born in 1786, and Lewis was born in 1788. Their father was a goldsmith and merchant and  their mother was deeply religious. Both Arthur and Lewis showed early aptitude in business and became merchants operating in Boston as well as Canada. Arthur Tappan was operating a successful business in Canada until the War of 1812, when he relocated to New York City. He became very successful as a merchant in silks and other goods, and garnered a reputation as a very honest and ethical businessman. Lewis Tappan was successful working for a dry goods importing firm in Boston during the 1820s, and considered opening his own business. However, he decided to move to New York and join his brothers business. Working together, the two brothers became even more successful, and the profits they made in the silk trade and other enterprises allowed them to pursue philanthropic interests. The American Anti-Slavery Society Inspired by the British Anti-Slavery Society, Arthur Tappan helped to found the American Anti-Slavery Society and served as its first president from 1833 to 1840. During his leadership the society became prominent for publishing a large number of abolitionist pamphlets and almanacs. The printed material from the society, which was produced in a modern printing facility on Nassau Street in New York City, showed a fairly sophisticated approach to influencing public opinion. The organizations pamphlets and broadsides often carried woodcut illustrations of the mistreatment of slaves, making them easily understandable to people, most importantly slaves, who could not read. Resentment Toward the Tappan Brothers Arthur and Lewis Tappan occupied a peculiar position, as they were very successful in New York Citys business community. Yet the businessmen of the city were often aligned with the slave states, as much of the American economy before the Civil War depended on the trade in products produced by slaves, primarily cotton and sugar. Denunciations of the Tappan brothers became commonplace in the early 1830s. And in 1834, during days of mayhem that became known as the Abolitionist Riots, the house of Lewis Tappan was attacked by a mob. Lewis and his family had already fled, but most of their furniture was piled up in the middle of the street and burned. During the Anti-Slavery Societys pamphlet campaign of 1835 the Tappan brothers were widely denounced by pro-slavery advocates in the South. A mob seized abolitionist pamphlets in Charleston, South Carolina, in July 1835 and burned them in a huge bonfire. And an effigy of Arthur Tappan was hoisted high and set on fire, along with an effigy of abolitionist editor William Lloyd Garrison. Legacy of the Tappan Brothers Throughout the 1840s the Tappan brothers continued to help the abolitionist cause, though Arthur slowly withdrew from active involvement. By the 1850s there was less need for their involvement and financial support. Thanks in large part to the  publication of Uncle Toms Cabin,  Ã‚  abolitionist thought was delivered into American living rooms. The formation of the Republican Party, which was created to oppose the spread of slavery to new territories, brought the anti-slavery point of view into the mainstream of American electoral politics. Arthur Tappan died on July 23, 1865. He had lived to see the end of slavery in America. His brother Lewis wrote a biography of Arthur which was published in 1870. Not long after, Arthur suffered a stroke which left him incapacitated. He died at his home in Brooklyn, New York, on June 21, 1873.

The Japanese Quasi-Jury and the American Jury Term Paper

The Japanese Quasi-Jury and the American Jury - Term Paper Example A body was created to collect views and give recommendations on the approaches to reform the country’s judiciary. The body proposed the establishment of the quasi-jury to try the high-crime cases. The quasi-jury structure was formulated through the ‘Lay Assessor Act’ the system was a concession between the political elements and the conservative individuals. The Supreme Court was opposed to the move to create a jury that was similar to the American jury. Under the law, the judges are required to use the law in the determination of the innocence or guilt of an individual as well as give a ruling on the sentence. Moreover, the judges make a determination on matters regarding the interpretation of the laws and decisions beyond the authority of the lay assessors. A presiding judge administers the trial procedures but the statutes of evidence in Japan’s judicial process are indistinct and simple compared to the procedures in the US. The presiding judge has the a uthority to limit the number of questions on a witness as well as the determination of the unsuitable evidence given by a witness before a ‘Saiban-in panel’. Moreover, the opposing advocate may reject the improper assessment of the evidence. The discussions between the judges and lay assessors demand that majority as opposed to a unanimous decision. Nonetheless, the composition of the majority must have a professional judge especially when ruling on the guilt of an accused person. The information arising from is regarded as confidential while those leaking the information being subjected to a fine. The composition of the bench and lay assessors is dependent on the situation and the magnitude of the... The legal system in Japan has been largely a civil law since the approval of the Japanese Civil Code in the late 1890s. The system was borrowed from the western nations such as France and Germany. The model persevered even after the Second World War and the adoption of the contemporary constitution in Japan. The separation of power among the various arms of the government is similar to the American model. The judiciary has autonomy like the other arms. In the US, there are divergent procedures in the cases depending on the state although they are largely guided by the constitution. The quasi-jury exercised in Japan has both positive and negative effects depending on the administration. Whereas citizen participation in the judicial process is significant, the established procedures and restrictions are important to assist in getting timely and fair justice. The judicial system in any nation should be informed by the culture of its people and the nature of the governance structures in order to ensure the obligations are met in a desirable approach. It would be more desirable if the principles and frameworks of the jury are reformed in line with the demands of the country and the global environment. Judicial systems are viewed as essential in human-social existence in the society. The Saiban-in system has resulted in minimal effect regarding the prosecution of cases. The system has given the public a dynamic responsibility in the judicial processes, which is likely to improve when the citizens become familiar with the system and the lay judicial involvement.

Three works of art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Three works of art - Essay Example Being a book-worm is one thing; to gain knowledge from the book is a different issue. The captured knowledge in books is the great heritage of humanity. The books that have profoundly affected my thinking process and contributed positively are the following. I write their names in the order I read them. I happened to read them at different stages of my life: George Orwell was born in India in 1903. His family having moved to England in 1907, he commenced studies at Eton in 1917, where he contributed to several college magazines. Orwell served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927.After rendering some military service, his literary career began when he was the literary editor of the Tribune. He also contributed to the Observer and the Manchester Evening News. The book currently under review, Animal Farm, was published in 1945. In the post-World War era, the communist philosophy spread fast, became popular in many European countries. In addition, in Russia and China, communism dominated. People of these countries hoped that Communism will improve their lot in life and great economic transformation will take place, standard of living will substantially improve. The era of plenty and prosperity will begin. But to their great dismay, nothing of that sort happened. Exploitation of people continued, by a new set of rulers. Orwell says about the revolution through the pig, when it addresses an urgently summoned meting of all animals. â€Å"Rebellion! I do not know when that rebellion will come; it might be in a week of in a hundred years†¦..that sooner or later justice will be done†¦.pass on this message of mine to those who come after you, so that future generations shall carry on the struggle until it is victorious.†(Orwell,2004,p.30) Orwell has intelligently taken animals as the characters to describe how one class of animals exercised authority on the weaker section of animals. In the authoritarian regime,

Motivation and Compensation Essay Example for Free

Motivation and Compensation Essay Attrition problems occur when an organization is going through changes. Magic Graffix seems to be having problems with recruiting, training, and retaining employees. The gradual reduction of a workforce by employees leaving and not being replaced rather than by their being laid off is called attrition. Attrition can be explained after a little digging to see where the problem actually occurs. The problem of diminishing employees for Magic Graffix is happening because the employees are not motivated to complete the task at hand. HR has been assigned a budget to come up with a plan to correct the problem. A number of steps must occur to correct the attrition such as finding out why the problems exist and trying to see how to make it better gradually. Attrition starts when employees start to leave an organization. The question is when it is first noticed what can be done to correct the issue so that it does not get any worse. The Magic Graffix simulation enables suggestions that would help in escalating the problem and correcting it. Conducting an employee survey, as well as commissioning, â€Å"Who is Smiling† is the first steps to combating the problem. The employee survey will allow the organization to get a feel or sense of how the employee thinks and what he or she is feeling towards the organization. The survey will also allow for seeking any areas that need improvement as the employee see it. Commissioning, â€Å"Who is Smiling† will allow the organization to see how other employees in similar organizations feel about the industry and his or her organization. The next step was to determine the needs of the employee in each area of the organization. I have decided that employees are less concerned with his or job descriptions or the training provided; however they are concerned with benefits and compensation so this is an area that needs to be looked into closely. Our employees want to be compensated for a job well done; he or she would like to have a salary that is comparable to others in the industry. Pay is a key motivating factor for the employees, so correcting the pay scale is a good place to start. The employees are also not concerned with the recruiting techniques. In the future after correcting the pay scale and making the pay more in-line with similar organizations Magic will look into other aspects of training for upward mobility. The next task was to identify Business Delivery needs. What I have chosen should boost morale throughout the department. Game credits will allow the developer to see that he or she is valued by the organization. It will also boost self-esteem and awareness of his or her skill in the industry. Personal projects will allow the developer to showcase his or her skills. This will allow him or her to flaunt the creative mind that he or she was hired for. Telecommuting opportunities in today’s industry is crucial to the success of an organization. As a gaming developer they need to feel comfortable when working. It may be feasible to offer telecommuting to the software and developer personnel. Telecommuting will allow for personal freedom to get the task completed in a timely manner. Developers and software personnel get burnout therefore it may be nice to offer a mini sabbatical. This will allow him or her time off to get things put in order. Time to get his or head in the right place is always a necessity. If allowed the mini sabbatical the employee will come back refreshed and invigorated full of new ideas. Compensation and benefits is an instant motivator for an employee. It would be a wise decision to structure pay and incentives around the type of job that is done by the employee for the organization. Spot performances, group incentives, individual incentives, and lump sum merit awards are the choices to support compensation and incentives. Magic has people that work as a part of a team and also individually therefore the pay, rewards, and incentives should be set up around the job title. The simulation has great ideas to correct the attrition problem however there are a few ideas that should be looked into. The first idea is the recruitment techniques. Magic has done the homework and analyzed the needs of the organization as well as the employee, putting this to use is the key to success. A recruitment plan to hire the best employee would include group or series interviewing techniques because this will allow for the organization to get a feel for the candidate and the candidate a feel for the people he or she would be working with. I would also recommend testing on the software the organization is currently using, because this will allow the organization to determine the individual skill level to complete the task. Once the person is hired it would be beneficial to sit with him or her at intervals along the way to determine if the organization is meeting his or her individual needs. At each interval the person is evaluated on his or her production and also areas are pointed out that need work. The employee will also be allowed time to give feedback to the organization. Magic Graffix is currently in a position to improve the way they utilize the employees. Magic is currently faced with trying to retain its employees as they are leaving for better jobs within the industry. Magic needs to make itself more competitive in the industry. Making the organization more competitive and offering key incentives will allow Magic to recruit the best candidates for the job.

Children’s Behavior is Not Adversely Affected by Daycare :: Expository Essays Research Papers

Children’s Behavior is Not Adversely Affected by Daycare Recently daycare centers have been in the spotlight because of the argument that children who spend a lot of time in daycare tend to have more behavior problems such as over aggressiveness when compared with kids who stay home with their mommies. The following two points of views concerning this controversy illustrate the divide between those who believe daycare is benevolent and those who believe it to be detrimental to children. This first article concerns the results of an ongoing study given by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development about the effects that daycare may have on a child. According to the Newsweek article â€Å"A new battle over day care† (April 30, 2001), this study indicates that kids who spend more than 30 hours a week in child care are three times more likely to be aggressive, defiant and disobedient by the time they reach kindergarten than those who are raised by maternal care. The study on the effects of childcare had made many working parents anxious. Sarah Friedman, scientific coordinator of the study, says, â€Å"The easy answer is to cut the number of hours children are in care†. However, she also mentioned that scientists do not know yet if the hours spent in daycare are the only factors that may increase the child’s aggressive behavior. On the other hand, another article reports that some people believe that daycare won’t ruin the kid’s behavior. Early press reports relied on the account of just one long time childcare critic, Jay Belsky, out of the 29 researchers involved and thus the data in the study may have been misrepresented. NICHD researcher Martha J. Cox of the University of North Carolina says, â€Å"He is more extreme in his views than the rest of us†. Also, Susan B. Campbell, a team member of the University of Pittsburgh, mentioned that children’s behavior such as demanding attention, pushing, teasing, and fighting are completely typical for children whether or not they attend daycare. My opinion about this topic is that we should help our society make life a little easier for moms and dads who must manage the balance between work and family. Help for those parents who need childcare to find a high-quality daycare for their children is essential. We should keep in mind that for many of us, childcare is not a choice but an economic necessity.

A Dirty Job Chapter 11

11 THE GIRLS CAN GET A LITTLE DARK AT TIMES The Great Big Book of Death, as it turned out, wasn't that big, and certainly wasn't that comprehensive. Charlie read through it a dozen times, took notes, made copies, ran searches trying to find some reference to any of the stuff covered, but all of the material in the twenty-eight lavishly illustrated pages boiled down to this: 1. Congratulations, you have been chosen to act as Death. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it. It is your duty to retrieve soul vessels from the dead and dying and see them on to their next body. If you fail, Darkness will cover the world and Chaos will reign. 2. Some time ago, the Luminatus, or the Great Death, who kept balance between light and darkness, ceased to be. Since then, Forces of Darkness have been trying to rise from below. You are all that stands between them and destruction of the collective soul of humanity. 3. In order to hold off the Forces of Darkness, you will need a number two pencil and a calendar, preferably one without pictures of kitties on it. 4. Names and numbers will come to you. The number is how many days you have to retrieve the soul vessel. You will know the vessels by their crimson glow. 5. Don't tell anyone what you do, or dark forces, etc. etc. etc. 6. People may not see you when you are performing your Death duties, so be careful crossing the street. You are not immortal. 7. Do not seek others. Do not waver in your duties or the Forces of Darkness will destroy all that you care about. 8. You do not cause death, you do not prevent death, you are a servant of Destiny, not its agent. Get over yourself. 9. Do not, under any circumstances, let a soul vessel fall into the hands of those from below – because that would be bad. A few months passed before Charlie worked the shop again alone with Lily. She asked him, â€Å"Well, did you get a number two pencil?† â€Å"No, I got a number one pencil.† â€Å"You rogue! Asher, hello, Forces of Darkness – â€Å" â€Å"If the world without this Luminatus is so precariously balanced that my buying a pencil with one-grade-harder lead is going to cast us all into the abyss, then maybe it's time.† â€Å"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,† Lily chanted like she was trying to bring a spooked horse under control. â€Å"It's one thing for me to be all nihilistic and stuff, for me it's a fashion statement, I have the outfits for it. You can't be all horny for the grave wearing your stupid Savile Row suits.† Charlie was proud of her for recognizing that he was wearing one of his expensive secondhand Savile Rows. She was learning the trade in spite of herself. â€Å"I'm tired of being afraid,† he said. â€Å"I've dealt with the Forces of Darkness or whatever, Lily, and you know what, we're one and one.† â€Å"Should you be telling me this? I mean, the book said – â€Å" â€Å"I think I'm different than what the book says, Lily. The book says that I don't cause death, but there have been two now that have died more or less because of my actions.† â€Å"And I repeat, should you be telling me this? As you have pointed out many times, I am a kid, and wildly irresponsible. It's wildly irresponsible, right? I'm never listening that closely.† â€Å"You're the only one who knows,† Charlie said. â€Å"And you're seventeen now, not a kid, you're a young woman now.† â€Å"Don't fuck with me, Asher. If you keep talking like that I'll get another piercing, take X until I'm dehydrated like a mummy, talk on my cell phone until the battery is dead, then find some skinny, pale guy and suck him until he cries.† â€Å"So, it will be like a Friday?† Charlie said. â€Å"What I do with my weekends is my own business.† â€Å"I know!† â€Å"Well, then shut up!† â€Å"I'm tired of being afraid, Lily!† â€Å"Well, then stop being afraid, Charlie!† They both looked away, embarrassed. Lily pretended to shuffle through the day's receipts while Charlie pretended to be looking for something in what he called his walking satchel and Jane called his man purse. â€Å"Sorry,† Lily said, without looking up from the receipts. â€Å"S'okay,† Charlie said. â€Å"Me, too.† Still not looking up, Lily said, â€Å"But really, should you be telling me any of this?† â€Å"Probably not,† Charlie said. â€Å"It's sort of a big burden to carry. Sort of – â€Å" â€Å"A dirty job?† Lily looked up now and grinned. â€Å"Yeah,† Charlie smiled, relieved. â€Å"I won't bring it up again.† â€Å"That's okay. It's kind of cool.† â€Å"Really?† Charlie couldn't remember anyone ever referring to him as cool. He was touched. â€Å"Not you. The whole Death thing.† â€Å"Yeah, right,† Charlie said. Yes! Still batting a thousand on the zero-cool quotient. â€Å"But you're right, it's not safe. No more talk about my, uh, avocation.† â€Å"And I'll never call you Charlie again,† Lily said. â€Å"Ever.† â€Å"That would be fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"We'll act like this never happened. Excellent. Good talk. Resume your thinly veiled contempt.† â€Å"Fuck off, Asher.† â€Å"Atta girl.† They were waiting for him the next morning when he took his walk. He expected it, and he wasn't disappointed. He'd stopped in the shop to pick up an Italian suit he'd just taken in, as well as a cigar lighter that had languished in a curio case in the back for two years, which he stuffed in his satchel with the glowing porcelain bear that was the soul vessel of someone who had passed long ago. Then he stepped outside and stood just above the opening of the storm drain – waved at the tourists on the cable car as it clanked by. â€Å"Good morning,† he said cheerily. Anyone watching him might have thought he was greeting the day, since there was no one around. â€Å"We'll peck out her eyes like ripe plums,† hissed a female voice out of the drain. â€Å"Bring us up, Meat. Bring us up so we can lap your blood from the gaping wound we tear in your chest.† â€Å"And crunch your bones in our jaws like candy,† added a different voice, also female. â€Å"Yeah,† agreed the first voice, â€Å"like candy.† â€Å"Yeah,† said a third. Charlie felt his entire body go to gooseflesh, but he shook it off and tried to keep his voice steady. â€Å"Well, today would be a good day for it,† Charlie said. â€Å"I'm well rested from sleeping in my comfy bed with the down comforter. Not like I spent the night in a sewer or anything.† â€Å"Bastard!† A hissing female chorus. â€Å"Well, talk to you on the next block.† Strolled up the block into Chinatown, pacing out the sidewalk jauntily with his sword-cane, the suit inside a light garment bag thrown over his shoulder. He tried whistling, but thought that might be a little too clich. They were already under the next corner when he got there. â€Å"I'm going to suck the baby's soul out through her soft spot while you watch, Meat.† â€Å"Oh, nice!† Charlie said, gritting his teeth and trying not to sound as horrified as he was. â€Å"She's starting to crawl around pretty well now, so don't miss breakfast that day, because if she has her little rubber spoon, she'll probably kick your ass.† There was a screech of anger from the sewers and a harsh, hissing chatter. â€Å"He can't say that? Can he say that? Does he know who we are?† â€Å"Taking a left at the next block. See you there.† There was a young Chinese man dressed in hip-hop wear who looked at Charlie and took a quick step to the side so as not to catch whatever kind of crazy this well-dressed Lo pak[1] was carrying. Charlie tapped his ear and said, â€Å"Sorry, wireless headset.† The hip-hop guy nodded curtly, like he knew that, and despite appearances to the contrary, he had not been trippin', but had, in fact, been chillin' like a mo-fuckin' villain, so step the fuck off, wigga. He crossed against the light, limping slightly under the weight of the subtext. Charlie entered Golden Dragon Cleaners and the man at the counter, Mr. Hu, whom Charlie had known since he was eight, greeted him with an expansive and warm twitch of the left eyebrow, which was his usual greeting, and a good indicator to Charlie that the old man was still alive. A cigarette streamed at the end of a long black holder clinched in Hu's dentures. â€Å"Good morning, Mr. Hu,† Charlie said. â€Å"Beautiful day, isn't it?† â€Å"Suit?† said Mr. Hu, looking at the suit Charlie had slung over his shoulder. â€Å"Yes, just the one today,† Charlie said. Charlie brought all of his finer merchandise to Golden Dragon to be cleaned, and he'd been giving them a lot of business the last few months, with all the estate clothes he'd been taking in. He also had them do his alterations, and Mr. Hu was considered to be the best three-fingered tailor on the West Coast, and perhaps, the world. Three Fingered Hu, he was known as in Chinatown, although to be fair, he was actually possessed of eight fingers, and was only missing the two smaller fingers from his right hand. â€Å"Tailor?† Hu asked. â€Å"No, thank you,† Charlie said. â€Å"This one's for resale, not for me.† Hu snatched the suit out of Charlie's hand, tagged it, then called, â€Å"One suit for the White Devil!† in Mandarin, and one of his granddaughters came speeding out of the back, grabbed the suit, and was gone through the curtain before Charlie could see her face. â€Å"One suit for the White Devil,† she repeated for someone in the back. â€Å"Wednesday,† said Three Fingered Hu. He handed Charlie the ticket. â€Å"There's something else,† Charlie said. â€Å"Okay, Tuesday,† said Hu, â€Å"but no discount.† â€Å"No, Mr. Hu, I know it's been a long time since I needed it, but I wonder if you still have your other business?† Mr. Hu closed one eye and looked at Charlie for a full minute before he replied. When he did, he said, â€Å"Come,† then disappeared behind the curtain leaving a cloud of cigarette smoke. Charlie followed him into the back, through a noisy, steaming hell of cleaning fluids, mangle irons, and a dozen scurrying employees to a tiny plywood-walled office in the back, where Hu closed the door and locked them in as they did their business, something they'd first done over twenty years ago. The first time Three Fingered Hu had led Charlie Asher through the stygian back room of Golden Dragon Cleaners, the ten-year-old Beta Male was sure that he was going to be kidnapped and sold into dry-cleaning slavery, butchered and turned into dim sum, or forced to smoke opium and fight fifty kung fu fighters at once while still in his pj's (Charlie had a very tenuous grasp of his neighbors' culture at age ten), but despite his fear, he was driven by a passion that had been embedded in his very genes millions of years ago: a quest for fire. Yes, it was a crafty Beta Male who first discovered fire, and true, it was almost immediately taken away from him by an Alpha Male. (Alphas missed out on the discovery of fire, but because they did not understand about grabbing the hot, orangey end of the stick, they are credited with inventing the third-degree burn.) Still, the original spark burns bright in every Beta's veins. When Alpha boys have long since moved on to girls and sports, Betas w ill still be pursuing pyrotechnics well into adolescence and sometimes beyond. Alpha Males may lead the armies of the world, but it's the Betas who actually get the shit blowed up. And what better testimonial for a purveyor of fireworks than to be missing critical digits? Three Fingered Hu. When Hu opened his thick, trifold case across the desk, revealing his wares, young Charlie felt he had passed through the fires of hell to arrive, at last, in paradise, and he gladly handed over his wad of crumpled, sweaty dollar bills. And even as long silver ashes from Hu's cigarette fell over the fuses like deadly snow, Charlie picked his pleasure. He was so excited he nearly peed himself. The death-dealing Charlie who walked out of Golden Dragon Cleaners that morning with a compact paper parcel tucked under his arm felt a similar excitement, for as much as it was against his nature, he was rushing, once again, into the breech. He headed to the storm sewer grate and, waving the glowing porcelain bear from his satchel at the street, shouted, â€Å"I'm going over one block and up four, bitches. Join me?† â€Å"The White Devil has finally gone around the bend,† said Three Fingered Hu's eleventh grandchild, Cindy Lou Hu, who stood at the counter next to her venerated and digitally challenged ancestor. â€Å"His money not crazy,† said Three. Charlie had noticed the alley on one of his walks to the financial district. It lay between Montgomery and Kearney Streets and had all the things a good alley should have: fire escapes, Dumpsters, various steel doors tagged with graffiti, a rat, two seagulls, assorted filth, a guy passed out under some cardboard, and a half-dozen â€Å"No Parking† signs, three with bullet holes. It was the Platonic ideal of an alley, but what distinguished it from other alleys in the area was that it had two openings into the storm-drain system, spaced not fifty yards apart, one on the street end and one in the middle, concealed between two Dumpsters. Having recently developed an eye for storm drains, Charlie couldn't help but notice. He chose the drain that was hidden from the street, crouched down about four feet away, and opened the parcel from Three Fingered Hu. He removed eight M-80s and trimmed the two-inch-long waterproof fuses to about a half inch with a pair of nail clippers he kept on his key chain. (An M-80 is a very large firecracker, purported to have the explosive power of a quarter of a stick of dynamite. Rural children use them to blow up mailboxes or school plumbing, but in the city they have largely been replaced by the 9 mm Glock pistol as the preferred instrument of mischievous fun.) â€Å"Kids!† Charlie called into the drain. â€Å"You with me? Sorry I didn't get your names.† He drew the sword from his cane, set it by his knee, then dug the porcelain bear out of his satchel and sat it by his other knee. â€Å"There you go,† he called. There was a vicious hiss from the drain, and even as he thought it was completely dark, it got even darker. He could see silver disk shapes moving in the blackness, like coins tumbling through a dark ocean, but these were paired up – eyes. â€Å"Give it, Meat. Give it,† whispered a female voice. â€Å"Come and get it,† Charlie said, trying to fight down the greatest case of the willies he'd ever felt. It was like dry ice was being applied to his spine and it was all he could do not to shiver. The shadow in the drain started to leak out across the pavement, just an inch or so, but he could see it, like the light had changed. But it hadn't. The shadow took the shape of a female hand and moved another six inches toward the glowing bear. That's when Charlie grabbed the sword and snapped it down on the shadow. It didn't hit pavement, but connected with something softer, and there was a deafening screech. â€Å"You piece of shit!† screamed the voice – now in anger, not pain. â€Å"You worthless little – you – â€Å" â€Å"Quick and the dead, ladies,† Charlie said. â€Å"Quick and the dead. C'mon, give it another shot.† A second hand-shaped shadow snaked out of the drain on the left, then another on the right. Charlie pushed the bear away from the drain as he pulled the cigar lighter from his pocket. He lit the short fuses of four of the M-80s and tossed them into the drain, even as the shadows were reaching out. â€Å"What was that?† â€Å"What did he throw?† â€Å"Move, I can't – â€Å" Charlie put his fingers in his ears. The M-80s exploded and Charlie grinned. He sheathed the sword in the cane, gathered up his stuff, and sprinted for the other drain. Inside an enclosed space the noise would be punishing, brutal even. He kept grinning. He could hear a chorus of screaming and cursing, in half a dozen dead languages, some of them running over others, like someone was spinning the dial on a shortwave radio that spanned both time and space. He dropped to his knees and listened at the drain, careful to stay an arm's length away. He could hear them coming, tracking him under the street. He hoped he was right that they couldn't come out, but even if they did, he had the sword, and the sunlight was his turf. He lit four more M-80s, these with longer fuses, and tossed them one by one into the drain. â€Å"Who's New Meat now?† he said. â€Å"What? What did he say?† said a sewer voice. â€Å"I can't hear shit.† Charlie waved the porcelain bear in front of the drain. â€Å"You want this?† He tossed in another M-80. â€Å"You like that, do you?† Charlie shouted, throwing in the third firecracker. â€Å"That'll teach you to use your beak on my arm, you fucking harpies!† â€Å"Mr. Asher,† came a voice from behind him. Charlie looked around to see Alphonse Rivera, the police inspector, standing over him. â€Å"Oh, hi,† Charlie said, then realizing that he was holding a lit M-80, he said, â€Å"Excuse me a second.† He tossed the firecracker in the drain. At that moment they all started going off. Rivera had retreated a few steps and had his hand in his jacket, presumably on his gun. Charlie put the porcelain bear in his satchel and climbed to his feet. He could hear the voices shrieking at him, cursing. â€Å"You fucking loser,† screeched one of the dark ones. â€Å"I'll weave a basket of your guts and carry your severed head in it.† â€Å"Yeah,† said another voice. â€Å"A basket.† â€Å"I think you threatened that already,† said a third. â€Å"I did not,† said the first. â€Å"Shut the fuck up!† Charlie yelled at the drain, then he looked at Rivera, who had drawn his weapon and was holding it at his side. â€Å"So,† Rivera said, â€Å"problems with, uh, someone in the drain?† Charlie grinned. â€Å"You can't hear that, can you?† The cursing was ongoing, but now in some language that sounded as if it required a lot of mucus to speak properly, Gaelic or German or something. â€Å"I can hear a distinct ringing in my ears, Mr. Asher, from the report of your distinctly illegal fireworks, but beyond that, nothing, no.† â€Å"Rats,† Charlie said, unconsciously raising an eyebrow in a so are you gonna buy that load of horseshit? way. â€Å"Hate the rats.† â€Å"Uh-huh,† Rivera said flatly. â€Å"The rats, they used their beak on your arm and evidently you feel that they have a secret desire for cheap animal curios?† â€Å"So that you heard?† Charlie asked. â€Å"Yep.† â€Å"That's gotta make you wonder, then, huh?† â€Å"Yep,† said the cop. â€Å"Nice suit, though. Armani?† â€Å"Canali, actually,† Charlie said. â€Å"But thanks.† â€Å"Not what I'd pick for bombing storm drains, but to each his own.† Rivera hadn't moved. He was standing just off the curb, about ten feet away from Charlie, his weapon still at his side. A jogger ran by them and used the opportunity to quicken his pace. Charlie and Rivera both nodded politely as he passed. â€Å"So,† Charlie said, â€Å"you're a professional, where would you go with this?† Rivera shrugged. â€Å"Not on any prescriptions you might have taken too many of, are you?† â€Å"I wish,† Charlie said. â€Å"Up all night drinking, thrown out by the wife, out of your mind with remorse?† â€Å"My wife passed away.† â€Å"I'm sorry. How long?† â€Å"Going on a year now.† â€Å"Well, that's not going to work,† said Rivera. â€Å"Do you have any history of mental illness?† â€Å"Nope.† â€Å"Well, you do now. Congratulations, Mr. Asher. You can use that next time.† â€Å"Do I have to do the perp walk?† Charlie asked, thinking about how he'd explain this to child services. Poor Sophie, her dad an ex con and Death, school was going to be tough. â€Å"This jacket is tailored, I don't think I can get it over my head for the perp walk. Am I going to jail?† â€Å"Not with me, you're not. You think this would be any easier for me to explain? I'm an inspector, I don't arrest guys for throwing firecrackers and yelling into storm drains.† â€Å"Then why do you have your weapon drawn?† â€Å"Makes me feel more secure.† â€Å"I can see that,† Charlie said. â€Å"I probably appeared a little unstable.† â€Å"Ya think?† â€Å"So where's that leave us?† â€Å"That the rest of your stash?† Rivera nodded toward the paper bag of firecrackers under Charlie's arm. Charlie nodded. â€Å"How about you toss that down the storm drain and we'll call it a day.† â€Å"No way. I have no idea what they'll do if they get their hands on fireworks.† Now it was Rivera's turn to raise an eyebrow. â€Å"The rats?† Charlie threw the bag in the storm sewer. He could hear whispering from below, but tried not to show Rivera that he was listening. Rivera holstered his weapon and shot his lapels. â€Å"So, do you take suits like that into your shop very often?† he asked. â€Å"More now than I used to. I've been doing a lot of estate work,† Charlie said. â€Å"You still have my card, give me a call if you get a forty long, anything Italian, medium-to lightweight wool, oh, or raw silk, too.† â€Å"Yeah, silk's perfect for our weather. Sure, I'll be happy to save you something. By the way, Inspector, how did you happen to be in a back alley, off a side street, in the middle of a Tuesday morning?† â€Å"I don't have to tell you that,† said Rivera with a smile. â€Å"You don't?† â€Å"No. You have a nice day, Mr. Asher.† â€Å"You, too,† said Charlie. So now he was being followed both above and below the street? Why else would a homicide detective be here? Neither the Great Big Book nor Minty Fresh had said a word about the cops. How were you supposed to keep this whole death-dealing thing a secret when a cop was watching you? His elation at having taken the battle to the enemy, something that was deeply against his nature, evaporated. He wasn't sure why, but something was telling him that he had just fucked up. Below the street the Morrigan looked at one another in amazement. â€Å"He doesn't know,† said Macha, examining her claws, which shone like brushed stainless steel in the dim light coming from above. Her body was beginning to show the gunmetal-blue relief of feathers, and her eyes were no longer just silver disks, but now had the full awareness of a predatory bird's. She had once flown over the battlefields of the North, landing on those soldiers who were dying of their wounds, pecking out their souls in her bird form of a hooded crow. The Celts had called the severed heads of their enemies Macha's Acorn Crop, but they had no idea that she cared nothing for their tributes or their tribes, only for their blood and their souls. It had been a thousand years since she had seen her woman claws like this. â€Å"I still can't hear,† said her sister Nemain, who groomed the blue-black feather shapes on her own body, hissing with the pleasure as she ran the dagger points over her breasts. She was showing fangs as well, which dented her delicate jet lips. It had been her lot to drip venom on those she would mark for death. There was no fiercer warrior than one who had been touched by the venom of Nemain, for with nothing to lose, he took the field without fear, in a frenzy that gave him the strength of ten, and dragged others to their doom with him. Babd raked her rediscovered claws across the side of the culvert, cutting deep gouges into the concrete. â€Å"I love these. I forgot I even had these. I'll bet we can go Above. Want to go Above? I feel like I could go Above. Tonight we can go Above. We could tear his legs off and watch him drag himself around in his own blood, that would be fun.† Babd was the screamer – her shriek on the battlefield said to send armies into retreat – ranks of soldiers a hundred deep would die of fright. She was all that was fierce, furious, and not particularly bright. â€Å"The Meat doesn't know,† repeated Macha. â€Å"Why would we give away our advantage in an early attack.† â€Å"Because it would be fun,† said Babd. â€Å"Above? Fun? I know, instead of a basket, you can weave a hat from his entrails.† Nemain slung some venom off her claws and it hissed in a steaming line across the concrete. â€Å"We should tell Orcus. He'll have a plan.† â€Å"About the hat?† asked Babd. â€Å"You have to tell him it was my idea. He loves hats.† â€Å"We have to tell him that New Meat doesn't know.† The three moved like smoke down the pipes toward the great ship, to share the news that their newest enemy, among other things, did not know what he was, or what he had wrought on the world.

How can Ebola affect us Essay

Imagine being isolated from your own family and feeling unsure as to whether or not you will ever see them again. They do not want to come anywhere near you, for you are a threat to their health. The only visitors who come within 10 feet of you are strangers in full on protective gear. They do not want to expose the slightest bit of skin to you and you cannot see anything besides their eyes. The world fears what you are and no one wants to come close to you. You know death is near, and you are all alone. You can see the mountain of corpses outside the wiry mesh window of your facility, being burnt and thrown into mass graves, and you know that you will soon be joining them. This is the life of an Ebola victim.. In the year 1976, Ebola climbed out of its unknown hiding place, and caused the death of 280 out of the 318 people who got infected. That’s an 88% fatality rate. Fear gripped the victims, and tortured their minds. The people of Zaire waited outside clinics, churches and in their homes for a treatment of the horrible disease, but there was no cure. They were forced to watch people die, hoping that they would be saved from the violent death of the Ebola virus. From the year of 1976 till today, researchers have searched for origin and cure of the virus. Scientist have carried out numerous studies and investigations, but no one has been able to find the right explanations. There have been many others out breaks in the past but 2014/15’s outbreak has claimed more lives than all of these other outbreaks together, with a staggering 8386 death and counting. It has also spread between countries starting in Guinea then spreading across land borders to Sierra Leone calming 3,049 lives and Liberia causing 3,515 deaths and to to Nigeria causing 8 deaths. It is believed that the Ebola  virus may have initially been transmitted to humans from bats, and other forms of bush meat like monkeys ect.. fro m the jungles in central Africa, i know it must sount crazy to you to hear that some people eat monkeys but In some remote areas of Africa it is part of their culture and their way of life. In Africa’s Congo Basin, people eat an estimated five million tonnes of bush meat per year. The reason that bush meat is so deadly is because some animals mostly bats, can be a host to specific diseases without being harmed, were as us humans cannot carry these diseases without becoming infected. When a person contracts Ebola they will start to feel the symptoms within the next 2-21 days. The symptoms of Ebola are very distinctive and deadly. If you were to contract Ebola, your experience would be horrific you would start to get bad stomach pains, but it would just be passed off as a common bug. after that they would then start to amplify in pain until they would wake you up from your sleep, which would be followed by chronic vomiting. Anything you ate would come back up. These symptoms would continue for a few days then you would start to lose weight at an extreme rate. Chest pains would now accompany the stomach aches, by this time you would be very weak with virtually no food in your body due to the vomiting and your teeth would start to fall out while you would develop a bloody rash and you would die days later after horrific suffering. But those are just the side effects of what’s really happening in your body. Ebola attacks every organ and all of the tissue in the human body except the bones. You develop blood clots under the skin. Your organs turn to mush and the under layers of your skin die and liquefy; this is what causes the bloody bubbly rash. These things actually happen to Ebola patients every day. Ebola is a very contagious disease; this is why Ebola victims have to be kept contained in hospitals and treatment facilities. When it comes to transmission doctors take cleaning themselves after being in contact with an infected person very seriously. Ebola is transmitted through the passing of boldly fluids, which means if you get fluids from an infected person’s body onto your skin, you should be okay; but we as humans are constantly rubbing our eyes and eating with our hands so this means that we are still giving the Ebola parasite a chance to enter our body. At the moment there is no cure or vaccination for Ebola. Experiments however are taking place to find  a vaccination using antibodies of Ebola survivors. This is possible because like any other disease like small pocks and the chicken pox, one you have survived Ebola u become immune to it. Scientists are trying to figure out how to copy this into a vaccination. Most people in the uk think that they are completely safe from the disease, and at the moment yes they are. It is extremely unlikely that Ebola at the moment could reach the uk and spread like wildfire. However, every person in West Africa, Sierra Leone, Liberia ect that gets infected with Ebola provides it with an opportunity to grow and mutate, if not stopped it will eventually maybe in the next year, maybe in the next 10 years become air born. This means that even breathing near an Ebola patient will give u the disease. Once air born it will travel the world and could patiently kill a large percentage of the earth’s population. Including you. I hope now you can see why Ebola need stop be stopped. Thanks for listening

Essay on Hiring and Development Plan part 2Essay Writing Service

Essay on Hiring and Development Plan part 2Essay Writing Service Essay on Hiring and Development Plan part 2 Essay on Hiring and Development Plan part 2Essay on   Hiring and Development Plan part  1Creating a Development PlanIt is known that an employee development plan provides the so-called â€Å"roadmap† to improvement of current job performance and increases the chances for career advancement. Employee development plans can be viewed as a combination of the key items the employee should be ready to improve upon, and the items the company is focused upon (Byars, 2010).   Actually, a development plan is focused on the areas, which require improvement in the employees’ performance.As a Human Relations Manager, I am responsible for the development of an effective individual development plan. This plan helps to identify the best candidates for career advancement and enhanced developmental opportunities. I realize that employees are motivated to perform their duties and tasks, providing the highest levels of job performance, if they evaluate the positive recognition comin g from their managers and colleagues (Byars, 2010).   I will be focused on development planning to meet the needs of our company and ensure that all employees are adapted to the technician and non-technical needs of the company. I realize that flexibility and integration can help to increase employee productivity, improve the company’s efficiency and develop the company’s knowledge and employee awareness of the total commitment to achieve the established goals (Aswathappa, 2005; Byars, 2010).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An effective employee development plan shows the key processes, procedures and methods of identifying the needs of employees and their skill gaps. A well-developed employee development plan helps to improve job efficiency and effectiveness (Aswathappa, 2005; Byars, 2010).Employee Development PlanThe key development objectivesIn this section, it is very important to formulate the major development objectives through a comprehensive asse ssment of the key needs and capabilities of the company. It is necessary to assess the current status of the company, e.g. how the company operates on the competitive market, what the company does better than other companies, and asses the abilities of the employee to perform these tasks in a proper way. This analysis can help to identify the criteria against which the effectiveness and efficiency of the employee development program can be evaluated.The basic information about an employee:The employee nameThe employee positionThe employee departmentThe employee skills’ assessmentThe employee skillsIn this section of the plan, it is very important to identify the employee skills and knowledge, including handling technical challenge skillfully, lack of creativity and originality in presenting new ideas, demonstrating the high degree of intellectual effectiveness, poor ability in solving conflicts, poor communication skills, etc.The employee skills ratingIn this section, it is n ecessary to determine the employee’s computer skills and people management skills.The employee development aspirationsIn this section, it is necessary to describe the required knowledge and skills, stating in detail what skills the employee should develop. As a Human Relations Manager, I will be focused on communication skills, leadership skills and technical skills.The detailed action planThe detailed development programIn this section of the development plan, it is very important to determine the appropriate development program aimed at enhancing the employee’s skills and abilities. There are several types of employee development programs, including various training courses, mentoring, etc.As a Human Relations Manager for the company, I will use special development programs aimed at encouraging the employee’s growth and career development; improving the employee’s skills, abilities and knowledge that can be effectively and immediately applied to the req uired tasks; increasing the employee’s motivation and job satisfaction; creating an effective network of co-employees for problem-solving, decision-making and support;   and promoting   communication practices and planning throughout the company’s department networks.The improvement planIn this section, it is necessary to identify the areas of employee deficiency, as well as the areas of the company’s focus. This improvement plan should become a roadmap for the employee on how the methods used to advance the employee to a better position. It is very important to identify the actions the employee should take to improve, including the training programs provided by the company.The development courseIn this section, it would be better to identify the methods used for the employee development. As a Human Relations Manager, I will use the following training and development methods: on the job methods, simulations, lectures, conferences and seminars, as well as rol e-playing.Conclusion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus, it is necessary to conclude that Human Relations Managers should be equipped with an effective hiring plan, which can guarantee the higher percentage of selecting and hiring top employees for the required job positions. Employee development plan helps to empower employees to perform their duties in a proper way and take responsibility for their personal and professional growth. An employee development plan can be viewed as an effective document created by Human Relations Managers to outline the employee’s objectives, activities, achievements, resources and targets regarding his/her development at the professional and individual levels. As a Human Relations Manager for the company, I have developed an effective employee development plan to meet the company’s needs and achieve the established goals. I have used various methods to model the behavior of the employee I encouraged. I discussed and created an effective employee development plan, which corresponds to the performance planning cycle adopted by the company. I have endorsed the employee to attend lectures, classes and other activities aimed at supporting the established development goals. In addition, I have discussed the key employee development aspirations that can be used to support the employee’s new ideas and methods. Moreover, I believe that it is necessary to provide a comprehensive behavioral feedback on the employee performance and discuss the most appropriate ways to improve and develop employee performance in the nearest future. Thus, the employee development plan discussed in this paper provides massive opportunities for the employees to develop the required skills, abilities and attitudes through effective mentoring, cross-training sessions, training courses, skill assessment programs and other methods and approaches.

Most Popular Articles March 2008

Most Popular Articles March 2008 Most Popular Articles March 2008 Most Popular Articles March 2008 By Daniel Scocco Below you will find the most popular articles of the past month. Check them out to make sure you have not missed any. A Writer Can be Anyone or Anything: I attended a writers’ workshop session at which a minor, but much-published author warned participants against creating POV (point of view) characters of the opposite sex. Found Any Eggcorns Lately?: A friend recently pointed me to a linguistic term that I hadn’t seen before: eggcorn (or egg corn). It seems that in certain dialects eggcorn is a homonym for acorn, as Mark Liberman reported on the Language Log in September 2003. It turns out that there are hundreds of these eggcorns in common use. But what exactly is it, in linguistic terms? Alas, Poor Heroine: Anyone who has ever taught knows The Look. It is the eye-rolling look students throw at one another when the behind-the-times teacher uses what she thinks is a perfectly ordinary word, unaware that the word has taken on a new meaning. Onomatopoeia (it is not something to eat): Onomatopoeia (on-O-mat-O-P-ya) is a word that’s hard to spell but easy to understand. Derived from the Greek words for name and making, onomatopoeia refers to the literary device of making words that imitate sounds. It’s a way to emphasize the sounds and it’s a technique we use often. In fact, many of us may not know it, but we’re using onomatopoeia when we teach children the sounds that animals make. Daily Writing Tips Spelling Test 1: Spelling mistakes represent a common problem on the Internet. Sometimes just one letter separates two words with completely different meanings. Other times we end up transposing a vowel, and the result is hardly noticeable by the eye. Regardless, you should make sure that spelling mistakes are not crippling your writing, and this test is a good opportunity to do so. Here is a teaser. No Country for English: In preparing to write a review of No Country for Old Men, I glanced at some online discussions of the film to see what other people were saying. The grammarian in me overcame the movie critic as I found myself paying more attention to the mode of expression than the thoughts being expressed. How to Write an SEO Article Part 1: In a recent article, A Freelance Writer’s Basic Guide to SEO, we had several requests asking how SEO knowledge can be used in practice, when writing articles. Naturally, we are only too happy to oblige. The Difference Between â€Å"will† and â€Å"shall†: In modern English will and shall are helping verbs. They are used with other verbs, but lack conjugations of their own. Both are signs of the future tense. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Creative Writing 101Five Spelling Rules for "Silent Final E"50 Tips on How to Write Good

Apples from the desert Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Apples from the desert - Essay Example What is strange here, and made me curious if this really happens in Israel, is the fact that despite the divorce, the man remained in the house of mother and daughter – with Hannah continuing to support the needs of the man she divorced. In â€Å"Hayuta’s Engagement Party†, Bella, the mother of Hayuta, is a daughter of a concentration camp survivor, Grandpa Mendel. The horror and trauma that Grandpa Mendel experienced during the war remained hidden in his heart for a long time, until six years ago. The impending wedding of Hayuta was feared to be another venue for Grandpa Medel’s expression of Holocaust stories. The family’s efforts to silence him created tensions between the older generations and the new generations of Israelites. What is striking in this story is that despite the probable embarrassment that Grandpa Medel could create during the party, the family recognized the importance of his presence in an occasion like this. They are willing to go through all the trouble of trying to silence him against all odds. In â€Å"Apples from the Desert†, Victoria, the mother of a rebellious daughter, only recognizes the depths of her own marital misery when she sees the loving relationship Rivka has formed outside the legal bonds of matrimony. This story presented that older generations still believed and practiced arranged marriages without knowing the desperate consequences both man and woman experience during their married life. This is a sad plight if, indeed, it still happens in Israel today. The universal issues eminent in the stories are: (1) the unconditional love that a mother has for the child (or daughter, specifically) in her stories; (2) the value one gives to one’s family and (3) the option of divorce for unhappy marriages. These issues are considered universal because they encompass people from all cultures. Definitely, there might be differences in