Part Two Chapter X

X Andrew left Yarvil at half-past three, to be sure of getting back to Hilltop House before five. Fats accompanied him to the bus stop and then, apparently on a whim, told Andrew that he thought he would stay in town for a bit, after all. Fats had made a loose arrangement to meet Krystal in the shopping centre. He strolled back towards the shops, thinking about what Andrew had done in the internet cafe, and trying to disentangle his own reactions. He had to admit that he was impressed; in fact, he felt somewhat upstaged. Andrew had thought the business through, and kept it to himself, and executed it efficiently: all of this was admirable. Fats experienced a twinge of pique that Andrew had formulated the plan without saying a word to him, and this led Fats to wonder whether, perhaps, he ought not to deplore the undercover nature of Andrew's attack on his father. Was there not something slippery and over-sophisticated about it; would it not have been more authentic to threaten Simon to his face or to take a swing at him? Yes, Simon was a shit, but he was undoubtedly an authentic shit; he did what he wanted, when he wanted, without submitting to societal constraints or conventional morality. Fats asked himself whether his sympathies ought not to lie with Simon, whom he liked entertaining with crude, crass humour focused mainly on people making tits of themselves or suffering slapstick injuries. Fats often told himself that he would rather have Simon, with his volatility, his unpredictable picking of fights – a worthy opponent, an engaged adversary – than Cubby. On the other hand, Fats had not forgotten the falling tin of creosote, Simon's brutish face and fists, the terrifying noise he had made, the sensation of hot wet piss running down his own legs, and (perhaps most shameful of all) his whole-hearted, desperate yearning for Tessa to come and take him away to safety. Fats was not yet so invulnerable that he was unsympathetic to Andrew's desire for retribution. So Fats came full circle: Andrew had done something daring, ingenious and potentially explosive in its consequences. Again Fats experienced a small pang of chagrin that it had not been he who had thought of it. He was trying to rid himself of his own acquired middle-class reliance on words, but it was difficult to forgo a sport at which he excelled, and as he trod the polished tiles of the shopping centre forecourt, he found himself turning phrases that would blow Cubby's self-important pretensions apart and strip him naked before a jeering public †¦ He spotted Krystal among a small crowd of Fields kids, grouped around the benches in the middle of the thoroughfare between shops. Nikki, Leanne and Dane Tully were among them. Fats did not hesitate, nor appear to gather himself in the slightest, but continued to walk at the same speed, his hands in his pockets, into the battery of curious critical eyes, raking him from the top of his head to his trainers. ‘All righ', Fatboy?' called Leanne. ‘All right?' responded Fats. Leanne muttered something to Nikki, who cackled. Krystal was chewing gum energetically, colour high in her cheeks, throwing back her hair so that her earrings danced, tugging up her tracksuit bottoms. ‘All right?' Fats said to her, individually. ‘Yeah,' she said. ‘Duz yer mum know yer out, Fats?' asked Nikki. ‘Yeah, she brought me,' said Fats calmly, into the greedy silence. ‘She's waiting outside in the car; she says I can have a quick shag before we go home for tea.' They all burst out laughing except Krystal, who squealed, ‘Fuck off, you cheeky bastard!' but looked gratified. ‘You smokin' rollies?' grunted Dane Tully, his eyes on Fats' breast pocket. He had a large black scab on his lip. ‘Yeah,' said Fats. ‘Me uncle smokes them,' said Dane. ‘Knackered his fuckin' lungs.' He picked idly at the scab. ‘Where're you two goin'?' asked Leanne, squinting from Fats to Krystal. ‘Dunno,' said Krystal, chewing her gum, glancing sideways at Fats. He did not enlighten either of them, but indicated the exit of the shopping centre with a jerk of his thumb. ‘Laters,' Krystal said loudly to the rest. Fats gave them a careless half-raised hand in farewell and walked away, Krystal striding along beside him. He heard more laughter in their wake, but did not care. He knew that he had acquitted himself well. ‘Where're we goin'?' asked Krystal. ‘Dunno,' said Fats. ‘Where d'you usually go?' She shrugged, walking and chewing. They left the shopping centre and walked on down the high street. They were some distance from the recreation ground, where they had previously gone to find privacy. ‘Didjer mum really drop yeh?' Krystal asked. ‘Course she bloody didn't. I got the bus in, didn't I?' Krystal accepted the rebuke without rancour, glancing sideways into the shop windows at their paired reflections. Stringy and strange, Fats was a school celebrity. Even Dane thought he was funny. ‘He's on'y usin' yeh, yeh stupid bitch,' Ashlee Mellor had spat at her, three days ago, on the corner of Foley Road, ‘because yer a fuckin' whore, like yer mum.' Ashlee had been a member of Krystal's gang until the two of them had clashed over another boy. Ashlee was notoriously not quite right in the head; she was prone to outbursts of rage and tears, and divided most of her time between learning support and guidance when at Winterdown. If further proof were needed of her inability to think through consequences, she had challenged Krystal on her home turf, where Krystal had back-up and she had none. Nikki, Jemma and Leanne had helped corner and hold Ashlee, and Krystal had pummelled and slapped her everywhere she could reach, until her knuckles came away bloody from the other girl's mouth. Krystal was not worried about repercussions. ‘Soft as shite an' twice as runny,' she said of Ashlee and her family. But Ashlee's words had stung a tender, infected place in Krystal's psyche, so it had been balm to her when Fats had sought her out at school the next day and asked her, for the first time, to meet him over the weekend. She had told Nikki and Leanne immediately that she was going out with Fats Wall on Saturday, and had been gratified by their looks of surprise. And to cap it all, he had turned up when he had said he would (or within half an hour of it) right in front of all her mates, and walked away with her. It was like they were properly going out. ‘So what've you been up to?' Fats asked, after they had walked fifty yards in silence, back past the internet cafe. He knew a conventional need to keep some form of communication going, even while he wondered whether they would find a private place before the rec, a half-hour's walk away. He wanted to screw her while they were both stoned; he was curious to know what that was like. ‘I bin ter see my Nana in hospital this mornin', she's ‘ad a stroke,' said Krystal. Nana Cath had not tried to speak this time, but Krystal thought she had known that she was there. As Krystal had expected, Terri was refusing to visit, so Krystal had sat beside the bed on her own for an hour until it was time to leave for the precinct. Fats was curious about the minutiae of Krystal's life; but only in so far as she was an entry point to the real life of the Fields. Particulars such as hospital visits were of no interest to him. ‘An',' Krystal added, with an irrepressible spurt of pride, ‘I've gave an interview to the paper.' ‘What?' said Fats, startled. ‘Why?' ‘Jus' about the Fields,' said Krystal. ‘What it's like growin' up there.' (The journalist had found her at home at last, and when Terri had given her grudging permission, taken her to a cafe to talk. She had kept asking her whether being at St Thomas's had helped Krystal, whether it had changed her life in any way. She had seemed a little impatient and frustrated by Krystal's answers. ‘How are your marks at school?' she had said, and Krystal had been evasive and defensive. ‘Mr Fairbrother said that he thought it broadened your horizons.' Krystal did not know what to say about horizons. When she thought of St Thomas's, it was of her delight in the playing field with the big chestnut tree, which rained enormous glossy conkers on them every year; she had never seen conkers before she went to St Thomas's. She had liked the uniform at first, liked looking the same as everybody else. She had been excited to see her great-grandfather's name on the war memorial in the middle of the Square: Pte Samuel Weedon. Only one other boy had his surname on the war memorial, and that was a farmer's son, who had been able to drive a tractor at nine, and who had once brought a lamb into class for Show and Tell. Krystal had never forgotten the sensation of the lamb's fleece under her hand. When she told Nana Cath about it, Nana Cath had said that their family had been farm labourers once. Krystal had loved the river, green and lush, where they had gone for nature walks. Best of all had been rounders and athletics. She was always first to be picked for any kind of sporting team, and she had delighted in the groan that went up from the other team whenever she was chosen. And she thought sometimes of the special teachers she had been given, especially Miss Jameson, who had been young and trendy, with long blonde hair. Krystal had always imagined Anne-Marie to be a little bit like Miss Jameson. Then there were snippets of information that Krystal had retained in vivid, accurate detail. Volcanoes: they were made by plates shifting in the ground; they had made model ones and filled them with bicarbonate of soda and washing-up liquid, and they had erupted onto plastic trays. Krystal had loved that. She knew about Vikings too: they had longships and horned helmets, though she had forgotten when they arrived in Britain, or why. But other memories of St Thomas's included the muttered comments made about her by little girls in her class, one or two of whom she had slapped. When Social Services had allowed her to go back to her mother, her uniform became so tight, short and grubby that letters were sent from school, and Nana Cath and Terri had a big row. The other girls at school had not wanted her in their groups, except for their rounders teams. She could still remember Lexie Mollison handing everyone in the class a little pink envelope containing a party invitation, and walking past Krystal with – as Krystal remembered it – her nose in the air. Only a couple of people had asked her to parties. She wondered whether Fats or his mother remembered that she had once attended a birthday party at their house. The whole class had been invited, and Nana Cath had bought Krystal a party dress. So she knew that Fats' huge back garden had a pond and a swing and an apple tree. They had eaten jelly and had sack races. Tessa had told Krystal off because, trying desperately hard to win a plastic medal, she had pushed other children out of the way. One of them had had a nosebleed. ‘You enjoyed St Thomas's, though, did you?' the journalist had asked. ‘Yeah,' said Krystal, but she knew that she had not conveyed what Mr Fairbrother had wanted her to convey, and wished he could have been there with her to help. ‘Yeah, I enjoyed it.') ‘How come they wanted to talk to you about the Fields?' asked Fats. ‘It were Mr Fairbrother's idea,' said Krystal. After another few minutes, Fats asked, ‘D'you smoke?' ‘Wha', like spliffs? Yeah, I dunnit with Dane.' ‘I've got some on me,' said Fats. ‘Get it off Skye Kirby, didja?' asked Krystal. He wondered whether he imagined a trace of amusement in her voice; because Skye was the soft, safe option, the place the middle-class kids went. If so, Fats liked her authentic derision. ‘Where d'you get yours, then?' he asked, interested now. ‘I dunno, it were Dane's,' she said. ‘From Obbo?' suggested Fats. ‘Tha' fuckin' tosser.' ‘What's wrong with him?' But Krystal had no words for what was wrong with Obbo; and even if she had, she would not have wanted to talk about him. Obbo made her flesh crawl; sometimes he came round and shot up with Terri; at other times he fucked her, and Krystal would meet him on the stairs, tugging up his filthy fly, smiling at her through his bottle-bottom glasses. Often Obbo had little jobs to offer Terri, like hiding the computers, or giving strangers a place to stay for a night, or agreeing to perform services of which Krystal did not know the nature, but which took her mother out of the house for hours. Krystal had had a nightmare, not long ago, in which her mother had become stretched, spread and tied on a kind of frame; she was mostly a vast, gaping hole, like a giant, raw, plucked chicken; and in the dream, Obbo was walking in and out of this cavernous interior, and fiddling with things in there, while Terri's tiny head was frightened and grim. Krystal had woken up feeling sick and angry and disgusted. †E's a fucker,' said Krystal. ‘Is he a tall bloke with a shaved head and tattoos all up the back of his neck?' asked Fats, who had truanted for a second time that week, and sat on a wall for an hour in the Fields, watching. The bald man had interested him, fiddling around in the back of an old white van. ‘Nah, tha's Pikey Pritchard,' said Krystal, ‘if yeh saw him down Tarpen Road.' ‘What does he do?' ‘I dunno,' said Krystal. ‘Ask Dane, ‘e's mates with Pikey's brother.' But she liked his genuine interest; he had never shown this much inclination to talk to her before. ‘Pikey's on probation.' ‘What for?' ‘He glassed a bloke down the Cross Keys.' ‘Why?' †Ow the fuck do I know? I weren't there,' said Krystal. She was happy, which always made her cocky. Setting aside her worry about Nana Cath (who was, after all, still alive, so might yet recover), it had been a good couple of weeks. Terri was adhering to the Bellchapel regime again, and Krystal was making sure that Robbie went to nursery. His bottom had mostly healed over. The social worker seemed as pleased as her sort ever did. Krystal had been to school every day too, though she had not attended either her Monday or her Wednesday morning guidance sessions with Tessa. She did not know why. Sometimes you got out of the habit. She glanced sideways at Fats again. She had never once thought of fancying him; not until he had targeted her at the disco in the drama hall. Everyone knew Fats; some of his jokes were passed around like funny stuff that happened on the telly. (Krystal pretended to everyone that they had a television at home. She watched enough at friends' houses, and at Nana Cath's, to be able to bluff her way through. ‘Yeah, it were shit, weren't it?' ‘I know, I nearly pissed meself,' she would say, when the others talked about programmes they had seen.) Fats was imagining how it would feel to be glassed, how the jagged shard would slice through the tender flesh on his face; he could feel the searing nerves and the sting of the air against his ripped skin; the warm wetness as blood gushed. He felt a tickly over-sensitivity in the skin around his mouth, as if it was already scarred. ‘Is he still carrying a blade, Dane?' he asked. †Ow d'you know ‘e's gotta blade?' demanded Krystal. ‘He threatened Kevin Cooper with it.' ‘Oh, yeah,' Krystal conceded. ‘Cooper's a twat, innee?' ‘Yeah, he is,' said Fats. ‘Dane's on'y carryin' ‘cos o' the Riordon brothers,' said Krystal. Fats liked the matter-of-factness of Krystal's tone; her acceptance of the need for a knife, because there was a grudge and a likelihood of violence. This was the raw reality of life; these were things that actually mattered †¦ before Arf had arrived at the house that day, Cubby had been importuning Tessa to give him an opinion on whether his campaign leaflet should be printed on yellow or white paper †¦ ‘What about in there?' suggested Fats, after a while. To their right was a long stone wall, its gates open to reveal a glimpse of green and stone. ‘Yeah, all righ',' said Krystal. She had been in the cemetery once before, with Nikki and Leanne; they had sat on a grave and split a couple of cans, a little self-conscious about what they were doing, until a woman had shouted at them and called them names. Leanne had lobbed an empty can back at the woman as they left. But it was too exposed, Fats thought, as he and Krystal walked up the broad concreted walkway between the graves: green and flat, the headstones offering virtually no cover. Then he saw barberry hedges along the wall on the far side. He cut a path right across the cemetery, and Krystal followed, hands in her pockets, as they picked their way between rectangular gravel beds, headstones cracked and illegible. It was a large cemetery, wide and well tended. Gradually they reached the newer graves of highly polished black marble with gold lettering, places where fresh flowers had been laid for the recently dead. To Lyndsey Kyle, September 15 1960-March 26 2008, Sleep Tight Mum. ‘Yeah, we'll be all right in there,' said Fats, eyeing the dark gap between the prickly, yellow-flowered bushes and the cemetery wall. They crawled into the damp shadows, onto the earth, their backs against the cold wall. The headstones marched away from them between the bushes' trunks, but there were no human forms among them. Fats skinned up expertly, hoping that Krystal was watching, and was impressed. But she was gazing out under the canopy of glossy dark leaves, thinking about Anne-Marie, who (Aunt Cheryl had told her) had come to visit Nana Cath on Thursday. If only she had skipped school and gone at the same time, they could have met at last. She had fantasized, many times, about how she would meet Anne-Marie, and say to her, ‘I'm yer sister.' Anne-Marie, in these fantasies, was always delighted, and they saw each other all the time after that, and eventually Anne-Marie suggested that Krystal move in. The imaginary Anne-Marie had a house like Nana Cath's, neat and clean, except that it was much more modern. Lately, in her fantasies, Krystal had added a sweet little pink baby in a frilly crib. ‘There you go,' said Fats, handing Krystal the joint. She inhaled, held the smoke in her lungs for a few seconds, and her expression softened into dreaminess as the cannabis worked its magic. ‘You ain' got brothers an' sisters,' she asked, †ave yeh?' ‘No,' said Fats, checking his pocket for the condoms he had brought. Krystal handed back the joint, her head swimming pleasantly. Fats took an enormous drag and blew smoke rings. ‘I'm adopted,' he said, after a while. Krystal goggled at Fats. ‘Are yeh adopted, are yeh?' With the senses a little muffled and cushioned, confidences peeled easily away, everything became easy. ‘My sister wuz adopted,' said Krystal, marvelling at the coincidence, delighted to talk about Anne-Marie. ‘Yeah, I probably come from a family like yours,' said Fats. But Krystal was not listening; she wanted to talk. ‘I gottan older sister an' an older brother, Liam, but they wuz taken away before I wuz born.' ‘Why?' asked Fats. He was suddenly paying close attention. ‘Me mum was with Ritchie Adams then,' said Krystal. She took a deep drag on the joint and blew out the smoke in a long thin jet. ‘He's a proper psycho. He's doin' life. He killed a bloke. Proper violent to Mum an' the kids, an' then John an' Sue came an' took 'em, and the social got involved an' it ended up John an' Sue kept 'em.' She drew on the joint again, considering this period of her pre-life, which was doused in blood, fury and darkness. She had heard things about Ritchie Adams, mainly from her aunt Cheryl. He had stubbed out cigarettes on one-year-old Anne-Marie's arms, and kicked her until her ribs cracked. He had broken Terri's face; her left cheekbone was still receded, compared to the right. Terri's addiction had spiralled catastrophically. Aunt Cheryl was matter of fact about the decision to remove the two brutalized, neglected children from their parents. ‘It ‘ad to ‘appen,' said Cheryl. John and Sue were distant, childless relatives. Krystal had never known where or how they fitted in her complex family tree, or how they had effected what, to hear Terri tell it, sounded like kidnap. After much wrangling with the authorities, they had been allowed to adopt the children. Terri, who had remained with Ritchie until his arrest, never saw Anne-Marie or Liam, for reasons Krystal did not entirely understand; the whole story was clotted and festering with hatred and unforgivable things said and threatened, restraining orders, lots more social workers. ‘Who's your dad, then?' asked Fats. ‘Banger,' said Krystal. She struggled to recall his real name. ‘Barry,' she muttered, though she had a suspicion that was not right. ‘Barry Coates. O'ny I uses me mum's name, Weedon.' The memory of the dead young man who had overdosed in Terri's bathroom floated back to her through the sweet, heavy smoke. She passed the joint back to Fats and leaned her head against the stone wall, looking up at the sliver of sky, mottled with dark leaves. Fats was thinking about Ritchie Adams, who had killed a man, and considering the possibility that his own biological father was in prison somewhere too; tattooed, like Pikey, spare and muscled. He mentally compared Cubby with this strong, hard authentic man. Fats knew that he had been parted from his biological mother as a very small baby, because there were pictures of Tessa holding him, frail and bird-like, with a woolly white cap on his head. He had been premature. Tessa had told him a few things, though he had never asked. His real mother had been very young when she had him, he knew that. Perhaps she had been like Krystal; the school bike †¦ He was properly stoned now. He put his hand behind Krystal's neck and pulled her towards him, kissing her, sticking his tongue into her mouth. With his other hand, he groped for her breast. His brain was fuzzy and his limbs were heavy; even his sense of touch seemed affected. He fumbled a little to get his hand inside her T-shirt, to force it under her bra. Her mouth was hot and tasted of tobacco and dope; her lips were dry and chapped. His excitement was slightly blunted; he seemed to be receiving all sensory information through an invisible blanket. It took longer than the last time to prise her clothes loose from her body, and the condom was difficult, because his fingers had become stiff and slow; then he accidentally placed his elbow, with all his weight behind it, on her soft fleshy underarm and she shrieked in pain. She was drier than before; he forced his way inside her, determined to accomplish what he had come for. Time was glue-like and slow, but he could hear his own rapid breathing, and it made him edgy, because he imagined someone else, crouching in the dark space with them, watching, panting in his ear. Krystal moaned a little. With her head thrown back, her nose became broad and snout-like. He pushed up her T-shirt to look at the smooth white breasts, jiggling a little, beneath the loose constraint of the undone bra. He came without expecting it, and his own grunt of satisfaction seemed to belong to the crouching eavesdropper. He rolled off her, peeled off the condom and threw it aside, then zipped himself up, feeling jittery, looking around to check that they were definitely alone. Krystal was dragging her pants up with one hand, pulling down her T-shirt with the other, reaching behind herself to do up her bra. It had become cloudy and darker while they had sat behind the bushes. There was a distant buzzing in Fats' ears; he was very hungry; his brain was working slowly, while his ears were hypersensitive. The fear that they had been watched, perhaps over the top of the wall behind them, would not leave him. He wanted to go. ‘Let's †¦' he muttered, and without waiting for her, he crawled out between the bushes and got to his feet, brushing himself down. There was an elderly couple a hundred yards away, crouching at a graveside. He wanted to get right away from phantom eyes that might, or might not, have watched him screw Krystal Weedon; but at the same time, the process of finding the right bus stop and getting on the bus to Pagford seemed almost unbearably onerous. He wished he could simply be transported, this instant, to his attic bedroom. Krystal had staggered out behind him. She was pulling down the bottom of her T-shirt and staring down at the grassy ground at her feet. ‘Fuck,' she mumbled. ‘What?' said Fats. ‘C'mon, let's go.' †S Mr Fairbrother,' she said, without moving. ‘What?' She pointed at the mound in front of them. There was no headstone yet; but fresh flowers lay all along it. ‘See?' she said, crouching over and indicating cards stapled to the cellophane. ‘Tha' sez Fairbrother.' She recognized the name easily from all those letters that had gone home from school, asking her mother to give permission for her to go away on the minibus. ‘†Ter Barry†,' she read carefully, ‘an' this sez, â€Å"Ter Dad†,' she sounded out the words slowly, ‘†from †¦ â€Å"‘ But Niamh and Siobhan's names defeated her. ‘So?' demanded Fats; but in truth, the news gave him the creeps. That wickerwork coffin lay feet below them, and inside it the short body and cheery face of Cubby's dearest friend, so often seen in their house, rotting away in the earth. The Ghost of Barry Fairbrother †¦ he was unnerved. It seemed like some kind of retribution. ‘C'mon,' he said, but Krystal did not move. ‘What's the matter?' ‘I rowed for ‘im, di'n I?' snapped Krystal. ‘Oh, yeah.' Fats was fidgeting like a restive horse, edging backwards. Krystal stared down at the mound, hugging herself. She felt empty, sad and dirty. She wished they had not done it there, so close to Mr Fairbrother. She was cold. Unlike Fats, she had no jacket. ‘C'mon,' said Fats again. She followed him out of the cemetery, and they did not speak to each other once. Krystal was thinking about Mr Fairbrother. He had always called her ‘Krys', which nobody else had ever done. She had liked being Krys. He had been a good laugh. She wanted to cry. Fats was thinking about how he would be able to work this into a funny story for Andrew, about being stoned and fucking Krystal and getting paranoid and thinking they were being watched and crawling out almost onto old Barry Fairbrother's grave. But it did not feel funny yet; not yet.

Pet Shop Boys and Beauty

Success & Jealousy in Beauty Beauty, written by Jane Martin in the mid nineteen hundreds, is an ironic play about two successful women, Bethany and Carla. Both women were the same age yet complete opposites. They also had completely different personalities and were unhappy with their lives. Martin casted and characterized them this way to illustrate a few themes. The drama was mainly centered on the theme that no one is ever happy unless they get their wishes granted. However, in these two women’s cases, getting what they wanted caused them to realize there is nothing wrong with being different.These two themes can be seen through the two character’s success, jealousy, and a genie. Bethany and Carla experienced success in Beauty. Carla was a famous, â€Å"beautiful catalogue model that was going to become a big time model soon after speaking with Ralph Lauren† (Martin 735). On the other hand, Bethany, the smart one, â€Å"received a $40,000 job offer straight ou t of college. She also published several short stories† (735). Carla was characterized as the perfect and beautiful success story, while Bethany was characterized as the ugly screw-up.However, neither person was happy in their respective positions. Carla was always annoyed, â€Å"and always hung by her fingernails in modeling. She felt like she had zero privacy, and guys would hassle her on the street and pressure her from the beginning of a relationship. She never was able to have a long relationship† (736). Likewise, Bethany did not see herself as a success story because, â€Å"she did not see herself as a beautiful individual† (736). They both envied each other’s success and looks. This alone shows the reader that the characters were very jealous of each other’s lives.Jealousy is very noticeable in Beauty, especially when it comes to Bethany. Bethany was extremely jealous of, â€Å"Carla because she looked beautiful. She represented that beautif ul person that knocks a man across a room twenty-four hours a day. Beautiful was in the major leagues, whereas pretty was in the minor leagues as a way for people to simply discover each other† (736). Bethany just considered a self a disgrace and a piece of trash. Carla explained, â€Å"Bethany is beautiful and she has the charm, personality, and is perfectly pretty† (736).Of course, Bethany places a stereotype on beautiful by saying, â€Å"it is the real deal. Carla gets discounts on makeup for no reason. Parents treat beautiful children better and they even statistically get paid more. Beautiful people can have sex any time, any place† (736). Carla, confused, did not understand why Bethany wanted to be just like her. Bethany hated Carla most of the time because of her beauty. This leads Carla to go on a rant about beauty and why it is so difficult to live and be beautiful simultaneously. Carla tells Bethany to be herself and she will have an amazing life.Bethan y begs to differ and says, â€Å"it is what everyone wants to be. Money can only make you buy things. Beauty makes you the center of the entire universe. All eyes are always on those individuals that are beautiful† (736). Carla says, â€Å"Bethany will hate her life is she was beautiful. She would be miserable and unhappy† (736). Bethany then pulls out a genie in a bottle. Bethany, determined, reiterates, â€Å"Carla’s thoughts do not matter. Carla was just lying about everything, which explains why she had no friends or a long relationship.Bethany wanted to be just like Carla, and she had a god dam genie and only one wish to make† (736). Bethany indeed used her one wish and wished that she was just like Carla. The genie is used as a symbol to symbolize the fact that Bethany got everything she wanted to be happy. The genie allowed Bethany to â€Å"walk in Carla’s shoes†. Bethany and Carla looked at each other and realized they had swapped ro les. Both women stated, â€Å"We have each other’s jewelry, legs, nail polish, clothes and shoes. We can see each other! † (737). Upset, Bethany stated, â€Å"She wanted to be beautiful, but she did not want to be Carla. (737). In the end, both women realized they regretted getting what they wanted because they both had the same thing that every other human had. They both realize that their happiness was not good because it only showed that they both just had a plethora of different problems. Beauty is practically a real life drama that actually occurs every day in the world. There are hundreds of thousands of people that are not happy with their current situations in life. Many of them just want to be so much more successful, and, in Bethany’s case, more beautiful.Too many people think that success and having good looks automatically lead to unlimited happiness. Sadly, this is a lot more false than true. People will only be happy if they are themselves and are different and unique. After reading Martin’s play, one can see that the two women are just like two people in the real world. They both have experienced success and jealousy. Too many people worry too much about their image and appearance. The genie in the play showed what happens sometimes when someone is given everything they ever dreamed of having.The genie granted Bethany’s wish so she could realize how it felt being in someone else’s place or position. Afterwards, she saw that being different was okay and actually better than she initially thought. She realized that she did not want to be anyone but herself. Overall, Beauty illustrates a real life event that teaches people a valuable lesson: One should be happy and unique because there is nothing wrong with being different. Martin, Jane. Beauty. Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, Robert Funk, and Linda S. Coleman. Backpack ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2011. 7 33-737. Print.

Week 4 Discussion - INTL 5645 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Week 4 Discussion - INTL 5645 - Assignment Example China has been facing both political and structural barriers that have limited the economic growth. The growth of the Chinese economy has been fundamental and well spread. The international policy and long term economic strategies shall determine the sustainability of Chinese economy. The Chinese government has been asserting the need for action on the imbalance between trades with the United States. The Chinese believe that the United States should add the high technology exports (Pei, 23). Chinese goods have been flooding the markets of the United States. The Chinese government has reduced the barriers to imports substantially. The policy barriers and currency wars with the United States are aimed to slow the Chinese economy. This has made China a major driver in the global economy. China has too many regulations which are bad for growth sustainability. The country has been accountable for the 12 percent rise in the global trade. China has invested in labor intensive goods. However, studies show that the country is weighed by the downward pressure of unskilled laborers and poor wages. The United States and OECD countries have invested in Chinese lab or market. The bilateral ties between the United States and China have been turbulent. The influence of the Chinese government has been declining. The Chinese government is perceived to be authoritarian and communist. Analysts in the United States view the rise of China as a threat to the United States. The Chinese have had to develop strong networks in Asia when it comes to production. The investments in China for the foreign markets grew in the field of manufacturing (Gilboy, 21). The United States is trying to compete with the Chinese labor intensive products. China is facing obstacles from the strict labor law that discouraged many international investors. The growth in China has been said to be unstructured. China faces extreme

Problem Definition and Developing an Approach Report Assignment

Problem Definition and Developing an Approach Report - Assignment Example has managed to expand its business to more than 35 markets on five continents. The sales of Mary Kay products reached $2.5 billion in wholesale sales worldwide in 2009, and its global independent sales force exceeded 2 million (Mary Kay, n.d.). Mary Kay, Inc. is a private company, founded by Mary Kay and her son Richard R. Rogers and lead by the Mr. David B. Holl, Chief Executive Officer and President (Business Week 2011). The company offers a broad range of its products, including anti-aging, cleanser, moisturizer, lip and eye care, body care, sun care products as well as makeup products for eyes, lips, and cheeks, foundations, concealers, powders, compacts and applicators, and facial highlighting pens (Business Week, 2011). These products are produced at manufacturing plants in Dallas, Texas and China, and are sold in worldwide, including Europe, South and North America, Oceania, and Asia (Business Week, 2011). The key success of the company’s products promotion partially re lates to its staff comprised of sales force and Independent Beauty Consultants. The sales force members represent an integral part of the Mary Kay’s advertising strategy; they work either on door-to-door or in home demonstrations (Mary Kay, n.d.). Thus, the global network of Mary Kay’s consultants enables the company not only to sell its products worldwide but also provide personal support and give beauty advices to its customers. A. Environmental Analysis Political Qatar is politically stable country. Strengthening relations between Qatar and The United States help to set Pro-American climate, favorable for doing international business between these two countries (Wallace, n.d.) The legal environment of Qatar provides relatively favorable climate for foreign investors. The key benefits are referred to: no income tax or social security deductions payable on wages and salaries; corporate tax on foreign companies is 10%; no taxation is payable on exports; customs duties start at just 5% (KMD Consulting, n.d.). However, there are imposed import restrictions of cosmetics in Qatar (Country Codes and International Resources, n.d.). Economic Qatar has a strong economy, driven by revenues from oil and natural gas resources (Wallace, n.d.). This country has shown unprecedented economic growth rate during the last few years (Ministry of Business and Trade, n.d.). According to World Economic Forum of 2010, Qatar has topped other Arab and Middle East countries (Ministry of Business and Trade, n.d.). Due to its highly-efficient and well-performing institutional platforms, effective commodities and stable economic environment, Qatar has topped 139 countries included in the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) (Ministry of Business and Trade, n.d.). Moving to 17th rank out of 139 countries included in this report, Qatar hit a new record of 5.10 points comparing with its performance during the last few years (Ministry of Business and Trade, n.d.). The country is recognized as one of the highest living standard on earth (Ministry of Business and Trade, n.d.). From the economic perspective, Mary Kay Inc. has profound opportunities to expand its business in Qatar with great success. Socio-Cultural Even though Qatar women wear a covering, they also want to look pretty. This desire is expressed through applying of all modern technologies and innovations presented in cosmetology and surgery. The key issue, Mary Kay needs to take into

Business ethics Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business ethics - Dissertation Example Ethics examines the ethical problems and moral issues faced by the businesses and apply to individuals as well organizations. It is a form of applied ethics more relevant to ethical conduct of organizations and individuals working in organizations. Business ethics have both the normative as descriptive dimensions however, from the perspective of the practice, business ethics are mostly considered as normative in nature. The overall emphasis is balancing the act between the commercial and profit maximizing motives of the organizations with that of the non-commercial and non-economic concerns which may directly affect other stakeholders of the organization. It has been argued that the business ethnics have evolved over the period of time however, the concept as a whole started to take roots during 1970s. Over the period of time, not only on the academic level but at the practice level, business ethics evolved and organizations started to give due consideration to business ethics. Organ izations actually attempted to adapt business ethics in order to distance themselves from the dubious business scandals. As a result of this drive, overall reporting on ethical issues improved to allow all the stakeholders a better view of information regarding ethical conduct of the organizations. This literature review will provide an extensive analysis and exploration of the seminal and most recent work on the topic of business ethics. By reviewing the existing and past literature, this review will offer an insight into how the discipline has evolved and what future course of action can be taken by the researchers in this discipline. Ethics and Business Ethics Conceptually, business ethics deal with moral features of the commercial activity performed by the business entities. In practice, however there is a wide array of disciplines and subjects which are pursued under the heading of business ethics. Business ethics therefore are constructed as a discipline for moral reflection t he commerce activity and are considered as as old as the trade itself is. From academic point of view, the field of business ethics however, is relatively new as major work in this field took place in the last 4 decades which witnessed growth of literature on the topic of business ethics and organization efforts to incorporate business ethics into their strategy. The roots of ethics and business ethics largely are founded in the religion as it is from here the overall need to do good emerge. Religion stressed upon the use of justice and fairness in terms of trade and commerce and thus binds its followers to observe justice, equality and fairness when dealing with others in trade and commerce related activities. The oldest evidence regarding setting up some sort of ethical bindings on the commercial activities can be found in the Code of Hammurabi which not described the rules for setting up prices but also deliberated upon setting up tariffs and other rules for the commercial activi ty. (Moriarty, 2005) However, the definite and more formal theory on business ethics starts with the work of Aristotle and Plato as contained in both the Republic as well as Politics. Republic, a book by Plato clearly speaks about the idea of Justice and outline that Justice is speaking the truth and giving back what one receives. This idea of justice seem to be aligned with the responsibility of the business to actually provide accurate and true reporting of its affair besides participating into the activities which are beneficial for the society as a whole. Plato’s concept of justice therefore is considered as something where Justice flows naturally from the type of activities pursued by the organizations. This relationship of justice also outlines the basic structure of the exchange taking place between two parties engaging into any trade related transactions and forming the contractual arrangements. Business activities therefore need to be oriented towards the achievement of a balance between the rights of two parties engaged into sort of

Strategy Formulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Strategy Formulation - Essay Example The task is acknowledged as essential to enable taking track of sales leads.The areas that can be changed are as follows: (1) determining the scope of the assistant’s job. It could be that there are more important responsibilities that need to be urgently taken cared of and that taking phone messages were regarded as insignificant (unless explicitly communicated); (2) the location of the telephone might also be far from the assistant’s work place making it tedious to take messages, as such, putting the telephone near the assistant’s work place would help in taking the needed phone messages; (3) use of advanced technology could help (like using a headphone where the assistant could immediately talk to clients while doing other tasks); and (4) assigning other staff or personnel to take phone message, if and when possible. The strategy would therefore really depend on the root causes of the assistant’s inability to take phone message. If it stems from structu ral causes, the strategy entails changing the location of the phone or applying advanced digital peripherals that would assist in multi-tasking. If the cause of the inability stems from personal traits , the strategy could entail hiring another assistant who would be competent in doing the task. If this is not possible, the assistant could be trained to do the task, as required. Finally, if the cause of work overload, the task should be delegated to other staff who could be relied on to take phone messages, as needed. Â  

Agricutural extension Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Agricutural extension - Research Paper Example Agricultural extension refers to the acts of impacting critical agronomic techniques and skills to the rural farmers in a participatory manner, with a goal of improving the overall performance of farmers (White, 2012). The process of agricultural extension generally involves conveying of essential and practical information to the farmers. The data usually includes ways of using improved seeds, pesticides and fertilizer. Agricultural extension education started in the early 1800. Immediately after American Revolution, many agricultural societies began to operate. One of the main societies was formed by John Skinner, who encouraged American farmers to start reporting on their successes and methods they used to solve various problems they encountered in their daily farming activities. This served as a platform for many American farmers. They exchanged ideas on how to enhance their farming skills using the platform (White, 2012). In the early 1910, USA agricultural sector in collaboratio n with agricultural colleges started to provide agricultural extension services to the rural farmers. With the use of the free extension services, farmers were able to increase wheat production in the country by nearly 40 % (White, 2012). This helped America to contain the food shortage problem that came as a result of the world war one and two. During the famous severe depression, agricultural extension services, mainly concentrated on improving the farm management skills of individual farmers. They engaged in a programme of teaching farmers how to sell their products at favorable prices. They also offered women basic skills on how to ensure they obtain proper nutrition for each household (White, 2012). They offered free services to women on how to improve their home poultry production, house gardening and also carrying out food canning to avoid wastages Incase of surplus production. Traditional agricultural extension services concentrated more on improving production at the househ old level as opposed to the present extensions. The extension mainly dealt with production and marketing of agricultural products. With new rules and policy changes, extension education for the next twenty five years will be so much different with what was offered in the past. Instead of focusing on rural farmers only, the agricultural education extension will deal with more broad issues affecting peoples life’s both in urban and rural areas (Rice, 2012). With economic and environmental dynamics, the extension education will dwell on how to help individuals learn new methods of obtaining income through encouraging them to adopt auxiliary enterprises. The extension will focus on helping farmers to improve their marketing strategies, management skills and also efficiency (Rice, 2012). This will ensure that farmers are able to deliver effectively. The new extension services will also deal with training farmers on how to take care of health, safety and consumer issues of the agri cultural products. Customers are with age becoming more health alert. This calls for distribution of high quality and safe products. Farmers need to be taught how to produce safe agricultural products for their health safety and others. With this in mind, the new extension services will focus on teaching customers how to implement safe biofortification processes so as to ensure their products are safe for consumption (Rice, 2012). Critical issues Agricultural extension has continued to live in the process of change globally. With the support of international agencies, governments are struggling to avail both financial and structural reforms to ensure extension services are improved and accessible to the targeted farmers. With all this support from the government, the agricultural extension will be focusing on all the key issues affecting the daily health of the people of America and the nation future as a whole. It will intensively dwell on ways to; ensure healthy human population, public improvement and development of agricultural

Environment Management at Yamama Cement Company Assignment

Environment Management at Yamama Cement Company - Assignment Example Such techniques include proper handling of environmental issues, effective marketing strategies and up to date human resource and employee relationship techniques. However, this paper will mainly discuss various characteristics of Environment Management programmes at Yamama Cement Company. The issues of environmental impact that must be considered in an Environmental Impact Assessment for Yamama Cement are six-fold: climate protection, fuels and raw materials, health and safety, emissions reduction, local impacts and concrete recycling. (Yamama Cement Website, 2010) This issue matrix is adopted from the World Business Council for Sustainable Developments (WBCS), â€Å"Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI)†. (â€Å"Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI)†) 3. Health and safety: In this field, the World Business Council for Sustainable Developments (WBCS), â€Å"Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI)† motto is Aiming for Zero. The objective is no employee injuries or fatalities. 5. Local impacts: This aspect of environmental stewardship involves reduction of airborne particulate matter discharge and noise, â€Å"disturbance to landscape, local watershed and local biodiversity caused by limestone quarrying† and involvement of all relevant local stakeholders. Presence of world’s hottest deserts makes the Middle East one amongst hottest countries of the world with extremely hot and dry weather. Hence, all kinds of traders and manufacturers keep in mind its exceptionally harsh climatic conditions and use construction materials which can provide an effective resistance to heat and dryness. (Sinton, 2005, 450) For example, builders need to use waterproof foundation for buildings in order to avoid water infiltration due to a corrosive characteristic of salt present in the underground water within the Middle East.

Paper on the film Amelie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Paper on the film Amelie - Essay Example Paper on the film Ameli is dicribing this film and stories, realated with main hero.At first glance this may not be the case because of the way the movie has been produced; it isn’t just the plot that must be considered, it is everything from cinematography to lighting to direction itself. It would appear that the contemporary feel is ‘in’ and traditional is ‘out’ in this movie as the director used elements from the French new wave cinema to construct some of the scenes of the movie (Vanderschelden, p.14) for e.g. Strowzykowski writes about Jeunet’s technique, â€Å"In Amelie, Jeunet had actress Audrey Tautou break from the sealed world of the narrative to talk directly to the audience† (Strowzykowski). The disagreement with conventionalism ends here, however.It is only at a deeper look that one realizes the way Amelie’s character itself has been written, promotes a very sexist image of women. It isn’t obvious and there is a lack of large details that can help the audience see through this, instead there are subtler details that must be carefully picked up and analyzed.Amelie finds meaning and fulfillment in life only in helping others and in her love for a man whom she idealizes. In this framework of a stereotypical image of womanhood, Amelie is hegemonically granted the agency to gaze at others, to transform their lives, to escape sexualized masculine gazes, and even to choose her own prince; all because she is a non-threatening â€Å"good girl† who is just looking for love... Such spectators find pleasure in watching Amelie take action and â€Å"trespassing† the passive sexualized object role that she was supposed to play. Amelie is a fine example of contemporary French cinema. The ideals it portrays, however, are not entirely contemporary in terms of a feminist perspective. The movie presents the stories of a woman who has been constructed on patriarchal terms rather than feminist on es. The mere fact that the movie was such a colossal success proves that the actual identity and concept of females and femininity haven’t changed much over the years. While the production methods and techniques may have evolved a great deal, the representation of women is much the same, albeit in a different manner altogether.

Crime data comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Crime data comparison - Essay Example This is evident from the analysis. In every 1,877 persons there is a rape case Atlanta. In Dallas for every 2,840 people there is a rape case. For both Metropolitan areas of Atlanta and Dallas, the number of occurrences known to police varies. In Atlanta there is a total 1,704 cases reported to the police while Dallas has a total of 2,036 cases reported to the police. In essence the city of Dallas had more forcible rape of 665 as compared to Atlanta's rate of 171. The forcible rape rates for Atlanta is 171 cases while Dallas accounts to 665.In essence for 2,840 people in Atlanta there is a reported forcible rape case. In Dallas for 1,877 people there is reported forced rape case. Secondly, the stringent laws that have been enacted to curb rape cases as well as the activeness of various law enforcing agencies is another reason why there is a difference in these rape rates. Some areas might be so strict in curbing the crime while others have flexibility. Another difference is as a result of age. The number of adults or youth in an area is a factor that determines rape. An area dominated by the youth is highly vulnerable for forced rape rates as compared to an area of the old people. Finally eating habits and dressing code is also a factor

Christianity and Poverty Essay Example for Free

Christianity and Poverty Essay Christian Aid was founded in 1945. In 1945 the members of the British and Irish churches were very shocked to see how hard life was for European refugees who had lost everything in the Second World War. In response to this, they new that something had to done about it. By making this decision, they managed to raise one million pounds to help these people. This group became known as Christian Aid. Everywhere in the world there are people whose lifes are hardly worth living, people who are in a desperate struggle for the basic needs of life. This is why Christian Aid was founded, to help try and give people a better state of living. Christian Aid helps out in emergencies around the world whenever it can, when people are plunged into terrible situations, as families were in Afghanistan during the war in 2001. Christian Aid usually sends money to local organisations who can then buy food or provide shelter for other communities. Also Christian Aid works on issues from healthcare to human rights, from support to landless peasants in Brazil to ending child labour in India. A project which I think is important is the BBC project. This is a very important project because it enables young people like Bumeh to piece together their lives and start having fun again. Every year, the Burmese Border Consortium brings food and basic education to around 120,000 refugees in 14 different camps along the border and campaigns on their behalf. I find this project very important because it helps a lot of people have a better way of living. This also is a big help for the future generation because more people are being educated and in this way, more people will continue to be educated. Christian Aid does this work in order for Christians who want to put their faith and beliefs into action to do so. Christian Aid is the main relief and development agency in the UK and Ireland. Although it was inspired by the gospel, it is not the case that it is solely for Christians. Christian Aid works with partners and supporters of many different faiths. The most important thing is that Aid is distributed on the basis of need, and regardless of religion, race, faith, creed or nationality. Some of these quotes explain why Christian Aid came into being in the first place, James 2:14-26 Christians believe that faith and beliefs should be demonstrated in practical ways to help people in need. and John 3:23 Christians believe that God loves everyone in the world and that they should show this love too. They believe that Jesus is the role model for living your faith. In all, I think that Christian Aid is a very sucessful organisation which benefits a lot of people all over the world. Christian Aid gives many people the opportunity to live life in a much better way of living. It gives people a chance, who would otherwise have never got the chance to improve their life. Also it allows people like us to help raise money for Christian Aid and lets us feel good about ourselves because we have done something for a very good cause. Therefore, I think Christian Aid is for a very good cause because they believe that we all have the power to make changes and they help to make many peoples lives much happier. After all what may seem to us as not a lot of money, can come out with life changing results for some people in the world. http://www.freebietown.co.uk/ukfreebiessamples.html http://62.169.139.99/eucerin/index.asp# eucerin http://www.freebiesiteuk.co.uk/health.htm

Radiation Protection Personal Protective Equipment

Radiation Protection Personal Protective Equipment Introduction: The assignment, consist of three parts including this introduction, which mentions how the assignment will take shape. Ideas and concepts taken from elsewhere for the preparation of this document will be cited appropriately within the work. The document which will be given to staff will address the issues pertaining to the appropriate use of personal protective equipment(PPE), legislations associated with their use, the principles of physics behind their use. The document will briefly delve in to issues pertaining to radiation hazards and protection, legislations relevant to radiation work in United Kingdom and use of personal protective equipment. Principles of physics behind radiation protection methods will be addressed in the document. Commonly used PPE in radiographic departments will be explained with their appropriate use along with personnel dosimetry. Local rules aiding radiation protection and defining PPE use will be also addressed in the document. Radiation protection methods and appropriate use of PPE will be given in a tabular format explaining where, when and why these protection methods and PPE should be used for those situations. The third section of this work will include a conclusion which will include the reasoning behind the composition of the document. It will also briefly address other important radiation protection issues and methods which are not addressed in the documents and the reasoning behind it. It will demonstrate how the assignment brief has been addressed by the document. The conclusion segment of this assignment will also emphasise as to why understanding of the work produced is important. The main factors aiding the preparation and decisions made for the preparation of the document will also be included in the conclusion. At the end of the work all references used in the preparation of this work will be laid out in the Harvard system of referencing. Radiation Protection and the use of Personal Protective Equipment. Introduction: Being at the leading edge of radiation dose delivery, a radiographer has a unique professional duty towards himself and others around him for a reduction in the hazards caused by ionising radiation (Manning, 2004). Many radiation related fatalities and injuries suffered by radiation pioneers and scientific studies of the 1950s, which implicated low level doses to stochastic effects in radiation workers and patients led to the radiation protection regulations of today (Bushong, 2003). Radiation hazards When humans are irradiated, atomic interactions results in ionisation, this can lead to chemical and biological changes which are damaging to the cells and chromosomes. This radiation induced changes can lead to two distinct types of injuries at cellular level. Deterministic effects: Above a certain threshold dose, effects show up and the severity of the effects increase with dose Stochastic effects: Probability of occurrence of effects increases with increase in dose. The effects include cancer induction and hereditary effects in future generations (Martin and Harbison, 2006). These late stochastic effects, has led to the radiation protection regulations of today (Bushong 2003). What is Radiation protection and why do it In light of the hazards that could be caused by radiation, protection from unnecessary radiation gains paramount importance. All radiation workers and patients should be protected against these hazards by various methods and equipment, this process is called radiation protection. A system of linear non threshold (LNT) model for radiation protection is applied to all radiation practices (Martin 2004). There is also increasing opinion in favour of radiation hormesis(Carver 2006), but since there is no absolute evidence to suggest a lower threshold below which no damage occurs the LNT model as required by current legislations is considered appropriate to estimate risks at low doses(Matthews and Brennan 2008) The patient should only be exposed if the clinical evidence suggests that the patient is likely to benefit from the procedures. The law requires the doses to be kept to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP), so the requirement of radiation protection is laid out by various legislations (Graham et al.,2007). The regulations relevant to radiographic work and the use of PPE in United Kingdom (UK) Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999(IRR 1999) Ionising Radiations (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2000 (IR(ME)R) Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995(RIDDOR 1995) Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) (Messer, 2009) The recommendations of The International Commission for Radiation Protection(ICRP), that radiation exposure to radiation workers and the patient should be As Low As Reasonably Achievable(ALARA) is generally accepted(Engel-Hills,2006), The recommendations of ICRP and the European union(EU) euratom directives have all had a significant impact on British law (Whitley et al., 2005) Principles of Radiation Protection IR(ME)R requires all medical exposures in diagnostic radiology to apply the radiation protection principles of justification, optimisation and dose limitation. (Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine(IPEM), 2002). These principles ensure patient dose is kept to the ALARP principle. The cardinal principles of radiation protection will be further discussed. Minimising Time: As the dose is directly proportional to duration of exposure, minimising the time of exposure results in reduced dose. Minimising the time spent near a radiation source also reduces exposure. This protection method finds its use in fluoroscopy. Other methods used in fluoroscopy, using this protection method to reduce exposure is pulsed progressive fluoroscopy and the regular interval reset timers (Bushong, 2001). Maximising Distance: The cheapest form of radiation protection is afforded by the inverse square law, which states that the radiation intensity varies to the inverse of the square of the distance (Farr and Allisy-Roberts 1997). This law holds true for the primary beam which is considered a point source of radiation. While using mobile x-ray units a radiographer can avail this principle of physics to get maximum protection by standing as far away from the source as possible with the aid of the long cable which should be at least 2metre from the x-ray tube during exposure (Bushong 2001). Dowd (1991) considers distance to be the simplest and most effective of radiation protection measures. Maximising Shielding: Maximising shielding between the radiation source and exposed personnel reduces radiation exposure considerably. The effectiveness of the shielding material is estimated in terms of its half-value layer(HVL), which is the amount of material needed to reduce radiation exposure in to half, and tenth-value layers(TVLs); which is the amount of material needed to reduce exposure to one tenth of its original amount. The preferred material for shielding is lead (Pb). The physics behind the usage of lead for protection is its high atomic number (82). This high atomic number ensures that a majority of scatter photons gets absorbed due to its high attenuation. PPE used in radiography departments: Lead Aprons: They are made from powdered lead incorporated in a binder of rubber or vinyl. They come in various lead equivalencies. If used as a secondary barrier to absorb scattered radiation an apron with lead equivalency of at least 0.25mm should be used. Lead aprons shall be at least 0.5mm of lead equivalent for fluoroscopy but can be higher to the range of 1mm of lead equivalence. The downside of greater lead equivalent aprons is the greater weight. Now manufacturers make aprons with composite materials-a combination of lead, barium and tungsten. They have reduced weight and provide better attenuation of radiation. Lead Gloves: They provide at least 0.25mm or more of lead equivalent protection. Used mainly in fluoroscopy or by people holding patients during examination. Thyroid Shields: Mainly for use while performing fluoroscopy, these offers protection to thyroid. Mobile Shields: These could be moved around and are sometimes used in angiography. Protective Eyewear: Protective glasses are used mainly in fluoroscopy to protect against the cataractogenic effect of radiation(Dowd and Tilson 1999). The concept used for radiation-protection practices is the effective dose(E). Effective dose considers the relative radio sensitivity of various tissues and organs. Effective Dose(E) =Radiation weighting factor(Wr) x Tissue weighting factor(Wt) x Absorbed dose (Bushong, 2001) Personnel Dosimetry: All classified radiation workers are routinely monitored for radiation exposures using personnel monitors. Though they do not provide any radiation protection on their own, they offer the quantity of radiation to which the person using the monitor was exposed. The commonly used dosimeters in diagnostic radiology are film badges, Thermoluminescent dosimeters(TLD) and the pocket dosimeter (Thompson et al.,1994). Local Rules which will include working procedures and protocols for the department should be always followed for the appropriate use of PPE Protective Methods/PPE usedng 2001,Bushong 2003) Conclusion: Writing an assignment about the appropriate use of PPE for radiation protection, the need to highlight radiation hazards was considered important and so the assignment started with a brief outlook of radiation hazards and subsequently radiation protection concept was discussed with emphasis on why staff and patients must be protected. The LNT dose response model for radiation protection and new concept favouring lower doses such as radiation hormesis was briefly addressed. The justification for using the LNT model for radiation protection was also emphasised. The legal requirement for radiation protection of patients and staff was discussed and legislations relevant to radiographic work in UK and other organisations influencing British law on radiation safety was discussed. Recommendations of ICRP, as low as reasonably achievable( ALARA) concept and the IR(ME)R requirements of radiation protection of patient through the principles of justification, optimization and limitation was also addressed. These introductory explanations, was considered important as they were the basis for the subject for radiation protection and highlighted the need for radiation protection in diagnostic imaging departments. Preparing the core of the work was not possible without addressing the cardinal principles of radiation protection, hence they were all discussed briefly, where these protection principles find its application for radiation protection in radiographic departments. Time, Distance, Shielding concepts of radiation protection was discussed. Distance and Shielding concept of radiation protection was discussed in detail as they find their use quite often in imaging departments. Material commonly used for shielding with the principles of physics behind its usage was also addressed. Concepts such as half -value layer(HVL) and tenth value layers (TVLs), used to define the effectiveness of the shielding material was also detailed. Personal protective equipment generally used in imaging departments such as lead rubber aprons, lead rubber gloves, thyroid shield, protective eye wear, mobile shield was discussed. Their appropriate usage in specific areas was also considered. Concept of effective dose was also briefly discussed as this was considered an important concept in radiation dose. Personnel dosimetry was discussed with a brief on the various types of personnel dosimeters used in diagnostic imaging departments, as these dosimeters play an important role in dose regulation and monitoring radiation exposure in staff. Radiation protection methods to reduce patient dose has not been elaborated and special arrangements for pregnant radiographer such as rotating out of high exposure areas such as mobile x-ray and fluoroscopy and wearing a secondary badge under the apron at waist level when involved in such examinations to measure foetal dose(Dowd and Tilson 1994) has not been addressed in the document, so as to keep the assignment within its permissible constraints. With all this being presented, it was decided to summarize the use of PPE and protection methods in various areas of a radiographic department; x-ray room, while using mobile x-ray equipment in wards and theatres, Fluoroscopy which is a major contributor of staff dose(Bushong 2001) and CT was considered. It was decided to project these points in a tabular format within the document for simplicity and to meet the assignment brief within the imposed limitations. It also demonstrates the appropriate usage of PPE and radiation protection methods. Adequate shielding in diagnostic imaging departments both primary and secondary shielding as required by legislations, means that a radiographer is sufficiently protected from the scatter, as long as they position themselves behind the protective barrier during exposure. This point is stressed within the tabular column in the document as this is considered an important radiation protection practice. X-ray tube incorporates lead shielding to attenuate the radiation travelling in any other direction other than the useful beam. The housing of the tube have a lead equivalent of typically 2.5mm (Farr and Allisy-Roberts 1997). This greatly reduces scatter or leaked radiation exposure to staff and patient. These and other protection measures incorporated with in modern x-ray machines such as collimation, beam alignment, filtration and other manual protective measures to reduce patient dose-including specific area shielding, such as contact shields and shadow shields which provide gonadal pr otection to patients have not been discussed in the document due to the scope and constraints of the assignment. All radiation protection methods employed to reduce patient dose bring down staff exposure as well, so good radiographic practice helps achieve reduced dose to both patient and staff (Graham et al., 2007) Local rules as required by IRR 1999, to be a part of all departments which involves working with ionising radiation has been addressed in the document briefly, but they are an important resource towards radiation protection as these rules include written systems of work, including protocols and procedures for the imaging department. Details of contingency plans and the names of Radiation protection advisers(RPA) and Radiation Protection Supervisors(RPS) are contained within the rules(Graham et al.,2007) Principles of physics, pertaining to the use of lead in the preparation of shielding materials have been discussed in the assignment. Reading the document will inform the reader about the appropriate use of PPE, as to where, when and why to use these PPE. It also informs the reader the various legislations associated with radiation protection and the use of PPE in UK. It also highlights the hazards caused by ionising radiation and the need for radiation protection. Hence the assignment brief has been addressed. Radiation protection is an important subject to be considered in the diagnostic radiography department (Moores, 2006) and hence a clear understanding of radiation protection issues is important. Ionizing radiation can cause real damage to current and future generations if not dealt with carefully, hence understanding radiation protection and the correct usage of PPE in aiding radiation protection through this work is considered important. Together with a wide range of resources, the valuable experience gained during the clinical placement in a radiography department, observing the safety practices and usage of PPE in the imaging departments and critical self evaluation of methods and practices using the aid of published works has helped me arrive at the key decisions which are addressed in the document. 1

Examining The Types Of Transaction Processing System Information Technology Essay

Examining The Types Of Transaction Processing System Information Technology Essay A transaction is any event, the real test, the data created or modified before storing in an information system through Transaction processing features Business success depends on reliable transaction processing to ensure that orders reach customers on time, and that partners and suppliers paid and can afford. The range of transaction processing is, therefore, led to a lively part of effective corporate governance, organizations like the Association of Labour Process Improvement and Transaction Processing Performance Council Systems transaction processing companies provide the means to ensure a smooth fast transaction processing for debit and development processes across the enterprise. Usually, a TPS will have the following characteristics: A supercomputing Rapid processing of transactions is critical to the success of any business now more than ever, given the developments in technology and customer demand for immediate action. TPS systems have been developed to trade almost immediately to ensure that customer data available to the processes they need. Reliability Similarly, customers do not tolerate mistakes. TPS systems must be designed not only to trade I was never able to pass through the net, but the systems remain permanently even in operation. TPS systems, therefore, are developed to integrate complete security monitoring systems and disaster recovery. These measures maintain the failure rate is within tolerance. Standardization Transactions should be processed in the same way each time to maximize efficiency. To ensure this, TPS interfaces are developed to obtain identical data for each transaction, regardless of the client. Controlled access Since the TPS can be systems such as a powerful business tool, access should be limited to only those employees who require their use. Limited access to the system ensures that employees, their qualifications and ability to control, can not affect the failure of the transaction. Qualifying transaction processing To qualify for TPS, transactions must pass through the acid test. ACID tests associated with the following four conditions: Individuality Atomicity means that a transaction is either completed or not at all. For example, if the money will be transferred from one account to another, it will not become a bone fide transactions, even though both withdrawal and deposit. If an account is charged and others are not appropriated can not be regarded as a measure. TPS systems to ensure that transactions take place in its entirety. Consistency TPS systems in a number of operating rules (or constraints). If you find a cap that all transactions must have a positive value in a database for each transaction will be rejected with a negative value. Isolation Transactions must be entered in a vacuum instead. For example, if you do a fund between the two accounts of debit and credit is made by others seem to take place simultaneously. Funds may be credited to the account before being loaded onto another. Resistance Once the transaction can not be undone. To ensure that this happens even if a loss of TPS, a document file created by the completion of all transactions. These four conditions TPS systems to engage in a systematic, standardized and reliable. Types of transactions The settlement process should be standardized in order to maximize efficiency, each requires a custom transaction process in accordance with business strategies and processes. For this reason, there are two types of operations: Batch processing batch processing is a resource-saving move, the processing of data at preset. batch processing is useful for companies who need to process large volumes of data using limited resources. Examples include processing transactions for credit card transactions monthly batch processed in real time. Credit card transactions are made only once a month to produce an explanation for the customer, batch processing saves computational resources to process separately for each transaction. Real-time processing In many cases, the most important factor is speed. For example, if a bank customer receives a sum of money in the account, it is important to keep processing transactions and updating account balance as soon as possible so that a part of both Bank and client funds. Database Management Issues The purpose of this book are correct and up to date understanding and appreciation for the practical aspects of critical yet poorly understood key aspects of the database. It identifies and explains some basic concepts, principles and techniques constantly causing trouble for users and suppliers. Evaluate the treatment of these topics in SQL (standard and commercial applications) and provides specific guidance and practical advice on how to handle (and how not to). Includes carefully, especially thin and misunderstood issues complex data types, missing information, data depends on the question hierarchies and so on -. Clear and concise format for busy professional database Three decades ago relational technology put the database field on a sound scientific basis for the first time. But database industry producers, users, experts and media has failed, in essence, principles, focusing instead on a cookbook approach to product without conceptual understanding. The consequences have been costly: DBMS products, databases, applications and development tools are not always perform up to expectation or potential, and may encourage the wrong questions and incorrect answers. Practical issues in database management is an attempt to create these persistent and costly problem. Written for database designers, developers, managers and users, it addresses the basic, often recurring problems and problems that practitioners even the most experienced here seem to systematically misunderstand, namely: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Unstructured data and complex data types à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ business rules and implementation of integrity à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Buttons à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Copy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Normalization and denormalization à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Entity subtypes and supertypes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ data hierarchies and recursive queries à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Redundancy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Share query à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ lack of information Fabian Pascal examine these critical issues in detail, comparing the cost of serious mistreatment of the practical benefits of implementing the right solutions. With a focus on principles and practices used examples Practice problems in the real world database to provide an assessment of current technology SQL-based DBMS products and, if possible, provide concrete recommendations and solutions. From the insight provided by practical problems in database management, youll be in better position to evaluate these products, use their skills and weaknesses to avoid. Database Architecture database professionals today are faced with more choices when you consider the use of architecture to meet the different needs of employers and / or address of the customer. The text below provides an overview of three main types of database architectures and sub-categories, as well as provide an insight into the strengths of each. Application logic The database architecture is based on how the application logic is distributed throughout the system can be distinguished. Application logic consists of three elements: presentation logic, processing logic and logical storage. Presentation logic component is responsible for formatting and presenting data on the screen of the data processing logic manages user data processing logic, business rules, logic and data management logic. Finally, the logical storage unit that is responsible for the storage and retrieval of current devices, such as a hard disk or RAM. In determining the level (s) of these components, we develop a good idea what kind of architecture and subtype can be achieved. A tier architecture Imagine a person on a desktop computer to load Microsoft Access, a list of personal addresses and phone numbers he or she has stored in MS Windows My Documents folder is used. This is an example of database-tier architecture. Program (Microsoft Access) to operate the local users computer, and points to a file stored on the hard disk of the machine, so that access to a unique natural resource and process information. Another example of a one-tier architecture is a file-server architecture. In this scenario, a database of the group from a shared location on a computer are stored. Members of a group working with a software package such as Microsoft Access, to upload data and process them locally on your computer. In this case, the data may be shared between users, but all processing is performed on the local computer. In fact, only one file server external hard drive from which files are recovered. Another way of architecture level showed that the mainframe computer. In this system obsolete, large machines can direct terminal ill with the tools to open, view and manage data. Although this system as a client-server, since all the computing power (both data and applications) is made from a single computer, we have a one-tier architecture. The architecture can be beneficial when dealing with data from a particular user (or small number of users), and a relatively small amount of data. We are going to implement something cheap and clean. Two Tier Client/Server Architectures A two-tier architecture is one that is familiar to many of todays computer users.   A common implementation of this type of system is that of a Microsoft Windows based client program that accesses a server database such as Oracle or SQL Server.   Users interact through a GUI (Graphical User Interface) to communicate with the database server across a network via SQL (Structured Query Language). In two-tier architectures it is important to note that two configurations exist.   A thin-client (fat-server) configuration exists when most of the processing occurs on the server tier.   Conversely, a fat-client (thin-server) configuration exists when most of the processing occurs on the client machine. Another example of a two-tier architecture can be seen in web-based database applications.   In this case, users interact with the database through applications that are hosted on a web-server and displayed through a web-browser such as Internet Explorer. The web server processes the web application, which can be written in a language such as PHP or ASP.   The web app connects to a database server to pass along SQL statements which in turn are used to access, view, and modify data.   The DB server then passes back the requested data which is then formatted by the web server for the user. Although this appears to be a three-tier system because of the number of machines required to complete the process, it is not.   The web-server does not normally house any of the business rules and therefore should be considered part of the client tier in partnership with the web-browser. Two-tier architectures can prove to be beneficial when we have a relatively small number of users on the system (100-150) and we desire an increased level of scalability. http://www.windowsecurity.com/img/upl/image0011173862784565.gif Two-Tier Client-Server Architecture http://www.windowsecurity.com/img/upl/image0021173862784580.gif Web-Based, Two-Tier Client-Server Architecture N-Tier Client/Server Architectures Most n-tier database architectures exist in a three-tier configuration. In this architecture the client/server model expands to include a middle tier (business tier), which is an application server that houses the business logic.   This middle tier relieves the client application(s) and database server of some of their processing duties by translating client calls into database queries and translating data from the database into client data in return.   Consequently, the client and server never talk directly to one-another. A variation of the n-tier architecture is the web-based n-tier application.   These systems combine the scalability benefits of n-tier client/server systems with the rich user interface of web-based systems. Because the middle tier in a three-tier architecture contains the business logic, there is greatly increased scalability and isolation of the business logic, as well as added flexibility in the choice of database vendors. http://www.windowsecurity.com/img/upl/image0031173862902205.gif Three-Tier Client-Server Architecture http://www.windowsecurity.com/img/upl/image0041173862902221.gif Web-Based, Three-Tier Client Server Architecture

Franz Kafkas Use of Humor Essay -- Biography Biographies Essays

Franz Kafka's Use of Humor Franz Kafka, born on July 3, 1883 in Bohemia, in the city of Prague, has been recognized as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. His works have been called "cloudy, mysterious, inexplicable" (Oates ix). Most people hear the term Kafkan or Kafkaesque and think of dark, fantastic tales with almost no basis in our known reality. But what of Kafka's sense of humor? I personally laughed out loud several times while reading Kafka's Amerika. Were these snippets of humor part of Kafka's plan or mere accidents? According to Roy Pascal, author of Kafka's Narrators: A Study of His Stories and Sketches, "There is a good deal of humour in these early stories, as in the novels and later stories, but it is often ambiguous and can be overlooked" (Pascal 40). The humor that Pascal refers to is not the usual vaudeville, slap- stick so common in today's society. "Kafka never laughed so much as he did with [Felix] Weltsch, and it was Weltsch who first stressed the role of humor in Kafka's work - gallows humor spiked with desperation, but liberating for them both (Pawel 131). Kafka was a man who was more subtle than most and preferred his humor in a more deliberate vein. Irony was a flavor that seemed to work better for Kafka. By taking a look at some of Kafka's works we can see this irony more clearly. In Kafka's short story entitled, "The Judgement," written in 1912, we see one of the unusual uses of irony by Kafka. The central figure, Georg Bendemann, has just gotten into a long and somewhat heated argument with his aging and infirm father. Suddenly Georg's father "threw the blankets off with a strength that sent them all flying in a moment and sprang erect in bed. Only one hand touched the ... ...afka used humor, as shown here, he used it to further emphasize the horror of what was going on in his worlds. Works Cited Gray, Ronald. Franz Kafka. London: Cambridge University Press, 1975. 74-75. Janouch, Gustav. Conversations with Kafka. Trans. Goronwy Rees. New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1971. 33. Kafka, Franz. The Complete Stories & Parables. Trans. Willa and Edwin Muir. New York: Quality Paperback Book Club, n.d. - - -, Amerika, Trans. Willa and Edwin Muir. New York, Schoken Books, 1974. Oates, Joyce Carol. Foreword to: The Complete Stories & Parables. Trans. Willa and Edwin Muir. New York: Quality Paperback Book Club, n.d. Pascal, Roy. Kafka's Narrators: A Study of His Stories and Sketches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. 189-230. Pawel, Ernst. The Nightmare of Reason. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1984.

Moby Dick - Characters of Captain Ahab and Ishmael :: Moby Dick Essays

The characters of captain Ahab and Ishmael are almost opposites.   About the only things the two share in common are that they are both seamen and they both are on a hunt for a whale. Ishmael is a pleasing character, who plays the role of the main character as well as narrator.   He is a common man who has a love for the sea, and goes to it to clear his mind whenever he feels down or feels that it is â€Å"a damp, drizzly November† in his soul.   As for his physical appearance, he doesn’t really specify.   However, one might assume that he is a middle-aged man and probably holds the characteristics of the â€Å"stereotypical seaman†.   But, what the character lacks in physical description, he makes up for with a full personality that his described extensively throughout the book.   Ishmael is a man who seeks what is best described as â€Å"inner peace†.   He is very content with himself when on the water, and has a great love for being a seaman.   He joins the crew of the Pequod to satisfy his longing to be back on the ocean, but as it turns out, the particular voyage he is to set out on is not what he had suspected.   F or this ship would be commanded by a half-crazed captain in a desperate search for a viscous white whale.   Over all, Ishmael is definitely the most civilized and wise man in the story.      Captain Ahab is an overwhelmingly intimidating character in the story, and can probably be considered the most deranged of them all.   His radical obsession with finding and killing the white whale known as â€Å"Moby-Dick† causes Ishmael and others of the crew to become frightened at his abnormal behavior.   Ahab’s physical appearance is best described as foreboding and evil.   He is a tall man with gray hair, and is missing a leg due to a death-defying confrontation with Moby-Dick himself.   His new artificial leg is made from the bone of whale and once again adds to his intimidating form.   His personality is also quite mad.   He has a maniacal presence about him and would risk his life and the lives of his crewmen just to fulfill his mission of demented revenge.   Melville does a fine job describing this particular character with the utmost extremeness.    The characters of Ishmael and Ahab are two that have a great and critical impact on the book.

Distance Learning Essay -- Education Distant Learn Essays

Distance Learning "As we enter the Information Age, more and more adults from various economic and cultural backgrounds, already in the workplace, and with families are seeking to educate themselves to keep up in their careers" (Duderstadt, J., 1999). Whether that is through Higher Education, the university system, or their company's Intranet is usually dependent upon the learner. The ways that they seek to educate and re-educate themselves to stay abreast with current trends in their jobs is the topic of this paper, Distance Learning. Many of these non-traditional students are looking to advance their careers through education by non-traditional means. They may have constraints that keep them from attending a structured classroom environment. It is this population that forces Higher Education and the corporate Educational Services to rethink their approach and delivery of instruction. For example, a few days ago I was in the Securities and Loan office of Fidelity National Bank conducting a Needs Assessment on a young SPA Loan Officer Trainee. The young man, a recent graduate in Finance and Economics from Kennesaw State University, planned to enroll in the MBA program at Harvard University. That of course prompted me to ask, "How do you plan to complete a MBA at Harvard and continue your work here in Atlanta?" His reply, "I would take these courses online and meet at the school the second Saturday of every month." He then went on to say that a MBA from Harvard carries a lot of weight in this town's financial community. With new technologies and the Web, more and more Universities as distinguished as Harvard, are putting Masters and Doctorate programs online. Not only are these Universities using the Internet to p... ...orks Cited Comeaux, P. (1995, Oct.). The impact of an interactive distance learning network on classroom classroom communication. Communication Education, 44(4), 353-361. Duderstadt, J. (1999) Can colleges survive in the information age? In Dancing with the Devil. (p.4). San Francisco, Calif.: Joss-Bass Publishers. Harmon, S.W. & Hirumi, A. (1996, May). A systemic approach to the integration of interactive distance learning into education and training. Journal of Education for Business. 71 (5), 2 267-271 Retrieved September 30, 1999 from EBSCO business search on the Galileo: http://www.galileo.gsu.edu. Lohman, J. (1998, Sept.) Classrooms without walls: Three companies that took the plunge. Training and Development (52)9 38-42 Matthews, D. (1999) The origins of distance education and its use in the united states. The Journal. 54-64.

Violent Video Games Are Harmful to Young People

Violent video games can definitely be harmful to young people, especially very young, easily influenced children. Maybe they don’t affect each child the same, but I’m sure that there are times when they negatively affect the life of an adolescent. I would imagine that any one exposed to violence like some I’ve seen on some video games, would pick up the behavior subconsciously over time, even if they don’t consciously act violent. Sometimes young people who play games like these sort of separate themselves from reality, which leads to angry behavior.Other times, it leads straight to violence because that’s what these kids know and experience daily on the television screen. Everyone has heard the controversy surrounding the hugely popular Grand Theft Auto games. In which, young people steal cars and kill people for absolutely no reason. I see this as a perfect example. I wonder how often kids spend time playing this game, or others similar to it, and suddenly start acting out violently as a result. I believe that young people don’t always necessarily have the maturity to realize that video games aren’t real.It’s at these young ages that our lives are shaped, and we learn by example to become well rounded adults. If kids are constantly observing violence, then as they age they are sure to act violently or at least harbor a great deal of anger into adulthood. While I haven’t seen this happen first hand, I’m sure that this type of thing happens all the time with young people who play violent video games all the time. Doubt: I seriously have to wonder if violent video games are harmful to young people.It seems like blaming video games is the most pleasant way for parents to avoid taking the responsibility for raising a violent kid. It’s just like how so often people blame kids’ bad behavior on music or television shows. I’ve watched violent movies, heard violent music, even pl ayed violent video games, but I don’t run around killing people or robbing liquor stores. Does that mean that the games I played weren’t violent enough to affect me? If these games are so harmful to young people, then how did I avoid these harmful side effects of them?Furthermore, if violent video games have the potential to turn sweet little children into murderers, then why does our government allow them to be sold all over our country? To me it sounds awfully familiar to the concept that rock n’ roll taught children to be wild and rambunctious. Then there’s the claim that rap music makes kids hate women and sell drugs. Young people might be easily influenced, but they aren’t stupid. It all boils down to how they were raised. I think that violent adults are most likely the result of parents who didn’t do their jobs correctly when their children were young.I mean, give young people some credit, most of them turn out all right, despite the t hings they are exposed to on a daily basis. Assuming that violent video games makes every kid violent is like believing that every young person that observes a person smoking a cigarette is going to pick up the habit. Just because kids are young that doesn’t mean that they don’t have the brain to choose how they act. I know plenty of people who love violent video games, and who are not violent people. Therefore, it’s wrong to claim that violent video games are harmful to all young people.

Left Wing Extremism Essay

Six years back, when on November 4, 2004, the Prime Minister proclaimed Left Wing Extremism as the biggest threat confronting the nation that had to be dealt at ‘war footing’, it had a ring of resolve of a freshly elected government to take the bull by its horns. However, when he repeats the same now, it carries an air of helpless lamentation. The efforts at war footing notwithstanding, during the last six years, the area under Naxal influence has nearly doubled extending to nearly 203 districts in fourteen states. The strength of armed guerrillas has swelled from less than 7,000 then to somewhere around 13,500 now. Left extremists, today, have many more and much sophisticated weapons; (estimated to be nearly 14000 as against 5500 in 2004) and have upgraded their tactics, field craft and skills in handling weapons and explosives manifold. They raise funds nearly to the tune of Rs. 1,200 Crore a year, which in an impoverished area of their dominance is a huge amount to create instability and enables them to pay regular monthly salaries to their armed cadres. Economic conditions of the people have by and large remained unchanged despite sizeable developmental outlays – most of the funds either misused or siphoned off by the corrupt. It would be erroneous to infer that the government took no initiatives both at security and developmental fronts to deal with the situation. However, in terms of results achieved, the efforts made have failed to achieve the expected results. It makes it a case less of error of intention, and more of lack of capability, which in a national security paradigm is a cause of much greater concern. The matter that needs to be pondered over is why a country of India’s Comprehensive National Power is unable to cope with an existentialist threat from an ideology that has been defeated and discredited world over, is unable to counter an offensive by under-resourced and ill trained tribals and despite being world’s biggest democracy is unable to mobilize its civil society in its fight against the extremists, whose agenda is patently anti-national. The first requirement for designing an effective response is to accept the realities as they are and to make a hard assessment of the enemy – his mindset, doctrines, capabilities and goals. One can not win unless one fights and one can not fight till one is able to define the enemy – boldly and bluntly. One major reason why we, as a state, have often gone wrong in our responses and not derived full value out of our efforts and sacrifices is our fear to face the hard realities as they exist, notwithstanding the compelling evidence. What needs to be accepted by all those in power and those who aspire for it is that Left Wing extremism is pure and simple terrorism that fully meets the conventional definition of the term i. e. Use of violence to terrorise people for achieving political objectives’. Their armed struggle is for acquiring and then retaining political power through barrel of the gun and both in theory and practice they have not deviated from this goal. While often advanced causative factors –developmental, social, political etc. – may have ample justifications on their own merit, for Maoists they are only instrumentalities to seize political control. In pursuance of this end, they are prepared to make a common cause with all those who are inclined to give expression to their dissent through violence. They support everything that negates Indian nationhood – may it be the secessionists in J&K, insurgents in North East, radical Islamic groups or armed ethnic groups. In an interview in 2007 Ganapathy, the Secretary General of CPI-Maoists asserted â€Å"We see the Islamic upsurge as a progressive anti-imperialist force in the contemporary world. It is wrong to describe the struggle that is going on in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya as Islamic fundamentalism. Our Party supports the Islamic upsurge†. Commenting on 26/11 massacre of Mumbai, Bimal, Polit Bureau Member was quoted in Hindustan Times that â€Å"We do not support the way they attacked the Victoria station, where most of the victims were Muslims. At the same time, we feel the Islamic upsurge should not be opposed as it is basically anti-US and anti-imperialist in nature. We therefore want it to grow. † Varavara Rao referring to North East insurgencies stated on May 13, 2007 that â€Å"This is a time for all revolutionary, democratic and nationality movements, like the ones in Kashmir and the Northeast to unite, and something will come out of this unity†. They stand against India’s sovereignty, unity, democratic polity and civilisational values and hence will have to be fought and defeated at all planes – ideological, political, and physical. Any dilution in accepting this basic character of the threat will only compound the problem and prolong the national agony. Having settled the goal, the next stage is working out the strategy to achieve it. It is obvious that the policy of ‘blow hot blow cold’ does not work and only betrays the confusion indecisiveness of those in power. It also demoralizes the security personnel. Indecisiveness is a consequence of fear and needs to be shunned. The security apparatus of the country, given the right resources, empowerments and leadership is quite strong and resilient to take on the Left Extremists. They need to be provided best of weapons, vehicles, communication equipment, armoured personnel carriers, night vision devices, portable gen-sets, direction finders etc. There is also an urgent need to improve their living conditions, making safe their work places and keeping their morale high. Most importantly, tactical plans should be well deliberated upon by senior and experienced officers and wherever possible duly rehearsed. It is particularly necessary where central forces have to work along side the local police forces. Maoists are great political analysts who carefully work-out their long term strategy and tactical plans. Maoists in their political estimates assess, and probably with some justification, that the political class in the country, irrespective of the brand names that they carry, are fast losing their legitimacy and credibility. The elected representatives hold their positions more by virtue of legality of the process that catapultes them to power than the moral authority, trust and respect of the people that they claim to represent. The credibility of the governmental apparatus to provide a sense of security and justice to the people, redress their basic grievances, assure development and assure dignity is at a low ebb. Most of the extremist actions analysed in strategic terms are aimed at exploiting this in firmity and indulging in acts will further erode the legitimacy and credibility of the system. Their attacks on police and para-military forces are aimed at demonstrating that the coercive power of the government is a myth as it is even unable to protect itself. Their holding Jan Adalats, imposing fines and dictating terms for talks are calculated to undermine the government’s ability to enforce its writ and authority and gave credibility to their propaganda that government is only a ‘paper tiger’. On the contrary, the state has been able to do little to demolish the contrived self image of the Left Extremists as saviors of the people. The discordant voices within the government and display of confusion and indecisiveness immensely boost their moral. While the far flung tribal areas are in the news because of incidents of violence what is lesser known is their fast spreading influence in urban suburbs, among the trade unions, unemployed youth etc. much beyond the tribal areas. To meet this grave challenge the political class first needs to do a serious introspection and subordinate their party interests if not for the larger national interests than at least for their own self interest. All political parties need to realize that they face an existentialist threat as the political power, the booty of the war, has to be seized from them. This is a classical model of Fourth Generation Warfare-(4GW) – a warfare where the enemy is invisible and the battle is for the control of civil society – through coercion, controlling the hearts and minds of the people or delivering results by redressing grievances of the people. The modern day guru of Fourth Generation Warfare, William Lind aptly observes that, â€Å"If nation states are going to survive, people in power must earn and keep the trust of the governed. Addressing the American Council of Foreign Relations he said â€Å"The heart of Fourth Generation Warfare is a crisis of legitimacy of the state†. How true to the Indian model when he added that, â€Å"The establishment is no longer made up of ‘policy types’- most of its important functionaries are placemen. Their expertise is in becom ing and then remaining members of the establishment. Their reality is covert politics and not the competence or expertise†. When the 4GW will visit them their response would be to â€Å"close the shutters on the windows of Versailles†. Majority of the people in Maoist affected areas and even their supporters and cadres have little to do with Maoism at ideological level. They are only alienated and angered people with real of perceived sense of injustice, oppression and indignity. Maoists are cleverly exploiting this sentiment to their advantage – caste conflicts in Bihar, resentment against landlords in Andhra, discontent against forest laws in tribal areas, unemployment amongst youth and radicalism among Muslims are all given prescription of capture of power through gun as the ultimate solution of all their problems. While the local grievances need to be effectively addressed through improved governance and ruthless accountability, there is also a need for creating mass awareness of the ultimate designs and consequences of what the extremists stand for. Maoist propaganda must also be effectively countered, particularly at the political level. Democratic political parties have plenty of political arguments and facts in their favour to demolish the subversive propaganda of the Left extremists. They also have reach and access upto village levels with intimate social networking that needs to be arnessed. This task cannot be undertaken by the government agencies or the police. Additionally, through a concerted, credible and sustained psy-war offensive contradiction in their ideologies and practices, tales of their brutalities, collaborations with the rich to collect funds, incidents of moral turpitude etc. should be highlighted. The local and national media, think tanks and NGOs operating in the region could be leveraged for the purpose. Some of their front organizations, masquerading as think tanks and NGOs engaged in subversive propaganda also need to be tackled effectively. At tactical level the most important advantage of 4GW warriors is the advantage of invisibility. Only quality operational intelligence can make them visible for counter tactical operations aimed at pre-empting, preventing and punishing the depredators. It is also the only instrumentality through which they can be tactically surprised and their advantage of speed and surprise neutralized. The tendency to raise additional battalions without corresponding accretion in operational intelligence capability creates little pressure on the extremists and only provides them more targets to hit at. State Police forces, with their intimate knowledge of the terrain, language and local people are best equipped to develop ground intelligence. They need to be resourced and trained for intelligence work. Diversion of at least 30% of central modernization grants to state police for intelligence up-gradation should be made mandatory. Money is one of the most important factors helping extremists to acquire weapons and explosives, raise their cadre strength by recruiting youth on regular salaries and carrying out mass mobilization programmes. They are reportedly collecting Rs. 1,600 crore a year, which is a big money for carrying out armed insurrection in an impoverished area. With a determined effort and much lower risk, the governments can take stern actions against business houses paying protection money, transporters paying levies, contractors giving taxes and corrupt government officials sharing the loot from the developmental funds. Most would be willing to cooperate if provided sense of security and protection which can be achieved at a much lesser cost. There is no doubt that this menace ultimately will be contained and countered. A finely chiseled strategic response is required only to minimize its cost to the nation in terms of valuable lives lost, growth and development stalled and innocent people falling prey to malicious propaganda of the extremists. The civil society and opinion builders have a vital role to play in this. They should create right pressures on the politicians and create broad spectrum awareness among the people to help bring about a convergence in national response.