The Harmonicus Culture of Hong Kong - 561 Words

What place has the best harmony of the east and the west in the world do you think? The Middle East? Southeast Asia? or China town in the US? I think Hong Kong has the best harmonious culture in the world because it was a part of England and China, and many people from Hong Kong can speak English and Chinese. Even until now, China is not much open as many other liberal economy countries, but Hong Kong is. According to Milton Friedman who is one of the famous economies in the world, and who were awarded the Novel Prize in Economic Sciences, Hong Kong is a good example of the free market system. Therefore, Hong Kong has been influenced many different cultures, and it becomes one of the harmoniest countries in the world. It became independent from England, but it has not been included China yet, so it has very distinctive culture. It was established in July 1st 1997 and would be a part of China 50 years after 1997 (Hong Kong Basic Law). Hong Kong rapidly developed social systems and eco nomy in 1980. Therefore, there are many similarities and differences between 1980 and now. First, old Hong Kong and now Hong Kong have similarities in culture, especially movie industry. Hong Kong is one of the most famous movie stars’ home town such as Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Sammo Hung. In fact, Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco, and he lived and went to school in the US, but he went Hong Kong when he was 3 year old baby and grew up in Hong Kong. By his impressive martial arts and

Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots - 1688 Words

Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots During the sixteenth century there where many conflicts which occurred between Catholics and Protestants. The Kings and Queens of England especially kept on changing between both religions. This made it very difficult for the people of England to choose a religion because laws kept on getting changed in regard to practicing religion. When Elizabeth I became Queen she became the new defender of the faith, thus making Protestantism the official religion. One of the harshest parts of Elizabeths reign was the whole Mary, Queen of Scots, ordeal. Mary was Elizabeths cousin and next in line to the throne. Of course Mary was Catholic and that is what made the whole issue an issue. This paper will†¦show more content†¦She became the darling of the Northern Catholics who hoped to remove that upstart commoner William Cecil and his Protestant Queen, replacing them with Mary. It seems to have been purely a political arrangement and it failed almost before it began, but the north ern earls rose in revolt and died for the idea. 19 Parliament and the country at large clamored for the execution of the two principles. Norfolk was exacuted as a traitor and Marys life was saved only by Elizabeth who refused to agree to Parliaments demands for her death. 20 Mary never learned from her past experience and continued to conspire against Elizabeth. Finally in 1586 letters were intercepted from Mary which conclusively proved her involvement in a plot organized by Anthony Babington to murder Elizabeth and a commission was set up to examine and try Mary at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire. 21 The commission, consisting of leading peers, councilors and judges, found Mary guilty on two charges of treason, and in November 1586 both Houses of Parliament unanimously petitioned Elizabeth to proceed to the just sentence of execution. 22 For two months Elizabeth agonized over the decision. She hated the thought of killing a relative as well she knew that Mary s death would arouse fierce resentment throughout Catholic Europe and would likely spark retaliation. 23 After endless thought and stalling, Elizabeth finally gaveShow MoreRelatedA Royal Catfight: The Battle Between Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Mary Stuart1465 Words   |  6 PagesThe reign of Queen Elizabeth I was known as the Elizabethan Age. 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When Elizabeth came into power, she had to rebuild the ruins that her half-sister, Mary I, had left ofRead MoreQueen Elizabeth I Of England1040 Words   |  5 PagesElizabeth sat in her bedroom in the Buckingham palace brushing her long, curly, red hair which was stained with strands of gray. She focused on the mirror and softly stared at the freckles on her pale skin, which looked as if it needed to be ironed, and her dark brown eyes that looked like a black hole against her pale complexion. The year was 1587, Elizabeth had gone through so much to be here. Oh, my mistake, I should probably refer to her by her formal name. The Elizabeth of this daring storyRead More Queen Elizabeth Essay966 Words   |  4 Pages Queen Elizabeth was born on September 7, in 1533 to a royal couple by the name of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. She pertained a strong personality and strong political skills in overlooking marriage proposals and intensely flirting with many available suitors. She reigned over England without a king or children (Britannia: Elizabeth 1). Her father was known for the execution of his wives. The king had announced that any daughter would be illegitimate to the line of succession because his upcomingRead MoreMary Queen of Scots Research Paper686 Words   |  3 PagesMary Queen of Scots Research Paper * 1542 * 8 December; Mary Stuart is born at Linlithgow Palace * 14 December; James V, King of Scots, Marys father, dies at 31 * 1543 * Mary crowned Queen of Scots * 1546 * Cardinal Beaton is murdered; ascendancy of pro-French party * 1547 * January; King Henry VIII of England dies * March; King Francis I of France dies * 10 September; battle of Pinkie; Scots defeated by EnglishRead MoreEssay The Elizabethan Monarchy1138 Words   |  5 PagesThe Elizabethan Era was from 1533 (the birth of Queen Elizabeth 1) till 1603 (her death). Queen Elizabeth was the one who was responsible for what happened to the country during this era. For Queen Elizabeth, being part of the Elizabethan Royalty was a tough and challenging task. She played an important role within the religious conflicts for power between England and its neighboring countries, had the constant pressure to produce a successor, and had to endure sexual discrimination for being aRead MoreMary Stuart Was a Good Queen in Scotland: How about England? Essay1126 Words   |  5 Pagesthe 1500s, many great Kings and Queen existed of whom a few will go down in history as some of the greatest leaders of all time. Elizabeth I being the queen of England during 1533-1603 and Mary Stuart ruling Scotland for the years of 1542-1567, Mary Stuart was al ways eager to take Elizabeth I’s spot, and she was always trying to find new ways to try to take the throne. Yet, if Mary Stuart was successful in taking the throne would she be a good queen? 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Contract Case Law Theory of Contract Law

Question: Discuss about the Report for Contract Case Law the Theory of Contract Law. Answer: 1. According to contract, there are certain essential elements that have to be present to which an agreement becomes legally enforceable contract. For example, in such a case, an offer should be made by one party and the other party should accept the offer. Valid consideration is also required and similarly the parties should also have the intention of creating legal relations. Apart from it, the party should have the capacity to contact (McDonald, 2015). In the present case, the principles of contract law have been applied to the given situation and advice has been given to be concerned persons. Advice for Connor: In this case, Connor had placed a notice on the windscreen of his car in which he has expressed his desire to sell his car for $26,000. According to the law of contract, this notice cannot be considered as an offer but it is merely an invitation to treat. The difference between the two is that while an offer can be accepted for creating a valid contract, if other essential elements are present, an invitation to treat is made only with a view to invite offers from the other parties (Partridge v Crittenden, 1968). Therefore in the present case, the notice is an invitation to treat. Moreover, one that had decided to accept the offer made by Dolly and he wrote a letter to Dolly in which he agreed to sell the car for $20,000 on 2:30 PM Monday. This letter was received on Wednesday at 10 AM. However later on, Connor received the note written by Eileen in which she had stressed her desire to purchase the car for $26,000. Conner immediately leaves a message on the answering machine of Dolly in which he tells Dolly to ignore the letter of acceptance received by her and calls off the deal. However the law of contract provides that once an offer has been accepted, it cannot be revoked by using a faster means of communication (Atiyah, 1990). In this regard the postal role of acceptance is also applicable to the letters of acceptance and provides that once a letter carrying the acceptance of the offer has been posted, the acceptance is complete. Advice for Dolly: the law of contract provides that once an offer has been accepted, it cannot be revoked by the party accepting the offer, by using a faster means of communication. At the same time, the law also provides that the postal rule of acceptance is also applicable in such cases. According to this rule, the acceptance of the offer is complete as soon as the letter containing the acceptance is placed in the mailbox (Beale, (ed) 2002). In this way, this rule provides an exception to the general rule which provides that the acceptance of the offer is considered to be effective only when it has been communicated to the party making the offer (Dickinson v Dodds, 1876). In the present case, Dolly saw notice on the windscreen of the car but she decided not to stop and therefore she made a phone call to Connor and said that she can give $23,000 for the car. In this way, it can be said that in return of the invitation to treat (Fisher v Bell, 1961) made by Connor, Dolly had made an offer for purchasi ng the car at $23,000. Connor did not accept the offer immediately but promised to think over it. Therefore on Monday, Connor decided to accept the offer and wrote a letter in which he had accepted the offer made by Dolly and agreed to sell the car for $23,000. The postal rule of acceptance was provided by the court for the first time in Adams v Lindsell (1818) when the court stated that generally any form of acceptance needs to be communicated expressly to the party making the offer but when the letter of acceptance has been posted, the acceptance is considered to be complete as soon as the letter of acceptance is put in the mailbox. Therefore in the present case, it can be said that Dolly has a contract with Connor for purchasing the car at a price of $23,000. Advice for Eileen: in the present case, Eileen also saw the car and she went to Connor's home. However he was not at home and Eileen met her daughter, Hetti. Therefore, Eileen gave a note to Hetti in which it was written that she will come to take the car on Monday 11.05 a.m. she also enclosed a check for $26,000 along with the note. Hetti left this note on Connor's desk by before he could see the note and the cheque, Connor decided to accept the offer made by Dolly. However in this regard, the law of contract provides that according to the general rule, the acceptance of the offer needs to be communicated to the party that has made the offer. Therefore, in this context, acceptance can be described as an unequivocal statement, whether in writing or oral or in some cases by conduct, by the offeree through which it has agreed to the offer. The law also provides that the offer can only be accepted by the person to whom it has been directed. In order to constitute a valid acceptance, the statement or the c onduct amounting to acceptance should take place in response to the offer (Benson, (ed) 2001). An obligation cannot be imposed on the other party to expressly reject or accept the offer (Felthouse v Bindley, 1862).In the present case, the notice placed by Connor on the windscreen of the car cannot be considered as an offer but it was merely an invitation to treat (Crown v Clarke, 1927). On the other hand, in the present case, Eileen could have made an offer to purchase the car in return of the invitation to treat made by Connor and it was up to Connor to accept or reject the offer made by Eileen to purchase the car at $26,000. Therefore in this case, Eileen does not have a contract with Connor. Advice for Fiona: In this case, after seeing the notice placed by Connor, Fianna decided to accept the offer and she posted a letter in which she had accepted to buy the car for $26,000. She also sent a cheque for $26,000 along with the letter. However, she did not address the letter correctly and as a result; the letter was received by Connor only on Friday. Under the circumstances, it needs to be considered if the postal acceptance rule can be applied in the present case and it can be said that the offer has been accepted by Fiona as soon as she had placed the letter carrying the acceptance of the offer in the mail box (Burrows, Finn and Todd, 2002). The law provides that when post has been condemned alleged by the parties as the means of communicating the offer and acceptance, the acceptance will be completed as soon as the letter containing the acceptance has been placed in the mailbox (Craswell and Schwartz, (eds) 1994). But in such cases it is required that the letter containing the acceptance s hould be properly addressed (Re London Northern Bank, ex p. Jones, 1900). But in the present case, Fiona had not properly addressed the letter. The effect of this situation is that it cannot be said that the acceptance of the offer one part of Fiona was complete as soon as she placed the letter in the mail box. At the same time, it also needs to be noted that in this case the notice placed by Connor cannot be treated as an offer but it was only an invitation to treat. Therefore, it can be said that in this case there is no contract between Fiona and Connor. Advice Dan whether he is entitled to compensation from Toff Dry Cleaners This issue has arisen in the present case because when Dan took his dinner suit and the silk dress of his wife to Toff dry cleaners, a firm that has been used by his family for dry cleaning in the past also. However, Dan was given a docket and as usual, a put it in his pocket without reading it. When Dan returned to collect the clothes, he was told by the firm that his dinner suit was missing and moreover the silk dress of his wife has been badly stained. The firm gave no explanation for the stained dress. However, when Dan asked for compensation for his loss, the owner of the firm pointed out towards a clause present on the docket according to which the firm was not liable for any loss or damage to the clothes that were left for cleaning. In this regard, the owner of the firm also pointed out towards a sign present at the back of the shop in which it was stated that although the firm takes all the care in dry cleaning the clothes of their customers but they cannot be held responsibl e for any loss or damage howsoever it may be caused. On the other hand, Dan claims that he had not read the clause mentioned that the back of the docket and neither did he saw the sign present at the back of the shop. Under the circumstances, it needs to be considered if Toff Dry Cleaners can rely on this exclusion clause for the purpose of excluding their liability for the damage suffered by Dan. An exclusion clause is used by one party to the contract for the purpose of limiting or excluding its liability (McDonald, 2015). The legal position in this regard that as is the case with any of the term of the contract, an exclusion clause can also be incorporated in a contract if it is present in assigned contractual document and it does not matter if the other party has not read or understood the term (McDonald, 2008). Therefore the law provides that when the parties have entered into a written contract and signed the document, the parties will be bound by all the terms of the contract regardless of the fact that one party to the contract has not read the term (Conaghan and Mansell, 1993). A leading case in this regard is that of L'Estrange v Graucob (1934). In this case, a cigarette vending machine has been purchased by the claimant that was going to be used in a caf. In this case, the claimant signed the order form and on it, it has been mentioned in small print that any express or implied condition or warranty is excluded. Therefore when the vending machine did not work properly, the claimant tried to reject the machine in accordance with the Sale of Goods Act and claimed that the machine was not of merchantable quality. However, the court stated that the defendant was protected by the exclusion clause. By signing the order form, the claimant was bound by all the terms that were present in the form regardless of the fact that the claimant had not read the form. The result was that the claim was unsuccessful. Would it make any difference if Dan had noticed the clause on the docket and the assistant had said: "That excludes liability for damage to buttons and zippers". In the present case if Dan would have noticed the presence of the exclusion clause on the docket given to him, it could have been said that such a clause is a part of the contract that was created between Dan and Toff Dry Cleaners. However, Toff Dry Cleaners will still not be able to rely on this was for the purpose of excluding their liability for the damage suffered by the silk dress of his wife and the loss of his dinner suit because in this case, it can be said that Dan had entered the contract with Toff Dry Cleaners on the basis of the misrepresentation that was made by an assistant at the shop. In this case, the assistant had told Dan that the exclusion clause mentioned on the docket only excludes the liability of the firm for any damage suffered by buttons and zippers. But in reality, the exclusion clause has been inserted by the firm for the purpose of excluding the liability of the firm for any loss or damage suffered by the clothes of the customers. In this way, it can be s aid that the assistant had made a misrepresentation and Dan had relied on such a misrepresentation by entering into a contract with the firm (Cooke, 2004). As a result, in such a case, even if the exclusion clause has been noticed by Dan and it can be considered as a part of the contract but Dan had entered the contract on the basis of the misrepresentation made by the assistant and therefore, Toff Dry Cleaners cannot rely on this clause for the purpose of excluding their liability. Assume that Dan is entitled to compensation for the loss of his dinner suit and the stained sikk dress. He now tells you that because of what has happened is wife has suffered emotional distress because the dress was a family heirloom. He also tells you that he and his wife had to hire, at considerable expense, a dinner suit and address for a formal occasion because of the loss and damage. The issue that needs to be decided in this question is related to the remoteness of damages. It has to be seen if Dan can claim compensation for the emotional distress suffered by his wife as the damaged this was a family heirloom and also for the expenses incurred by Dan and his wife for hiring clothes at a considerable expense. In order to deal with such cases, the law provides the mechanism of remoteness which places a limit on the ability of the claimant to recover damages to the damages only those were the reasonably foreseeable consequence of the act (Harlow, 2005). In this way, the law provides that the defendant cannot be held liable for the damages that are too remote. The test that can be used to decide the remoteness of damages provides that the damages suffered by the claimant will be considered as too remote if the damages were not reasonably foreseeable by the defendant (Hepple, 1997). As a result in the present case also, it can be said that Dan claim damages for the e motional distress suffered by her wife and also for the expenses incurred by him for hiring a dinner suit and a dress. References Atiyah, P.S. 1990, Essays on Contract, Oxford University Press, New York Beale, H. (ed) 2002, Cases, Materials and Text on Contract Law, Hart Publishing, Oxford Benson, P. (ed) 2001, The Theory of Contract Law: New Essays (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Burrows, J.F., Finn, J. and Todd, S. 2002, The Law of Contract in New Zealand (2nd ed, LexisNexis NZ, Wellington Conaghan, J and Mansell, W (1993) The Wrongs of Tort , Chapter 2. Pluto Press Cooke, P J (2004) Primary victims: the end of the road? 25(1) Liverpool Law Journal 29 Craswell, R. and Schwartz, A. (eds) 1994, Foundations of Contract Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford Harlow, C (2005) Understanding Tort Law , 3rd edn, Chapter 2. Sweet Maxwell Hepple, B (1997) Negligence: the search for coherence Current Legal Problems McDonald, B. (2008). Contractual exclusions and indemnities of liability for negligence, In GJ Tolhurst, Elisabeth Peden (Eds.), Commercial Issues in Contract Law: Papers from the Commercial Law Quarterly 20th Anniversary Conference, (pp. 7-25) University of Sydney: Ross Parsons Centre of Commercial, Corporate and Taxation Law. McDonald, B. (2015) Chester v Waverley Corporation (1939) Evatt J., Great Australian Dissents Workshop: Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, Kensington, NSW: Presentation McDonald, B. (2015). Law reform, legislation and the common law, Private Law in 21st Century: TC Beirne School of Law, Brisbane, Qld Case Law Adams v Lindsell (1818) 1 B Ald 681 Crown v Clarke (1927) 40 CLR 227 Curtis v Chemical Cleaning and Dyeing Co Ltd [1951] 1KB 805 Dickinson v Dodds (1876) 2 Ch D 463 Felthouse v Bindley (1862) 142 ER 1037) Fisher v Bell [1961] 1 QB 394 L'Estrange v Graucob [1934] 2 KB 394 Partridge v Crittenden [1968] 1 WLR 1204 Re London Northern Bank, ex p. Jones [1900] 1 Ch 220

Celie and Shugs first physical encounter Essay Example

Celie and Shugs first physical encounter Paper In the following letter Shug approaches Celie and says that she must leave. Celie is devastated by this, and is shown by the following quote, I dont say nothing. Feel like I felt when Nettie left. This extract highlights the growing feelings Celie has for Shug. Celie now begins to see Shug as a close personal friend; Nettie was the only female Celie had a close relationship with; Shug has now taken this role. The first section of the letter on pages 68-70 conveys Celies jealousy towards the relationship between Shug and Albert. The first sentence shows that Celie is still upset that Shug is leaving; Celie then turns this sadness into anger through realising that Shug is sleeping with Albert. Now we all know she going sometime soon, they sleep together at night. The two diverse issues mentioned show that Celie is confused and does not know what to think of Shug. The alliteration of sometime soon and also the consonance on the s sound create a feeling of pace and rhythm, this conveys that Celie is willing to move onto another subject as the current one brings much sadness. The second part of the sentence shows Celies hatred, the consonance on the t and its plosive edge portrays Celies anger and frustration on the matter. This part of the sentence is also monosyllabic except for the word together, as this word contains three syllables we get the feeling that Celie is running this word over in her mind and picturing the relationship between Shug and Albert. As the rest of the section is monosyllabic it shows Celie does not wish to elaborate and so is shocked at the actions of Shug. We will write a custom essay sample on Celie and Shugs first physical encounter specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Celie and Shugs first physical encounter specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Celie and Shugs first physical encounter specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In the next sentence there is more of a realisation from Celie that Shug and Albert sleep together frequently. Not every night, but almost every night This strong, mid-line pause creates this understanding. In the following paragraph Celie becomes frustrated at Alberts treatment of women as mere objects, And just to look at her. The sentence begins with the conjunction and; this represents negative thoughts and anger from Celie over Alberts lack of consideration for Shugs personality. The use of the pronoun her shows that Celie has little respect for Shug at this present moment. Celie may be confused as to why Shug has a relationship with Albert when Celie knows that she respects Shug as a person as well as taking into account her good looks. The quote is monosyllabic and conveys that Celie does not wish to waste her breath over something she has seen many times before. Celie is depicting Albert as a stereotypical male. The feeling that Shug enjoys her relationship with Albert is shown through a number of sentences. do you mind if Albert sleep with me? The wording of this extract builds up a feeling that Albert is very much in control of Shug; Albert sleeps with Shug, Shug does not sleep with Albert. Shug then openly declares to Celie that she enjoys sleeping with Albert, I just love it. Additionally, Shug states that she still has a passion for Albert. It becomes clear that Shug still loves Albert even though she sees him as a bully as well as weak and many other negative statements. Celie seems to have latched on to the fact that Shug still loves Albert; this factor increases Celies jealousy and hatred towards Albert, and possibly Shug. You still love him, I ast. The lack of a question mark signifies the quote as imperative. Celie is not asking but simply stating, in an aggressive manner, that Shug loves Albert. The use of the pronoun him conveys that Celie still has little or no respect for Albert. Monosyllabic words are used to create a short and sharp sounding sentence to reflect Celies anger and frustration. Celie is most likely confused as to why Shug is sleeping with a man who is violent towards women.

Heating Properties of Firewood by Tree Species

Heating Properties of Firewood by Tree Species Firewood performance can differ from species to species. The type of tree you use for burning can vary widely in heat content, burning characteristics, and overall quality. I have created a table that presents several important burning characteristics for many species used in North America. The chart ranks each tree species by its density which is a good indicator of overall heating effectiveness. Wood Characteristics Influencing Quality Heating and Ignition Density of Wood - density is the amount of space a volume or mass of firewood occupies. The denser the wood, the less space its given mass takes up and the greater a particular volume of firewood weighs.  For an example,  hickory is about twice as dense as aspen, so a cubic foot of hickory weighs approximately 50 pounds while a cubic foot of aspen weighs only about 25 pounds.   Green Vs. Dry Wood - Firewood should be dried (seasoned) to 10% to 20% moisture content for best burning performance. Much of the energy generated from burning green firewood actually goes toward evaporating the water held in the wood. Green firewood only gives off about 40% of the energy of dry firewood. To get the most heat production out of your firewood, you should season it by first cutting into short log bolts. Split these bolts and stack in a dry,  well-ventilated  area for at least six months before burning. Available Heat by Wood Species  - Available heat is a measure of the heat given off when wood is burnt and measured in million British Thermal Units. Hardwood trees give  off more energy in BTUs than a comparable volume of softwood because it is denser. It should be noted that  the volatile oils in some softwoods can increase the heat output of some species but only for a short time. Ease of Splitting - Wood with a straight grain is easier to split than wood with a tighter more complex grain. Knots, branches, and other defects can also increase the difficulty of splitting firewood. Remember that dry wood is generally easier to split than green wood. Ease of Igniting Firewood - Ignition ability is an important factor wood factor. Low-density wood is easier to light than denser wood. Woods with higher levels of volatile chemicals in their structure, such as conifers, will ignite  and burn more readily than those with less volatile chemicals. These woods should be used to start fires where dry  high-density woods will provide the heat. Definitions of Chart Terms Density - woods dry weight per unit volume. Denser or heavier wood contains more heat per volume. Note that hickory ranks at the top of the list.Green Weight - the weight in pounds of a cord of freshly cut wood before drying.mmBTUs - million British Thermal Units. The woods actual available heat measured in BTUs.Coaling - wood that forms long-lasting coals are good to use in wood stoves because they allow a fire to be carried over a longer period effectively. Wood Heating Values Chart Common Name Density-lbs/cu.ft. Pounds/cd. (green) Million BTUs/cd. Coaling Hickory 50 4,327 27.7 good Osage-orange 50 5,120 32.9 excellent Black locust 44 4,616 27.9 excellent White oak 44 5,573 29.1 excellent Red oak 41 4,888 24.6 excellent White ash 40 3,952 24.2 good Sugar maple 42 4,685 25.5 excellent Elm 35 4,456 20.0 excellent Beech 41 NA 27.5 excellent Yellow birch 42 4,312 20.8 good Black walnut 35 4,584 22.2 good Sycamore 34 5,096 19.5 good Silver maple 32 3,904 19.0 excellent Hemlock 27 NA 19.3 poor Cherry 33 3,696 20.4 excellent Cottonwood 27 4,640 15.8 good Willow 35 4,320 17.6 poor Aspen 25 NA 18.2 good Basswood 25 4,404 13.8 poor White pine 23 NA 15.9 poor Ponderosa Pine 3,600 16.2 fair Eastern Red Cedar 31 2,950 18.2 poor

Four Brothers Essays

Four Brothers Essays Four Brothers Paper Four Brothers Paper Essay Topic: Film Four Brothers was released in 2005 worldwide and told an amazing story about four adoptive brothers who are not blood related going through the trauma of losing their adoptive mother in a gruesome murder attack and work together to capture their mothers killer for revenge. Although these brothers are not blood related, they show the real loyalty and love of a real family. The director and producer of the movie is John Singleton who has directed many successful movie blockbusters including 2 Fast 2 Furious and Hustle Flow. The certificate of the movie is 15 with scenes of a sexual nature and strong language. This action movie keeps you at the edge of your seats impatiently waiting for more to come. The movie also brings tension and makes you feel like you have butterflies swarming in your stomach making your heart race and its a good feeling. : The movie brings scenes of humour and gets you to understand the real values of having a family because in the early stages of their life, the brothers were brought together as complete strangers and still love one another from all that time ago when they are reunited at their mothers funeral. But even as they reconnect, their main objective is to find the truth behind their moms murder. As they search out the thugs and other lowlifes who might have an idea about what really went down, it begins to dawn on the brothers that there was more to their mothers murder than meets the eye. The actors in the movie are, Mark Wahlberg, (Italian Job, The Departed) who plays Bobby Mercer, the eldest of the four and is the brother who is in control of everything and does most of the killing in the movie to try to find out who killed his mother and is always too overprotective of his younger brother Jack Mercer. Another actor in the movie is, Andre Benjamin from the world famous RB duo Outcast with his brother, Big Boi. Andre plays Jerry Mercer the 2nd oldest, who is shy businessman but very secretive brother who has hidden information from his brothers in connection to their mothers killer and also gained her $400,000 (Â £200,000) life insurance. But what does he do with the money? Successful music artist Tyrese Gibson plays Angel Mercer and is the 3rd oldest out of the four and he is only interested in satisfying his girlfriend Sofi in the bedroom who is played by Rosarita Sofia Vergara and killing the low-life thugs in connection to their mothers murder but is so frustrated by the fact that Bobby is always having arguments with Sofi because she wont let him go out and solve the mystery murder because she wants to have dinner with him so Angel is always stuck in the middle. The youngest out of the four who is played by Garrett Hedlund (Friday Night Lights) is Jack Mercer who hates killing and is too quiet to be able to express his feelings to his brothers. Because of this, Bobby assumes Jack is gay and calls him Jackie/Jacqueline. The movie is set in a poor and ghetto part of Detroit, with not so fortunate people and a lot of killings, pimps, stealing and many more disastrous things happening constantly. Cold and harsh colours are used to portray the citys underbelly to the crimson blood that flows after the gunfights in the city. Fortunately, the brothers are able to look after themselves but are not able to keep out of trouble. Always up to no good, you will witness the brothers breaking bones, to massacre shootouts that they get away with anyway. At the start of this promisingly exciting action movie, their mother is shot and killed in a grocery store hold up, which has more to it than it seems with a local gangster kingpin named Victor Sweet (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and a bent police officer, Detective Fowler, (Josh Charles) in connection to the murder but no one knows. Or do they? Fortunately for the brothers, they also have police connection, Detective Green, (Terrence Dashon Howard, Hustle Flow) who knows their trouble and grew up with them in the neighbourhood so lets them get away with everything through self-defence. But his life is taken when he discovers Detective Fowlers secret. The stunts are outstanding from cars flipping over to an amazing shoot out with the four brothers vs. a team of masked men who come in there 30s. Although the brothers win the shoot out, it doesnt end up all sweeter then sugar, as they will be mourning a brother, but which one? Fortunately, Four Brothers won No.1 movie Box- Office with $20.7 million. As the movie released, it became a huge achievement as Terrence Dashon Howard won the Break Through Artist Award and John Singleton won the Best Image Award. In conclusion, this winning movie has a fantastic and relieving end. The film does an admirable job of stomping on a few cinematic racial stereotypes. The good guys arent all white; the bad guys arent all black. And while no one should look to Four Brothers as a message movie, it is a gritty, absorbing film thats for the most part worth seeing. The movies is out on DVD and on Sky Movies on occasion so if you want to watch it, go to your local Blockbuster store or library and rent the DVD or buy it in your local HMV store or buy online on the internet.

Human Resource Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Human Resource - Case Study Example They can feel underappreciated and not valued for their efforts although their turnover rate is higher. In such cases there is a high exit rate of minorities as they feel they can avail better chance of growth elsewhere. Discrimination charges are also feared by the organization which can bring bad name to the company and ruin reputation Q2:What were the key elements in BLAHNA’s successful diversity strategy ? Ans2: The finding of workplace diversity committee was the stepping stone which lead to the successful diversity strategy of BLAHNA. Working on these findings the advisory committee formed a multi-pronged approach which built bridges between broader communities outside the organization which proved very vital. Apart from these the learning and training seminar to improve communication and interaction were quite important. The â€Å"consulting pairs† process is also a key to success of diversity strategy as it is really helpful in resolving conflicts within the com pany. Q3:Under what circumstance consulting pair approach is most useful ? Ans3: When there is a conflict between two peers or between a manager and a employee a consulting pair is called for the facilitation of the discussion and conflict/problem resolution.

Analysis of Story Of The Three LIttle Bears by Eleanor Mure Essay

Analysis of Story Of The Three LIttle Bears by Eleanor Mure - Essay Example After reading the short story, I could feel no gratification at all, especially since the ending is quite unusual. Unlike in most children’s stories that have a happy ending or a lesson, the significant lesson to be learned from the story is not quite clear to me, and I think this would be the case for children who would read this too. It implies punishment for people who do not respect other people’s property. For me, this would not be effective. Rewards would be more appealing in teaching children. Perhaps one of the lessons that the author tries to teach here is that of moderation. Goldilocks finds herself choosing the middle path. She likes the porridge that is not too warm nor too cold; she chooses the chair that is not too hard nor too soft; and she prefers the bed that does not have too much space above her head or below her feet. Yet, if this lesson is indeed the intention of this story, then it is not clear as no obvious rewards are given for her actions. On the contrary, punishment is implied for Goldilocks at the end of the story. It troubles me that the words â€Å"she broke her neck† were used at the end to imply punishment for her rude and disrespectful behavior. But then again, whether or not she was indeed punished is left for the reader to guess, as there was no trace of her and the bears never saw her again. I find this quite troubling, since it makes me wonder what the point of the story really is. There is no clear reward or punishment for the actions that Goldilocks did, and thus, whatever the lesson this story is supposed to teach children is not reinforced. During the course of the story, I felt a sense of hope that it would end up great. Since the bears were polite and good-natured, I was hoping that they would forgive Goldilocks for what she did. Yet when it reached the end, Goldilocks simply ran away. The story leaves the reader hanging, and not pleasantly at that. Digging deeper than just reading the short story on the book, I

Dickens novels Essay Example for Free

Dickens novels Essay Hard Times was one of Dickens’ novels that focuses mainly on the education system and industrialisation. Dickens was furious about the changes in industrialisation throughout the Victorian period and this motivated him enormously to write the novel. Industrialisation meant that working conditions were poor and it had a massive impact on the way schools were run. Dickens hated Victorian schools; he saw the Victorian education system as boring and monotonous and often wrote essays to show his anger and frustration at the government and those responsible for what he saw as the poor schooling techniques. Dickens creates Coketown in this novel and it is used as a representation of the government at that time and is seen as a perfect world for the fact obsessed characters but the novel explores how this way of living is not healthy. Dickens suggests that facts have become a way of life, like a religion, which was very unacceptable for that time because in the Victorian period people were especially religious and that facts were taking over a religion would have been seen as disgusting  Dickens suggests that English towns around the industrialized era are ugly, polluted and debilitated, he suggests this because facts, repetition and the lack of individuality was taking over, one of the ways he achieves this is through his description of coketown. ‘Coketown’ suggests a very scary, dull and boring place, Dickens would have intended us to have this perception because this is how he saw the government’s way of teaching and he wanted us to perceive it in the same way that he did. He also wanted us to see through his description how monotonous and unhealthy the town and way of life in that area had become. Dickens describes the school in this novel as bland, containing no creativeness, or embellishment, a framework built purely on facts and reality alone. The rooms consist of white-washed walls, stripped and bare revealing the actuality industry at the time. Dickens describes the rooms as ‘plain, bare monotonous vault of a school-room’. The word ‘vault’ suggests the school-room takes the image of a jail cell; bare, isolated, barred windows. Therefore this also suggests the pupils attending the school represent prisoners- influenced by the oppressive rules and watchful eye of Gradgrind. Their order is even arranged like prisoners, in a regular pattern, rows spaced evenly, closely monitored and not allowed to move.The rooms consist of white-washed walls, stript and bare revealing the actuality industry at the time. Dickens describes the rooms as ‘plain, bare monotonous vault of a school One of the main statements Dickens is trying to make throughout this novel is the obsession and repetitiveness of facts. The word fact is repeated so much that it feels like its being shoved into the children’s heads. We hope to have, before long, a board of fact, composed of commissioners of fact, who will force the people to be a people of fact and nothing but fact. This firstly shows that it is not just Gradgrind that is obsessed with facts, it is the whole school; implying the whole education system is like this. Also they wish for the facts to be forced upon all people as they are doing in the school. Dickens put Gradgrind across as forceful, having high standards, obsessed and full of facts and wishing every one of his pupils to be as smart as he is. Mr MChoakumchild is portrayed very similarly to Gradgrind, this gives the impression that all teachers of this time were like this. A character who is a representation for Dickens views is Gradgrind. He is used as a representation because he is made to be everything Dickens is against where education is concerned. ‘Forming the minds of reasoning animals’, Gradgrind is referring to the children as animals for testing out his way of education, he does not see them as human he sees them as animals that he needs to train to be just like him. However there are characters in the novel that challenge his way of teaching and try to be individual but Gradgrind sees this as wrong and tries to stop them and get them back in line. actuality industry at the time. Dickens describes the rooms as ‘plain, bare monotonous vault of a school-room’. The word ‘vault’ suggests the school-room takes the image of a jail cell; bare, isolated, barred windows. Therefore this also suggests the pupils attending the schooactuality industry at the time. Dickens describes the rooms as ‘plain, bare monotonous vault of a school-room’. The word ‘vault’ suggests the school-room takes the image of a jail cell; bare, isolated, barred windows. Therefore this also suggests the pupils attending the school represent prisoners- influenced by the oppressive rules and watchful eye of Gradgrind. Their order is even arranged like prisoners, in a regular pattern, rows spaced evenly, closely monitored and not allowed to move.One character who shows a contrast to the Victorian education system is Sissy Jupe. She is polite and full of life, she curtsy’s to address to Gradgrind and this shows how cheerful and polite she is. You can tell sissy loves and respects her father a lot from when she says ‘it’s father calls me Sissy sir’. Gradgrind tries to intimidate Sissy and because she is such a shy character Gradgrind easily embarrasses her with his intimidation ‘she would have blushed deeper, is she could have blushed deeper’ This shows the healthy colour in her face which represents how full of life she is and the fact she could have blushed deeper and deeper shows that she has so many different ideas and wonderful individuality that they just want to burst out of her as she is being made to keep them locked inside her.

Characterization in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet :: William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Act One of William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, we meet Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt. Right away, we get an idea of who these characters are and what kind of role they will play throughout the story. Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt share many distinctive characteristics and personalities in the story. We learn that Romeo is the romantic and handsome son of the Montagues. In the beginning of the story, he was depressed, but his mood quickly changed as the story went on. We also learn that Mercutio is Romeo’s closest and good friend who tries to make Romeo forget about his first love, Rosaline. He is a great entertainer and he’s very sarcastic too. Instantly, we learn that Tybalt is a Capulet and Juliet’s cousin. He is very hot-headed, aggressive, and violent. He loathes the Montagues very much. Finally, in Act One of William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, we meet three characters, Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt and we d irectly get an idea of what the characters are like.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the beginning of the story, we find out that Romeo is very depressed, but towards the end, he starts changing to be romantic. In the beginning of the story, the Montagues ask Benvolio of Romeo’s whereabouts. Benvolio answers that Romeo has seemed troubled about something since the morning. Montague quotes, â€Å"Away from light steals home my heavy son and private in his chamber pens himself, shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out, and makes himself an artificial night†(I, i, 138-141). He’s talking about how Romeo looks so sad that it seems as if he doesn’t want to come home and he rather be locked up in a room with shut windows blocking daylight in or out. This makes Montague think that it sounds like Romeo is making himself live in an imaginary, not existing, fake world all by his lonesome self. When Benvolio and Romeo meet, they talk about what is bothering Romeo. This is when we learn that Romeo is depressed by the rejecti on of his love, Rosaline, who believes in chastity. Also, Rosaline won’t return the love that Romeo is waiting impatiently for. So this is why Romeo is heart-broken. But later, Romeo relieves his depressed feelings and he soon becomes romantic when he meets his new love, Juliet. When Romeo first sees Juliet at the Capulet ball, he completely forgets about Rosaline and falls in love with Juliet at first sight.

Festival: Meaning of Life and Festivals Essay

A festival is an event which is celebrated collectively for celebrating a cause. Festivals are mostly celebrated to propagate the cultural heritage of nations. Festivals highlight various aspects of a society. For example people in all around the world celebrate Christmas, New Year, Sports events such as Olymics, Easter, Eid and other religious and cultural events to exhibit their emotions and happiness. Festivals at national level help to promote solidarity and patriotic spirit in the society. Religious festivals all around the world bring convergence and propagate acceptance of all kinds of religions in different geographical segments. International festivals help to increase brotherhood and remove ethnic racism in the world. Owing to the fact that world has become a global village, celebrations of all kinds of festivals in a country improves the overall image of the country and shows the acceptance of cultural diversity in the country. They help keeping alive the older traditions and provide entertainment to the people celebrating events in different parts of the world.All the festivals that we celebrate have some profound meaning in it and they have some pragmatic purpose also. If we take the example of Christmas, we all know that why it is being celebrated but when it comes to the purposes that it serves along with the religious one; primarily it is a psychological one. We all need some days of break in our life from our regular job. Sometimes we take it voluntarily but mass don’t understand the purpose of taking break and it is for these people, the festivals serve better that anybody. They are forced to enjoy life and thus they can improve the quality of their life. There are some other purposes also that a festival serves and usually you will find that people meet each other along with their families and thus improve their social life. So now you can understand the meaning of celebrating a festival and we expect that you will also spread the message celebration the world over.

Social Stratification

Question: What are the causes of social stratification in the Caribbean? Throughout our lives, there must have been some form of categorization whether your complexion or financial status. Even in today’s society, people are judged and put into groups based on their race or even sometimes religion. This is known as Social Stratification. This however could not be possible without a diversed Caribbean that is present today. Cultural Diversity then speaks about the different ethnic traditions such as custom, race and language that are found in the society. Take for example Jamaica that has a motto â€Å"Out of Many One People†. This can be seen as a perfect example as many different races or ethnic groups reside in Jamaica and widely the Caribbean. As a result, a means of Social Stratification takes place in the society. Mohammad (2007) states that it is a ranking system which organizes or places persons in the society in a hierarchy. In addition, it can be classified as a characteristic of society as it appears to be present in most of our Caribbean islands. Although this is viewed as a form of inequality, the system was derived from events that took place some years ago. The main causes of social stratification are the Plantation System, Emancipation and Social Mobility. Historically, this system started on the fields of the sugar plantation. The persons who toiled in the hot sun in the fields were known as slaves and were viewed as the â€Å"lesser people†. Their masters however were the opposite as they had all the power and wealth so they were seen as more highly and respectable individuals. A distinction between them had begun as the gap between them had gotten bigger due to the mobility of the masters. A hierarchy was built and the slaves could be seen at the bottom due to the bias judgment of the pigment of their skin. During this period of history according to Greenwood (2003), a middle class was also developed owning to the fact that not all persons were classified as slaves or whites. Therefore a middle class was now a part of the hierarchy and they were called the mulattos. These sets of people were still judged on the colour of their skin and the materialistic things that they owned. This brought much segregation and division among them because of the differing cultures and the whites believing that they were better than others around them. Emancipation which took place years after the Plantation System with the slaves also helped with Social stratification that most Caribbean islands are experiencing now. Emancipation is the period in history when many of the African slaves got freed. Despite the fact that freeing the slaves was indeed an advantage to them, it brought a negative effect. With freedom came the advantage of schooling and getting educated, however not many persons were able to go forward with it. There was a division among the Blacks or the ex-slaves as only the better ones were able to get the chance to be taught. When this took place, many of the ex-slaves felt that they were lesser than even their own race or group and so there was categorizing present as even the whites were then divided into two groups, the Petite and the Blancs. This caused much hatred among them as social status made them feel as though they were superior to others. With the use of the hierarchy, there must have been some movement of persons whether up or down the ranking of the social ladder. This is known as social mobility; which even in today’s society it is taking place. It is even taking place as we speak. Mohammed (2007) states â€Å"Education is the primary means of accessing social mobility throughout the region† (p. 65). It is through education that most of the Caribbean leaders rise to such high authority or positions. Even in today’s society, it is the persons who are wealthy and are of light complexion that gets recognition for jobs and positions. Everyone else who falls below that, is classified as poor and is in the lower class on the hierarchy. Weber argues that social class is primarily based on power, prestige or status. In conclusion it can be said that social stratification all started from the days of slavery and even nowadays persons are still being ranked on race, colour, sex, religion and finance. References Greenwood, R. , Hamber, S. (1980). Arawaks to Africans. Macmillan Publishers Limited Mohammed, J (2007). Caribbean Studies for Cape Examinations. Macmillan Publishers Limited http://wps. prenhall. com/ca_ph_macionis_sociology_5/23/6031/1544046. cw/index. html http://www. youthlinkjamaica. com/cxc/sociology20030916. html http://stmarys. ca/~evanderveen/wvdv/class_relations/social_stratification. htm

buy custom Accounting essay

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

Conditionals Besides If and Unless

Conditionals Besides If and Unless Conditionals Besides If and Unless Conditionals Besides If and Unless By Mark Nichol If and unless are common conditional conjunctions employed to express conjecture and uncertainty, but a number of other words and phrases that perform similar functions are discussed in this post. â€Å"Should you† is the future conditional form of â€Å"do you,† seen in formally polite requests such as â€Å"Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.† It is more flexible than â€Å"if you,† which is strictly conditional in the present, in inviting the audience to contact the speaker/writer at any time, not just now. â€Å"Had you† is an example of a subject-auxiliary inversion, employed in statements such as ‘Had you bothered to ask, I would have told you.† The implication of the sentence is that the audience did not do something that, if he or she or they had, would have achieved the stated result. â€Å"If (noun/pronoun) were† statements pertain to possible but improbable occurrences or to recommendations, as in â€Å"If you were to open your eyes, you would find what you were looking for.† A more formal version of this form is â€Å"were (noun/pronoun) to (verb),† as in â€Å"Were we to think otherwise.† Several words or phrases impose conditions or set limits, such as â€Å"As long as† (less formal) or â€Å"so long as,† (more formal), â€Å"only if,† â€Å"on condition that,† and â€Å"provided† or â€Å"providing† (or â€Å"provided/providing that†). The conjunction or is used conditionally to establish an alternative possibility to a condition or state: â€Å"Hurry up, or you’ll be late.† Otherwise, as used earlier in this post, is a pronoun; as a conjunctive adverb, it serves the same function as or (but notice the difference in punctuation): â€Å"Hurry up; otherwise, you’ll be late.† (Some writing guides accept the punctuation used with or.) Suppose and supposing apply to what-if situations: â€Å"Suppose that I were to say no- what would you do?† â€Å"Supposing that I were to say no, what would you do?† Suppose also pertains to proposing an idea, as in â€Å"Suppose I pay for dinner, and you buy the movie tickets?† In â€Å"if only,† only appears as an intensifier to express a strong wish for a different condition or state, as in â€Å"If only you had told me before.† â€Å"If so† and â€Å"if not† pertain to opposite potential affirmative and negative conditions or states, respectively, when the condition or state is known: â€Å"Do you plan to attend the event? If so, click on yes. If not, click on no.† Even is also used as an intensifier with if, but unlike in the case of only, it precedes if; it pertains to extreme or surprising conditions or states, as in â€Å"Even if I were to believe you, what would you expect me to do about it?† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to Use â€Å"That,† â€Å"Which,† and â€Å"Who†35 Genres and Other Varieties of FictionAdvance vs. Advanced

How Healthcare Strategies differ from other business Strategies Research Paper

How Healthcare Strategies differ from other business Strategies - Research Paper Example lthcare strategies aim at ensuring excellent treatment services to the patients while business strategies aim at maximizing profits and minimizing losses. The main purpose of this research paper is to outline how health care strategies differ from other business strategies (Moseley 23). In health care, which is different from other business strategies, the business days as usual have ended. Around the globe, almost every healthcare facility is putting efforts to cope with the rising cost and irregular treatment quality in spite of the well-intentioned and trained clinicians’ hard work. Health care facility managers and policy makers have attempted numerous incremental fixes, reducing errors, attacking fraud, trying to make patients better â€Å"customers†, establishing electronic medical data records, and enforcing medical practice guidelines but none of these measures have had much effect (Moseley 24). The scope of this paper is the management and planning of strategy in certain industries, those that associates with the financing and delivery of health care services in the United States. The term health care in its broad sense includes managed care organization, small group practices, large group practices, academic physician academic, health maintenance organizations, and independent and solo physician practices among others (Moseley 25). Heath care also involves Health plans, Health insurance companies, Community hospitals, Specialty hospitals, Teaching hospitals, Community Health centers, and Multi-specialty group practices. The companies associated with Health care strategy are pharmaceutical companies, DME manufacturers, regulatory public health agencies, biomedical and biotechnological companies, public health financing agencies (CMS), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and state public health departments. Heath care takes into account all these industries for disburseme nts approaching a fifth of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the United

The Impact of Globalization On Labour Markets Essay

The Impact of Globalization On Labour Markets - Essay Example This very fact could be regarded as one important negative aspect of globalisation over the labour market when it allowed for a substantial hike in the wage rates of skilled labour force (owing to premiums over wages) but at the same time increased the difference with that earned by the low-skilled or unskilled group of labour. The present paper is dedicated to a proper examination of the impact that globalisation had over the labour markets across the world with the help of literature background supported by proper empirical evidences. In addition, it also attempts to enlist the functions of the International Labour Organisation and suggests remedies to correct the negative impact that globalisation had over the labour market. Introduction Globalisation had been one of the most significant of all revolutions to have affected human civilisation. It assisted the transmission of resources between nations so that the problems arising out of resource crunch at one location could be easil y tackled. Initially, the procedure had been associated with hefty cross-border duties as well as transaction costs, though these expenses eventually started receding with time. The nature of resources nonetheless had been restricted at the outset, limited only to commodities. In fact, there had been economic concerns which restrained nations from importing or exporting services from their peers. Commodity trade themselves had been associated with a high cost. However, this practice was later discovered as a delusion as the merits of free trade gradually came to the forefront. This kicked off the transfer of human resources across national premises as well. Thus globalisation had a... This essay stresses that globalisation is characterised by a reduction or relaxation in trade tariffs so as to promote international openness thus facilitating free flow of goods and services between nations. This particular aspect had been very beneficial for the global labour market from a number of aspects such as betterment in the wage structure of both skilled and unskilled labour forces than what it had been immediately after the World War. Apart from that there had been a considerable fall in the rate of unemployment around the globe. This is essentially due to the fact that openness has helped people to migrate across international premises so that an excess supply at one corner of the world is compensated by excess demand in another. This paper makes a conclusion that there had been an efficient allocation of factor resources as well in addition to improvements in economic activities which is reflected through betterment in the economic growth rates of nations across the world. Hence, all nations are instigated to add up to their capital stocks which ultimately result to greater factor productivities and shoved up the economic growth rates further. However, the hikes in wage rates were also followed by a rising disparity in the wage rates between groups of skilled and unskilled labours. On the other hand, lack of monopoly now deprived the trade unions of their bargaining powers so that the unskilled labour force was left to loom behind in impoverished living conditions.

Research paper on GMO's Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

On GMO's - Research Paper Example This is because more than 80% of the total global food requirements come from plants (WHO, 1987). As a topic, GMO’s not only concerns the fields of biotechnology and genetic engineering but also a topic of economic, political, and social cultural interests. Each of this field has a stake or role to play in adoption of GMO’s. The future of the globe interims of food sustainability depends of effective research of GMO’s. Genetic modification results when there is an alteration in the configuration of genes in the cell of an organism. This alteration can result from delectation of insertion of new genes from the cells of another species. Genes are tiny strands found in the cells of all living organism and they are known to be the carriers DNA. All organisms have unique number of genes and any alteration of the genetic material result in creation of organisms that have different characteristics from those of their parents. The reality on GMO’s was realized in 1975 when the discussion about the new invention was launched at Asilomar conference. The meeting concluded that production of GMO’s should be carried out when scientist have done considerable research on the safety of GMO’s. However, production of GMO’s plants was first carried out in Canada and the US in 1982 when farmers were given genetically modified seeds for experimental purpose. In the recent history, there has been more progress in the production of genetically modified plants than genetically modified animals. Genetic modification can be applied to produce animals that have enhanced capabilities such as resistance to certain disease (Gary, 2005). In addition, genetic modification can result in physical modification of animals. Following the current developments in biotechnology and genetic engineering, there has been concern about economic application of GMO’s. It is obvious that the focus is the growing

Aristotle Biography Essay Example for Free

Aristotle Biography Essay Aristotle Aristotle was a prominent figure in history that created many philosophies during his time. He is ranked among the greatest philosophers to ever live. He moved around to many different interesting places during much of his lifetime and loved to teach. In my opinion, the most well-known philosophy is his concept of logic. Because Aristotle’s philosophies and concepts of logic and reasoning have affected much of the past, his legacy will endure for many years to come. Aristotle was born in 384 B. C in Stagira, the small city in the Macedonian region of northeastern Greece. At the age of 17, he moved to Athens to attend Plato’s Academy where he remained there for almost 40 years. He journeyed around the world then for a little while continuing his philosophical activities. When in Lesbos, he married his first wife, Pythias, with whom they had a child also named Pythias. In 343, Aristotle was appointed to be the tutor of King Philip of Macedon’s son, Alexander. This thirteen year old boy eager to learn later became known as Alexander the Great. After two years of teaching, Aristotle’s works were no longer needed because Alexander was already serving as a military commander for his father. After teaching, Aristotle returned to Athens where he built his own school that taught botany, biology, logic, music, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, cosmology, physics, the history of philosophy, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, theology, rhetoric, political history, government and political theory, rhetoric, and the arts. While teaching at his school, Aristotle’s wife had died and they say he had married another woman, Heroyllis with whom they had children. In the year 323, Aristotle had retired his works in Athens and moved to Chalcis, where he died the following year of natural causes. Philosophy was in fact very important to Aristotle and he studied it for many years. Among the great achievements, the concept of logic was in my opinion the most important and well known. Aristotle’s objective of â€Å"the first logic† was to come up with a process of reasoning that would allow man to learn every conceivable thing about reality. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy clarifies this by using the example of As, Bs and Cs. They explain that first, all As are Bs. Secondly, they claim that all Bs are Cs. Therefore, all As are Cs. They also say that anything else taken from this form will be a deduction in Aristotle’s sense. A deduction is â€Å"an argument in which certain things are laid down something else follows of necessity in virtue of their being so†. But it has been proven that some of his concepts of logic are deductions and some are not. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy used the example of university students and the As, Bs and Cs to explain this. They say that all As are Bs; some Bs are Cs; so, all As are Cs. â€Å"They use the university students example by explaining that all university students are literate; some literate people read poetry; so, all university students read poetry†. This is not true so it clarifies the fact that some of his concepts are deductions while others are not. In his philosophical articles, Aristotle also discussed how man might obtain information about objects through deduction and inference. As you can see, Aristotle’s philosophy provided us with a system of logic that to this day is still used by philosophers. Aristotle’s legacy will live on for years to follow because of everything he had accomplished throughout his lifetime. After his death in 322 B. C, his works and philosophies were forgotten and revived about a century after. His works had influenced over seven centuries of philosophy. As it says on the biography. com website, â€Å"Aristotle’s work influenced ideas from late antiquity all the way through the Renaissance. Aristotle’s influence on Western thought in the humanities and social sciences is largely considered unparalleled, with the exception of his teacher Plato’s contributions, and Plato’s teacher, Socrates before him. The two-millennia-strong academic practice of interpreting and debating Aristotle’s philosophical works continues to endure. † Even today, philosophers still look to Aristotle’s work for guidance and inspiration when creating their own philosophies and simply studying philosophers of the past. As you can see, Aristotle’s legacy is still apart of us and will remain influencing others for many years to come. In conclusion, you can see that Aristotle did affect many lives through his philosophies and teachings. Many have studied his works, and added on from the philosophies and concepts he had developed. His legacy will endure on because of all he did and he will be remembered. I had great time learning about Aristotle and his philosophies for this research project. Works Cited: http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/aristotle/ Shields, Christopher. Aristotle. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 25 Sept. 2008. http://www. biography. com/people/aristotle-9188415? page=1 Aristotle Biography. Bio. com. AE Networks Television, n. d http://www. ucmp. berkeley. edu/history/aristotle. html Waggoner, Ben M. Aristotle (384-322 B. C. E.). Aristotle. UCMP, 9 June 1996.

John Donne :: essays research papers

John Donne John Donne was a writer with exceptional talent and had an intense feeling about all that he wrote. In the beginning of his life he was a charming man who , was accepted by royalty because of his personality and writing ability. Having been employed by one of the queen’s highly regarded men , he worked and associated with the high class royalty. Donne’s life and job lead him to meet and eventually marry his employer’s daughter. This couple caused scandal due to the classifications of the two people. Having lost his job because of this and also not being able to obtain steady employment the family lived in poverty for years. Donne held low class secretary jobs and wrote during this time , but lack of financial security kept them where they where in life. He , by writing with the motivation from the love of his wife , became one of the most widely read writers of the time. As time went on Anne passed away and Donne was left with the children. He soon was elect ed dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral , became a famous speaker , he used the motivation of God and the church to fuel his writing. Much of Donne’s poetry was written for his wife and was very intense due to the love he felt for her. In "The Canonization" Donne tries to fight why he cannot love Anne and asks what is the matter with his love , for he sees it as true. He writes in a civil manner asking if his love has hurt anyone , if the intensity that he loves her has ever injured anyone. Never fearing what others say or do to the couple he bases the security of his life on their love. He ponders why people are worrying about their love when awful people are committing horrible acts throughout the world. He says that they are one and nothing could break them apart. Not wanting to be bothered anymore and yearning to live free with his love he wonders if people will approve and , though his love will not die , fears that the impact of the world will destroy their bond. During his years without his wife Donne wrote about the love of the church and the Lord. Much like the prior years in intensity and feeling , but with a different object of affection.

Thorn Queen Chapter Ten

I set out to Dorian with a sense of foreboding, made worse by the fact that I wore a skirt with a slit all the way up to my hip. Both Shaya and Nia had wanted me to go see him in a dress, arguing it befitted my station and would endear me to Dorian. I'd argued that I wouldn't be able to ride in a dress, and this slit thing had been their solution. And like always, I had a handful of guards in tow. Their constant presence still continued to make me feel like a child. In this case, a kind of slutty child. In keeping with the Otherworld's bizarre geography, we passed through another village. My visit was brief, just long enough to see how they were doing. Their situation wasn't too different from Westoria's, though they had a woman who was pretty adept at finding water sources. Her technique, the way she wove magic, was more skilled than mine, though she didn't possess my strength. After observing her, I mimicked what she did and managed to find a spot ripe for well-digging. The dress kept me from getting out there and shoveling along with them, but it didn't matter. I left regarded as a savior yet again. Reaching Dorian's took less time than it had taken to get to Maiwenn's. Unlike that journey, much of our trip today passed primarily through my own land, with no respite in one of the more temperate kingdoms. The heat beat down on us, and I sweated profusely into the violet silk of my dress. I would have given anything for a breeze, anything to stir that stagnant air. My own Tucson was often windy; I didn't get why the Otherworldly version wasn't. My father had been able to control all things connected with storms: water, air, charged particles, temperature, et cetera. So far, I only had a hold of water, but every once in a while I could feel the air with the same senses that could touch and control water. Reaching out now, I had that same experience: I could sense the air. It hummed to me. It called. But when I called back, nothing happened. Over and over I tried, attempting the same technique I used with water, urging it to bend and stir and cool me off. Nothing. I finally gave up when Dorian's castle came into sight. It was stone like mine and somehow managed to be both imposing and graceful. Where once I had been greeted with hostility and suspicion, I was now welcomed with respect and a fair amount of groveling. And, yeah, some wariness too. My guards were led away, and Dorian's servants fell all over me, offering me any refreshment I wanted. I declined. I simply wanted to get these negotiations done with. A servant led me to an opulently decorated chamber and announced me, titles and all. Dorian sat there, casual in a long-sleeved, cream-colored shirt, leaning over a chess board. An old man with a beard that went all the way to the floor sat opposite him. Dorian's green-gold eyes lifted at my name, and he broke out into a dazzling smile. Honestly. The man was too good-looking sometimes, and he knew it. A moment later, Dorian turned a disapproving glance toward his chess partner. â€Å"By the gods, Kasper. Have you no manners at all? The Thorn Queen is here. Show some respect before I have you flogged.† I started to protest as the old man rose. The hunched-over posture he'd held in the chair appeared to be permanent, and it took him forever to actually get up. He managed something that passed for a bow-really, it was hard to tell the difference between that and his normal stance-and gave me a grave â€Å"Your majesty.† And as the old man's back was to the board, Dorian leaned over and moved some of the pieces around. I opened my mouth, more in shock than to make any sort of protest. Dorian raised one finger to his lips in a shushing motion. I swallowed my comments and smiled at Kasper. â€Å"Thank you. Please sit down again.† â€Å"And you, my dear,† said Dorian. â€Å"Come join us.† The servant who'd led me in hastily pulled a velvet-cushioned chair over to the chess table. I thanked him and sat down, crossing my legs out of habit. When I saw half the skirt spill over and reveal nearly the whole length of my leg, I hastily uncrossed them. Dorian saw the leg, of course. He always saw everything. Kasper's eyes, underneath his bushy gray brows, were fixed on the board. He made a play, capturing one of Dorian's pieces. Dorian frowned briefly, then put his smile back on as he turned to me. â€Å"You are radiant as always,† he said. â€Å"That dress is particularly lovely. Kasper, look at her. Do you see the way that shade matches her eyes?† Kasper looked like he wanted to study the board, but he turned to me obediently and gave a quick bob of the head. â€Å"Yes, your majesty. Most becoming.† Dorian quickly swapped a few more pieces and then put on a look of deep pondering when Kasper turned back around. With a sigh, Dorian moved his bishop. â€Å"Not my greatest play, but it'll have to do.† He seized one of Kasper's pieces. The move clearly took Kasper by surprise, not all that astonishing considering the pieces weren't where they'd been the last time he looked. He studied the board for almost a minute and then moved a knight, though it didn't yield a capture. â€Å"Eugenie, you look as though you've been stranded in a desert,† mused Dorian. â€Å"But then, I suppose that's the case, isn't it? Such a shame, all those towns suffering and starving, towns like Songwood.† The old man looked up sharply, eyes wide as he stared at me. â€Å"Songwood?† â€Å"Songwood?† I asked in equal confusion. Dorian covertly moved more pieces. â€Å"I was born in Songwood,† said Kasper. â€Å"People are starving there?† â€Å"Oh, wait,† said Dorian. â€Å"Songwood's in the Willow Land, isn't it? Sorry for the scare. I was thinking it had been part of Aeson's kingdom. I'm sure Songwood's perfectly fine.† He studied the board for a moment and then deftly moved his queen. â€Å"Checkmate.† Kasper gaped. â€Å"That's not†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His eyes roved over the board, no doubt looking for any possible way to counter Dorian's move. â€Å"You can't fight against the queen,† said Dorian glibly. â€Å"Once she's decided to take the king, you might as well give in and enjoy it.† I rolled my eyes. Kasper sighed. â€Å"Excellent game, your majesty.† Dorian gave him a comforting pat as the old man stood up. â€Å"Don't take it so hard. You played pretty decently yourself. Sloppy here and there, but who knows? There's always next time.† Kasper gave another wizened bow and then left us alone. I gave Dorian a censuring look. â€Å"You're a bad man. You should be ashamed of yourself.† â€Å"Hardly,† he said. â€Å"That man's the grand chess champion of seven kingdoms. A little humbling will do him good. And speaking of humbling, shall we get on to our business?† He stood up and extended a hand to me. I didn't take it and simply followed as he walked over to the far side of the room. He sank down onto an ivory satin couch while I chose a velvet loveseat the same color as my dress. I felt adrift in a sea of purple. Dorian produced a stack of parchment from a nearby table. â€Å"There you are. Just sign, and we can get this out of the way.† I flipped through the papers, astonished. I didn't understand most of it. It detailed amounts and shipments of assorted goods, listed interest rates, and laid out some sort of schedule. I gave Dorian an incredulous look. â€Å"What happened to negotiating?† He poured two glasses of white wine from a carafe that sat on the table to his other side. â€Å"Oh, come now. You don't want to actually do that. I don't want to do that. So why waste our time? I assure you, the terms are very, very generous. Probably more generous than you deserve, considering the way you toy with my affections. Your people will be getting a lot of goods on faith for copper that has yet to materialize.† â€Å"Then why did you make me come here?† â€Å"Do you have to ask?† â€Å"No,† I grumbled, signing my name with a quill. A quill. Honestly. â€Å"You're a bad man.† â€Å"I try. Wine?† He gestured to the glass he'd poured for me. I shook my head. â€Å"Wouldn't want you to run out. So, I guess me sitting here is part of the price I pay for my kingdom's food. What do you want to do now?† His eyes held mine over the top of his wineglass. â€Å"I could make up a list of things to do longer than that contract.† Yeah. I'd set myself up for that one. â€Å"Okay, then. What would you like to talk about?† â€Å"You,† he said. â€Å"And why you never come see me.† â€Å"You know why. Because you used me and stuck me with that kingdom.† â€Å"You sure do hold a grudge. Is that a human trait?† â€Å"It's a Eugenie trait.† He smiled. â€Å"Of course. You know, Rurik tried to rape you, yet now you welcome him with open arms.† â€Å"That's not exactly how I'd put it.† â€Å"You know what I mean. How can you forgive him and not me?† I looked down at my lap and played with the dress's fabric. I didn't have a good answer for that. Rurik had really been a total asshole when we'd met, yet now I took him as a normal fixture around my household. Why did I hold such animosity for Dorian? Because things hadn't started as hostile between us, I realized. Sure, I hadn't trusted him initially, but he'd never done me any true harm. I had grown to like him-care about him, even-which made what he'd done hurt that much more. Dorian was the one who'd guided me through claiming the Thorn Land after we'd killed Aeson in a pretty horrific battle. I'd simply followed Dorian's direction, having no clue what I was doing until it was too late. Once I realized what I'd been stuck with, I'd felt like every interaction with Dorian had been one big setup. It had seemed like his endgame the whole time had been to oust Aeson and give me that land so that Dorian could eventually control it. That was why I resented him. Are you sure that's it? a sneaky voice inside me wanted to know. No, there might be more. Even I could admit that to myself. The truth was I'd developed physical and emotional attachments to Dorian, and I didn't want them. I didn't want to be bound to someone like him, someone who was full-blooded gentry-and had the annoying tendency to make me lose control. Slamming up walls of animosity between us was a way to protect myself. â€Å"What are you thinking?† Dorian asked, sparing me from his other question. â€Å"I was wondering if I just blindly signed my name to sexual favors in that contract.† â€Å"Damn,† he said. â€Å"I wish I'd considered that.† From the tone of his voice, I think he meant it. â€Å"Oh, well. Perhaps next time since I'm sure this will be the first of many dealings between our kingdoms.† â€Å"I hope not.† For a moment, he almost looked hurt. â€Å"Is it that painful coming here?† I felt bad. â€Å"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I mean†¦I hope I don't need any more help. I hope things will just work themselves out in the Thorn Land.† His easy smile returned as he finished off his wine. He reached for my untouched glass. â€Å"Well, according to rumor, things are on the mend, thanks to the omnibenevolent Thorn Queen. Why, I heard the other day that you were out digging ditches and feeding orphans. It's a wonder you have the time for that, what with your hypocritical job of battling your own subjects in the human world.† â€Å"My subjects don't cross into the human world,† I said loftily. Of course, the irony was that might not be true, not if the evidence surrounding those girls was any indication. â€Å"And I never did any of that other stuff. I just found water.† He tsked, eyes sparkling with delight. â€Å"Yes, which is a hundred times more than most monarchs do. You're out with your people, maybe not working beside them exactly, but it's close enough. They think you're some kind of messiah. I guess that sets a good precedent for your son, hmm?† I made a face. â€Å"Don't even go down that road. And anyway, I'm not trying to be a messiah. I'm just trying to help.† â€Å"Good gods,† he said, downing the glass in one gulp. â€Å"The frightening thing is that you're actually serious. Were you helping them before you arrived here today?† â€Å"Er, well, a little. We stopped in a village and helped find some water.† â€Å"I can tell. When you use your magic, it wreaths you like some sort of afterglow. It's very†¦becoming.† Something about the way he spoke and looked at me made me want to cross my arms and legs protectively-until I remembered crossing my legs wouldn't do me any favors. Fucking dress. â€Å"I daresay your control of water is becoming very useful,† he added. â€Å"Too bad you didn't continue your lessons with it.† â€Å"I don't need your help anymore. I've practiced on my own-I've gotten a lot stronger.† â€Å"Hmm. I see. And what about the rest of your inherited powers? Have you been practicing with, say, air?† For half a second, I thought he'd been spying on me. No, that wasn't his style. He'd guessed I would attempt air magic because†¦well, he knew me. And because he was Dorian and canny about such things. â€Å"As a matter of fact, I have,† I said loftily. There. Take that. His lips twitched. â€Å"I see. And have you been successful?† I wasn't fast enough with my answer. He laughed and moved to sit beside me. I tried to scoot over, but there wasn't much room. â€Å"Eugenie, Eugenie. When are you going to stop fighting this-stop fighting me? You're only going to create more trouble down the road if you don't learn to fully harness your abilities.† â€Å"Right,† I said, trying not to notice the apple and cinnamon scent that always surrounded him. Why couldn't I shake this attraction when I found him so annoying half the time? â€Å"It's for my benefit, right? Not because of your desire to rule the Otherworld and see the prophecy fulfilled?† â€Å"Of course it's for those reasons,† he scoffed. One thing you had to love about Dorian was his unflinching honesty. â€Å"But that doesn't mean you can't benefit too. You don't think it'd be useful to control air? You don't think that would aid you in helping those poor suffering souls under your control?† â€Å"Damn it. Don't involve them.† â€Å"They're already involved. Learn to control storms, and there'll never be a drought again.† His voice was low, filled with promise and temptation. I thought about the things I'd seen, the fields gone barren and hungry faces. I shook my head. â€Å"I'm not going to let you teach me again.† â€Å"What if I got you another teacher?† â€Å"What?† I shifted so that we could look at each other eye to eye. â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"Exactly what I sound like. As hard as it is to believe, I'm not the only one who knows how to use magic around here. True, I'm the most stunningly attractive and dazzlingly intelligent, but if you're dead set against my help, there are others whom you could benefit from.† I turned away and stared off across the room. The water finder I'd worked with today had certainly been useful. She was actually the first gentry I'd met who had any sort of magic compatible enough to mine to teach me anything. Dorian's magic was actually completely different from my own, but he was skilled enough to still transfer the basic principles. But what if I had someone else to tutor me? Someone more in sync with my powers-who wasn't always trying to get me into bed? No. Self-chastisement instantly arose. Magic was dangerous. It made you crave more of it, and the more I used, the more I embraced my gentry side and lost some of my humanity. Kiyo had advised against it over and over, and I didn't even want to think about what Roland would say. And yet†¦ â€Å"You've actually got someone in mind?† I asked, turning back to Dorian. He nodded. â€Å"She's not an exact fit for your powers-honestly, no one is-but she's close and is an excellent instructor.† She. That was promising. No one who'd want to father a child on me. He seized on my hesitation. â€Å"Eugenie, why resist this? It's obvious you want to learn more, no matter how haughty you pretend to be about dirtying your hands in the affairs of the shining ones. Stop your pandering and accept this as a gift.† â€Å"What do I have to do in return for this gift?† I asked warily. â€Å"Nothing except learn. If you take my tutor back with you to the Thorn Land, I just want you to promise me you'll give her a fair chance.† â€Å"That's it?† â€Å"Yes. You already know all my other motivations for doing this, so there's no trick there. The rest is on you.† True. He had been up-front about his larger designs on me and his megalomania. â€Å"Okay†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Kiyo was going to freak out. â€Å"I'll give her a chance.† â€Å"You promise?† â€Å"I promise.† Somehow, every time I agreed to something with Dorian, I always felt like I was signing my soul away. â€Å"Excellent,† he said. â€Å"We'll make an all-powerful queen out of you yet.† He reached his hand over and smoothed out where some of my dress's fabric had wrinkled up near the slit. His motion actually covered up more of my leg with the skirt, though it did involve his fingers brushing against my skin. For a brief, dangerous instant, I kind of wished he'd move his fingers underneath the dress. Instead, he simply left his hand on my thigh. â€Å"Dorian,† I said warningly. â€Å"Hmm?† I looked pointedly down. He followed my gaze. â€Å"Oh, look at that. It seemed so natural, I hardly noticed,† he said cheerfully, removing the guilty hand. I almost felt†¦disappointed. â€Å"Let me fetch your new teacher since I'm guessing you won't be lured into staying for dinner.† â€Å"You guessed right. You really are dazzlingly intelligent,† I said wryly. He stood up and flashed me a grin. â€Å"And stunningly attractive?† â€Å"Just go get her.† He left the room, and I watched the way his long, lean build moved and how the sunlight streaming through a window turned his hair every shade of red, orange, and gold. Dorian was trouble. Yes, I suspected I really had made a deal with the devil. Particularly when I saw who his instructor was. â€Å"Her?† I exclaimed. I shot up from my chair. Dorian had just entered the room, and standing beside him was Ysabel-the Eugenie-clone strumpet from the party. Her blue eyes widened when she saw me. Apparently I wasn't the only one who had been caught by surprise. â€Å"What is this?† she demanded. â€Å"You said you wanted me to instruct someone.† â€Å"I do,† he said calmly. â€Å"You're going to pack your things and return with the Thorn Queen. You will teach her to use her magic to the best of her ability.† â€Å"No,† she said icily. â€Å"I will not.† His pleasant demeanor dropped. â€Å"Yes, you will. This isn't a request. You're my subject, ergo you follow my commands. And I am commanding you to go with her. Unless you're openly defying me?† I couldn't help a shiver. I'd occasionally seen this hard side of Dorian, and it always unnerved me. It was such an abrupt change from his usual laconic self, the self who bantered and tried to feel me up†¦and I found the change kind of terrifying. â€Å"Dorian,† I said uneasily. â€Å"Don't make her do anything she doesn't want to do.† She glared at me. â€Å"I don't need your assistance here.† â€Å"What she wants is irrelevant,† said Dorian. I was a bit surprised at how casually he was able to order her about and objectify her. I'd assumed whomever he was sleeping with at any given time would be someone he had feelings for. Who knew? Maybe he cared about her a lot but was still able to treat her as a subject. Or maybe he just cared about me more. â€Å"Yeah, well, I don't want her,† I retorted. â€Å"Also irrelevant,† he replied, eyes still fixed on Ysabel. â€Å"You made a promise to give your teacher a fair chance-unless you're going to be human and go back on your word?† â€Å"This isn't quite what I expected!† â€Å"It doesn't matter. You're either going to keep your promise or you won't. And you,† he said to Ysabel, â€Å"are either going to obey or not.† Ysabel's eyes were ablaze with rage, and her breathing was heavy. I had the feeling she wanted to burst forth with a million expletives, but she bit her lip as though physically forcing them back. At last, she swallowed and took a deep breath. When she spoke, her words were to Dorian, but her gaze was on me. I hadn't seen malevolence like that in quite some time-no, wait. That wasn't entirely true. Her look was a lot like the one Volusian often gave me. â€Å"Of course, I will obey, your majesty. With great pleasure.†