Canadian Parliament Buildings Fire of 1916

Canadian Parliament Buildings Fire of 1916 While World War I was raging in Europe, the Canadian Parliament Buildings in Ottawa caught fire on a freezing February night in 1916. With the exception of the Library of Parliament, the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings was destroyed and seven people died. Rumors were rife that the Parliament Buildings fire was caused by enemy sabotage, but a Royal Commission into the fire concluded that the cause was accidental. Date of the Parliament Buildings Fire February 3, 1916 Location of the Parliament Buildings Fire Ottawa, Ontario Background of the Canadian Parliament Buildings The Canadian Parliament Buildings consist of the Centre Block, the Library of Parliament, the West Block and the East Block. The Centre Block and Library of Parliament sit at the highest point on Parliament Hill with a steep escarpment down to the Ottawa River at the back. The West Block and East Block sit down the hill on each side at the front of the Centre Block with a large grassy expanse in the middle. The original Parliament Buildings were built between 1859 and 1866, just in time to be used as the seat of government for the new Dominion of Canada in 1867. Cause of the Parliament Buildings Fire The exact cause of the Parliament Buildings fire was never pinpointed, but the Royal Commission investigating the fire ruled out enemy sabotage. Fire safety was inadequate in the Parliament Buildings and the most likely cause was careless smoking in the House of Commons Reading Room. Casualties in the Parliament Buildings Fire Seven people died in the Parliament Buildings fire: Two guests of House Speaker Albert Sà ©vigny and his wife returned to get their fur coats and were found dead in a corridor.A policeman and two government employees were crushed by a fallen wall.Bowman Brown Law, the Liberal member of parliament for Yarmouth, Nova Scotia died near the House of Commons Reading Room.The body of Renà © Laplante, Assistant Clerk of the House of Commons, was found in the building two days after the fire. Summary of the Parliament Buildings Fire Shortly before 9 p.m. on February 3, 1916, a member of parliament noticed smoke in the House of Commons Reading Room in the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings.The fire quickly raced out of control.The House of Commons was interrupted in the middle of a debate on fish marketing.Prime Minister Robert Borden was in his office when he was alerted to the fire. He escaped down a messengers stairway through thick smoke and flames. His office was badly damaged, but some papers on his desk were not touched.Major-General Sam Hughes, who was down the street at the Chà ¢teau Laurier hotel when he heard about the fire, called in the local 77th Battalion to provide crowd control and help with the evacuation.At 9:30 p.n. the roof of the House of Commons collapsed.Senators and soldiers rescued some historic paintings from the Senate before the fire spread to it.By 11:00 p.m. the Victoria Clock Tower had caught on fire, and by midnight the clock was silent. At 1:21 a.m. the tower fell.By 3:00 a.m. the fire was mostly under control, although there was another outbreak the next morning. The Centre Block was a smoking shell filled with icy rubble, with the exception of the Library of Parliament.The Library of Parliament had been built with iron safety doors, which were slammed shut against the fire and smoke. A narrow corridor separating the Library from the Centre Block also contributed to the Librarys survival.After the fire, the Victoria Memorial Museum (now the Canadian Museum of Nature)  cleared its exhibition galleries to make room for parliamentarians to meet and work. On the morning after the fire, the museums auditorium was converted into a temporary House of Commons Chamber, and that afternoon, members of parliament conducted business there.Rebuilding the Parliament Buildings began quickly even though there was a war on. The first parliament sat in the new building on February 26th, 1920, although the Centre Block wasnt completed until 1922. The Peace Tower was finished by 1927. See Also: The Halifax Explosion in 1917

Understanding Interpersonal Intelligence

Understanding Interpersonal Intelligence Can you pick out the student who gets along with everyone in the class? When it comes to group work, do you know which student you pick to work well with others to complete the assignment? If you can identify that student, then you already know a student who displays the characteristics of interpersonal intelligence. You have seen evidence that this student  is able to discern the moods, the feelings, and the motivations of others. Interpersonal is the combination of the prefix  inter-  meaning between   person  Ã‚  -al. The term was first used in psychology documents  (1938) in order to  describe behavior between people in an encounter.   Interpersonal intelligence  is one of Howard Gardners nine  multiple intelligences, and this intelligence refers to how skillful an individual is in understanding and dealing with others. They are skilled at managing relationships and negotiating conflict. There are some professions that are a natural fit for people with interpersonal intelligence: politicians, teachers, therapists, diplomats, negotiators, and salesmen. Ability to Relate to Others You wouldnt  think that Anne Sullivan- who taught Helen Keller- would be Gardners example of an interpersonal genius. But, she is precisely the example Gardner uses to illustrate this intelligence. With little formal training in special education and nearly blind herself, Anne Sullivan began the formidable task of instructing a blind and deaf seven-year-old, Gardner writes in  his 2006 book, Multiple  Intelligences: New Horizons in Theory and Practice. Sullivans showed great interpersonal intelligence in dealing with Keller and all of her profound disabilities, as well as Kellers doubting family. Interpersonal intelligence builds on a core capacity to notice distinctions among others- in particular, contrasts in their moods, temperaments, motivations, and intuitions, Gardner says. With Sullivans help, Keller became a leading 20th-century author, lecturer, and activist. In more advanced forms, this intelligence permits a skilled adult to read the intentions and desire of others even when they have been hidden. Famous People With High Interpersonal Intelligence Gardner uses other examples of people who are socially adept are among those with high interpersonal intelligence, such as: Tony Robbins: Though he grew up in a chaotic and abusive household and without any educational background in psychology, according to Fortune magazine and Wikipedia, Robbins became self-help coach, motivational speaker and best-selling author whose seminars have attracted thousands.Bill Clinton: Once a relatively little-known governor of a small state, Clinton was convincingly elected to two terms as U.S. president, due largely to his personality and ability to relate to people.Phil McGraw: A psychologist and well-known talk show host, Dr. Phil has advised and counseled thousands of people on improving their lives using a tough love approach.Oprah Winfrey: Arguably the countrys most successful talk show host, Winfrey built an empire largely based on her skill at listening, talking and relating to others. Some might call these social skills; Gardner insists that the ability to excel socially is actually an intelligence. Regardless, these individuals have excelled due almost entirely to their social skills. Enhancing Interpersonal Intelligence Students with this type of intelligence can bring a range of skill sets the classroom, including: Peer to peer work (mentoring)  Contributing to discussions in class  Problem-solving with othersSmall and large group workTutoring Teachers can help these students showcase their interpersonal intelligence by using some specific activities. Some examples include: Class meetingsCreating group projects, both large and smallSuggesting interviews for class assignmentsOffering students an opportunity to teach a unitIncluding community service activities if applicableOrganizing surveys or polls that extend outside of the classroom Teachers can develop a variety of activities that allow these students with interpersonal skills to interact with others and to practice their listening skills. Since these students are natural communicators, such activities will help them enhance their own communication skills and also allow them to model these skills for other students. Their ability to both give and receive feedback is important to the classroom environment, in particular in classrooms where teachers would like students to share their different perspectives. These students with interpersonal intelligence can be helpful in group work, especially when students are required to delegate roles and meet responsibilities. Their ability to manage relationships can be leveraged especially when their  skill set may be needed to resolve differences. Finally, these students with interpersonal intelligence will naturally support and encourage others to take academic risks when given the chance. Finally, teachers should take advantage of every  opportunity in order to model appropriate social behavior themselves. Teachers should practice to improve their own interpersonal skills and give students the opportunity to a practice as well. In preparing students for their experiences beyond the classroom, interpersonal skills are a top priority.   Sources: Gardner, Howard E. Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons in Theory and Practice. Basic Books, 2006.

Corporate Reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Corporate Reporting - Essay Example Rather, it is important that other key steps and approaches are taken towards the need to harness all the components of corporate reporting. In this respect, research has actually pointed to the fact that the regulation of corporate reporting is the key to achieving such benefits (Lang, Raedy and Wilson, 2006). Generally, a regulated corporate reporting is one that is taken from the institutional level to the political level in that it is given governmental backing in the regulation of basic rules governing finance and accounting principles (Coffee, 2007). This is normally done when the central government wants to have a better view and understanding of what the various institutions, mostly financial institutions and ministries, are doing in their own rights to contribute to gross domestic product growth. Though many have said that corporate reporting could exist and be of benefit without the need of any regulation of it, there are many more that have refused to reason like this, cit ing a number of reasons why a regulation of corporate reporting is necessary. Focus on people and not on data A major criticism that has gone against corporate reporting is the fact that individual institutions that have been left to manage and control corporate reporting only focus on people, the institutional structures and professions, instead of focusing on actual data collection (Kothari, Ramanna and Skinner, 2009). What this means is that control has often been over the people put in charge of corporate reporting and the mindsets, culture and agenda instead of on the actual evidence they gather in terms of data. For example, instead of ensuring that the financial data that a bank supervisory produces is authentic and empirical, focus has now shifted to whether or not the people involved in the reporting have the requisite qualifications, whether they operate according to organizational culture, and whether they have their methodologies matching with corporate practice. While a ll of these checks are done, the critical need of financial data is abandoned, thereby denying authorities of the privilege of getting the actual outcomes desired of corporate reporting. As an alternative to this crisis, development of regulation for corporate reporting is suggested so that the key role of supervision would not be in the hands of the institutions who undertake the corporate reporting. This is like saying that it is important to get a different outfit to police the policeman (Demsetz, 1969). When political regulations set in, focus is not lost as there are sufficient manpower and logistics to monitor both the institutions and the data produced by institutions. System within a system Another problem that makes the development of regulation for corporate reporting important is that the system has been criticized to be a system within a system and not an independent system on its own. What this means is that there are often parallel reporting systems that are run in add ition and at concurrent times with corporate reporting (Dye and Sunder, 2001). Once this happens, the attention needed to ensure strict monitoring, and evaluation is denied. Again, it makes institutions lose focus on which areas to exactly look out for in the analysis of the success of the financial environment. The Charted Institute of Management Accountants, CIMA (2010), laments on the situation, saying that there have been the inclusion of in-house systems to corporate reporting â€Å"such as those supporting internal management information, regulated financial reporting, investor relations or voluntary sustainability reports† (p. 6). Technically, it would realized the various financial regulations outlined by the institute are subsidiary aspects of corporate repo

Gymnastic Techniques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gymnastic Techniques - Essay Example Many components work together to make a gymnastic composition successful. An element is the shortest gymnastic exercise that is complete ((Jastrjembskaia, Titov 1999 pg 4). Each element consists of different movements of some of the various body parts (movements may be with or without apparatus). A movement is change in the orientation or position of the whole body or one of its parts. In a competition, judges judge each element according to some characteristics. These characteristics include originality, degree of difficulty, virtuosity of performance and mastery Each element technique has its own basis which includes the movements of the exercise and which distinguish an element from other elements (Jastrjembskaia, Titov 1999 pg 4). The basis of an element technique develops from independent preparatory, main and finishing phases. In the preparatory phase, all the body movements of the technique are involved in preparing a way for the main phase. For instance, a gymnast needs a preparatory phase to attain good speed or rotary motion to throw an apparatus. The main phase of the element includes all the movements performed according to the objective of the element (Jastrjembskaia, Titov 1999 pg 6). For instance if a gymnast is about to perform jump or leap the main objective is the gymnast's flight. If a gymnast is about to throw an apparatus then the main objective is the apparatus's flight. In finishing phase, a gymnast completes the objective he started in the main phase. The gymnast also changes his direction or speed of motion in this ph ase. For instance, in order to land from a leap, a gymnast in finishing phase stops his momentum and speed that he needed to make the leap. Spondylolisthesis among GymnastsYoung female gymnasts engaged in training and practice all year round place excessive demand on their back all year round. In a study, on one hundred female gymnasts, incidence of pars intercularis defect was four times higher than the incidence of 2.3% reported in general female Caucasian population (Jackson, Wiltse and Cirincione, 1976, pg 68). In another study young female Caucasian volunteers participated that represented their different teams in gymnastic competition from national to international levels (Jackson, Wiltse and Cirincione, 1976, pg 68). In the study, a questionnaire answered by each girl listed her height, weight, hours of practice per week and years in competition. In this study, eleven of one hundred females evaluated had bilateral L5 intercularis defects (Jackson, Wiltse and Cirincione, 1976, pg 68) Six of these had first-degree spondylolisthesis of L5 on S1. Eighty-nine had no pars intercularis defect. Of these eighty-nine girls, nineteen had an episode of back pain signinificant enough to interfere with their training. In the group of girls with spondylolisthesis, six of the eleven had prior back pain (Jackson, Wiltse and Cirincione, 1976, pg 68) . The girls with pars defects described their pain as dull aching and cramping. It was persistent and usually not related to specific injury but was aggravated markedly by activities like hyperextension (Jackson, Wilt

Interoffice Memorandum Essay Example for Free

Interoffice Memorandum Essay The Tarasoff case involved a murder victim, Tatiana Tarasoff, who was killed by an alleged acquaintance Prosejit Poddar. Poddar was a client of a psychologist employed by the University of California, and during a therapy session he revealed his intent to murder Tatiana Tarasoff. The psychologist assessed Poddar as a danger and informed the campus police, and was held briefly and released. Shortly after Poddar was released he indeed murdered Tatiana. The parents of Tatiana Tarasoff, plaintiffs, sued the school, campus police, therapists and anyone else who had contact. The argument was over whether the third party had the right to be warned and had the right to be protected. The defendants maintained they owed no duty of care to the victim, and were immune from suit. The court stated that when a client presents a serious danger of violence to another there is an obligation, both legal and ethical, to use reasonable care to protect the intended victim against such danger. The therapist must take steps to determine or within their standard of profession determines the danger. This may call for the therapist to warn the intended victim or others likely to apprise the victim of the danger, to notify the police, or to take whatever other steps reasonably necessary under the circumstances. This ruling imposes a liability on all human service professionals to protect a victim from violent acts. There is a duty to protect and a duty to warn the potential third party victims to violence. This may cause implications with the confidentiality of the client-helper relationship and may also cause violent clients to avoid treatment. This indeed will change the environment for human services and confidentiality; as now helpers may need to divulge confidential information to third parties in certain circumstances. The professional necessity of keeping a client’s information private is rooted in the ethical codes as well as in statutory law. As professionals in the human services realm we also have a right to withhold confidential information in a court of law. To stay within the law and the code of ethics that govern us it is necessary to consider the situation from all points of view, develop a list of issues that represent multiple viewpoints, generate the possible decisions on whether to break client confidentiality, and what would the consequences of each decision. Each case in which the outcome of this case may implicate the duty to protect and warn, we must make sure we are addressing every avenue within a small amount of time in case of imminent danger that exists. This will be an adjustment with our client-helper relationships, and must be shared not only with each other but also shared with our clients.

Technology and Strategy :: essays research papers

Technology Widgets.com will implement a standard IT infrastructure to support individual office locations in New Jersey, California, Texas and Colorado, and new US-based locations we plan to open up over the next 3-5 years such as Massachusetts, New York, Virgina/DC . This IT infrastructure includes both our computing and communications systems. We will look to contract with a single vendor source for each system component where possible that can support all our offices on a nationwide basis. We will also continue to use the web as our network backbone in lieu of other private network protocols, i.e T1. In some cases we will build our own intellectual property to support the IT infrastructure where we believe this creates a competitive differentiator and asset for Widgets.com. An example here is our Oracle database and CRM/PRM applications. Our IT infrastructure objectives are to increase our company asset base, operating efficiency and reduce overall operating costs. The system components and the vendors providing these components must be financially secure, provide reliable 24x7 support and be accessible from any location within the US. The system components of our IT infrastructure are described below. Hardware Platform Standards Vendor Status Category Mobile Desktops Dell Computer Green Productivity Tools Lan ? Yellow Collaboration Tools Printers/Scanners/Copiers HP Green Productivity Tools UPS Backup ? Yellow Productivity Tools Office Phone sets ? Yellow Collaboration/Sales and Marketing Tools Storage Devices ? Yellow Productivity Tools Wirelss PDAs ? Yellow Collaboration/Sales and Marketing Tools Sofware Plaform Standards Vendor Status Category Operating Enviroment Windows 2000/NT/Java/HTML Green Portal Intranets Green Collaboration Tools Word/Spreadsheet/Presentation Microsoft Office Green Productivity Tools Email/Calendar Microsoft Outlook Green Collaboration Tools Accounting NetLedger/Quicken Yellow Adminstration Tools Expense Management NetLedger Expense Yellow Adminstration Tools Project/Deliverable Management ? Red Collaboration Tools Content Manager ? Red Collaborations Tools Business Process Manager (Practice Mgt.) ? Red Collaboration Tools CRM - Client DB Oracle/Cambridge Red Sales and Marketing Tools PRM - Consultant DB Oracle/Cambridge Red Sales and Marketing Tools HRM - Employee/Payroll DB Adminstaff Yellow Adminstration Tools Green Service Providers Vendor(s) Status Category Local Phone Service ?

Pixar and Walt Disney Merger

NEW YORK – Mickey Mouse and Nemo are now corporate cousins. Walt Disney has announced that it is buying Pixar, the animated studio led by Apple head Steve Jobs, in a deal worth $7. 4 billion. Speculation about a deal being imminent raged on Wall Street for the past few weeks. Disney has released all of Pixar's films so far, but the companies' current distribution deal was set to expire following the release of this summer's â€Å"Cars. The merger brings together Disney's historic franchise of animated characters, such as Mickey, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck, with Pixar's stable of cartoon hits, including the two â€Å"Toy Story† films, â€Å"Finding Nemo† and â€Å"The Incredibles. † â€Å"Disney and Pixar can now collaborate without the barriers that come from two different companies with two different sets of shareholders,† said Jobs in a statement. â€Å"Now, everyone can focus on what is most important, creating innovative stories, characters and films that delight millions of people around the world. † As part of the deal, Jobs will become a board member of Disney, the companies said.And John Lasseter, the highly respected creative director at Pixar who had previously worked for Disney, will rejoin the House of Mouse as chief creative officer for the company's combined animated studios and will also help oversee the design for new attractions at Disney theme parks. â€Å"The addition of Pixar significantly enhances Disney animation, which is a critical creative engine for driving growth across our businesses,† said Disney CEO Robert Iger in a written statement. During a conference call with analysts Tuesday, Iger said that acquisition discussions had been going on for the past several months.Jobs added that after a â€Å"lot of soul searching,† he came to the conclusion that it made the most sense for Pixar to align itself with Disney permanently instead of trying to distribute films on its own or si gn with another movie studio partner. According to the terms of the deal, Disney (Research) will issue 2. 3 shares for each Pixar share. Based on Tuesday's closing prices, that values Pixar at $59. 78 a share, about a 4 percent premium to Pixar's current stock price. Shares of Pixar (Research) fell slightly in regular trading on the Nasdaq Tuesday but gained nearly 3 percent in after-hours trading.The stock has surged more than 10 percent so far this year on takeover speculation. Disney's stock gained 1. 8 percent in regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange and was flat after-hours. Prior to the deal's announcement, some Wall Street observers had speculated that Disney may be paying too much for Pixar. A source tells FORTUNE that some Disney board members also thought the price was too high. To that end, Disney chief financial officer Thomas Staggs said during the conference call that the deal would reduce Disney's earnings slightly in fiscal 2006, which ends this September, a s well as fiscal 2007.He added though that Pixar should add to earnings by fiscal 2008 and that Disney was still on track to post annual double-digit percentage gains in earnings through 2008. But one hedge fund manager said that the risk of Disney losing Pixar was too great. â€Å"The question isn't did Disney pay too much but how expensive would it have been for Disney if Pixar fell into someone else's hands,† said Barry Ritholtz, chief investment officer with Ritholtz Capital Partners, a hedge fund that focuses on media and technology stocks. Jeffrey Logsdon, an analyst with Harris Nesbitt, agreed with that assessment.He said that Pixar's â€Å"success quotient† justified the price of the deal. Pixar has yet to have a flop with its six animated movies. They have grossed more than $3. 2 billion worldwide, according to movie tracking research firm Box Office Mojo. Disney, however, has struggled in the computer-generated animated movie arena. Even though its most recen t CG-animated film, â€Å"Chicken Little† performed better than many had expected at the box office, it was not as big a hit as any of the Pixar films. â€Å"Robert Iger has made no secret of the fact that he wanted to get the animated business back to where it was.It's what Disney has known for but the movies they did in-house did not do as well as the ones they did with Pixar,† said Michael Cuggino, a fund manager who owns about 100,000 shares of Disney in the Permanent Portfolio and Permanent Portfolio Aggressive Growth funds. Pixar has yet to announce what movies it is working on after â€Å"Cars,† however. It is believed that Pixar's next film about a rat living in a fancy Parisian restaurant, tentatively titled â€Å"Ratatouille† may be released on 2007 and that a â€Å"Toy Story 3† may be in the works as well.Jobs said during the conference call that nothing has been decided about future Pixar releases yet, but added that the company feels s trongly about making sequels to some of its previous hits. And Iger said that announced plans for Disney-produced animated films, including the release of â€Å"American Dog† in 2008 and â€Å"Rapunzel Unbraided† in 2009, are still on track. It would have been unthinkable to imagine Disney and Pixar teaming up just a few years ago.The two companies broke off talks to extend their current distribution agreement in 2004 due to a strained relationship between Jobs and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. But since Iger succeeded Eisner last year, he has extended an olive branch to Jobs. Disney and Apple have already announced several online programming deals during the past few months. Disney now has agreements in place to sell hit ABC prime time shows, such as â€Å"Desperate Housewives† and â€Å"Lost†, as well as content from ABC Sports and ESPN on Apple's popular iTunes music and video store.Cuggino said the addition of Jobs, who will also become Disney's l argest individual shareholder, to Disney's board could mean that more innovative digital deals could be in the works. â€Å"Jobs is a dynamic personality who knows consumer electronics. It's an opportunity to bring some youthful energetic thinking to Disney's board. † Disney, like many other large media companies, has seen its stock price stagnate during the past year as investors have flocked to more rapidly growing digital media firms such as Apple as well as search engines Google (Research) and Yahoo! Research) But Logsdon said the acquisition of Pixar could help Disney increase revenue throughout all of its business lines. So even though some may be quibbling in the short-term about how much Disney had to spend, he thinks Disney made the right move. â€Å"It's a smart strategic deal,† Logsdon said. â€Å"The benefit in theme parks, consumer products and cable will probably make this deal look a lot smarter a year or two from now. â€Å"

Wilderness Bradley Watker

I hobbled as fast as I could across the moor. I didn't look back and I didn't look down – the former because I didn't want to know just how close it was, the latter because I didn't want to see the blood spurting from my foot. It was chasing me. I didn't turn round, but with each limped and painful step I knew it was right behind me, ready to pounce and end any futile hope of survival. It was so near, at my shoulder, on top of me, right through my brain. I could feel its breath pushing against my neck, salivating in hunger. Why didn't it just finish me off? Maybe it wanted me to turn, maybe the moment I looked it would be there. Its red eyes shining into mine, its wide mouth ready to make an aperture of my throat. The temptation to turn was immense. If I turned it would be over, I wouldn't have to run – hobble, limp, stagger – anymore. I heard it growl, ready to pounce. My arms flailed, my mangled foot slipped in a coating of my own blood – but still I ran, still I refused to look back. I kept thinking of survival, thinking there'd be a future, thinking I'd live – and it was with that thin slice of hope that my legs disappeared from under me. I screamed, but it was a sound of surprise rather than pain – and it was lost in a terrible scream from across the moor. Who was that? Was it Mark? Was it Pete? We'd run together, separated – thinking it couldn't hunt down all three of us across these moors. But was that right? It was a long way to run and we had no idea how swift it was. I closed my eyes and listened. It was Mark. It was Mark screaming into the night. It was Mark being torn apart. I opened my eyes, slowly, and looked behind me. There was nothing. There were no red eyes, there were no bloodied teeth. Yet I could hear its breath so close, smell its disgusting raw hunger. But it wasn't there, Mark's cries told me that. It had followed Mark – the fattest one – meat on the carcass for a good feast. But I could still hear its breath, trapped in my mind, telling me it was near, that despite Mark's cries it was still hunting me. I steadied myself and looked around. I'd tumbled into a crimson ditch, a jagged hole covered in blood. Every inch of grass, every patch of mud was smeared red. I blinked a couple of times and gagged as the stench beat its way through my nostrils – and then, under the moonlight, I saw them. There were a dozen rabbit carcasses in the hole with me, each of them dissected and eviscerated by teeth. This is where it was before the bar, this is where it started before it came to us for the main course. I pulled myself up, scared I'd vomit. Mark's cries had stopped. Mark had been stopped. It was silent again, so I couldn't retch. If I threw up it would know where I was, it would find me easy. I crawled from the ditch, away from the blood and the smell. I lay on the grass, keeping my face pressed down, hoping the aroma of night time freshness would remove all others. I was tempted to just stay there, but the pain in my heel was too much. I had a knife in my shack, a good sharp blade. I could cut out the wound, remove the infection. The shack wasn't far. I knew this land, knew how to navigate these moors – I just prayed I could move fast enough it wouldn't catch me. I stood up, putting my weight on my right foot, only gingerly using my left. I took my bearings. Mark's cries had come from the east. What was it doing now? Was it feasting? Was it burrowing its nose into Mark's blubber? Or was it going to use the darkness to hunt down me and Pete as well? It had started in the bar – what? Half an hour earlier? A life time ago? ‘The Bar At The End Of The World' we called it. There had been three of us in, and Paul the bar-keep. No matter who else was there, the three of us – and Paul the bar-keep – were always there. We were single men, away from civilisation, glad – in the absence of any other human companionship – to have a kind of family to go to of an evening. It wasn't exclusive, we never made anyone feel an outsider. When others came in from the moors they were welcomed, they were old friends. Even strangers received a cheery greeting. We'd had lost English motorists, Scotsmen in kilts, even once a Japanese coach party. We always treated strangers kindly, we always wanted the stranger to leave as a friend. We weren't a bar which looked shifty and suspicious at every unknown who walked in. We smiled, we cheered, we brought another round. The stranger who walked in that night was different. He looked cold, distant, unfriendly. He looked like a man who wouldn't appreciate smiles or cheers or any warm welcome. He was huge, the size and shape of a bear – near seven foot of him. He lowered his head through the doorway and then straightened, standing dead still, staring at us on our bar-stools. Pete – the friendliest, youngest and lithest – tended to pounce forward and shake the hand of whoever came in, he didn't with this guy. This man just stood and glared at us, like he was ready to growl if we came near. We were in the wild, we ourselves were part of the wild – but he looked like he was born of it. His hair was greasy and matted to his simian shaped skull, his beard was torn and tangled, his skin was red and lined from exposure. His long jacket was the brown of every kind of dirt, his trousers were stained and short on his bruised calves, his torn shirt was only buttoned once – showing off a scarred and lined torso. It was Paul who spoke. Paul was the custodian and was never scared of confronting the unruly elements – his shotgun was never far from reach below the bar. â€Å"Can I help you?† he asked. The man did nothing, just continued to stare with passive venom. â€Å"Can I help you?† said Paul. The man moved. He turned his head, slowly, towards the bar-keep. â€Å"Whisky.† said the man, his voice as dark as earth. â€Å"You got money for that?† asked Paul. It was never usually a problem. Once or twice we'd had a tramp stray out that far and we'd brought them drinks – tramps have stories too. No one seemed willing to volunteer this time. The man took three strides, three strides which seemed to dent and echo against the floor. He grabbed a bar stool and swooped it under him. It was amazing those rickety old stools could take such a weight. â€Å"Whisky.† said the man. â€Å"You got money for that?† said Paul. They stared at each other. Paul kept his hand beneath the bar, clutching the gun. There was music on the jukebox, an old pop hit of the nineteen-seventies, but even though it played it was like silence had come and crushed it. The man brought his hand up, a brutal weapon of a fist – huge, scarred and red. He opened it, dropping a dozen coins down onto the bar. He smiled at Paul, or gave what passed for a smile on that face. Paul let go of the gun and pulled out a clean glass. â€Å"What kind?† he asked. â€Å"Whisky.† Paul shrugged and reached for a bottle – the cheapest – and poured out a measure. The whisky made itself at home at the bottom of the glass, but the man just stared at it in disapproval. â€Å"Whisky.† he said. Paul poured another measure. Again the man stared at it with disgust strained across his wrinkled, bruised face. â€Å"Whisky.† Paul shrugged again and poured it so the glass was brimming with brown liquid. Helicopters! I could suddenly hear choppers. They were up there, more than one – patrolling the night-sky. I dropped to the grass and looked up, but couldn't see them despite the moonlight. How did they know about it? Who had called them? It took a long time to get a helicopter out here – helicopters were city. They must have been hunting this thing awhile, must have tracked it down here. But what were they going to do now? It was an animal, it had natural senses – they didn't know this moor, they didn't know where things were. It was ridiculous, what were city men in helicopters going to do against a beast like that? I lay still. They were on my side. The police, the army, the protection authorities – whoever they were – we all wanted the same thing, we wanted it gone. But I knew they wouldn't be as careful as I would. They'd come to the moors before looking for things, other animals roaming these parts. They'd found them, they'd got them – and so what if a local got in the way of their sharpened bullets? It was collateral damage, it didn't matter. After all, we were too far away from the cities and the towns and the newspapers and the television cameras for anyone to care what actually happened. We were too far away for the death of a few yokel innocents to matter. But we knew. We knew it was as just as dangerous encountering a city man sent with a gun as it was encountering a beast. I got up slowly. What would I look like to them? A man limping in darkness across the moor, smeared with dirt and remains – how was I going to appear to them? I tried to figure out where they were – the sound of propellers said they were close, but I could also hear that breathing. I shuddered. I had to keep moving, I had to get safe. My shack, with heavy bolts on the doors and windows, was still a mile away. There was nowhere else though. Nowhere between where I stood and my shack. Nowhere in that direction between the bar and my shack. It was all so desolate. I had to get home – I could lock himself in, I had weapons, I'd be able to treat my ankle and give myself a chance of a tomorrow. I just had to get off the moor. I didn't want to die out there from either sharpened teeth or sharpened bullets. The man had just stared at that glass of whisky. Rain fell, records changed on the jukebox and still the man watched that glass with slow contemplation. All human sound had died. Before the man walked in Pete was regaling us with a childhood story we'd all heard three hundred times, Mark nevertheless could not stop sniggering at it – now there was only silence. We stared at the man – anxious of what he was going to do, scared of what he was going to do. Paul's hand was below the bar, tight on the gun. Maybe the man would just drink and leave. Maybe he'd drink and start a conversation. Maybe. His hand reached quick for the glass. One moment it was lying still in his lap, the next it was dropping the brown liquid down his throat. He took it in one gulp, then slammed the glass back to the bar and stared at it disappointed. He seemed to wonder if that was it. Paul reached his free hand to the bottle, to offer a refill, when the man jerked himself over the glass. He hunched his body over as if about to vomit the contents back in, his head so close he could have snapped the rim with his teeth. But he didn't. Instead he unfurled his tongue, pushing it into the empty glass so it curled at the bottom and piled up on itself. The tongue was long, dark, thick – it had two black veins running and pulsing up the back. He pushed it into the glass and filled it. The receptacle crammed full with purple flesh spilling over the top Then he made a slurping sound, like his tongue was a paper-straw reaching for the last drop of liquid. He slid it out, but stayed hunched forward and unfurled it again, wrapping his tongue around the base of the glass. He lifted it from the bar, tilting his head back and shaking whatever atoms of whisky might be left into his wide eager mouth. He dropped the glass back to the bar carelessly, so it landed on its side and rolled. The man grunted as it came to a stop right at the edge. I wasn't far now, but still far from safe. The helicopters had moved away, but there were men on the moors. I could hear them communicating, I could hear the static of their walkie-talkies. They were armed and scared in the moonlight, and it didn't matter what they saw – man, sheep, deer, great big beast – they'd all get the same treatment. I kept moving, conscious of them, conscious of the salivating breath, conscious that one wrong turn and I'd be exposed for all in the moonlight. I rounded a ridge, and there – close enough to see – was my shack. I felt so much relief I nearly wept, but then I heard them on the bank right above me. I hit bank-side and listened, they were chatting about vectors and shut downs and containing the area. All the time the beast was getting nearer. It was so dark out there – even with the moon – that it could have pounced from five feet and surprised me. Even with armed city men so close, it would still have time to tear out my throat before taking them too. They were above me so I couldn't move, but I could hear the beast and knew I had to move. The sound of its hunger was louder when I stopped. It seemed like it could attack from all sides, like I could be ripped apart by more than one of them. It was everywhere. What were those idiots doing? Why were they advertising themselves? I held my breath and listened to them and listened to it, and figured I was in for a bloody death. Then there were screams. From across the moor came dreadful cries, that even through the wind I recognised as Pete. I lurched forward from the bank, but then reality knocked me back again. Even if I knew where to run it would be too late. The screams swirled in the wind, they echoed, so it seemed that each death throe was repeated again and again across the moors. The men primed their weapons, but what were they going to fire at? It could be miles off, it could be bursting up from just over the next hillock. Finally there was movement, orders were given, the men raced away. I could still hear the breathing, rattling between my ears even with the screams. I could hear the helicopters swooping back. The men had gone, the helicopters weren't near enough yet and it was as close as it had ever been. If I looked to my left I could make out the brickwork of my shack. I moved hastily towards it. With the empty glass in front of him, the man closed his eyes and became still. Why hadn't Paul shot him then? Why didn't he just blast him one? What had gone through Paul's mind to make him wait? But then the opportunity was gone, his eyes opened and he spoke. â€Å"I get so lonely,† he said. â€Å"I get so very, very lonely.† His voice was quiet, a growled monotone. â€Å"I know the kind of life I lead isn't meant to have company, but still I am lonely. I think it's an odd thing for me to have become lonely – I wasn't born lonely, I didn't grow up lonely, there was nothing in my life that suggested loneliness. But now I am alone. I don't miss the people I knew, I don't miss the people who loved me – some of them I can't even remember – but I do miss the sensation of somebody else, I do miss there being another. I talk to myself a lot, I talk to myself and try to make sense of it, because after all – who else is there to talk to? Sure, there are people like you. There's the welcome of strangers when I can get it. But you're not my friends, you're not even my friends for the hours I spend here. You're just people I meet. You don't like me and you don't trust me – and I'll be honest with you, you have no reason to do either. You know what I am, or you have a good idea what I am. You know what I have to do, you know what will happen next. And later on when I'm alone I might regret it, but for now†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And there it was – an angry mass of hair, claws and teeth. It went for Mark first – the most meat – but Mark was strong and pushed it back. It was only for a second, knocking it off balance, but enough for the three of us to get passed. We scrambled, had almost reached the outside, when it clamped me in a hungry vice. I looked to my foot and saw its horrible mutated face, growling and supping at my flesh. I screamed and it was answered by a gunshot. Paul put both barrels into its back. It roared and let go of my heel, and I hobbled out as fast as I could. There was another shot, and then a scream from Paul. I reached my shack, fumbling in the darkness as I tried to open the door. I had to be quicker – my blood was in the air, surely I was going to be next. It was so near, its breath seemed to bruise the back of my neck. Finally the door opened. I slammed it behind me, bolted it, pushed furniture to block the windows. Outside were choppers, men running – but they weren't going to get near it. It was coming for me, stalking me. I opened the table drawer and pulled out my revolver, then went to my book shelves and cracked open a little box. It was a present, given to me as a keepsake, a lucky charm, in case I ever needed it. A silver bullet. I looked to the door and with shaking fingers slipped it into the chamber. The full moon shone on me despite the furniture. I could hear growling, panting, a nearby and desperate salivating. But then I heard a chopper, I heard men. It receded, cowering, taking a tactical retreat. The sound of breathing softened in my head. I took a gulp of relief and vomited on the floor. The vomit was blood red. I sat down, shaking with tears. I reached to the drawer and pulled out a carving knife, bringing it to my heel. But it was no good. The wound was deeper than I'd realised, the teeth had sunk in further than I thought, meeting below my flesh. There was no way I could just cut it out, the infection was in me, rampant in my blood. I put the gun to my temple. Why not? Anyone who passed as my friend had already died that night. But then the moonlight touched me and I realised just how powerful I felt. I could hear the breathing again, friendlier now though. There was a new smell in the night air – warm, welcoming. The beast was just the other side of the door, I could sense it. I could smell it, it could smell me. I put the gun down and smiled. I guessed neither of us would be lonely for a little while.

Abuse, Dependence and Addiction

Abuse, Dependence and Addiction Abuse, dependence and addiction are all stages of the addiction process. Abuse is the beginning, when the person starts abusing drugs. Drug abuse is intentionally using a drug the wrong way, or using an illegal drug. After someone has abused drugs for long enough, it is possible that they could develop a tolerance to that drug- they need to take more to get high. Once a tolerance is established, dependence is the next step of the addiction process. Many drugs can make a person become dependent. There are two different kinds of dependence physical dependence and psychological dependence-Psychological dependence happens when someone feels like they are only happy when they are high, and spend most of their time when their not high wishing that they were. Physical dependence is the same thing as addiction, which means that once you reach a point where your body expects the drug, you are addicted.CIA Map of International drug pipelinesOne of the widespread temptations to use drugs in our culture, comes from several factors: social peer pressure, the natural desire to experiment and discover, and the lack of knowledge the drug and it's effects, and the lack of connectedness with your body. People want to experience new feelings and freedom from the stress of everyday situations.

4 mistakes bosses make when hiring new employees

4 mistakes bosses make when hiring new employees By the time you’re ready to hire a new employee, it can feel like the end of a long and exhausting process. You’ve talked to lots of people, you’ve read countless resumes, and you could be under a time crunch just to get someone in and working. There’s probably pressure to wrap things up. Even so, as you get ready to hire and onboard new employees, it’s important to make sure you’re avoiding some of the oh-so-common mistakes.Mistake: Over-reliance on first impressionsWhen hiring, many people like to go with gut instinct when they meet a candidate. But are you hiring this person because you like them, or because they’re truly the best person for the job? Before making an offer, do a careful review of how the person meets your needs for the job. If they fall short in some areas (but your instinct is that they can learn or grow to adapt), make sure that potential is grounded in reality- not just wishful thinking. So don’t discount your first impression completely, but do several gut checks along the way to make sure you really believe they’re the right person for the role.Mistake: Not preparing everyone for the new arrivalIt’s not quite the same as sitting a kid down and explaining that he’s going to have a new brother or sister, but the dynamics don’t necessarily change all that much from childhood to adulthood. Your team probably knows you’ve been looking to hire a new person, but the â€Å"okay, it’s done, here’s your new coworker† approach can feel jarring.If you can, involve team members in the hiring process, even if they don’t have any final say in the decision. You can still have them meet with the candidate during the interview process and ask for feedback. Before the new person starts, make sure everyone’s got a basic idea of who the new team member is. A â€Å"get ready to welcome X! He will be working on these projects, and I h ear he plays a mean cello† email can help break the ice and prepare people for their new colleague.This goes for the new person as well- he or she should get a brief overview of the team, who does what, and what the group expectations are. Starting in a new job can feel overwhelming enough, but knowing a bit about what the person is walking into can help ease the transition.hbspt.cta.load(2785852, '9e52c197-5b5b-45e6-af34-d56403f973c5', {});Mistake: Not defining expectations for the job and boss-employee relationshipJob interviews can be so focused on the on-paper requirements for the job that some of the interpersonal parts can get lost. When you’re interviewing someone and it’s likely to progress to a job offer, make sure they understand what your role as the boss is, as well as your priorities and expectations for the job. Again, the more you can let them know up front, the easier it will be to transition the right person into the role. Or at least identify po tential red flags or conflicts before it’s too late.Mistake: Expecting perfection from Day OneYou’re hiring someone qualified for the job, as determined from the thorough vetting of the hiring process. So this person should be ready to rock it on day one, right? Yes†¦ and no. While you shouldn’t lower expectations for the person in the role, it’s important to remember that there’s a learning curve in any new position. Even if the person held a very similar job at a different company, there’s still the potential roadblock of new systems, new workplace dynamics and politics, and different priorities.Having a new employee onboarding plan can help this. By anticipating the things that the new person will need to learn and master over a certain amount of time (like processes, systems, software, etc.), you can help manage expectations- your own and theirs.Putting a little extra thought and planning into your new hire now will help you avoid s ome headaches and misunderstandings down the line. And look at it this way: the better this transition goes, the more likely it is that you’ll have thriving, satisfied employees, and less likely that you’ll be going through the same process again sooner than you’d hope.

What are most important causes of radical islamist terrorism in South Essay

What are most important causes of radical islamist terrorism in South Asia(PAKISTAN) - Essay Example Terrorist have become a weapon of war while hiding behind a selfish religious background that does not play by the rule of religious laws. Political and economic waves within the country that have fuelled radicalization can be linked to poor leadership within the country. Autocratic leadership, corruption and high poverty levels in Pakistan have further fuelled the problem. From this perspective, the increase in radical Islam terrorism in South Asia is a consequence of weak leadership. The essay seeks to identify the various causes of terrorism within the country and possible approaches to contain the problem. Since its founding in the 1950s, Pakistan has had a long history of terrorism. The government estimates over 35,000 deaths of Pakistanis and an economic loss of about $68 billion within the country as a result of Islam extremist war. Although the country has had a consistent 6% growth in its economy, the country remains heavily indebted due to over expenditure in non-developmental projects such as Security due to its rivalry with nearby countries such as India1. Pakistan is a country that was founded shortly after India gained independence within areas that had high concentration of Islams.2 The Muslims intended to establish their own territories and to become a liberal state where they could worship freely and uphold their traditions. The Muslims felt that their social interaction with other religions was becoming a threat to their religious value and they were falling in the risk of religious dilution. As they refer to Islam as a â€Å"way of life†, they felt that acquiring freedom would be the best approach to sustaining their values in globalising world. The terrorism in Pakistan has had both internal and external implication in the world. Within the country, terrorism has subdivided the country into two religious groups

Human nature is not cruel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Human nature is not cruel - Essay Example Whereas, Kitty’s case has been subjected to several inaccuracies and misrepresentations, many other similar cases have been reported recently. Clearly, then, the â€Å"bystander effect† can have a strong impact, especially on social behavior, leaving people asking why exactly does it occur? And why do people not assist others when they are part of a crowd? More and more people are starting to pay attention and consider such kind of events as these. What leads people to become more apathetic, immoral or even cruel? Is human nature cruel? Human beings are not born cruel. A baby is always naà ¯ve and pure, they are not intentionally cruel to others. I believe that humans are not always cruel depending on certain circumstances surrounding an individual. Furthermore, Milgram’s experiment is all about obedience to authority.  It  found that  65 percent  of participants deferred to the authority of the experimenter and administered the final 450 volt "shock†. The other 35 percent refused to continue with the experiment. This experiment tells us that people always obey authority. I don’t believe the 65 percent of subjects were cruel just because they completed the experiment. They wanted to stop the experiment, but the experimenter kept emphasizing things such as â€Å"the experiment requires that you continue, go on please, the shocks are painful but they are not harmful.† It made participants very nervous and confused, meaning that the experimenter’s authority pushed them to be cruel and even hurt innocent people. In brief, Milgram’s experiment is not enough proof that human nature is cruel, but people will be cruel under certain circumstances. Any normal person, usually, will not easily hurt others just for the sake of it. And if they do hurt someone they will definitely feel guilty. Someone however could be wondering that, if human nature is not cruel, then why are there so many murderers in the world? I believe murdering someone is cruel, but