Analysis Of Se7en By David Fincher - 1628 Words

Se7en Sins Greed. Envy. Gluttony. Wrath. Lust. Pride. Sloth. These acts and feelings are what most Christians consider the seven deadly sins. If you commit any of these sins, you are doomed to hell and and an agonizing death. While most religious people avoid the sins like the plague and see most people as good samaritans, some see the sins in everyone they encounter like it’s written all over their face. Se7en, by David Fincher, explores what happens when the people who see the sins in everyone decides to act on their views. The movie follows two detectives, played by Brad Pitt(David Mills) and Morgan Freeman(Detective Somerset), who follow a line of murders happening in the city they live in. They eventually figure out that these†¦show more content†¦This is useful in Se7en because the main topic surrounding the murders is religion. Writers of the film used the serial killer genre because it’s easy to grab people’s attention and convey the message that the world is a cruel place with many issues. If the movie weren’t sheltered with a simple slasher flick cover, it would instantly become contentious, and many wouldn’t want to squabble with a movie telling the viewer about how religion isn’t perfect. Among other options, the debate of how Se7en is representation of violence in practicing religion changes how many people alter their views of what is right and wrong. Most people overlook the wrongdoings of the world and turn the other cheek. In the film, the killer John Doe sees himself as a good person performing God’s work for him by acting on his feelings and not turning the other cheek. This suggests that killing people because they’re doing â€Å"God’s† work is okay because they have religion to blame for their reasoning. One of John Doe’s final speeches is him trying to justify why he went on a killing spree, and he justifies his actions by saying, â€Å"Only in a world this shitty could you even try to say these were innocent people and keep a straight face. But that s the point. We see a deadly sin on every street corner, in every home, and we tolerate it. We tolerate it because it s common, itShow MoreRelatedThe Style Of David Fincher s Se7en1386 Words   |  6 Pages ESSAY TITLE Explore the style of David Fincher’s Se7en and explainn how the style choices crucially contribute to the film’s significance and effectiveness in relation to its framework Table of Contents 1. Introduction ii 2. Discussion vi 2.1 Frameworks of References vi 2.1.1 Historical Context vi 2.1.2 Authorship vii 2.1.3 Genre viii 2.2. Story Telling ix 2.2.1 Storyline ix 2.2.2 Clarity of Plot x 2.2.3 Plot Relevance xi 2.2.4 Complexity of Characters xii 2.2.5 Background of Motivations andRead MoreImpact of Sound Upon a Films Thematic Premise2964 Words   |  12 Pageselements such as music, dialogue, sound effects and silence that relate directly to the emotions presented visually. This paper will attempt to analyse the above elements, focusing on two key films, Finchers Se7en and Hitchcocks Psycho. Both a general sound description and an in-depth of analysis of selected sequences will be included whilst considering their significance and impact upon the films thematic development. However, in order to appreciate how sound can influence the development of a films

Who Is Cardiovascular System For Steady State Exercise (...

he cardiovascular system responses to steady state exercise (P4 and M2) -Heart rate is the number of times a person s heart beats per minute. When you are preforming a type of exercise that will increase your heart rate, then your heart will pump blood all around your body faster and especially to muscles that are working the most because they require the most oxygen because of the intensity they are working at. It is vital to take your resting heart rate and the normal heart rate is 60-100bpm. For example, our cardiovascular exercise was cycling on a stationary bike for 20 minutes at a reasonable pace and this will depend on whether your heart rate will increase at a slow, fast or steady rate. However, the first 5 minutes we cycled at a very fast pace in order for your heart to pump more blood all around the body and to the required muscles in order for them to work harder. But the response is that the heart rate levels off, which means that it becomes steady so that after beginning the exercise and you’re like 5 minutes into it then your heart r ate will stay the same or increase by little bits unless you change the intensity all the time which is not required when doing cardiovascular exercises. -Stroke volume is the amount of blood pumped by the left ventricle and this is measured in mL/beats. The average resting stroke volume is 70 mL/beat and this is best measured when you wake up because you are at you’re at full rest meaning you have done nothing to increase your

Understanding The Interactions Essay Research Paper Understanding free essay sample

Understanding The Interactions Essay, Research Paper Understanding the Interactions of Environment and Society For Worstner, the thought of a political economic system is cardinal to understanding the interactions of environment and society. Worstner is utile to indicate out the function of authorities working together with certain privileged concern involvements to make the political economic system, which is a new environment-devouring animal of the 20th century. ( Gallagher paper ) Through Rivers of Empire, we observe the societal, economic, political, and environmental developments that detect the workings of our political economic system in full watercourse and the long-run effects. In short, public subsides for private power and net incomes. Society discovers a better manner to carry through its aspirations through new developments in order to accomplish the societal and economic ends set Forth in the West. From the earliest beginnings of urbanisation, we clearly see society conforming itself into a hydraulic society. The imperial metropolis would do the vale its settlement for whoever controlled the H2O in the land, controlled the fate of life depending on it. We will write a custom essay sample on Understanding The Interactions Essay Research Paper Understanding or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page ( Rivers of Empire pg. 71 ) Easily stated, more belongings, more power. The 1s who owned land separated themselves in a category all their ain, being the rich, while several other races owned none. They were categorized as the hapless, go forthing hired labour chances open where low pay and hapless life adjustments were a portion of mundane life. This ulterior brought, attending to the construction of power and poorness associated with a maturating irrigation system. ( Rivers of Empire pg. 224 ) As the old ages went by, more and more people were being put into the hapless societal category by investors outbidding their land go forthing fewer and fewer in the higher category. The potency of the desert vale flourishing was limitless. It would guarantee the future growing of a population, industry, and agribusiness, would debar a societal and economic stagnancy. ( Rivers of Empire pg. 264 ) These glistening generalizations used to depict the West won the Black Marias of many. Everyone felt that they had a opportunity to ain belongings, and have a better opportunity at life. By utilizing resources environing them, they were able to do a dry waste desert into a comfortable metropolis. This led to the thrivin g economic system we now have in California where our province has the most diverse and abundant agricultural sphere. Briefly, the California people were, rescued from sage brush and desert, [ and now ] are easy among the richest agricultural parts of the universe. ( Rivers of Empire pg. 232 ) Through this industry, we have created monstrous dikes, which now consequence the contents of our H2O supply, drained several lakes, rivers, and watercourses through irrigation and rerouting H2O systems, and killed several thousand people. Ideals in the new West changed dramatically throughout several old ages. When colonists foremost arrived, they saw the land as everyone s. Let everyone prosecute his ain involvements freely let everyone usage nature as he likes, and the universe will go richer and richer, [ and ] peace will automatically predominate. ( Rivers of Empire pg. 93 ) They neer imagined their socialistic moralss being transformed into capitalistic 1s. What was one time shared was now a thing in the yesteryear. Greed one time once more prevailed over the common good where the more land you took, the more power you had. In that thrust to replace the common jurisprudence, a river became a mere instrumentally to fulfill entrepreneurial thrusts, a public-service corporation, a marketable economic system to be bought and sold and made to gain money to whoever got at that place foremost. ( Rivers of Empire pg. 90 ) With so many chances to go rich, many sought out land to subdivision and usage. Where there was an c opiousness of natural wealth lying approximately waiting to be easy gathered up and made usage of capitalist economy as a civilization and as a societal order got along without much centralisation of its energies. ( Rivers of Empire pg. 283 ) Capitalism led to intense competition where the province out command the rich leting merely the province to hold control of the land. The West, more than any other American part, was built by province power, province expertness, province engineering, and province hierarchy. ( Rivers of Empire pg. 135 ) This laterality led to the maltreatment of irrigation, agribusiness and much more. The West went though dramatic alterations. We see that the different ethical motives in these chapters where the greed of world prevails over the communal distribution of wealth. Entire power, entire ownership of plan. Nature in the West could non be allowed to withstand it, nor could human orneriness. ( Rivers of Empire pg. 188 )

Vernon McGee Views On Bible Essays - Letter Writers,

Vernon McGee Views On Bible J. Vernon McGee has an interesting way of looking at the Bible. He seems to take a standpoint on Galations that is very refreshing. I have never heard a biblical scalar use the word cool before. I just really enjoyed reading his commentary. He divides the book into five parts, the first being the introduction. He talks about how in the first five verses Paul tells that he is an apostle by God not by man. In verse two he describes that Paul is writing to the churches of Galatia and not the church body that is composed of all that are saved. In verse four he gives a very inspiring view of how Jesus gave himself. As well as talking about how God will deliver us from present evil. From verse five he talks about how wonderful God is and how we need to praise his name. McGee then goes on to talk about Paul's subject in Galations. Paul is writing this letter to warn about Judaizers. After Paul had gone threw an area these Judaizers would come right behind him and add to what Paul said. They would tell them that they had to obey the Mosaic Law as well as have faith. The main idea for verses 1:6-10 holds the same main idea. God has provided us with the one and only true gospel and this is what Paul was preaching. If anyone should ever come up to and tell you that your belief is right up to a point we should tell them to leave us alone. In the next part he talks about Paul's experiences in Arabia. In verses eleven and twelve Paul states one again about how the gospel he preaches came from no man but from God. In verses 18-24 we read about Paul going to meet with the other apostles and their reaction to him. The church as well as the apostles in Jerusalem was slightly reluctant to accept Paul when he first arrived. In fact McGee says "without the help of Barnabas, Paul would probably have waited for a long time before the church in Jerusalem would have received him". Paul never did meet up with all the apostles. He only met two the brothers of Jesus, James and Peter. Now we come to chapter two of Galations. This is the point were things really start to get interesting. This is when Paul comes back to Jerusalem with Titus. It was a very powerful message that Paul stated by bringing one who was uncircumcised to the church of Jerusalem. The real meat of verses 2:1-10 is when Paul meets with the apostles. In this meeting they both presented their version of the gospel and came to find out that they had nothing to add to Paul's version. They had come to the agreement that both gospels were true and accurate. Now we move to Paul's experiences in Antioch with Peter. It was well know that Jews did not feel that they should eat meat. Well at the church in Antioch there was a mixture of both Jews and Gentiles. They also had a great meal called a love feast in this church. Well this lead to some problems having Jews that didn't eat meat and Gentiles that did. The solution was to have two separate tables, one with meat and one without. When Paul came he saw no problem in eating meat so he went to sit at the gentiles table. When Simon Peter arrived he saw Paul sitting at the table and sat at the Jews table anyway. Later after the meal Peter ask Paul about eating meat and Paul explained to Peter that eating meat cannot separate you from God if you are saved by grace. Peter then ate meat the next morning and enjoyed it. That evening when friends from the church in Jerusalem came Peter went from the Gentile table back to the kosher table. "By his actions he was saying that the gentile table was wrong and the kosher table was right. Now we come to chapter three in Galatians were Paul now goes back to the experiences of the Galatians. McGee says that he believes in experience. He says that you have to be very careful when dealing with experience. "What experience dose is corroborate the gospel". There are many people today that reason from experience to truth. McGee believes that the Word of God reasons from truth to experience. If we

Bessie Coleman, African American Woman Pilot

Bessie Coleman, African American Woman Pilot Bessie Coleman, a stunt pilot, was a pioneer in aviation. She was the first African American woman with a pilots license, the first African American woman to fly a plane, and the first American with an international pilots license.   She lived from  January 26, 1892 (some sources give 1893)  to April 30, 1926 Early Life Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas, in 1892, tenth of thirteen children. The family soon moved to a farm near Dallas. The family worked the land as sharecroppers, and Bessie Coleman worked in the cotton fields. Her father, George Coleman, moved to Indian Territory, Oklahoma, in 1901, where he had rights, based on having three Indian grandparents. His African American wife, Susan, with five of their children still at home, refused to go with him. She supported the children by picking cotton and taking in laundry and ironing. Susan, Bessie Colemans mother, encouraged her daughters education, though she was herself illiterate, and though Bessie had to miss school often to help in the cotton fields or to watch her younger siblings. After Bessie graduated from eighth grade with high marks, she was able to pay, with her own savings and some from her mother, for a semesters tuition at an industrial college in Oklahoma, Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University. When she dropped out of school after a semester, she returned home, working as a laundress. In 1915 or 1916 she moved to Chicago to stay with her two brothers who had already moved there. She went to beauty school, and became a manicurist, where she met many of the black elite of Chicago. Learning to Fly Bessie Coleman had read about the new field of aviation, and her interest was heightened when her brothers regaled her with tales of French women flying planes in World War I. She tried to enroll in aviation school, but was turned down. It was the same story with other schools where she applied. One of her contacts through her job as a manicurist was Robert S. Abbott, publisher of the Chicago Defender. He encouraged her to go to France to study flying there. She got a new position managing a chili restaurant to save money while studying French at the Berlitz school. She followed Abbotts advice, and, with funds from several sponsors including Abbott, left for France in 1920. In France, Bessie Coleman was accepted in a flying school, and received her pilots license- the first African American woman to do so. After two more months of study with a French pilot, she returned to New York in September, 1921. There, she was celebrated in the black press and was ignored by the mainstream press. Wanting to make her living as a pilot, Bessie Coleman returned to Europe for advanced training in acrobatic flying- stunt flying. She found that training in France, in the Netherlands, and in Germany. She returned to the United States in 1922. Bessie Coleman, Barnstorming Pilot That Labor Day weekend, Bessie Coleman flew in an air show on Long Island in New York, with Abbott and the Chicago Defender as sponsors. The event was held in honor of black veterans of World War I. She was billed as the worlds greatest woman flyer. Weeks later, she flew in a second show, this one in Chicago, where crowds lauded her stunt flying. From there she became a popular pilot at air shows around the United States. She announced her intent to start a flying school for African Americans, and began recruiting students for that future venture. She started a beauty shop in Florida to help raise funds. She also regularly lectured at schools and churches. Bessie Coleman landed a movie role in a film called Shadow and Sunshine, thinking it would help her promote her career.   She walked away when she realized that the depiction of her as a black woman would be as a stereotypical Uncle Tom. Those of her backers who were in the entertainment industry in turn walked away from supporting her career. In 1923, Bessie Coleman bought her own plane, a World War I surplus Army training plane. She crashed in the plane days later, on February 4, when the plane nose-dived. After a long recuperation from broken bones, and a longer struggle to find new backers, she finally was able to get some new bookings for her stunt flying. On Juneteenth (June 19) in 1924 , she flew in a Texas air show. She bought another plane- this one also an older model, a Curtiss JN-4, one that was low-priced enough that she could afford it. May Day in Jacksonville In April, 1926, Bessie Coleman was in Jacksonville, Florida, to prepare for a May Day Celebration sponsored by the local Negro Welfare League. On April 30, she and her mechanic went for a test flight, with the mechanic piloting the plane and Bessie in the other seat, with her seat belt unbuckled so that she could lean out and get a better view of the ground as she planned the next days stunts. A loose wrench got wedged in the open gear box, and the controls jammed. Bessie Coleman was thrown from the plane at 1,000 feet, and she died in the fall to the ground. The mechanic could not regain control, and the plane crashed and burned, killing the mechanic. After a well-attended memorial service in Jacksonville on May 2, Bessie Coleman was buried in Chicago. Another memorial service there drew crowds as well. Every April 30, African American aviators- men and women- fly in formation over Lincoln Cemetery in southwest Chicago (Blue Island) and drop flowers on Bessie Colemans grave. Legacy of Bessie Coleman Black flyers founded the Bessie Coleman Aero Clubs, right after her death. the Bessie Aviators organization was founded by black women pilots in 1975, open to women pilots of all races. In 1990, Chicago renamed a road near OHare International Airport for Bessie Coleman. That same year, Lambert - St. Louis International Airport unveiled a mural honoring Black Americans in Flight, including Bessie Coleman. In 1995, the U.S. Postal Service honored Bessie Coleman with a commemorative stamp. In October, 2002, Bessie Coleman was inducted into the National Womens Hall of Fame in New York. Also known as:  Queen Bess, Brave Bessie Background, Family: Mother: Susan Coleman, sharecropper, cotton picker and laundressFather: George Coleman, sharecropperSiblings: thirteen total; nine survived Education: Langston Industrial College, Oklahoma - one semester, 1910Ecole dAviation des Freres, France, 1920-22Beauty school in ChicagoBerlitz school, Chicago, French language, 1920

Verb Review #1 Run and Drink

Verb Review #1 Run and Drink Verb Review #1 Run and Drink Verb Review #1 Run and Drink By Maeve Maddox Native English speakers frequently make mistakes with the irregular verbs run and drink, even in contexts that call for standard usage: Woman arrested on manslaughter charge; man was ran over by car he was fixing. – Albany Democrat-Herald The pair are believed to have ran up an estimated  £3,000 credit card bill after they sneaked out of  school last Monday–Daily MailOnline Court documents state that Angela Haas called the emergency room after learning what the child drank, and she told staff that a friend had drank orange juice with methamphetamine in it.  Ã¢â‚¬â€œGreatFallsTribune (Montana) Poor motor activity and head movement can occur in infants where mothers have drank high levels of alcohol during the last few days of pregnancy (Dominguez, Lopez and Molina, 1998) –Paper published by Women’s Health Council run The principal parts of the verb run are: run, ran, (have) run. As illustrated by the above examples, the error occurs when the simple past (ran) is substituted for the past participle (run). The correct form to use with a helping verb is run: A man was run over by a car. They are believed to have run up an estimated  £3,000 credit card bill. drink The principal parts of the verb drink are: drink, drank, (have) drunk. As illustrated by the above examples, the error occurs when the simple past (drank) is substituted for the past participle (drunk). The correct form to use with a helping verb is drunk: A friend had drunk orange juice. Poor motor activity can occur in infants whose mothers have drunk high levels of alcohol. It is possible that these errors with run and drink may become so widespread as to gain standard status. Indeed, the online dictionary Dictionary.com accompanies the entry for drink with this observation: drank is widely used as a past participle in speech by educated persons and must be considered an alternate standard form. â€Å"Must be?† Call me â€Å"elitist,† but I think that an â€Å"educated person† would know better than to write â€Å"have drank† in a context that calls for standard English. The Chicago Manual of Style is not so accommodating: drink (verb): Correctly conjugated drink–drank–drunk. Example: â€Å"They had not drunk any fruit juice that day.† I suspect that some speakers deliberately avoid the use of the word drunk because of a strong aversion to the state of drunkenness; they feel that drunk isn’t a â€Å"nice† word. I have no theory as to why incorrect â€Å"have ran† should be preferred to correct â€Å"have run.† 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 Usage Review category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Words for Facial ExpressionsWhat's a Male Mistress?Supervise vs. Monitor

Spss8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Spss8 - Essay Example 2. Is the type of beverage ordered with lunch at a restaurant independent of the age of the customer? A random sample of 309 lunch customers is taken, resulting in the following results. Determine whether the two variables are independent at 95% level of significance. (4 points) The p value is .000, which is lower than 0.05 suggests a relationship between age and type of beverage. The null hypothesis is thus rejected and the conclusion is that type beverage and age are related. 3. In one survey, successful women meeting managers were asked to state their personal definition of success in terms of several categories from which they could select. Thirty-nine percent responded that happiness was their definition, 12% said that sales/profit was their definition, 18% responded that helping others was their definition, and 31% responded that achievement/challenge was their definition of success. Suppose that you want to determine whether men meeting managers felt the same way and took a random sample of men meeting managers, resulting in the data shown. Use the Chi-square test to determine whether the observed frequency distribution of data for men meeting managers is the same as the distribution for women meeting managers. Let ÃŽ ± = .05. (4 points) The test statistics table shows a very small computed Chi-square value 201.56 and a very small p-value 0.00, which is smaller than 0.05. Therefore, H0 is rejected, and hence there is a difference between the successful women and those who were randomly sampled. 4. Is there a relationship between having a lap-top computer and a person’s profession? A survey of 187 managers of three professions: travel manager, lawyers and accountants, was conducted to investigate this question. Results are presented in the following table. Test whether having a lap-top computer is independent of profession at 95% level of significance. (4 points) The p value is

Porters Diamond Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Porters Diamond - Essay Example The first aspect is the strategy and structure of firms. He explains that competition makes businesses to increase their innovation and productivity. Second, he describes the demand conditions factor. Here, he explains that firms face pressure due to increased demand, and this forces them to improve their competitiveness through an increase in quality. Third, he illustrates the nature of related supporting industries. Here, he reveals that the distance between such industries with a firm determines the exchange of information and ideas. In factor conditions, he explains that the factors of production are not inherited but created. He completes his model with the element of a government. He illustrates that the government only acts as a catalyst to push companies to competitive performance. However, Porter’s research has various limitations. First, Porter did not explore how culture influences the competitiveness of a nation in his framework. He did not explain how attitudes or social norms of a population towards authority affect the organization of firms. Second, it was incorrect to mention that the strategy and structure of companies are due to economic circumstances rather than culture. Cultural factors are the reasons for the creation of some enterprises such as Japanese business system of Keiretsu. Conclusively, although Porter's framework is incomplete, it is valid. Academics such as Dunning have extended on the framework and have revealed on the merits of the concept in explaining national competitiveness.

Worldview Essay of Romans Essay Example for Free

Worldview Essay of Romans Essay Introduction In Paul letter to the Romans he provides for us a biblical view of creation, which is our natural world, our human identity as it relates to God, human relationship and how it should be understood and culture. He shows us God’s love for all mankind, regardless of nationality or cultural background through His saving grace found in Jesus Christ. He grants salvation to all by faith in His son, with no favoritism or partiality. Man is incapable of saving himself, it is not earned through his works or good deeds, it’s only found by faith in Christ. It is essential for us today to have a clear and proper biblical understanding of our Creator, our relationship to Him and others, sin and its consequences and also our justification and redemption found in Jesus Christ. The Natural World Our natural world was spoken into existence by God and was perfect in its creation. The bible explains to us how the world was formed in Genesis 1:1-25 and God called His creation good. His purpose for creating our natural world and all that is in it was to worship and glorify Him. Our natural world is clearly a manifestation of His existence, sovereignty and power as stated in (Romans 1:20-21). There is general revelation of God’s creation, which speaks to everyone regardless of their culture and language and regardless of their access to Scriptures or the gospel according to (Psalms 19:1-6). God intended for man to subdue and take dominion of the earth, but man failed because of sin according to (Genesis 1:28). However, according to Romans 8:35-39, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. This is comforting to know that in a world that has fallen and is extremely sinful, that we have an assurance and hope, which is found by faith in Christ Jesus. Human Identity Our identity originated in God, and in His image were we made (Genesis  1:26-27). We not only have a spiritual image but also a physical image as well. Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, meaning God with us, came in the form of a man to redeem mankind back to the Father. But, since the inception of sin, our physical and spiritual image has been marred and our fellowship with God was broken. We were born with an identity problem, because we are descendants of Adam and Eve who sinned, and their act of independence passed down from generation to generation. In Romans 1:21-24, these people knew God, but their hearts and minds had become darkened and they reveled in wickedness. They thought of themselves to be wise, however they were fools. They even exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man, birds and animals and snakes. They distorted the image of their Creator and God gave them over to their sinful desires and the lust of their own hearts. Man will never fully understand his true identity until he comes to a saving knowledge of who Christ is and what He has done for him. Only then will his eyes be open and his new identity revealed. Human Relationships Our human relationships with each other can be challenging because of sin and its tendencies to put strife between us. God intended for man and woman to be fruitful and multiply, to dwell in peace, love and unity. We are to love and forgive one another, and not stand in judgment against each other. Show kindness to our enemies even those who oppose God. For God is love. However, that changed after sin entered our world. Man began to do what was pleasing and right in his own eyes. Sin took man so far from God’s design that they exchanged their natural affections for each other. They abandoned their natural desire for each other to unnatural ones, although they knew these things were wrong. Therefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do what ought not to be done (Romans 1:26-32). Paul states in Romans 6:23 for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Culture We can clearly see the culture of that time had completely turned from God even though they knew God. They rejected Him and lived life on their own terms and by their own rules. This is the mindset of our culture today. The early church culture also dealt with a lot of legalism. Some believe to be a Christian one must obey the laws of Moses, which I believe is in error. Our  justification is in Christ and not the law. After the cross, the two nations of Jews and Gentiles are now one in Christ. The new covenant is to both the Jews and the Gentiles (Ephesians 2:11-22). There is much division in our world because of different worldviews and how one believes. In Romans, Paul teaches us our sanctification and justification is in Christ alone. The mercy and grace of God has been extended to all mankind regardless of race, creed, color or culture. We have a responsibility to share the love of God with all cultures to bring them to a saving knowledge of God’s grace through Christ. In conclusion, Paul teachings help us to understand how God views sin and its consequences. His message also reveals God’s righteousness and forgiveness through Christ. Our natural world, our human identity, relationships and our culture has been given a glorious opportunity to be renewed and redeemed through the blood of Jesus. We should not conformed to this world, but be transformed by renewing our minds and share that revelation to others through the love of God. Therefore, having a proper biblical worldview are both essential and valuable to us and our world.

Futility of the American Dream Exposed in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays

The ideal of the ‘American Dream’ has hardly changed over the past century. The dream is a unique American phenomenon. It represents a nebulous concept that is exemplified by a number of American values. Many deem wealth and success to be the means to this paradigm. When stability, security and family values also become part of the suburban lifestyle, the American Dream comes close to becoming reality. Nick Carraway, the candid narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby analyzes the legitimacy of this principle through the inevitable downfall of Jay Gatsby. The novel takes place during the ‘roaring twenties’ in two sophisticated, affluent Long Island neighborhoods. The people in these neighborhoods epitomize the superficiality and arrogance that distorts the American Dream. Fitzgerald utilizes this environment and its people to examine the negative attributes of the American Dream. Fitzgerald portrays two neighborhoods, East Egg and West Egg, to display the slowly evolving corruption of the American Dream. East Egg houses old money sophisticates, and West Egg accommodates the less fashionable â€Å"nouveau riche† types. The apparent differences cause the two neighborhoods to develop a seeming rivalry. The different neighborhoods are connected through the characters becoming entangled with each other. Both Carraway, and his wealthy, yet enigmatic neighbor, Jay Gatsby live in West Egg. Carraway lives in a modest bungalow, which is overshadowed by Gatsby’s extravagant estate. In his magnificent manor, Gatsby indulges in an excessive and exaggerated lifestyle including many lavish parties: â€Å"In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars† (43). Gatsby considers his prodigious wealth and stature to be the means to regain his one true love, Daisy Buchanan. Daisy's aura of wealt h and privilege--her many clothes, her perfect house, her lack of fear or worry—attract Gatsby's attention and gradual obsession. Gatsby realizes that his own capacity for hope made Daisy seem ideal to him. He does not realize that he is pursuing an image that has no true, lasting value. This realization would have made the world look entirely different to Gatsby, like "a new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about† (169). Daisy and her unfaithful husband Tom live in a large East Egg mansion directly across from Gatsby’s estate. In this environment, Gatsby’s destiny with Daisy becomes his individual version of the American Dream. Futility of the American Dream Exposed in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays The ideal of the ‘American Dream’ has hardly changed over the past century. The dream is a unique American phenomenon. It represents a nebulous concept that is exemplified by a number of American values. Many deem wealth and success to be the means to this paradigm. When stability, security and family values also become part of the suburban lifestyle, the American Dream comes close to becoming reality. Nick Carraway, the candid narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby analyzes the legitimacy of this principle through the inevitable downfall of Jay Gatsby. The novel takes place during the ‘roaring twenties’ in two sophisticated, affluent Long Island neighborhoods. The people in these neighborhoods epitomize the superficiality and arrogance that distorts the American Dream. Fitzgerald utilizes this environment and its people to examine the negative attributes of the American Dream. Fitzgerald portrays two neighborhoods, East Egg and West Egg, to display the slowly evolving corruption of the American Dream. East Egg houses old money sophisticates, and West Egg accommodates the less fashionable â€Å"nouveau riche† types. The apparent differences cause the two neighborhoods to develop a seeming rivalry. The different neighborhoods are connected through the characters becoming entangled with each other. Both Carraway, and his wealthy, yet enigmatic neighbor, Jay Gatsby live in West Egg. Carraway lives in a modest bungalow, which is overshadowed by Gatsby’s extravagant estate. In his magnificent manor, Gatsby indulges in an excessive and exaggerated lifestyle including many lavish parties: â€Å"In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars† (43). Gatsby considers his prodigious wealth and stature to be the means to regain his one true love, Daisy Buchanan. Daisy's aura of wealt h and privilege--her many clothes, her perfect house, her lack of fear or worry—attract Gatsby's attention and gradual obsession. Gatsby realizes that his own capacity for hope made Daisy seem ideal to him. He does not realize that he is pursuing an image that has no true, lasting value. This realization would have made the world look entirely different to Gatsby, like "a new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about† (169). Daisy and her unfaithful husband Tom live in a large East Egg mansion directly across from Gatsby’s estate. In this environment, Gatsby’s destiny with Daisy becomes his individual version of the American Dream.

Brain Abnormalities and Schizophrenia

The real etiology of schizophrenia is still a dream despite massive studies on the involvement of the brain. Studies of the brain through neuroimaging have revealed that frontal cortex, temporal lobe, and sub cortical structures are involved. Some of abnormalities in the brain of schizophrenic patients include enlarged ventricles, reduced volume of frontal cortex, temporal lobe cortex, and sub cortical structures like com/psychology-exam-3/">hippocampus and amygdala. These abnormalities have been persistently reported in schizophrenic patients and this shows that they are not functioning inadequately.Some of these abnormalities are present at the start and some even before the onset of psychosis and this is in support of neurodevelopment of theory of schizophrenia. The key neurotransmitter in schizophrenia is dopamine; however, there are others such as serotonin and glutamate which are also thought to play a role. Schizophrenia is an inherited condition, although genetic research has not come up with a clear conclusion on this matter may be because of the complexity of genetic involvement.Despite the fact that brain abnormalities are still not very clear in schizophrenia, the evidence is continuously pilling and this is driving towards a complicated disease of the brain network that is affected by genetically mediated developmental abnormality. Introduction Neuropathologists have been involved in research on schizophrenia for about hundred years. Despite the length of the research, the neuropathogy of the disorder is still not clear.Although they have made some steps in their quest since the beginning when they believed that it was a functional psychosis without structural basis, the main cause of the chronic disorder is still illusive. With the technological advancement in science, researchers have come to a common finding in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and the common finding is brain abnormalities. These discoveries have made the researchers to wond er if the cause of schizophrenia is brain abnormalities and how the abnormalities arise.Despite recovery of some brain abnormalities in patients suffering from schizophrenia, most scientists maintained that some of the abnormalities realized are quite slight and some of them are not common in all schizophrenic patients and to occur exclusively in people with schizophrenia. Although these patients have structural pathologies in their brains, the developed abnormalities do not coincide with the disease duration. Some of the abnormalities realized remain the same throughout the development of the disease (Bhogal, 2002).Understanding of the abnormalities of the brain in schizophrenia is among the challenges currently facing the medical community. The numerous symptoms associated with schizophrenia points at the involvement of various regions of the brain or even a widespread of network or system. Conventional approaches of neurological disorders such as lesion studies or post mortem exa minations have defied efforts to understand the brain pathology in schizophrenia. Just like other fields of medicine, luck and destiny have help make major steps in discoveries like dopamine theory and anti psychotics which are used in the management of the disorder.Modern research in neuroscience such as neuroimaging has aided in improving the foundation knowledge of the disorder and has sustained the hope that complete understanding of the disorder will be realized in the future. In this paper, I am going to summarize the major brain abnormalities found in schizophrenia through neuroimaging (Haren, 2004). Just like other complicated diseases, there are numerous theories on schizophrenia as compared to facts. The initially neurodevelopment theory points at abnormalities in fetal brain development as the cause of the failure of brain functions in early adulthood.A series of information such as increased rate of obstetric complications, minor physical abnormalities, neurologic mild s igns, and slight behavioral abnormalities in children who later suffer from schizophrenia. This model is quite relevant to the development of schizophrenia in particular but also for other neuropsychiatric disorders (Bhogal, 2002). The major drawback of this model is that the prevalence of these signs in the non affected population is quite substantial therefore the positive predictive value in the development of schizophrenia is not convincing.The disease usually begins at adolescent or early childhood and early adulthood and this indicates brain maturational problem during that time or before the appearance of psychosis. Excessive synaptic or dendritic pruning during the time of onset of the disorder has been suggested as one of the potential mechanism explaining the onset of psychosis in adolescent or in early childhood, although the biology underlying this stage is still not very clear (Lawrie & Abukmeil, 1998).Neurodegenerative model is based on active biologic processes th at may be going on during the prodromal period or the usually prolonged period of untreated psychosis. Development of the disorder is also linked to environmental factors such as illicit drug use and psychosocial stress which are considered as potential secondary triggers which may be accompanying the beginning and the start of schizophrenia. The initial researchers believed that schizophrenia is associated with brain pathology.Emergence of imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography scanning (CTS) have seriously contributed to the detailed study of the brain. Through computed tomography brain abnormalities such as enlarged ventricles and reduced total brain volume have been reported in schizophrenic individuals and these findings were later confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (Bhogal, 2002). Studies of the brain structures have also been made easy through improvement in segmentation techniques coupled with the use of MRI.These techniques can be used to identify grey from white matter and measuring of their volume. These also contributed to a more focused investigations of specific regions of the brain such as temporal, frontal lobes, and subcortical structures. Some of the consistent findings in these regions include alteration in structures such as hippocampus, amygdala, superior temporal gyrus, and platinum temporale (Lawrie & Abukmeil, 1998).Lateral temporal neocortical areas where primary auditory and auditory associations are located are the places of interest in schizophrenia since they are involved in thought processes. Most of the studies in the superior temporal gyrus in schizophrenic patients have always discovered reduced volumes of grey matter in the initial stages of the disorder together with those individuals who are genetically at risk of developing schizophrenia such as offspring of schizophrenic patients.Other structures of the brain which have also been reported to be abnormally small in schiz ophrenic patients include medial temporal structures such as hippocampus, amygdala, and parahippocampus gyri. These structures are also reported to be altered in other psychiatric disorders like mood disorders and post traumatic stress disorder (Lawrie & Abukmeil, 1998). Injuries sustained at the time of birth such as anoxia may be associated to hippocampus reduction and this is possibly due to neurodevelopmental abnormality.The finding is also common among concordant twins who had birth injuries. Medial temporal volume reductions have been discovered in people who are genetically at risk of developing schizophrenia. Reductions in the grey matter in the temporal regions of the brain have also been observed in people who are classified as having prodromal features of schizophrenia who have later on developed psychotic symptoms during the follow up (Haren, 2004). The highly developed region of the brain in man is the frontal lobe.It is involved in the modulations of higher brain f unctions such as planning, attention, and working memory. Behavioral and cognitive deficits like lack of motivation, defects in executive functions, Wisconsin card score sorting test and spatial working memory points at frontal lobe functional abnormalities in schizophrenic patients (Lawrie, 1999). Decreased blood flow to the frontal lobe is a common finding in schizophrenia. Despite the fact that this finding is not consisted, it can also be attributed to the complex nature of the region, it has been observed though quite slight.Basal ganglia which contain caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus are involved in information processing in the cortical and subcortical networks involved in integration of cognition, emotion, and motor function. These structures have been reported to be enlarged in patients using the conventional antipsychotics and this can lead to a conclusion that dopamine blockades causes an increase in volume of the above structures. Psychosis patients who have not use d any antipsychotics are reported to have a smaller caudate volume which implies that caudate may be involved in the development of psychoses.Thalamus acts as the regulatory board for sensory signals and has reciprocal connections to the frontal lobe. It has been suggested that the connections between these two structures are associated with schizophrenia. Thalamus is a bit difficult to measure using MRI, although the findings are inconsistent, smaller thalamus have always been reported in schizophrenic patients. Other anatomic abnormalities in schizophrenia include corpus callosum which is altered both in shape and structure therefore disruption in the integration between the hemispheres.In most humans, brain functions are lateralized with the left cerebrum being dominantly involved in language. There are proposals that developmental abnormalities of language, peculiar functions of the human beings, and its lateralization which is genetically mediated may be one of the causes of sc hizophrenia (Bhogal, 2002). Temporal lobe findings of smaller superior temporal gyrus and hippocampus have been reported to be in the left cerebrum and loss of normal asymmetry of the left superior temporal gyrus being a bit larger that the right has been reported in patients suffering from schizophrenia (Staal et.al, 2000). In the meta analysis study of laterality in schizophrenia, the researchers who were involved in this study concluded that there is a strong proof for decreased cerebral lateralization in schizophrenia more so in the language cortex. We can therefore summarize that structural imaging studies have discovered evidence of extensive anatomic alterations in the brain regions of schizophrenic patients.The regions highly altered in these patients include those mediating higher mental functions like thought, cognition, effect, and language both early in the illness and those at risks of developing the disorder like children born to schizophrenic patients (Haren, 2004). S ynapses and susceptibility genes Neuroimaging studies are in support of the possibility of neurodevelopmental abnormality in schizophrenia, neuronal, molecular, and neurochemical mechanisms underlying these brain abnormalities are not conclusive.High profile neuropathologic studies have revealed losses in synapse density and relatively normal or elevated neuronal numbers in schizophrenia, which indicates that the main defect may be synapse integrity. This discovery has elicited search for genes that may be associated with synapse integrity by the use of DNA microarray techniques. Post mortem findings on the patients with schizophrenia revealed under expression of a family of synapse related genes (Bhogal, 2002). Genetic factors are the main factors listed as being associated with schizophrenia, however the exact genes involved in susceptibility is still a puzzle.Although the initial studies on finding these genes was not successful, current studies have implicated several genes in t he development of schizophrenia and some of the genes include dysbindin-1, neuregulin-1, d-amino acid oxidase, its activator DAOA, and the regulator of G protein signaling 4. Recent proposals indicated that synapses, especially glutamatergic ones might be the site of initial abnormalities in schizophrenia with downstream disruption of neural circuitry and subsequent effect on other neurotransmitters (Lawrie, 1999). ConclusionsIt has become clear that the early scientists were right in their suspicion that the brain is involved in schizophrenia. This evidence cannot be disputed despite the fact that there is no comprehensive information on the etiology and pathophysiology of the disorder. The brain abnormalities in schizophrenia appear to be distributed in extensive areas supporting the fact that schizophrenia is a disorder associated with brain connections. We are still very far from understanding some of the major neuropsychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.The mo lecular, physiologic, and neurochemical mechanisms underlying schizophrenia continues to evade our findings. Recent research on the disorder acts as the foundations for future fundamental discoveries on the nature of schizophrenia. References: Bhogal, B. (2002). Physical Brain Abnormality a Possible Cause of Schizophrenia. Retrieved on May 6, 2010 from http://serendip. brynmawr. edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web1/bbhogal. html Haren, N. E. M. (2004). Brain abnormalities in schizophrenia: longitudinal and genetic aspects.Quebec: s. n. Lawrie, S. (Jan. 4, 1999). â€Å"Risk Of Schizophrenia Onset Linked To Brain Abnormalities. † The Lancet. Lawrie, S. M. & Abukmeil, S. S. (1998). â€Å"Brain abnormality in schizophrenia. A systematic and quantitative review of volumetric magnetic resonance imaging studies. † The British Journal of Psychiatry 172. Staal, G. S. et. al. (2000). â€Å"Structural Brain Abnormalities in Patients With Schizophrenia and Their Healthy Siblings. † American Journal of Psychiatry, 157.

Fast food restauran Essay

For each category I analyse I will show the male and female results in comparison then summarise what I interpret from the results below. Due to the fact that there are more females in Stotfold than there are males. The females’ preferences will have a larger bearing on any possible fast food restaurant to be developed. As there are unequal results from both genders I have converted my results to percentages before showing them on the graph. Visit Frequency Below is a bar chart comparing the visit frequency of male and female. I have shown the data on a bar chart because it is easier to compare. Male and female do not differ significantly as far as visit frequency is concerned. Most customers visit a fast food restaurant every two weeks, which, if there are enough customers, is sufficient to keep a fast food business afloat. Most Important Feature The bar chart below shows what both male and female consider to be the most important feature of a fast food restaurant. This just confirms what the general analysis stated: – that if a business is to succeed its customers must have confidence in its hygiene. The bar chart below shows a comparison between male and female fast food type preferences. The females’ main preferences are already well catered for in Stotfold. Kebab shops are, however , hard to find in this area and are highly popular among males. If a Kebab restaurant opened in Stotfold it could target male customers, although I have noticed that it is not just younger males that enjoy kebabs as one might have expected. Cost The chart below shows what male and females expect to pay for a fast food meal for one. This chart shows that more men are prepared to pay more for their meal than women. I think this can be shown more clearly so here is another chart showing the same information but with different price categories. This shows that the majority of males expect to pay over i 4 whereas females expect to pay below. This shows the male market is more profitable providing production and retail costs are kept to a minimum, 4) Place Information about Stotfold Stotfold is a growing town. The development of new houses in the area means that by 2004 the population will have risen by nearly 25%. The population of Stotfold in 2000 was 6680. In 2004 it is estimated that it will rise to 8180. There are also plans to develop a leisure centre in Stotfold, which may attract even more people to the area. Stotfold is on the border between Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire; there are many fast food restaurants in Hertfordshire, including large franchises, which would pose a threat to small companies opening up in the area. In my research I have collected information from Bedfordshire but the well-established businesses in Hertfordshire should be taken into account when deciding to start a new company in the area. There is an area of land on the outskirts of Stotfold by the old doctors surgery. It has planning permission and there is a possibility of a Sports facility being put up there. It is on a main road so has good access and a cycle path leading past the area. It would be extremely expensive to develop this land but if a new Sports facility were to be opened there it may be possible to incorporate a new restaurant on the complex. Below is a map showing the location I referred to. The area is within the shaded rectangle.

Crimes of Scott Peterson Essay Example

Crimes of Scott Peterson Essay Example Crimes of Scott Peterson Essay Crimes of Scott Peterson Essay Scott Lee Peterson was born October 24, 1972 in San Diego, California to Jacqueline Helen Latham and Lee Arthur Peterson. His family was big and athletic and he was raised on strict guidelines set by his father. As a kid, Scott loved to hunt and fish and played golf in high school.He attended the University of San Diego High School and graduated from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo (A. K. A. Cal Poly) with a B. A. in agricultural business in 1997. While attending Cal Poly, he worked as a waiter in a cafe, when he met his future wife, Laci Denise Rocha. Those who knew him described Scott as gentle and generous and very reserved when it came to expressing emotion. His father always told him to keep his feelings in check but every once in a while something would push him over the edge and he would snap.Scott Peterson would soon be under fire for the disappearance and murder of his wife Laci and unborn son Conner. OFFENSE/CRIME December 23, 2002 would be the la st time anyone other than Scott Peterson would see or hear from Laci Peterson, Scott’s 27 year old pregnant wife, when Sharon Rocha, Laci’s mother, phoned her daughter on the evening of the 23rd. Exactly what events played out later that night or early the next morning may never be known. A neighbor reported seeing the couple’s dog roaming the street with a muddy leash dragging the ground.The neighbor was in a hurry and only put the dog in the fenced backyard after seeing Laci’s car in the driveway. On Christmas Eve 2002, Scott left Laci a voicemail asking her to pick up a Christmas gift that he wasn’t able to get because he was running late after his â€Å"fishing† trip. When Scott returned home late that afternoon, he cleaned up the house, did laundry and ate. He then called his Laci’s mother, Sharon, and asked if Laci was with her. After their conversation, Sharon called the police. Later that night, Laci was reported missing by Sc ott from their Modesto, California home.At the time, she was just over 7 months pregnant with a baby boy they had planned to name Conner. The story quickly gained national attention. Initially, Scott Peterson was not considered a suspect in the case. It only became clear that he should be looked at as a suspect when inconsistencies in his statements to police were discovered as well as extramarital affairs. Peterson told Diane Sawyer of Good Morning America â€Å"his wife accepted his affair with Amber Frey, a single mom from Fresno, when he told her back in early December. (Sawyer, 2003) The extent of these extramarital affairs would unfold throughout the investigation. It is believed that Scott had at least three affairs during the time he was married to Laci. Police also found it difficult to verify his alibi at the time Laci went missing. For months, the nation followed the disappearance and later on, the murder of Laci and her unborn son Conner. This case divided the nation of people following the trial in two, as groups rallied around him or against him.The case was such a powerful topic throughout the nation that People magazine named the trial â€Å"Trial of the Year† for 2004 (AccessData ® Corp. , n. d. ). The Scott Peterson case was one of the most important, high profile cases in the nation. Lydell Wall, a detective with Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department and winner of the Timothy Fidel award said â€Å"there was an intense pressure to ensure accuracy. Because when it came down to it this case was about more than computer data, it was about people’s lives† (AccessData ® Corp. , n. d. ).Little hard evidence existed in this case but a trial would yield much of the answers demanded from Americans following the case. On April 14, 2003, a male fetus, later identified as the unborn child Laci Peterson was carrying at the time of her disappearance, washed ashore Richmonds Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in San Francisco Bay, where Scott Peterson had been boating the day of Lacis disappearance. The following day, the badly decomposed body of a female with only partial limbs still attached and head missing washed ashore nearby.The body was confirmed to be Laci Peterson. Autopsies of the bodies were performed but due to the level of decomposition, the causes of death could not be determined. The autopsy of Laci’s body did reveal that she had several broken ribs that would not have been the result of her body being drug across the rocks in the Bay where she was discovered. The Modesto Police Department and FBI performed forensic searches of the Peterson home, Scott’s truck and tool box in the back of the truck, his warehouse, and boat.Police arrested Peterson on April 18, 2003 in the parking lot of the Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California, a suburb of San Diego approximately 30 miles from the Mexican border, where he stated he was meeting his brother and father for a game of golf. In Peterson’s car, police found a large sum of cash, survival gear, several cell phones, his brothers ID and Viagra as well as numerous other compelling items that made Scott look like he was planning to flee to Mexico.Police say they moved forward with the arrest just hours before DNA tests confirmed the bodies identities because they feared he would flee across the border. Prosecutors presented their case against Scott Peterson. They believed Peterson murdered Laci on December 23 or 24, 2002, and dumped her body into San Francisco Bay from his boat. The defense led by Mark Geragos, argued that Laci was alive when Scott left early Christmas Eve to go fishing and when he returned, she was gone. There is, as far as the public knows, no crime scene, no murder weapon and no cause of death for Laci and the fetus† (Oakland Tribune, 2004) The only significant physical evidence prosecutors presented at Scott Petersons preliminary hearing was a 6-inch strand of dark hair on a pair of pliers police found in Scott Petersons boat. However, they had to fight for its admission. The only kind of DNA sample able to be extracted from a single strand of hair is mitochondrial and cannot be narrowed down to a single person. It is rarely used in California cases because of this.The defense attempted to have this evidence thrown out but the judge allowed the prosecution to inform the jury it is possible that the DNA from the hair could be Laci’s. In another testimony by a computer forensic investigator, just a couple weeks before Laci was reported missing, Scott Peterson had searched the Internet about Northern California bodies of water including San Francisco Bay and Modesto-area lakes, including information on the currents in the Bay. However, this information could have just been a part of a fishing website Scott visited.In the testimony of Amber Frey, the woman with whom Scott was having an affair with, she stated Scott told her he had â€Å"lost hi s wife† and that the upcoming holiday season would be his first without her. Lacis sister, Amy Rocha, testified that Scott told her and Laci’s mother he had golf plans on Christmas Eve but he went fishing instead. A detective testified Scott initially denied having an extramarital affair. All these testimonies and facts presented by the prosecution seemed to form a pattern of inconsistencies in Peterson’s statements to his family, police and the women he had affairs with.However, testimonies alone weren’t going to convict Peterson of murder. There was no crime scene, a murder weapon or cause of death. The fate of Scott Peterson would fall in the hands of a key piece of the prosecution’s theory – motive. MOTIVATIONS/OFFENDER BACKGROUND The intent to commit these heinous crimes would originate from Scott Peterson’s emails and internet searches. Lyndell Wall, Detective of High-Tech Crimes Unit, Stanislaus County Sherriff’s Departme nt, was able to restore deleted files on Scott’s computer that provided details of the area where Laci and Conners’ bodies were eventually discovered (AccessData ® Corp. , n. d. . â€Å"The realities of work, marriage and parenthood can leave some feeling trapped. Peterson consoled himself with a series of affairs. He could have left his wife and child, but that would have meant saddling himself with child support and alimony, not fully freeing himself. † (Montaldo, 2004) Peterson wanted the bachelor lifestyle. He didn’t want children and had previously told Amber Frey he was considering getting a vasectomy. Those who knew Scott would say he no doubt loved Laci and was content with his marriage until Laci became pregnant with Conner. The pregnancy sent Scott into a downward spiral of panic and feeling trapped.Scott was also feeling the pressures of the couples’ finances. It is believed that from the time Laci became pregnant, Scott had been hatch ing a plan to hopefully assure his freedom. Shortly after finding out she was pregnant, Scott took out a $250,000 life insurance policy on her. The prosecution stated Petersons affair with Amber Frey and money were the primary motives for the murders. It appeared Peterson wanted to be single again and free himself from increasing debt. He wants to live the rich, successful, freewheeling bachelor life†¦ He didnt want to be tied to this kid the rest of his life.He didnt want to be tied to Laci for the rest of his life. (Montaldo, 2004) THEORY By the time the neighbor found the couples’ dog roaming the street, prosecutors believe Peterson he had let the dog loose to make it look like Laci had somehow been abducted while walking the dog as she had done many times before. The defense argued that Laci could have been the victim of abduction as a result of the lavish jewelry she would wear or someone had taken her for the baby (Crier, 2004). Police also believed the phone call made to Laci by Scott later that morning asking her to pick up a gift was also staged.He added two X-rated channels to his cable service just days after his wifes disappearance, which to the prosecution meant Laci was not coming home. He sold Laci’s car and later looked into selling the couples house. When Scott took out a $250,000 life insurance policy on his pregnant wife just after finding out she was pregnant, no one thought anything of it. Those who knew about it thought it was just a precautionary measure in case something should happen to Laci as a result of the pregnancy. It wasn’t even a thought that crossed the minds of those who knew the couple that Scott could be hatching a plan to kill Laci and her unborn son.VICTIMS The main victims in this case are Laci, Conner, and Laci’s family. Laci Denise Peterson (Rocha) was born in Modesto, California on May 4, 1975. Her parents, Dennis and Sharon Rocha, split up when she was very young. After her parents s plit, she lived with her mother with her older brother, Brent and later, Ron Grantski, her stepfather. She lived with her mother along with, eventually, her stepfather Ron Grantski. She and her brother still spent a lot of time at her father’s dairy farm in Escalon, California. Her father remarried and they had a daughter, Amy. Laci was the girl next door.A popular, pretty cheerleader at Thomas Downey High School, she was inspired by her father’s love for agriculture and farming. She would later attend Cal Poly where she met Scott and graduate with a degree in ornamental horticulture. She had plans to open her own flower shop but was never able to do that. Laci and her mother were very close. It’s no surprise that Sharon was the last person in her immediate family that would speak to Laci, with the exception of her husband. Sharon couldn’t have been happier about Laci’s pregnancy. She, Laci and her sister Amy spent many days shopping for the new ad dition to their family.COSTS OF CRIME The prosecution of Scott Peterson cost Stanislaus County taxpayers $4. 13 million. These costs included $1. 55 million of the police investigation, $1. 37 million for the prosecutors and their staff, $742,000 for court costs and $182,000 for San Mateo County where the trial was held (Montaldo, 2005). In addition to the costs accumulated by the trial process, the families involved in the case also incurred costs from the crimes, such as the funeral of Laci and Conner. The defense expenses are not included in this number because Peterson retained a private attorney.Because the prosecution was seeking the death penalty, the case took more time from local police because of the additional investigation required. Now, as Peterson sits on death row, the cost of his imprisonment adds to the total cost. PROSECUTION/SENTENCING The trial of Scott Peterson lasted from June 2004 through March 2005 and ended in guilty verdict and the death penalty for the fir st-degree murder with special circumstances of Laci and second-degree murder of their unborn son. The conviction came on November 12, 2004 by a reconstituted jury after several replacements were made in the previous months.The penalty phase began on November 30 and ended on December 13 when the twelve-person jury recommended a death sentence for Peterson and a prescribed method of execution by lethal injection. Judge Alfred A. Delucchi sentenced Peterson to death on March 16, 2005. The request made by the defense for a new trial due to jury misconduct and media influence was denied and Peterson was ordered to pay $10,000 toward the costs of Laci’s funeral. After having been on death row for eight years, Petersons lawyer, Cliff Gardner, filed a 423-page appeal on July 16, 2012 of his sentence.CONCLUSIONMany books and publications have resulted from this trial including one’s written by Laci’s mother, Sharon Rocha, Anne Bird, Scott’s sister, and Amber Frey, Scott’s lover. Sharon’s book details Laci’s life and death and the trial, Anne’s book details 33 reasons why she believes Scott is guilty, and Amber’s book – the most controversial of all – details her account of the trial as a witness. In addition, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004, also known as Laci and Conner’s Law now protects a fetus from the moment of conception from any harm by recognizing a child in utero as a legal victim. R

Cómo hacer para pedir un perdón migratorio en USA

Cà ³mo hacer para pedir un perdà ³n migratorio en USA Pedir el perdà ³n (tambià ©n conocido como waiver)  depende de la causa del problema y si lo que se busca es una visa no inmigrante, como por ejemplo la de turista, o una de inmigrante para la tarjeta de residencia. En este artà ­culo se explican las dos situaciones, segà ºn el tipo de visa que se busque. Perdà ³n para sacar la tarjeta de residencia Las peticiones de green card pueden ser rechazadas por ms de 40 causas. Cuando esto sucede se dice que la persona para la que se solicità ³ es inadmisible.   Dependiendo de la causa de inadmisibilidad y si se cumplen otros requisitos a veces es posible solicitar con à ©xito un perdà ³n.   Estas son distintas situaciones a tener en cuenta: Si el solicitante es familiar inmediato de un ciudadano americano y se encuentra en Estados Unidos y el à ºnico problema es que ingresà ³ ilegalmente al paà ­s y ha estado en esa situacià ³n ms de 180 dà ­as haciendo asà ­ saltar el castigo de los 3 y de los 10 aà ±os, entonces asesorarse si serà ­a posible pedir el perdà ³n provisional I-601A. En los dems casos, para la mayorà ­a de las causas de inadmisibilidad se podrà ­a solicitar el perdà ³n I-601. Estos son 5 errores que hay que evitar cuando se solicita por el problema de presencia ilegal. Para el perdà ³n I-601 los requisitos son distintos segà ºn la causa de inadmisibilidad. Para muchas se pide, adems, que se dà © una situacià ³n de dureza extrema.   Adems, hay que tener en cuenta que algunas causas de inadmisibilidad, como por ejemplo las relacionadas con la seguridad nacional o delitos graves son extraordinariamente difà ­ciles de obtener por no decir que imposible. Si adems, ha habido una deportacià ³n o expulsià ³n, seguir leyendo hasta encontrar ese punto en este artà ­culo ya que adems de la penalidad por ser inadmisible hay la penalidad por la remocià ³n y habrà ­a que pedir los 2 perdones conjuntamente. Perdà ³n cuando se solicita una visa no inmigrante Las visas como la de turista, trabajador temporero, estudiante, etc, pueden ser negadas porque se considera que el solicitante es inadmisible para ingresar a Estados Unidos.   No confundir cuando una visa se rechaza por una causa de inadmisibilidad a cuando se niega porque el solicitante no es elegible (20 causas). Por ejemplo, cuando una visa de turista no es aprobada porque el aplicante no demuestra lazos familiares y/o econà ³micos con el paà ­s en el que reside. Esa no es una causa de inadmisibilidad y, por lo tanto, la solucià ³n no es pedir un perdà ³n. En estos casos de ser inadmisible, las opciones son dos: Si se tiene una visa vlida, se es solicitante de visa U (violencia) o T (trfico de personas) o se es canadiense, se podrà ­a solicitar un perdà ³n I-192.En los dems casos, se podrà ­a solicitar un perdà ³n sin utilizar ningà ºn formulario oficial pero con documentacià ³n para respaldar por quà © se solicita. En este caso se presentarà ­a ante el consulado o embajada americana donde se solicita la visa. Y a partir de ahà ­ se envà ­a a Estados Unidos a una oficina que se conoce como ARO, que son los encargados de decidir.   Ejemplo: perdà ³n para obtener una visa no inmigrante cuando el problema es fraude 212(a)(6)(c)(i). Si ha habido una deportacià ³n o remocià ³n En los casos de deportacià ³n se impone un castigo y no se puede regresar a Estados Unidos por un nà ºmero de aà ±os, que dependen del caso. Si se considera que se podrà ­a obtener un perdà ³n para regresar hasta de que transcurran esos aà ±os, hay que pedir el perdà ³n I-212. Dependiendo de las circunstancias del caso, sà ³lo este o à ©ste y otro. Por ejemplo, puede que se tenga que pedir el I-601 y el I-212 conjuntamente. Todo va a depender de las circunstancias del caso. En los casos de deportacià ³n tener en cuenta antes de presentar el perdà ³n que si se est en una situacià ³n de prohibicià ³n permanente, ya que ahà ­ rigen sus propias reglas, que son muy duras. A tener en cuenta En casos antiguos puede que aplique la  proteccià ³n 245(i).  Ya no serà ­a necesario pedir un perdà ³n. Los perdones son totalmente discrecionales, esto es, si se aprueban o deniegan dependen de la persona encargada de resolverlos y siempre est radicada en Estados Unidos. Es necesario entender que los perdones son asuntos complejos, difà ­ciles, que requieren presentar bien el caso y toda la documentacià ³n, por lo que es realmente recomendable contar con un abogado migratorio reputado con experiencia en este tipo de casos. Y aà ºn asà ­, entender que es probable que no se gane el caso. Por à ºltimo, evitar ser và ­ctima de fraude migratorio. Particularmente de las personas que asegurar poder obtener un perdà ³n a cambio de una fuerte cantidad de dinero. Los casos de estafas migratorias pueden reportarse anà ³nimamente. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Assignment 11 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

11 - Assignment Example This formal way of conducting business was adopted from the west as the Japanese were culturally a social group (Yukichi). Other people are seen to be walking into the restaurant, all dressed in similar fashion, long robes all trying to appear as though formal. There are people on the street all possessing the same artier and the same inferences can be drawn from the same. There are people who seem to be raising the flag. This shows that the Japanese are acquiring order and structure in their activities as raising the flag symbolizes the presence of a hierarchy which is adhered to. This too was gotten from the westerners who believed in order and conducting their affairs in a proper manner (Yukichi). This is in response to Fukuzawa Yukuchi’s urging to the Japanese people that they should pursue civilization and enlightenment i.e. western civilization. Together with other scholars, they advocated for the Japanese to mirror the westernized way of tasting, eating meat, wearing of western-style clothing and the dropping of Chinese customs that the westerners found odd. There are other people who seem to be soaring in the air. We garner an aspect of entertainment. The Japanese have finally let their guard down thanks to westernization because the Japanese are principally a reserved people (Yukichi). According to Lim Zexu, Queen Victoria should halt the opium trade because she has witnessed firsthand how the drug destroys its users and particularly in her own country. The letter to her says that Opium in her own country is prohibited because of the danger it poses to its users. Lim states that based on this reason alone, the Queen should not condone the trade in Opium, and should prescribe severe punishment to anyone who is found engaging in the said trade (Zexu). The Queen on stopping Opium trade will have the support of Heaven as it crown’s her with felicity, getting the blessing of long life and the security and stability of her descendants. Lim is

Oil Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Oil - Research Paper Example The question that would equally be important to answer is the impact of alternative sources of energy on oil dependency and the aggregate global economy (Gudmestad,et al. 34). Oil industry is one of the strongest among other industries due to the significant power it wield in global economic activities. It is equally important to underline the geopolitical aspects of its production which is limited to some parts of the world. It is a common knowledge that the leading oil cartel is OPEC with a strong bargaining power in the international petroleum oil market (Omeje 168). The Dollar strength is significant shaken by oil prices and this is a key factor that proves the influence of oil industry in social, economic and political decisions made by governments and the private sector. There has been an increasing campaign for alternative source of fuel for powering vehicles and it is imperative that a critical analysis is undertaken to this effect to establish the possible consequences this would have in the economy and Oil industry. Recent Oil prices have shown a sharp volatility that began in 2008 across the world. In this regard, it is important to understand the basic facts in oil industry that explain the possible fluctuation of the commodity and the market trends. Socio-economic and political analysts have established that the oil market trend has outgrown the forces of demand and supply. This means that other factors like petroleum oil investors’ behavior in respect to prices is likely to affect the industry. To give light on the possibility of this scenario, past records and investigative analysis indicates that some economic strategies by oil firms is responsible for the fluctuation stint experienced in 2008. Since oil is such a precious commodity on whose wheels the global economy rides, most of the firms have resorted to hedging tactics to exploit the changes in international prices with a goal of maximizing profit. It therefore evident that some of t he financial woes that have been experienced in late 2000s can be attributed to financial market shockwaves of oil firms malpractices. Due to the lucrative opportunities in the industry, most of the investors lead in speculative behavior by divesting funds through pension funds, hedging and investment banks which reflects on the experienced changes in the global economy(Omeje 178). This emerging scenario has made it difficult to predict oil market trends. The oil industry analysts are still debating on the level of significance of forces of demand and supply in Oil industry but one issue that comes out more challenging is the lacking sense of emerging reality in this industry by investors. A crucial aspect of Oil industry has been on the basis of absolute price dictation by OPEC countries but this has so far changed. Changing socio-economic and political landscapes has made oil market to behavior like any other commodity. It is therefore important to underline the diminishing monopo ly based pricing style that was previously used by OPEC. The observed case of US exploring its oil has equally contributed to the shift in pricing strategy previously used by global producers. One observation across the world is that Oil products have become the most actively traded item. Despite market concentration noted in New York, Singapore and London in UK, both refined and crude oil has gained trading popularity

Corporate governance in the GCC Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Corporate governance in the GCC - Dissertation Example By doing this, it also provides the structure, through which the company objectives are set and the means of attaining those objectives and monitoring performance† (Baydoun, Ryan and Willett, n.d., p. 2). The practice of financial reporting and auditing standards are considered as an integral part of good governance. In the literature review, it has been argued that the managers need to think beyond the belief that mismanagement in the microeconomics policies lead to poor corporate governance, and then only they will succeed in designing a holistic and systematic corporate governance model. Many of the researchers have emphasized on the creation of situation specific corporate governance structure, which has created difficulties in finding one universal definition of corporate governance. Some other sets of researcher have emphasized on the relational aspect between the managers and the shareholders. Some researchers have revealed that corporate governance is different from man agement, where management only looks at successful running of the organization but corporate governance looks at conducting the operations of the organization in a proper and transparent manner. Different tools like controlling and accountability can be incorporated by the business leaders in the management, for monitoring the activities of the agent and motivating them, so that they can act in accordance with the expectations of the external and internal stakeholders. The organizations should accept certain set of corporate values otherwise, there might be some possibilities that the employees might act according to their own interest. Moreover, for creating an environment of knowledge sharing, the board members must create a knowledge sharing environment inside the organization in order to fill up the scope for implementing corporate governance. Various research scholars have stated various principles for corporate governance, which can be summarized as an obligation for the organ ization to maximize the value of the shareholders. The literature review has discussed about various theories proposed by the research scholars, like the inherent property right theory, stewardship theory, principal-agent model (finance model) and myopic market model etc that discussed about the major issues related to the shareholder-oriented corporate governance. The literature review has also evaluated the principles and enactment that are followed by different countries and have summarized them to indentify the major areas of Corporate Governance, such as board constitution, board remuneration, auditor’s remuneration and responsibilities, transparency in disclosures, stakeholder and shareholder information and influence of ownership structure. However, it has been emphasized that there is no such singular model of corporate governance that is followed by every country. Due to difference in time zone and orientation, there is difference in corporate governance policies of different countries. In this context, there are several issues related to the corporate governance structure that have been identified. Then empirical research studies related to corporate governance has been analyzed and found that in most of the countries benefits and

The use of Strategic Management Techniques

The use of Strategic Management Techniques Strategic management is concerned with formulation and implementation of strategy within an organization. Strategy in general refers to Business purpose, values or activities business is engaged in and the way it carries out its activities, compete or operates. It can be described as a systematic analysis of internal factors (organization itself) and external factors (like competitors, suppliers, customers etc.) to provide the basis of rethinking the current management practices. As a discipline, strategic management developed in 1970s, but it has evolved in response to changes in organization structure and corporate culture. With a greater empowerment, strategy has become a great concern not just for the heads or higher superiors of the company but even for employees at all level. Its one of the main objectives is to achieve greater alignment in business policies and strategies. It can be used to determine the values, goals, objectives, roles, responsibilities etc. of a business. It involves the application of corporate strategy to all aspects of organization, especially to decision making. Major Areas: The three major areas of strategic management are strategic analysis, strategic formulation and strategic implementation. Strategic Analysis: This area includes formulation of business vision, in depth study of internal and external environment (PESTEL) and analysis of firms industry (task environment). The internal analysis can help in identifying the firms strength and weakness and external analysis reveals the opportunities and threats. An industry analysis can be performed with the help of Porters Five Forces which evaluate entry barriers, suppliers, customers, substitute product and industry rivalry. Strategic Formulation: Provided the information from the environmental scan the firm should match its strength to opportunities that has been identified in context to its weakness and threats prevailing in the environment. To gain superior profitability firm tries to seek competitive advantage over its competitors. Strategy implementation: This is termed to be the final stage of strategy management where all the designed strategy is implied in actual manner in the real corporate world. It is implied by means of programs, budget and procedures. The way in which strategy is implemented can be of significant impact on whether it will be successful or not. So care must be taken while implementing and communicating strategy to others. Two approaches for Strategic Management Prescriptive Approach/Planned Strategy: Prescriptive approach views the formulation of strategic management as a systematic process of rational thinking and logical decision making. After analyzing the business environment, strategists must set well defined objectives and formulate, select and implement strategies to achieve the defined objectives. It emphasis that strategic management is a rational process analyzing where the organization is, where it wants to go and how it is going to get there. It is formal planning method and is most applicable in those organizations where conditions are stable and within complex and diversified organizations where control and coordination is from top to bottom. It has three stages and all work in a sequential manner. It includes strategy analysis, strategy development and strategy implementation. Long term monitoring and control Source: Lynch, 2009 Long term monitoring and control The above diagram shows that first of all analysis of business environment and resources are done in accordance to defined organizational objectives, then different strategies are designed and best strategy is chosen among all and is implemented. Example: Prescriptive Strategy to Build a World Airline Singapore Airlines (Richard Lynch, Fourth Edition, Page 42-43) Widely regarded as one of the worlds largest leading airlines, Singapore Airlines started as small regional airlines in 1972. After break away from Malaysian Federation in 1995 Mr. Lee Kuan Yew (Prime Minister at that time) realized that relatively small country like Malaysia needs a strong and distinctive strategy if it was to survive and grow. Following prescriptive strategies were under taken: The airline decided that it would build a reputation of superior service to its rivals. Thus, it introduced free drinks, hot towels and headsets form outset in 1972- such amenities are relatively cheap and quick to introduce. Substantial investment in staff training, employee welfare and related activities. Singapore Airlines took the view that staff were crucial both in-flight service deliver and also to aircraft safety through expertise in ground and related operations. Development of a modern airport at its main base in Singapore Changhi Airport Coupled with related strategy of ensuring for airlines. The investment in new fleet aircraft like for example airline introduced the new ultra long range Airbus A340-500 aircraft in 2004. Advantages: Clear objectives provide focus for the business. Makes it possible to organize complex activities and information, set targets against which performance can be evaluated and generally increase the degree of control that can be exercised over the operation of the business. It is often linked to Competitive Positioning approach in which analysis of the business and its environment is done to get a competitive advantage resulting in outperforming its rivals. Disadvantages: There are often discrepancies between planned and realized strategy. Rigid planning in times of dynamic and turbulent business can be unproductive. Rigid adherence to plans may mean some missed opportunities and further more it can stifle creativity as well. Does not take into consideration fallibilities of the manager, culture, politics or the experiential learning abilities of organization. Emergent Approach / Incremental Strategy: Emergent approach or incremental views that strategy must be evolved incrementally over a period of time. This view is based upon the premise that business is complex social organization operating in ever changing environment. Under such circumstances business will evolve its strategy by interacting between its stakeholders and its environment. In this the final objective is unclear and strategies are implemented on an incremental and continuous basis, it has no long term plans or process and there is unstructured in form. However, this approach does not completely ignore all the stages of strategy development. Strategy analysis is still important but strategy development and implementation is inseparable and is based on experience, trial and error adjustment. Active experimenting, learning and adjusting Active experimenting, learning and adjusting Source: Lynch, 2009 As it can been seen in the diagram shown above that emergent strategy is somewhat similar to hit and trail method. It involves trail and experimentation of different approaches, no single approach is chosen for implementation instead strategy is build over a time period. There is no clear distinction between strategy development and its implementation and strategy keeps on changing according to prevailing circumstances. Example: Emergent Strategy at Virgin Group (Richard Lynch, Fourth Edition, Page 47) Richard Branson developed a small record mail order business in 1969 and two years later opened his first record shop and subsequently developed it into the Virgin Megastore. Looking for further opportunities using Virgin brand, luckily he met with an entrepreneur wishing to develop an airlines business. This eventually led to Virgin airline business and in later years business moved into various ventures. Its business strategy is described as below: Virgin group takes the view that there are always some opportunities available for a hungry business. They look for opportunities where they can offer new and better value for money than other companies, where other companies lack complacent like trains, insurance, banks and where new internet might deliver business opportunities. So the main thrust of the strategy has been to find new market opportunities where company believes its brand name can create competitive advantage. Contrary to what people may think, there constantly expanding and adverse empire is neither reckless nor random. Each of their business demonstrates the right picking in right market and at the right time. Advantages: Increases flexibility. Reflects reality and corresponds with what actually happens in an organization and their environment. Flexibility of emergent strategy allows implementation to be integrated and modified as events unfold for the organization. Disadvantages: The downside of this approach is that no planning takes place and the organization muddles through with managers who are biased and happy to seek only satisfactory implementation rather than maximizing the objectives of the organization. It may result in lack of purpose in strategy it can make it difficult of evaluate performance, because organization has no set objectives, performance against it cannot be measured. Case Study of Easy Jet Introduction: Easy Jet was founded by Stelios Haji Ioannou, the son of Greek shipping tycoon who reputedly used to hate the internet. Richard Lynch, Fourth Edition, Fifth Edition www.businessdictionary.com/definition/strategic-management www.fieldoperative.com/Tools/Glossary/Glossary%20s.htm Business Strategy: an introduction, By David Campbell, George Stonehouse, Bill Houston Strategic Management, By Chris Jeff. Comparative Approach To Program Planning, By F. Ellen Netting, Marry Katherine OConnor, David P. Fauri. Understanding Strategic Management, By Claire Capon. Strategic Management for Travel and Tourism, By Nigel Evans, David Campbell, George Stonehouse.

Sphere :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sphere Many people have questioned the existence of intergalactic intelligence such as time travel and aliens. Sphere takes all of these theories and rolls it into one novel. The main character in the novel is Norman Johnson a 56 year old psychologist who is very well known in his field. Norman plays a very important role in the novel, constantly changing the events for the better. Throughout the novel many changes occur to change his thoughts and his characteristics. Norman along with other scientists are called upon to work on a crash sight, but this wasn’t an ordinary crash sight that Norman was used to work on this was a crash sight of a UFO. The UFO is believed to be hundreds of years old. The investigation that they are working on is unknown to the eyes of the public. The main reason Norman has been selected to work on this project is due to his former work on the ULF project. The ULF was a project that gave recommendations for the human contact team to interact wit Unknown Lif e Forms. In Normans report it recommended a team of four an astrophysicist, a zoologist, a mathematician a linguist and a fifth member, a psychologist. The physiologist job would be to monitor the rest of the crew. Harold Barnes is the leader of investigation on the crash sight; Barnes essentially took Normans ideas on the ULF project and adapted it to the crash sight with Norman being the psychologist.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The group chosen for the investigation on the crash sight is a very diverse group, that’s what makes them successful. Out of the 4 other members on the crew, Norman is familiar with two of them. The crew consists of Ted Fielding- astrophysicist, Beth Halpern- zoologist, Harry J. Adams- mathematician, Arthur Levine- marine biologist, Norman Johnson- psychologist. Out of those members Norman has had past experiences with both Beth and Ted. Beth is a 36 year old zoologist who Norman had counseled in the past for personal issues. Norman knew Ted thorough the ULF project, Ted also work on that project. Norman’s main purpose is to keep the crew safe and sane through out all of there experiences.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the moment Norman found out that there was a UFO spacecraft 3,000 feet under him he was eager to go down there and witness it for himself. Him and the rest of the crew members were wondering where the ship came from and how did it wind up 3,000 feet under the Pacific Ocean.

Frostbite Chapter 19

Nineteen I HATE BEING POWERLESS. AND I hate going down without a fight. What had taken place outside in the alley hadn't been a real fight. If it had- if I'd been beaten into submission †¦ well, yeah. Maybe I could accept that. Maybe. But I hadn't been beaten. I'd barely gotten my hands dirty. Instead, I'd gone quietly. Once they had us sitting on the floor of the van, they'd bound each of our hands behind our back with flex-cuffs- strips of plastic that cinched together and held just as well as anything made of metal. After that, we rode in near silence. The men occasionally murmured something to each other, speaking too softly for any of us to hear. Christian or Mia might have been able to understand the words, but they were in no position to communicate anything to the rest of us. Mia looked as terrified as she had out on the street, and while Christian's fear had rapidly given way to his typical haughty anger, even he didn't dare act out with guards nearby. I was glad for Christian's self-control. I didn't doubt any of these men would smack him if he got out of line, and neither I nor the other novices were in a position to stop them. That was what really drove me crazy. The instinct to protect Moroi was so deeply ingrained in me that I couldn't even pause to worry about myself. Christian and Mia were the focus. They were the ones I had to get out of this mess. And how had this mess started? Who were these guys? That was a mystery. They were human, but I didn't believe for an instant that a group of dhampirs and Moroi had been random kidnapping victims. We'd been targeted for a reason. Our captors made no attempts to blindfold us or conceal our route, which I didn't take as a good sign. Did they think we didn't know the city well enough to retrace our steps? Or did they figure it didn't matter since we wouldn't be leaving wherever they were taking us? All I sensed was that we were driving away from downtown, off toward a more suburban area. Spokane was as dull as I'd imagined. Unlike where pristine white snow lay in drifts, slushy gray puddles lined the streets and dirty patches dotted the lawns. There were also a lot fewer evergreen trees than I was used to. The scraggly, leafless deciduous trees here seemed skeletal by comparison. They only added to the mood of impending doom. After what felt like less than an hour, the van turned down a quiet cul-de-sac, and we drove up to a very ordinary- yet large- house. Other houses- identical in the way suburban homes often are- stood nearby, which gave me hope. Maybe we could get some help from the neighbors. We pulled inside the garage, and once the door was back down, the men ushered us into the house. It looked a lot more interesting on the inside. Antique, claw-footed sofas and chairs. A large, saltwater fish tank. Swords crossed over the fireplace. One of those stupid modern art paintings that consisted of a few lines splayed across the canvas. The part of me that enjoyed destroying things would have liked to study the swords in detail, but the main floor wasn't our destination. Instead, we were led down a narrow flight of stairs, down to a basement as large as the floor above. Only, unlike the main floor's open space, the basement was sectioned off into a series of halls and closed doors. It was like a rat's maze. Our captors led us through it without hesitation, into a small room with a concrete floor and unpainted drywall. The furniture inside consisted of several very uncomfortable-looking wooden chairs with slatted backs- backs that proved to be a convenient place for rebinding our hands. The men seated us in such a way that Mia and Christian sat on one side of the room, and the rest of us dhampirs sat on the other. One guy- the leader, apparently- watched carefully as one of his henchmen bound Eddie's hands with new flex-cuffs. â€Å"These are the ones you especially have to watch,† he warned, nodding toward us. â€Å"They'll fight back.† His eyes traveled first to Eddie's face, then Mason's, and then mine. The guy and I held each other's gaze for several moments, and I scowled. He looked back over at his associate. â€Å"Watch her in particular.† When we'd been restrained to his satisfaction, he barked out a few more orders to the others and then left the room, shutting the door loudly behind him. His steps echoed through the house as he walked upstairs. Moments later, silence fell. We sat there, staring at each other. After several minutes, Mia whimpered and started to speak. â€Å"What are you going to- â€Å" â€Å"Shut up,† growled one of the men. He took a warning step toward her. Blanching, she cringed but still looked as though she might say something else. I caught her eye and shook my head. She stayed silent, eyes wide and a slight tremble to her lip. There's nothing worse than waiting and not knowing what'll happen to you. Your own imagination can be crueler than any captor. Since our guards wouldn't talk to us or tell us what was in store, I imagined all sorts of horrible scenarios. The guns were the obvious threat, and I found myself pondering what a bullet would feel like. Painful, presumably. And where would they shoot? Through the heart or the head? Quick death. But somewhere else? Like the stomach? That would be slow and painful. I shuddered at the thought of my life bleeding out of me. Thinking of all that blood put me in mind of the Badica house and maybe having our throats slit. These men could have knives as well as guns. Of course, I had to wonder why we were still alive at all. Clearly they wanted something from us, but what? They weren't asking for information. And they were human. What would humans want with us? Usually the most we feared from humans was either running into crazy slayer types or those who wanted to experiment on us. These seemed like neither. So what did they want? Why were we here? Over and over, I imagined more awful, gruesome fates. The looks on my friends' faces showed I wasn't the only one who could envision creative torments. The smell of sweat and fear filled the room. I lost track of time and was suddenly jolted out of my imaginings when footsteps sounded on the stairs. The lead captor stepped into the hall. The rest of the men straightened up, tension crackling around them. Oh God. This was it, I realized. This was what we'd been waiting for. â€Å"Yes, sir,† I heard the leader say. â€Å"They're in here, just like you wanted.† Finally, I realized. The person behind our kidnapping. Panic shot through me. I had to escape. â€Å"Let us out of here!† I yelled, straining at my bindings. â€Å"Let us out of here, you son of a- â€Å" I stopped. Something inside of me shriveled up. My throat went dry. My heart wanted to stop. The guard had returned with a man and a woman I didn't recognize. I did, however, recognize that they were †¦ †¦ Strigoi. Real, live- well, figuratively speaking- Strigoi. It all suddenly clicked together. It wasn't just the Spokane reports that had been true. What we'd feared- Strigoi working with humans- had come true. This changes everything. Daylight wasn't safe anymore. None of us were safe anymore. Worse, I realized these must be the rogue Strigoi- the ones who had attacked the two Moroi families with human help. Again, those horrible memories came to me: bodies and blood everywhere. Bile rose in my throat, and I tried to shift my thoughts from the past to the present situation. Not that that was any more reassuring. Moroi had pale skin, the kind of skin that blushed and burned easily. But these vampires†¦their skin was white, chalky in a way that made it look like the result of a bad makeup job. The pupils of their eyes had a red ring around them, driving home what monsters they were. The woman, actually, reminded me of Natalie- my poor friend whose father had convinced her to turn Strigoi. It took me a few moments to figure out what the resemblance was because they looked nothing alike. This woman was short- probably human before becoming Strigoi- and had brown hair with a bad highlighting job. Then it hit me. This Strigoi was a new one, much as Natalie had been. It didn't become obvious until I compared her with the Strigoi man. The Strigoi woman's face had a little life in it. But his †¦ his was the face of death. His face was completely devoid of any sort of warmth or gentler emotion. His expression was cold and calculating, laced with malicious amusement. He was tall, as tall as Dimitri, and had a slender frame that indicated he'd been Moroi before changing over. Shoulder-length black hair framed his face and stood out against the bright scarlet of his dress shirt. His eyes were so dark and brown that without the red ring, it would have been almost impossible to tell where pupil ended and iris began. One of the guards shoved me hard, even though I'd been silent. He glanced up at the Strigoi man. â€Å"You want me to gag her?† I suddenly realized I'd been hunching into the back of my chair, unconsciously trying to get as far away from him as possible. He realized this too, and a thin, toothless smile crossed his lips. â€Å"No,† he said. His voice was silky and low. â€Å"I'd like to hear what she has to say.† He raised an eyebrow at me. â€Å"Please. Continue.† I swallowed. â€Å"No? Nothing to add? Well. Do feel free to pipe up if something else comes to mind.† â€Å"Isaiah,† exclaimed the woman. â€Å"Why are you keeping them here? Why haven't you just contacted the others?† â€Å"Elena, Elena,† Isaiah murmured to her. â€Å"Behave yourself. I'm not going to pass up the chance to enjoy myself with two Moroi and †¦Ã¢â‚¬  He walked behind my chair and lifted my hair, making me shudder. A moment later, he peered at Mason and Eddie's necks as well. â€Å"†¦three unblooded dhampirs.† He spoke those words with an almost happy sigh, and I realized he'd been looking for guardian tattoos. Strolling over to Mia and Christian, Isaiah rested a hand on his hip as he studied them. Mia could only meet his eyes for an instant before looking away. Christian's fear was palpable, but he managed to return the Strigoi's scrutiny. It made me proud. â€Å"Look at these eyes, Elena.† Elena walked over and stood beside Isaiah as he spoke. â€Å"That pale blue. Like ice. Like aquamarines. You almost never get that outside of the royal houses. Badicas. Ozeras. The occasional Zeklos.† â€Å"Ozera,† said Christian, trying very hard to sound fearless. Isaiah tilted his head. â€Å"Really? Surely not†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He leaned closer to Christian. â€Å"But the age is right†¦and that hair†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He smiled. â€Å"Lucas and Moira's son?† Christian said nothing, but the confirmation on his face was obvious. â€Å"I knew your parents. Great people. Unparalleled. Their deaths were a shame†¦ but, well†¦ I daresay they brought that on themselves. I told them they shouldn't have gone back for you. Would have been wasteful to awaken you so young. They claimed they were going to just keep you around and waken you when you were older. I warned them that that would be a disaster, but, well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He gave a delicate shrug. â€Å"Awaken† was the term Strigoi used among themselves when they changed over. It sounded like a religious experience. â€Å"They wouldn't listen, and disaster met them in a different way.† Hatred, deep and dark, boiled behind Christian's eyes. Isaiah smiled again. â€Å"It's quite touching that you should find your way to me after all this time. Perhaps I can realize their dream after all.† â€Å"Isaiah,† said the woman- Elena- again. Every word out of her mouth seemed like a whine. â€Å"Call the others- â€Å" â€Å"Stop giving me orders!† Isaiah grabbed her shoulder and shoved her away- except that the push knocked her across the room and almost through the wall. She just barely threw her hand out in time to stop the impact. Strigoi had better reflexes than dhampirs or even Moroi; her lack of grace meant he'd completely caught her off guard. And really, he'd barely touched her. The push had been light- yet it had packed the force of a small car. This further enforced my belief that he was in another class altogether. His strength beat hers by magnitudes. She was like a fly he could swat away. Strigoi power increased with age- as well as through the consumption of Moroi blood and, to a lesser extent, dhampir blood. This guy wasn't just old, I realized. He was ancient. And he'd drunk a lot of blood over the years. Terror filled Elena's features, and I could understand her fear. Strigoi turned against each other all the time. He could have ripped her head off if he wanted. She cowered, averting her eyes. â€Å"I†¦ I'm sorry, Isaiah.† Isaiah smoothed his shirt- not that it had been wrinkled. His voice took on the cold pleasantness he'd affected earlier. â€Å"You clearly have opinions here, Elena, and I welcome you voicing them in a civilized manner. What do you think we should do with these cubs?† â€Å"You should- that is, I think we should just take them now. Especially the Moroi.† She was clearly working hard not to whine again and annoy him. â€Å"Unless†¦you aren't going to throw another dinner party, are you? It's a complete waste. We'll have to share, and you know the others won't be grateful. They never are.† â€Å"I'm not making a dinner party out of them,† he declared loftily. Dinner party? â€Å"But I'm not killing them yet either. You're young, Elena. You only think about immediate gratification. When you're as old as me, you won't be so †¦ impatient.† She rolled her eyes when he wasn't looking. Turning, he swept his gaze over me, Mason, and Eddie. â€Å"You three, I'm afraid, are going to die. There's no avoiding it. I'd like to say I'm sorry, but, well, I'm not. Such is the way of the world. You do have a choice in how you die, however, and that will be dictated by your behavior.† His eyes lingered on me. I didn't really get why everyone seemed to be singling me out as the troublemaker here. Well, maybe I did. â€Å"Some of you will die more painfully than others.† I didn't need to see Mason and Eddie to know their fear mirrored mine. I was pretty sure I even heard Eddie whimper. Isaiah abruptly turned on his heels, military-style, and faced Mia and Christian. â€Å"You two, fortunately, have options. Only one of you will die. The other will live on in glorious immortality. I'll even be kind enough to take you under my wing until you're a little older. Such is my charity.† I couldn't help it. I choked on a laugh. Isaiah spun around and stared at me. I fell silent and waited for him to throw me across the room like he had Elena, but he did nothing else but stare. It was enough. My heart raced, and I felt tears brim in my eyes. My fear shamed me. I wanted to be like Dimitri. Maybe even like my mother. After several long, agonizing moments, Isaiah turned back to the Moroi. â€Å"Now. As I was saying, one of you will be awakened and live forever. But it will not be me who wakens you. You will choose to be awakened willingly.† â€Å"Not likely,† said Christian. He packed as much snarky defiance as he could manage into those two words, but it was still obvious to everyone else in the room that he was scared out of his mind. â€Å"Ah, how I love the Ozera spirit,† mused Isaiah. He glanced at Mia, his red eyes gleaming. She shrank back in fear. â€Å"But don't let him upstage you, my dear. There's strength in common blood, too. And here's how it will be decided.† He pointed at us dhampirs. His gazed chilled me all over, and I imagined I could smell the stink of decay. â€Å"If you want to live, all you have to do is kill one of these three.† He turned back to the Moroi. â€Å"That's it. Not unpleasant at all. Just tell one of these gentlemen here you want to do it. They'll release you. Then you drink from them and are awakened as one of us. Whoever does this first walks free. The other will be dinner for Elena and me.† Silence hung in the room. â€Å"No,† said Christian. â€Å"No way am I killing one of my friends. I don't care what you do. I'll die first.† Isaiah waved a dismissive hand. â€Å"Easy to be brave when you aren't hungry. Go a few days without any other sustenance †¦ and yes, these three will start to look very good. And they are. Dhampirs are delicious. Some prefer them to Moroi, and while I myself have never shared such beliefs, I can certainly appreciate the variety.† Christian scowled. â€Å"Don't believe me?† asked Isaiah. â€Å"Then let me prove it.† He walked back over to my side of the room. I realized what he was going to do and spoke without fully thinking things through. â€Å"Use me,† I blurted out. â€Å"Drink from me.† Isaiah's smug look faltered for a moment, and his eyebrows rose. â€Å"You're volunteering?† â€Å"I've done it before. Let Moroi feed off me, I mean. I don't mind. I like it. Leave the rest of them alone.† â€Å"Rose!† exclaimed Mason. I ignored him and looked beseechingly at Isaiah. I didn't want him to feed off me. The thought made me sick. But I had given blood before, and I'd rather him take pints from me before he touched Eddie or Mason. I couldn't read his expression as he sized me up. For half a second, I thought he might go for it, but instead he shook his head. â€Å"No. Not you. Not yet.† He walked over and stood before Eddie. I pulled against my flex-cuffs so hard that they dug painfully into my skin. They didn't give. â€Å"No! Leave him alone!† â€Å"Quiet,† snapped Isaiah, without looking at me. He rested one hand on the side of Eddie's face. Eddie trembled and had gone so pale, I thought he would faint. â€Å"I can make this easy, or I can make it hurt. Your silence will encourage the former.† I wanted to scream, wanted to call Isaiah all sorts of names and make all sorts of threats. But I couldn't. My eyes flicked around the room, searching for exits, as I had so many times before. But there were none. Just blank, bare white walls. No windows. The one precious door, always guarded. I was helpless, just as helpless as I'd been from the moment they'd pulled us into the van. I felt like crying, more from frustration than fear. What kind of guardian would I be if I couldn't protect my friends? But I stayed quiet, and a look of satisfaction crossed Isaiah's face. The fluorescent lighting gave his skin a sickly, grayish hue, emphasizing the dark circles under his eyes. I wanted to punch him. â€Å"Good.† He smiled at Eddie and held his face so that the two made direct eye contact. â€Å"Now, you won't fight me, will you?† As I've mentioned, Lissa was good at compulsion. But she couldn't have done this. In seconds, Eddie was smiling. â€Å"No. I won't fight you.† â€Å"Good,† repeated Isaiah. â€Å"And you'll give me your neck freely, won't you?† â€Å"Of course,† replied Eddie, tilting his head back. Isaiah brought his mouth down, and I looked away, trying to focus on the threadbare carpet instead. I didn't want to see this. I heard Eddie emit a soft, happy moan. The feeding itself was relatively quiet- no slurping or anything like that. â€Å"There.† I glanced back when I heard Isaiah speak again. Blood dripped from his lips, and he ran his tongue across them. I couldn't see the wound on Eddie's neck, but I suspected it was bloody and horrible too. Mia and Christian stared wide-eyed, both with fear and fascination. Eddie gazed off in a happy, drugged haze, high from both the endorphins and the compulsion. Isaiah straightened up and smiled at the Moroi, licking the last of the blood off his lips. â€Å"You see?† he told them, moving toward the door. â€Å"It's just that easy.†