Succubus Blues CHAPTER 3

Of course, I should clarify at this point that Jerome doesn't look like a demon, at least not in the traditional red skin and horns sense. Maybe he does on another plane of existence, but like Hugh, me, and all the other immortals walking the earth, Jerome wore a human guise now. One that looked like John Cusack. Seriously. No joke. The archdemon always claimed he didn't even know who the actor was, but none of us bought that. † Ow,† I said irritably. â€Å"Let me go.† Jerome released his grasp, but his dark eyes still glinted dangerously. â€Å"You look good,† he said after a moment, seeming surprised by the admission. I tugged at my sweater, straightening it from where his hand had crumpled it. â€Å"You have a funny way of showing your admiration.† â€Å"Really good,† he continued thoughtfully. â€Å"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you – â€Å" † – shine,† murmured a voice behind the demon. â€Å"You shine, Daughter of Lilith, like a star in the night sky, like a diamond glittering on the bleakness of eternity.† I started in surprise. Jerome cut a sharp glance to the speaker, not liking his monologue interrupted. I also glared, not liking an uninvited angel in my apartment. Carter only smiled at both of us. â€Å"As I was saying,† snapped Jerome, â€Å"you look like you've been with a good mortal.† â€Å"I did a favor for Hugh.† â€Å"So this isn't the start of a new and improved habit?† â€Å"Not on the salary you pay me.† Jerome grunted, but it was all part of a routine between us. He would berate me for not taking my job seriously, I'd give a few witty quips in return, and the status quo would resume. Like I said, I was something of a teacher's pet. Looking at him now, however, I could see no more jokes would follow. The charm that had so enthralled my customers today had no effect on these two. Jerome's face was drawn and serious, as was Carter's, despite the angel's usual sardonic half-smile. Jerome and Carter hung out together regularly, especially when alcohol was involved. This baffled me since they were supposedly locked in some sort of great, cosmic struggle. I'd once asked Jerome if Carter was a fallen angel, which had elicited a good laugh from the demon. When he'd recovered from the hilarity, he'd told me no, Carter hadn't fallen. If he had, he wouldn't technically be an angel anymore. I hadn't really found that answer satisfying and finally decided the two must stay together because there was no one else in this area who could relate to an existence stretching back to the beginning of time and creation. All the rest of us lesser immortals had been human at some point before; greater immortals like Jerome and Carter had not. My centuries were a mere blip on their timeline. Whatever the reasons for his presence now, I didn't like Carter. He wasn't obnoxious like Duane, but he always seemed so smug and supercilious. Maybe it was an angel thing. Carter also had the most bizarre sense of humor I'd ever seen. I could never tell if he was making fun of me or not. â€Å"So what can I do for you boys?† I asked, tossing my purse on the counter. â€Å"I've got places to be tonight.† Jerome fixed me with a narrow-eyed look. â€Å"I want you to tell me about Duane.† â€Å"What? I already did. He's an asshole.† â€Å"Is that why you had him killed?† â€Å"I – what?† I froze where I'd been sifting through cupboard contents and slowly turned around to look back at the duo, half expecting some joke. Both faces were in earnest, watching me. â€Å"Killed? How†¦ how does that work?† â€Å"You tell me, Georgie.† I blinked, suddenly realizing where this was going. â€Å"Are you accusing me of killing Duane? And wait†¦ this is stupid. Duane isn't dead. He can't be.† Jerome began pacing, his voice exaggeratedly civil. â€Å"Oh, I assure you, he is quite dead. We found him this morning, just before sunrise.† â€Å"So what? He died of sun exposure?† That was the only way I'd ever heard a vampire could die. â€Å"No. He died because of the stake wedged into his heart.† † Ew.† â€Å"So are you ready to tell me who you got to do it, Georgie?† â€Å"I didn't get anyone to do it! I can't even – I don't even understand what this is about. Duane can't be dead.† â€Å"You admitted to me last night you two got in a fight.† â€Å"Yes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"And you threatened him.† â€Å"Yeah, but I was joking†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I think he told me you said something about him never coming near you again?† â€Å"I was angry and upset! He was scaring me. This is crazy. Besides, Duane can't be dead.† That was the only piece of sanity I could cling to in all of this, so I kept repeating it to them and to myself. Immortals were, by definition, immortal. End of story. â€Å"Don't you know anything about vampires?† the arch-demon asked curiously. â€Å"Like that they can't die?† Amusement flickered in Carter's gray eyes; Jerome found me less funny. â€Å"I'm asking you one last time, Georgina. Did you or did you not have Duane killed? Just answer the question. Yes or no.† â€Å"No,† I said firmly. Jerome glanced at Carter. The angel studied me, his lank blond hair falling forward to partially cover his face. I realized then why Carter was along for the ride tonight. Angels can always discern truth from lies. At last, he nodded sharply to Jerome. â€Å"Glad I passed the test,† I muttered. But they weren't paying attention to me anymore. â€Å"Well,† observed Jerome grimly, â€Å"I guess we know what this means.† â€Å"Well, we don't know for sure†¦Ã¢â‚¬  † I do.† Carter gave him a meaningful look, and several seconds of silence passed. I'd always suspected the two were communicating mentally in such moments, something we lesser immortals could not do unassisted. â€Å"So Duane's really dead?† I asked. â€Å"Yes,† said Jerome, remembering I was there. â€Å"Very much so.† â€Å"Who killed him then? Now that we've determined it wasn't me?† The two glanced at each other and shrugged, neither answering. Negligent parents, both of them. Carter pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit up. Lord, I hated it when they got this way. Finally Jerome said, â€Å"A vampire hunter.† I stared. â€Å"Really? Like that girl on TV?† â€Å"Not exactly.† â€Å"So where are you going tonight?† asked Carter pleasantly. â€Å"To Seth Mortensen's signing. And don't change the subject. I want to know about this vampire hunter.† â€Å"Are you going to sleep with him?† â€Å"I – what?† For half a moment, I thought the angel was asking me about the vampire hunter. â€Å"You mean Seth Mortensen?† Carter exhaled smoke. â€Å"Sure. I mean, if I were a succubus obsessed with a mortal author, that's what I'd do. Besides, doesn't your side always want more celebrities?† â€Å"We've already got plenty of celebrities,† Jerome said in an undertone. Sleep with Seth Mortensen? Good grief. It was the most preposterous thing I'd ever heard. It was appalling. If I absorbed his life force, there was no telling how long it'd be until his next book came out. â€Å"No! Of course not.† â€Å"Then what are you going to do to get noticed?† â€Å"Noticed?† â€Å"Sure. I mean, the guy probably sees tons of fans on a regular basis. Don't you want to stand out in some way?† Surprise washed over me. I hadn't even considered that. Should I have? My jaded nature made it difficult to find pleasure in many things nowadays. Seth Mortensen books were one of my few escapes. Should I acknowledge that and attempt to connect with the novels' creator? Earlier today, I'd mocked run-of-the-mill fans. Was I about to become one of them? â€Å"Well†¦ I mean, Paige will probably introduce the staff privately to him. I'll sort of stand out then.† â€Å"Yes, of course.† Carter put out the cigarette in my kitchen sink. â€Å"I'm sure he never gets the opportunity to meet bookstore management.† I opened my mouth to protest, but Jerome cut me off. â€Å"Enough.† He gave Carter another of those meaningful looks. â€Å"We need to go.† â€Å"I – wait a minute!† Carter had succeeded in derailing me off the topic after all. I couldn't believe it. â€Å"I want to know more about this vampire hunter.† â€Å"All you need to know is that you should be careful, Georgie. Extremely careful. I am not joking about this.† I swallowed, hearing the iron in the demon's voice. â€Å"But I'm not a vampire.† â€Å"I don't care. These hunter types sometimes follow vampires around, hoping to find others. You could be implicated by association. Lay low. Avoid being alone. Stay with others – mortal or immortal, it doesn't matter. Maybe you can follow up on your favor for Hugh and score some more souls for our side while you're at it.† I rolled my eyes at that as the two walked to the door. â€Å"I mean it. Be careful. Keep a low profile. Don't get involved with this.† â€Å"And,† added Carter with a wink, â€Å"say hi to Seth Mortensen for me.† With that, the two left, closing the door gently behind them. A formality really, since either of them could have just teleported out. Or blown my door apart. I turned to Aubrey. She had watched the proceedings cautiously from the back of my sofa, tail twitching. â€Å"Well,† I told her, reeling. â€Å"What am I supposed to make of that?† Duane was actually dead? I mean, yeah, he was a bastard, and I had been pretty pissed when I threatened him last night, but I'd never actually wanted him to be really dead. And what about this vampire hunter business? Why was I supposed to be careful when – â€Å"Shit!† I had just glanced at my microwave clock. It coolly informed me I needed to return to the bookstore ASAP. Pushing Duane out of my brain, I dashed to my bedroom and stared at myself in the mirror. Aubrey followed more sluggishly. What to wear? I could just keep my current outfit. The sweater and khakis combination looked both respectable and subdued, though the color scheme blended a bit too well with my light brown hair. It was a librarian sort of outfit. Did I want to look subdued? Maybe. Like I had told Carter, I really didn't want to do anything that might solicit the romantic interest of my favorite author in the whole world. Still†¦ Still, I remembered what the angel had said about getting noticed. I didn't want to be just another face in Seth Mortensen's crowd. This was the final stop on his latest tour. No doubt he'd seen thousands of fans in the last month, fans who blurred together into a sea of bland faces, making their inane comments. I had advised the guy at the counter to be innovative with his questions, and I intended to behave the same way with my appearance. Five minutes later, I stood in front of the mirror once more, this time clad in a silk tank top, deep violet and low-cut, paired with a floral chiffon skirt. The skirt almost covered my thighs and swirled when I spun. It would have made a great dancing outfit. Stepping into strappy brown heels, I glanced over at Aubrey for confirmation. â€Å"What do you think? Too sexy?† She began cleaning her tail. â€Å"It is sexy,† I conceded, â€Å"but it's classy sexy. The hair helps, I think.† I had pulled my long hair up into a romantic sort of bun, leaving wavy locks to frame my face and enhance my eyes. Momentary shape-shifting made them turn greener than usual. Changing my mind, I let them go back to their normal gold-and-green-flecked hazel. When Aubrey still refused to acknowledge how awesome I looked, I grabbed my snakeskin coat and glared at her. â€Å"I don't care what you think. This outfit was a good call.† I left the apartment with my copy of The Glasgow Pact and walked back to work, impervious to the drizzle. Another perk of shape-shifting. Fans milled inside the main retail area, eager to see the man whose latest book still dominated the bestseller lists, even after five weeks. I squeezed past the group, making my way toward the stairs that led to the second floor. â€Å"Young adult books are over there by the wall.† Doug's friendly voice drifted nearby. â€Å"Let me know if you need anything else.† He turned away from the customer he'd been helping, caught sight of me, and promptly dropped the stack of books he'd been holding. Customers stepped back, politely watching him kneel down to retrieve the books. I recognized the covers immediately. They were paperbacks of Seth Mortensen's older titles. â€Å"Sacrilege,† I commented. â€Å"Letting those touch the ground. You'll have to burn them now, like a flag.† Ignoring me, Doug gathered up the books and then ushered me off out of earshot. â€Å"Nice of you to go home and change into something more comfortable. Christ, can you even bend over in that?† â€Å"What, do you think I'll have to tonight?† â€Å"Well, that depends. I mean, Warren's here after all.† â€Å"Harsh, Doug. Very harsh.† â€Å"You bring it on yourself, Kincaid.† He gave me a reluctant, appreciative glance just before we started climbing the stairs. â€Å"You do look pretty good, though.† â€Å"Thanks. I wanted Seth Mortensen to notice me.† â€Å"Believe me, unless he's gay, he'll notice you. Probably even then too.† â€Å"I don't look too slutty, do I?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Or cheap?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"I was going for classy sexy. What do you think?† â€Å"I think I'm done feeding your ego. You already know how you look.† We crested the top of the stairs. A mass of chairs had been set up, covering most of the cafe's normal seating area and spreading out into part of the gardening and maps section of books. Paige, the store manager and our superior, busily attempted some sort of wiring acrobatics with the microphone and sound system. I didn't know what this building had been used for before Emerald City Books moved in, but it was not an ideal venue for acoustics and large groups. â€Å"I'm going to help her,† Doug told me, kindly chivalrous. Paige was three months pregnant. â€Å"I'd advise you do something that doesn't involve leaning more than twenty degrees in any one direction. Oh, and if somebody tries to get you to touch your elbows together behind your back, don't fall for it.† I gave him a sharp jab in the ribs, nearly making him lose the books again. Bruce, still manning the espresso counter, made me my fourth white chocolate mocha of the day, and I wandered over to the geography books to drink it while I waited for things to pick up. Glancing beside me, I recognized the guy I'd discussed Seth Mortensen with earlier. He still held his copy of The Glasgow Pact. â€Å"Hey,† I said. He jumped at the sound of my voice, having been absorbed in a travel book about Texas. â€Å"Sorry,† I told him. â€Å"Didn't mean to scare you.† â€Å"I – no, you d-didn't,† he stammered. His eyes assessed me from head to toe in one quick glance, lingering ever so briefly on my hips and breasts but longest on my face. â€Å"You changed clothes.† Apparently realizing the myriad implications behind such an admission, he added hastily, â€Å"Not that that's bad. I mean that's good. Er, well, that is – â€Å" His embarrassment growing, he turned from me and tried to awkwardly replace the Texas book back on the shelf, upside down. I hid my smile. This guy was too adorable. I didn't run into many shy guys anymore. Modern-day dating seemed to demand men make as great a spectacle of themselves as possible, and unfortunately, women seemed to really go for it. Okay, even I went for it sometimes. But shy guys deserved a break too, and I decided a little harmless flirting with him would be good for his ego while I waited for the signing to start. He probably had terrible luck with women. â€Å"Let me do that,† I offered, leaning across him. My hands touched his as I took the book from him, replacing it carefully on the shelf, front cover out. â€Å"There.† I stepped back as though to admire my handiwork, making sure I stood very close to him, our shoulders nearly touching. â€Å"It's important to keep up appearances with books,† I explained. â€Å"Image goes a long way in this business.† He dared a look over at me, still nervous but steadily recovering his composure. â€Å"I go more for content.† â€Å"Really?† I repositioned slightly so that we were touching again, the soft flannel of his shirt brushing my bare skin. â€Å"Because I could have sworn a moment ago you were pretty caught up in outside appearance.† His eyes shifted down again, but I could see a smile curving his lips. â€Å"Well. Some things are so striking, they can't help but draw attention to themselves.† â€Å"And doesn't that make you curious about what's inside?† â€Å"Mostly it makes me want to get you some advanced copies.† Advanced copies? What did he – ? â€Å"Seth? Seth, where – ah, there you are.† Paige turned down our aisle, Doug following behind. She brightened when she saw me, and I felt my stomach sink out of me and hit the floor with a thud as I put two and two together. No. No. It couldn't be – â€Å"Ah, Georgina. I see you've already met Seth Mortensen.†

Xbrl

The Next Technology Revolution XML XBRL 1 Today’s Objectives †¢ Overview of XML & XBRL †¢ Show you how this technology makes doing EBusiness: – Faster – Cheaper – Better †¢ Conclusion 2 Let’s move up the Value Chain Transactions Data Information Knowledge Decisions Transactions Data Information Knowledge Decisions Transactions Data Information Knowledge Decisions Transactions Data Information Knowledge Decisions 3 Evolution to Web Services Web Program the Web Browse the Web Web Services Text Files Web Pages Innovation FTP, E-Mail, Gopher Connectivity TCP/IP HTML XML 4 Automation Presentation Technology XMLXML stands for: eXtensible Markup Language Universally accepted method of exchanging information 5 eXtensible Markup Language †¢ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦is a meta markup language the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) considers a universal standard for describing both structured data and the behavior of applications that process the language . 6 What Is XML? †¢ â€Å"XML is a platform-independent, self-describing, expandable, standard data exchange format 7 XML is Platform Independent †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Windows Unix Macintosh Mainframe Linux 8 XML is Self-Describing Self†¢ Example: – July 26, 1998 †¢ Describes the information, not the presentation †¢ Format neutral XML is Expandable †¢ Whereas HTML has a fixed set of tags – , , †¢ XML lets you create your own tags – – – 10 How does it work? †¢ XML gives meaning to information through the use of tags Saad Hafizi COB Chairman, Novac 21 Caution.. †¦Just because something is .. Does not mean it is accurate? 11 The XML Puzzle XML Document Core Schema Transformation Tools Industry Specific Vocabularies Company Specific Vocabulary 12 How XML Works How XML Works Improves the way companies — and applications — share information Enjoys strong industry and vendor support 13 What is ‘XML’? †¢ What XML is Not – Not a religion. Not the solution to all world problems. – Not a solution for all electronic commerce problems. – Not a solution to all legal-technology problems. †¢ XML is a Tool – XML is a Really Cool (Powerful) Tool! – Like all tools, XML can be used wisely and unwisely. 14 Why is XML so Important? †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Portable Vendor neutral Readable data format More flexible and easier to use than EDI All major software products are becoming â€Å"XML† enabled †¢ Defacto standards for data exchange †¢ Enabling new levels of interoperability 15 XML †¢ Widely expected to reduce cost of publishing to the Net by as much as 50%. And by next year Gartner Group prediction 70% of all B2B transactions executed on the Web will be done using XML. 16 Who defines the tags? †¢ Tags are defined by industry consortiums †¢ Each industry’s stan dard tags are commonly referred to as a taxonomy 17 â€Å"Content in Context† (Industry-specific) Auto Industry Chemical Industry Publishing or Mythology Music Industry Aerospace Astronomy 18 Who’s Building Taxonomies? Accounting Economics EDI Healthcare Legal Publishing Science Advertising Architecture Communication E-Commerce Financial Insurance News Retail Supply Chain 19 Automotive Banking Education ERP HR Music Real Estate SoftwareDefines Tags 20 XBRL International is gaining strength †¢ XBRL activities occurring in— – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – United States Canada Australia China & Hong Kong Japan Malaysia New Zealand Singapore Taiwan Germany India Ireland Netherlands Nordic Federation (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) South Africa Spain Switzerland United Kingdom †¢ And on a global level through the— – Inter national Accounting Standards Council – International Press Telecommunications Council – International Standards Organization 21 XBRL International is gaining strength †¢ On a Global level through the— – – International Accounting Standards Council International Press Telecommunications Council International Standards Organization †¢ On a Country Level: – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – United States Canada Australia China & Hong Kong Japan Malaysia New Zealand Singapore Taiwan Germany India Ireland Netherlands Nordic Federation (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) South Africa Spain Switzerland United Kingdom 22 XBRL Impact â€Å"The explosive growth of the Internet is not only changing the way companies conduct their business, it also promises to forever alter the way they communicate business performance. – CFO M agazine, February 2000 23 XBRL Documents †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ XBRL for Financial Statements XBRL for General Ledger XBRL for Journal Entry Reporting XBRL for Credit Reporting XBRL for Performance Press Releases XBRL for Risk Reporting XBRL for Regulatory Filings XBRL for Tax Filings XBRL for Assurance Schedules XBRL for Authoritative Literature XBRL for â€Å"Business† Reporting 24 Who’s Embracing XML now? †¢ Software developers Using XML as the core technology for new products †¢ Database developers Building XML support into their products. †¢ Industry groups Deciding how information should be shared. Organizations Investigating how to tie their inter and intra company processes together. 25 †¢ XML for Financial Reporting †¢ Enables a dramatic improvement in the processing of financial reports †¢ XBRL documents can be— – – – – – Pr epared efficiently Exchanged reliably Published more easily Analyzed quickly Retrieved by investors simply to enable smarter investments 26 Benefits †¢ XBRL is: – NOT a new accounting standards but enhances the distribution and usability of existing financial statement information – Enabler and an extension for relational database functionality for all financial statement information 7 Problems XBRL Addresses †¢ Ineffective communication to investors †¢ Inefficient aggregation and analysis †¢ Inefficient creation of financial statements 28 Why XBRL ? Enable business reporting that leverages the Internet & XML Effective access and analysis of business reports Improve corporate communications with stakeholders 29 Who benefits Process Benefits: Lowering Financial Reporting Cost †¢ Today’s external reporting processes – Rework and delay – Ad hoc and non repeatable – No path forward Accounting System Explanatory Text Thir d Party Information Printed Financials Regulatory FilingsWeb Site Tax Return Trade Filings 30 Who benefits Process Benefits: Lowering Financial Reporting Cost †¢ Common interchange format and storage is good information management practice – Reduces redundancies & discrepancies – Repeatable processes using tools – A platform for continuous reporting Accounting System Explanatory Text Third Party Information XBRL Documents Printed Financials Regulatory Filings Web Site Tax Return Trade Filings 31 XBRL: Interoperability & Multiple Uses G/L Package ERP XBRL Custom Developed Systems US GAAP Financial Statement In English US GAAP Financial Statement In DutchUS GAAP Financial Statement to the Web US GAAP Financial Statement to Print XBRL Other Sources of Information XBRL Other Sources of Information Other Sources of Information US GAAP Financial Statement to Cell Phone XBRL: Interoperability & Multiple Uses G/L Package ERP US GAAP Financial Statement Investors & Creditors XBRL Custom Developed Systems EDGAR Filing XBRL Tax Filing XBRL Government Other Sources of Information Bank Filing XBRL News Agencies And Others Other Sources of Information Other Sources of Information Press Release Once Every Event is tagged in XBRL†¦ G/L Package ERPIAS Financial Statement in German US GAAP Financial Statement In English French Tax Filing Investors & Creditors XBRL Custom Developed Systems XBRL XBRL Government Other Sources of Information Canadian Banking Filing XBRL News Agencies And Others Other Sources of Information Other Sources of Information EDGAR 10k line item via Cell Phone XBRL Working Model: Planned Specifications XBRL for G/L Journal Entry Reporting XBRL for Financial Statements XBRL for EDGAR Filings Processes Business Operations Internal Financial Reporting External Financial Reporting Investment and Lending AnalysisXBRL for Business Event Reporting XBRL for Tax Filings Financial Publishers and Data Aggregators Participants Companies Investors Trading Partners Management Accountants Auditors Regulators Software Vendors XBRL: not a Transaction Protocol What it is †¢ XBRL is merely a format to serialize complex, structured financial data: e. g. , statements, G/Ls. †¢ Therefore, it cannot replace OFX, ebXML, ANSI X. 12 Trans Set 821, OMG G/L Spec, †¦ †¢ Future message sets in those protocols could include XBRL tagged data if they need to send financial statements in the message body. XBRL provides a framework and an AICPA approved vocabulary that can be extended to many other reporting frameworks. 36 XBRL: not an accounting standard †¢ Means of communicating – Current GAAP – Current practice †¢ Flexible standard – Future standards – Future general practice 37 XBRL: A Fragment of a Raw Data Raw Data in Spreadsheet Company Coca Cola Co. Coca Cola Co. Financial Statement Balance Sheet Line Item CurrentAssets. Cashand CashEquivalents CurrentAssets. Cashand CashE quivalents Label CurrentAssets. Cashand CashEquivalents CurrentAssets.Cashand CashEquivalents Year 1999 Value 1611 Balance Sheet 1998 1648 Same Raw Data in XML (XBRL) Format $1,611 $1,648 38 39 What software ‘sees’ is the differentiator and drives benefits (here is an example) 40 Importance of Reporting â€Å" [W]hat excites the CEO is the ability to know what the business is doing at any given point in time, react quickly to market shifts and competitive threats and remain in tight control while empowering employees to make informed decisions more quickly. Year End Earnings Release Call August 10, 1999 John Chambers Cisco CEO † 41 â€Å" Virtual Close TheBest Practice has, in my opinion, just as much impact on a company’s future success or lack thereof as the wellpublished e-commerce area. Year End Earnings Release Call August 10, 1999 John Chambers Cisco CEO † 42 XBRL Impact †¢ â€Å" †¦ If Europe moves quickly to take up these standard s, it could give them an attractive lead in the race to accessible and comparative key data that would stimulate investor interest. It would undoubtedly spawn a plethora of research tools that would be useful to both private and professional investors. † †¢ †¢ – Investors Chronicle, August 9, 2000 43XBRL and the Emergence of ‘e‘eStandards’ †¢ E-Standards are fundamental †¢ HTML is the standard that enabled the web’s first ‘Big Step’ †¢ XML is the web’s next ‘Big Step’ – Over 200 XML-Based Specifications and Protocols exist, including— †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ RosettaNet – computer company supply chain and trading webs OBI – Open Buying on the Internet – retail e-commerce FpML – Financial Products (Derivatives, Swaps, FX) ACORD XML – Insurance industry information exchange standards derived from EDI. – UN/CEFAC = EBXML †¢ XBRL is uniquely focused on financial reporting 44 Standard . orgs (reporting vs ‘e’)Accounting / Auditing Reporting ASB IASC FASB IFAC SEC Territory Institutes ‘e-Business’ W3C OASIS;UN/CEFAC T (ebxml) xml. org RosettaNet ACORD What about these? CPAs participate / lead in these The range of what is under development today †¦ HR CRM â€Å"Horizontals† (Infrastructure) there are others†¦.. XBRL is uniquely focused on Etc. business reporting CHEMX RosettaNet ACORD FpML ANX â€Å"Verticals† (Industry Supply Chains) there are others†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. XBRL Adds Reporting to E-Commerce ETax One way Regulators Investors Creditors Lenders Website One way Aggregators BUSINESS ERP G/L Packages CRM 2-way SuppliersTransaction Creation 2-way †¢Orders †¢A/P †¢Delivery †¢Orders †¢A/R †¢Delivery Customers 47 XBRL Adds Reporting to E-Commerce ETax One way Regulators Investors Creditors Lenders Website One way Aggregators B USINESS G/L Packages ERP CRM BUSINESS REPORTING XBRL 2-way Suppliers Transaction Creation 2-way (e-)Commerce OTHER XML INITIATIVES †¢Orders †¢A/P †¢Delivery †¢Orders †¢A/R †¢Delivery Customers 48 XBRL – What Key XBRL Components †¢ XBRL / XML Specification (XBRL. org) – Global architecture/technology †¢ XBRL hierarchical vocabulary (jurisdiction/industry) – Dictionary of terms by jurisdiction/industry sector Style Sheets †¢ XBRL enabled tools (preparer) (market) 49 Key to our Success Market driven model – Start simple, be inclusive Broad supply chain participation Members support XBRL Members do not compete on the â€Å"framework† Build structure & systems to support open community & market development 50 Steps in Technology Acceptance Acceptance Simplification/Tools Taxonomy Visionaries 51 Financial Institutions—and their Users Institutions— †¢ SMALL BUSINESS provides FINANCIAL INSTITU TION with their information in XBRL and receives loan approval in less than a day instead of two days—or two weeks.Average Time for Loan Processing—1. 75 days Value-added Analysis and Decision-making? 90% + time spent on Mechanics Less Risk With => Better Or Mechanics Analysis Mechanics Analysis Mechanics Analysis Mechanics Analysis Process more loans in the same amount of time 52 Benefits to Today's Users †¢ 1. Reduce cost of analyzing and reporting financial information †¢ 2. Increase speed and efficiency of business decisions 3. Enhance the distribution and access of existing financial statement information 4. More readily exchanged 5. Increase and enhance analysis 53 Benefits †¢ 1.Reduce cost of analyzing and reporting financial information †¢ 2. Increase the speed and efficiency of business decisions †¢ 3. Enhance the distribution and usability of existing financial statement information 54 Example: Cost Reduction †¢ International Sub sidiaries: †¢ Large multi-national corporation uses XBRL to quickly roll–up, analyze and publish the financial statements of numerous subsidiaries— †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ in different countries with different languages using different GAAP on different computer systems 55 Benefits †¢ 1. Reduce cost of analyzing and reporting financial information †¢ 2.Increase the speed and efficiency of business decisions †¢ 3. Enhance the distribution and usability of existing financial statement information 56 Example: Efficient Decisions †¢ Major mutual fund company feeds XBRL-ized information to customers to differentiate their funds as more objective and reliable investments †¢ An investor uses XBRL to compare the financials for a range of companies— – Belonging to different revenue levels – Located within an industry sector – Along multiple analytical criteria 57 Benefits †¢ 1. Reduce cost of analyzing and r eporting financial information †¢ 2.Increase the speed and efficiency of business decisions †¢ 3. Enhance the distribution and usability of existing financial statement information 58 †¢ Loan Approval: Example: Credit – Small Business provides Bank with their financial information in XBRL and receives loan approval in 1 minute instead of 2 days †¢ Credit Approval: – Company approves customer credit request with automated assessment processes facilitated by XBRL †¢ Line of Credit: – Company provides capital markets with financial information in XBRL and receives expedited line of credit 59 XML Shortcomings?Not a replacement for integration and middleware tools Lots of Hype, not a solution for everything There are many different standards among industries Standards still evolving But, you can’t wait while the standards evolve†¦. 60 XBRL Development & Adoption Final Thought†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Change is not what it used to be†¦ .. Change has become a process; it’s become a permanent part of the external environment 62 Summary †¢ FASTER – BETTER †¢ CHEAPER †¢ Our profession will have to follow technology and record business activity in an real-time mode. 63 Concluding Remarks .. 64

A Focus On Research Methodology Business Essay

A Focus On Research Methodology Business Essay 3.1 Introduction: The previous chapter discussed about the existing literature of how the innovation process and product life cycle works within a company. This chapter will focus on research methodology which is the set of method, providing a systematic technique to accomplish research aims and objectives and research questions. As per Kumar (2005), research methodology is the way to answer all the research questions. The researcher will clarify the types of research methods and also it will illustrate the correct process to meet the research aims and objectives, data collection process and evaluation of the data. The centre point of any research is to data collection and the analysis. Saunders et al. (2009, p-106) described this centre point as a centre of an onion which has different layers that need to be peeled away to get into the centre point. This onion is known as a ‘research onion’, which is shown below: Figure 3.1: Research Onion Source: Saunders et al. (2009 ) 3.2 Research philosophy: According to Saunders et al. (2009) research philosophy is the term that develops the knowledge and there is a strong relation between the nature of that knowledge and the research. To support to select the research strategy method it is important to take the supposition of the research. As per Johnson and Clark (2006) stated in Saunders et al. (2009, p.108) the management and business researchers need to be aware of the philosophies that be chosen for research report. They also added the significance of the research need to understand by investigation. In addition, there is been supportive statement by Saunders et al. (2009, p.108), â€Å"The important issue is not so much whether our research should be philosophically informed, but it is how well we are able to reflect upon our philosophical choices and defend them in relation to the alternatives we could have adopted.† According to ‘research onion’ from Saunders et al. (2009, p.108), there are four main areas which cover the research philosophy. These are as follows: Pragmatism Interpretivism Realism Positivism 3.2.1 Pragmatism: In research philosophy pragmatism is the most important determination that focuses on the research question. In this part it is also possible to argue within both positivist and interpretivist view. This is also applicable for practical approach. It helps to collect and analyze data by integrating different perspectives. (Saunders et al. (2009, p.109) 3.2.2 Interpretivism: The term ‘interpretivism’ stands for, as a researcher it is required to be aware of the difference between humans in their role as social actors. According to Saunders et al. (2009, p.116), â€Å"The difference between conducting research among people rather than objects such as trucks and computers. The term ‘social actors’ is quite significant here. In the same way we interpret our everyday social roles in accordance with the meaning we gi ve to these roles. In addition, we interpret the social roles of others in accordance with our own set of meaning†. 3.2.3 Realism: Realism is another important point of research philosophy which focuses on scientific enquiry. In other word, the existence of autonomous reality of the human mind is the realism. As per Saunders et al. (2009, p.114), quoted that,

FINANCIAL MARKETS AND MONETARY POLICY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

FINANCIAL MARKETS AND MONETARY POLICY - Essay Example Since then it has been varying over the years where the present name ‘official bank rate’ was initiated in 2006 replacing the former ‘Repo Rate’ that existed till 1997. The rate of interest is levied by the nation’s central bank or the Federal bank on lending or advances to regulate the supply of money in the banking sector and overall economy. This is essentially conducted on a quarterly term to regulate the inflation rate and strengthen the nation’s rates of exchange. Any deviation in the bank rates stimulates a ripple-impact as it affects every sector of the economy. For example, the stock prices in the exchange market seem to respond to the changes in the interest rates. A variation in the bank rates has an impact on the customers as it affects the prime rates of interests for individual loans. The Bank rate is the rate at which the Bank of England gives to the commercial bank for the extra reserves being kept in safe custody of the Central Bank (Ciro, 2012, p. 122). Conventionally, the treasury determines the rates of interests. But upon the reforms that occurred in 1992, the policy makers organized several meetings and minutes were published, yet they were not autonomous of the state which resulted into a perception that political forces were overshadowing what was stipulated to be fiscal decisions on the monetary policy. In 1997 there was operational accountability to determine the interest rates which was granted to the autonomous Bank of England by Gordon Brown-the Chancellor of Exchequer. Several principles were set for the establishment of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that was enacted in the Bank of England Act 1998 (OECD, 2009, p. 31). The Act also spelled out the accountability of the MPC: this include; meeting on monthly basis, the membership consists of the governor, two deputy governors, two executive directors of the bank

Modern Design Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Modern Design - Assignment Example It is important to explain that during this period, United States was experiencing an element of consumerism. This is whereby the society is characterized by the consumption of products and goods. There was the emergence of the new media and advertisement in this period. This is because companies were seeking to promote their products, just after the Second World War. The use of radio remained as a major method that companies could advertise their products; this is in the 1940s. This was able to promote a luxurious lifestyle, majorly because people could become aware of the emergence of new products that could be used to promote their personal well-being (Raizman, p. 267). By the end of the 1940s, the television emerged as one of the important modes or channels of communication and advertisements. The acquisitions of TV sets began in 1946, and by 1952, more than a third of the citizens of United States were able to own and operate TV sets. Companies that were constantly advertising through the use of the television include Esso, Firestone Tires, and Pan American Airways. These were companies that were promoting luxurious living. Take for example Firestone Tires. This company was promoting tires that could be used in automobiles, and this is an aspect of comfortable living. The development of the FM broadcasting also played a significant role in p romoting comfortable living in America, Italy, Scandinavia and Britain. This is because they were able to promote the products of various companies. This period also saw the emergence of Sunday Magazine, an affiliate of New York Times. This was a major tool that enabled companies to advertise their products. This was specifically in the fashion industry, where fashion companies were seeking to promote the development their new brands. For instance, this type of modernism played a great role in the promotion and rise of American and European designs. For

Reflection 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Reflection 7 - Essay Example The writer says that some foodies are prone to be outraged to the mention of raising pigs inhumanly. Ironically and remarkably, they tend to show little or no interest to inhumane working conditions their employees work in as they prepare the pork. Employees are entitled to safe working environment, better wages, no discriminations and a free working zone. Unfortunately, some companies are mindful of their returns solely. Workers thus suffer a lot. I also gathered a vast knowledge of the existence of trade unions and their roles To ensure that worker’s rights are respected; there have been the establishments of various labor unions (Kohn). These organizations advocate for better wages of workers in foodies. They also inspect the working conditions of the employees to ensure that they are safe. For instance, Whole Food has for a long time been subjected to severe scrutiny after being accused of labor abuses and also union busting. According to Kohn, the Coalition of Immokalee was able to bargain for a pay increase of its workers by 75% by the year 2005. Employees deserve better rights in their place of work. It is only wise for foodies to help them in fighting for their rights. It is inevitable that in the case of consumers eating low-quality food; they will outburst with complaints. They must help the workers in this fight. The unions must also aid in this

Leadership Styles Of Director Of Social Services Dissertation - 1

Leadership Styles Of Director Of Social Services - Dissertation Example In 2011, the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics confirmed this, further adding that there is a crisis of leadership in nursing home practice because employment for care professionals in these institutions are often equated with low prestige, leading to inadequate supply of professionals capable of meeting the demands of nursing home residents (Tolson, et al., p. 185). This trend is unfortunate because studies demonstrate that knowledgeable and effective leaders are critical in addressing challenges in the operation of a healthcare establishment such as those related to organizational culture and structure (Grabowski et al., (2010). There is an increase in scholarly attention with respect to the relationship between leadership style and the quality of nursing care, but empirical studies are still in their infancy. This theme is, of course, comprehensively covered in other fields, particularly in business and healthcare industry. However, there is an imperative for specificity. Effective social services administration calls for a model or a standard leadership framework that would lead to the identification of managerial abilities, strategies, and behavior that positively impacts the incidence and quality of organizational/institutional outcomes. So the question of interest involves whether leadership style(s) positively impacts the well-being of nursing home residents. Research indicates that substantive control by the administrative leader on the care, quality, and services have the significant impact on the psychosocial well-being of nursing home residents (Allen, 2008). Success in nursing home care depends on the performance of the management team.

Technical definition and description Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Technical definition and description - Essay Example According to a brief definition suggested by Chen, Hassan, and Yu; â€Å"a fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts chemical energy from a fuel into electrical energy† (58). A fuel cell generates electricity through chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant in the presence of an electrolyte. A notable feature of the fuel cell is that it can operate continuously as long as proper reactant and oxidant flows are maintained. Fuel cells generate nonpolluting power, and they perform outstandingly in terms of efficiency. Since fuel cell have no moving parts, they product little noise. Fuel cells have been serving the energy needs of spacecrafts since 1960s on the strength of its ability to operate uninterruptedly. In spite of the recent advancements in the technology, fuel cells are still increasingly used in power generating plants and exhaust-free automobiles. The major difference between a batter and a fuel cell is that the former has a fixed supply of energy whereas the latter can generate energy continuously as long as the fuel is supplied. Like a battery, a fuel cell is made up of a large number of individual cells that are collectively called a fuel cell stack. All these individual cells are comprised of an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte. In a fuel cell, anode is generally made of platinum because it can better catalyze the reaction ionizing the gas. When a hydrogen-rich fuel like renewable biogas or clean natural gas is supplied to the fuel cell stack, ‘it reacts with oxygen electrochemically to produce electric power, heat, and water’ (How do fuel cells work). Although different types of fuel cells operate a bit differently, basically they all work based on the same process. In a fuel cell, hydrogen atoms enter the anode where their electrons are stripped off through a chemical reaction. Thus, the hydrogen atoms become ionized, and resultantly they carry a positive charge. At the same time, the negatively

The Financial Cooperation of Seoul-Beijing-Tokyo Triangle after 2008 Essay

The Financial Cooperation of Seoul-Beijing-Tokyo Triangle after 2008 Financial Crisis - Essay Example Prompted by a domino effect, the crisis eventually led to damaging consequences for the labor market and initiated a subsequent disintegration of the banking system. This severe decline in economic progress was experienced on a global scale and spanned across North America to Asia. According to Plummer, the premise of regional cooperation amongst Asian economies as a result of the global financial crisis is primarily associated with the factor of competitiveness in order to enhance the opportunity to achieve integration within the global economy and combat the effect of external forces (32). The assessment of this concept entails examining how each of the economic motivators for increasing cooperation has been impacted by the global financial crisis and how the extent of this regional cooperation can be promoted owing to the influence of external factors and the changing economic scenario. Movements and frameworks to advance the potential of regional financial cooperation amongst Asian nations namely Japan, China and Korea have been characterized by the emergence of specific challenges which must be resolved in order to attain the desired objectives of trilateral economic agreements. However, Madhur asserts that launching any potential financial and economic cooperation agreement between these Asian economies has traditionally posed several challenges and hurdles which have even led certain bilateral agreements and FTAs including the CJK FTA in failing to materialize successfully (377). The key difficulty in advancing the scope of financial cooperation between the three nations is linked with the inherent concept of preferential trade agreements and the criticism which is raised by trade analysts regarding such type of agreements. As noted by Madhur, a comparison of PTAs with the value and worth of potential multilateral free trade suggests that the former does not ho ld the several benefits

Cultural Change in New York Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Cultural Change in New York - Essay Example This paper tells that the artists move to New York City because of the increasing developmental opportunities and the facilities provided for the promotion of arts. The diversity in culture is also due to the great opportunities New York City offers. A large number of immigrants from various regions of the world has also diversified the culture of New York City and the original culture of the city has now been replaced by a culture which is an amalgamation of the cultures of various different regions of the world and the modern urban culture. The various changes that took place in the culture of New York City can be accounted for a large number of immigrants that came to live in the city. The current culture of the New York City is an amalgamation of Indian, Irish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Caribbean and Jewish culture because of the large number of immigrants from these regions living in New York. Various different events of these communities were added to the cultural calendar of N ew York City during the 20th century. Comparing to other regions in the US, New York City has received more immigrants from foreign countries and that is why the effect of foreign culture is not that evident in any other areas. The development that took place in various cultural aspects of New York during the 20h century is the largest in the history. Dance, for example, was modernized in the 20th century. The various genre of dance was developed during the 20th century which included contemporary ballet which eventually led to the emergence of the New York City Ballet, the largest dance company of that time.

Italian and German Unification of 19th cenutry Essay Example for Free

Italian and German Unification of 19th cenutry Essay In the 19th century both Italy and Germany were split into many separate ruling states. The German and Italian unification began with the rising tides of nationalism and liberalism. From nationalism a desire for unification was born. Italian Unification was more complex than German unification. Italy had not been a single political unit since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Italian Unification is referred to in Italian as the Risorgimento. The Italian Unification had three separate men that were working on unification of Italy: Guiseppe Mazzini, Count Camillo Cavour, and Guiseppe Garibaldi. Cavour entered into a secret alliance with France, to kick out Austria from Italy, since he knew that the only way that Italian unification could take place is by kicking out the Austrians. Italian unification started with the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and ended with the Franco Prussian war in 1871. Germany, during the 19th century, was also fragmented. There was a nationalistic movement calling for the unification of Germany. It was Bismarck who strengthened German unity and power by calling on the nationalistic thoughts of the German people. Bismarck was able to unite Germany through his policy of Realpolitik, or realistic politics. Bismarck was a strong proponent of Blood and Iron. Blood represented the sacrifices the German people would have to make in achieving the goal of unification, iron being the need to industrialize because Germany needed to catch up with the rest of Europe on technology and factory production. German power achieved through nationalism would foster a period of imperialization and would set the stage for the outbreak of World War I. The Unification of Germany took place on January 18, 1871, when Otto von Bismarck managed to unify independent states into one nation, this created the German Empire. Nationalistic movements in Italy and Germany resulted in unified empires. By 1871, Europe was washed away with the rise of two newly united nations the Kingdom of Italy and the German Empire.

Haitian Vodou Essay Example for Free

Haitian Vodou Essay Vodou, A Haitian religion deeply rooted in colonialism stems from several African sources, which have constructed and maintained a hybrid Africana and European diaspora in the Caribbean. In an effort to preserve African tradition and spiritual belief, slaves in Haiti prior to the Haitian Revolution of 1791, established and developed the heterogeneous religion known as Vodou. As Vodou became a more prominent aspect of slave culture in Haiti the hybridization between traditional Africana religion and European religion fashioned a new system of belief. The fusion of Catholicism from Europe and African religions make up one of the most influential religions in Haiti today, in fact Vodou plays an imperative role in Haitian life. In addition to having a tremendous effect on Haitian religious practices, Vodou also plays a fundamentally important role in driving Haitian politics, economics, community, and social relations. From a student and non-Haitian perspective I seek to obtain knowledge on how Vodou has and continues to play a detrimental role in every aspect of Haitian life. Through analyzing and cross-examination of several texts it appears that without boundaries Vodou is important. Before delving into how Vodou effects nearly every aspect of Haitian culture I would like to first analyze the importance of understanding the roots and origin of a belief and practice that has become such a prominent aspect of Haitian life. In the eighteenth century the slave trade in Haiti ushered in a number of African slaves from various groups. These groups of African people brought with them to Haiti their traditions, beliefs, and lifestyles. In â€Å"Haitian Vodou† of Creole Religions of the Caribbean, the authors state that the slave trade was in fact the European way of â€Å"destroying all cultural connections† to the homelands of the slaves (Fernandez-Olmos and Paravisini-Gerbert 101). European slave owners and slave traders thought it necessary to force European ideals and beliefs onto their slaves, ridding and dismantling the beliefs and tradition of their native land. In this respect the slave trade played a significant role in the creation of Vodou, catalyzing Afro-European syncretism into a new belief system. Vodou began as a way for slaves to hold on to their cultural beliefs, and helped refute the impositions of Catholic religion that the French attempted to employ, as they saw it necessary to condition African slaves to their lifestyle (102). In my opinion Afro-European syncretism is one of the more complex and intriguing religious developments as it pertains to Vodou. In Voodoo Africa’s Secret Power author Gert Chesi describes the fusion of African and European culture stating that slaves brought with them the gods of Africa to the Caribbean where they then blended with the Saints and other Catholic and Christian symbols (Chesi 231). The imposition of Catholic and Christian beliefs by Europeans onto African slaves made it nearly impossible for African slaves to remain entirely devoted to their home land beliefs and traditions. African slaves in Haiti adopted Vodou as a means of maintaining their traditional beliefs, however, Christian and Catholic ideals were still important influential factors in the establishment of Vodou. The spirits often associated with Vodou known, as Lwa are similar to Saints in the Catholic Church. Slaves in Haiti dealt with the pressures of forcibly having to adapt to European religion by integrating their belief system with that of the European belief system. I think that Slaves in Haiti used Vodou as a stabilizing factor in Haitian culture. The ritual and practice that developed through the integration of European tradition with African tradition ensures that African tradition will remain considerably important regardless of the fact that Europeans once tried to dismantle African tradition and impose Western tradition on those slaves living in Haiti. Vodou serves as a mechanism for passing on tradition from generation to generation. In Voodoo: Truth and Fantasy the author states that Vodou has emerged as a vibrant cultural force in twenty-first century Haiti (Hurbon 126). This statement supports the idea that Vodou has and continues to have a role in Haitian life and Haitian culture. Vodou has undoubtedly helped restore an almost lost identity to African slaves in Haiti, and has allowed generation after generation to know and understand the beliefs of the homeland from which their ancestors originated. The foundation of many Haitian affairs may not be solely rooted in Vodou, however, the religion holds weight in many political spheres throughout Haiti. Starting from the moment of its development, Vodou has been politically important to Haiti. In fact, its very creation resulted from various political, cultural, and religious â€Å"struggles for freedom† (33). After analyzing the roots of Vodou it has become quite apparent that Vodou played an important role during Haiti’s revolutionary period. During and before the Haitain revolution Vodou was used as a means of protecting and politicizing the interest of Haitian slaves. From that time forward Haitian people have continued to use Vodou as a political tool to protect their interests and assets. Vodou has indeed been subjected to â€Å"persecution at the hands of both Church and state† leaving many non-believers and outsiders to attribute negative connotations to Vodou as a whole (117). In 1835 Vodou began to publically suffer from political ostracizing under president Jean-Pierre Boyer who passed a penal code that called for the imprisonment of six months to two years for followers of Vodou practicing superstitious act (118). It seems to me that the reason behind the ban on Vodou practices not only stemmed from political issues occurring at the time, but also from past political experiences in Haiti. Hurbon does not mention Boyer’s reasoning behind implementing a penal code, therefore allowing one to speculate whether or not Boyer, although Haitian had ties to France. The reason I bring this point to light is because for one, Jean-Pierre Boyer sounds relatively French and secondly Boyer implemented a code that put restrictions on a religion that has roots deep within African culture. In addition to dealing with the idea of possible imprisonment, if caught practicing Vodou, Haitians also faced the possibility of abandoning and giving up the African culture and belief that was associated with Vodou. In response to government restrictions some Haitians created secret societies in order to keep the bonds of Vodou ritual and ties to kinship in motion. In 1957 President Francois Duvalier also known as â€Å"Papa Doc† started a political rehabilitation for Vodou (118). Duvalier’s involvement in Vodou was for the soul purpose of engaging the Lwa through ceremonies in order to gain the Lwas’ good will and also to spark enthusiasm in those who practice Vodou. Papa Doc’s presidency marked a period characterized by dark magic and sorcery. This period in Haitian history displays the negative aspects often associated with Vodou. In my opinion President Francois Duvalier’s understanding of Vodou curtails from misinterpretation and misuse. Duvalier did not seem to grasp the reasoning behind certain Vodou rituals and ceremonies, using them only as a way to advance himself politically. During Duvalier’s reign Haiti saw tremendous political change resulting from the misunderstanding or misuse of Vodou. On one hand Jean-Pierre Boyer refused to let any one in Haiti practice Vodou because of the negative connotations surrounding the religion. On the other hand Francois Duvalier used Vodou to bolster his political appeal, which dismantled the meaning and reasoning behind the ceremonies and rituals performed by those who practiced and truly understood and appreciated the meaning that those Vodou acts carry. In Creole Religions of the Caribbean, the authors mention that within Vodou practices the chief communicators that draw â€Å"konesans† or connaissance/knowledge are the Oungand and the Manbo (Fernandez-Olmos and Paravisini-Gerbert 107). The Oungand and the Manbo are believed to receive knowledge passed down from the Lwa. The Oungand and the Manbo act as political leaders and have rural political power within their own community because the ability to communicate with the Lwa is looked up to. In Michel Laguerre’s book Voodoo and Politics the author states that Francois Duvalier used the political power of the Oungand and the Manbo to establish legitimacy among those who practiced Vodou (Laguerre 87). Today Vodou can be represented in popular culture as dark, sadistic, and involving many acts of superstition, denying it a position central to Haitian culture. However, despite the misconceptions surrounding Vodou today many religious works are carried out by Haitian elites. This goes to show yet another transformation in Haitian politics, and Vodou’s role in shaping a new system of life. From my examination of the texts that emphasized Vodou’s relationship to Haitian politics I have concluded that Vodou does in fact affect politics in Haitian communities and Haiti as a whole. The relationship between Vodou and Haitian economics is a long-standing phenomenon that has existed prior to the Haitian revolution in 1791 and continues to exist today. The slave trades influence on the creation of Vodou links the existence of the religion and also the economics involved between masters and sellers of slaves. During this time the Haitian economy was being stimulated by the slave trade. As the slaves grew weary, a number of rebellions occurred and Vodou greatly affected the plantation economy that the Haitian people originally were forced into. According to Omos and Gerbert, the economy in Haiti shifted from one of plantation to that of a â€Å"rural economy† of â€Å"subsistent farmers† working their own lands (Fernandez-Olmos and Paravisini-Gerbert 103). Vodou practices and rituals play an important role in shaping and maintaing Haitian economics. The initiation and sacrificial rituals performed by many Vodou sects involve a great amount of â€Å"financial sacrifice† (Fernandez-Olmos and Paravisini-Gerbert 117). From my examination of several texts, including that of Olmos and Gerbet I have concluded that preparation for the many Vodou festivals, initiations, and temple gatherings are intensive and call for many financial sacrifices from those who may already be financially unstable. Animal sacrifice plays an important role in the finances of Haitian people. In Voodoo Africa’s Secret Power the author, Gert Chesi, included various photographs of Haitian Vodou sacrifices and rituals. Many of the photographs throughout Chesi’s book showed the sacrificing of cattle, sheep, and chicken. The cross-examination of various texts did not leave me with much information on the Haitian economy as it related to Vodou, however, I was able to infer that the economic sacrifices made by Haitian people were performed in order to obtain personal advancements or for the betterment of the community as a whole. Some sacrifices were performed to win the protection and trust of the Lwa spirits, and some sacrifices were performed in hopes that the Lwa would shed some rain to strengthen planation production. I think that the Haitian economy and the Vodou religion are dependent on each other. The dependency I see in the relationship stems from the fact that without an economy like the one in Haiti, Vodou would not be as prominent or even meaningful to the Haitian people. The economy as it is creates a buffer for Vodou as a religion. The economy allows for Haitians to use their beliefs and connections with the spirits to envoke hope, or optimism that the plantation life in Haiti will somehow flourish. This claim can be supported through the existence of rituals performed for protection, knowledge, and even rainfall. In Hurbon’s, Olmos’ and Gebert’s, Chesi’s, Laguerre and Michel’s and Smith’s descriptions of Vodou in Haitian culture one thing is for certain, Vodou has and continues to influence communities through and through. In Chesi’s pictorial account of Vodou in Haiti one can see pictures of various ways that the religion is linked to community. In one picture, Chesi captured a ritual being performed near a beach where one individual was having a ritual performed on him (ritual not clear from picture) while dozens of his Vodou community member looked on and supported him. What puzzles me the most is how instinctual and ritualized Vodou actually is. Chesi’s pictures show dozens and dozens of Haitian people flocking to support another Vodou practice, but for what reason? Why do these members feel so indebted to one another? From my observation the answer to this question comes from the simple fact that Vodou needs a sense of community mong its members to remain relevant. It was from the simple yearning to keep tradition relevant that Vodou stemmed, so it appears to me that the idea of community or family has been long standing, even deep within Vodou’s African roots. Hurbon’s choice of words within Voodoo: Truth and Fantasy shed’s lite on the communal aspect of Vodou a little differently. Like Chesi, Hurbon acknowledges the importance of community, even stating that Vodou â€Å"bring families together in large gatherings, a festive way of ensuring that religious traditions will endure† (Hurbon 14). In Hurbon’s text it appears that the family and passing of tradition from generation to generation is in fact important to the survival of Vodou. In my examination of Hurbon’s text it seemed as though Hurbon was promoting a balance of kinship and communal ties. Hurbon states that it is important to have family agreement in order to have a positive communal bond. One aspect of Hurbon’s text was that Vodou was often referred to as â€Å"a cult dedicated to spirits. † Hurbon did not let the wording of her description interfere with the way information was conveyed, however, I found it quiet bias that she would call Vodou a cult. Personally I associate the word cult with negative connotations. It is unclear whether Hurbon planned on conveying Vodou in a negative light, but one thing is for certain a cult describes a group of people or the communal bond that Vodou encourages. In Michel’s and Smith’s book, Voodou in Haitian Life and Culture: Invisible Powers, The authors proceed to explain how the â€Å"magical† or â€Å"superstitious† aspect of Vodou conveys a sense of community among its supporters. The authors show that not only is Vodou practice a family effort, but a community effort as well. Smith and Michel both depict a type of Vodou were literally everyone in a community is involved. From small children to the eldest members of a community, all play an important role in carrying on and performing the tradition of Vodou culture. The elaborate rituals and preparation described by the authors is only made possible through communal efforts. From my understanding of the community in Vodou culture, it appears that only through community and unity can tradition be kept alive. Despite any negative connotations Vodou may have, each author showed how important Vodou is in respects to several aspects of Haitian culture. Vodou is not only a religious matter, but also a political, economic, and social one as well. On May 14, 2013 guest lecturer Carnie Fabious stated, â€Å"Vodou is a way of life. † This statement alone sums up what Vodou was, and what Vodou continues to be in regards to Haitian culture. Fabious’ words show the importance that Vodou plays in all aspects of Haitian life, and demonstrates how relative the religion is to such a vast group of people.

Competition And Market Power Economics Essay

Competition And Market Power Economics Essay For a long period of time, De Beers has been successfully raising consumer demand for diamonds. The company is famous for its monopolistic policies during the last century, when it used its leading position to control the international diamond market. De Beers had a number of methods to ensure its control in the market: thus, it joined some independent manufacturers to its single channel monopoly, it pushed the manufacturers who refused to join the cartel out of the market by overfilling the market with diamonds, it bought and stored the diamonds of other producers in order to regulate the prices (De Beers Company). Pure monopoly means the conditions in the market, when only one company produces and sells a product that has no substitutes. The market access is limited and the company has complete control over prices. Thus, in pure monopoly, the market is dominated by a big enterprise-monopolist fully controlling the prices. Establishment of extremely high prices is restrained by the risks of a fall or a lack of consumer demand. Monopolist assesses demand and sets the price at a level that ensures the greatest return on investment (Larue, Gervais Pouliot, 2008). Monopolies are also public utilities, the services of which are used by any business. The existence of natural monopolies is justified by the fact that they best meet the public interest. In rural areas, such monopolies can be companies supplying agricultural machinery, chemical fertilizer, seed and breeder farms, businesses that provide repair services. The main features of monopoly are as follows (Larue, Gervais Pouliot, 2008): There is only one firm in the market, which affects the prices, adjusting the proposal; There are no identical products in the market; Controlling the market of raw materials in the industry, the company-monopoly excludes the emergence of new producers. Thus, the market of pure monopoly is the market of one seller. Most frequently, these are the governmental organizations, with the state monopoly able to solve various problems through pricing policies: To set a price below the cost for socially important goods to maintain their standard of living; To set a price covering the costs or providing a good income; To set a high price to reduce consumption. Returning to De Beers Company, for the last decade it has been undergoing changes turning into a more reliable company. A number of factors led to the necessity for transformation in the De Beers model (De Beers Company). In 2004 the company was declared guilty according to the 1994 accusation that De Beers had merged with General Electric to control the price of industrial diamonds; the company paid $10 million to the United States Department of Justice. Contemporary diamond industry is noticeably differs from that of the last decade, as it is now a complicated and continuously developing geopolitical notion. Today, apart from De Beers, the most important players in the diamond business are the African producer countries (e.g., Botswana and Namibia), Rio Tinto, Lev Leviev, BHP Billiton, Alrosa, Harry Winston, etc (De Beers Company). 3. Monopolistic Competition Luxury Watch Industry: Go to http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/05/watches/source/1.htm (Retrieved May 17, 2010). This is an interesting article on luxury watches. Click on the slide show in the upper right window (check out the prices!). Are these three firms participating in a monopolistically competitive market? What characteristics of the good make the market monopolistically competitive? Explain. A recent study by the Luxury Institute has determined the watches that are considered by the wealthy consumers to be the best out of the top 17 ultra luxury watch producers: Franck Muller, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe and Breguet, though Rolex and Cartier were most famous brands. Nowadays, even not so well-known watchmakers take an equal part in monopolistic competition with the world leaders (Business Week, 2010). The market with monopolistic competition is characterized by the following features (Yomogida, 2010): The presence of multiple buyers and sellers (the market consists of a large number of independent companies and customers), the number of which doesnà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t exceed the one present in pure competition. Low barriers for the entry into the industry. This does not mean that it is easy to start a monopolistically competitive firm; such difficulties as problems with registration, patents and licenses are still present. To survive in the market in the long run, monopolistically competitive firms need to produce diverse, differentiated products, which differ from that is offered by competing firms. Moreover, products may differ from one another by one or several properties (e.g. chemical composition of watches); Buyers and sellers are perfectly informed about market conditions; Predominantly non-price competition; advertising of products is very important for the development. Companies of this type have a negative slope of the demand curve. In monopolistic competition, the output is set at the level of profit maximization (marginal revenue equals marginal cost). However, when deciding on the establishment of prices for products, a monopolistic competitor acts like a monopolist: the price for the goods is set at the highest possible level, i.e. at the level of the demand curve for products. Just as at the market of perfect competition, in monopolistic competition the firm relies on the value of the average total costs, deciding whether to remain in the industry or leave the market. Thus, if the company continued to suffer losses, it means that the average total production costs exceed the established price per unit, and the firm will leave the market in the long run. It should be noted that, since the monopolistic competitor is dynamic in the decision-making, it cannot effectively allocate resources, which leads to inefficiency of such firms in the long run. It is practically impossible to have a positive profit at the market of monopolistic competition in the long term (Yomogida, 2010). 4. Oligopoly The OPEC Oil Cartel Go to www.opec.org (Retrieved May 17, 2010). What are the organizations stated goals, which countries are members, and when was it founded? Is it normal for them to be successful in keeping oil prices high, or have they faced difficulties in keeping the cartel united in the past? The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an international intergovernmental organization (also called a cartel), established by oil-producing powers and including 12 countries: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Qatar, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador and Angola. The aim of OPEC is to coordinate and develop a common policy with regard to oil production among members of the organization, maintaining stable oil prices, providing a stable supply of oil to consumers, and benefit from the investments in the oil industry (OPEC). OPEC members control about 2/3 of world oil reserves. Their share in the world oil makes 40%, or nearly the half of the world oil exports. At different periods of its history, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries controlled from 25% to 60% of oil production in industrial countries (Hansen Lindholt, 2008). At the same time, the cartel represents a very unstable structure, based on collusion in order to establish a monopoly price in the market, which can be unsatisfactory for some members of the cartel; this finally leads to the violation of the cartel agreement. At first glance, the similarity of the cartel and monopoly is obvious. But the cartel very rarely (in contrast to the monopoly), controls the entire market, because the policy has to deal with non-cartelized enterprises. In addition, the cartel members have quite a powerful temptation to cheat their partners, reducing prices or actively promoting their product, which creates the conditions for the capture of the market (Hansen Lindholt, 2008). Failure to fully and consistently use the cartel for the interaction of oligopolistic firms is forcing them to conduct secret economic policy in price changes and in the delineation of the spheres of influence. Such cooperation may manifest itself in the form of price rigidity or leadership in price formation, and through special organizations such as patent pools. The rigidity of prices is the oligopolistic practice, when, even with changes in costs or demand, an organization is not inclined to change prices, believing that if it has to raise the price, others will follow, which will lead to loss of market share. In this way, the cartel stays away from changing prices due to the fear to unleash the war of prices. Leadership in prices means the practice, when the formation of prices for the product is focused on the prices set by the leader often dominant in this industry. This demonstrates the kind of implicit collusion, although its presence is usually not proven (BÃÆ' ¶ckem, 2004). Patent pools represent an agreement on specialization and cooperation of production, and the consortium the union of firms to conduct joint scientific research and joint construction of large investment projects. Both of these organizations perform cartel functions and are the basis for the organization of conspiracy to divide the market. Thus, the oligopoly is characterized by three features: there are two or more competing firms in the industry, so that the industry is not monopolized (OPEC and Russia relation); demand curve has a falling character, so the industry does not have rules of free competition; at least one large organization operates in the industry, any action of which causes a reaction of competitors (OPEC oligopolistic practices), so that there is no monopolistic competition (BÃÆ' ¶ckem, 2004).

Han and Roman Empires Essay -- History, Huan Tan

From the 2nd century BCE through the 1st century CE, both the Han and Roman empires were dealing with the production of advancement in technology. Since the empires were from separate time periods each empire had different attributes when it came to creating technology and what they built with their technology. In the Han Empire, technology had been a luxury part of their empire because it was essential to their wealth and productivity. In the Roman Empire, their thought on technology had been it is a necessity to build their empire and to conquer land wherever they saw weakness. Technologies in both empires were not only used as tools to fight in war and to build but in the Roman Empire they were used to collect mineral wealth in silver mines. As for the Han Empire they had used their technology for tilling soil to collect salt. In the Roman Empire, people had believed that technology was necessary to gain further control and they also thought it was informative for them, while in t he Han Empire it had been a way to show off their civilization. A Han government official felt that technology is such an important part of their empire for its new creations, that it should be maintained by other government officials and engineers. During 20 CE in (Doc 1) the Han government official had said â€Å"there should be one high official and one on duty with just enough workers to meet the need†. This clearly shows that as a government official he felt that in the best interest for technology and the people the government should have some control. As well as putting experienced workers to do the task of maintaining their technology and city as an over all to keep a presentable empire. So other empires will start to borrow and use there means o... ...ked at the use of there technology in different ways. Such as the Roman Empire used their technology to their advantage, by conquering different people to gain more control. As for the Han Empire had used their technology for improvements within there empire and they let other regions use there ideas which showed off there empire. But in some cases both empires had used technology to improve economic growth for trading, like roads or the water power blowing engine. Both of the empires have had different emperors that have ruled. During each empire they both were able to gain control and pass on tools to other regions. The Roman’s thought more of the tools as weapons and building supplies. As for the Han believed the tools to be a creation that had been invented by a person with a sharp mind, and the tools were a luxury for the empire because it made work easier.

The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, was born on September 24, 1896. He later became one of the world known authors by having his books translated to different languages and printed.. He was often described as the drunken author, or the ruined novelists at the time. Yet, his books attract attention of people who have read his books that he has written. Fitzgerald used the American Dream, past relationships with love, and the people in his life, to create The Great Gatsby, that became one of the best books written during the Jazz Age.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First of all, The Great Gatsby introduces more of the American Dream and hope of wealth. For example, when Fitzgerald was a youngster, he fantasized that he was rich and had a life of ease (Oxford 44). Fitzgerald’s dream for wealth and happiness was something that meant a lot to people of that time. He sees it as the key to his future, making life for him better. In addition, Fitzgerald’s omen was the loneliness of Gatsby pursuing his impossible dream (Kazen K2). Gatsby was rich, but his life wasn’t complete, he was missing something in his life. Soldiers of past wars enjoyed The Great Gatsby because of Gatsby’s dream and will. All in all, Fitzgeralds use of the American Dream was very successful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Secondly, Fitzgerald used this experience with love to create emotion in his books. For instance, Fitzgerald was determined to win the heart of a young lady named Zelda (Oxford 46). He used this in The Great Gatsby to show the devotion of Gatsby’s love for Daisy. By doing so Fitzgerald creates a romantic theme in the story. Later in time, Fitzgerald found that Zelda was having an affair with another man (Oxford D7). Once he found out, his life was not the same anymore. He became an alcoholic full with problems in his life. I believe this is where Tom Buchannon’s relationship with Daisy became a reality to him. To sum it up Fitzgerald felt love and pain and expressed it in his works of literature.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finally, Fitzgerald experienced influences throughout his life, which changed his future. Particularly, Father Sigourney Fay was the one who gave advice and wisdom to him (F. Scott Fitzgerald 679). Father Fay was someone who watched Scott and told him what was right and what was wrong in life. His advice and help gave Fitzgerald the sense to achieve high goals and dreams. In addition, he was successful as a novelist, but was corrupted by his lifestyle (F. Scott Fitzgerald 683).

A womans work is never done :: essays research papers

A woman's work is never done More and more women work outside and inside the home. The double demands shouldered by these women pose a threat to their physical health. Whether you are an overworked housewife or an exhausted working mother the chances are that you are always one step behind your schedule. No matter how hard women worked, they never ended up with clean homes. Housewives in these miserable circumstances often became hysterical cleaners. They wore their lives away in an endless round of scouring, scrubbing, and polishing. The increased strain in working women comes from the reality that they carry most of the child-rearing and household responsibilities. According to social trends (1996), women always or usually do the washing in 79 percent of cases and decide the menu 59 percent of the time. Picking up the children at school or doing grocery shopping are just a few of the many typical household-tasks a woman takes on every day. Why are most of these responsibilities borne by women? The historical role of women is part of the answer. Despite the fact that we know instinctively that caregiving is valuable and important work, it has gone largely unrecognized and unacknowledged because we take it for granted. In the past, many parents felt that school education for girls was a waste of time, "A woman's place is in the home" was the traditional view. In those days, housewives had a tough life and were completely dependent on the men for money. There was a lot of drudgery in their lives and the men didn't help with the household chores, it was "women's work". The housewife worked from dawn to dusk and there was a lot of truth in the old saying; "a woman's work is never done". However, women have made optimistical progress towards equality and their role in the society has been changed dramatically since the last century. Many women stepped out of their home and start to work at factories and offices. The number of working women with children has more than doubled in the past 50 years. While working conditions for women may have improved, there is a lack of appreciation for the notion that work for most women doesn't end at the door of a factory or office. Despite an increase of women's participation in the labour force, women's share of housework has hardly changed in 50 years.

Save the Earth, Save Mankind

Good morning Miss and my fellow classmates. Today, I would like to talk to you about topic on â€Å"save the earth and save mankind†. My dearest audience, imagine it’s after class now and you’re heading back to your car under the bright hot sun. After you get in the car, you grab some tissue and wipe all your sweat. What would you do after using the tissue? Well, let’s be frank. We wind down the window and just throw them outside. It is fun doing it when you see no cars behind or beside you. Let’s pollute the earth and hopefully clog the drain.We would love to swim in the flood. Next, imagine you just woke up from your sleep, went to wash up while leaving the air conditioner on. After washing up, you feel like having a cold soft drink in your room. So you open up the fridge saw some chocolate bar, hesitate a while, grab a can of soft drink and went back to your room. While you’re about to step into your room, you feel like having a bar of cho colate, so you go back to the fridge, get a bar of chocolate and went upstairs. Now the most enjoyable magical moment in this morning is the moment you step into your room.With a can of soft drinks, a bar of chocolate and most importantly is the cold enjoyable CFC releasing room. What more to ask in such relaxing morning? Imagine your friend called you up and he asked you to come over to his walking distance house. What would you do? Well of course you start your car and drive to his house because it is an irrational act to walk to your friend’s house. Reason because you’ll be a victim to kidnappers? Unfortunately no, but something even worse than being kidnapped, it is because the sun will melt you down and the distance will break your leg.Let’s drive more and burn more fuel to release more carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide to the air. Who says we cannot fight god’s creation? We can increase the earth temperature and defeat mother earth with greenhouse effect! Imagine you’re a person with the authority to voice out in your country. In order for a country to develop, the best way is to develop land. So let’s organize campaign to support deforestation! Let’s celebrate for every single tree being cut down and you’ll see new project in the future. Let’s support burning down more forest and hope for a better economy.Burn more and increase the greenhouse temperature. We would love to inhale polluted air but not with forest around us. Imagine you’re living in the arctic, freezing cold, no place to go during winter so you just stay at home and pray that the people from other region can help melting the ice by increasing global temperature. The best part of melting the ice is not to solve the cold temperature but to increase the sea level. Let’s pray and hope for a rise in sea level. Let’s cover more land with sea and with this increase of sea level let’s hope for another mega tsunami.We shall wait for a brand new video on this beautiful tragedy. Let us all leave the air conditioner in the room turned on while we’re not using. Let’s drive more and burn more fuel. Let’s burn more and increase the earth temperature. Let’s increase the temperature and melt the ice. Let’s melt the ice and increase the sea level. Let’s increase the sea level and pray for more tragedy. Now please take a minute to think! In the end, who is the one suffering? Who is the one will pray for a better day to live? Who is the one begging for another chance to fix the problem?We are the one. But don’t be afraid. I’m here to remind you the ways of preventing. Let me start with the easiest way which is start recycling. Since young, we were all taught to learn how to recycle by differentiating different types of material that can be recycled such as glass, paper, aluminum and plastic. This is the easiest way that we can start to help saving the earth. By recycling, we reduce factory production and therefore it reduces the air pollution as well. With one stone, we can kill 2 birds, it’s worth a shot.

Use of “n” Word in Huck Finn

Others debate that it makes people uncomfortable and prevents them from reading this great piece of American literature. The people who believe that the original text should be edited, focus their discontent on the racial tone of the language. The fact that the racial insult makes many people feel uncomfortable, is one of the main reasons they feel that way. In the article by Philip Rails, the scholar Alan Cribber says, â€Å"It's a shame that one word should be a barrier between a marvelous reading experience and a lot of readers†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ(Rails 1).That Is exactly what people feel the word â€Å"Niger is In Huckleberry Finn. It acts as a barrier for people who find It uncomfortable to read, and prevents them from comprehending the writing. In the article â€Å"Houck Finn goes clean In new publication† by Analyzer, an English teacher expresses why she doesn't think Its k to use the word. When you're using slurs – racial slurs, gender slurs, homosexuality slurs â⠂¬â€œ I think you're victimizing people† (Layer 3). It is very true that blacks in America could get offended if you say the word in a classroom or they read it in the novel.It probably reminds them of the hard times their ancestors went through or puts them into stereotype that they don't think they belong in. It is very easy for people to become uncomfortable with an insult like the word in Houck Finn. The English teacher in Layer's article also says, remember when I first read it in 1986 and I was thinking, ‘Oh, wow. The racial slur Is problematic† (Layer 2). Like many people, she feels as though â€Å"slave† would be more acceptable. It would make people feel more at ease and able to actually read the book without a distracting word.Teachers definitely do not want their students to be Immature about the n-word, especially if there are blacks in the classroom. If the students wouldn't be mature about it, it would be nice to have another choice. Readers, s tudents and teachers also should have a choice in what they want to read. If they have the book with in it and don't want it, they should be able to choose what they want. As long as they are comfortable and do not distract or offend the reader than the point of the book is shown. While the reasons for replacing the slur are reasonable, people are still tryingly against censoring Houck Finn.They feel as though removing the insult would compensate what had happened in the past. The way we treated the slaves was extremely harsh and this Is a way America can remember as well as refrain from making a mistake Like that In the future. Another reason readers don't want to censor the novel Is the fact that they are censoring a major novel. In the article â€Å"Why a new edition of Houck Finn Is†¦ † By Alexandra Petri, Petri discusses her displeasure with the censorship of the novel. She says, â€Å"This is like turning Death of a Salesman into room Heart of Darkness – or all the darkness† (Petri).Even Mark Twain himself said about the difference between â€Å"slave† and â€Å"Niger† is â€Å"the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning† (Controversy as new edition†¦ ). If they censor American literature, what will be next? Many argue that they don't know where the removing of all things bad will stop. Great deals of readers think that the racial slur is crucial to how the readers interpret the whole story. In the article, â€Å"Houck Finn goes clean†¦ † An English professor explains how important it is to be shaken and feel uncomfortable with the word â€Å"Niger† (Layer).It depicts the time period in which it happened accurately, and though it wasn't, and still isn't, something that is acceptable, it still brings out the point of the novel. Mark Twain put the word in there for a purpose, not Just to do it. He uses it to bring out some of the satire. Petri says in her article that reg ardless of the fact that slavery was in full throttle, â€Å"Mark Twain was still able to use satire to show how wrong it was† (Petri). Granted, the usage of the word â€Å"Niger† was normal in that time period, but now the satire Twain uses seems al the more relevant.His satire is still shown to this very day. Also, the characters would not have said â€Å"slave†, it is more realistic if Houck was to say â€Å"Niger† because, to him, that's what a slave was. It was completely normal, whether we think it was or not. All in all, the choice is up to the readers. If the reader feels that the â€Å"n† word is too offensive to read, the option to read a different word should be open to them. We can't distract people from the meaning of the story if they get disgruntled and embarrassed.No one has the right to deny someone fondness when reading a book. The novel is partially about striving for freedom. While freedom comes with a price, shouldn't everyone have the freedom to choose which way they want to read something? However, it is also important to know that the word was there in the first place. It is true that the story could lose its meaning by taking out what makes the satire so uncomfortable. The word is an important part of the story, but if people understand it than why are they not allowed to enjoy the piece that people admire so much?

Overweight Risk Essay

In the United States, increasing use of sugar in foods has led to an increase in obesity levels. Many manufactured foods have sugars that have been added. These include jams, jellies, yogurt, peanut butter, soups, candy, bars, soft drinks and many other snacks. The National Health and Nutrition examination survey indicated that the United States population has decreased its intake of fat but increased its intake of sugary and energy giving foods, while the incidence of obesity has increased (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2006). The implication here is that there is a greater likelihood of developing obesity with the consumption of sugar than with the consumption of fat. The sugar, when consumed by humans is stored as glycogen. When this glycogen becomes excessive it is converted to fats which when in excess results in the high fat deposits common in obesity. Artificial sweeteners have various advantages over sugar and these make them the preferred choice for individuals who want to avoid the health risks of natural sugar. To begin with, sugar substitutes do not have the problem of lactic acid production, consequently tooth decay is not a health hazard associated with sweeteners. The sweeteners do not undergo the fermentation process like natural sugars. The difficulty of regulating blood glucose levels is easier to manage using artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners allow the individual with diabetes to enjoy a great variety of foods while maintaining close control of their sugar intake. Further, some of the artificial sweeteners even though they have a small amount of energy calories, are slowly metabolized. This means that the levels of blood sugar have some degree of stability over time and so the danger of frequent build up of glucose is overcome. Reactive hypoglycemia is common when foods with high glycemic indices are eaten. Reactive hypoglycemia is a condition where excessive insulin is produced when glucose has been rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. This results in levels of glucose in the blood falling between the required amount for brain function (WHO Technical Report, 2006). Artificial sweeteners general have low glycemic indices making them a better alternative. Despite the advantages associated with artificial sweeteners, those are certain side effects that have led to controversy concerning their use. Some of the claimed side effects include headaches, behavior changes, seizures, cancer and respiratory difficulty as well as dermatological problems. The safety of artificial sweeteners use is a great bone of contention because many studies have findings that differ greatly, with some studies concluding that sweeteners are ‘safe at any dose’ while others conclude that sweeteners are ‘safe in all conditions’ (Pizzorno et al, 2005). Generally, most people are of the view that when sweeteners are used in moderation, the risk of adverse effects is minimal. The more important issue of risk-benefit ratio is however, still unclear. Several studies show that weight-loss is not an effect which can be directly associated with artificial sweeteners . On the contrary, people using artificial sweeteners may increase weight. This is because the knowledge that one is reducing calories intake by using artificial sweetener may cause them to ‘compensate ‘ and thus eat foods that have high energy values resulting in weight gain rather than weight loss (De Noon, 2005). Sucralose is an artificial sweeteners about 600 times sweeter than sugar. It is produced when sucrose has three of its hydroxyl groups removed and replaced with three chlorine atoms. It is commonly found in chewing gum, baked goods, frozen desserts and is usually absorbed only minimally by body and leaves the body without any changes occurring to it (Renwick et al, 2000). Sucralose has been approved by the FDA and much of the controversy associated with it has more to do with marketing than with safety. Its marketing slogan makes it appear as though it really is a sugar where in actuality it is a raffinose, a carbohydrate made up of three different sugar molecules. Saccharin was created from derivatives of toluene. Its sweetness was discovered as is the case with several other sweeteners. The substance is also made form phthalic anhydride. It is about 300 to 500 times sweeter than sucrose and is commonly used in toothpaste, dietary beverages and foods. It however has a bitter aftertaste which is minimized through blending it with sweeteners (Pizzorno et al, 2005). Reports from a study that associated saccharin with causation of cancer of the bladder led to controversy surrounding the use of saccharin. Some countries like Canada banned the product while the USA was considering an FDA ban. Further research however, revealed that it could not be dangerous to human beings, causing the threat of an FDA ban to be lifted (Pizzorno et al, 2005) Aspartame, a white, odorless, crystalline powder whose derivatives are aspartic acid and phenylanine is about 200 times sweeter than sugar. It can be utilized as a table sweetener or it can be used in frozen desserts, changing gum, gelatins and beverages. It however has the shortcoming of reacting with other flavors of food resulting in a taste that is slightly different from sugar. Aspartame undergoes metabolism to form the amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine. It has considerably low energy values. Safety tasting of the sweetener however resulted in findings that showed that aspartame caused brain tumors in rats. The sweetener was however, FDA approved following deliberation and results o a study done in Japan (Whitmore, 1996). There has been debate on the value of extrinsic sugar to the health of an individual. Extrinsic sugar enhances the taste of food but as it does so it also increases the amount of calories resulting in negative effects to the health of an individual. The nutritional advice by the United Nations following a report compiled by two of its agencies (Food and Agriculture organization, FAO, and World Health Organization (WHO) ) is that free sugars should account for only as much as 10% of the total intake in a diet that is considered to healthy. The free sugars in this case include simple sugars (monosaccharides and disaccharides) that manufacturers add to foods, as well as those added by consumers themselves and cooks. It also includes sugars that occur naturally like fruit juices, syrups and honey (WHO technical report, 2007). The report goes on to recommend a range of between 55% and 75% of carbohydrates for total energy intake (WHO technical report, 2007). The food industry generally favors artificial sweeteners or natural sugar sweeteners. This is because of the high profit margin realized with the use of artificial sweeteners as they are more cost effective than both corn syrup and sugar. The sweeteners however should be used by consumers with great caution to ensure that the sweeteners do not end up becoming more of a health hazard than a means of achieving good health. References DeNoon J,2005, Drink More Diet Soda, Gain More Weight? Overweight Risk Soars 41% With Each Daily Can of Diet Soft Drink,Reviewed by Charlotte Grayson Mathis MD, WebMD Medical News