Want to Know More About Essay Topics Science?

Want to Know More About Essay Topics Science? Definitions of Essay Topics Science 1 important thing you ought to do when writing your essay is to allow it to be personal. An argumentative essay requires you to choose a topic and have a position on it. Researching the topic permits you to find out more about what fascinates you, and should you pick something you truly like, writing the essay will be more enjoyable. The very best topic for your essay is one which is aligned with your subject of study. Instead of just immediately writing about your argumentative essay topic, you should first think about what it is you are likely to put back on your paper through a procedure of brainstorming and pre-writing. Presenting The Research Paper Research papers must be presented well to make the best effects. Curriculum proposal topics is a means to try. Not all research paper topics are made equal, and you would like to guarantee you select an excellent topic before you commence writing. If you need to compose your whole essay in 1 day, do your very best to give yourself breaks so you don't burn out. Only some of them is able to submit a paper in time and without penalties. Students lead busy lives and frequently forget about a coming deadline. It's important to select debatable argumentative essay topics as you need opposing points which you can counter to your own points. Don't make it rather complicated. Individual schools sometimes need supplemental essays. The college essay is among the most crucial facets of your college application. On our site you will discover a great deal more useful distinctive information that is certain to be helpful for junior and higher school kids from, like common home task essay about Hamlet, in addition to, for instance, application essays for college for future students. If you're looking for college essay examples, here's a great one below. Life, Death, and Essay Topics Science There are a number of thumb rules for argumentative essay subjects to prevent clashes, yet earning a point at the exact same moment. At precisely the same time, it's a fantastic persuasive essay idea. While you're just beginning to compose essays, you shouldn't struggle attempting to produce something to discuss. Such essays shall have a good deal of quotations, based just on facts and laws, and show no more than the actual picture of the situation. Inspiration to mak e your own advertising or media argumentative essay topics isn't difficult to discover. The option of compare and contrast essay topics isn't a simple task because you have to clearly show your analytical skills. Otherwise, you have to look at a number of the easy compare and contrast essay topics on the many scientific innovations. It's possible to go for an intriguing topic from any area of science. If you are supposed to compose an argumentative essay, the very first thing you should do is to understand its chief features and structure. A fine idea may be to pick out a subject, which has a stable selection of accessible info and nonetheless sufficient room for a private research. It's possible to observe a list of 25 topics you can pick from the one which best fits your assignment. Once can surf the internet to find a few examples of argumentative essay topics, however, there are websites which help to locate topics depending on the keywords. The Tried and True Method for Essay Topics Science in Step by Step Detail Controversial issues are happening all of the time, all you have to do is turn on the news and you'll be able to locate a vast choice of topics to pick from. Since you can see, lots of the topics listed are new and deal with the present issues happening in the World today. The attractiveness of Shakespearean works is that every one of them conveys a one of a k ind social message that is true even today. All things considered, you can observe that writing a persuasive essay isn't a brain surgery. On our site, you can locate many tips for themes for an argumentative essay. Sure, with this kind of an enormous number of topics to select from, picking just one may be challenging. Popular themes for academic papers can be seen on our site also. A Secret Weapon for Essay Topics Science Good persuasive essay topics need to be persuasive. Moral argumentative essay topics are a few of the simplest to get carried away with. There are argumentative essay topics. Recent argumentative essay topics that are related to society is going to do. You don't need to acquire super technical with legal argumentative essays, but make sure you do your homework on what the present laws about your favorite topic actually say. Analyzing a present event appears to be a favorite topic chosen for argumentative essays. There are several interesting and challenging Shakespeare essay topics to select from. Tackle as many essays as possible and cement your spot among the famed essay writers on the planet. A proposal essay is quite straightforward to comprehend. Write a succinct biography of your favourite author and discuss why the author you prefer.

The New Millennium Response And The Internet - 2205 Words

The New Millennium Response to the Internet Ask your local teenager or â€Å"millennial† their favorite accessory, companion, or resource, and you will most likely receive a common answer: their cell phone. Confusing and recent changes in social interactions have led our devices with access to the internet into becoming an extra limb. Because of the reality-altering effect of social media and the ever-growing availability of information, a quick search or refresh leads to an abundance of answers and outlets through tabs on tabs of various websites. In response to the â€Å"digital age† enveloped by social media, â€Å"connectivity†, and open information, adolescents with easy internet access are attracted to the availability and secrecy the internet has†¦show more content†¦Once, the internet was a location for academic research. We now use the internet for any possible activity anyone could think of. One of these activities is the internet and social media acting as a communication medium for us ers. Users may use texting, messaging, emailing, and other forms of communication through wifi to speak to those who are not in their immediate company. As stated by the APA, â€Å"The internet facilitates communication with geographically distant family and friends, and makes it easier to communicate frequently with those near by† (Jackson et al.). Not only does the internet aid communication, but it is a permeable area of technology in which users can communicate with different people from all over the world. Children find themselves in a chat room where their opinions affect others, bringing thoughts to the screen and to others easily impacted demeanor. The author of The Psychology of the Internet states, â€Å"Children grow up in a web of intersecting environments that react with each other and that the children themselves can influence† (Wallace 229) Not only are children being swayed by others they may not know, but they are especially attracted to learning and collaborating with those who do not know them as well. Low expectation and anonymity contribute to evocation of interest. By retracting means of eye contact, expectations are lowered. As psychoanalyzed, a subjects

Competitive Strategy Objectives and Business Goals

Question: Discuss about theCompetitive Strategyfor Objectives and Business Goals. Answer: Key Ideas: In the video, author explained various aspects of strategy. One of the key learning from the article is that the strategy should be all inclusive in nature. There are various parts of strategy like tactics, objectives, business goals, etc. It is critical that business leaders and organizations should not consider strategy as only one of these elements but a combination of various elements. In the video, author explained that generally strategy would focus on the overall organization or business units (Kryscynski, 2015). Obviously, there would be various tactics and small milestones. However, these small milestones should not be considered as strategy. For example, increasing the brand awareness for a product should not be considered as a strategy of organization. The strategy is something that would have a vision attached to it. It is critical that all the employees in the organization should align well with the vison. In an organizational setting, leaders may have the responsibility to develop the strategy. However, when it comes to execution, leaders must have the support of various stakeholders. It is important that the leaders must communicate the drivers of strategy to all the internal and external stakeholders (Kryscynski, 2015). In an organizational setting, the strategy development and execution could be compared to strategy development and execution in war front. In the war front, strategy would help the troops to win the war. Likewise, in an organizational setting, strategy is something that would help the organizations to gain competitive advantage over its competitors. Application: The learning about the strategy and the inclusive nature of strategy could be applied to a large variety of organizations. This information and knowledge is particularly more useful for the organizations that wish to change their business operations and underlying strategy. Lets take the example of Dell Inc. The company, Dell Inc. is moving from PC company to new one like the cybersecurity, and data centre design and management. According to Daft, (2015). As it transitions from a PC company to a solutions company, founder Michael Dell is trying to return Dell to its entrepreneurial roots. Dell is moving into new areas such as cybersecurity and data centre design and management, and letting those new units operate more autonomously. I would argue that Dells strategy can be effective, as long as the parent organization is willing to take a more hands-off approach than perhaps it is accustomed to and can tolerate a shift in power from the corporate body to the entrepreneurial sub-unit. Another great aspect of going this route is that it inspires employees to get creative and take pride in the company while adding value in the process. By giving divisions autonomy people will feel comfortable sharing their ideas. The end goal of this creativity is developing better or new ways of doing things (Brown, 2015). This effectively brings the organizational life cycle full circle, but without the level of risk that a startup company would have. Business Model Innovation Key Ideas: The video focuses on the use of innovation as part of the business model. One of the key learnings from the video is that the innovation should be based on the combination of internal and external environments or factors. Generally, the organizations would only analyse the internal factors to develop or to focus on their innovation. However, it is important that the organization and leaders should also analyse the external factors before analysing their innovation with business model. Martins Rindova (2015) concluded that organizations are reliant on external environmental factors to advance the process of interpretation. Organizational interpretation is synonymous with the learning process for people. In agreeance with Martins Rindova (2015) some organizational interpretation of the environment yields outcomes that do not require open systems framing because operations are not complex and the inputs are easily transferred into organizational outputs. In the video, author explained that innovation should also be a source of competitive advantage for organizations. The true value that is delivered from business model innovation is the core competency of organizations (Gallen, 2013). The unique core competency would eventually help organizations to have something in the market that cannot be imitated. The use of innovation in business model is useful only when the competitors cannot imitate the products and services. Application: There are various examples of innovation lead business model. One highly successful company that continues to maintain tight control over new product development and design is Apple, Inc. In fact, the company signs all of its products with the tag line Designed by Apple in California. For Apple, the closed innovation approach clearly works, as the company has been recognized repeatedly for its innovative technology and elegant design. From its pioneering work with the graphical user interface (GUI), to its products that revolutionized music players and cellular telephones, Apple has succeeded, in part, as a closed system, and perhaps because it employs elements of the closed system approach. Organizations operating on the pretense of being a closed system exist, and can be successful. Apple, Inc. has tried to maintain a closed system approach to its products so that the innovation formula is not imitated by the competitors. They are highly successful in their business. Using closed s ystem approaches of innovation in business model allows the company to deliver state of the art products to their consumers. However, it could be argued that given Apples ongoing relationship with Samsung, Inc. products, that Apple is not a true closed system. It is expected that Apple would continue to focus on its innovation lead product and it would continue to be a source of competitive advantage for Apple Inc. References Brown, N. (2015). Why you absolutely need creative employees. Fortune. Retrieved from https://fortune.com/2015/08/05/nancy-brown-creative-thinking-at-work/ Darkow, I.L., 2015. The involvement of middle management in strategy developmentDevelopment and implementation of a foresight-based approach.Technological Forecasting and Social Change,101, pp.10-24. Gallen, S. 2013. Business model innovation. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4ZSGQW0UMI Kryscynski, D. 2015. What is strategy. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD7WSLeQtVw Martins, L.L., Rindova, V.P. and Greenbaum, B.E., 2015. Unlocking the hidden value of concepts: a cognitive approach to business model innovation.Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal,9(1), pp.99-117.

The Rise of the Klu Klux Klan free essay sample

This paper discusses the rise of the Klu Klux Klan and how it has influenced the establishment of other hate groups in the United States. It also analyzes the reason why these groups find support from certain sectors in the community. The paper gives a review of historical moments when the Klan was powerful and when it was not, and analyzes the reason for this. From the paper: The Ku Klux Klan adopted its name from the Greek word, ?kuklos,? meaning circle, and the English word, ?clan,? meaning tribe. We will write a custom essay sample on The Rise of the Klu Klux Klan or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The Klan?s main philosophy was superiority but often, the group used violence and terrorist activity to exercise their sense of superiority over blacks. The Klan strongly opposed any rights that were gained by blacks flowing the Civil War, and harassed blacks that attempted to vote in elections or exercise any other rights. The Ku Klux Klan adopted its name from the Greek word, ?kuklos,? meaning circle, and the English word, ?clan,? meaning tribe. The Klans main philosophy was superiority but often, the group used violence and terrorist activity to exercise their sense of superiority over blacks. The Klan strongly opposed any rights that were gained by blacks flowing the Civil War, and harassed blacks that attempted to vote in elections or exercise any other rights.

How to Conjugate the French Applaudir (to Applaud, Clap)

How to Conjugate the French Applaudir (to Applaud, Clap) The French word applaudir means to applaud or to clap. Applaudir is  a regular verb, meaning its one of those words thats relatively easy to conjugate.   How to Conjugate the French Verb Applaudir To conjugate a regular verb, start with the stem and add the ending appropriate of the type of verb youre conjugating and the subject pronoun youre using- the person or thing doing the action. Applaudir is a regular -ir verb, so  the stem is  applaud- and the endings are those of regular infinitives ending in -ir. This chart will help you figure out how conjugate applaudir. Present Future Imperfect j applaudis applaudirai applaudissais tu applaudis applaudiras applaudissais il applaudit applaudira applaudissait nous applaudissons applaudirons applaudissions vous applaudissez applaudirez applaudissiez ils applaudissent applaudiront applaudissaient The present participle of applaudir is applaudissant. The present participle is less common in French than its English equivalent -ing. You may use the present participle as an adjective, gerund, noun  or verb. For example: Applaudissant, nous avons commencà © departer le thà ©Ãƒ ¢tre.Applauding, we began to leave the theater. Other Simple Conjugations of Applaudir Subjunctive Conditional Pass simple Imperfect subjunctive j applaudisse applaudirais applaudis applaudisse tu applaudisses applaudirais applaudis applaudisses il applaudisse applaudirait applaudit applaudt nous applaudissions applaudirions applaudmes applaudissions vous applaudissiez applaudiriez applaudtes applaudissiez ils applaudissent applaudiraient applaudirent applaudissent Imperative (tu) applaudis (nous) applaudissons (vous) applaudissez How to Form the Past Tense of Applaudir You can use the imperfect tense to talk about something in the past (japplaudissais / I was clapping) but youre more likely to use the passà © composà ©, which is a compound tense. Applaudir uses the auxiliary verb avoir, and the past participle is applaudi. For example: Jai applaudi.I applauded. Nous avons applaudi.We applauded.

World Wildlife Fund

World Wildlife Fund The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is a global-scale conservation organization that works in 100 countries and consists of nearly 5 million members worldwide. The WWFs mission- in the simplest of terms- is to conserve nature. Its aims are threefold- to protect natural areas and wild populations, to minimize pollution, and to promote efficient, sustainable use of natural resources. The WWF focuses their efforts at multiple levels, starting with wildlife, habitats and local communities and expanding up through governments and global networks. The WWF views the planet as a single, complex web of relationships between species, the environment, and human institutions such as government and global markets. History The World Wildlife Fund was established in 1961 when a handful of scientists, naturalists, politicians, and businessmen joined forces to form an international fundraising organization that would provide money for conservation groups working around the globe. The WWF grew during the 1960s and by the 1970s it was able to hire its first project administrator, Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy, who immediately convened a meeting of experts to forge the organizations key priorities. Among the first projects to receive funding from the WWF was a study of the tiger population in Chitwan Sanctuary Nepal conducted by the Smithsonian Institution. In 1975, the WWF helped establish the Corcovado National Park on Costa Ricas Osa Peninsula. Then in 1976, the WWF joined forces with the IUCN to create TRAFFIC, a network that monitors wildlife trade to curtail any conservation threats such trade inevitably causes. In 1984, Dr. Lovejoy devised the debt-for-nature swap approach that entails the conversion of a portion of a nations debt into funding for conservation within the country. The debt-for-nature swap tactic is also used by The Nature Conservancy. In 1992, the WWF further funded conservation in developing nations by establishing conservation trust funds for high-priority conservation regions throughout the world. These funds are intended to provide long-term funding to sustain conservation efforts. More recently, the WWF has worked with the Brazilian government to launch the Amazon Region Protected areas that will triple the land area that is protected within the Amazon region. How They Spend Their Money 79.4% of expenses go towards conservation projects7.3% of expenses go towards administration13.1% of expenses go towards fundraising Website www.worldwildlife.org You can also find the WWF on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Headquarters World Wildlife Fund1250 24th Street, NWP.O. Box 97180Washington, DC 20090tel: (800) 960-0993 References About the World Wildlife FundHistory of the World Wildlife FundCharity Navigator - World Wildlife Fund

Summaries of the articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Summaries of the articles - Essay Example The program is a survey based effort that has evolved out of the initial programs of the 1980s. The survey has a web based program that gathers information from working pharmacists and categorizes them in 1 of 25 categories. The findings are then published in an effort to aid current and future pharmacists in designing their own career path. In addition, the report is broken down between pharmacist and pharmaceutical scientist. In addition to listing areas as diverse as teaching and management, the findings report on workers' job satisfaction, workload, and demographics. In an article titled New Perspective Urged to Combat Resistant Microbes author Kate Traynor reports on the recent efforts to make antimicrobial effectiveness a public health priority. The author states that antimicrobial resistance is a major threat to public health and the article urges "antimicrobial effectiveness be treated as a natural resource, much like oil, fish, or forests" (p.1248). The importance of the issue is highlighted by Ramanan Laxminarayan, a senior fellow at the prestigious Resources for the Future who is quoted as saying "Antibiotic resistance is an immediate threat to public health" (p.1246). Laxminarayan calls for the implementation of a new government policy. The article pointed out that reducing microbial resistanc... The author states that the role of the pharmacist is pivotal in the process as they are in a position to encourage appropriate use of antimicrobials, and reduce the incidence of the over prescribing that encourages resistance. In addition, pharmacists should work with health care facilities to minimize antimicrobial exposure, while protecting the patient. Atopic March to a Dead End or Does the Theory Really Have Legs Author Frederic R. Curtiss challenges the long held belief that atopic dermatitis (AD) precedes the development of asthma in an article titled Atopic March to a Dead End or Does the Theory Really Have Legs Curtiss relies on the expert opinion of Hywel Williams, Foundation Professor of Dermato-Epidemiology at the Centre of Evidence-Based Dermatology at the University of Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre's NHS Trust. Professor Williams states there is still the conventional wisdom in regards to the 'atopic march' in which AD progresses to atopic manifestations (AM). Williams argues that , "he was not aware of any clinical trial that has evaluated the effectiveness of early aggressive treatment of AD as a means to prevent or mollify AMs such as food allergy, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, and asthma" (p.810). He contends there is simply not enough evidence to confirm the 'atopic march'. One of the problems in the attempt to confirm this effect is the reliance on existing health care records and their limitations. Curtiss contends that, "It is healthy for readers to keep in mind that administrative claims were not intended to be used for research that implies accuracy and precision in coding for diagnoses and that administrative claims research necessarily suffers from

Corporate Governance at the Central of Seychelles Coursework

Corporate Governance at the Central of Seychelles - Coursework Example .............24 3.4. The conclusions about the research findings and how well it has met the project objectives and research questions............................................................................................26 3.5. Recommendations on specific courses of action on how improve corporate governance in the Bank.....................................................................................................................................27 List of References..........................................................................................29 Appendices.....................................................................................................33 Appendix I...............................................................................................................................33 Appendix II..............................................................................................................................35 PART B POWER POINT PRESENTATION 1. How well have the research questions been answered 2. How have interpersonal and communication skills been developed during the project work 3. How could undertaking of such projects help in one's accountancy studies and/or current employment role PART 1 - Project objectives and overall research approach 1. IntroductionSeychelles can be identified as a Middle Income Country (MIC) in Africa with the highest per capita income in the region estimated at US$ 8,960 in 2008 (www.cbs.sc). It is a service-based economy with the tourism, fisheries industry and offshore services. However, according to the Seychelles government statistics it has been faced with imbalances in macroeconomic indicators. Thus after implementing the IMF reform program of Seychelles... .....................................................................24 3.4. The conclusions about the research findings and how well it has met the project objectives and research questions............................................................................................26 3.5. Recommendations on specific courses of action on how improve corporate governance in the Bank.....................................................................................................................................27 Seychelles can be identified as a Middle Income Country (MIC) in Africa with the highest per capita income in the region estimated at US$ 8,960 in 2008 (www.cbs.sc). It is a service-based economy with the tourism, fisheries industry and offshore services. However, according to the Seychelles government statistics it has been faced with imbalances in macroeconomic indicators. Thus after implementing the IMF reform program of Seychelles in 2008 a lot of change has taken place in the Seychelles economy and such change is basically connected to the role of governance in the reform process. Especially, the government has targeted reform program in order to stabilize the macroeconomic factors and achieve sustainable growth in the country. In fact Seychelles is a good performer in relation with the governance.

Social Mention Defined Essay Example for Free

Social Mention Defined Essay Social Mention Social media is serves as an outlet for public relations practitioners to provide around the clock management for clients and publics. Cites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are just a few of the social media tools that are used to maintain relationships with publics and build brand names. The hassle of managing a variety of social media pages has produced the need for social media management tools. Social media management tools available are used to help further manage social media relationships and monitor success and failures of clients in social media. Social Mention is a management tool analyzes different content from a multitude of social media networks at one time. Public relations practitioners can use this tool to evaluate client’s relationships with publics on various social networks and measure their presence online. PR professionals utilize this tool to gauge the success of a brand, client, organization or product. This tool allows for quick and easy access to social media crisis management in order to maintain a positive image. Social Mention provides information such as the amount of users discussing a topic and what time of day a particular subject is being discussed. The tool provides in time reports covering what is going on at that exact moment in social media. Social Mention is a beneficial tool in the PR field. The tool provides reports describing categories such as strength, sentiment, passion and reach. Strength measures the possibility of a client being discussed in social media. The calculation for strength is simply the number of mentions of a keyword over the hours of a day. Sentiment determines the positive and negative ratio of a client referenced in social media. Passion is the measurement of how likely a client’s brand will be discussed repeatedly. Reach is the category that determines how many users the specific topic reaches and can potentially reach via social media. Reach is found by the number of authors referring to the specified word over the number of times it is mentioned. The different categories allow a user to tailor their image to improve positive popularity in social media. Social mention provides alerts to users e-mail accounts upon relevant updates regarding clients or brands of interest. Unfortunately, the updates only recognize keywords noted about a particular topic and disregard the context of the keywords. Therefore some notifications are unnecessary. Across the Internet PR practitioners take advantage of the benefits Social Mention has to offer. Bloggers rave about the efficiency and convenience of managing social networks all in one place. Healthy Choice launched a PR social media campaign based on the information gathered by Social Mention. The company used the feedback given on social networks to configure a campaign that would improve the Healthy Choice brand image in consumer’s minds. Once Healthy Choice improved social media relationships with its publics, social media involvement with the company skyrocketed. After offering a coupon on the Healthy Choice Facebook page, â€Å"likes† increased from under 10,000 to over 60,000. Social Mention helped Healthy Choice reach out to its publics and respond to their feedback. The data gathered from Social Mention provided Healthy Choice with the material it needed to increase the company’s popularity and improve the brand name.

A New Way to Educate Children Essay -- Papers

A New Way to Educate Children Rousseau lobbies against an educational system that tries to teach children concepts and facts before such time, as they would make use of them. He believes that a child should not neglect those studies, which meet his present needs, in order to learn that which he may acquire in later years. He claims that experience and emotion are our real teachers, thereby reinforcing the theory that a child should not be educated in matters which are not pertinent to their current station in life. He contends that a child should â€Å"remain in complete ignorance of those ideas which are beyond his grasp† (p686). In essence, Rousseau argues that the healthy spontaneous impulses of children were being repressed by the adult demands for emotional restraint, intellectual precision and social conformity as abdicated by the social and educational practices of his time. Rousseau constructs a theory of education, starting with the influence of the child's natural environment, which should prevail over the influence of society and social institutions. Rousseau advocates allowing children to grow and develop naturally, in direct opposition to the prevailing methods of teaching. Children should be encouraged to develop their faculties through experience. This forms the basis for his fundamental principle of education. Rousseau argues that to be of use to a child, a concept must be relevant to his age. Rousseau promotes involving the student in hands-on learning experiences, as opposed to the more traditional methods of instruction. Children pay little heed to verbal explanation, nor do they remember them in his opinion. He stresses the importance of discovery as a learning tool. Ideas that seem difficult at the ... ...nlightenment was that nothing was accepted on faith or face value and he expected no less from his students, he would demonstrate his teachings and not expect them to accept just a verbal description. Rousseau stressed that feeling and sentiment were two very important factors in the motivation of humankind. He emphasizes the need to live and develop in conformity with Nature. The child must be raised in a rural rather than an urban environment, so that he may develop in continuity with nature rather than in opposition to it. A child’s character will mature in harmony with nature if that child’s natural curiosity is allowed to develop unhindered by the corruption of society. All of Rousseau’s educational theories had roots in the enlightenment of the 18th century. Bibliography: A History of Western Civilization, McKay J.P. et al, Houghton, 1999

Balagtasan Essay

The Dynamic Crust, Earthquakes and the Earth’s Interior Why is the Earth’s crust described as being dynamic? Crust- solid rock outer zone of Earth The crust is part of the lithosphere. The Earth’s crust is dynamic which means constantly changing. Earthquakes Volcanoes Crustal movements along fault zones Other evidence indicates that parts of the Earth’s crust have been moving to different locations for billions of years. Describe pieces of evidence that suggest minor changes in the Earth’s crust. Displaced & Deformed Rock Strata Sedimentary rocks appear to form in horizontal layers. However, observations of the Earth’s surface indicate that the original formations of rock have changed through past movements. Tilting Earth movement resulting in a change in the position of rock layers, â€Å"rocks at an angle† Folded Strata Bend in the rock layers produced during the mountain building process Faulting Movement of rock along a crack (fault) in the crust Displaced Fossils Displaced means â€Å"moved.† Marine fossils- remains or imprints of once living ocean organisms such as coral, fish, etc. found in sedimentary rock Marine fossils found in layers of sedimentary rock in mountains, often thousands of feet above sea level. These marine fossils found at high elevation suggest past uplift of rock strata. Sinking or settling of rock strata Rock layers that have been moved. Horizontal Displacement (Faulting) Earth shifts sideways along a transform fault in the crust Vertical Displacement (Faulting) Portion of Earth’s surface is either uplifted or subsides along a fault or crack. Benchmark Permanent cement or brass marker in ground indicating a measured elevation. Isostasy Condition of balance or equilibrium in Earth’s crust. Since the upper mantle acts like a very dense fluid, the crustal plates float on top of it. Any change in one part of the crust is offset by a corresponding change in another part of the crust. Example of Isostasy If a piece of crust loses some of its material due to erosion, it becomes lighter and floats higher in the mantle. When the eroded material gets deposited, the crust is weighted down causing that area to sink lower into the mantle. Another isostatic example. The deposition of 2 miles thick ice on NY during a glacial ice age caused the area to subside slightly. This forced other areas to rise higher in response to the settling under the ice. Later after the ice receded or melted, the region responded with gradual uplift causing minor seismic activity or earthquakes. Give examples of crustal activity and explain where the zones of crustal activity are located. Areas of Crustal Activity Crustal activities such as earthquakes and volcanoes occur for the most part in specific zones or regions of the Earth. These regions are usually along the borders of continents and oceans. These zones mark boundaries or edges of large pieces of the Earth’s crust called crustal boundaries. ESRT p.5 What is an earthquake? Explain the difference between an epicenter and a focus of an earthquake. Describe properties of the 3 types of earthquake waves and tell the difference between a seismograph and a seismogram. I. Earthquakes Sudden trembling or shaking of ground usually caused by movement along a break or a fault releasing built up stress When an earthquake occurs, seismic waves are created and move out in all directions from the focus or point of origin. The earthquake’s focus or point of origin is usually deep below the Earth’s surface. The point on the Earth’s surface directly above the focus is called the epicenter. Describe properties of the 3 types of earthquake waves and tell the difference between a seismograph and a seismogram. II. Earthquake Waves Seismograph: Instrument that detects and records seismic waves. Earthquakes generate several kinds of seismic waves that can be detected by a seismograph. 3 types of seismic waves are p, s, & l waves. L waves Long waves Do not pass through the Earth. Ripple along the surface of the Earth Create the damage associated with earthquakes P waves Primary waves Also called compressional because they cause the material through which they pass to vibrate back and forth (compress) in the same direction as the wave is traveling. Called primary because they move quickly through the Earth with a greater velocity than secondary waves and therefore are the first waves to reach a distant location. S waves Secondary waves Also called shear waves because they cause the material through which they pass to vibrate at right angles (up & down) to the direction in which the wave is traveling III. Velocities of Waves When traveling in the same material, primary waves travel at a greater velocity than secondary waves. So a seismograph will read the primary waves before the secondary waves arrive. A single seismogram showing the arrival times of p & s waves may be used to determine the distance to the earthquake and its time of origin. The greater the difference in arrival times of the primary and secondary waves, the greater the distance to the earthquake epicenter. Finding the Distance to an Earthquake’s Epicenter To find out how far an epicenter was away from a location, a seismograph reading or seismogram is necessary that shows the arrival of both p and s waves. Determining the Exact Location of an Earthquake’s Epicenter Epicenter location is found by the comparison of differences in travel time of p & s seismic waves. Knowing the separation time between arrival of both p & s waves gives the distance to the point on the Earth’s surface directly above the earthquake called the epicenter. Since only the distance to epicenter and not direction is known, a circle is drawn with the radius equal to the distance. The epicenter is on the circle. To find the actual location of the epicenter you must find the distance from 3 different seismograph stations. Why not 2? Draw 3 circles around the 3 seismograph stations and where they intersect is the earthquake’s epicenter. The earthquake occurred at a point somewhere below the epicenter and that internal point is called the focus. Scientists wanting to improve accuracy of finding the true epicenter will find the distance from more than 3 seismograph stations. Compare and contrast the 2 scales for determining the strength of an earthquake. a) The Modified Mercalli Scale Based upon the damage inflicted by an earthquake. This intensity scale ranges from I to XII with I being felt by few people to XII resulting in total devastation. Modified Mercalli Scale Continued Although this scale is still used, it is not very precise. Why? Damage inflicted by earthquakes depends on many factors besides the strength of the earthquake such as location, type of land, building design & structure, etc. b) The Richter Scale A Magnitude scale used to describe the amount of energy released by an earthquake. Richter scale magnitudes range from 0 to 9. Each number step up the scale indicates a release of 32 times more energy than the previous step. Earthquakes that are less than 2.5 are not usually felt by people. Approximately 20 major earthquakes in the magnitude 7.0-7.9 occur every year and each 5-10 years an earthquake of 8.0 or more will devastate a portion of Earth. Give examples of dangers to humans from volcanic and earthquake activity. Dangers to Humans from Earthquakes and Volcanoes Tell at least 4 of these hazards. Fires (Ruptured gas or power lines) Collapsing buildings/Falling Debris Broken bridges and roads Tsunamis (Seismic Sea Waves) Lava flows melt and burn Volcanic ash & poisonous gases make it difficult to breathe Large submarine (under water) earthquakes or those that occur along a coastline may result in tsunamis or seismic sea waves. Describe differences between p and s wave transmission through the Earth and how it creates a shadow zone. VII. Transmission of Earthquake Waves The velocity of an earthquake wave varies according to density of the material through which it is traveling. The greater the density of the material, the greater the velocity. As seismic waves travel through materials of different densities, the velocity of the seismic waves will change. This change in velocity of the wave causes the wave to be bent or refracted. Since the density of the Earth gradually increases with depth, seismic waves tend to increase in their velocity and continually refract (bend) as they travel down into the Earth. Difference in P and S Wave Transmission Compressional or p waves are transmitted through all phases of matter; solid, liquid or gas. However, shear or s waves are only transmitted through solids. This difference provides valuable information for scientists about the composition and interior structure of the Earth. S waves that penetrate the Earth to the depth of the outer core disappear. Since these waves are not transmitted by the outer core, the material of the outer core is assumed to be liquid. Earthquakes generate p & s waves that move out from the earthquake through the Earth in all directions. Seismographs that are located within 102 degrees from the epicenter record both p & s waves. Those seismograph stations that are farther away than 102o do not record any s waves because they are not transmitted through the core. A band that runs approximately 102o to 143o away from the epicenter records neither p nor s waves. Describe a model of the Earth’s crust and interior. Describe characteristics of both the crust and interior. Crust & Interior Properties There are 4 major Earth zones, three solid ones and one liquid. The 3 solid zones are the crust, mantle and inner core. The only liquid zone is the outer core. See ESRT p.10 Crustal Thickness The crust of the Earth compared to other zones is relatively thin, only a few kilometers in average depth. The average thickness of the continental crust is greater than the average thickness of the oceanic crust. Crustal Composition The continental crust is composed mainly of felsic igneous rock like granite that is low in density. The oceanic crust is composed mainly of mafic igneous rock like basalt that is high in density. Interior Structure Crust sits on top of mantle. Mantle accounts for the greatest part of the volume of the Earth. The crust-mantle boundary is called the Mohorovicic Discontinuity or the Moho. Below the mantle is the liquid outer core and the solid inner core. Interior Composition Evidence from the behavior of seismic waves and metallic meteorites suggests that the inner portion of the Earth is a high density combination of the metallic elements iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni). Characteristics of Earth’s Interior The density, temperature and pressure of the Earth’s interior increases with depth. (ESRT p.10). The density ranges from 2.7g/cm3 for the continental crust and 3.0g/cm3 for the oceanic crust to 12.7 g/cm3-13.0g/cm3 for the inner core. Compare theories of continental drift and plate tectonics. Give evidence that support the idea that continents have moved. I. Plate Tectonics Theory Theory that Earth’s lithosphere is made of a number of solid plates that move in relation to each other. ESRT p.5 Continental Drift Theory that continents are now, as well as in the past, shifting positions. Wegener noted that the present continents appear to fit together as fragments of an originally larger landmass, much the same way the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle fit together. This is especially true if the edges of the continental shelves are used as the boundaries. However, over the years new evidence has been collected that indicates that approximately 200 million years ago, the major continents were connected and since that time the continents have been moving generally apart. The following diagrams show the Inferred Positions of the Continents over the last 458 million years. Label the Geologic Period for each diagram. Diagrams found in ESRT on page 9. Evidence to Support Idea that Continents Have Moved Many rock layers and fossils can be correlated across ocean basins. Rock types along with mineral composition and the fossils found in those rocks match up. A good example of this are rocks and fossils found on the east coast of South America match those found along the west coastline of Africa. Diamonds found in eastern Brazil are very similar to those found in western Africa. More Evidence for Continental Movement Some mountain chains appear to be continuous from continent to continent. Example: Appalachians and Caledonian More Evidence for Continental Movement Rock and fossil evidence indicates ancient climates much different from those of today. Examples: glacial deposits in tropical regions or coal deposits in Arctic More Evidence for Continental Movement Rocks of the ocean basins are much younger than continental rocks. The most conclusive evidence comes from the ocean basins. Explain evidence for sea floor spreading from both igneous ocean rocks and the reversal of magnetic polarity. Evidence to Suggest Sea Floor Spreading There is much evidence to indicate that the ocean floors are spreading out from the mid-ocean ridges. The two major pieces of evidence are related to the age of igneous ocean materials and the reversal of magnetic polarity. a) Igneous Ocean Rocks The ocean crust is made up mainly of basalt that is formed when magma (molten rock) rises, cools, solidifies and crystallizes into igneous rocks of the mid-ocean ridges. Evidence shows that igneous rocks along the center of the mid-ocean ridge is younger (more recently formed) than the igneous rock found farther from the mid-ocean ridge. The age of igneous rock has been accurately determined using radioactive dating techniques. This suggests that as new ocean crust is generated at mid-ocean ridges, the ocean floor widens. Reversal of Magnetic Polarity The strips of basaltic rock that lie parallel to the mid-ocean ridge show matched patterns of magnetic reversals. Check out this animation! Over thousands of years, the magnetic poles of Earth reverse their polarities. The magnetic north pole changes to the magnetic south pole and vice versa. When the basaltic magma flows up in the middle of the ridge and begins to cool, crystals of magnetic minerals align themselves with the Earth’s magnetic field. This alignment of minerals in the rock leaves a recording of magnetic polarity for the Earth at the time of rock formation. When the Earth’s magnetic field is reversed, the new igneous rocks formed during the reversed polarity period have their minerals aligned in an opposite direction from the previously formed rocks. These changes in magnetic orientation are found in rock on both sides of the mid-ocean ridge, indicating that the development of the ocean floor is form the center of the mid-ocean ridges outward. Describe the 3 types of plate motion. Identify plate boundaries. Lithospheric Plates and Plate Boundaries Three kinds of plate motion are associated with plate boundaries; convergent, divergent and transform. a) Convergent Plate Boundaries Convergent Plate Boundaries- plates collide with each other Ocean Plate Meets Continental Plate If an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate, the denser ocean plate made of basalt dives down (subducts) into the mantle forming a subduction zone with an ocean trench formed at the surface. At the subduction zone, old crust is consumed by the mantle to create more molten material. The overriding continental plate made of granite forms mountains. An example is the Andes of South America. Ocean Plate Meets Ocean Plate If two oceanic plates converge, the older, denser plate will subduct also forming a trench on the surface along with a chain of islands called an island arc. An example of this convergent subduction zone is the Northern and Western boundaries of the Pacific Ocean. Continental Plate Meets Continental Plate If a continental plate collides with another continental plate, the edge of both plates are crumpled up forming folded mountains. An example of this type of convergent boundary is the Himalayas of India. b) Divergent Plate Boundaries Divergent Plate Boundaries- plates move apart A divergent boundary allows heat and magma to flow up from below forming parallel ridges made of new crustal material. An example of a divergent plate boundary like this is any mid-ocean ridge. c) Transform Plate Boundary Transform Plate Boundary- plates grind slowly past each other At this type of boundary, crust is neither formed nor consumed. An example is San Andreas Fault in California. Shallow focus earthquakes are very common at transform boundaries. Plate Tectonic Map (ESRT p.5) Although plate motion is only a few centimeters a year, the interactions of the boundaries result in earthquakes, volcanoes and mountain building on a grand scale showing that the Earth is a dynamic system. Explain how mantle convection cells are thought to be the method for moving crustal plates. Mantle Convection Cells Although forces exist within the Earth that are powerful enough to move the lithospheric plates, the scientific community is not in total agreement on the specific mechanism (method) involved. Convection cell- stream of heated material that is moving due to density differences Evidence suggests that convection cells exist within a part of the mantle called the asthenosphere because of the occurrence of heat flow highs in areas of  mountain building and heat flow lows in areas of shallow subsiding basins. These convection cells may be part of the driving force which causes continents to move. What are hot spots? How are they formed? Hot Spots Hot Spots- places on Earth’s surface with unusually high heat flow Most hot spots occur along active plate margins but some are found within the plates. Hot spots are thought to be caused by magma rising up from the mantle producing sites of active volcanism. Wow! That was Dynamic! Prepare for Chapter Test†¦Good Luck!!! * EartHquakes * Sub-topics: * How strong is an earthquake? Do you live near an active fault? Earthquake and tsunami What is inside the earth? * What is an Earthquake? * An earthquake is a shaking of the ground caused by the sudden breaking and movement of large sections (tectonic plates) of the earth’s rocky outermost crust. The edges of the tectonic plates are marked by faults (or fractures). Most earthquakes occur along the fault lines when the plates slide past each other or collide against each other. * The shifting masses send out shock waves that may be powerful enough to alter the surface of the Earth, thrusting up cliffs and opening great cracks in the ground and †¢ cause great damage †¦ collapse of buildings and other man-made structures, broken power and gas lines (and the consequent fire), landslides, snow avalanches, tsunamis (giant sea waves) and volcanic eruptions. * How strong is an Earthquake * Earthquakes are measured in two different ways: 1.) Magnitude 2.)Intensity * Earthquake magnitude * Earthquake magnitude is a measure of the energy released by an earthquake, or its â€Å"size†. Because earthquakes vary a lot in size, earthquake magnitude scales are logarithmic. For a one-step increase in magnitude the amount of energy released increases about 32 times. So a magnitude 7 earthquake is 32 times bigger than a magnitude 6 earthquake, and a magnitude 8 earthquake is 1000 bigger. * Earthquake intensity * Earthquake intensity describes how much ground shaking occurred, or how â€Å"strong† an earthquake was, at a particular location. Earthquake waves weaken as they travel away from the earthquake source, so an earthquake generally feels less strong the further away from the source you are. * Earthquake intensity * The intensity of an earthquake is determined by observing the effects of the earthquake in different places. Houses, buildings, and other structures are inspected. People are interviewed about what they saw (the cabinet fell over), how they felt (I was frightened), or what they did (I ran out of the house). * The Modified Mercalli (MM) intensity scale * MM 1Not felt. * MM 2Felt by peeple at rest on upper floors of buildings. * MM 3Felt indoors, like a small truck passing; hanging objects swing slightly. * MM 4Felt indoors by many, like a heavy truck passing; hanging objects swing, windows rattle. * MM 5Felt outdoors, sleepers awakened, small objects and pictures move. * MM 6Felt by all, crockery breaks, furniture moves, weak plaster cracks. * The Modified Mercalli (MM) intensity scale * MM 7Difficult to stand, noticed by car drivers, furniture breaks, weak chimneys break at roof line, plaster, loose bricks and tiles fall. * MM 8Driving is difficult, ordinary masonry is damaged, chimneys and towers fall, some liquefaction. * MM 9General panic, poor masonry destroyed, ordinary masonry and foundations damaged, liquefaction and landslides. * MM 10Most masonry structures destroyed. Some well-built wooden structures and bridges destroyed. Dams and embankments damaged, large landslides. * MM 11Few buildings left standing. * MM 12Damage nearly total. * FAULTS * What is a fault? * A fault is a break in the rocks that make up the Earth’s crust, along which rocks on either side have moved past each other. * The direction of movement along the fault plane determines the fault type. * 3 Major Faults * Normal * Reverse * Strike-slip * Do You Live Near an Active Fault? * An active fault is one that has moved in the past and is expected to move again. Put in another way, an active fault has generated earthquakes before and is capable of causing more in the future. * Scientists use different ways to find out if a fault is active. One is by checking the country’s historical records. Historians always write about destructive events such as earthquakes. * Another is by studying the vibrations, past and present, that come from faults. Still another way is by observing the surroundings. For example, a fault may cross a road and because of that, the road is displaced. * Do You Live Near an Active Fault? * Or a fault may cut across a stream and the stream channel is then shifted. Or a fault may slice through mountains and form cliffs. This is not to say that anyone can spot an active fault. Scientists need a lot of training to do that. * But along some faults, the effects may be dramatic. Suppose a house was built on a fault. As the ground shifts little by little, parts of the house will be affected. The floor will crack, doors will not close, and the roof may start to leak. * Obviously, it is important to know the location of active faults. As far as possible, no important structures should be built near or on them. Tsunami * What is a tsunami? * A tsunami is a series of waves usually caused by an undersea earthquake that displaces the ocean floor. But a tsunami is not really a â€Å"wave† that moves up and down; it’s actually the ocean moving sideways as a massivesurge or a wall of water. It’s also knownas a tidal wave. The Japanese word tsunami means â€Å"harbor wave.†A tsunami can generate waves for 12 to 24 hours. And the first wave is not always Japan, 2011 The Boston Globe the biggest! A tsunami travels across the open ocean at over 500mph, the speed of a jet airplane. As it reaches shallower water and approaches shore, it slows down but grows in height. A tsunami can happen at anytime of day or year. How do earthquakes generate tsunamis? * Tsunamis can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water. Tectonic earthquakes are a particular kind of earthquake that are associated with the earth’s crustal deformation; when these earthquakes occur beneath the sea, the water above the deformed area is displaced from its equilibrium position. Waves are formed as the displaced water mass, which acts under the influence of gravity, attempts to regain its equilibrium. When large areas of the sea floor elevate or subside, a tsunami can be created. * What is a Tsunami Earthquake * A tsunami earthquake is an earthquake that triggers a tsunami of a magnitude that is very much larger than the magnitude of the earthquake as measured by shorter-period seismic waves. Such events are a result of relatively slow rupture velocities. They are particularly dangerous as a large tsunami may arrive at a neighbouring coast with little or no warning. a tsunami earthquake is that the release of seismic energy occurs at long periods (low frequencies) relative to typical tsunamigenic earthquakes. Earthquakes of this type do not generally show the peaks of seismic wave activity associated with ordinary events. A tsunami earthquake can be defined as an undersea earthquake. * What is inside the Earth? * Earth’s Layers * CrustThe crust is the first layer of the earth. It is split up into two parts the continental crust, and the oceanic crust. * Mantle The mantle is the second layer of the earth. It is split up into two different parts, the lithosphere (which is the top part) and the asthenosphere (which is the bottom part). * Earth’s Layers * Outer coreThe outer core is a liquid made up of iron and nickel. The depth of the outer core is 2, 890. This is one of thethree layers that is putting pressure on the inner core. * Inner coreThe Inner crust is the second thinnest layer. The inner core is hotter than the surface of the sun. The inner core is made out of iron and nickel. It is 5159 to 6378 km thick. * Earth’s Layers * The Earth is formed of three concentric layers: the core, the mantle and the crust; these are separated by transition zones called discontinuities. * Mohorovicic discontinuity * Gutenberg discontinuity * How the seismic waves travel * The shaking starts from the focus and spreads out. You can get an idea of how this happens by throwing a pebble into a pond. See the ripples that move out in circles? The vibrations from the focus are something like that. * The vibrations are more properly called seismic waves. As seismic waves travel through the body of the Earth, they behave in different ways, depending on what they encounter along way

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 4~5

Four Estelle Boyet As September's promise wound down, a strange unrest came over the people of Pine Cove, due in no small part to the fact that many of them were going into withdrawal from their medications. It didn't happen all at once – the streets were not full of middle-class junkies rocking and sweating and begging for a fix – but slowly as the autumn days became shorter. And as far as they knew (because Val Riordan had called every one of them), they were experiencing the onset of a mild seasonal syndrome, sort of like spring fever. Call it autumn malaise. The nature of the medications kept the symptoms spread out over the next few weeks. Prozac and some of the older antidepressants took almost a month to leave the system, so those people slipped into the fray more slowly than those on Zoloft or Paxil or Wellbutrin, which was flushed from the system in only a day or two, leaving the deprived with symptoms re-sembling a low-grade flu, then a scattered disorientation akin to a temporary case of attention deficit disorder, and, in some, a rebound of depression that dropped on them like a smoky curtain. One of the first to feel the effects was Estelle Boyet, a local artist, successful and semifamous for her seascapes and idealized paintings of Pine Cove shore life. Her prescription had run out a day before Dr. Val had replaced the supply with sugar pills, so she was already in the midst of withdrawal when she took the first dose of the placebo. Estelle was sixty, a stout, vital woman who wore brightly colored caftans and let her long gray hair fly around her shoulders as she moved through life with an energy and determination that inspired envy from women half her age. For thirty years she had been a teacher in the decaying and increas-ingly dangerous Los Angeles Unified School District, teaching eighth graders the difference between acrylics and oils, a brush and a pallet knife, Dali and Degas, and using her job and her marriage as a justification for never producing any art herself. She had married right out of art school: Joe Boyet, a promising young businessman, the only man she had ever loved and only the third she had ever slept with. When Joe had died eight years ago, she had nearly lost her mind. She tried to throw herself into her teaching, hoping that by inspiring the children she might find some reason to go on herself. In the face of the escalating violence in her school, she resigned herself to wearing a bullet-proof vest under her artist smocks and even brought in some paintball guns to try to gain the pupils' interest, but the latter only backfired into several incidents of drive-by abstract expressionism, and soon she received death threats for not allowing students to fashion crack pipes in ceramics class. Her students – children living in a hyperadult world where play-ground disputes were settled with 9 mms – eventually drove her out of teaching. Estelle lost her last reason to go on. The school psychologist re-ferred her to a psych iatrist, who put her on antidepressants and recommen-ded immediate retirement and relocation. Estelle moved to Pine Cove, where she began to paint and where she fell under the wing of Dr. Valerie Riordan. No wonder then that Estelle's painting had taken a dark turn over the last few weeks. She painted the ocean. Every day. Waves and spray, rocks and serpentine strands of kelp on the beach, otters and seals and pelicans and gulls. Her canvases sold in the local gal-leries as fast as she could paint them. But lately the inner light at the heart of her waves, titanium white and aquamarine, had taken on a dark shadow. Every beach scene spoke of desolation and dead fish. She dreamed of le-viathan shadows stalking her under the waves and she woke shivering and afraid. It was getting more difficult to get her paints and easel to the shore each day. The open ocean and the blank canvas were just too fright-ening. Joe is gone, she thought. I have no career and no friends and I produce nothing but kitschy seascapes as flat and soulless as a velvet Elvis. I'm afraid of everything. Val Riordan had called her, insisting that she come to a group therapy session for widows, but Estelle had said no. Instead, one evening, after finishing a tormented painting of a beached dolphin, she left her brushes to harden with acrylic and headed downtown – anywhere where she didn't have to look at this shit she'd been calling art. She ended up at the Head of the Slug Saloon – the first bar she'd set foot in since college. The Slug was full of Blues and smoke and people chasing shots and running from sadness. If they'd been dogs, they would have all been in the yard eating grass and trying to yak up whatever was making them feel so lousy. Not a bone gnawed, not a ball chased – all tails went unwagged. Oh, life is a fast cat, a short leash, a flea in that place where you just can't scratch. It was dog sad in there, and Catfish Jefferson was the designated howler. The moon was in his eye and he was singing up the sum of human suffering in A-minor, while he worked that bottleneck slide on the National guitar until it sounded like a slow wind through heartstrings. He was grinning. Of the hundred or so people in the Slug, half were experiencing some sort of withdrawal from their medications. There was a self-pity contingent at the bar, staring into their drinks and rocking back and forth to the Delta rhythms. At the tables, the more social of the de-pressed were whining and slurring their problems into each other's ears and occasionally trading hugs or curses. Over by the pool table stood the agitated and the aggressive, the people looking for someone to blame. These were mostly men, and Theophilus Crowe was keeping an eye on them from his spot at the bar. Since the death of Bess Leander, there had been a fight in the Slug almost every night. In addition, there were more pukers, more screamers, more criers, and more unwanted advances stifled with slaps. Theo had been very busy. So had Mavis Sand. Mavis was happy about it. Estelle came through the doors in her paint-spattered overalls and Shetland sweater, her hair pulled back in a long gray braid. Just inside, she paused as the music and the smoke washed over her. Some Mexican laborers were standing there in a group, drinking Budweisers, and one of them whistled at her. â€Å"I'm an old lady,† Estelle said. â€Å"Shame on you.† She pushed her way through the crowd to the bar and ordered a white wine. Mavis served it in a plastic beer cup. (She was serving everything in plastic lately. Evidently, the Blues made people want to break glass – on each other.) â€Å"Busy?† Estelle said, although she had nothing to compare it to. â€Å"The Blues sure packs 'em in,† Mavis said. â€Å"I don't much care for the Blues,† said Estelle. â€Å"I enjoy Classical music.† â€Å"Three bucks,† said Mavis. She took Estelle's money and moved to the other end of the bar. Estelle felt as if she'd been slapped in the face. â€Å"Don't mind Mavis,† a man's voice said. â€Å"She's always cranky.† Estelle looked up, caught a shirt button, then looked up farther to find Theo's smile. She had never met the constable, but she knew who he was. â€Å"I don't even know why I came in here. I'm not a drinker.† â€Å"Something going around,† Theo said. â€Å"I think maybe we're going to have a stormy winter or something. People are coming out of the woodwork.† They exchanged introductions and Theo complimented Estelle on her paintings, which he'd seen in the local galleries. Estelle dismissed the compliment. â€Å"This seems like a strange place to find the constable,† Estelle said. Theo showed her the cell phone on his belt. â€Å"Base of operations,† he said. â€Å"Most of the trouble has been starting in here anyway. If I'm here already, I can stop it before it escalates.† â€Å"Very conscientious of you.† â€Å"No, I'm just lazy,† Theo said. â€Å"And tired. In the last three weeks I've been called to five domestic disputes, ten fights, two people who barricaded themselves in the bathroom and threatened suicide, a guy who was going house to house knocking the heads off garden gnomes with a sledgehammer, and a woman who tried to take her husband's eye out with a spoon.† â€Å"Oh my. Sounds like one day in the life of an L.A. cop.† â€Å"This isn't L.A.,† Theo said. â€Å"I don't mean to complain, but I'm not really prepared for a crime wave.† â€Å"And there's nowhere left to run,† Estelle said. â€Å"Pardon?† â€Å"People come here to run away from conflict, don't you think? Come to a small town to get out of the violence and the competition in the city. If you can't handle it here, there's nowhere else to go. You might as well give up.† â€Å"Well, that's a little cynical. I thought artists were supposed to be idealists.† â€Å"Scratch a cynic and you'll find a disappointed romantic,† Estelle said. â€Å"That's you?† Theo asked. â€Å"A disappointed romantic?† â€Å"The only man I ever loved died.† â€Å"I'm sorry,† Theo said. â€Å"Me too.† She drained her cup of wine. â€Å"Easy on that, Estelle. It doesn't help.† â€Å"I'm not a drinker. I just had to get out of the house.† There was some shouting over by the pool table. â€Å"My presence is required,† Theo said. â€Å"Excuse me.† He made his way through the crowd to where two men were squaring off to fight. Estelle signaled Mavis for a refill and turned to watch Theo try to make peace. Catfish Jefferson sang a sad song about a mean old woman doing him wrong. That's me, Estelle thought. A mean old worthless woman. Self-medication was working by midnight. Most of the customers at the Slug had given in and started clapping and wailing along with Catfish's Blues. Quite a few had given up and gone home. By closing time, there were only five people left in the Slug and Mavis was cackling over a drawer full of money. Catfish Jefferson put down his National steel guitar and picked up the two-gallon pickle jar that held his tips. Dollar bills spilled over the top, change skated in the bottom, and here and there in the middle fives and tens struggled for air. There was even a twenty down there, and Catfish dug in after it like a kid going for a Cracker Jack prize. He carried the jar to the bar and plopped down next to Estelle, who was gloriously, eloquently crocked. â€Å"Hey, baby,† Catfish said. â€Å"You like the Blues?† Estelle searched the air for the source of the question, as if it might have come from a moth spiraling around one of the lights behind the bar. Her gaze finally settled on the Bluesman and she said, â€Å"You're very good. I was going to leave, but I liked the music.† â€Å"Well, you done stayed now,† Catfish said. â€Å"Look at this.† He shook the money jar. â€Å"I got me upward o' two hundred dollar here, and that mean old woman owe me least that much too. What you say we take a pint and my guitar and go down to the beach, have us a party?† â€Å"I'd better get home,† Estelle said. â€Å"I have to paint in the morning.† â€Å"You a painter? I never knowed me a painter. What you say we go down to the beach and watch us a sunrise?† â€Å"Wrong coast,† Estelle said. â€Å"The sun comes up over the mountains.† Catfish laughed. â€Å"See, you done saved me a heap of waiting already. Let's you and me go down to the beach.† â€Å"No, I can't.† â€Å"It 'cause I'm Black, ain't it?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"‘Cause I'm old, right?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"‘Cause I'm bald. You don't like old bald men, right?† â€Å"No!† Estelle said. â€Å"‘Cause I'm a musician. You heard we irresponsible?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"‘Cause I'm hung like a bull, right?† â€Å"No!† Estelle said. Catfish laughed again. â€Å"Well, you wouldn't mind spreadin that one around town just the same, would you?† â€Å"How would I know how you're hung?† â€Å"Well,† Catfish said, pausing and grinning, â€Å"you could go to the beach with me.† â€Å"You are a nasty and persistent old man, aren't you, Mr. Jefferson?† Estelle asked. Catfish bowed his shining head, â€Å"I truly am, miss. I truly am nasty and persistent. And I am too old to be trouble. I admits it.† He held out a long, thin hand. â€Å"Let's have us a party on the beach.† Estelle felt like she'd just been bamboozled by the devil. Something smooth and vibrant under that gritty old down-home shuck. Was this the dark shadow her paintings kept finding in the surf? She took his hand. â€Å"Let's go to the beach.† â€Å"Ha!† Catfish said. Mavis pulled a Louisville Slugger from behind the bar and held it out to Estelle. â€Å"Here, you wanna borrow this?† They found a niche in the rocks that sheltered them from the wind. Catfish dumped sand from his wing tips and shook his socks out before laying them out to dry. â€Å"That was a sneaky old wave.† â€Å"I told you to take off your shoes,† Estelle said. She was more amused than she felt she had a right to be. A few sips from Catfish's pint had kept the cheap white wine from going sour in her stomach. She was warm, despite the chill wind. Catfish, on the other hand, looked miserable. â€Å"Never did like the ocean much,† Catfish said. â€Å"Too many sneaky things down there. Give a man the creeps, that's what it does.† â€Å"If you don't like the ocean, then why did you ask me to come to the beach?† â€Å"The tall man said you like to paint pictures of the beach.† â€Å"Lately, the ocean's been giving me a bit of the creeps too. My paintings have gone dark.† Catfish wiped sand from between his toes with a long finger. â€Å"You think you can paint the Blues?† â€Å"You ever seen Van Gogh?† Catfish looked out to sea. A three-quarter moon was pooling like mercury out there. â€Å"Van Gogh†¦Van Gogh†¦fiddle player outta St. Louis?† â€Å"That's him,† Estelle said. Catfish snatched the pint out of her hand and grinned. â€Å"Girl, you drink a man's liquor and lie to him too. I know who Vincent Van Gogh is.† Estelle couldn't remember the last time she'd been called a girl, but she was pretty sure she hadn't liked hearing it as much as she did now. She said, â€Å"Who's lying now? Girl?† â€Å"You know, under that big sweater and them overalls, they might be a girl. Then again, I could be wrong.† â€Å"You'll never know.† â€Å"I won't? Now that is some sad stuff there.† He picked up his guitar, which had been leaning on a rock, and began playing softly, using the surf as a backbeat. He sang about wet shoes, running low on liquor, and a wind that chilled right to the bone. Estelle closed her eyes and swayed to the music. She realized that this was the first time she'd felt good in weeks. He stopped abruptly. â€Å"I'll be damned. Look at that.† Estelle opened her eyes and looked toward the waterline where Catfish was pointing. Some fish had run up on the beach and were flopping around in the sand. â€Å"You ever see anything like that?† Estelle shook her head. More fish were coming out of the surf. Beyond the breakers, the water was boiling with fish jumping and thrashing. A wave rose up as if being pushed from underneath. â€Å"There's something moving out there.† Catfish picked up his shoes. â€Å"We gots to go.† Estelle didn't even think of protesting. â€Å"Yes. Now.† She thought about the huge shadows that kept appearing under the waves in her paintings. She grabbed Catfish's shoes, jumped off the rock, and started down the beach to the stairs that led up to a bluff where Catfish's station wagon waited. â€Å"Come on.† â€Å"I'm comin'.† Catfish spidered down the rock and stepped after her. At the car, both of them winded and leaning on the fenders, Catfish was digging in his pocket for the keys when they heard the roar. The roar of a thousand phlegmy lions – equal amounts of wetness, fury, and volume. Estelle felt her ribs vibrate with the noise. â€Å"Jesus! What was that?† â€Å"Get in the car, girl.† Estelle climbed into the station wagon. Catfish was already fumbling the key into the ignition. The car fired up and he threw it into drive, kicking up gravel as he pulled away. â€Å"Wait, your shoes are on the roof.† â€Å"He can have them,† Catfish said. â€Å"They better than the ones he ate last time.† â€Å"He? What the hell was that? You know what that was?† â€Å"I'll tell you soon as I'm done havin this heart attack.† Five The Sea Beast The great Sea Beast paused in his pursuit of the delicious radioactive aroma and sent a subsonic message out to a gray whale passing several miles ahead of him. Roughly translated, it said, â€Å"Hey, baby, how's about you and I eat a few plankton and do the wild thing.† The gray whale continued her relentless swim south and replied with a subsonic thrum that translated, â€Å"I know who you are. Stay away from me.† The Sea Beast swam on. During his journey he had eaten a basking shark, a few dolphins, and several hundred tuna. His focus had changed from food to sex. As he approached the California coast, the radioactive scent began to diminish to almost nothing. The leak at the power plant had been discovered and fixed. He found himself less than a mile offshore with a belly full of shark – and no memory of why he'd left his volcanic nest. But there was a buzz reaching his predator's senses from shore, the listless re-solve of prey that has given up: depression. Warm-blooded food, dolphins, and whales sent off the same signal sometimes. A large school of food was just asking to be eaten, right near the edge of the sea. He stopped out past the surf line and came to the surface in the middle of a kelp bed, his massive head breaking though strands of kelp like a zombie pickup truck breaking sod as it rises from the grave. Then he heard it. A hated sound. The sound of an enemy. It had been half a century since the Sea Beast had left the water, and land was not his natural domain, but his instinct to attack overwhelmed his sense of self-preservation. He threw back his head, shaking the great purple gills that stood out on his neck like trees, and blew the water from his vestigial lungs. Breath burned down his cavernous throat for the first time in fifty years and came out in a horrendous roar of pain and anger. Three of the protective ocular membranes slid back from his eyes like electric car windows. allow-ing him to see in the bitter air. He thrashed his tail, pumped his great webbed feet, and torpedoed toward the shore. Gabe It had been almost ten years since Gabe Fenton had dissected a dog, but now, at three o'clock in the morning, he was thinking seriously about taking a scalpel to Skinner, his three-year-old Labrador retriever, who was deep in the throes of a psychotic barking fit. Skinner had been banished to the porch that afternoon, after he had taken a roll in a dead seagull and refused to go into the surf or get near the hose to be washed off. To Skinner, dead bird was the smell of romance. Gabe crawled out of bed and padded to the door in his boxers, scooping up a hiking boot along the way. He was a biologist, held a Ph.D. in animal behavior from Stanford, so it was with great academic credibility that he opened the door and winged the boot at his dog, following it with the behavior-reinforcing command of: â€Å"Skinner, shut the fuck up!† Skinner paused in his barking fit long enough to duck under the flying L. L. Bean, then, true to his breeding, retrieved it from the washbasin that he used as a water dish and brought it back to the doorway where Gabe stood. Skinner set the soggy boot at the biologist's feet. Gabe closed the door in Skinner's face. Jealous, Skinner thought. No wonder he can't get any females, smelling like fabric softener and soap. The Food Guy wouldn't be so cranky if he'd get out and sniff some butts. (Skinner always thought of Gabe as â€Å"the Food Guy.†) Then, after a quick sniff to confirm that he was, indeed, the Don Juan of all dogs, Skinner resumed his barking fit. Doesn't he get it, Skinner thought, there's something dangerous coming. Danger, Food Guy, danger! Inside, Gabe Fenton glanced at the computer screen in his living room as he returned to bed. A thousand tiny green dots were working their way, en masse, across the map of the Pine Cove area. He stopped and rubbed his eyes. It wasn't possible. Gabe went to the computer and typed in a command. The map of the area reappeared in wider scale. Still, the dots were all moving in a line. He zoomed the map to only a few square miles, the dots were still on the move. Each green dot on the map represented a rat that Gabe had live-trapped, injected with a microchip, and released into the wild. Their location was tracked and plotted by satellite. Every rat in a ten-square-mile area was moving east, away from the coast. Rats did not behave that way. Gabe ran the data backward, looking at the rodents' movements over the last few hours. The exodus had started abruptly, only two hours ago, and already most of the rats had moved over a mile inland. They were running full-tilt and going far beyond their normal range. Rats are sprinters, not long-distance runners. Something was up. Gabe hit a key and a tiny green number appeared next to each of the dots. Each chip was unique, and each rat could be identified like airplanes on the screen of an air traffic controller. Rat 363 hadn't moved outside of a two-meter range for five days. Gabe had assumed that she had either given birth or was ill. Now 363 was half a mile from her normal territory. Anomalies are both the bane and bread of researchers. Gabe was excited by the data, but at the same time it made him anxious. An anomaly like this could lead to a discovery, or make him look like a total fool. He cross-checked the data three different ways, then tapped into the weather station on the roof. Nothing was happening in the way of weather, all changes in barometric pressure, humidity, wind, and temperature were well within normal ranges. He looked out the window: a low fog was settling on the shore, totally normal. He could just make out the lighthouse a hundred yards away. It had been shut down for twenty years, used only as a weather station and as a base for biological research. He grabbed a blanket off of his bed and wrapped it around his shoulders against the chill, then returned to his desk. The green dots were still moving. He dialed the number for JPL in Pasadena. Skinner was still barking outside. â€Å"Skinner, shut the fuck up!† Gabe shouted just as the automated answering service put him through to the seismology lab. A woman answered. She sounded young, probably an intern. â€Å"Excuse me?† she said. â€Å"Sorry, I was yelling at my dog. Yes, hello, this is Dr. Gabe Fenton at the research station in Pine Cove, just wondering if you have any seismic activity in my area.† â€Å"Pine Cove? Can I get a longitude and latitude?† Gabe gave it to her. â€Å"I think I'm looking for something offshore.† â€Å"Nothing. Minor tremor centered at Parkfield yesterday at 9 A.M. Point zero-five-three. You wouldn't even be able to feel it. Have you picked something up on your instruments?† â€Å"I don't have seismographic instruments. That's why I called you. This is a biological research and weather station.† â€Å"I'm sorry, Doctor, I didn't know. I'm new here. Did you feel something?† â€Å"No. My rats are moving.† As soon as he said it, he wished he hadn't. â€Å"Pardon me?† â€Å"Never mind, I was just checking. I'm having some anomalous behavior in some specimens. If you pick up anything in the next few days, could you call me?† He gave her his number. â€Å"You think your rats are predicting an earthquake, Doctor?† â€Å"I didn't say that.† â€Å"You should know that there's no concrete data on animals predicting seismic activity.† â€Å"I know that, but I'm trying to eliminate all the possibilities.† â€Å"Did it occur to you that your dog might be scaring them?† â€Å"I'll factor that in,† Gabe said. â€Å"Thank you for your time.† He hung up, feeling stupid. Nothing seismic or meteorological, and a call to the highway patrol confirmed that there were no chemical spills or fires. He had to confirm the data. Perhaps something was wrong with the satellite signal. The only way to find out was to take out his portable antenna and track the rats in the field. He dressed quickly and headed out to his truck. â€Å"Skinner, you want to go for a ride?† Skinner wagged his tail and made a beeline for the truck. About time, he thought. You need to get away from the shore, Food Guy, right now. Inside the house, ten green dots were moving away from the others toward the shore. The Sea Beast The Sea Beast crawled up the beach, roaring as his legs took the full weight of his body and the undertow sucked at his haunches. The urgency of killing his enemy had diminished now and hunger was upon him in re-sponse to the effort of moving out of the ocean. An organ at the base of his brain that had disappeared from other species when man's only living an-cestors were tree shrews produced an electric signal to call food. There were many prey here, that same organ sensed. The Sea Beast came to the fifty-foot cliff that bordered the beach, reared back on his tail, and pulled himself up with his forelegs. He was a hundred feet long, nose to tail, and stood twenty-five feet tall with his broad neck extended to its full height. His rear feet were wide and webbed, his front talonlike, with a thumb that opposed three curved claws for grasping and killing prey. On the dry grass above the beach, some of the prey he had called already waited. Raccoons, ground squirrels, a few skunks, a fox, and two cats ca-vorted on the grass – some copulated, others dug at fleas with blissful abandon, others just rolled on their backs as if overcome by a fit of joy. The Sea Beast swept them into his great maw with a flick of his tongue, crunching a few bones on the way down, but swallowing most whole. He belched and savored the skunky bouquet, his jaws smacking together like two wet mattresses, and a flash of neon color ran across his flanks with the pleasure. He moved over the bluff, across the Coast Highway, and into the sleeping town. The streets were deserted, lights off in all the businesses on Cypress Street. A low fog splashed against the pseudo-Tudor half-timbered buildings and formed green coronas around the streetlights. Above it all, the red Texaco sign shone like a beacon. The Sea Beast changed the color of his skin to the same smoky gray as the fog and moved down the center of the street looking like a serpentine cloud. He followed a low rumbling sound coming from under the red beacon, broke out of the fog, and there he saw her. She purred, taunting and teasing him from the front of the deserted Texaco station. That come-hither rumble. That low, sexy growl. Those silver flanks reflecting fog and the red Texaco sign called to him, begged him to mount her. The Sea Beast flashed a rainbow of color down his sides to display his magnificent maleness. He fanned the gill trees on his neck, sending bands of color and light into their branches. The Sea Beast sent her a signal, which roughly translated into: â€Å"Hey, baby, haven't seen you around before.† She sat there, purring, playing coy, but he knew she wanted him. She had short black legs, a stumpy tail, and smelled as if she may have recently eaten a trawler, but those magnificent silver flanks were too much to resist. The Sea Beast turned himself silver as well, to make her feel a little more comfortable, then reared up on his hind legs and displayed his aroused member. No response, just that shy purring. He took it as an invitation and moved across the parking lot to mount the fuel truck. Estelle Estelle placed a mug of tea in front of Catfish, then sat down across the table from him with her own. Catfish sipped the tea and grimaced, then pulled the pint from his back pocket and unscrewed the cap. Estelle caught his hand before he could pour. â€Å"You have some explaining to do first, Mr. Bluesman.† Estelle was more than a little rattled. When they were only half a mile away from the beach, she had been overtaken by a sudden urge to return and had fought Catfish for control of the car. It was crazy behavior. It frightened her as much as the thing at the beach had, and when they got to her house she immediately took a Zoloft, even though she'd already had her dose for the day. â€Å"Leave me be, woman. I said I'd tell you. I needs me some nerve medicine.† Estelle released his hand. â€Å"What was that at the beach?† Catfish splashed some whiskey into Estelle's tea first, then into his own. He grinned, â€Å"You see my name wasn't always Catfish. I was born with the name of Meriwether Jefferson. Catfish come on me sometime later.† â€Å"Christ, Catfish, I'm sixty years old. Am I going to live long enough to hear the end of this story? What in the hell was out in the water tonight?† She was definitely not herself, swearing like this. â€Å"You wanna know or not?† Estelle sipped her tea. â€Å"Sorry, go ahead.†

Critical Thinking Reflection Essays - Education, Thought, Cognition

Critical Thinking Reflection Essays - Education, Thought, Cognition Critical Thinking Reflection Briana Thomas DATE \@ "M/d/yyyy" 2/6/2017 HUM 115 Week 5 Have you ever just wondered if it would really be worth it to get a college education or to just settle for an everyday jo b and barely get by? I know there are plenty of factors that play a part in deciding to go to school for another four years but you have to make huge step in deciding. In all decisions you make there will be positives and negatives to getting a college degree to better your self. Obtaining your college degree is an important step, both personally and professionally. You have to consider the financial, social and cultural benefits of higher education; it is easy to see how a degree can make a big difference in your life and career. So once you began to weigh out all your options of why you would choose to obtain your college education; you have to start putting a plan together to execute it. You start applying for colleges, deciding on a major, and then you began studying your major. Finally, after you graduate you will begin to see the reasons behind going to get a college education. Having a step process in deciding to get a college education will make you understand why you made the decision in your best interest. The critical thinking process is about knowing how to ask the right question when applying for jobs after graduating college. You have to know how to ask companies what are their education requirements are and then determine if you meet those requirements with the amount of education you have. If you meet those requirements then apply for the job and then you will see that obtaining a college degree was worth the while. I can use my critical thinking in any area researching and in determining which career field to pick to major in as well . The more I know about any issue it will be much easier to understand and create an d decide on i t. With all that I have learned in this course will help me to be more analytical and always collab orate all of the information in the future to apply in my life and any situation that I may encounter . You can use critical thinking for just about anything; in fact it would be beneficial to use crit ical thinking for all problems or concerns, this way you view all possible ways to get a solution to problems I think the best way to continue to use critical thinking in the future is to never forget to ask plenty of questions and to inquire for answers. You can never go wrong with wanting to search and find any solutions to problems. This way you have more information to make the best decision possible.

How the US Federal Budget Process Is Supposed to Work

How the US Federal Budget Process Is Supposed to Work In the fiscal year 2018, the U.S. federal government budget committed to spending up to $4.09 trillion dollars. Based on estimated revenues totaling $3.65 trillion, the government will face a deficit of about $440 billion. Clearly, spending that much taxpayer money requires a carefully thought out and closely followed budget process. The ideals of democracy envision that the federal budget, like all aspects of the federal government, will speak to the needs and beliefs of the majority Americans. Clearly, that is a difficult standard to live up to, especially when it comes to spending nearly four trillion of those Americans’ dollars. To say the least, the federal budget is complicated, with many forces affecting it. There are laws controlling some aspects of the budget process, while other less well-defined influences, like those of the president, Congress, and the often-partisan political system play key roles in deciding how much of your money is spent on what. Over the years of government shutdowns, threats of government shutdowns, and last-minute resolutions passed by Congress to keep the government running, Americans have learned the hard way that the budget process actually operates in a far from perfect world. In a perfect world, however, the annual federal budget process begins in February, ends in October and goes like this: The President’s Budget Proposal Goes to Congress The President’s Budget Proposal informs Congress of the White House’s vision for the three basic elements of U.S. fiscal policy: (1) how much money the government should spend on public needs and programs; (2) how much money the government should take in through taxes and other sources of revenue; and (3) how large a deficit or surplus will result- simply the difference between money spent and money taken in. With much and often heated debate, Congress hacks away at the president’s Budget Proposal to come up with its own version, known as the Budget Resolution. Like any other piece of legislation, the House and Senate versions of the Budget Resolution must match. As a critical part of the budget process, the Congressional Budget Resolution sets spending limits on discretionary government programs for the next 5 years. Congress Creates the Annual Spending Bills The meat of the annual federal budget is, in fact, a set of â€Å"appropriations,† or spending bills distributing the funds allocated in the Budget Resolution among the various government functions. Roughly one-third of the spending authorized by any annual federal budget is â€Å"discretionary† spending, meaning it is optional, as approved by Congress. The annual spending bills approve discretionary spending. Spending for â€Å"entitlement† programs, like Social Security and Medicare is referred to as â€Å"mandatory† spending. A spending bill must be created, debated and passed to fund the programs and operations of each Cabinet-level agency. Per the Constitution, each spending bill must originate in the House. Since the House and Senate versions of each spending bill must be identical, this always becomes the most time-consuming step in the budget process. Congress and the President Approve the Spending Bills Once Congress has passed all of the annual spending bills, the president must sign them into law, and there is no guarantee that will happen. Should the programs or funding levels approved by Congress vary too greatly from those set by the president in his or her Budget Proposal, the president could veto one or all of the spending bills. Vetoed spending bills slow the process greatly. Final approval of the spending bills by the president signals the end of the annual federal budget process. The Federal Budget Calendar It starts in February and is supposed to be finished by October 1, the start of the government’s fiscal year. However, the federal budget process now tends to run behind schedule, requiring the passage of one or more â€Å"continuing resolutions† that keep the basic functions of government running and save us from the effects of a government shutdown.

Zara Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Zara Analysis - Research Paper Example Inditex’s portfolio includes eight retail brands including Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Zara, Zara Home, Oysho, Uterque, Stradivarius and Pull & Bear. Although each of these brands pertains to retail textile and distribution, for Inditex each one represents a different strategic business unit. The flagship brand however, is Zara. According to Reuters, Zara’s owner Inditex reported 32% increase in profit in the first half of the year 2012, sales worth of 7.2 billion Euros and EBITDA of 1.6 billion as compared to forecasts of 7.1 billion and 1.6 billion respectively. The percentage of operating expenses from sales reduced to 37.16 percent as opposed to 38.04% last year, this indicates that there is a higher percentage of revenue keeping other factors same. According to BBC website, the net sales have risen by 17% to 7.2 billion Euros. The opening of new stores by 2012 has also increased by 7%, thus now Inditex has 5,693 stores in 85 countries (www.bbc.co.uk). The company has also invested extensively in their home market of Spain, with the hopes of upgrading the commercial and logistic activities to boost their world-wide operations. Since Zara has presence in more than 85 countries of the world, the brand needs to adapt to the political environment of the country they are operating in. For France is particular Zara needs to consider the following aspects of the macro environment: The European financial crisis and the fluctuating value of the Euro have a strong impact on fashion apparel retailers. However as opposed to high-end French fashion brands, Zara is a medium tier brand. So the fashion-conscious target audience has also become price sensitive, this works in favor of Zara France is one of the best developed economies in the world. Thus the women in France are very internet savvy, so Zara needs to utilize the vast possibilities of online retailing as well. According to Annual Report 2011, social media and

Women and Work in Preindustrial Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Women and Work in Preindustrial Europe - Essay Example Yet, with the importance of their work and the need that it filled, it was most often relegated to a lower status and was maintained servile to the power structure that it served. Most women during this period worked in occupations that were done at or near the home. The need to maintain a family life often kept them oscillating between short periods of employment and the duties of motherhood. Out of convenience and necessity, a woman's choice of occupations was limited from birth. As Hanawalt observes, "The division of labor by sex was set early in a child's life" (8). A woman's dowry would be the initial contribution that women would make to the economy. It was most often used to set up the household, and then used to keep it running (Hanawalt 17). The tilling of soil was a solely male domain, while women became the bakers, cooks, tailors, and thread makers. This was done to support the home life and generate supplemental income. The brewing of ale, to be used in the home, was a typical example of a steady outside income, as was spinning thread (Hanawalt 11). While the woman's dowry and marriage became a pooled resource to support a family, slavery was an institution that supported the manors and generated a source of unskilled labor. Though oppressive, slavery was, as Sturad remarks, "... an acceptable alternative to for the organization of unskilled labor through the medieval period" (39). The slave system provided the labor for processing goods for export, as governesses, and wet nurses. Women were given special respect based on a complex system that was defined by skill and rank. Caring for children was a valued skill and the ability to provide breastmilk to newborns was economically rewarded. The system of slavery, while filling a societal need with efficiency, was overwhelmingly populated by women. In Ragusa during the years 1280-1284, the ranks of the slaves were as high as 90% female (Stuard 44). A woman's contribution to the economy was often hidden behind the most visible signs of commerce and the layers of male dominance. However, there were professions that enabled women to climb in status through occupational work. Nursing was especially valued. The 4 year apprenticeship required for nurses and the bonuses given to accept apprentices relate the importance that the beginning 16th century placed on the skill. The occupation was wide in scope demanding nurses to perform as back up medical assistants during plague epidemics (Weisner 105). While the occupations that were very gender specific were often rewarding for women, often women were excluded from the normal channels of commerce. The crafts were generally maintained as a male dominion as was membership in most guilds. Though not legally barred from entering crafts, a woman would most likely enter the field through her family's or husband's business. The same was true of the status gained by entering a trade, as it would be lower than the male membership. Where wealthier men had even greater dominance, such as Exeter, organizations were formed that effectively barred women's participation by excluding them from select groups. Markets and commerce were not banned by law, but the prejudice of tradition as Kowaleski observed, "...effectively blocked any real chance of commercial success" (155). Single women and wives could rarely escape the lower status granted to them unless they married into a status.