Thursday, December 26, 2019

Questions On Financial Crimes Against The Elderly

1st Topic of Discussion: Financial Crimes Against the Elderly. Please see â€Å"PD 3324† The Committee discussed Preliminary Draft (PD) No. 3324, Financial Crimes Against the Elderly. This drafted legislation will permit a financial institution to release certain financial records to a law enforcement agency of Adult Protective Services (APS) unit if the financial institution reasonably suspects illegal activity in connection with the account, and provides immunity to a financial institution that releases, or does not release, this information. Permits a court to order a person convicted of exploitation of a dependent or endangered adult to order the disgorgement of any property the person received as the result of the death of the dependent or endangered adult. The legislation also urges the general assembly to assign the topic of adult protective services to a study committee during the 2016 legislative interim. Upon explanation of the bill Representative Pierce brought up his discomfort in Section (c) of the legislation. The language is too broad and ambiguous and nee ds to be identical to the immunity language that is throughout the Indiana Code (IC). Further, Representative Pierce Motioned to amend Section (c) to read similar to all immunity language in IC, the motion to amend was unanimously adopted by the committee. Upon completion of discussion Senator Lanane moved that PD 3324 be recommended by the Committee as model legislation, the Committee voted 13 to 1 to recommendShow MoreRelatedCrime and Punishment: Intent Makes the Difference Essay1718 Words   |  7 Pages There are many different types of crime and punishment in medical law ranging from criminal to civil. Below I will explain the difference of criminal and civil and give descriptions of the different types of crime and punishment in the two categories. What is a criminal crime or act? The definition of criminal is anyone who has committed a criminal offense (a crime against the state) or who has been proven guilty of such an offense. Criminal crimes have two types of charges, misdemeanors and feloniesRead MoreDifferent Types Of Abuse And The Elderly Population877 Words   |  4 PagesDifferent Types of Abuse in the Elderly Population The aging population in the United State is at risk for not only chronic health problems, but abuse including, physical, sexual, psychological/emotional, and/or financial. With the increase number of elders being seen by healthcare professionals it is important to know what suspicions to look for, to report accurately and appropriately. Financial Abuse Financial elder abuse â€Å"is the unauthorized or improper use of the elder’s resources forRead MoreThe Aging Population During The United State863 Words   |  4 Pagespsychological/emotional, and/or financial. With the increase number of elders being seen by healthcare professionals it is important to know what suspicions to look for, to report accurately and appropriately. Financial Abuse Financial elder abuse â€Å"is the unauthorized or improper use of the elder’s resources for monetary or personal benefit, profit, or gain such as forgery, theft, or improper use of guardianship or power of attorney† (Jarvis, 2016, p.104). Financial abuse has been described as notRead MoreNeglect As Defined By Merriam Webster Essay1515 Words   |  7 Pagessubcategory of abuse, will be expanded. For all intents and purposes of this paper the elderly will be defined as persons sixty and up. Senior neglect is not fulfilling a caretaking obligation. It could also include putting your elderly grandparents or parent on the backburner. Not giving them the attention and love they deserve. According to the National Center on elder abuse ninety percent of the roughly two percent of elderly neglect cases actually reported to the authorities are committed by a family member-Read MoreEssay on Elder Financial Exploitation1129 Words   |  5 Pageselder financial exploitation? In a study conducted by the University of Virginia, there are four predominant types of elder maltreatment. This includes pure financial exploitation (PFE), physical abuse, neglect by others or self, and hybrid financial exploitation (HFE). PFE is elder financial exploitation without any other abuse cited. PFE is usually conducted by unknown individuals to the elderly victim, as in mortgage or home improvement scams. HFE is a combination of elder financial exploitationRead MoreGreece Case Study1572 Words   |  7 Pagesnatural gas. Question 2: Question 3:The effects of imperialism upon Greece has caused the troubles that Greece is going through today. According to www.canadiandimension.com, The series of events that occurred from 1941-1949 give rise to Greeces currents state today. 1941 was the year Nazi Germany, under Hitlers rule, came into Greece and took over. This resulted in Greece forming ELAS (Greek Peoples Liberation Army), and because of this new organization, they were able to fight back against ItalianRead MoreStrangers: Identity Theft and Identity Fraud 1604 Words   |  6 PagesStrangers: Identity Theft and Identity Fraud What is Identity Theft and Identity Fraud? The U.S. Department of Justice defines Identity theft and identity fraud as â€Å"all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain.† Some of the tactics used by thieves to steal personal information are through shoulder surfing. This is when people watch from a nearby location as you punch in creditRead MoreFraud : A Civil Wrong And A Criminal Wrong2141 Words   |  9 Pageshaven’t really explained the connection]. This is because throughout the dawn of time people come up with ways for them to make money as easily as possible whether it is a legal method or not. Financial crimes occur everyday, from embezzlement to racketeering, there are many variations to financial crimes. These crimes typically involve some form of deceit, or the abuse of a position of trust, which distinguishes them from common theft or robbery. Fraud is a major part of today’s society, and most companiesRead MoreThe Global Epidemic Of Elder Abuse Essay1743 Words   |  7 Pagesagencies† (Dong, 2012, p. 2151). Elder mistreatment can occur in a variety of settings including domestic and assisted living. Elder abuse incl udes psychological, physical, and sexual abuse; neglect to include both caregiver and self-neglect; and financial exploitation. With the vast explosion of the aging population in today’s society elder abuse can no longer loom in the shadows. Literature Review After many years, the global epidemic of elder abuse is beginning to receive the public attentionRead MoreCriminal Law and Procedure Week 5 Homework1693 Words   |  7 Pagesand Procedure course at Devry University by Jonah Colombo. Week 5 Homework 1. Page 355 in the text: Questions for Thought and Discussion: Questions 5, 9, and 11 Question 5: Based on the ruling of the Supreme Court in City of Chicago v. Morales, what protections of the individual do you think must be included in an ordinance proscribing loitering? An individual’s protection against illegal search and seizure must be preserved. Just because a group of young people are loitering (gathering

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

My Passion Is My Hijab - 945 Words

My passion is my Hijab. Ever since I have started wearing it, it has become a part of me. It is the main source of my confidence and it makes me unique. Believe it or not, it is what keeps me going and helps me overcome almost all of my problems. It strengthens my relation with God and brings me closer to him. It keeps me safe from people who might make me feel uncomfortable and makes people treat me in a respectful way. I still remember how it all started and how much I suffered until I was able to practice wearing the Hijab. I have been twelve years old at that time. My parents did not agree with me, they had many reasons to stop me from wearing it. First, they have felt that I am too young to begin wearing it, and they also did not like it as much. Second, they were worried that, I would change my mind about it as I grow up and decide to take it off. Another reason was that they thought, I just want to copy other people and wear the hijab. However, I wanted to do it because I felt I am ready to feel safer. All the time, I would take a visit to my mother’s closet and put on one of her fancy scarves and go out in public. She used to get extremely mad when she saw me wearing it. She used to start screaming, slapping me, and forcing me to take it off. I would never obey her and insist on doing it over and over again. Until that one day, she has decided to give up; it was the last night of Ramadan (Muslims Holy month of fasting). She comes up to me and says, â€Å"I give you theShow MoreRelatedI Am A Phd Student977 Words   |  4 Pagesgraduate school. Many thoughts came to my mind. I looked back, and I remembered myself one year ago. Actually many things have changed in my personality. I started to look at the people through a different lens, and that I accept every opinion from anyone. I do not judge people anymore because I know people have different issues in their lives that they went through, and those personal issues have shaped their lives. I dev eloped a passion for helping others, even though my schedule is so tight (family andRead MoreOur Well-Being Depends on a Secure Sense of Belonging to a Group.Docx871 Words   |  4 Pageskind’. A sense of security and comfort brings about an awareness of well being both mentally and physically. For instance, majority of Muslims who live in Australia still follow their religion into the extreme as they wear their well-known Burqas and Hijabs. This makes them feel secure and makes them believe that they are representing their religious group and hence making them feel secure. They also tend to be around with one another as their values, attitudes and the appearance do not contrast withRead MoreEssay on The Veil2050 Words   |  9 Pagesearly Jewish times, the veil was still used to separate men and women, especially before marriage. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, who is that man in the field coming to meet us? He is my master, the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah. (Genesis 24) Jewish practice also used the veil to separate God and GodlyRead MoreRacism And Discrimination Coincide With A Lot Of Issues1484 Words   |  6 Pagesyour head. This is what many Muslim women across the globe have to experience each day. In my opinion these are the types of things that need more media coverage, even the NFL should speak publicly about. It is not fair that somebody is discriminated against because of the color of their skin, what religion they choose to follow, or how the live their life. If somebody wants to and it is their dream and passion he/she should be allowed to play. Others should stress this argument and do whatever it takesRead MoreOutcasts United By Warren St John Based On The Incredible Tale Of A Refugee Team1157 Words   |  5 Pageswar-torn zones such as Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, Liberia, and others. In the long run, Clarkston was filled with a higher number of different cultural groups, replacing its previous homogenous community. Unlike in the past , now there were women wearing hijabs, scents of curry and cumin, and children of different colours playing on any open space in the town. At that time, Luma Mufleh, an American-schooled woman of Jordanian descent also resided in Clarkston, Georgia. It is Luma Mufleh’s right actions thatRead MoreEssay1536 Words   |  7 Pagesthought to myself. It was just what I had feared for in the car, what had made me shut my mouth the entire car ride. I was left alone now even after I did nothing bad, it wasn’t fair. Adam wasn’t as bothered by this for some reason and I strived not to reveal any emotions either, but inside I felt as if I was just insensitively thrown into an orphanage. â€Å"What do you want to do?†, the woman asked, interrupting my emotional pain. â€Å"Computers!†, Adam replied. â€Å"Okay, let’s go†, the woman said. IRead MoreThe Barbie Dolls Role Model For Children1731 Words   |  7 PagesBarbara and her friends would use them to play adult, make-believe, imagining roles as college students, cheerleaders and adults with careers (History of Barbie). Ruth then recognized that as a child pretend play was an important part of growing up. â€Å"My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices† (Ruth Handler). Ruth Handler, who co-founded Mattel, Inc. with her husband in 1945Read MoreEconomic and Sociological Perspective on the Book, Outcasts United1716 Words   |  7 Pagesthe stories of refugees that come from different background and countries in which they are connected together by an American- educated Jordanian woman called Luma Mufleh. Despite their difficulties in establishing new identity, they found their passion in soccer and with Luma Mufleh as their coach th ey create a soccer team called Fugees. In the early chapters of the book, it illustrates the difficulties to make a group of kids from different background unite and work together but later, Luma’s programRead MoreWomen Before and After the Pahlavi Period in Iran5501 Words   |  23 Pages(leader of Iranian revolution) at the beginning of the Pahlavi dynasty. After overthrowing the Qajar monarchy, the new king set out to possess half of the agricultural lands in Iran and officially registered them to himself. He was known for his passion for possessing jewelry. He focused his interest on building a strong army to protect his property. Reza Shah was overwhelmed by the secular experiment in turkey at the hands of Kamal Mustapha Ataturk, who imposed on his people to take off the IslamicRead MoreBecoming A Successful Retail Store Manager For A Large Wireless Company Essay1979 Words   |  8 Pagesdeveloped leadership skills in my staff, often resulting in their promotion, achieved exceptional record breaking results in every opportunity, and bringing out the best in the employees that I led, while maintaining high ethical standards. My employees actively sought my guidance for professional development, as well as personal life choices. Often, they relied on me as a reliable, caring, resource for them to achieve personal and individual goal s. Although my professional success was well documented

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Investment and Portfolio Management Organized Market Place

Question: Discuss about the Investment and Portfolio Management for Organized Market Place. Answer: Introduction Brief history of Singapore Exchange Limited Stock Exchange is an organized form of marketplace where securities of various companies are listed and traded. Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX), located in Singapore, was founded in December 1999. It is an investment company which facilitates the formation of capital and thereby supports economic and financial growth of the country. SGX is governed under the chairmanship of Chew Choon Seng with a market capital of US$ 8.19 billion. About 771 companies are listed on the SGX among which almost 40% are overseas companies (Raghuvanshi, 2016). From the last nine consecutive years, SGX is ranked as the best market place for the investors for doing business across the world. It plays a major role in the securities and derivative market of Asia (sgx, 2016). Shareholding of Singapore Exchange Limited Figure 1: Shareholding of Singapore Exchange Limited Image Source: (Lim, 2015) The shareholding of Singapore Exchange Limited has been shown in the figure 3. The graph indicates that 62 % of the shareholding is among the Singapore based companies whereas other 38% are the overseas companies listed on the SGX. The majority of the shareholding i.e. 24% is from the South East Asia while other 15% shareholding is from Hong Kong. Japan and Korea has a shareholding of 5% in the Singapore Exchange. Whereas, Australia and Europe has the shareholding of 4% and 3% respectively in the Singapore Exchange Limited. These shareholdings show that the SGX has its presence all around the world. It provides many investors various opportunities to invest in the international market. With the increase in its stability and economic growth Singapore Exchange diversifies its products and services. Since 1981, monetary and fiscal policy in Singapore has maintained a center position in the supervision of the exchange rate. Singapore Exchange limited has been established with an objective of promoting stability in the prices for the sustainable economic growth. It is known as the fastest emerging market of stock exchange in ASEAN. However, Singapore Exchange Limited was formed with the cancellation of some earlier exchange companies; specifically Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX), Securities clearing and Computer Services (SCCS) and Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES). These companies have issued new shares in the market which were paid up by Singapore Exchange Limited. In the year 2000, SGX has become the second listed exchange company through public and private placement offer in the region of Asia Pacific. The Asian and Oceanian Stock Exchanges Federation and World Federation of Exchanges are the members of Singapore Exchange Limited. SGX offers various securitie s and derivatives related trading services to its customers. This investment holding company brings different companies together whose investor wants to grow with different opportunities. The securities market of Singapore Exchange Limited provides tools to their investors which help them to manage risks and exposure in commodities, currency markets and equities (shareholder, 2014). Stock prices of Singapore Exchange Limited Figure 2: Graph showing stock prices of Singapore Exchange Limited Image Source:(morningstar, 2016) The stock prices of Singapore Exchange Limited have been shown in the graph above. The data has been shown for the last five years i.e. from 2011 to 2016. Graph 1 shows fluctuation in the stock prices in the last five years. Y axis of the graph shows the volume of stock traded while X axis represents the time period i.e. year. There are various factors which influence stock prices of Singapore Exchange Limited including economic and political policies, market conditions, regulatory framework of Singapore, financial performance of the company etc. In the early 2011, stock prices of SGX were lower than the prices of stock in the year 2013. However, stock prices of SGX were highest in the late 2014 among all the five years. Singapore Exchange Limited has observed high rate of fluctuation in their stock prices due to prevailing market conditions of the country. Despite of many ups and downs in the stock prices, SGX is currently experiencing stability in its stock prices. Highest volume o f stocks traded by Singapore Exchange was 4,633,400 in the last five years (morningstar, 2016). Whereas, lowest volume of stock traded in the last five year was 6, 37,000(morningstar, 2016). The stability in the stock prices of SGX increases the investment opportunity for many investors. Earnings Per share of Singapore Exchange Limited Figure 3: Earnings per share of Singapore Exchange Limited Image Source: (morningstar, 2016) Graph 2 shows the Earning per share of Singapore Exchange Limited for the five years i.e. from 2012 to 2016. X axis of the graph indicates the year while Y axis shows EPS of SGX. From the above graph it can said that the Earnings per Share of SGX is stable. From the year 2012 to 2016, EPS is calculated as 0.27, 0.31, 0.30, 0.33 and 0.33 respectively. Therefore, in the year 2016, EPS of SGX has been observed as the highest over the last five years. The basic and diluted EPS of the Singapore Exchange Limited is similar in these five years (morningstar, 2016). Discussion Operation of Singapore Exchange Singapore Exchange Limited is the holding company of investment which operates in multiple locations across the world. SGX operates in the trading and clearing of both products including securities and derivatives. The structure of SGX is formed in such a manner that it operates in the several divisions of the exchange market. It engages in the management of treasury, stipulation of administrative services and management of the related corporation, technology connectivity services and contract processing provision. Singapore Exchange Limited functions through the operation of different business segments including securities market and derivative market. In the securities market, SGX offers clearing, trading and settlement of exchange traded funds, structured warrants and stocks. It also provides market data, connectivity services, and member and issuer services. Whereas, derivative market of the company provides the investor with a large portfolio of products related to derivative ac ross commodities, currencies and equity indices. SGX is the single clearing house based in Asian for financial derivatives and over the counter commodities. The other business segment of Singapore Exchange Limited offers services other than related to securities and derivatives market. Singapore Exchange Limited operates in the trading hours involving 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It executes its operation daily through an intraday and ends of day clearing cycle. The stock market of Singapore is diversified into different sectors and products. The major ten active stocks of SGX on the daily basis signify six different sectors. While, nearly 150 business sectors is represented by 700 stocks listed on the SGX. However, Singapore Exchange also operates in the security products including business trust, real estate investment trust, structured warrants and exchange traded funds. SGX focuses on the execution of long term strategic goals of the company for the growth and development of the products and services it offers to its customers. SGX has strengthened its regulatory function while considering the global economic concern. It has also grown its presence in the Asian market with more opportunity of trading venues and deployment of its resources. SGX operates on the basis of esta blished framework, identifying the area of significant risk and supervisory attention. It strengthens the risk management system and internal control of the listed share among different sector of the business operations. Products Offered Singapore Exchange Limited offers various products and services to its customers. The wide range of products offered by SGX is divided into sub groups based on its features including securities, fixed income and derivatives. Securities Singapore Exchange deals in various securities including stocks, ETFs, ADR, REIT and structured warrants to safeguard against the insider trading. Stocks Stocks of the company indicate the ownership of the investor in a company along with the claim investor has on the assets and earnings of the company. Straits Times Index is the standard benchmark for the Singapore Exchange market. Through this benchmark, performance of stocks of top 30 listed companies are tracked which contributes to the capital and liquidity growth of the country (sgx, 2016). Exchange Traded Funds There are around 80 exchange traded funds listed in the SGX that provides an exposure to different areas of asset classes. It is an investment in the open ended fund which aims to signify the performance of market index. Many investors invest in the Exchange Traded Funds in order to maximize the exposure in the constituents of index by expanding their portfolio under index market (sgx, 2016). American Depository Receipts Singapore Exchange is the first stock exchange that provides trading of the international securities including depository shares and receipts of the company which are previously listed on the other stock exchange. American Depository Receipts offer an access to the investors to trade in the international securities of the largest companies around the world (sgx, 2016). Real Estate Investment Trusts and Business Trusts SGX also offers the investor to invest in REIT and business trusts to generate income through real estate. The units of business trust and REIT are traded on the market driven prices. Investment in REIT and business trust possesses various benefits including tax benefits, diversification in the portfolio and income distribution (sgx, 2016). Structured Warrants SGX offers Structured Warrants with an underlying coverage value of stocks and indices of Asia that allows many investors to access leverage in the domestic and foreign markets both (sgx, 2016). Fixed Income Investment in the fixed income guards the investor against any capital loss over a period of time. The securities offering fixed income provide flexibility to attain several investment goals (sgx, 2016). Retail Bonds Retail bonds offered by SGX are sold to the retail investors in the stock market. The government and corporation agencies offer these bonds in order to raise money for the accomplishment of specific projects. Preference Shares Income on Preference stocks pays a fixed amount of dividend to its shareholders. This share provides priority to its shareholders over other shareholders of the company. Singapore Government Securities Singapore Government Securities bonds are usually issued for a period of more than one year. Monetary Authority of Singapore issues these bonds on the behalf of Government of Singapore. Derivatives Financial Products The financial products of Singapore Exchange Limited include different products that help the investor to manage risk and get exposure in the market of equity, interest rates and currencies. It allows the investor to evade their investment against uncertainty in the environment of monetary and macroeconomic policy. The financial derivatives of Singapore Exchange offer tools to its investors that position them in the best manner in the changing market environment (sgx, 2016). Commodities Products In the recent decades, global demand for commodities products has increased rapidly. Through investing in SGX commodities products, both investors and managers position themselves from high fluctuation in the prices of commodities for the purpose of operation and investment. The commodities products of Singapore Exchange include rubber, coal, precious metals, freight, iron ore and steel, electricity and oil and gas (sgx, 2016). How investment managers managing their respective portfolios Investment in securities and derivatives involves diversification of investment portfolio as well as it involves financial risk. The investment manager therefore needs to develop some strategy in order to maximize return and liquidity and thereby also reduces risk among portfolio. The investment managers classify their portfolio on the basis of its operational efficiency, market opportunities, regulatory environment and prices of the investment products. The managers measure the balance between risk and return involved in the investment of portfolios. Managers choose the investment products based on the suitability of the customers' expectations and thereby rebalance the portfolio every year depending on the situation of market conditions. They also manage their portfolio through keeping the cost of assets at its minimum. Managers also consider implementation of tax while investing in different assets of the company. Conclusion Singapore Exchange Limited is one of the largest stock exchange company, deals in trading, clearing and settlement of securities and derivatives. Investors have many opportunities to maximize return through investing in SGX as it offers wide range of products and services to the investors. Bibliography Lim, S., 2015. Singapore Capital Markets For AusIMM Sydney, s.l.: s.n. morningstar, 2016. Singapore Exchange Ltd. [Online] Available at: https://financials.morningstar.com/income-statement/is.html?t=SPXCFregion=usaculture=en-US [Accessed 2016]. morningstar, 2016. Singapore Exchange Ltd. [Online] Available at: https://www.morningstar.com/stocks/XSES/S68/quote.html [Accessed 2016]. Raghuvanshi, G., 2016. Singapore Exchange Makes $ 103.4 million offer for Baltic Exchange. [Online] Available at: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/singapore-exchange-offers-1034-million-to-acquire-baltic-exchange-2016-08-04 [Accessed 2016]. sgx, 2016. About Derivatives. [Online] Available at: https://www.sgx.com/wps/portal/sgxweb/home/products/derivatives/about-derivatives/!ut/p/a1/jc69DoIwFAXgR-otxVLHItCfwWIKV-hiOhESRQfj84uGxUH0bCf5TnJIIB0JU3yMQ7yP1ymeXz3wE3Mq1caBFVhXIL3KE81rKvRmBv0MEilTDTvYKkUrMG2DhUTLSsv_28OXSPi1P5LwJlxAShMPVjmdgTSiYK3bU2zoA [Accessed 2016]. sgx, 2016. American Depositary Receipts. [Online] Available at: https://www.sgx.com/wps/portal/sgxweb/home/products/securities/adrs [Accessed 2016]. sgx, 2016. Exchange Traded Funds. [Online] Available at: https://www.sgx.com/wps/portal/sgxweb/home/products/securities/etfs [Accessed 2016]. sgx, 2016. Fixed Income. [Online] Available at: https://www.sgx.com/wps/portal/sgxweb/home/products/fixed_income/retail/!ut/p/a1/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOKNHB1NPAycDSz93S0MDDx9zAwCQ93dDNwNzIEKIpEVuLsbuhl4hoaEuTiGeRm7epkRp98AB3A0IKQ_XD8KnxIDfwN0BViciGZCmIE5UIG_U3BwWJhhoKsxVAEeRxbkhkYYZHqmAwAVG9IP/dl [Accessed 2016]. sgx, 2016. Products. [Online] Available at: https://www.sgx.com/wps/portal/sgxweb/home/products/derivatives/commodities [Accessed 2016]. sgx, 2016. Real Estate Investment Trusts Business Trust. [Online] Available at: https://www.sgx.com/wps/portal/sgxweb/home/products/securities/reits-bt [Accessed 2016]. sgx, 2016. Singapore Exchange. [Online] Available at: https://www.sgx.com/wps/portal/sgxweb/home/!ut/p/a1/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOKNHB1NPAycDSz9wwzMDTxD_Z2Cg8PCDANdjYEKIoEKDHAARwNC-sP1o8BK8JhQkBthkO6oqAgAzDYPQQ!!/dl5/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/ [Accessed 2016]. sgx, 2016. Stocks. [Online] Available at: https://www.sgx.com/wps/portal/sgxweb/home/products/securities/stocks [Accessed 2016]. sgx, 2016. Structured Warrants. [Online] Available at: https://www.sgx.com/wps/portal/sgxweb/home/products/securities/structured-warrants [Accessed 2016]. shareholder, 2014. ANNUAL REPORT, s.l.: s.n.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Who moved my cheese free essay sample

â€Å"Who moved my cheese? † is an allegorical story of how change is bound to happen in the life of every individual, especially in the work/business and personal life of every person. The story highlights 7 major steps in dealing with this change. The story itself is about two mice sniff and scurry and two humans, Hem and Haw, known as ‘little people’ – however they are still the same size as the mice. They lived in a maze with different sections. Their only purpose in the maze was to go in search of their favorite scarce food cheese. Now the maze represents the human environment that everyone lives in and the cheese represents the scarce resources we go in search of, for success or happiness in life. The various outlines in the maze represent the routes and strategies everyone employs in their quest for success and happiness. In the beginning of the story, the two mice – Sniff and Scurry paired together each day in search of cheese, whilst the little people – Hem and Haw did the same. We will write a custom essay sample on Who moved my cheese or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Because of the complex nature of the maze, the two groups are not very much aware of what the other is doing. So every day, very early in the morning they two groups put on their jogging suits and running shoes and went in search of cheese, using different routes. Whilst Sniff and Scurry relied on their simple rodent brain and instincts to find their way to the cheese, Hem and Haw on the other hand believed in their human ability to solve complex situations to make the discovery. One day the two groups finally found the scarce cheese they had been searching for in one of the stations marked cheese Station C. The two groups were each unaware of the others activities. Early each morning the two groups still went for their favorite cheese dressed in their jogging suits and running shoes. However it was not long before Sniff and Scurry stopped taking along their jogging suits and running shoes but only went there at their own pace in leisurely fashion to have their favorite cheese. Hem and Haw on the other hand, continued the same routine every morning, they only took off the running shoes and put them around their neck and enjoyed their cheese. Sniff and Scurry after a while with their mice brain, figured out that the cheese at some point in time will finally run out hence they started using other routes to find a new one as back up, whilst enjoying the cheese available but bearing in mind that the cheese is running out in Cheese Station C. Hem and Haw on the other hand had become comfortable, regarded the cheese as their property and did not think that it will ever run out, even though they had no idea how the cheese ended up in Cheese Station C. Then finally one day, the mice got to Cheese Station C to discover that the cheese was all gone, with their jogging suits and their running shoes in place, they continued from there to hunt for a new location for available cheese. When the humans got to Cheese Station C, and upon discovering the empty station, they were both disappointed and in shock. Hem was of the view that someone had moved their cheese so he encouraged them to keep coming back every day. He thought that they had been treated unfairly and needed compensation for the trouble, he also believed that they needed to stay put in Cheese Station C and work harder at looking for the cheese. Above all he also wanted to investigate the disappearance of the cheese in Cheese Station C. After several days of going back to Cheese Station C and after several attempts of Haw suggesting to Hem to start searching in a new place for new cheese, Haw finally made a decision to move on and step out in search of new cheese. He came to terms with the finished cheese and decided to go step out in search of new cheese. Haw on the other hand was still in denial and was afraid to step out in search of new cheese. Meanwhile, Sniff and Scurry on the other kept searching and searching till they discovered a new Cheese Station N and it was the biggest cheese discovery in their lifetime. Haw then steps out through the dark alleys of the maze in search of a new cheese station and left Hem behind. Haw journeyed in search of cheese and initially did not make it outright, but he persevered till he finally found what he was looking for. Enough cheese in Cheese Station N, the same discovery Sniff and Scurry had made. Whist on his journey to the new discoveries, Haw decided to write down some life lessons as he journeyed along. The lessons and short sayings he wrote on the walls form the basis for the 7 lessons for life in an ever changing scene of life. For the purposes of this course, the 7 lessons will be limited to Business. Change Happens – They Keep Moving the Cheese The first lesson in business is that change is bound to happen. There will never be a permanent good, perfect or smooth condition. The business world is always changing and new challenges will always come up. Have a general idea of how the business trend works. Anticipate change – Get Ready for The Cheese to Move By knowing that change is bound to happen, the next thing to do is to expect that some change is on the way. By so doing you will be prepared should anything happen, so that as a business person no one is overtaken by events. It means planning and putting away resources for a rainy day as well. Monitor Change – Smell the Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old It will be necessary to get update on the market trends, monitor competitors, and get to know what the competitors are doing differently. Look for new opportunities and the business cannot rest on its oasis. Capture the biggest market share and maintain it, by never being complacent. Brain storm and come up with new ways or idea of doing things when the old methods are ineffective or when times change and it cannot be relied upon. Adapt to Change Quickly – The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, the Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese. The decision maker(s) cannot be oblivious, blind to the current state of the business nor can they be in denial about the changes in the business. An assessment of what went wrong will be very necessary to know the current position and its current state. Then a projection into the future of where the business intends to go to can be made, for the way forward. Change – Move with the Change Implementation of the necessary plans would have to be put in place, which is the new idea(s) that has been derived from the brainstorming and monitoring stage would at this stage would be used to realize success. The business cannot be stuck; it will have to move forward hence old ways of doing things cannot be applied anymore in the situation. Enjoy Change – Savor The Adventure And Enjoy the Taste of New Cheese! With the right implementation, things are bound to change and some positive results will be achieved. At this stage the business does not act like it is still experiencing down times. It will be necessary to take some time off reduce the speed and enjoy the new found success. Though still bearing in mind that it is an adventure so the unexpected can happen again. Be Ready to Change Quickly and enjoy it Again – They Keep Moving the Cheese. Change once again is bound to happen so the organization would experience some changes and new challenges will always come up. However having in mind that change will happen is not the only thing that the business should be aware of, but being able to quickly put in place the right strategy when the change happens is very crucial. In conclusion, â€Å"Who Moved My Cheese† is a book about life and the business world where there is bound to be changes, because it is a cycle and a repetition of events. The major lesson is about being able to survive the business world by being vigilant and not allowing challenging events and changing trends to snuff out the business. However, with a vigilant attitude that forecasts and anticipates change, control and preempts situations, before they happen, any business will face challenges but will continue to stay in business and will grow from there.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Do you aspire to live a stress-free life You might want to reconsider.

Do you aspire to live a stress-free life You might want to reconsider. STRESS. Just the word brings on a quickening of my heartbeat, a tightening in my chest and upper back, and a narrowing of my brow. These are the signs of stress for me. When my stress level gets really high, I might feel a pulse in my left temple that is alarmingly out of my control. Stress is not a comforting or comfortable feeling, and when experienced on an ongoing basis can literally kill. But is stress inherently a bad thing? It turns out it’s not. Stress raises our levels of cortisol and adrenaline, hormones that prepare us for reacting under an imminent threat. This response is useful not just for escaping from a physical attack, but also for handling non-life-threatening challenges that come our way. For instance, I am historically a high performer on standardized tests. I have pulled scores that surprise me as being significantly higher than my practice test scores. Believe me, I felt plenty of stress when I took the SAT, the LSAT, and the New York Bar Exam. It was stress that made me focus intensely, work fast, and think more clearly than I ever would under everyday conditions. I feel stress every time I give a presentation or even write a blog article. Stress has helped me in multiple job interviews. Stress somehow got me, as a 13-year-old gymnast, to earn a medal in my â€Å"worst† event (vault) at the New Jersey State Championship – and to win the competition in my age group. Stress pushes me to perform. I never thought I would say this, but†¦ I would not want to give up my stress! However, since there are inarguably negative health effects to persistent stress, it’s worth looking at how to take a break from stressful episodes. I think this is where things like exercise and meditation come in. If I did not have my daily yoga and swimming practice, I might never get a break from my anxiety-ridden daily life. Hugs help too (they release oxytocin, which helps our heart cells regenerate). Psychologist Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., in a TED Talk, noted that how we manage stress is key to how harmful or helpful it is. If someone views stress positively, that person is likely â€Å"to be less stressed-out, less anxious and more confident.† Stress can help us with solving problems, tackling challenges, and bouncing back from failure. Not only that, but if someone views stress as helpful, their physical response actually changes! In particular, their blood vessels do not constrict, but instead stayed relaxed. That difference, compounded over time, could easily be the distinguishing factor between an early heart attack and living into old age. McGonigal recommends that we become aware of our negative thinking, so that we avoid defaulting to drama and jumping to unsupported conclusions. The support of friends, family, and colleagues can be key in this process. I historically have viewed some of my stress as positive and other as negative. My commitment now is to spin it to positive as frequently as possible so I can live a long and stress-managed (not stress-free) existence. Do you experience stress as a positive or negative influence in your life? What techniques do you find useful for managing stress? Please share below! [This article was inspired by John H. Ostdick’s article, â€Å"The Upside to Stress,† published in the May 2014 issue of Success Magazine.]

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Different Approaches To Psychology And Christianity Theology Religion Essays

Different Approaches To Psychology And Christianity Theology Religion Essays Different Approaches To Psychology And Christianity Theology Religion Essay Different Approaches To Psychology And Christianity Theology Religion Essay Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity, written by David N. Entwistle, is a thorough scrutiny sing the integrating of psychological science and divinity, in which both effort to understand human nature. Integration is described as a thing that we discover when we are bring outing the cardinal integrity that God created, every bit good as something we do as we create ways of believing about, uniting, and using psychological and theological truths ( Entwistle, 2004, p. 19 ) . An person s worldview is one s life position, which filters their world. Both the psychologist and the theologian bring their worldviews and presuppositions into their separate methodological analysiss and ends. The writer s theocentric theoretical account unites divinity and psychological science, as both have similar constructs that derive from God s created universe. In order to achieve a holistic position of human nature, both are necessary ( Entwistle, 2004 ) . Before psychological science was classified as a scientific discipline, it had deep roots in doctrine and faith, though it was non successful in covering with serious psychological upsets ( Entwistle, 2004, p. 44 ) . During this clip the church leaders were deemed the religious doctors, caring for the psyches of work forces. ( Entwistle, 2004, pp. 44-45 ) . The church leaders were involuntarily pushed into the back shadows with the rise of psychological science, when wonder began to ship upon the unconscious of adult male, traveling psychological science from analyzing the centripetal systems of adult male to analyzing the mental procedures of adult male ( Entwistle, 2004, p. 49 ) . Integration demands to acknowledge and spot the integrity of all truth , that is that all truth is God s truth, wherever it may be found. A comprehensive integrating will affect, harmonizing to the Alliess paradigm, a holistic position on how human existences unrecorded, learn, believe, experience, believe, and associate to each other and to god ( Etwistle, 2004, p. 239 ) . The book of God s word ( Bible ) and the book of God s plants ( creative activity ) neer struggle, but the readings of adult male may be inconsistent at times ( Entwistle, 2004, p. 262 ) . Human nature is complex and multifaceted. Psychology and divinity must be integrated because human existences are integrated in themselves. It is erroneous to construct truth upon merely a few strands of the whole tapestry, lest we lose sight of the full being. Integration must dwell of the faith reading of both books, analyzing with careful exegesis and hermeneutics, and re-evaluating psychological logical thinking, informations and theories. We must larn to be comfy with the fact that there will be some degree of uncertainness and ambiguity we will ever hold to populate with ( Entwistle, 2004, pp. 273-274 ) . Concrete Response My hubby and I were pastoral leaders in a church where anything outside of the church was non considered ministry. We were told that God wanted us to work in full clip ministry, which meant working full clip with no steady wage. I did nt hold any formal preparation in the bible nor in guidance, yet I preached and counseled. Everything was by religion, with the false belief that all cognition and mending entirely comes through the Spirit of the Lord. All of the instruction and advocate given stemmed from the leader s injuries and experiences. This was of no benefit to the parishioners, particularly to those who had echt mental wellness issues. My hubby and I finally moved off to another province. Whenever I tried to give advocate, I found that spiritual people either felt they did non necessitate it, or believed I was someway non religious plenty. I besides found that nonreligious people tended to be disinterested in hearing anything about God. Every clip I opened my oral cavity, I seemed to happen my pes in it. Five old ages after we left that church I enrolled in Liberty University to go on my instruction in psychological science, still deeply fighting with my anti-psychology beliefs. I eventually take to travel into professional guidance. I desired to be equipped and effectual in reding. Over the old ages I have come to cognize Christians who have had existent psychological issues, but they merely sought out Christian advocate. Most still have those issues today, still concealing behind faith. Contemplation With the integrating of divinity and psychological science, are we trying to make a separate Christian psychological science? If so, would this Christian psychological science be less effectual for those who are non Christians, or do we necessitate transition before they are able to partake of God s wisdom? If so, are we keep backing the really grace and graciousness of God, burying that fact that His Sun rises on the immorality every bit good as the good ( Mat. 5:45 ) . I besides wonder if integrating is realistically possible with all the assorted positions underneath the umbrella of Christian divinity. Christianity has legion opposing theories and decisions, similar to secular psychological science. I do nt believe full integrating will of all time be possible, but I am confident that Spirit filled Christians have the power and ability to spot and move in such a manner to work towards the healing and integrity of each client. Entwistle was really constructive in saying the importance and possibility of integrating ( in which I disagree ) . He outlined assorted historical every bit good as modern-day point of views refering integrating, giving his sentiment on which 1s promote a holistic position. He besides suggested several utile methods of integrating. Although Entwistle acknowledged the metaphysical work of the Holy Spirit in integrating, I was disappointed that he did nt do this a important subject. I find it is of import to incorporate, yet believe that full integrating may be impossible. I would hold besides liked to hold read more about the booby traps of being unequipped in ministry when covering with mental wellness issues. Action Given that each human being is complex, guidance can be debatable. A holistic attack is the lone manner one can tap into the interior elaboratenesss of adult male. I would plead with every Christian counsellor to continuously analyze their Black Marias. Due to the nature of our society and civilization today, I would propose they carefully consider every facet of their client ( organic structure, psyche and spirit ) . If non, they may make more injury than good. I am determined to work out my prejudices, every bit good as my opposition to alter from anti-psychological thought. I will go on to endeavor to garner all truth, which is God s truth, from every relevant subject. My chief end as a counsellor is to be equipped and ready to draw out the most effectual intervention from my grim inner-integration. I believe every effectual Christian counsellor must be filled with the cognition of God s will in all wisdom every bit good as religious apprehension ( Col 1:9-17 ) , so to convey forth direction with ardor and comprehensiveness from his or her interior depot. This will guarantee the conveyance of both fresh wisdom and ancient wisdom ( Mat 13:52 KJV ; Wordstrudy ) . For one without the other stands deficient.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Abraham lincoln as a trait,situational ,and transformational leader Assignment - 1

Abraham lincoln as a trait,situational ,and transformational leader - Assignment Example In astudy to determinethedistinctivetraits, a couple of researcheshavebeenconductwith theemphasis on identifyingthequalities of greatpersonalities. In 1948, Stogdill did a research on thetraitapproachandidentified ten leadershipcharacteristics(Northouse, 2010, p. 20).A similarstudywasdone by Mann (1959) but with littleemphasis on situational factorsandsuggested six traits that distinguish a leader from a non-leader. The two researchers realized five maintraits of an exceptionalleader. Abraham Lincoln as a lawyer, businessperson, andpoliticianexhibitsthesetraits, which includeintelligence, integrity, self-confidence, determination, andsociability. Northouse (2010) argue that an intelligent leader is one who portrays traits such as â€Å"strong non-verbal ability, perceptional, and their reasoning appears superior† (p.22). Abraham Lincoln is such leader. He was a well read, intelligent and an inspirational leader, which is evident through his devotion on the constitution and the rights of individuals (p.23). The second trait is his integrity nature, which is a quality of honesty and trustworthiness. According to Northouse (2012), such leaders take responsibility of their action and this bestows confidence in their followers (p. 24). Lincoln as a businessperson, became to be known as â€Å"Honest Abe† a nickname he earned when he pledgedto payall the debts realized from his failed business. Thethird traitdepicted by Lincoln is self-confidence; the ability to be sure of one’s proficiency and skills. Such ability influences others and thus, a leader feels confident that the efforts to influence others are justifiable. Lincoln with confidence, he appointed and swapped some Army commanders andhe defended his decisions against public attack and defended each one of the commanders.The forth trait is determination; the ability to get the task done through initiation,

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Observation of community Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Observation of community - Assignment Example Facebook seems to be the most popular site when it comes to making friends and Social networking. People are free to advertise themselves as well as their skills, books and professions etc. and try to better their existing prospects. The people at Facebook have come to realize that even companies are interested in engaging themselves with other stakeholders in a more dynamic and informal manner and hence have gone that extra mile in creating a potent platform for them to associate with each other. Many big Corporate Companies and artistes have joined the Facebook Community in order to further enhance their prospects. The language used by this particular group of people is slightly more formal than the other groups. This is because professions are involved. Informal language such as â€Å"Oh c’mon yaar’, ‘yeah of course’, ‘no probs’, ‘catch you later then’ ‘bring along your resume and catch me at ma office tom. @ lunch time etc. are some of the informal phrases used in the language spoken here. Other common phrases used between associates are ‘give me a buzz’ or ‘give me a tinkle before comin’ pal’, IMHO (in my humble opinion) This is the most informal and exciting platform on Facebook because it is here that friends meet and exchange fun and ideas across the globe. The world becomes a smaller place when people interact and associate with each other between continents and across the world. The language used on this platform is filled with fun and laughter punctuated with a lot of jokes and funny ideas. People who associate with each other as friends on a surface level exchange a lot of information, thoughts and ideas which prove to be very useful and encouraging. The majority of users, take their friendship to a far more deeper level and engage in sharing their innermost and deepest feelings and emotions in exchange for solace, understanding and

Sunday, November 17, 2019

How to Meet Service Users Needs Essay Example for Free

How to Meet Service Users Needs Essay In this report the service users I am going to be focused on is disabled people and how Ealing promotes diversity. The legislation that relates to disabled people is the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. This act makes it unlawful to discriminate against disabled people. This legislation is designed to: * Make sure that people who have a disability get their medical needs * Makes sure that service providers access for disabled people by making reasonable adjustments * Ensure the rights of people with disabilities with regard to employment, access to education, transport, housing, facilities and services. This group of service users might be at risk of discrimination because of their disability. For example, an employer refuses to employ someone even though they are suitable for the job, because they are in a wheelchair. This is direct disability discrimination. Another example, they may be a policy applies to all individuals in a work place, puts those who share the same disability at a particular disadvantage when compared with those who dont share it. This is indirect discrimination. Carers must take responsibility and work with service users without discriminating against them. A health and social worker is very important in a disabled person’s life, and they play an important role because they make sure that they are in safety at all times. (They may be someone that is partially deaf, so she needs her hearing aid to communicate with people. So a health and social worker will probably show her how to put her hearing aid in effectively and keep them clean, or the health and social worker may do it for them) A health and social care worker needs to help them maintain their dignity so that they keep their self-respect. The Disability Discrimination Act (1995) and The Disability Discrimination Act (2005) organisations to protect individuals from being discriminated against in employment, education and management activities. They also protect people from discrimination in facilities and services. In 2002, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 were introduced. This Act requires schools, colleges, universities, adult education providers and youth services to take the same steps as other service providers in ensuring that they do not discriminate against disabled people and make reasonable adjustments to their services and premises. The Codes of Practice provide a clear guide to the standards of practice and conduct that all those who work in UK social care should meet. Every social care worker should have a copy  of the Codes. It is important that social care workers and their employers understand how the Codes link with other care standards. The types of health care workers that support this group are nurses, doctors, home care workers and support workers. These health care workers work in a hospital, or they come to your house and support you from your home. GSCC makes sure that service user’s rights are protected. In the GCSS Code of Conduct it says that Social Care workers must: * Protect the rights and promote the interests of service users and carers (treating each person as an individual and supporting service users’ rights to control their lives) * Strive and establish and maintain the trust and confidence of service users and carers (being honest and trustworthy, and communicating in a appropriate, accurate and straightforward way) * Promote the independence of service users white protecting them as far as possible from danger or harm (promoting the independence of service users and assisting them to understand and exercise their rights) * Respect the rights of service users whilst seeking to ensure that their behaviour does not harm themselves or other people (Taking necessary steps to minimise the risks of service users from doing actual or potential harm to themselves or other people) * Be accountable for the equality of their work and take responsibility for maintaining and improving their knowledge and skills. Ealing promotes diversity. For example, they have provided ramps at the back of all Ealing buses for people with wheelchairs so they are able to get on. This would make them feel like they are just as important as someone that can walk, as they are just important. Also, a Freedom Pass is provided by Ealing borough to give older and disabled people free travel on almost all public transport in London. Ealing is also giving three disabled people the chance to make their voices heard at this autumns political party conferences. They are willing to pay for a conference pass and travel costs for one disabled campaigner at each of the Liberal Democrat, Labour and  Conservative conferences. A pass and travel for a carer can also be arranged if extra support would help them to attend the conference. I think this is very good because it shows that the community cares about what disabled people think as well, in result I feel that disabled people will feel very happy important. There is also The Willow Tree PlusBus service which offers dedicated journeys, mostly for shopping and leisure purposes, from the Islip Manor area. There’s The PlusBus service that is available for disabled people who cannot use public transport. Ealing also has a couple of day centres for disabled people. Like for example, Carlton Road Centre is a council-run day service for adults with learning disabilities. The service provides support to adult’s learning disabilities. The centre provides art, games, independent living skills, health promotion, a sensory room, community based projects, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and music therapy. The service is provided to promote and support people to become more independent and access their community through community-based projects. There is also The Michael Flanders Centre. This is a day care for residents over the age of 65 with physical disabilities or sensory impairment . The centre’s aim is to enable older people with physical disabilities to live as independently as possible in their community. These day centres promote diversity because they are providing centres for disabled people that have disabilities. I think the disabled people that attend these day centres feel equal accepted because it shows that Ealing cares about them if they didn’t they wouldn’t have day centres available. Also, it’s a great way for disabled people to make friends because there’s going to be people there that are just like them they can relate to what they go through in life. I think that if these services were not in place, there would be no diversity in Ealing whatsoever. I think that disabled people in Ealing will feel like their individual rights have not been met. If there were no ramps on buses, then disabled people will feel like they’re not being respected and that they’re not able to use preferred methods to travel. This will make them feel useless. They may be disabled but they have places to attend and people to see just like everyone else. I think that these services are all good. However, it’s hard for people that are in crutches or wheelchairs to walk up and down the stairs in a tube station. So if a person that was unable to walk, and they had no one there to support them I think they will feel like the individual rights have not been met (to be treated equally and not be discriminate and to be respected) So to improve the service I would suggest for them to install stair lifts. A stair lift is a motorized seat that runs up and down a staircase on a track / rail. Stair lifts are also known as stair elevators, inclinators stair chairs, staircase lifts. Or they could get Stair climbers. These are operated by an assistant or carer and are designed to climb up and down a flight of stairs. They are not attached to the staircase so they can be transported and used on different staircases.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Capital Punishment Essay examples -- essays research papers

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Hundreds of murderers are put into jail and then let out several years later. They say they have learned their lesson, but yet when they do get out they commit more crimes. Thus, sending them back into jail. The only way to make sure these ruthless murderers don’t commit these crimes again is by capital punishment. As the Bible says, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. " If someone commits a capital offense, they should receive a capital punishment, because the state won’t have to pay for the criminal’s lifetime in jail, it provides the most complete retribution and condemnation, and crime rates will begin to drop. Not only should every state in America use the death penalty, it should also be done in a much quicker process. Following through with the punishments at a faster pace will cut down on the costs. Today, it costs approx. $34,400 per year for 50 years, at a 2% annual cost increase, plus $75,000 for trials and appeals to house a criminal with life in prison. This all adds up to about $3.01 million. The cost for a death penalty is $60,000 per year for 6 years, at 2% annual cost increase, plus $1.5 million for trials and appeals. This all adds up to be $1.88 million (www.geocities.com), there is no question that the up front costs of the death penalty are significantly higher than the life in prison costs. Yet, there is also no question that over time the costs for life in prison are much more expensive than the costs of the death penalty. If the government makes it so the criminal has less time to appeal their sentence, the $1.5 million used for appeals and trial will go down. Plus, with DNA technology, today, we can be 100% sure that the offender did commit a capital crime, therefore they will have no need for appeals. If the government is not 100% sure than they will not give them this sentence, mandating that they do not need to appeal. If they continue to improve our DNA testing and make the time allowed for appeals shorter, if any, than it should save lives, time, and money (www.prodeathpenalty.com). The ultimate penalty of death is necessary for the punishment of terrible crimes because it provides the most complete retribution and condemnation. The threat of execution is a major deterrent of crime. This is because death is so much more feared than the mere restrictions on one's... ...s and criminals are not dealt with fairly? Capital punishment is justified because there won’t be worries about the state paying for criminals’ lifetime in jail, it will provide retribution and condemnation, and crime and murder rates will decrease. Using capital punishment prevents many unnecessary deaths and crimes. If we no longer use it deaths and crimes will increase, due to the fact that the consequences are not severe enough to make the criminal think before they act. Capital punishment is justified! Without this consequence for serious capital offenders our lives would be much different. The offenders would be sentenced to life in prison and would have abundant amounts of time to plan a way of escape. If they were successful they would have the opportunity to commit more serious crimes. If they were not successful, they would be spending endless amounts of time with other inmates and everyone knows what happens when someone spends too much time with someone. They begin to annoy each other, and if someone annoys a violent criminal the outcome cannot be good! To prevent all of this from happening, we must enforce the usage of capital punishment.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Island of the Sequined Love Nun Chapter 65~67

65 Down to the Promised Land Malink joined Tuck on the flight deck and tried to work the flight officer's harness around his belly as Tuck released the ground brakes and the jet started rolling. The two fighters did another pass overhead, one of the pilots warning Tuck not to attempt to take off. â€Å"You forced me down,† Tuck said into the headset mike. â€Å"What more do you guys want?† He rammed the throttles to maximum. They either had enough runway or they didn't. What was certain was that he wouldn't know in time to stop. They were going into the ocean or into the sky and that was that. The flaps were down for maximum lift, which would use three times as much fuel as a regular takeoff, but that was a problem to deal with once they were in the air. He looked at the ocean ahead, then at the airspeed indicator, then at the ocean ahead – back and forth, waiting, waiting, waiting for the airspeed indicator to reach the point where the plane would lift. He was twenty knots short of takeoff speed when the end of the runway disappeared from view and he started his pull up. The rear wheels of the great plane grazed the water as it lifted into the air. Tuck heard what he hoped was a cheer coming from the back of the plane, but there was a distinct possibility that he was hearing collective screams of terror. He had just lifted off with three hundred and thirty-two people who had never flown before. Tuck thought of Sepie, who would have started her first plane ride two hours ago. â€Å"Where are we going?† Malink asked. He was trying to compose himself, but when Tuck looked at him, he saw that the old chief's eyes were as wide as saucers. â€Å"A place called Costa Rica,† Tuck said. â€Å"You ever heard of it?† Malink shook his head. â€Å"Vincent tells you to take us there.† â€Å"No, it was my idea, actually.† â€Å"There is plenty cargo on Costa Rica?† Couldn't say, Malink, but the climate is nice and there's no extradition.† â€Å"That is good?† Malink said, as if he had the slightest idea what extradition was. Tuck admired the old chief. He was here because his god told him to be here. He had just made a decision that would change the history of an entire population, and he had done it on faith. Tuck set the autopilot and crawled out of the pilot's seat. â€Å"I'm going back to make sure everyone is strapped in. Don't touch anything.† Malink's eyes went wide again. â€Å"Who is flying the plane?† Tuck winked. â€Å"I think you know.† He turned and headed down the steps to check on his passengers. Pushed to his limit and no little bit frightened, Sebastian Curtis sneaked up on his wife, who was in full tantrum, and injected her in the thigh with a syringe full of Valium. She turned and gave him a good shot to the jaw before she started to calm down. He caught her by the shoulders and backed her into the office chair in front of the computer. â€Å"Don't worry,† he said, â€Å"Nomura is on his way back with the Lear. We'll be long gone before anyone can get here.† â€Å"How did he do it?† Beth's voice was weak now, trailing off at the end. â€Å"I don't know. I'm surprised he's even alive. We'll be fine. We have plenty of money. Not as much as we'd hoped, but if we're careful†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"He turned them against me,† she said. â€Å"My people†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She didn't finish. Sebastian stroked her hair. The clinic door opened and Mato came inside carrying his Uzi. â€Å"Phone,† he said. â€Å"No,† Sebastian said. â€Å"I've already called Japan. The Lear is on its way. Now give us some privacy.† Mato threw the bolt on the Uzi and said something in Japanese. Sebastian didn't move. Mato dug the barrel of the gun into the doctor's ribs. â€Å"Phone,† he said. Sebastian picked up the receiver that was connected to the satellite and handed it over. â€Å"Out,† Mato said. Sebastian helped Beth to her feet. â€Å"Come on. We have to do as he says.† Beth let him lift her to her feet, then she pointed a finger at Mato. â€Å"You can kiss your Christmas bonus good-bye, ninja boy. That's it.† Sebastian dragged her through the door and helped her across the com-pound to her bungalow. Inside he lay her on the bed. Getting her out of the surgical greens was like trying to undress a rag doll. She babbled inco-herently the whole time, but did not fight him. When he turned to leave the room, two of the guards were standing in the doorway grinning. One of them motioned for him to leave the room. The other stared hungrily at Beth. â€Å"No,† Sebastian said. He stepped into the doorway and pushed aside the barrels of their weapons. They stepped back in unison and raised the Uzis. Sebastian stepped toward them. They took another step back. He was a full foot taller than either of them. â€Å"Get out,† he said and he took another step. They stepped back. â€Å"Out. Get out. Or do you want to lose all your fingers?† He'd found the magic words. The people they worked for were notorious for taking the finger joints of those who disobeyed. The guards looked at each other, then backed out the door that led into the compound. One of them hurled a curse in Japanese as he went. Behind them Sebastian saw Mato coming out of the clinic. He marched right for Beth's bungalow, almost stomping the ground as he walked, his jaw clenched and his weapon held before him. Sebastian closed the door, locked it, and ran to the bedroom. â€Å"Come on, Beth. Get up. We've got to get out of here.† She was still conscious, but had no coordination. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, then went out the french doors onto the lanai and down the steps to the beach. The warm water seemed to revive her somewhat and he managed to get her to kick as together they made the swim around the minefield. The fighters veered off after an hour and the 747 was picked up by a B-52 that stayed on them until they were in fighter range of the Americas, where they were joined by two F-16s. Out of Panama, Tuck guessed. What exactly did they think they were going to accomplish? A 747 wasn't the kind of plane you ditch in the jungle and make your escape. In fact, Tuck didn't think that any plane was that kind of plane. He certainly wasn't going to ditch in the jungle or in the water for that matter. Despite his misgivings, they were going to make it to Costa Rica with plenty of fuel. They were well below the plane's passenger capacity and they carried almost no baggage and no commissary supplies. The only worry he had now was what would happen to him when they got on the ground. It was true, Costa Rica had no extradition treaty with the United States, but what he had done was an act of international terrorism. He might have done better to head back to Hawaii and take his chances with the FBI ra ther than risk rotting away in a Central American jail. Still, something told him that this was where he should be going. He didn't know why, really, he had picked Costa Rica, any more than he knew why he had stolen a plane and gone back to Alualu in the first place. As he started his descent for Palmar Airport on the coast, the B-52 veered off to the north and was soon out of sight. Tuck had turned the radio off hours ago, tired of hearing the same threats and commands from the milit-ary pilots. As much as he hated the idea of giving the authorities a warning, however, he turned on the radio to advise the tower at Palmar that he was coming in. A midair collision might be even worse than a Costa Rican jail. Especially with three hundred and thirty-two lives riding his soul to hell. He called to the tower, then took off the headset and sat back and relaxed, convinced that for once in his life he had done the right thing. Somehow he would see to it that Sepie got half the money from the Swiss bank ac-counts. He envisioned her in a big house with one bedroom and seventy-two bathrooms with a television in every one. She'd be fine. Malink, who had gone to the back to reassure his people, came up the steps and climbed into the flight officer's chair. â€Å"We are going down?† he said. â€Å"You'll like it,† Tuck said. â€Å"The weather here is the same as Alualu. There are beaches and jungles just like home.† They could see the coast now, extending into the distance to the north and south, the rainforest running from beaches to mountains. â€Å"This island much bigger than Alualu.† â€Å"It's not an island.† Tuck realized that Malink had never walked more than a mile without having to turn. â€Å"Your people will be fine.† â€Å"Are there sharks here?† â€Å"A lot of sharks,† Tuck said. Malink nodded â€Å"My people will be fine.† He was quiet for a minute, then said, â€Å"Will you come with us?† â€Å"I don't think so, Chief. I'm going to be in a lot of trouble when we land.† â€Å"But didn't Vincent tell you to do this?† â€Å"Sort of. Why?† Malink sat back with a self-satisfied smile. â€Å"You'll be fine.† An alarm went off in the cockpit and Tuck scanned the instruments to see what had gone wrong. The red air collision warning lights were flashing. Tuck scanned the sky for another plane, then, seeing nothing, put on the headset to see if the Palmar tower could tell him what was going on. Before he could key the mike someone said, â€Å"Darlin', I'll be whitewashed if stink don't follow you like a manure wagon in summer.† A familiar, melodic Texas drawl, probably the sweetest sound he had ever heard. â€Å"Mary Jean,† Tuck said. â€Å"Where are you?† â€Å"Out your window at eleven o'clock.† Tuck looked up and saw a brand-new pink Gulfstream running parallel to them. â€Å"If you'd a been wearing your headset, you would have known I was here fifteen minutes ago.† â€Å"What are you doing here?† â€Å"Jake called me from Hawaii and told me what you was doing. We cooked up a little plan. I'm gonna get your tail out of the fire one last time, Tucker Case, but you owe me.† â€Å"Boy, have I heard that before.† â€Å"Do you remember the corporate address in Houston? The number?† â€Å"Sure.† â€Å"Well, you dial that up as a frequency and I'll give you the skinny. It's unladylike to broadcast your personal matters over the same frequency the tower's using.† They were lying in the jungle near the runway when the Learjet landed. Sebastian left Beth sleeping under some banana leaves and crawled to where he could see. The jet taxied to the gate and stopped with the engines still running. The guards came out of different buildings and converged on the plane. They'd stacked duffel bags near the gate. â€Å"What's going on?† Beth crawled up behind him. The effects of the Valium were obviously wearing off. â€Å"I think they're leaving.† â€Å"Not without us, they're not. I am the Sky Priestess and I won't allow it.† She started to get up and Sebastian pulled her back down. â€Å"They were coming to kill us, Beth. You were out.† â€Å"Right. If you ever drug me again – â€Å" â€Å"You're insane,† he said. She reared back to slap him and he caught her hand. â€Å"Keep it up, Beth. I'm telling you that if they find us, they'll kill us. Do you understand that?† â€Å"They're grunts. I won't†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Suddenly there was a huge explosion from across the runway and they turned to see a mushroom of fire rising from where the clinic used to be. The guards had loaded onto the jet and Nomura was taxiing to the end of the runway. The guards' quarters went off next, then the hangar, the barrels of jet fuel throwing a column of flame five hundred feet in the air. â€Å"Where did they get explosives?† Beth said. â€Å"Did you know they had explosives?† â€Å"They're destroying the evidence,† Sebastian said. â€Å"Orders from Japan, I'm sure.† The Learjet started its run for takeoff as Sebastian's bungalow went off like a fragmentation grenade, followed by Tuck's old quarters and Beth's bungalow. Fire rained down across the island. â€Å"My shoes! All of my shoes were in there. You bastards.† Beth pulled away from Sebastian and ran out on the runway just as the Learjet passed. â€Å"You rotten bastards!† The Sky Priestess stood in the middle of the runway and screamed herself mute as the Lear disappeared into the clouds. 66 If They'd Only Had Her at the Alamo Mary Jean brought the pink Gulfstream in right on the tail of the 747. Tuck kept the speed over eighty in the taxi, turning it away from the terminal, where police jeeps and a hundred men in riot gear waited. He also noticed a half-dozen TV news trucks there as well. â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Costa Rica, the new home of the Shark People. The temperature outside is 85 degrees and it's clear that things are going to get ugly. I hope everybody's ready.† The police jeeps were speeding across the tarmac toward the two jets. Mary Jean turned the Gulfstream so that it was facing back toward the runway. Tuck turned to Malink. â€Å"Where's Roberto?† Malink pointed up. Roberto hung from the handle of the emergency hatch. There was a spring-loaded spool of steel cable attached to the ceiling next to the hatch. â€Å"Mary Jean, you ready?† â€Å"Sweetheart, we'd better git while the gitten's good. We stirred a hornet's nest out here.† Tuck grabbed Roberto and stuffed him inside his shirt. â€Å"Stay,† he said. Then he opened the hatch and looked back at Malink. â€Å"I have to go now.† Malink took Tuck in his big arms and squeezed until the bat screamed. â€Å"You will come back.† â€Å"If you say so, Chief.† Tuck flipped the intercom switch and picked up the headset. â€Å"Go!† he said and climbed up into the hatch. The six doors on the 747 all sprung open at once and the yellow emergency slides inflated and extended to the ground as if the jet was a huge insect suddenly growing legs. The Shark People piled down the emergency slides and Mary Jean spooled up the Gulfstream for takeoff. Tuck climbed onto the roof and reached back into the hatch for the loop of nylon webbing that attached to the spool of cable. The police jeeps were pulling up on the sides of the two jets; men with rifles stood in the back trying to figure out what they should be shooting at. The Shark People crowded in between the jets, making a human corridor. Tuck took a deep breath and leaped off the top of the jumbo jet. The spring-loaded coil of cable did exactly what Boeing had designed it to do: It lowered the pilot safely to the ground from four stories up. Once on the ground, Tuck ran under the cover of the Shark People and leaped into the open door of the Gulfstream. â€Å"Go!† he yelled. The Shark People scrambled away and Mary Jean released the ground brakes. The jet shot forward. Tuck slammed the door and got to the cockpit just as a jeep swerved out of the jet's path and flipped over. â€Å"Don't try to play chicken with me, snotnose,† Mary Jean said grimly. â€Å"I knew James Dean his own self.† â€Å"Think they'll let you get this thing in the air?† â€Å"I'd like to see 'em try to stop me.† The police jeeps seemed to part for the jet as it headed back to the runway. For all the guns there, no one seemed interested in firing a shot. Tuck looked back and saw the Shark People waving as Mary Jean made her takeoff run. When they were airborne, she said, â€Å"Tucker Case, when you make a turnaround, boy, you don't do it half-twiddle, do you?† Tuck laughed. â€Å"Did you really know James Dean?† â€Å"Sounded good, didn't it?† She turned to him. Not surprisingly, her makeup was done perfectly to complement her outfit and the Gulfstream's headset. She let out a little yelp. â€Å"Tucker, there's a varmint in your shirt.† â€Å"That's Roberto,† Tuck said. â€Å"He no like the light.† â€Å"Darlin', if I had a face like that, I'd gravitate toward dim and unlit territories myself. Remind me to give your friend a sample of our new depilatory.† â€Å"What was that all about back there?† Tuck asked. â€Å"Heroics, son. I told you on the phone, I believe in redemption and I thought it was time I practiced what I preached. Were they really selling those poor heathens' organs?† â€Å"Beg your pardon, Mary Jean, I really do appreciate the rescue, but don't bullshit me. Any one of those cops could have shot out the tires of this plane and we'd still be on the ground.† She smiled, a knowing smile with a hint of mischief, the Mona Lisa in a big blond wig. â€Å"Media event, son. You'd be surprised how far a little palm grease goes in the Third World. Why, I couldn't buy the media coverage my company's going to get on this with a year's profits. And of course you're going to reimburse me for the bribes. Jake says you'll be able to. The tax boys frown on taking bribes. as a deduction. Although we could take it as advertising expense. Never mind, you don't owe me nothing.† â€Å"So that's the only reason you did it, the media coverage?† â€Å"I was shabby to you, Tucker. Not that you didn't deserve it, but I wasn't feeling so good about myself for doing it. I aways kinda looked at you like my wayward little lamb. Course, I'm from cattle folk.† Tuck smiled. â€Å"Whatever. Where are we going?† â€Å"Little place of mine in the Cayman Islands. Jake's going to meet us there with your little friend.† 67 The Cannibal Tree Revisited The Sky Priestess awoke with a terrible pain in her head. She couldn't feel her arms or legs, and something was cutting her between her breasts. She and the Sorcerer had been living in the deserted village for two weeks. The last thing she could remember was the Sorcerer going into the dark for more firewood and hearing a thud. When he didn't answer her call, she had gone to look for him. She opened her eyes and blinked to clear her vision. The world seemed to be spinning and for a second all she could see was a green blur that was the jungle. Then things popped into focus. She was slowly turning at the end of a coconut fiber rope, suspended six feet above the ground. The harness was digging in between her breasts and cutting off the circulation to her limbs. She lifted her head and saw an ancient native tending a long earthen oven that was spouting smoke from either end. The Sorcerer's clothes were piled nearby. The old native looked up and ambled over to her on spindly legs. There were chicken feathers stuck in his hair and his eyes had a rheumy yellow cast to them. He grinned at her with teeth that looked as if they had been filed to points, then reached up and pinched her cheek. â€Å"Yum,† he said. Epilogue Due to the influence of Mary Jean Dobbins, who opened a manufacturing plant in the capital, and a large land purchase by an anonymous buyer, the Shark People were accepted as Costa Rican citizens and their land was set aside as a national reserve. Malink remained chief for many years, and when he became too old to carry the responsibility – since he had no sons – he appointed Abo his successor. Abo learned to preside over the ceremonies in honor of Vincent and led the prayers for his return, for they all believed that he would return, but as time passed and history grew to legend, they believed that this time Vincent would return in a pink jet and at his side would be the prophet Tuck – who had delivered them from the Sky Priestess – and the great navigator Kimi, without whom, it was said, the prophet Tuck couldn't find his ass with both hands. Every morning before breakfast, Tucker Case walked his bat on the beaches of Little Cay. Actually, the bat flew on those mornings. Tuck usually flew in the afternoons. He owned a five-passenger Cessna that he tied down on the airstrip next to the small house where he and Sepie lived. With what was left of his half of the money from the Swiss bank accounts – after buying the house and the plane and ten thousand acres of Costa Rican coastal rainforest, which he gave to the Shark People – Tuck was able to buy Sepie a satellite dish and a thirty-two-inch Sony Trinitron, which was all she asked for besides his love, loyalty, and that the bat stay out of the house. Tuck gave her all she wanted, and in return asked her to love him, respect him, and to turn down â€Å"Wheel of Fortune† when he was doing his books. He chartered his plane out to fishermen and scuba divers who wanted to island-hop and made enough money to keep them in food and Sepie in perfume, lipstick and Wonder Bras, the latter a new obsession she had picked up and more often than not the only item of clothing she ever wore. One morning, just before sunrise, after they had been on Little Cay for a year, Tuck spotted a figure standing alone on the beach. He knew who it was before he was close enough to see him. He could feel it. As he got closer, he looked at the sharp dark features, the flight suit shot with starch and free of wrinkles, and he said, â€Å"You look pretty good for a dead guy.† Vincent took a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket, tapped one out, and lit it. â€Å"You did good, kid. I'd have to call it even.† â€Å"The least I could do,† Tuck said. â€Å"But can I ask you a question?† â€Å"Shoot,† said Vincent. â€Å"Why'd you do it?† â€Å"I didn't do anything. I didn't move a thing, I didn't touch a thing, I didn't change a thing. Believers do everything.† â€Å"Come on,† Tuck said. â€Å"I deserve a straight answer.† The flyer turned away for a moment and looked at the corona over the water where the sun was about to rise. â€Å"You're right, kid. You do. You re-member that speech the dame gave you about losers doing good on islands because there's no competition?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Well, it ain't the case. Islands are like, you know, incubators. You got to start things and let em grow. Isolate 'em. That's why all your loony-toon cult guys have to get their people out in the boonies somewhere where no one can talk any sense into 'em. Just nod if you're gettin' any of this, kid. Good. â€Å"Well, I had this bet with these guys I play cards with that my little cult could go big-time if I could get enough citizens. I told 'em, ‘Two thousand years ago you guys were just running cults. Get me to the mainland and give me a thousand years and I'll give you a run for your money.' All the conditions were right. You need some pressure, I got the war. You need a promise, I got the promise I'll come back with cargo. I'm on easy street. Then this crazy dame and the doc come along and start selling me up the river and I'm thinking it's my chance to make the bigs. You've got to have some bad guys so your citizens can recognize who the good guys are, right? So I says to myself, ‘Vincent, it is time you got yourself a Moses. Get a guy who can get your people out of trouble and give them some stories to build a reputation on.'† â€Å"And that was me?† Tuck said. â€Å"That was you.† â€Å"Why me? Why did you pick me?† â€Å"You weren't busy.† â€Å"And that was it? I wasn't busy?† â€Å"Face it, kid, you were flying with full flaps down. You know that saying? â€Å"The devil makes work for idle hands.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"It's true, but only if he gets there first. He didn't even want you, so I showed.† â€Å"So are you going to screw up the rest of my life?† â€Å"You ain't got it so bad. It ain't like you have to go into the desert for forty years. What are you worried about?† â€Å"Yeah, I'm happy now, but are we finished?† Vincent butted his cigarette in the sand. â€Å"That kind of depends on what you believe, doesn't it kid? He began to fade as he walked down the beach. â€Å"Don't do anything I wouldn't do.† Tuck watched as a sailing canoe materialized on the beach. Kimi was at the tiller and waved as Vincent climbed into the front of the canoe. Tuck waved back even as the canoe dissolved to mist, then he walked home to have breakfast with Sepie. He stopped at the door to wipe his feet and Roberto landed with a thud against the screen, digging his claws in to keep from slipping. â€Å"Boy, I'm glad all that supernatural stuff is over,† the bat said. Afterword and Acknowledgments My approach to research has always been: â€Å"Is this correct or should I be more vague?† A quick word search of one of my books reveals that I use the term â€Å"kinda-sorta† more than any living author. My readers, who are the kindest and most intelligent people in the world, understand this. They know that using my books as a reference source is tantamount to using glazed doughnuts as a building material. They know that these pages serve the masters of goofiness, not those of accuracy. So†¦ While some of the locations in Island of the Sequined Love Nun do exist, I have changed them for my convenience. There is no island of Alualu, nor do the Shark People exist as I have described them. There are no active cargo cults in Micronesia, nor are there any cannibals. The position of mispel did exist in Yapese culture but was abandoned almost a hundred years ago. A strict caste system still exists on Yap and the surrounding is-lands, and the treatment of Yapese women is portrayed as I saw it. My decision to make the â€Å"organ smugglers† Japanese was dictated by geo-graphy, not culture or race. Most of the information on cargo cults comes, secondhand, from anthro-pological research done in the Melanesian Islands. I have found since fin-ishing Island of the Sequined Love Nun that the â€Å"Cannibal-Spam Theory† was first postulated in Paul Theroux's book The Happy Isles of Oceania, and I must give a jealous nod to Mr. Theroux for that twisted bit of thinking. The information on Micronesian navigation and navigators comes from Stephen Thomas's wonderful book The Last Navigator. My depiction of the shark hunt comes from a story told to me by a high school teacher on Yap about the people of the island of Fais, and I have no idea whether it is ac-curate. The day-to-day life on Alualu, with the exceptions of the religious rites and outright silliness, comes from my experience on the high island of Mog Mog in the Ulithi Atoll, where I had the privilege of living with Chief Antonio Taithau and his family. Many thanks to Chief Antonio, his wife, Conception, and his daughters, Kathy and Pamela, who saw that I was fed and who pulled me out of the well that I fell in after too much tuba at the drinking circle. Also, thanks to Alonzo, my Indiana Jones kid, who followed me around and made sure I didn't get killed on the reef or eaten by sharks and who I forgive for letting me fall down the well. Many thanks also to Frank the teacher, Favo the elder, Hillary the boat pilot, and all the kids who climbed trees for my drinking coconuts. I also owe a debt of gratitude to those people who helped me get to the outer islands: Mercy and all the Peace Corps Volunteers on Yap, Chief In-gnatho Hapthey and the Council of Tamil, and John Lingmar at the Bureau of Outer Island Affairs on Yap, who educated me about local customs, gave permission, and made arrangements. Also to the people of Pacific Mission-ary Air, who got me there and back and answered my questions on flying in the islands. Thanks to the Americans I met on Truk: Ron Smith, who loaned me his diving knife, and Mark Kampf, who gave me his sunscreen, Neosporin, and duct tape, all of which saved my life. (Research Rule #1: Never go to an undeveloped island without duct tape and a big knife.) Here in the States, thanks goes out to the following people: Bobby Benson, who told me about Micronesia in the first place. Gary Kravitz for voluminous information on aircraft and flying. Mike Molnar for more pilot stuff as well as patient explanations of computer and communication technology. Donna Ortiz, who gave me the phrase, â€Å"you're just a geek in a cool guy's body† (and I have no idea who she was talking about at the time). Dr. Alan Peters for medical information. Shelly Lowenkopf for supplying out-of-print books on cargo cults. Jim Silke and Lynn Rathbun for drawings and maps. Ian Corsan for advice on equipment and how to survive in the tropics. Charlee Rodgers, Dee Dee Leichtfuss, Liz Ziemska, and Christina Harcar for careful readings and helpful suggestions. Nick Ellison, my agent and friend, for helping to keep the wolf from the door while I wrote. Rachel Klayman and Chris Condry, my editors at Avon Books, for their confidence and support. And most of all, my thanks to novelist Jean Brody, who took the time from her own writing to do a line edit on Love Nun. While all the above people helped in the research and writing of this book, none of them are responsible for the liberties I took with the information they gave me. When in doubt, assume that I made everything up. – Christopher Moore November 1996

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Importance of Science Essay

One of my old, fairly innocuous posts has been climbing up the popularity lists: The Importance of Science in Our Lives. It’s just a link to an article online with a little commentary. I see on my statistics pages that a lot of people arrive using google searches of â€Å"Importance of Science.† I wonder if this is a common school assignment for students, e.g., â€Å"Write about the importance of science in the modern world† or some other similar variation, and then off they go to google to get their answers rather than thinking for themselves. Maybe that’s too cynical. Anyway, I have been intending to follow up with some more specific and simply worded reasons that science is important to not just me (e.g., my income), but to our civilization today. Science is important because†¦ 1. †¦we don’t have to take someone’s word for something, we can test their claims. 2. †¦horrible diseases can be cured, or prevented entirely, and it can still provide hope for those with as-yet-incurable diseases. 3. †¦people who love each other can talk to each other whenever they want no matter how far apart they are in the world, and can be together the next day. 4. †¦science can show us what has caused mass extinctions and point the way to preventing similar catastrophes in the future. 5. †¦science can make us feel big and special for understanding the age of the Earth, the nature of stars, and the size of the universe, even if those things dwarf us. 6. †¦science saves lives. 7. †¦it has helped us to no longer need to worry about personal survival as our top priority, giving us more time for love, laughter, singing, and dancing. 8. †¦whenever one problem is solved another two rear up to take its place, so the need for science will never go obsolete. 9. †¦science gives us superpowers, like looking across the universe, seeing atoms, flying across the Earth or to the moon, moving mountains, and harnessing the energy of the sun. 10. †¦science, in the long run, is the only reliable way to figure things out in a world that is so seldom fair and impartial. Well, those are ten of mine. I could elaborate or further justify each of these, but for now I will leave these here to ferment some more. There’s a darker version of this list that would talk about guns, nuclear bombs, and more, but I’ll pass on that for now. Violence isn’t nice, but it surely is important. Science is everywhere in today’s world. It is part of our daily lives, from cooking and gardening, to recycling and comprehending the daily weather report, to reading a map and using a computer. Advances in technology and science are transforming our world at an incredible pace, and our children’s future will surely be filled with leaps in technology we can only imagine. Being â€Å"science literate† will no longer be just an advantage but an absolute necessity. We can’t escape from the significance of science in our world. The present era is the era of science. Science has undoubtedly done a great service to mankind. Man, a rational being, has been curious to explore mysteries of nature and this led to many discoveries being made in various part of the world. But he is never satisfied with the acquired knowledge and is always keen to unravelle mysteries of the universe. He has conquered the land and air. His incredible lust for knowledge has revolutionise d human life and raised the standard of life. He was able to invent innumerable ways of making his life comfortable and happy. Every sphere of life has been revolutionised by science. There have been innumerable inventions. One of the greatest inventions is the invention of medicines. There has been a series of tests carried out using animals as subjects and various medicines have been tried out on these animals to check their efficacy. Many fatal diseases can now be cured because we have the drug to fight those diseases. It has reduced the rate of infant mortality and increased the life span. Before these inventions millions of people died for lack of medical care. Science has given us many machines that have made our lives very comfortable. Buses, cars, sewing machines, mixes, grinders, etc. are all machines that are used every day by us and the discovery of electricity has made it possible for us to change night into day and summer into a comfortable cool season It is now easy to cultivate fields as we have tractors. New forms of irrigation are now being employed. It is easier to protect the crops because of the use of various chemicals and pesticides. Even mosquitoes can be driven away because of the discoveries made in science. It has enabled man to entertain himself in many ways. TV, radio, video and the cinema are all popular means of entertainment. Besides entertainment they educate the masses. Today the computer has made life even more easy for us. The press, the means of communication, etc. have all improved because of science and its gifts to us. Before understanding the importance of science and technology, it is important for us to understand that science and technology are closely associated with our lives. They are closely linked aspects of society and the studies and developments in both of science and technology are essential for the overall progress of society. Why is technology so important? How does scientific development affect society? Let us find out.Scientific research comprises a wide variety of fields ranging from the study of different branches of science to relatively advanced fields like space exploration, human genetics and cloning. Scientific study attempts to explore and understand the working of the physical world. It tries to analyze the occurrences in nature and gain knowledge about nature through experimentation. As scientific research aims at gaining knowledge of the complexities of nature, it is important for the progress of mankind. The seemingly impossible feats have been made possible, thanks to the scientific research.Natural sciences deal with the study of nature and human life. The studies of natural and artificial sciences reveal the relationship between nature and human life. Research in science has paved a path to many brilliant inventions and discoveries.When it comes to science and technology, we cannot forget the automobile and the transport industries that have grown tremendously on account of the developments in science and engineering. Technological advancements have driven the developments in the different modes of transport. Bicycles have transformed into scooters and sport bikes. Four and six wheeled vehicles have started running on the roads, thanks to the advancing technology. The developments in air transport have winged the common man to soar high!The importance of technology lies in the benefits of technology on society. The positive effects of technology on society are many. The advancements in technology have revolutionized human life. It has provided a great impetus to the computer and the telecommunication industry. The developments in the communication technology have made the world a smaller place. The Internet serving as an excellent communication platform has made the world flat!The World Wide Web has proved being an enormous information base, from which information can be retrieved by the means of search engines. Information from all around the world is housed on the web. Thanks to the development of the web technology, the information can be stored in an organized manner and relevant information can be retrieved on supplying search strings to the web search engines.Digitization of information has been a major breakthrough in the world of information technology. It has made possible the compaction of information, which in turn allows efficient information storage.The most important benefit of science has been the luxury it has brought to daily life. The mechanization of industrial processes has reduced human effort. Household appliances that are in the daily use of the common man are a result of scientific research. Machines have replaced human beings in monotonous and risk-bearing tasks. Scientific discoveries have made life easy.Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/importance-of-science-and-technology.html In every generation and in every century there always exist a number of people, who are afraid of everything that is related to possible changes. In various epochs they are called differently: luddites, anti-globalists, ecologists and so on; but their nature is always the same. They hate progress and strive to preserve the status quo without seemingly realizing the fact that the same very kind of people hated progress and strived to retain the status quo a hundred years ago, and now they use all the things that were denounced by their spiritual ancestors. In their blogs on the Internet they write about immoral scientists, who conduct dangerous experiments; but they do not realize that they actually use the product of the very science they hate in order to convey their thought to the similarly-minded. Science always has to fight against heavy odds, for it always tries to show how useful something may be to people who don’t want to listen, knowing that the very moment they will be persuaded, they will use a yet another product of science against what has created it. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that a scientist is the hero of modern day, and not a politician or a social activist. Science makes our life possible – today a human being cannot imagine his or her life without all the many thousands of little and big things, created by science in the course of millennia. And the people who denounce it for meddling with the things that we do not understand, just don’t see that there is no way to study a thing that you don’t understand without, well, studying it. Of course, science always prevails in the end, for life is stronger than death. But it is really embarrassing to see how hard it has to fight. 2013-02-19T14:25:54start intext order & inq uiry code Science and technology provide people with the knowledge and tools to understand and address many of the challenges. Students must be provided with opportunities to access, understand, and evaluate current information and tools related to science and technology if they are to be ready to live in a 21st century global society. The study of science and technology includes both processes and bodies of knowledge. Scientific processes are the ways scientists investigate and communicate about the natural world. The scientific body of knowledge includes concepts, principles, facts, laws, and theories about the way the world around us works. Technology includes the technological design process and the body of knowledge related to the study of tools and the effect of technology on society. Science and technology merge in the pursuit of knowledge and solutions to problems that require the application of scientific understanding and product design. Solving technological problems demands scientific knowledge while modern technologies make it possible to discover new scientific knowledge. In a world shaped by science and technology, it is important for students to learn how science and technology connect with the demands of society and the knowledge of all content areas. It is equally important that students are provi ded with learning experiences that integrate tools, knowledge, and processes of science and technology. The Science and Technology Standards outline the essential understandings of these disciplines. Standard A describes four themes that serve as a broad scaffold for understanding and organizing student understanding of the content and processes of science and technology. Standard B describes the processes of scientific inquiry and technological design. As a complement to the expectations of inquiry and design outlined in Standard B, Standard C describes the enterprises of science and technology and the connection to society. Standards D and E have performance indicators that encompass the subject matter conventionally referred to as life, physical, and earth and space science. It is essential that classroom instruction integrate the processes and ideas of Standards A, B, and C with the knowledge of Standards D and E, rather than teach them separately. Instruction should support students in asking questions and making inquiries to help them, understand and solve problems that require t he integration of knowledge and processes in authentic contexts. Unifying Themes – The proposed revised standards begin with a focus on four themes of science and technology: systems, models, and constancy and change, and scale. These themes provide teachers and students with a scaffold on which to organize the details of the standards. National standards documents identify these themes as critical knowledge for students in the 21st century. The Skills of Scientific Inquiry and Technological Design Process – The Science and Technology Standards define both the student skills of scientific inquiry and the student skills of technological design. The inclusion of scientific inquiry, the development of a coherent section on technological design and the inclusion of a standard on scientific and technological enterprise highlight the importance of developing student understanding of the unique characteristics of and relationships between science and technology. The scientific and technological enterprise standard outlines key understanding s about the relationships among science, technology and society and underscores the role of citizens in the decision-making process related to science and technology. Science is our power as human beings to use our wisdom and make decisions. When a loved one is dying of cancer, what would you do? Would you not do anything possible to try to help them? Here is where science has a role in our lives; when we want to do something otherwise difficult or impossible. Though the ways of learning science has changed over the years from solely thinking logically to reading classics to experimenting, the way scientific knowledge is used has not been changed. When there is an epidemic, medicine is used to carry out man’s will to cure it. When the Egyptian pyramids were to be built, architecture came into use. Yet science is not used only for such needful or elaborate situations. They also appear in our daily lives. We know it is important to wash ourselves regularly, only for biology. The Wright brothers were able to invent the airplane because they knew hot air rises, and since then, we have been able to use their technology to travel great distances in short periods of time. We humans would be so impotent without science. Science is our knowledge of the universe. It is natural to have for a being who thinks. If we did not have science, it would mean we are plain animals motivated purely by instinct. Our definition of â€Å"life† as a human would not exist. Great are the blessings of science. However, our wisdom is not complete, and can lead us to do wrong. Thereupon, science can be a curse. We have changed the passenger airplane into a fighter. Cameras for keeping memories spy on people. Cell phones for conversations are used to bully kids around, and even explode trains. Our greed, hatred, fear, wickedness, and stupidity have produced terrible uses of what our scientific knowledge has put together. As we all know from Spiderman, â€Å"With great power comes great responsibility.† Science gives us options to do or not to do. Though each option has its consequences, it is a distinct strength which evidently separates us from animals. How we use it will greatly influence the lives of each one of us.