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.]

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.

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,

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Marriage, the Motherhood Penalty and the Gender Wage Gap

Marriage, the Motherhood Penalty and the Gender Wage Gap The gender wage  gap is well-established in societies around the world. Social scientists have documented through research spanning decades that the gender wage  gap- wherein women, all else being equal, earn less than men for the same work- cannot be explained away by differences in education, type of job or role within an organization, or by the number of hours worked in a week or weeks worked in a year. Pew Research Center reports that in 2015- the year for which most recent data are available- the gender wage  gap in the United States as measured by median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers was 17 percent. This means that women earned roughly 83 cents to the mans dollar. This is actually good news, in terms of historical trends, because it means that the  gap has shrunk considerably over time. Back in 1979, women earned just 61 cents to the mans dollar in terms of median weekly earnings, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics  (BLS) reported by sociologist Michelle J. Budig. Yet, social scientists are cautious about this overall improvement because the rate at which the gap is shrinking has declined significantly in recent years. The encouraging nature of the overall shrinking gender wage  gap also eclipses the continuing harmful effect of racism on a persons earnings. When Pew Research Center looked at historical trends by race and gender, they found that, in 2015, while white women earned 82 cents to the white mans dollar, Black women earned just 65 cents relative to white men, and Hispanic women, just 58. These data also show that the increase in earnings of Black and Hispanic women relative to white men has been far less than that for white women. Between 1980 and 2015, the gap for Black women shrunk by just 9 percentage points and that for Hispanic women by just 5. Meanwhile, the gap for white women shrunk by 22 points. This means that the closing of the gender wage gap over recent decades has primarily benefitted white women. There are other hidden but important aspects of the gender wage  gap. Research shows that the gap is tiny to non-existent when people start their working careers around age 25 but it widens quickly and steeply during the next five to ten years. Social scientists argue that research proves that much of the widening of the gap is attributable to the wage penalty suffered by married women and by those who have children- what they call the motherhood penalty. The Lifecycle Effect and the Gender Wage  Gap Many social scientists have documented that the gender wage  gap widens with age. Budig, taking a sociological view on the problem, has demonstrated using BLS data that the wage  gap in 2012 as measured by median weekly earnings was just 10 percent for those aged 25 to 34 but was more than double that for those aged 35 to 44. Economists, using different data, have found the same result. Analyzing a combination of quantitative data from the  Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) database and the 2000 Census  long-form survey, a team of economists led by Claudia Goldin, a professor of economics at Harvard University, found that the gender wage gap widens considerably during the first decade and a half after schooling ends. In conducting their analysis, Goldins team used statistical methods to rule out the possibility that the gap widens over time due to an increase in discrimination. They found, conclusively, that the gender wage gap increases with age- especially among the college educated who work in higher-earning jobs than those not requiring a college degree. In fact, among the college educated, the economists found that 80 percent of the increase in the gap occurs between the ages of 26 and 32. Put differently, the wage gap between college-educated men and women is just 10 percent when they are 25 years old but has widened massively to 55 percent by the time they reach the age of 45. This means that college-educated women lose out on the most earnings, relative to men with the same degrees and qualifications. Budig argues that the widening of the gender wage gap as people age is due to what sociologists call the lifecycle effect. Within sociology, life cycle is used to refer to the different stages of development that a person moves through during their life, which includes reproduction, and are normatively synced with key social institutions of  family and education. Per Budig, the lifecycle effect on the gender wage gap is the effect that certain events and processes that are part of the life cycle have on a persons earnings: namely, marriage and childbirth. Research Shows that Marriage Hurts the Earnings of Women Budig and other social scientists see a link between marriage, motherhood and the gender wage gap because there is clear evidence that both life events correspond to a greater gap. Using BLS data for 2012, Budig shows that women who have never been married experience the smallest gender wage gap relative to never-married men- they earn 96 cents to the mans dollar. Married women, on the other hand, earn just 77 cents to the married mans dollar, which represents a gap that is nearly six times greater than that among never-married people. The effect of marriage on a womans earnings is made even more clear when looking at the gender wage gap for formerly married men and women. Women in this category earn just 83 percent of what formerly married men earn. So, even when a woman isnt currently married, if she has been, she will see her earnings reduced by 17 percent as compared with men in the same situation. The same team of economists cited above used the same pairing of LEHD data with long-form Census data to show exactly how marriage impacts the earnings of women in a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economics Research  (with Erling Barth, prolific Norwegian economist and a fellow at Harvard Law School,  as the first author, and without Claudia Goldin). First, they establish that much of the gender wage gap, or what they call the earnings gap, is created within organizations. Between 25 and 45 years of age, mens earnings within an organization climb more sharply than do those of women. This is true among both the college-educated and non-college educated populations, however, the effect is much more extreme among those with a college degree. Men with a college degree enjoy vast earnings growth within organizations while women with college degrees enjoy far less. In fact, their rate of earnings growth is less than that for men  without  college degrees, and by age 45 is slightly less than that of women without college degrees too. (Keep in mind that were talking about a rate of earnings growth here, not earnings themselves. College-educated women earn far more than women who do not have college degrees, but the rate at which earnings grow over the course of ones career is about the same for each group, regardless of education.) Because women earn less than men within organizations, when they change jobs and move to another organization, they do not see the same degree of salary bump- what Barth and his colleagues call an earnings premium- when taking the new job. This is especially true for married women and serves to further exacerbate the gender wage gap among this population. As it turns out, the rate of growth in the earnings premium is about the same for both married and never-married men as well as never-married women through the first five years of a persons career (The rate of growth for never-married women slows after that point.). However, compared to these groups, married women see very little growth in earnings premium over the span of two decades. In fact, it is not until married women are 45 years old that the rate of growth for their earnings premium matches what it was for all others between the ages of 27 and 28. This means that married women have to wait nearly two decades to see the same kind of earnings premium growth that other workers enjoy throughout their working career. Because of this, married women lose out on a significant amount of earnings relative to other workers. The Motherhood Penalty is the Real Driver of the Gender Wage Gap While marriage is bad for a womans earnings, research shows that it is childbirth that really exacerbates the gender wage gap and puts a significant dent in womens lifetime earnings relative to other workers. Married women who are also mothers are hardest hit by the gender wage gap, earning just 76 percent of what married fathers earn, according to Budig. Single mothers earn 86 to the single (custodial) fathers dollar; a fact which is in keeping with what Barth and his research team revealed about the negative impact of marriage on a womans earnings. In her research, Budig found that women on average suffer a wage penalty of four percent per childbirth during their careers. Budig found this after controlling for the effect on wages of differences in human capital, family structure, and family-friendly job characteristics. Troublingly, Budig also found that low-income women suffer a greater motherhood penalty of six percent per child. Backing up the sociological findings, Barth and his colleagues, because they were able to match long-form Census data to earnings data, concluded that most of the loss in earnings growth for married women (relative to married men) occurs concurrently with the arrival of children.† Yet, while women, especially married and low-income women suffer a motherhood penalty, most men who become fathers receive a fatherhood bonus. Budig, with her colleague Melissa Hodges, that men on average receive a six percent pay bump after becoming fathers. (They found this by analyzing data from the 1979-2006 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.) They also found that, just as the motherhood penalty disproportionately impact low-income women (therefore negatively targeting racial minorities), the fatherhood bonus disproportionately benefits white men- especially those with college degrees. Not only do these dual phenomena- the motherhood penalty and the fatherhood bonus- maintain and for many, widen the gender wage gap, they also work together to reproduce and worsen already existing structural inequalities that function on the basis of gender,  race, and level of education.

The Cherokee Princess Myth - Common Family Legends

The Cherokee Princess Myth - Common Family Legends My great-great-grandmother was a Cherokee Indian princess! How many of you have heard a similar statement made by one of your relatives? As soon as you hear that princess label, the red warning flags should go up. While they are sometimes true, stories of Native American ancestry in the family tree are often more fiction than fact. The Story Goes Family stories of Native American ancestry often seem to refer to a Cherokee princess. Whats interesting about this particular legend is that it almost always seems to be a Cherokee princess, rather than Apache, Seminole, Navajo or Sioux - almost as if the phrase Cherokee princess has become a clichà ©. Keep in mind, however, that almost any story of Native American ancestry may be a myth, whether it involves the Cherokee or some other tribe. How it Began During the 20th century it was common for Cherokee men to use an endearing term to refer to their wives that roughly translated as princess. Many people believe this is how princess and Cherokee were joined in the popular Cherokee ancestry myth. Thus, the Cherokee princess may have really existed- not as royalty, but as a beloved and cherished wife. Some people also speculate that the myth was born in an attempt to overcome prejudice. For a white male marrying an Indian woman, a Cherokee princess may have been a little easier to swallow for the rest of the family. Proving or Disproving the Cherokee Princess Myth If you discover a Cherokee Princess story in your family, begin by losing any assumptions that the Native American ancestry, if it exists, has to be Cherokee. Instead, focus your questions and search on the more general goal of determining whether there is any Native American ancestry in the family, something that is usually untrue in the majority of such cases. Begin by asking questions about which specific family member was the one with Native American ancestry (if no one knows, this should throw up another red flag). If nothing else, at least try to narrow down the branch of the family, because the next step is to locate family records such as census records, death records, military records and records of land ownership looking for any clues to racial background. Learn about the area in which your ancestor lived as well, including what Native American tribes may have been there and during what time period. Native American census rolls and membership lists, as well as DNA tests can also potentially help you prove or disprove Native American ancestry in your family tree. See  Tracing Indian Ancestry  for more information. DNA Testing for Native American Ancestry DNA testing for Native American ancestry is generally most accurate if you can find someone on the direct paternal line (Y-DNA) or direct maternal line (mtDNA) to test, but unless you know which ancestor was believed to be Native American and can find a descendant down the direct paternal (father to son) or maternal (mother to daughter) line, it isnt always practical. Autosomal tests look at DNA on all branches of your family tree but, due to recombination, are not always useful if the Native American ancestry is more than 5–6 generations back in your tree. See Proving Native American Ancestry Using DNA by Roberta Estes for a detailed explanation of what DNA can and cant tell you. Research All Possibilities While the Cherokee Indian Princess story is almost guaranteed to be a myth, there is a chance that this cliche stems from some type of Native American ancestry. Treat this as you would any other genealogy search, and thoroughly research those ancestors in all available records.

Group types and group characteristics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Group types and group characteristics - Essay Example However, not all groups are formally authorized by the management. Nevertheless, well-managed groups can mean the difference between successful and unsuccessful organizations. According to Robbins and Coulter (2002), most teams are either, temporary or permanent, functional or cross-functional, and self-managed or supervised. Primarily, groups are mainly classified into formal and informal groups. Formal groups and teams are those that are created by managers (Jones and George 2009, 599). These include top-management teams, cross-functional teams, self-managed work teams, command groups, cross-cultural teams, task forces, virtual teams, and project teams. Informal groups are those that may be created organizational members. Informal groups like friendship groups and special interest groups, however, serve more of a social and recreational purpose (DuBrin 2012, 471). The top management team is a sort of cross-functional team that consists of members from each of the functional units or departments from across the organization, including finance, human resource, marketing, and so on. Cross-functional teams contain specialized members from each functional unit, who work together on a variety of tasks. Cross-functional teams may be assigned for a particular process that requires members from different areas of expertise. Self-managed work teams are formally recognized and consist of team members, generally employees, who are responsible for an entire project such as product or service development. Self-managed work teams are based around the concept of job enrichment which is why self-managed work teams are characterized by greater control and autonomy over their tasks and duties. Self-managed work teams also include self-directed teams and work teams (DuBrin 2012, 471). Members of a self-managed work team work together on an ongoing basis as opposed to members on a task force. Members are usually led by a team leader who is

Real estate law- principles of tort Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Real estate law- principles of tort - Coursework Example 2011). The most controversial and contentious area of tort is on the obligation of landowners towards persons who make a trip to their land. In common law, land was divided into the areas below: invitees, licensees and trespassers (Claeys, et al 2013). The invitee owes the uppermost duty of care while the lowermost duty is owed by the trespassers (Fordham, 2014). In the UK, the laws of Torts have greatly assisted to solve conundrums ascribed to to land. Prior to delving into the principles of torts, it is essential to first understand the concept of an occupier’s liability and how it is relevant in the UK. The legislative arm of the UK has passed two laws to determine the responsibility of the occupier (Gathii, James. 2015). The first law tackles concerns or matters regarding a visitor. The second law is ascribed to another person who is not a visitor. Mutually, the Occupiers Liability Acts of 1957 and 1984Â  inflict responsibility on occupiers rather than what it places on landowners (Williams, 2010). Only facts can determine whether a person is an occupier or not. However, it greatly depends on the extent of power exercised. The yardstick that is used is that of occupational control. That is because more than one employee may be occupying the premises. According to Kenny (2015), the Occupiers Liability Act of 1957 enforces responsibility on occupiers with regard to lawful visitors. The Occupiers Liability of 1984 enforces a responsibility on occupiers in view of persons other than a visitor (Oliphant, 2013). This statute highlights that there is no duty to trespassers, except inflicting malicious injury upon them (lawgazette.com.sg). This statute gives the landowner reassurance that he/she owns the land but tries to refrain him from injuring any trespassers that he may encounter. The occupier also has a duty to the invitee; this means that any person who he has given legal access to his land