Trouble Down South Essay -- US-Mexico Border

Right off the bat in our school years we are shown the significance of avoiding drugs and their unsafe impacts. We live in a country encompassed by drugs and the way of life that encompasses them. Medications occupy our regular day to day existences through the mediums we interact with every day. A great many people can't experience their day without running into a medication reference or something to that affect on their telephones or TVs. Be that as it may, with all the medications in our country, numerous Americans don't set aside the effort to ponder where they originated from or how they arrived. The most widely recognized answer is the U.S.- Mexico fringe (Gootenberg 2). As authorities stress over the quantity of illicit outsiders that sneak into the country, they appear to be less worried about the measure of medication content that is pirated in also. With powerful gatherings, for example, Los Zetas and the Sinaloans controlling Mexico’s tranquilize world with brutalit y and fear based oppression, our southern neighbor has a difficult that has stayed wild for as far back as twenty years (Gootenberg 4). Mexico has not generally been pervaded with drugs. The present medication issues stem back to the cocaine blast of the 1980s in Columbia and U.S. endeavors to dispense with exchanges the 80s and 90s (Gootenberg 1, 2). During the blast, Columbian medication frameworks were sorted out in significant urban communities, for example, Miami and New York. As the mid-80s drew nearer, there were an approximated 22 million cocaine clients in the United States (Gootenberg 2). With such achievement came a fast development of the cocaine market, and it additionally prompted more rivalry. As this opposition rose, the Columbians had to embed hit men into the U.S to ward off their Cuban opponents (2). The savagery brought about by the Columbian markets constrained the U.S. president to get included. Presidents, for example, Rea... ...iven a more extensive base in the U.S. President Calderon is obviously unfit to control the cartels in his own nation, and is in desperate need of some help. It is a duty of the United States to help its’ neighbor before it is past the point of no return. Mexican medication cartels have been ascending to control since the end of the Medellin cartel in 1980. They came to control on account of the blowback impact brought about by the United States (Gootenberg 3). With late U.S. presidential choices, our country is doing little to support its neighbor (Kellner and Pipitone 37). Mexico has been left to locate its own answer; it will be up to the brains of president Calderon and his kindred governors to locate a serene method to dispose of the dread that has grasped their country by the throat. That is, if the opposition and crave an area and force don’t cause the cartels to pulverize each other first.

Lab work for an 8 week semester Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Labor for a multi week semester - Lab Report Example This is inactivity in light of the fact that the abrupt difference in speed changes the condition of the water inside the glass, which was moving. d) After strolling in an orderly fashion with a steady speed at that point making an unexpected stop, the water experience disturbance. This disturbance is brought about by latency Questions 1) The perceptions of the conduct of water inside the holder (choppiness) fit in with Newton’s law of idleness. While moving with the holder, water inside the glass likewise moves at a similar speed. At the point when an unexpected stop or left or right hand turn is made, the speed of the water inside the compartment is out of nowhere changed and water opposes this difference moving (Nardo, Don, and Ashlee 16). 2) While the compartment is quickened towards the left, water moves a similar way of speeding up and opposes the powers that constrain it to stop. 3) Another comparable guide to this examination is the point at which one is driving a vehi cle. The body of the driver will be moving at a speed that is equivalent to the speed of the vehicle. At the point when the driver makes an abrupt stop, his body will keep moving at the speed and he will oppose the unexpected difference in speed. Thusly, the driver’s body will encounter idleness, which is the hesitance to abrupt difference moving or speed The washers with the bigger mass and weight pull the washers on the opposite side of the pulley. The lighter washers climb the pulley while the heavier washers descend the pulley. Preliminary M1 M2 Change of M2 Time (s) Acceleration 1 1.4 3.0 1.6 0.51 12.1 2 1.4 3.2 1.8 0.56 11.5 3 1.6 3.5 1.9 0.66 8.6 4 1.5 3.6 2.1 0.68 9.1 5 1.6 3.8 2.2 0.66 10.2 Trial M1 M2 Change of M2 Time (s) Acceleration 1 0.9 3.0 2.1 0.68 9.1 2 1.9 3.5 1.6 0.58 9.6 3 1.2 3.8 2.6 0.81 8.0 4 0.9 3.9 3.0 0.77 10.2 5 0.7 3.2 2.5 0.71 10.0 Newton’s third Law of movement In this examination, the inflatable is attached to a straw in which a string go es through. The two parts of the bargains are joined to two seats that are isolated ten meters from one another. The inflatable is swelled with air and put close to one finish of a seat. Perception: On discharging the inflatable, it moves promptly the other way while it pools the straw towards the opposite finish of the seat. This perception can be utilized to clarify Newton’s third law of movement that expresses that for each activity there is an equivalent and inverse response. 1. Clarification of perception: The air that was filled inside the inflatable was feeling the squeeze. At the point when the inflatable is discharged, the air shoots out of the inflatable a contrary way. The power applied by the air that moves out of the inflatable has another equivalent and inverse power (the inflatable) that makes the inflatable move in the contrary d

Citizen Organizing - Free Essay Example

When you live in a city, you are recognized as a citizen. From Ancient Greece, Aristotle, the father of political science, considered you a citizen if you had an active part in the states government. From the textbook, We The People, by Thomas E. Patterson, introduces the responsibilities of becoming a citizen at the beginning of the book. From this book, a couple of tips that may help enhance your feelings of citizenship and activate your engagement in the community are thinking politically and understanding the nations political culture. Political thinking is not voicing an opinion, it is critical evaluation to make political judgments on what can be believed from the information that is heard. It enhances responsibility among citizens. Thinking politically is aiming to help students, of all levels, become responsible citizens. Responsible citizenship was what English philosopher John Stuart Mill had in mind when he said that democracy is the best form of government (Patterson 2015, 3). The citizens should not be concerned only of their rights. They should be equally alive to their duties and responsibilities. John Locke was of the view that if a man has a right to live, he has a corresponding duty not to kill others. In his words, Everyone living in the society is to obey the laws of the society. To help students understand politics, there is no right or wrong way to think politically. Everybodys understanding of politics is different. From the work of scholars, as well as political practitioners and writers have helped, political science has developed largely (Patterson 2015, 6). Tools to help broaden an understanding of politics consist of reliable information, have a general idea of major topics, and understand the terms and concepts of everyday politic conversations. The biggest obstacle citizens face in politics is the effortless act of understanding how to politically think. In this case, this shows the lack of responsibility. When citizens do pay attention, it seems as if its portrayed in an ineffective way. Many Americans get their political information and opinions, from social media and or television. It is concluded, from the University of Maryland, a study represented that the false information is universal in the talk show culture. The information from social media and television are not total lies, but the information does get twisted, as the political reporter ties in their opinion, making it sound politically correct. A journalist, Walter Lippmann, is concerned about the citizens of the United States that are unprepared to play the role democracy hands them. They live in a real world, but think in an imagined oneit is difficult to understand that citizens are in a self-governing society, but are blind to reality, Lippmann states. Lippmanns concerns have been confirmed by many scholarly studies. To continue confirming American citizens blindness to reality, one thousand American citizens were given the citizenship test that immigrants must pass in order to become a legal citizen. Four of every ten American citizens who took the test failed. With the lack of information given to citizens, that does not keep them from voting in elections, or stating their strong opinions. Most citizens are unfamiliar with their nations political stand. Again, there is no right or wrong way to politically think, but the history of the nations political stand is rarely understood. To understand where your country stands politically, it is important to know your countrys political culture. A political culture are the beliefs of its people about politics. These beliefs come from the countrys traditions and relationships of citizens to the government. There are four ideal core values of Americas culture that I learned that could help someone enhance their feelings of citizenship and activate their engagement in their community. These four values are liberty, equality, individualism, and self-government. Liberty is the act of each individual to be set free and think as they choose. A popular statement, the United States was born free, states political scientist Louis Hartz. Equality expresses the equal moral worth and treatment of each individual under the law. All men are created equal, from the Declaration of Independence, specifically from Thomas Jefferson. Individualism is self sufficiency. Americans are to remain their own masters, from Observers of Tocqueville. Lastly, self-government, is that people should have a voice in their governing and authority. The Americans belief in self-government developed in colonial America (Patterson 2015, 12). Starting with an organized community is a way of growing together as a community. From the Village Politics by Paul Rogat Loeb, Loeb explains that motivating your community and coming together as a whole is a way of defeating major issues within the community. Once a community comes together, citizens will support each other and gain trust. Entire communities can grow when challenged (Loeb, 20). From the reading, Making Our Lives Count by Paul Rogat Loeb, Loeb explains how a community can come together to help other citizens in a time in need, which gives that specific community encouragement to grow and succeed together once completing major accomplishments.

The Zoning Of Facking - 829 Words

Babies born near hydraulic fracking sites are more likely to be underweight, according to one of the largest studies ever conducted into how the fossil fuel extraction technique actually affects our health. The study, published Wednesday in Science Advances, found Pennsylvanian children born within 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) of a fracking site were 25 percent more likely to experience low birth weight. That risk decreases the farther away a child is born. Low birth weight, defined as being born under 5.5 pounds, has previously been linked with an increased risk of childhood mortality and poorer educational outcomes. While the results could influence local policy surrounding the zoning of fracking sites, they fall short of pinpointing†¦show more content†¦From 1 to 3 kilometers [1.8 miles], we find a smaller effect. And then after 3 kilometers, we were unable to detect an impact.† The team also developed an index that measured health indicators, such as prematurity and congenital abnormalities, for infants in the study. Using these metrics (almost like a stock market), they noticed a small but statistically significant decline in the overall health of babies born closer to fracking sites. What caused the low birth weights? It’s unclear. â€Å"As the authors point out, that is the major limitation of study,† said Susan Nagel, a reproductive and perinatal research at the University of Missouri, who wasn’t involved in the study. â€Å"They are inferring exposure from proximity.† Hydraulic fracturing pumps a cocktail of water and chemicals into the ground. The pressure fractures shale rock, which releases oil, natural gas and wastewater back to the surface. This wastewater is stored temporarily in storage containers, before typically being deposited back underground in sealed storage wells. Surface-level spills of fracking fluids and wastewater are common, Nagel said, â€Å"and certainly the wastewater seems to be the issue when you’re talking about water impacts.† She cited past instances of spills into surface water, such as in Colorado and West Virginia. But there is â€Å"absolutely air pollution related to fracking† too, said Nagel, whose lab published a systematic review of the connection between oil and natural gas

Speech History of Haiti - 1721 Words

Title: The history of Haiti Purpose: To understand how Haiti became what it is and all the trials it has endured Thesis: In order to explain Haiti’s history I will discuss its location, when and how it became independent and Haiti today and also its early history Intro: Attention Getter: Who here has heard of the horrible plight of Haiti? Haiti has been through constant suffering everyday due to economic difficulty, lack of food, lack of clean water, hurricanes, and possibly everything that could go wrong with the world. I’m sure no one in their right mind would want to be there now but does anyone know how Haiti became as it is now. Well that’s what I’m about to tell you. Preview: In order to understand the history of†¦show more content†¦French, Spanish, and English troops provided aid. They were fighting each other for control but they all agreed the main aim: to prevent black domination in a former colony. b. Franà §ois Toussaint L’Ouverture became the leader of the former slaves. Toussaint remained in charge in the following many years of frequent battles, but in 1802 he was captured by French forces and later died in a French prison. 2. Independence a. According to Jacob Crawfurd of crawfurd.dk With the French arrival a revolution started once again and when it was finally over, an army of black slaves had their victory against the army of Napoleon. On January 1st 1804, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, an African-born ex-slave could declare Haiti independent. It was the first black republic in the world and the first country in the Western hemisphere to abolish slavery completely b. Dessalines, who had commanded the black and the mulatto forces during the final phase of the revolution, became the new countrys leader; he ruled under the dictatorial 1801 constitution. The land he governed had been devastated by years of warfare. The agricultural base was all but destroyed, and the population was uneducated and largely unskilled. Commerce was virtually nonexistent. 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Indeed, Haiti was occupied from 1915-34 and the Dominican Republic from 1916-24, while Wilson intervened repeatedly in the Mexican Revolution. Moreover, at the end of World War I, Britain and France divided up Germanys African colonies between them, an d also maintainedRead MoreCanada, Drinking Tim Horton s And Playing Hockey942 Words   |  4 Pages it decreases hatred towards other cultures. Looking back at Canada’s history, it can be easily noted that it was founded upon settling immigrants looking to start a new life. Nowadays, it is not much different as many people around the world flee their nation and seek safety in Canada to start their lives anew. This can commonly be seen in war torn or disaster struck countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Philippines, Haiti etc... Canada’s vast amount of cultural diversity is unrivaled by any otherRead MoreThe Epidemic Of The Aids Epidemic1438 Words   |  6 Pagesworld as we knew it. 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Importance Of Communication Protocol -Importance Of The Wimax

Question: The importance of communication protocol in todays world? How important is it to know about network security threats such as identity theft and password theft? (250) Please provide the way we can prevent these threats The importance of WiMAX in todays world? Answer: Importance of communication protocol Communication protocols are similar to traffic directors. They maintain all organized during computers are communicate to each other. Protocol has main role in communication and without it is not possible for one computer to converse with another computer. For an example just thought that we are in France but we don't know how to speak French. So its not possible to speak to a man who doesn't understand any other language except French? Definitely not, although we could try to speak with him non-verbally but again we would be unable to let him know our though. To get it work either we require learning French or he requires knowing the language that we speak, than we both would be capable to talk contentedly. (Perlman, 1999) This similar analogy is appropriates to Protocol of Internet, if one machine of computer want to receive or send data to another computer, than both of the computers should use similar protocol for completing the task. Thus we can describe the Protocol as" The Rules which govern communication among more than two of the two computers" The general protocols of Internet are as below Hyper Text Transfer Protocols (HTTP) supports us to see pages that are residing on other computer File Transfer Protocol (FTP) supports us to receive or send file from one file to another. Post office Protocol and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (POP3/SMTP) supports us to receive and send emails. (Holzmann, 1991) Identity theft Thisis the form of stealing identity of someone in which somebody imagine to be someone else by presumptuous that identity of person, generally as the method to increase resource access or acquire credit and other advantages in that name of person. Phishing is the name given to theft happened through online identity. It uses fraudulent websites and email which are designed to steal the personal information or data like numbers of credit card, account data, passwords, etc. Con artists can send thousands of fraudulent email which contain links of websites which are fraudulent that emerge to come from the trusted websites, like credit card or bank company, and demand that you give personal data. (Jay, 2007) Password Theft Stealing of password is "Holy Grail" of the hacking. Once the combination of username/password can been found, the hacker should utilize that user account. Encryption, intrusion detection, firewalls, and some other countermeasures are ineffective against accounts which are stolen -- accurately as it is not possible to differentiate among real user and some other user posing. What to do? 1. Before clicking think twice:If you get an email which is not predictable, even from the website which you trust, use the tipsto validate if email looks "phishy". 2. Website verification should be done which asked for login:CAS (CalNet Authentication Service) is used by many applications of campus to ask to enter the credentials .To ensure it's a login page which is authentic, check to ensure the URL that starts withhttps. (Federal, 2006) WiMAX It is known as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. This enables the last mile delivery of wireless broadband access as a substitute to Cable broadband and ADSL. It also has each potential to substitute a quantity of current infrastructures for world communication. In the wireless region that is fixed, it can substitute the cellular zone, cable TV coaxial cable infrastructure and telephone copper wire networks. It has the capacity in place to fill-in of current networks of cellular. The much significant thing concerning it is you obtain all its services that are cheaper comparing to services from recognized technologies like Fiber Optics, Cable, and ADSL etc. WiMAX Reach The WiMAX magnitude and its bandwidth create it appropriate for broad likely usages. It is the wireless that is powerful alternative to cable broadband access and ADSL. Can connect with current hotspots Wi-Fi with each other and to rest of Internet It can give services of mobile communication as high-quality. WiMax mobile service and its wireless broadband possibly work within the local loop. (Kaiser,2008) Importance of the wimax 1. This system gives internet access facilities through WiMax receiver and WiMax tower. This Tower is capable to cover the bigger area in range of eight thousand square kilometer. It is like tower of cell phone. 2. WiMax antenna and receiver work with similar direction as network of WiFi. It has facilities that are inbuilt to access network. The card PCMCIA is build-in with laptop to deliver and receive signals. 3. This tower station give facilities of high bandwidth such as T3 lines. It can be connected with wired connection. 4. WiMax gives connection in 2 kinds of service that is wireless. There are sight lines and sight non-line which is obtainable in the services of WiMax. The line-of-sight is additional static and good connectivity. 5. With network of non-line-of-sight work on same line with network of WiFi. In such case you require small antenna in computer to obtain the remote connection. WiMax gives the services in range of GHz 2 to 11. (Ergen,2009) References: Radia Perlman, 1999,Interconnections: Bridges, Routers, Switches, and Internetworking Protocols.2nd Edition Gerard J. Holzmann, 1991,Design and Validation of Computer Protocols.Prentice Hall, 1991 Hoofnagle, Chris Jay, 2007, Identity Theft: Making the Known Unknowns Known. Federal Trade Commission, 2006, Identity Theft Survey Report, p.4 K. Fazel and S. Kaiser,2008, Multi-Carrier and Spread Spectrum Systems: From OFDM and MC-CDMA to LTE and WiMAX M. Ergen,2009, Mobile Broadband - Including WiMAX and LTE

Vygotsky s Theory Of Human Developmental And Educational Psychology Essay Example For Students

Vygotsky s Theory Of Human Developmental And Educational Psychology Essay Lev Vygotsky is considered by many educational researchers as one of the most influential figures in fields of human developmental and educational psychology. His theories follow the belief that true education is not just the learning of information, but also the development of children’s learning abilities. Abilities such as their capability to think clearly, plan, and communicate their understanding (Karimnia, 2010).Vygotsky was born in 1896 to Jewish parents in what is now present day Ukraine. In 1913 he was admitted to Moscow State University, where he continued to study until his graduation in 1917. In 1924 he took a research position at the Psychological Institute in Moscow (Costley, 2012). In 1934 he died suddenly from Tuberculosis. Not long after Vygotsky’s death Stalin banned all his work. It was not until the collapse of the Soviet Union that Vygotsky’s works were translated and read by researchers outside Russia. (Blake Pope, 2008) Vygotsky was inspired by the Marxist theory of â€Å"†¦historical changes in society and material life produce changes in human nature† (Huiitt, 2000), and the idea that, â€Å"What is learned must be taught† (Wilhelm, 2001). From these concepts his theories on social interaction and the zone of proximal development take form. We will write a custom essay on Vygotsky s Theory Of Human Developmental And Educational Psychology specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now While Vygotsky acknowledged other factors in his work, such as inherited or biological traits, he primarily focused on the role of the environment in fostering cognitive growth (Ormrod, 2008). He believed that adult help, given to a child, can provide not only support to the process of assimilating, but also promote essential skills in developing children (Zaretskii, 2009). Vygotsky believed that social interaction played an important role in student learning, and that thr. . is because his work was designed around children who had neither physical nor learning disabilities, making it difficult to apply his theories to children who have special needs. Vygotsky did, however, discuss this topic in his theory of Zone of Proximal Development, stating that what’s important to disabled children is what they are able to do, rather than what they are supposed to be doing (Wang, 2009). Lev Vygotsky’s work has been used as a foundational theory for the development of many other theories and ideas about childhood educational and psychological development over the years. It has been utilized by many in the education field as a way to teach and enhance the learning of children, and has been studied by psychologists of all backgrounds for decades despite its limitations. His work he was the break though that laid the groundwork for modern theorists.

Narrative Essay on a Love Story to Tell Creative Ideas of Narration

Narrative Essay on a Love Story to Tell Creative Ideas of Narration The atmosphere was simply breathtaking: the sun was shining brightly over the calm suburbs. Being a few minutes past midday, most people were indoors, most probably taking their lunch or afternoon naps. In his room, Kevin sat on the bed, glum and heartbroken. His room was all messed up, with fashion magazines littered all over the carpeted floor. On one corner, there lay empty tins of hair gel and perfume bottles. The sight of these immediately brought back memories of Anne, the girl Kevin had loved with all his heart. His memories were jolted back to the time they first met. It was during a high school dance, and amidst all the other girls in attendance, Anne simply stood out. Her blue eyes were the most beautiful Kevin had ever seen. Her charm was amplified by the curly hair that was neatly tucked in a high, bouncy ponytail. Tall and slender, Anne had lovely dimples that any man would have given up anything for. With that first glimpse of her, Kevin was rendered speechless. Instead of approaching her and declaring his immediate thoughts and feelings, he simply shook her hand and walked away. He could not find the right words to describe his emotions at the time. Thankfully, he managed to get her number from a schoolmate; three days later, he called and expressed his interest in seeing her. Anne’s response was apparently encouraging; she had promised to think about Kevin’s proposal to meet with her and to keep in touch. But on this day, a full week since the promise, Kevin was a disheartened young man. Staring idly into space, he wondered why Anne’s response was not forthcoming. His face was covered with perspiration at the thought that perhaps Anne did not feel the same passion he felt for her. As the wind grew stronger, Kevin’s demeanor was equally becoming more intense. Almost abruptly, he arose from his bed and began kicking everything in his path. At this point, he spotted a small bottle on which were written the words â€Å"Rat and mice killer.† Convinced that life had deprived him of the one girl he wanted to be with most, he took the poison in one big gulp. The news spread like bushfire, and the local ambulance was at the door of his room in no time. Anne’s eyes were all teary as she implored Kevin to hang on, that she loved him and was ready to become his girlfriend. As fate would have it, Kevin opened his mouth but speech failed him as he fell lifeless onto the floor. Anne wept uncontrollably; playing hard to get had been unimaginably costly to her. Dark clouds gathered in the sky as Kevin’s body was taken away. Tips on narrative essay writing: As is evident from this sample essay, narrative essays on love are very intriguing, both to the reader and the writer. Anyone can write a narrative essay on love, provided he or she is creative enough. For one who enjoys romantic novels and has some creative ideas of his own, such an essay can be completed within a few minutes. A useful tip when writing a narrative essay on love is to base it on everyday happenings. For example, the essay can center on unreciprocated or one-sided love. Like all other narratives, this type of essay should involve some elements of fiction, such as use of pseudonyms in place of real names.

Improving long term care for our nations Veterans Research Paper

Improving long term care for our nations Veterans - Research Paper Example This essay discusses that healthcare for military personnel, including veterans and active duty members spans a wide range of programs under the control and management of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veteran Affairs. TRICARE is the primary health care program for active duty soldiers and veterans, including their families. This program covers three health coverage plans: the TRICARE Prime, TRICARE Extra, and the TRICARE Standard or CHAMPUS. The differences in these three plans mostly are in the eligibility, providers, and out-of-pocket costs. TRICARE for Life (TFL) covers Medicare-eligible military retirees and their family as well as their survivors. And in instances when both Medicare and RFL apply, Medicare takes precedence over TFL coverage. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) covers and delivers health care to the veterans as well as their families. It also manages the largest integrated health system which covers millions of inpatients and outpatie nts veterans based on a wide network of hospitals and interworking systems of clinics, rehabilitation programs, residential programs, and nursing homes (Kaiser). The veterans are usually assigned to eight levels of prioritization, based on their service-connected injuries, income, and on other similar factors. Based on these considerations, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs often determines if the budget for veteran healthcare is adequate to meet the needs of the veterans requiring care. (Kaiser). The VA is available to all veterans, especially those who are uninsured and who have low incomes (Military Handbooks, p. 4). Despite its availability, about 1.8

Blackberrys Social Scope as a Business Tool Research Paper

Blackberrys Social Scope as a Business Tool - Research Paper Example This papaer stresses that the initial ubiquitous team that developed the app, in the beginning made it as a mobile application. The project began under iPhone backing but switched to Blackberry because of background processing. This allows the user to monitor, as well as report, their tweeter feeds while continuing to use other apps on their platform. In business, the background processing allows the user to access their emails, browse information they do not understand, check on stock markets, and read their business Facebook and Twitter messages. These messages are pulled for viewing each time one switches back to using Social scope. Given Blackberry’s fundamental utility as a messaging device, the vibrant half-VGA display and QWERTY keyboard completes a two-way device for communication. This report discusses that the app also ensures that no delay is experienced when receiving Twitter messages, which can be crucial in an organization that relies on information. Social scope ensures that all recent messages are displayed on the screen. The entrepreneur does not require their app be left open in order to receive messages, and they do not require to re-login. The messages are just present when required, providing immediacy for the organization’s PR department. Red Robin Gourmet Burgers introduced their new burger line last month and turned to social media. Using Social scope to foster connections also allows companies to match the skills of employees working. for them across the world who, otherwise, would have found it difficult to communicate in between their work schedules. It has become especially valuable for business entities built on acquisition where the managers in the various divisions are not acquainted to one another. An American supermarket chain su ch as Shaw in Boston, has utilized Social scope for this purpose

Health Care Spending Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Health Care Spending - Essay Example Yet the citizens of these countries do have insurance that is provided by the government. Health Insurance Cost (2004) also states that "the average employee contribution to company-provided health insurance has increased more than 143 percent since 2000. Average out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, co-payments for medications, and co-insurance for physician and hospital visits rose 115 percent during the same period." The United States, with it wealth, education, technology, and power seems not to have a grasp on its health care spending as it spends twice as much pr capita and yet does not provide what other countries offer to their citizens. Increased health spending is causing many U.S. citizens to have no health insurance as the costs affect care that is offered to patients, public health programs, services provided in the home, etc. Due to these reasons, there is a larger gap between those who are considered the "haves" and the "have-nots". The increased costs, which affects patient care and services, programs offered to the public, in-home care, larger gaps between those who have and those who do not, etc. Yet on the other hand, it is the "what comes first the chicken or the egg" syndrome. Many believe that the reason the costs are so astounding is due to the outrageous prices charged by doctors, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, and other health care service providers. Some people believe that the United States offers the world's best health care system. However, being the most expensive system does not Health Care Spending 3 necessarily mean that it is the best. The U.S. Health Care System (2001) states that there, "42.6 million people in the U.S. currently without health insurance" Anderson (2004) suggests reasons why the spending in the U.S. is so high: These include greater use of medical services, greater administrative complexity in the U.S. health care system, increasing age of the U.S. population, threat of malpractice litigation, defensive medicine, the lack of waiting lists in the United States and higher incomes in the United States. None of these factors explain a large portion of the difference between health spending in the United States and other industrialized countries. Perhaps most surprising to many health care experts and certainly to the lay public is the fact that the United States has fewer hospital days per capita, fewer physician visits per capita, fewer MRIs and CT scanners s than the average industrialized country. The person in the United States is simply not receiving more medical care than people in many industrialized countries. The major reason why the United States spends so much on health care is that the U.S. residents pay two to three times more for hospital services, physician services and drugs tha n residents in other industrialized countries. These are the areas in which spending can be cut. It is suggested that corporations and industries refuse to pay more than what the Medicare program pays. Statistics show that the private sector pays an average of 10-20% more than Medicare. If industries refuse to pay the higher prices and negotiate lower medical and health care costs, this will reduce what individuals have to pay and will encourage Medicare to push for even lower prices. The government can also provide health Health Care

Americas War on Drugs: Policy and Problems :: America Drug War Politics Narcotics Essays

America's War on Drugs: Policy and Problems In this paper I will evaluate America's War on Drugs. More specifically, I will outline our nation's general drug history and look critically at how Congress has influenced our current ineffective drug policy. Through this analysis I hope to show that drug prohibition policies in the United States, for the most part, have failed. Additionally, I will highlight and evaluate the influences acting on individual legislators' decisions to continue support for these ineffective policies as a more general demonstration of Congress' role in the formation of our nation's drug policy strategy. Finally, I will conclude this analysis by outlining the changes I feel necessary for future progress to be made. Primary among these changes are a general promotion of drug education and the elimination of our current system's many de-legitimating hypocrisies. However, before the specific outcomes of Congressional influence and policy impact can be evaluated it becomes important to first review the general history and current situation of drugs today. Our present drug laws were first enacted at the beginning of the century. At the time, recreational use of narcotics was not a major social issue. The first regulatory legislation was for the purpose of standardizing the manufacturing and purity of pharmaceutical products. Shortly after, the first criminal laws were enacted which addressed opium products and cocaine. Although some states had prohibited the recreational use of marijuana, there was no federal criminal legislation until 1937. By contrast, the use of alcohol and its legality was a major social issue in United States in the early 20th century. This temperance movement culminated in the prohibition of alcohol from 1920 to 1933. Recreational drug use, particularly heroin, became more prevalent among the urban poor during the early ?60s. Because of the high cost of heroin and its uncertain purity, its use was associated with crime and frequent overdoses. A drug subculture involving the use of marijuana and other hallucinogenic drugs began to emerge in mainstream American society in the late ?60s and was loosely associated with an overall atmosphere of political protest concerning the Vietnam War and civil rights. Drug use, including heroin use, was prevalent among soldiers during the Vietnam War and many of them returned addicted. Since that time, the recreational use of drugs, particularly marijuana, has been a constant aspect of youth culture in all social classes.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 16~18

Chapter 16 Heartwarming and UL-Approved There was a bum sleeping on the sidewalk across the street from the loft when they returned. Tommy, full of fast food and the elation of being twice laid, wanted to give the guy a dollar. Jody stopped him and pushed him up the steps. â€Å"Go on up,† she said. â€Å"I'll be there in a minute.† She stood in the doorway watching the bum for movement. There was no heat signature around him and she assumed the worst. She waited for him to roll over and start laughing at her again. She was feeling strong and a little cocky from the infusion of Tommy's blood, so she had to fight the urge to confront the vampire, to get dead in his face and scream. Instead she just whispered, â€Å"Asshole,† and closed the door. If his hearing was as acute as her own, and she was sure it was, he had heard her. She found Tommy in bed, fast asleep. Poor guy, she thought, running all over town doing my business. He probably hasn't slept more than a couple of hours since we met. She pulled the covers over him, kissed him on the forehead, and went to the window in the front room to watch the bum across the street. Tommy was dreaming of bebop-driven sentences read by a naked redhead when he woke to find her sleeping next to him. He threw his arm over her and pulled her close, but there was no response, no pleasant groan or reciprocal snuggle. She was out. He pushed the light button on his watch and checked the time. It was almost noon. The room was so dark that the watch dial floated in his vision for a few seconds after he released the button. He went to the bathroom and fumbled around until he found the light switch. A single fluorescent tube clicked and sputtered and finally ignited, spilling a fuzzy green glow through the door into the bedroom. She looks dead, he thought. Peaceful, but dead. Then he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. I look dead too. It took him a minute to realize that it was the fluorescent lighting that had sucked the life out of his face, not his vampire girlfriend. He affected a serious glare and thought about how they would describe him in a hundred years, when he was really famous and really dead. Like so many great writers before him, Flood was known for his troubled countenance and sickly pallor, especially under fluorescent lighting. Those who knew him said that even in those early years they could sense that this thin, serious young man would make his presence known as a great man of letters as well as a sexual dynamo. His legacy to the world was a trail of great books and broken hearts, and although it is well known that his love life was his downfall, he felt no regret, as illustrated in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech: â€Å"I have followed my penis into hell and returned with the story.† Tommy bowed deeply before the mirror, careful to keep the Nobel Prize medal from banging the sink, then began to interview himself, speaking clearly and slowly into his toothbrush. â€Å"I think it was shortly after my first successful bus transfer that I realized the City was mine. Here I would produce some of my greatest work, and here I would meet my first wife, the lovely but deeply disturbed Jody†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Tommy waved the microphone/toothbrush away as if the memories were too painful to recall, but actually he was trying to remember Jody's last name. I should know her maiden name, he thought, if just for historical purposes. He glanced into the bedroom where the lovely but deeply disturbed Jody was lying naked and half-covered on the bed. He thought, She won't mind if I wake her up. She doesn't have to be at work or anything. He approached the bed and touched her cheek. â€Å"Jody,† he whispered. She didn't stir. He shook her a bit. â€Å"Jody, honey.† Nothing. â€Å"Hey,† he said, taking her shoulders. â€Å"Hey, wake up.† She didn't respond. He pulled the covers off her as his father used to do to him on cold winter mornings when he wouldn't get up to go to school. â€Å"Up and at 'em, soldier – ass in the air and feet on the floor,† he said in his best drill-sergeant bark. She looked really great lying there naked in the half-light from the bathroom. He was getting a little turned on. How would I feel, he thought, if I woke up and she was making love to me? Why, I believe that I would be pleasantly surprised. I think that would be better than waking up to frying bacon and the Sunday funnies. Yes, I'm sure she'll be pleased. He crawled into bed with her and ventured a tentative kiss. She was a little cold and didn't move a muscle, but he was sure she liked it. He ran a finger down the valley between her breasts and over her stomach. What if she didn't wake up? What if we do it and she doesn't wake up at all? How would I feel if I woke up and she told me that we had done it while I slept? I'd be fine with it. A little sad that I missed things, but I wouldn't be mad. I'd just ask her if I had a good time. Women are different, though. He tickled her just to get a reaction. Again, she didn't move. She's so cold. With her not moving at all it might be a little morbid. Maybe I should wait. I'll tell her that I thought about it and decided that it wouldn't be courteous. She'll like that. He sighed deeply, got out of bed and pulled the covers over her. I should buy her something, he thought. Jody snapped into consciousness and bit down on something hard. She opened her eyes and saw Tommy sitting on the edge of the bed. She smiled. â€Å"Good morning,† he said. She reached for whatever was in her mouth. Tommy caught her hand. â€Å"Don't bite down. It's a thermometer.† He checked his watch, then pulled the thermometer out of her mouth and read it. â€Å"Ninety-five point two. You're on your way.† Jody sat up and looked at the thermometer. â€Å"On my way to what?† He smiled bashfully. â€Å"On your way to body temperature. I bought you an electric blanket. It's been on for like six hours.† She ran her hand over the blanket. â€Å"You've been warming me up?† â€Å"Pretty cool, huh?† Tommy said. â€Å"I went to the library and got books too. I've been reading all afternoon.† He picked up a stack of books and began to shuffle through them, reading the titles and handing each to her in turn. â€Å"A Reader's Guide to Vampirism; Vampire Myths and Legends; Those That Stalk the Night – kind of an ominous title, huh?† She held the books as if they were made of wormy fruit. The covers depicted monstrous creatures rising from coffins, attacking women in various states of undress, and hanging around castles perched on barren mountains. The letters in the titles dripped blood. â€Å"These are all about vampires?† â€Å"That's just the nonfiction that they had on hand. I ordered a bunch more through the library exchange. Check out some of the fiction.† He picked up another stack from the floor. â€Å"A Feast of Blood; Red Thirst; Fangs; Dracula; Dracula's Dream; Dracula's Legacy; Fevre Dream; The Vampire Lestat – there must have been a hundred novels.† Jody, a little overwhelmed, stared at the books. â€Å"There seems to be a theme here on the covers.† â€Å"Yeah,† Tommy said. â€Å"Vampires seem to have an affinity for lingerie. Do you have any particular craving for sexy nightgowns?† â€Å"Not really.† Jody had always thought it a little silly to spend a lot of money on something that you only put on long enough for someone to take it off you. Evidently, though, if you went by these book covers, vampires looked at lingerie as garnish. â€Å"Okay,† Tommy said, picking up a notebook from the floor and making a check mark. â€Å"No lingerie fetish. I've made a list of vampire traits with boxes to check either ‘fact' or ‘fiction. Since you missed the lecture, I guess we'll have to just test them.† â€Å"What lecture?† Tommy put down his pen and looked at her as if she'd gotten into the express lane with a cartful of groceries and a two-party check. â€Å"Everybody knows that there's always an orientation lecture in vampire books. Usually it comes from some old professor guy with an accent, but sometimes it's another vampire. You obviously missed the lecture.† â€Å"I guess so,† Jody said. â€Å"I must have been busy chasing women in lingerie.† â€Å"That's okay,† Tommy said, returning to the list. â€Å"Obviously you don't have to sleep in your native soil.† He checked it off. â€Å"And we know that everyone you bite doesn't necessarily turn into a vampire.† â€Å"No, a jerk, maybe†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Whatever,† Tommy said, moving on in the list. â€Å"Okay, sunlight is bad for you.† He made a check mark. â€Å"You can enter a house without being invited. How about running water?† â€Å"What about it?† â€Å"Vampires aren't supposed to be able to cross running water. Have you tried crossing any running water?† â€Å"I've taken a couple of showers.† â€Å"Then that would be fiction. Let me smell your breath.† He bent close to her. She turned her head and shielded her mouth. â€Å"Tommy, I just woke up. Let me brush my teeth first.† â€Å"Vampires are supposed to have the ‘fetid breath of a predator, or, in some cases, ‘breath like the rotting smell of the charnel house. C'mon, give us a whiff.† Jody reluctantly breathed in his face. He sat up and considered the list. â€Å"Well? â€Å"she asked. â€Å"I'm thinking. I need to get the dictionary out of my suitcase.† â€Å"What for?† â€Å"I'm not sure what a charnel house is.† â€Å"Can I brush my teeth while you look?† â€Å"No, wait, I might need another whiff.† He went to his suitcase and dug out the dictionary. While he looked up â€Å"charnel house,† Jody cupped her hand and smelled her own breath. It was pretty foul. â€Å"Here it is,† he said, putting his finger on the word. â€Å"‘Noun. A mausoleum or morgue. A structure where corpses are buried or stored. See morning breath! I guess that we check ‘fact' on that one.† â€Å"Can I brush my teeth now?† â€Å"Sure. Are you going to shower?† â€Å"I'd like to. Why?† â€Å"Can I help? I mean, you're much more attractive when you're not room temperature.† She smiled. â€Å"You really know how to charm a girl.† She got out of bed and went into the bathroom. Tommy waited on the bed. â€Å"Well, come on,† she said as she turned on the water. â€Å"Sorry,† he said, leaping to his feet and wrestling out of his shirt. She stopped him at the bathroom door with a firm hand on the chest. â€Å"One second, mister. I have a question for you.† â€Å"Shoot.† â€Å"Men are pigs: fact or fiction?† â€Å"Fact!† Tommy shouted. â€Å"Correct! You win!† She leaped into his arms and kissed him. Chapter 17 This Month's Makeover: The Faces of Fear Simon McQueen had once climbed onto the back of a ton of pissed-off beef named Muffin and been promptly stomped into mush in front of an amazed rodeo crowd, and still managed to pinch the bottom of a female paramedic as he was carried away on a stretcher, singing a garbled version of â€Å"I've Got Friends in Low Places.† Simon McQueen had once picked a fight with a gang of skinheads and managed to render three of them unconscious before a knife in the stomach and a jackboot to the head rendered him helpless. Simon had jumped out of an airplane, fallen off the roof of a Lutheran church, run over a police car in his pickup truck, smuggled a thousand pounds of marijuana across the border from Mexico inside a stuffed cow, and swum halfway to Alcatraz Island on a dare before the Coast Guard fished him out of the bay and revived him. Simon had done all these things without the slightest tic of fear. But tonight, laid out across register 3 in his skintight Wranglers and his endanger ed-species Tony Lama boots with the silver spurs, his black Stetson pulled down over his face, Simon McQueen was frightened. Frightened that one of his two great secrets was about to become known. The other Animals were sharing tales of their weekend adventures, exaggerating aspects of binges and babes, while Glint professed to God that they knew not what they did. Simon sat up, pushed back his Stetson, and said, â€Å"Y'all wouldn't know a piece of ass if it sloshed upside your head.† The Animals fell silent, each trying to formulate a new and exciting way to tell Simon to fuck off, when Tommy came through the door. â€Å"Fearless Leader!† Lash exclaimed. Tommy grinned and faked a tap-dance step. â€Å"Gentlemen,† he said. â€Å"I have reached out and touched the face of God – film at eleven.† Simon was wildly irritated by this added distraction from his worrying. â€Å"What happened, you go down to Castro Street and get converted?† Tommy waved the comment away. â€Å"No, Sime – I can call you Sime, can't I? You see, last night, about this time† – he checked his watch – â€Å"there was a naked redhead hanging from the ceiling of my new loft, reading Kerouac aloud to me. If I die now, it was not all in vain. I'm ready to throw stock. How's the truck?† â€Å"A big one,† Troy Lee answered. â€Å"Three thousand cases. But the bitch is, the scanner is broken. We have to use the order books.† Troy's comment jabbed Simon like bad gas pain. He considered going home sick, but without his help the Animals would never be able to finish the truck before morning. A lump of fear rose in his throat. He couldn't use the order books. Simon McQueen couldn't read. â€Å"Let's get to it then,† Tommy said. The Animals threw themselves into their work with an abandon they usually reserved for partying. Razor box-cutters whizzed, price guns clicked, and cardboard piled up in shoulder-high drifts at the ends of the aisles. In addition to throwing the extra-large load, they had to allow an extra hour to write their stock orders. Normally the orders were done with a bar-code scanner, but with the scanner down, each man would have to go through a huge loose-leaf order book, writing in items by hand. By 5 A.M. they had most of the stock on the shelves and Simon McQueen was considering letting his box-cutter slip and cutting his leg so he could escape to the emergency room. But that might reveal a secret worse than illiteracy. Tommy came into Simon's aisle carrying the order book. â€Å"You better get started, Sime.† He held out the book and a pencil. â€Å"I still got a hundred cases to throw,† Simon said, not looking up. â€Å"Let someone else start.† â€Å"No, you've got the biggest section. Go ahead.† Tommy bumped Simon on the shoulder with the book. Simon looked up, then dropped his cutter and slowly took the book from Tommy. He opened the book and stared at the page, then at the shelf, then at the book. Tommy said, â€Å"Order light on the juices, we've got a lot of stock in the back room.† Simon nodded and looked at the book, then at the shelf of vegetables before him. Tommy said, â€Å"You're on the wrong page, Simon.† â€Å"I know,† Simon snapped. â€Å"I'm just finding my place.† He flipped through the pages, then stopped on a page of cake mixes and began looking at the shelf of vegetables. He could feel Tommy's gaze on him and wished that the skinny-little-faggot-book-reading-prick-bastard would just go away and leave him alone. â€Å"Simon.† Simon looked up, his eyes pleading. â€Å"Give me the book,† Tommy said. â€Å"I think I'm going to order everybody's section tonight. It'll give you guys more time to throw stock and I need to get more familiar with the store anyway.† â€Å"I can do it,† Simon said. â€Å"I know,† Tommy said, taking the book. â€Å"But why waste your talent on this bullshit?† As Tommy walked away, Simon took his first deep breath of the night. â€Å"Flood,† he called, â€Å"I'm buying the beers after shift.† Tommy didn't look back. â€Å"I know,† he said. Jody stood by the window in the dark loft watching the sleeping bum who lay on the sidewalk across the street and cursing under her breath. Go away, you bastard, she thought. Even as she thought it, she felt a measure of security in knowing exactly where her enemy was. As long as he lay on the sidewalk, Tommy was safe at the grocery store. She had never felt the need to protect someone before. She had always been the one looking for protection, for a strong arm to lean on. Now she was the strong arm, at least when the sun was down. She had walked Tommy down the steps and waited with him until the cab arrived to take him to work. As she watched the cab pull away, she thought, This must be how my mother felt when she put me on the school bus that first time – except that Tommy doesn't have a Barbie lunch box. She kept an eye on the vampire lying on the sidewalk across the street. Hours passed at the window and she asked the same questions over and over again, coming up with no solution to her problem, and no logic to the vampire's behavior. What did he want? Why had he killed the old woman and left her in the dumpster? Was he trying to frighten her, threaten her, or was there some kind of message to it all? â€Å"You're not immortal. You can still be killed.† If he was going to kill her, why didn't he just do it? Why pretend to be a sleeping bum, watching her, waiting? He has to find shelter before daylight. If I can just outlast him, maybe†¦ Maybe what? I can't follow him or I'll be caught in the sunlight too. She went to the bedroom and dug the almanac Tommy had given her out of her backpack. The sun would rise at 6:12 A.M. She checked her watch. She had an hour. She waited at the window until six o'clock, then headed out of the loft to confront the vampire. As she went through the door she instinctively reached out to click off the lights, only to realize that she hadn't turned any on. If I live through this, she thought, I'm going to save a fortune on utilities. She left the door at the top of the stairs unlocked, then went down the steps and propped the big fire door open with a soda can she found on the landing. She might have to get back in fast, and she didn't want to be slowed down by keys and locks. Her muscles buzzed as she approached the vampire, the fight-or-flee instinct running through her like liquid lightning. A few feet away she picked up a foul smell, a rotting smell coming from the vampire. She stopped and swallowed hard. â€Å"What exactly is it that you want?† she asked. The vampire didn't move. His face was covered by the high collar of his overcoat. She took another step forward. â€Å"What am I supposed to be doing?† The smell was stronger now. She concentrated on the vampire's hands, trying to sense some movement that would warn her of an attack. There was none. â€Å"Answer me!† she demanded. She stepped up and pulled the collar away from his face. She saw the glazed eyes and a bone jutting from the neck just as a hand clamped across her face and jerked her back off her feet. She tried to reach behind her to claw her attacker's face but he jerked her to the side. She opened her mouth to scream and two of his fingers slipped into her mouth. She bit down hard. There was a scream and she was free. She wheeled on her attacker, ready to fight, his severed fingers still in her mouth. The vampire stood before her, cradling his bloody hand. â€Å"Bitch,† he said. Then he grinned. Jody swallowed his fingers and hissed at him. â€Å"Fuck you, asshole. Come on.† She fell into a crouch and waved him on. The vampire was still grinning. â€Å"The taste of vampire blood has made you brave, fledgling. Don't take it too far.† His hand had stopped spurting blood and was scabbing over as she watched. â€Å"What do you want?† The vampire looked at the sky, which was turning pink, threatening dawn. â€Å"Right now I want to find a place to sleep,† he said too calmly. He ripped the scab from his fingers and slung a spray of blood in her face. â€Å"Until we meet again, my love.† He wheeled and ran across the street into an alley. Jody stood watching and shaking with the need for a fight. She turned and looked at the dead bum: the decoy. She couldn't leave him here to attract police – not this close to the loft. She glanced at the lightening sky, then hoisted the dead bum onto her back and headed back to the loft. Tommy ran up the stairs and burst into the loft eager to share his discovery about Simon's illiteracy, but once through the door, he was knocked back by a stinging rotten odor like bloated roadkill. What's she done now? he thought. He opened the windows to air the place out and went to the bedroom, careful to open the door just wide enough to slip through without spilling sunlight on the bed. The smell was much stronger here and he gagged as he turned on the light. Jody was lying on the bed with the electric blanket pulled up to her neck. Dried blood was crusted over her face. A wiggling wave of the willies ran up Tommy's spine, stronger than any he had felt since his father had first told him the secret of ball-park hot dogs. (â€Å"Snouts and butt holes,† Dad had said, during the seventh-inning stretch. â€Å"I've got the willies,† said Tommy.) There was a note on the pillow by Jody's head. Tommy crept forward and snatched it off the pillow, then backpedaled to the door to read it. Tommy, Sorry I'm such a mess. It's almost dawn and I don't want to get stuck in the shower. I'll explain tonight. Call Sears and have them deliver the largest chest freezer that they have. There's money in my backpack. I missed you last night. Love, Jody Tommy backed out of the room. Chapter 18 Bugeater of the Barbary Coast Tommy woke up on the futon feeling as if he had been through a two-day battle. The loft was dark but for the streetlights spilling through the windows and he could hear Jody running the shower in the other room. The new freezer was humming away in the kitchen. He rolled off the futon and groaned. His muscles creaked like rusty hinges and his head felt as if it were stuffed with cotton – like a low-grade hangover – not from the few beers he had shared with the Animals after work, but from the verbal beating he had taken from the appliance salesman at Sears. The salesman, a round hypertensive named Lloyd, who wore the last extant leisure suit on the planet (powder blue with navy piping), had begun his assault with a five-minute lament on the disappearance of double knits (as if a concerted effort by a Greenpeace team in white vinyl shoes and gold chains might bring double knits back from the brink of extinction), then segued into a half-hour lecture on the tragedies visited on those poor souls who failed to purchase extended warranties on their Kenmore Freezemasters. â€Å"And so,† Lloyd concluded, â€Å"he not only lost his job, his home, and his family, but that frozen food that could have saved the children at the orphanage spoiled, all because he tried to save eighty-seven dollars.† â€Å"I'll take it,† Tommy said. â€Å"I'll take the longest warranty you have.† Lloyd laid a fatherly hand on Tommy's shoulder. â€Å"You won't regret this, son. I'm not one for high pressure myself, but the guys that sell these warranties after delivery are like the Mafia – they'll call you at all hours, they'll hound you, they'll find you wherever you go and they will ruin your life if you don't give in. I once sold a microwave to a man who woke up with a horse's head in his bed.† â€Å"Please,† Tommy begged, â€Å"I'll sign anything, but they have to deliver it right now. Okay?† Lloyd pumped Tommy's hand to start the flow of cash. â€Å"Welcome to better living through frozen food.† Tommy sat up on the futon and looked at the behemoth freezer that was humming in the half-light of the kitchen. Why? he thought. Why did I buy it? Why did she want it? I didn't even ask for an explanation from her, I just blindly followed her instructions. I'm a slave, like Renfield in Dracula. How long before I start eating bugs and howling at night? He got up and walked, in his underwear and one sock, into the bedroom; the smell of decay was strong enough to make him gag. It was the smell that had driven him to sleep on the futon in the living room rather than crawl into bed with Jody. He'd fallen asleep reading Bram Stoker's Dracula to get some perspective on the love of his life. She's the devil, he thought, staring at the steam creeping out from under the bathroom door. â€Å"Jody, is that you?† he asked the steam. The steam just crept. â€Å"I'm in the shower,† Jody said from the shower. â€Å"Come on in.† Tommy went to the bathroom and opened the door. â€Å"Jody, we need to talk.† The bathroom was thick with steam – he could barely make out the shower doors. â€Å"Close the door; it smells in there.† Tommy moved closer to the shower. â€Å"I'm worried about the way things are going,† he said. â€Å"Did you get the freezer?† â€Å"Yes, that's part of what I wanted to talk to you about.† â€Å"You got the biggest one they had, right?† â€Å"Yes, and a ten-year extended-service agreement.† â€Å"And it's a chest model, not an upright?† â€Å"Yes, dammit, but Jody, you didn't even tell me why I was buying it and I just did it. Since I met you, it's like I have no will of my own. I've been sleeping all day. I'm not doing any writing. I hardly even see daylight anymore.† â€Å"Tommy, you work midnight to eight. When do you think you would sleep?† â€Å"Don't twist my words. I will not eat bugs for you.† She's the devil, he thought. â€Å"Will you do my back?† She slid the shower door open and Tommy was transfixed by the water cascading between her breasts. â€Å"Well?† she said, cocking a hip. Tommy slipped out of his briefs, pulled off his sock, and stepped into the shower. â€Å"Okay, but I'm not eating any bugs.† After a mad naked dash through the bedroom they sat on the futon toweling off and looking at the new freezer. â€Å"It certainly is large,† Jody said. â€Å"I bought a dozen TV dinners so it wouldn't look so empty.† Jody said, â€Å"You'll have to take them out; put them in the regular fridge.† â€Å"Why? I don't think they'll fit.† â€Å"I know, but I have something to put in there and I don't think you'll want your TV dinners in there with it.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Well, you know that bad smell in the bedroom?† â€Å"I was going to mention that. What is it?† â€Å"It's a body.† â€Å"You killed someone?† Tommy slid away from her on the futon. â€Å"No, I didn't kill anyone. Let me explain.† She told him about the bum, about creeping up on him thinking he was the vampire, and of the battle that ensued. Tommy said, â€Å"Do you think he was trying to kill you?† â€Å"I don't think so. It's as if he wants to show me how superior he is or something. Like he's testing me.† â€Å"So you bit off his fingers?† â€Å"I didn't know what else to do.† â€Å"What was it like?† â€Å"Honestly?† â€Å"Of course?† â€Å"It was a rush. It was an incredible rush.† â€Å"Better than drinking my blood?† â€Å"Different.† Tommy turned his back on her and began to pout. Jody moved to him and kissed his ear. â€Å"It was a fight, Tommy. I didn't come or anything, but I swear, I felt stronger after I†¦ after I swallowed.† â€Å"So that's why you were all crusty with blood when I got home?† â€Å"Yes, it was almost dawn when I got the body upstairs.† â€Å"That's another thing,† Tommy said. â€Å"Why did you bring that stinky thing up here?† â€Å"The police already found one body at the motel, and they have my name. Now they find another that was killed in the same way right next to where we live. I don't think they'd understand.† â€Å"So we're going to keep it in the freezer?† â€Å"Just until I figure out what to do with him.† â€Å"I'm not comfortable with you calling it ‘him. ; â€Å"Just until I figure out what to do with it, then.† â€Å"There's a big bay out there.† â€Å"And how would you suggest that we get it down there without being seen?† â€Å"I'll think about it.† Jody stood, wrapped a towel around herself, and walked back to the bedroom. â€Å"I'm going to put it in now; you might want to transfer your TV dinners.† She paused at the door. â€Å"And I'm out of clean clothes. You're going to need to go to the Laundromat.† â€Å"Why don't you go?† Jody regarded him gravely. â€Å"Tommy, you know I can't go out during the day.† â€Å"Oh no,† Tommy said. â€Å"Don't pull that. I don't know of a single Laundromat that's not open all night. Besides, I can't be your slave full-time. I have to have some time to get some writing done. And I might be taking on a student.† â€Å"What kind of student?† â€Å"A guy at work – Simon – he can't read. I'm going to offer to teach him.† â€Å"That's sweet of you,† Jody said. She shook her hair out, let her towel fall to the floor, and struck a centerfold pose. â€Å"Are you sure you don't want to do the laundry?† â€Å"No way. You have no power over me.† â€Å"Are you sure?† She licked her lips sensually. â€Å"That's not what you said in the shower.† I will resist her evil, Tommy thought. I will not give in. He stood and started gathering his clothes. â€Å"Don't you have a body to move?† â€Å"All right then,† Jody snapped. â€Å"I'll do the laundry while you're at work tonight.† She turned and went into the bedroom. â€Å"Good. I'll be out here looking for some tasty bugs,† Tommy whispered to himself. Midnight found Jody trudging down the steps with a trash bag full of laundry slung across her back. As she stepped onto the sidewalk and turned to lock the door she realized that she hadn't the slightest idea where to find a Laundromat in this neighborhood. The rolling steel door to the foundry was open and the two burly sculptors were working inside, bracing a man-sized plaster mold for pouring. She considered asking them for directions, but thought it might be better to wait and meet them when she was with Tommy. The interior of the foundry was glowing red with the heat from the molten bronze in the crucible, making it appear to her heat-sensitive vision like hell's own studio. She stood for a moment watching waves of heat spill out the top of the door, to swirl and dissipate in the night sky like dying paisley ghosts. She wanted to turn to someone and share the experience, but of course there was no one, and if there had been, they wouldn't have been able to see what she saw. She thought, In the kingdom of the blind, a one-eyed man can get pretty lonely. She sighed heavily and was starting toward Market Street when she heard a sharp staccato tapping of toenails at her heels. She dropped the laundry and wheeled around. A Boston terrier growled and snorted at her, then backed away a few feet and fell into a yapping fit that bordered on canine apoplexy, his bug eyes threatening to pop out of his head. â€Å"Bummer, stop that!† came a shout from the corner. Jody looked up to see a grizzled old man in an overcoat coming toward her wearing a saucepan on his head and carrying a wickedly pointed wooden sword. A golden retriever trotted along beside him, a smaller saucepan strapped to his head and two garbage-can lids strapped to his sides, giving the impression of a compact furry Viking ship. â€Å"Bummer, come back here.† The little dog backed away a few more steps, then turned and ran back to the man. Jody noticed that the little dog had a miniature pie pan strapped over his ears with a rubber band. The old man picked up the terrier in his free hand and trotted up to Jody. â€Å"I'm very sorry,† he said. â€Å"The troops are girded for battle, but I fear they are a bit too eager to engage. Are you all right?† Jody smiled. â€Å"I'm fine. Just a little startled.† The old man bowed. â€Å"Allow me to introduce myself†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You're the Emperor, aren't you?† Jody had been in the City for five years. She'd heard about the Emperor, but she'd only seen him from a distance. â€Å"At your service,† said the Emperor. The terrier growled suspiciously and the Emperor shoved the little dog, head first, into the oversized pocket of his overcoat, then buttoned the flap. Muffled growls emanated from the pocket. â€Å"I apologize for my charge. He's long on courage, but rather short on manners. This is Lazarus.† Jody nodded to the retriever, who let out a slight growl and backed away a step. The garbage-can lids rattled on the sidewalk. â€Å"Hi. I'm Jody. Pleased to meet you.† â€Å"I hope you will forgive my presumption,† the Emperor said, â€Å"but I don't think it's safe for a young woman to be out on the street at night. Particularly in this neighborhood.† â€Å"Why this neighborhood?† The Emperor moved closer and whispered. â€Å"I'm sure that you've noticed that the men and I are dressed for battle. We are hunting a vicious, murdering fiend that has been stalking the City. I don't mean to alarm you, but we last saw him on this very street. In fact, he killed a friend of mine right across the street not two nights ago.† â€Å"You saw him?† Jody asked. â€Å"Did you call the police?† â€Å"The police will be of no help,† the Emperor said. â€Å"This is not the run-of-the-mill scoundrel that we are used to in the City. He's a vampire.† The Emperor lifted his wooden sword and tested the point against the tip of his finger. Jody was shaken. She tried to calm herself, but the fear showed on her face. â€Å"I've frightened you,† the Emperor said. â€Å"No – no, I'm fine. It's just†¦ Your Majesty, there are no such things as vampires.† â€Å"As you wish,† the Emperor said. â€Å"But I think it would be prudent for you to wait until daylight to do your business.† â€Å"I need to do my laundry or I won't have any clean clothes for tomorrow.† â€Å"Then allow us to escort you.† â€Å"No, really, Your Majesty, I'll be fine. By the way, where is the nearest Laundromat?† â€Å"There is one not far from here, but it's in the Tenderloin. Even during the day you wouldn't be safe alone. I really must insist that you wait, my dear. Perhaps by then we will have exterminated the fiend.† â€Å"Well,† Jody said, â€Å"if you insist. This is my apartment, right here.† She dug the key out of her jeans and opened the door. She turned back to the Emperor. â€Å"Thank you.† â€Å"Safety first,† the Emperor said. â€Å"Sleep well.† The little dog growled in his pocket. Jody went inside and closed the door, then waited until she heard the Emperor walk away. She waited another five minutes and went back onto the street. She shouldered the laundry and headed toward the Tenderloin, thinking, This is great. How long before the police actually listen to the Emperor? Tommy and I are going to have to move and we haven't even decorated yet. And I hate doing laundry. I hate it. I'm sending our laundry out if Tommy won't do it. And we're going to have a cleaning lady – some nice, dependable woman who will come in after dark. And I'm not buying toilet paper. I don't use it and I'm not going to buy it. And something has to be done about this asshole vampire. God, I hate doing laundry. She had gone two blocks when a man stepped out of a doorway in front of her. â€Å"Hey momma, you need some help.† She jumped in his face and shouted, â€Å"Fuck off, horndog!† with such viciousness that he screamed and leaped back into the doorway, then meekly called  «Sorry » after her as she passed. She thought, I'm not sorting. It all goes in warm. I don't care if the whites do go gray; I'm not sorting. And how do I know how to get out bloodstains? Who am I? Miss Household Hints? God, I hate laundry. The clothes jumped and played and dived over each other like fabric dolphins. Jody sat on a folding table across from the dryer watching the show and thinking about the Emperor's warning. He'd said, â€Å"I don't think it's safe for a young woman to be out on the street at night.† Jody agreed. Not long ago she would have been terrified if she'd found herself in the Tenderloin at night. She couldn't even remember coming down here during the day. Where had that fear gone? What had happened to her that she could face off with a vampire, bite off his fingers, and carry a dead body up a flight of stairs and shove it under the bed without even a flinch? Where was the fear and loathing? She didn't miss it, she just wondered what had happened to it. It wasn't as if she were without fear. She was afraid of daylight, afraid of the police discovering her, and of Tommy rejecting her and leaving her alone. New fears and familiar fears, but there was nothing in the dark that frightened her, not the future, not even the old vampire – and she knew now, having tasted his blood, that he was old, very old. She saw him as an enemy, and her mind casted for strategies to defeat him, but she was not really afraid of him anymore: curious, but not afraid. The dryer stopped-fabric dolphins dropped and died as if caught in tuna nets. Jody jumped off the table, opened the dryer, and was feeling the clothes for dampness when she heard footsteps on the sidewalk outside the Laundromat. She turned to see the tall black man she had chased into the doorway coming into the Laundromat, followed by two shorter men. All three wore silver L.A. Raiders jackets, high-top shoes, and evil grins. Jody turned back to the dryer and started stuffing her clothes into the trash bag. She thought, I should be folding these. â€Å"Yo, bitch,† the tall man said. Jody looked to the back of the Laundromat. The only door was in the front, behind the three men. She turned and looked up at them. â€Å"How about those Raiders?† she said with a smile. She felt a pressure in the roof of her mouth: the fangs extending. The three men split up and moved around the folding table to surround her. In another life, this had been her worst nightmare. In this life she just smiled as two of them grabbed her arms from behind. She saw a bead of sweat on the tall man's temple as he approached her and reached out to tear the front of her shirt. She ripped her right arm loose and caught the tall man's wrist as the sweat bead began to drip. She snapped his forearm and bones splintered though skin and muscle as she swung him, headfirst, through the glass door of the dryer. She reached over her shoulder and grabbed one of the Raider fans by the hair and smashed his face into the floor, then wheeled on her last attacker and shoved him back into the edge of the folding table, snapping his spine just above the hips and sending him spinning backward over a deck of washing machines. The bead of sweat hit the floor near the man with the smashed face. Amid the hum of fluorescent lights and the moans of the man with the broken back, Jody loaded the rest of her laundry into the trash bag. She thought, This stuff is going to be nothing but wrinkles by the time I get home. Tommy's doing the laundry next time. As she reached the door she ran her tongue over her teeth and was relieved to find her fangs had retracted. She looked over her shoulder at the carnage and shouted, â€Å"Forty-fucking-Niners!† The man with the broken back moaned.

Human Resource Management Performance Appraisal - 949 Words

Introduction Performance appraisal is defined by Mathias, Jackson (2005, p106) as ‘the process of evaluating how well employees perform their jobs as compared to a set of standards, and then communicating that information to those employees.’ This evaluation or review is usually carried out periodically. A performance appraisal usually forms an integral part of an organization’s Performance Management System, and although there are criticisms against performance appraisals, its many advantages heavily outweigh their shortcomings. To understand difficulties faced by supervisors, it is necessary to first understand why supervisors want to carry out appraisals. The reasons mentioned by C.H. Tan, Torrington (2004, p228) are as follows:†¦show more content†¦Leniency errors happens when the appraiser tends to only rate on the higher end of the grade, while strictness errors occurs when the appraiser tends to rate more strictly, and rate the appraisees at the lower end of the scale. This would cause unfairness in an organization with many appraisers, and each appraiser having to appraise separate groups of staff under them. 7. Lastly, appraisees may be doing similar jobs, but may be doing it at different times, and at different situations, and appraisers may not be able to judge them fairly. Another difficulty faced by appraisers includes the large amount of administrative paperwork required before and after the appraisal is carried out. This may lead to appraisers feeling very demoralized, and may hinder them from carrying out a proper and fair appraisal. Also, an appraisal is often seen as a serious and formal affair, and could lead to uneasiness between the appraiser and their staff. This could result in a strained working relationship. This is more evident if the staff has greater working experience in the organization, but is of a lower rank. This may not cause a problem during the initial work appraisals, but could surface in subsequent work appraisals. 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