Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economics - Assignment Example At the core of the concern for methodology in economics is a concern on how economics acquire knowledge on the world and what methodologies economics use to expand the frontiers of that knowledge. Also closely related to the concern is the discipline’s notion of what constitutes science and what knowledge can be considered as scientific or what knowledge can be considered as lacking a scientific basis or foundation. According to Hausman (1989, p. 115), the literature on economic methodology is mainly concerned with confirmation or disconfirmation of theory and has usually revolved on whether a particular economics is good science. Milton Friedman had viewed that good economic theories provide correct and useful predictions while Paul Samuelson had upheld that economic theories must involve operational concepts that are equivalent to their descriptions (Hausman, 1989, p.115). For Hausman, however, these views are mistaken because many of economic theorizing have been conceptual explorations and theories do not necessarily offer empirical hypotheses. According to Hauman, the four approaches that have dominated the discussion on economic methodology are deductivism, positivism or Popperianism, predictionism, and eclecticism. Hausman (1989) associates deductivism with Johan Stuart Mill, the discussion on positivism or Popperianism with Mark Blaug, predictionism with Milton Friedman, and eclecticism with Donald McCloskey. Deductivism asserts that because so many causal factors can influence economic phenomena, experimentation is generally not possible and induction cannot be directly employed (Hausman, 1989, p. 116, 3rd paragraph). The deductivist solution is to derive inductively the psychological or technical laws and then deduce the economic implications from the laws that were discovered inductively (Hausman, 1989, p. 116, 3rd paragraph). Empirical tests are needed to check whether the empirically derived conclusions are applicable, whether the

Terrorism and Intelligence Failures Essay Example for Free

Terrorism and Intelligence Failures Essay Terrorism by dictionary definition is described as the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons. Terrorism comes from decades of histories of deep national pride, religious disputes and what is seen as an intrusion upon Islamic holy grounds. Terrorist groups try to gain influence and power in order to affect political change on either a local or an international level. They make this possible through the publicity and fear that is generated by their violent acts. Throughout history terrorist groups have caused much devastation and damage, leaving a huge impact on the world. Terrorism is one of the leading problems in today’s society. The terrorist attack against the United States, on September 11th, 2011, clearly demonstrated the power and strength that terrorist groups possess. The causes of these acts come from the instability, oppression, poverty and political alienation that the citizens of many Islamic-Arab nations face. As a result, the people of Afghanistan and many other Arab nations have generated a deep hatred for the United States going back over a hundred years. The American government and intelligence agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency, now work harder than ever to prevent such horrifying acts of terrorism from re occurring, since they failed in the prevention of 9/11. â€Å"Terrorism is a complex problem: Its origins are diverse; and those who engage in it, even more so† (Reich, 1). The actions of terrorist groups, as well as terrorists as individuals, are complex. One must recognize that there is not only a single explanation for the act of terrorism. The subject is very intricate and involves a huge diversity of causes and reasons that aid in the explanation and understanding of terrorism. In the book, Origins of Terrorism, Walter Reich examines the psychologies, ideologies, theologies, and the states of mind of terrorists in an attempt to better understand the realms of terrorism. Reich does not only work with terrorism studies itself but instead works within the realms of political science, Islam, history and social psychology to gain a more well rounded understanding of terrorism. Through recognizing the knowledge of these realms, Reich and other scholar’s state this information can contribute to the understanding of the ways in which terrorists view the world and behave in it. Terrorism can be explained as an expression of political strategy. Meaning that terrorist behavior is a willing choice made by an organization for specific strategic reasons. These organizations are very radical political groups that determine that terrorism is the best course of action in accomplishing their political goals. â€Å"The practitioners of terrorism often claim that they had no choice but terrorism, and it is indeed true that terrorism often follows the failure of other methods† (Reich, 10). Failure to mobilize support from masses, lacking of utilization of military power, time constraints and unrealistic expectations cause radical political organizations to turn to terrorism. By choosing terrorism, group members and leaders, willingly accept the risks of challenging the government. The origin of terrorism is as old as humans’ willingness to affect politics through the use of violent acts. Terrorism dates back to first-century Palestine when a Jewish group fought and murdered the Romans and their collaborators who ruled over them. Terrorism went on to be classified as a modern phenomenon. In the twentieth century terrorism was associated with the Italian Red Brigades, the Irish Republican army, the Palestine Liberation Organization and Perv’s shining paths among many others. Terrorism moved away from being based on state action and moved further into a larger aspect of attack against existing political orders. The result of this was due to the growing amount of ethnic nationalism within countries. Groups with strong ethnic nationalism were forming throughout the entire world. Then in the late 1960’s international terrorism became a prominent issue. Terrorism progressed from random killings to massive plans of attacks. Hijacking and bombing had become the favored and popular methods of attack. Organized groups had specific political goals that they carried out through theatrical, symbolic acts of violence. As the twenty-first century came around terrorism started becoming very religiously motivated. Groups like Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah come to mind as they justify their acts of violence on Islamic grounds. Terrorism was now not only being used for political reasons but for religious reasons as well. Religiously motivated terrorist groups are the most alarming terrorist threats in today’s world. The rise of Islamic radicalism and militancy began during the 1970’s in the Middle East region of the world. Islamist terrorism is based on the belief that U.S. foreign policy has killed, oppressed and harmed Muslims throughout the Middle East. This belief resulted in a tense relationship between the ‘West’ and the Arab and Muslim nations, creating a great amongst American society. Osama bin Laden was the founder of the most well known Islamic militant organizations called Al-Qaeda. His goal was to remove and end American military presence in the Middle East and Arabian Peninsula, end American support for Israel, return East Timor and Kashmir to Muslim rule and overthrow any Arab regimes that he considered corrupt and insufficiently religious. Al-Qaeda is the most innovative and dangerous terrorist group that has ever existed according the American government and all other countries that have been victims of terrorist acts. It has been known to engage in suicide attacks, kidnappings, hijackings and recruiting new members through the Internet. Al-Qaeda’s operating network consists of a multinational, stateless army, and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for Jihad. Jihad is an important religious duty of Muslims that involves the protection and keeping of the Islamic faith. In the book, The Age of Sacred Terror, authors Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon provides essential insight into the thinking of bin Laden and his followers. Benjamin and Simon talks about bin Laden’s first televised interview with Peter Arnett in March 1997. During his interview he complained and stated, â€Å"the truth is that the whole Muslim world is the victim of international terrorism, engineered by America at the United Nations . We are a nation whose sacred symbols have been looted and whose wealth and resources have been plundered.† Bin Laden continued to state, â€Å"If their people do not wish to be harmed inside their very own countries, they should seek to elect governments that are truly representative of them and that can protect their interests† (Benjamin, 147). Bin Laden gave the people of America a clear warning that he is planning an attack and a war against them. Osama bin Laden issued and signed his second fatwa on February 23, 1998, as the leader of Al-Qaeda. A fatwa is a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law specialist on a specific issue. Through the issue of bin Laden’s fatwa, he gave the USA an indictment on the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and the Middle East. He blames America for occupying lands of Islam and intervening in Middle Eastern affairs. Bin Laden’s goal was to get rid of any Americans getting in the way of his radical Sunni movement. By issuing his second fatwa, bin Laden declared was on the West and Israel. Al-Qaeda also released a video later that year declaring war on the United States and the West as well. After bin Laden had declared war, bombings were carried out on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. There was also an attempted bombing of Los Angeles International Airport and then the USS Cole bombing occurred in October 2000. On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda attacked the United States once again. This attack not only crushed American ideologies, but also took away the feelings of security that had taken hundreds of years to build. To plan and successfully execute the September 11th attacks, Al-Qaeda terrorists worked for years within the United States using Islamic organizations to coordinate and build their networks. In the book, American Jihad, Steven Emerson tells the story of the terrorists who sought to destroy the United States from the inside. Emerson states, â€Å"Operating in our open society, with freedom of speech and assembly and with only casual oversight from the FB I, the CIA, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the worldwide network of militant Islamic organizations has finally been able to coordinate† (Emerson, 3). The idea that terrorists were working within the United States seemed unimaginable, but the attacks of 9/11 proved that it was possible. Bin Laden organized and set up a network of â€Å"cells† in Tucson, Arizona; Brooklyn, New York; Orlando, Florida; Dallas, Texas; Santa Clara, California; Columbia, Missouri; and Herndon, Virginia. He understood that if he recruited U.S. citizens it would help him in his terrorist efforts because they would be allowed to travel freely throughout the world. By having an American passport his followers would not be detected or questioned whether they were a part of or members of a terrorist group. Bin Laden â€Å"made efforts to recruit United States citizens†¦ in order to utilize the American citizens for travel throughout the Western world to deliver messages and engage in financial transactions for the benefit of Al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups and to help carry out operations† (Emerson, 153). Bin Laden was obviously successful in his attack on America, which demonstrated not only to Americans, but also to the rest of the world what great threat terrorism can be to humanity. The success of terrorism depends on the existence of a mass media, which will create and spread the feeling of fear throughout the world. As a result, the attacks of September 11, threw America into a full waged war against terrorism. Military efforts were sent to abroad to Afghanistan and the Bush administration increased domestic efforts in order to prevent future attacks. New ideas and reforms needed to be put in place. American citizens did not understand why the CIA, the biggest intelligence agency in the world, could not prevent such a large scaled terrorist attack from happening. â€Å"The CIA was designed to†¦ â€Å"Connect the dots.† Yet it failed to penetrate sufficiently with human intelligence agents or to fathom analytically with sufficient clarity the Al-Qaeda 9/11 conspiracy that lead to the slaughter of some 3000 individuals on U.S. soil† (Russell, 18). â€Å"The terrorists that intelligence must uncover and track are inert objects; they are living, conniving strategists. They, too, fail frequently and are sometimes caught before they can strike† (Hoge, 146). The intelligence system failed and in order to understand this failure one must understand that the strategic role of intelligence in decision making of foreign policy has been a neglected field of study. The outrage of the intelligence failure forced the Bush administration to fall to political pressure. The administration accepted the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation to the create DNI post. This post was to serve as the president’s chief intelligence advisor and oversee the entire intelligence community, including the CIA. The root cause of the failed penetration of Al-Qaeda’s 9/11 plot, by the CIA, has to do with their failure to marshal the resources that work against Al-Qaeda, which were corresponding with the threat. The CIA did provide the president with a strategic warning about the attacks but it would have been much better if they had access to the Al-Qaeda related information that the FBI had collected. The CIA has also failed to produce spies that are needed to reveal the plans and intentions of America’s enemies. The focus should be put on what can be done to improve intelligence rather than recap evidence of what the CIA did and did not do. Spending more money on intelligence agencies will not necessarily improve American security. Intelligence could be improved by the collection of more important information, the building up of human intelligence throughout the world and recruiting more and better spies. If the American government wants to protect its citizens, property, liberty and interests from attacks of terrorist groups then dramatic reforms need to happen. These reforms would hopefully give the president access to the enemy plans and tactics. â€Å"The systematic failures of American strategic intelligence and the CIA since its inception have been obscured by the political and emotional impulse to examine each and every incident of intelligence failure in isolation and not to put them together into a larger context with other intelligence failures that shared the same root causes† (Russell, 27). Nonetheless, America was in an overall agreement that changes in the American intelligence systems were necessary. The United States Department of Homeland security was created in November 2002 as a new cabinet level agency. This department was responsible for the reorganization of the U.S. federal government. Government bureaucracies dealing with military functions and security were also reorganized. In October 2001, the USA Patriot act was signed into effect reducing the restrictions on law enforcement agencies’ ability to search medical, financial, telephone, e-mail communications and other records. It also eased the restrictions on gathering foreign intelligence within the United States. The Patriot act also gave the Secretary of the Treasury more authority to closely regulate financial transactions, involving foreign persons. Immigration authorities and law enforcement could now detain and deport immigrants that were suspected of being affiliated with acts of terrorism more easily. Author Richard K. Betts suggested, â€Å"The National Security Agency (NSA), the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), and associated organizations can increase â€Å"technical† collection – satellite and aerial reconnaissance, signals intelligence, communications monitoring – by buying more platforms, devices, and personnel to exploit them† (Hoge, 148). A Terrorist Finance Tracking Program was actually created to in order to monitor the movements of terrorists’ financial resources. However, the New York Times newspaper leaked this information, which ended th e project. The National Security Agency instead set up an electronic surveillance program that studied telecommunication use by suspected and known terrorists. All the laws and reforms that removed restrictions on governmental authority are notionally good for the overall prevention and protection against terrorism. In certain perspectives the removal of governmental restrictions is advantageous to American security. However, political interest groups have stated that because these new laws remove restrictions on governmental authority, they violate the civil liberties of the American citizens. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the first legal challenge against the Patriot Act. It claimed that the Patriot act violates the rights of the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment and the right to due process. It is a violation because the Patriot act grants the government the right to search a person’s private property without having to inform them that they are being investigated. Former Pr esident Bush stated that the Patriot Act helped convict more than two hundred suspects of being involved with acts of terrorism. On the other hand, the figures of the Justice Department show that there have been complaints of abuse of the Act from about 7000 people. The real question one must ask oneself is if the governments’ unknown investigations are worth the price of freedom and protection from terrorism. â€Å"The deaths of 3,000 people on American soil at hands of a ruthless adversary along with the CIA’s profound misreading of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) capabilities are the latest and greatest and in a long string of U.S. intelligence failures† (Russell, 149). The United States government has heavily concentrated on improving intelligence through bureaucratic approaches. Fighting the war on terrorism became a huge challenge for the United States. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 caused enormous devastation and damage to all the citizens of America. September 11 will never be forgotten as it has left a huge impact on the world. Al-Qaeda is a very serious threat to the United States but there will most likely be many more in the next generations to come. â€Å"The United States needs to rectify the substantial shortcomings in human intelligence collection operations if it is to deal successfully with issues of war and peace in the future† (Russell, 168). The protection of America is in the hands of the government and the intelligence agencies. Terrorism will not end on its own, therefore Americans need to be prepared for what the future has to bring. Terrorism has been around for centuries and will probably always be around. The question is how to handle it and keep it in check. There will always be extremists working against the governments in the world.

The Afterlife and Beyond :: Ancient Egypt Egyptian History

The Afterlife and Beyond Egyptians were loyal to their gods and to their pharaohs who were gods on earth, as established by their enthusiasm to build the pyramids for the safe means of access of their leaders into the next world. Understanding the development and belief system they had with the physical and afterlife, you would have to know a little bit about the location of the area, which the Egyptians began to rise. The villages of ancient Egypt were found all along the Nile. The Egyptians were skillful farmers. They knew the Nile would flood each year and bring new life and rich grain. The Nile's flooding was expected and left rich new deposits of mud for new crops, making irrigation easy to plan. A basic irrigation system allowed the floodwaters to flow gently into each field, cleansing and renewing the earth each year. Egyptian people would then look to nature to explain the unexplainable. Egyptian gods were depicted as wise, caring, predictable, and forgiving, just as the Nile was predictable and life sustaining. The Egyptian people thought the world was created by super beings using earth, wind and fire. This was called "The Theogony of Heliopolis". The Theogony of Heliopolis is the belief that a water god called Nu, who gave birth to the sun god Ra, who then created his wife Tefnut, who made the rain. Together, they created Seb, God of the Earth, and Nat, the Goddess of the Sky. Seb and Nat were the parents of Osiris who later became the ruler of the underworld, Isis, Set and Nepthys. Ra is given credit for creating the heavens and earth and all creatures. Ra is also said to have created man from his eye, and Ra became the first king on earth. The idea that the god Ra was the first king is the seed for the belief that a Pharaoh was both King and god. After Ra gave up his kingship to ride across the sky, Osiris became king with Isis as his queen. Osiris is recognized with teaching men to be civilized, and for teaching mankind to worship the gods and to build temples. Almost every god and god dess was associated with one or more animals and in some instances might appear in the form of their chosen animal-familiar. This was called anthropromorphic. Another Egyptian link from the physical world to the supernatural is the pyramid. The Afterlife and Beyond :: Ancient Egypt Egyptian History The Afterlife and Beyond Egyptians were loyal to their gods and to their pharaohs who were gods on earth, as established by their enthusiasm to build the pyramids for the safe means of access of their leaders into the next world. Understanding the development and belief system they had with the physical and afterlife, you would have to know a little bit about the location of the area, which the Egyptians began to rise. The villages of ancient Egypt were found all along the Nile. The Egyptians were skillful farmers. They knew the Nile would flood each year and bring new life and rich grain. The Nile's flooding was expected and left rich new deposits of mud for new crops, making irrigation easy to plan. A basic irrigation system allowed the floodwaters to flow gently into each field, cleansing and renewing the earth each year. Egyptian people would then look to nature to explain the unexplainable. Egyptian gods were depicted as wise, caring, predictable, and forgiving, just as the Nile was predictable and life sustaining. The Egyptian people thought the world was created by super beings using earth, wind and fire. This was called "The Theogony of Heliopolis". The Theogony of Heliopolis is the belief that a water god called Nu, who gave birth to the sun god Ra, who then created his wife Tefnut, who made the rain. Together, they created Seb, God of the Earth, and Nat, the Goddess of the Sky. Seb and Nat were the parents of Osiris who later became the ruler of the underworld, Isis, Set and Nepthys. Ra is given credit for creating the heavens and earth and all creatures. Ra is also said to have created man from his eye, and Ra became the first king on earth. The idea that the god Ra was the first king is the seed for the belief that a Pharaoh was both King and god. After Ra gave up his kingship to ride across the sky, Osiris became king with Isis as his queen. Osiris is recognized with teaching men to be civilized, and for teaching mankind to worship the gods and to build temples. Almost every god and god dess was associated with one or more animals and in some instances might appear in the form of their chosen animal-familiar. This was called anthropromorphic. Another Egyptian link from the physical world to the supernatural is the pyramid.

Copper Metal

Copper is an element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. Copper is classified in periodic table: Its element category is transition metal; Its group is 11; Its period is 4; Its atomic weight is 63. 546. Copper metal and alloys have been used for thousands of years. Physical properties:- Copper has a characteristic reddish brown color. Its density is 8. 93 g cm. Its melting point is 1083`C. It is highly malleable and ductile at ordinary temperature. It is a very good conductor of heat and electricity. It is the best conductor among all the metals.Chemical properties:- Copper does not react with water, but it reacts with oxygen slowly forming the brown-black copper oxide. Occurrence:- Copper can be found as native copper and a part of minerals. Native copper is a polycrystal. There are many kinds of copper-containing minerals: chalcopyrite and chalcocite are copper sulfides, azurite and malachite are copper carbonates and cuprite is a copper oxide. Recycling:- Copper can be recycl ed without lose of quality. Copper are world's mostly recycled. Uses of copper:-Copper is mostly used as a metal, but when a higher hardness is required it is combined with other elements to make an al alloy such as brass and bronze. Copper is used in refrigerators and air conditioning systems. Computer heat sinks are made out of copper because it is able to absorb a high amount of heat. Magnetrons, found in microwave ovens, contain copper. As a good conductor of electricity, copper is used in Copper wire, electromagnets and electrical relays and switches. Copper is a great water-proof roofing material.It has been used for this purpose since ancient times. Some structures, such as the Statue of Liberty, are made with copper. Copper is sometimes combined with nickel to make a corrosion resistant material that is used in shipbuilding. Copper is used in lightning rods. These attract lightning and cause the electrical current to be dispersed rather than striking, and possibly destroying , a more important structure. Copper is often used to color glass. It is also one component of ceramic glaze. Many musical instruments, are made out of copper.

Succubus Heat CHAPTER 17

The sweet scent of a white chocolate mocha woke me from a heavy sleep the following morning. For a few moments, as I stirred to consciousness, it was like waking up any other day. Then, as I opened my eyes and shifted position, my body's nerves came to life, reminding me what had happened yesterday. It wasn't the horrible torturous pain I'd experienced before, but I had enough aches and soreness to dissuade me from too much movement. Still, I managed to more or less sit up when Dante entered my bedroom. He held the mocha in one hand and what looked like a bakery bag tucked under his arm. In the other hand, he carried an enormous vase of blue and white hydrangeas, interspersed with orchids. I never would have pictured those particular flowers going together, but the arrangement worked. â€Å"Did you rob a florist?† I asked. Dante gave me a withering look as he handed me the mocha. â€Å"Why are you assuming the worst again?† â€Å"Because orchids aren't cheap,† I said. â€Å"They were out of crab grass, so I had to settle.† He gently placed the vase on my dresser and then freed the bakery bag. â€Å"And I beat up some kids for these.† After a long, delicious sip, I set the mocha on my bedside table and took the bag from him. Inside were chocolate croissants-my favorite kind of breakfast pastry. â€Å"All this because I got beat up?† I asked. He sat on the side of the bed. â€Å"I'm worried about you.† â€Å"I should get in fights with demons more often,† I teased, my last few words getting muffled as I bit into a croissant. Tiny flakes and crumbs fell onto my sheets, but I didn't care. â€Å"Not funny, succubus,† he said. And to my surprise, I could see that he meant it. None of his usual sardonic humor showed on his face. There was no bitter twist to his lips. â€Å"That's never happening again. And I'm going to make sure you get better, immortal healing or not.† â€Å"Never took you for a nursemaid.† â€Å"Be quiet,† he snapped. â€Å"And keep eating. Your body needs calories to heal.† Happy to oblige, I started to take another bite and then froze. â€Å"Do you think I might start putting on weight?† Calories were nothing I'd ever had to count before. I'd feared neither weight gain nor health effects from the things I ate. â€Å"I think that's the least of your worries.† I supposed he was right. I kept eating-but with a little less enthusiasm. He still looked so serious and worried that I couldn't shake my warm and fuzzy feelings. â€Å"Thank you for all of this. It's really great.† He smiled at me, and his gray eyes were lovely in the morning light. â€Å"Not many people in this world I feel deserve my help. You're in an exclusive club.† I started to make a comment about how the rest of the club members must be imaginary, but there had already been too much snark this morning. Nanette's attack had seriously shaken Dante up. â€Å"Thank you,† I said again. A thought struck me. â€Å"I might have some other way for you to help. Will you grab my purse?† He retrieved it from the living room and handed it over. Reaching inside, I was relieved to see the photo that I'd swiped from Mary was still there. I studied it for a moment, willing the medallion to yield some sort of revelation. All I saw was a translucent brown disc and runes or symbols that could easily be mistaken for a child's scribbles. With a sigh, I handed it to him. â€Å"Does this mean anything to you?† His brows knit thoughtfully as he looked it over. â€Å"No. Should it?† â€Å"I think it might be part of Jerome's summoning. Remember when I asked you about an artist who carved quartz? This is what I turned up. Supposedly, the stone and marks are clues, but I don't know what they are. I guess that's where I need people like you or Erik.† He gazed at the picture for several more moments, and to my surprise, I saw anger building in his features. Abruptly, he stood up and tossed the picture on the floor. â€Å"Son of a bitch,† he growled. â€Å"What's the matter?† I exclaimed. â€Å"This,† he said, gesturing at me and the fallen picture. â€Å"This is the matter. What good am I, succubus? I'm ten times more powerful than those people I sent you to go see. Aside from Lancaster, there's probably no one else in this fucking town who knows as much about the arcane as I do. And what good is it?† He paced around my room and ran his hand angrily through his hair. â€Å"Nothing. That's what it's good for. I can't seem to help you. I can't do a goddamned thing. I couldn't save you from that demoness. And I don't know anything about this medallion thing.† I was stunned by his reaction. â€Å"Hey, whoa. It's okay. Sit down. Don't beat yourself up.† â€Å"It's not okay.† He came to a halt. â€Å"I feel†¦powerless.† For someone who'd spent his life doing horrible things in the quest for power, I could recognize what a hard admission that was. â€Å"You're not obligated to do anything here,† I said gently. â€Å"You help me more than you realize. But this isn't your fight. This isn't your responsibility.† † You're my responsibility,† he said. â€Å"If I can't look out for you, then why do you need me?† â€Å"I'm not with you for what you can do for me.† â€Å"Yeah? You're with me for my winning personality?† The truth was, I still wasn't sure at times why I was with him. I couldn't help but recall his comments about me keeping him as a bed warmer, but true or not, now wasn't the time to bring that up. Plus, he'd been sweet lately-something I'd never expected when I'd turned to him in my post-Seth rage. â€Å"Dante, I'm serious. Don't worry about any of this. I'll take care of it and talk to my friends.† I saw from the look on his face that that wasn't quite what he'd wanted to hear. Knowing I had other people to go to seemed to make him feel more inadequate. â€Å"You shouldn't be involved in this at all,† he said. â€Å"What, in finding Jerome? Of course I have to be.† â€Å"There are others, people who are more powerful. I don't want you getting hurt again! Why can't you just lie low and keep yourself safe?† he demanded. â€Å"Because it's not what I do! And no one else is going to do it anyway. They're just letting this go. Letting Jerome go.† â€Å"Why don't you let it go?† he asked. â€Å"Would it be so bad to work under another demon? You've worked for others.† I turned and gazed out the window. The sky was blue, but something told me it was cold out. It was a quirk of Seattle weather. We often had warmer temperatures when it was cloudy out, colder ones when it was sunny. Dragging my eyes back to Dante, I said, â€Å"Yeah, I have. But this is different. This isn't right-it shouldn't have happened. I have to find Jerome.† â€Å"Yes. You do. It's written all over you. Why do you have to make everything so difficult and create these problems?† â€Å"If you're unhappy, no one's making you stick around,† I said quietly. â€Å"Of course I'm sticking around. And if there's nothing to be done for your impulsivity, I might as well help.† He snatched up the photo and glared at it. â€Å"Let me take this and ask some questions. I might not know what it is-yet-but there are resources I can tap.† There was a hard set to his face. He was a man with a mission, which I preferred to him being down on himself or ranting at me. I was about to send him off with my blessings, but something held me back. I couldn't let the picture go. â€Å"I want to keep the photo,† I told him. He stared. â€Å"You don't think I'll bring it back?† â€Å"No, I'm not worried about that. But I did a lot to get it, and besides, I want to show it to some people too. We'll make a copy of it. You can take that.† â€Å"Yeah? You got a copy machine in the bathroom?† â€Å"Can't you just draw it or something?† â€Å"Succubus.† â€Å"Well, I don't know! But if you want to do sleuthing, you're going to have to find a workaround. Until I feel like traipsing around the city with you, I want the picture to stay with me.† He glowered, looking very much like his usual bitter self. Finally, realizing I wasn't going to yield, he did a hasty trace of the medallion onto another sheet of paper. He added a few notes off to the side and did his best approximation of the symbols. He seemed miserable the entire time. â€Å"Sorry,† I said. â€Å"It's fine,† he said. â€Å"You're going now?† â€Å"If you think you'll be okay.† I assured him I would be. My phone was nearby, and I had a feeling if he stayed, he'd just grow more and more upset about how he'd let me down and about how I was putting myself at risk for reasons he didn't understand. At least this gave him a feeling of purpose. I promised to call if something happened and breathed a sigh of relief when he finally left. I stayed in bed for a while after that, consuming my calorie-laden breakfast and thinking about his extreme reaction. I hoped he'd find something out for me, and in the meantime, I needed to do some investigating of my own. First things first, though. I needed to shower. It turned out to be harder than I expected-but not impossible. I just had to move slowly when I walked to the bathroom, careful not to get too ambitious. Hugh's bandages still covered my back, and it took a fair bit of dexterity to remove them. They were soaked with blood, but underneath, the cuts showed signs of Mei's healing. They were still there, still uncomfortable, but had all scabbed over and were much smaller. I kept the water lukewarm as I showered and was careful when I toweled off to not break any of the scabs open. By the time I was sitting on my couch in the living room, I felt like I'd run a marathon. I'd never wanted shape-shifting so badly in my life. I wore loose clothes-drawstring pants and a T-shirt without a bra-but it had taken some effort to put them on. My hair I'd given up on completely, figuring combing it out would have to do. I didn't have the patience to dry it and didn't want to think about the frizziness I was inviting. Aubrey joined me on the couch as I rested from my morning labors and flipped through the channels. After cycling through twice, I gave up and left the TV on some sort of nature show about Siberian tigers. Aubrey watched it with wide eyes, but I wasn't interested. â€Å"This is your equivalent of reality television,† I observed. â€Å"The talk shows don't come on until later,† a voice suddenly said. â€Å"That's when things get good.† I sighed. â€Å"Carter. What a pleasant surprise.† The angel strolled into my line of sight and sat down on the armchair opposite me. Aubrey immediately left me and hopped onto his lap. â€Å"Traitor,† I said. He grinned and scratched her head. â€Å"Word on the street is that you had a bad day yesterday.† â€Å"I've had worse,† I said. â€Å"Marginally. You should have seen me before Mei healed me.† â€Å"Bah, demons can't heal. Not really. They lose the finesse it takes when they cross over.† â€Å"Hey, I'll take what help I can get.† I brightened. â€Å"And speaking of help, I think I've got a picture of the seal-â€Å" â€Å"No.† â€Å"No what?† â€Å"I know what you're going to ask, and the answer is no.† â€Å"You have no idea what I'm going to ask!† â€Å"You're going to ask me to help identify the seal so you can figure out where Jerome is.† I stayed silent. Damn. He rolled his eyes. â€Å"And the answer is no.† â€Å"But you could make this so much easier,† I argued. â€Å"Dante's out trying to figure out what the seal means. You could tell me right now.† â€Å"Georgina, I told you before. I can't interfere.† â€Å"Then why are you here?† â€Å"To see how you're feeling. Believe me, I wish I could interfere. I'd do a better healing job than Mei.† I fell silent, mind spinning. â€Å"Were you here yesterday?† â€Å"Doing what?† â€Å"Look, I won't consider it interfering, but just tell me if it was you.† Carter didn't look confused very often. If anything, he was usually the one messing with other people's minds. I think under normal circumstances, when the immortal state of affairs in Seattle wasn't in limbo, he would have faked it and hidden his confusion. Now, he just shook his head in exasperation. â€Å"What are you talking about?† â€Å"Someone was here after Nanette beat me up. A guy. He put me to bed and called Hugh.† â€Å"It wasn't me.† â€Å"Technically, it wouldn't even be interfering.† â€Å"Georgina,† he said sternly. â€Å"Listen. It wasn't me.† I held his gaze and shivered at the intensity in his eyes. His were gray, but whereas Dante's were like leaden clouds on a winter day, Carter's were like gleaming silver. â€Å"It wasn't you,† I said at last. He'd answered directly, with none of the half-truths and subterfuge angels normally employed. He'd answered directly, and angels couldn't lie. â€Å"I suppose you didn't blow up the stove either?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Who did, then? You said in Vancouver you'd try to protect me. I figured this was you.† â€Å"It's possible the stove blew up because of a gas leak.† â€Å"Maybe,† I grumbled. He smiled, instantly transforming him to the mocking angel I usually knew. â€Å"Believe me, Daughter of Lilith, I wish I could take credit for these things. And if it comes down to it, and I have the means and ability, I will try to protect you. For now, I've still got to stay out of this.† â€Å"House calls aside.† â€Å"Just a visit between friends.† He winked and stood up. â€Å"I really do wish I could help more, but you're going to have to find another way. Be careful, whatever you end up doing.† â€Å"You're not warning me away from all this?† He arched an eyebrow. â€Å"Should I be?† â€Å"No,† I mused. â€Å"But everyone else is. They say it's dangerous.† â€Å"It is dangerous. But these are dangerous times, and honestly? You're the only one that I think has the means or desire to get us out of this mess. Good luck, Georgina. And don't leave the house without checking your hair.† He vanished. â€Å"Fucking angels.† I realized then that I was starving for real food, not sugar-filled sweets. My kitchen was sparse as usual, so I decided to risk the world and go pick up something. I was tired and certainly incapable of running a marathon, but Mei's healing really had gone a long way. I could manage the one block walk to a nearby take-out Chinese restaurant. I placed the order, and by the time I was out of my robe and out the door, the food was ready. I stopped at a convenience store as well to pick up some pop, and the whole endeavor only ended up taking about thirty minutes. From the look on Aubrey's face, you would have thought I'd been gone a whole day, but then, she just wanted my orange chicken. I changed back to my robe and relaxed with the food, pondering how to spend my day. As I'd told Dante, I didn't want to go traipsing about town, but I wanted some leads on the medallion. Erik was probably my best bet at this point, and I hoped he'd be able to ID my symbols from phone descriptions. Before I could do that, I heard a knock at my door. I expected it to be Hugh making a house call, but to my astonishment, it was Seth. â€Å"Hey,† I said, stepping aside so that he could come in. â€Å"Hey,† he returned. I stuffed my hands into the ratty robe's pockets, wishing I hadn't been so hasty to change back to casual mode. My hair was undoubtedly a lost cause, so there was no point stressing over that. â€Å"How's it going?† â€Å"Okay.† He met my eyes frankly, something he hadn't done in a while. It sent a tingle down my back. â€Å"I was just nearby and wanted to†¦well, that is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He sighed. â€Å"I just wanted to apologize for what happened yesterday†¦.† Yesterday. The kiss. Something that only a demon attack could have dwarfed. I shook my head, trying not to recall how I'd felt that kiss all the way to my toes. â€Å"You have nothing to apologize for. I think†¦I think I was as much to blame. Besides, it was nothing.† â€Å"Nothing?† he asked, looking both surprised and hurt. â€Å"I mean, not nothing ,† I amended hastily. â€Å"But we were both kind of worked up, and things got crazy, and well, like I said†¦nothing to apologize for.† â€Å"Okay†¦I'm glad you're not upset. I don't want there to be anything†¦well, anything bad between us.† I thought about all the fights and arguments. â€Å"Well, I'm not sure we've reached that state. I mean, come on, do you think things will ever be normal and friendly between us?† â€Å"Yes,† he said bluntly. â€Å"No matter what has or hasn't happened romantically, I still feel like†¦like there's something between us†¦like, a connection, I mean. I feel like we're always destined to be important in each other's lives.† You are my life , I thought and promptly looked away, as though he might have heard me. â€Å"Do you regret it?† I asked before I realized I had. â€Å"Regret?† â€Å"Ending things.† I looked back at him, fearing his answer, no matter what it was. â€Å"I regret†¦well, I don't regret saving you from future hurt. I do regret the hurt I've caused you†¦if I'd known you'd react and spiral the way you have†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You can't take that into consideration,† I said hastily. â€Å"That's not your fault.† I was surprised to be saying that, but it was true. My bad behavior these last months had been my doing. â€Å"I can't help it. I'll always worry about you. Like I said, I feel like no matter what, we're always going to be connected†¦like there's something bigger than us at work. As it is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"What?† â€Å"Never mind.† I stepped forward, never taking my eyes off him. â€Å"Tell me.† â€Å"As it is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He shrugged. â€Å"Life is easier not dating you. But sometimes†¦it feels incomplete. Like there's a piece of me missing.† â€Å"And that's easier?† â€Å"Think of it as winning the lottery and having people waiting on all your needs, but it's at the cost of, I don't know, getting your leg amputated.† â€Å"Wow. You should be a writer with that imagery.† He smiled. â€Å"Yeah, yeah. But you know what I mean.† Except, I was missing a part of my life and things were harder, not easier. â€Å"You at least have Maddie.† â€Å"You have Dante.† â€Å"Dante's not Maddie, believe me.† â€Å"Fair enough. She's great†¦I care about her†¦love her†¦I don't know. It's all just different.† Silence fell, but it was comfortable. â€Å"Good lord. I can't believe we're discussing this rationally.† â€Å"See? Not so hard to be friends.† I had my doubts about that. â€Å"I guess.† â€Å"Don't worry. We'll keep trying. Before long, we'll be on a bowling league or something.† He spoke his words lightly, but there was a catch that belied the truth of his words. Being friends wasn't easy for Seth either. He still cared about me and was suffering just as much as me with this separation. Seeing that made something in me soften. â€Å"Hey, it's okay. We'll make this work.† I reached out to hug him, and he automatically returned it. I felt warm and safe and right in his embrace-until he casually squeezed my back. I cried out, jerking away at the pain that shot through me. We sprang apart, and he looked at me in alarm. â€Å"What's wrong? Are you okay?† â€Å"It's†¦complicated.† My standard answer to uncomfortable questions. â€Å"Georgina!† â€Å"It's nothing. Don't worry about it.† He strode toward me, reached a hand out, then pulled back. Intensity filled his face. â€Å"Are you hurt?† I tried to keep out of his reach. â€Å"Look, I got in a fight last night, and I'm sporting some, uh, residual effects. It's mostly gone, though, so there's nothing to worry about.† â€Å"You? Got in a fight? With who?† â€Å"Whom. And it was with Nanette. I told you, it's nothing.† â€Å"Who's Nanette?† â€Å"She's†¦a demon.† He gave me a level look. â€Å"A demon. A full-fledged demon.† â€Å"Something like that.† â€Å"Let me see your back.† â€Å"Seth-â€Å" â€Å"Georgina! Let me see your back.† There was anger in his words, not at me, but at the thought of someone hurting me. It reminded me a little of Dante's reaction, except that Dante always had a bit of anger in him. It was normal. To see it woken up in Seth†¦to see him so passionate and fierce†¦ Slowly, slowly, I turned around and undid the front of my robe, letting it slip halfway down my back. I heard Seth gasp at what he saw, and then a few moments later, he stepped forward and pushed my hair off my back so that he could get a better view. I shivered when his fingers touched my skin. â€Å"Georgina†¦this is horrible†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It was worse before.† I spoke flippantly, hoping to deflect his worry and realizing I'd only increased it now. â€Å"Worse?† I tugged the robe up and turned back around. â€Å"Mei healed it. I'm fine.† â€Å"Yeah, it seems that way.† â€Å"Look, it's nothing you have to worry about.† â€Å"Not worry about?† His eyes were filled with incredulity. â€Å"Even when you're†¦normal†¦a demon could still kill you, right?† â€Å"Yeah.† Seth put his hand to his forehead and sighed. â€Å"This is what it's like, isn't it?† â€Å"What?† â€Å"What you went through with me. Living with the fear that I could die. Having it tear you apart.† I didn't answer right away. â€Å"You don't have to worry about me. This'll work out.† â€Å"Did this†¦did Nanette do this because of your investigating?† I nodded, then crooked him a wry smile. â€Å"Still like how brave I am?† He stepped closer to me and looked me up and down in a way that was so serious, my smile faded. â€Å"Even after this, you aren't going to stop, are you? You're going to keep pushing to find Jerome?† â€Å"Do you want me to stop?† This was almost like my earlier conversation with Dante, when he'd made it clear he thought I was a fool for continuing with my quest. Seth's answer was a long time in coming. â€Å"I don't want you to get hurt. But I understand you, and I know why you have to do this†¦and it's still part of that strange, brave nature of yours that's so†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He didn't finish, but I saw the anguish in his eyes, the worry and heartache over something happening to me. It was mingled with something else, though. Pride. Affection. I put my arms around him again, wanting to comfort him now. â€Å"Hey, hey. It's going to be okay. I'll be okay.† His hands rested on my hips, careful of my back, but honestly, I barely noticed. My attention was on his lips, pressed against my cheek. â€Å"Georgina, Georgina,† he breathed against my skin. â€Å"You are†¦incredible.† And like in the car, I don't know who exactly was to blame, but our lips met and were kissing again. Unlike before, we didn't break apart out of shock. We kept kissing. And kissing. His lips were intoxicating and felt like they'd been designed especially for mine. Our bodies pressed against one another, though his embrace was still gentle. As the kiss continued, that same sensation came back to me: this was purely a kiss. Just an expression of love between two people with no dire side effects, no soul stealing. The longer it went on, the more amazed I was. By now, as a succubus, I would have begun to taste his energy and feel his thoughts. But not now. I was alone in my own head, savoring his body and not his soul. We pulled back slightly, and he moved his hands up to the side of my face, smoothing my hair away and touching my cheek. â€Å"Georgina. You are†¦beautiful.† We kissed again, and it was so sweet, so pure, that it didn't seem possible. I hadn't had a physical experience that could really be called sweet or pure since†¦well, since my mortal days. But this was. And by pure, I didn't mean non-sexual†¦because my body was definitely awake and yearning for his. But, it was pure in the sense that there were no ulterior machinations here, just our feelings. My love for him was the turn-on, and as his hands ran down my arms and back to my hips, it was the knowledge that it was Seth that made it all so powerful. His hands carefully moved down to the robe's tie and undid the knot. He broke the kiss and studied my face as he hesitantly, almost reverently, slipped the robe off me. It hit the floor, and I stepped away from it. Seth moved with me, running his fingers along my arms, leaning down to kiss my neck. I tilted my head back as my own hands began pushing up his T-shirt. When I had it half-way, he paused to push it up the rest of the way. Then his hands were on my waist once more, sliding down and feeling the curve of my hips. I had on plain cotton panties-sexily cut, at least-and his fingertips traced the edges down along my thighs, every touch soft yet quivering with pent-up energy. I don't think I was being quite as gentle. I was hungry to touch him, eager as I ran my hands along his chest and the lean muscles of his stomach. I wanted to kiss it and taste it and lose myself in all things Seth. I began backing up toward my bedroom, and he followed, turning hesitant once we reached the bed and I started to sit. â€Å"You can't†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he began. â€Å"I can lie down,† I said, doing exactly that. â€Å"I just can't slam my back down or anything.† After watching me for a moment, making sure I spoke the truth, Seth took off his jeans and lay down next to me. I rolled slightly to my side, pressing back to him. We resumed kissing, doing no more than that, just letting our nearly bare bodies wrap around each other. Having all this skin touching between us was heady. Never, never had I imagined it could really happen. Our hands explored each other, feeling every line and curve we'd always been denied. Every gesture between us was exquisite. Every caress was a prayer. We regarded each other's bodies with wonder and joy. When my hands slipped to the edges of his boxers, I found his own fingers were tugging at my panties. We hardly needed any communication, and once completely naked, I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him toward me and seeking the completion with him I'd so long dreamed of. To my surprise, he pulled from my arms and scooted down the bed. â€Å"What are you doing?† I asked. â€Å"This,† he said. He smoothly pushed my legs apart, and I felt him shower my inner thighs with light, delicate kisses. Up and up his warm mouth moved until he made contact with my clit. I gasped softly at the fire that coursed through me from that light flick of the tongue. It was so light†¦yet so powerful. I'd been so intoxicated with the simple fact that we could touch that I hadn't been consciously aware of just how aroused I had grown. I ached and was wet and nearly melted at his touch. He lifted his mouth up slightly. â€Å"Do you know how long I've dreamed about this? To be able to touch you? To taste you?† I had little chance to ponder his rhetorical question because his lips returned to me, sucking and licking, somehow infinitely gentle and blazingly hot at the same time. I closed my eyes and lost myself in the pleasure of it, of Seth bringing me closer and closer to orgasm. As my muscles tightened and my cries grew more frequent, he intensified his movements, his tongue dancing and teasing harder and more rapidly. I wanted to hold off, to prolong this as I did his books, but I couldn't help it. My climax hit me hard and fast, and I moaned long and low as I came. All the while, Seth kept his mouth down there, refusing to let up as my body arched and trembled from the sparks of ecstasy that flowed through me. When my body finally quieted, he lifted himself up again and returned to my side, showering my chest with more of those tiny kisses. I brought my face to his, trading in the little kisses for one big one. His mouth tasted like me, and I opened my lips farther and farther as our tongues stroked each other. I might have come already, but I still burned between my legs and still needed him. I pressed myself against him, wrapping my legs around him so that there was almost no space between our hips. â€Å"Georgina†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he said warningly. It was another sign of how well we knew each other that I realized he wasn't worried about asking permission about what came next. He was worried about my back again. So, shifting over, I rolled him to his back and straddled him, looking down at him with a small smile. He gave me an answering one, amused by my ready solution. As we held gazes, I was again overwhelmed with the emotion of the experience, of how indescribable it was to finally touch someone I loved. I had been terrified at the thought of dying, but I realized then that I was only afraid of dying uselessly. For Seth, to save him, I would have gladly laid down my life. He was right. We were connected in something bigger than both of us. Empowered by that realization, I lowered my hips, joining us at last. I felt him enter me, felt him fill me up. We both paused then, neither breathing or moving, half-expecting something to happen or end this. Nothing did, and after that, I didn't hesitate any further. I slowly moved my hips up and down, savoring the feel of him in me and underneath me as he glided in and out. My hands were on his chest and his were on my hips. Our eyes were on each other, never wavering, never breaking contact. How to describe sex with Seth? It's difficult. It was unlike anything I'd had in my existence as a succubus. Somewhere, in the back of my head, it resonated with memories of my marriage, when my husband and I had still been happy. Every other instance after that had been lacking†¦until now. Each movement and touch with Seth was a dream, a wonder. The intensity of our lovemaking steadily increased. My need for him grew stronger and stronger, and I rode him with a ferocity that was still tender and full of the love that burned between us. I loved the feel of him, loved how I could thrust him into me, hard and deep. And yet†¦ â€Å"It's not enough,† I murmured. â€Å"We're still not close enough.† It might have been a foolish sentiment, considering we were as physically close as two people could be. But Seth understood. â€Å"I know,† he gasped. â€Å"I know. We'll never be close enough.† Joy lit his face then, and when he came, his body arched up toward mine. I leaned down and increased my rhythm and hardness, wanting so badly to be even closer and have as much of him in me as I could. His mouth parted in a soft moan that mirrored my earlier one, and when he started to instinctively close his eyes, he quickly opened them again to stay locked with my gaze. There was no looking away between us, no avoiding what we felt. As I stared into his eyes and felt his body's trembling fade, energy seemed to crackle between our souls in a way that had nothing to do with succubus soul-stealing. Carefully, I eased myself off him and lay down on my side again, draping my body over his. I was drowning in feeling and emotion. â€Å"Georgina,† he murmured, pulling me closer. â€Å"You are the world.† I'd heard that somewhere before, but I was too overwhelmed to parse it much. I was too lost in Seth. Instead, what I said was unoriginal but absolutely true: â€Å"I love you.†

knowledge management in organisation Essay

knowledge management in organisation Essay knowledge management in organisation Essay Exclusive summery Knowledge is regarded as valuable intellectual asset of an organization. Increasing numbers of industries aware of the significant of managing knowledge for organizational operation and commit to develop proper knowledge management framework to enhance operation efficiency. The aim of this report is to develop a knowledge management process to carry out more effective and efficient project work through proper adoption of Knowledge Management System (KMS) and Enterprise System (ER) on knowledge creation, capture, utilization and sharing within and across organisation. Civil engineering is composed of numbers of stakeholders in various professionals, industries and to participate in same worksite and commit in the same objectives. Whilst, the knowledge in civil engineering is mostly generated through practical exercises so that knowledge are in the mind of workers and experts. Therefore, it will be lost easily as long as the project completed or employees leave the organisation. So the suggested knowledge management implementation for this case will mainly focus on managing knowledge with multi-disciplinary work and trans-disciplinary work to capture the best practice for sharing and reuse. Also, it is necessary to identify the main holders of knowledge in order to promote knowledge sharing and creativity and externalise tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge from knowledge holders’ mind to contextual reports. It enable those valuable knowledge from past experience being able to re-sue for the future projects. Consequently, the crucial section of the report is going to propose an insight into the process of knowledge management on transnational operation with organisational level and client project level then target at the objective of time saving and creative respond to client needs. Finally, concluding some recommendations with those problems likely exist while processing knowledge management flow. Knowledge Management in Civil Engineering firm Summarizing claims from various experts at knowledge management, knowledge management is sort of procedure and technique for promoting organisational performance and complete assigned task using creation, capture, collection, sharing and implementation of information and knowledge around organisations (Kasimu, Amiruddin & Abdullah 2013). Civil engineering industry involve wide range of employees from diverse professional areas working collectively to accomplish particular client project. It is also a highly dynamic sector as project teams are mostly formed temporarily for single project and are contained variety of problems which are often occurring on ad hoc basis. Therefore, knowledge management become increasingly emphasised within civil engineering organisation since most of the knowledge is so called tacit knowledge which is embedded in workers’ mind from their practical experience and these knowledge is hard to be recorded as part of firms’ intellectual asset for reuse. Systematic Collecting and organised storing by knowledge management enable delivering useful knowledge and information from individual to wider organisation to learn from success or failure for retrieving in the future project and avoid repeat mistake and rework of project (Kasimu, Roslan& Fadhlin 2012). Furthermore, client centric and labour intensive are two main features of civil engineering so that the transmission of knowledge is not the single crucial part in practicing knowledge management procedure, promoting interpersonal relations within workplaces and selection at recruitment are equally important as workers are the key role in creating and sharing knowledge (Venkateswaran Kasimu, Roslan

House Centipedes, Scutigera coleoptrata

House Centipedes, Scutigera coleoptrata Put down that newspaper! House centipedes look like spiders on steroids, and your first reaction to seeing one might be to kill it. But scary as it may seem, the house centipede, Scutigera coleoptrata, is really quite harmless. And if youve got other pests in your home, its actually doing some good. What Do House Centipedes Look Like? Even people who appreciate bugs can be startled by a house centipede. A fully grown adult may reach 1.5 inches in body length, but its many long legs make it appear much larger. The last pair of legs on a female house centipede is elongated and may be twice as long as the body. The house centipede is light yellow-brown in color, with three dark longitudinal stripes down its body. Its legs are marked with alternating bands of light and dark. House centipedes also have large compound eyes, which is unusual for centipedes. Although the house centipede does possess venom, it rarely bites anything larger than itself. If you are bitten by  Scutigera coleoptrata,  you arent likely to suffer much pain.  Do take care to clean the wound to prevent a secondary infection. How Are House Centipedes Classified? Kingdom - AnimaliaPhylum - ArthropodaClass - ChilopodaOrder - ScutigeromorphaFamily - ScutigeridaeGenus - ScutigeraSpecies - coleoptrata What Do House Centipedes Eat? House centipedes are skilled hunters that prey on insects and other arthropods. Like all centipedes, their front legs are modified into poison claws used to inject venom into their prey. Within your home, they provide efficient (and free) pest control services for you, as they feed on silverfish, firebrats, cockroaches, carpet beetles, and other household pests. The House Centipede Life Cycle Female house centipedes can live as long as 3 years and produce between 35 and 150 eggs during their lifetimes. The first instar larvae have only four pairs of legs. Larvae progress through 6 instars, gaining legs with each molt. Although it has its full complement of 15 pairs of legs, the immature house centipede will then molt 4 more times to reach adulthood. Interesting Behaviors ofHouse Centipedes The centipede makes good use of its long legs. It can run at alarming speeds –the equivalent of over 40 mph in human terms. It stops and starts quickly, which can make even the most diehard arthropod enthusiast squeal with fright. This athleticism isnt meant to scare you, though, the house centipede is simply well-equipped to pursue and catch prey. Just as their speed helps them capture prey, it also enables the centipede to escape predators. If a predator does manage to grab a leg, the house centipede can shed the limb and flee. Strangely, the house centipedes detached leg will continue to move for several minutes after its owner has left the scene. House centipedes continue to molt as adults and will regenerate lost limbs when they do. Where DoHouse Centipedes Live? Whether it lives outdoors or in, the house centipede prefers cool, damp, and dark locations. In a natural habitat, it can be found hiding under leaf litter or hidden in shady crevices in rocks or tree bark. In human dwellings, house centipedes often inhabit basements and bathrooms. In northern climates, house centipedes remain indoors during cold months but may be seen outside from spring to fall. The house centipede is thought to be native to the Mediterranean region, but Scutigera coleoptrata Is now well-established throughout Europe, North America, and Asia. Sources: House Centipedes, Entomology Dept., Penn State University. Accessed online June 3, 2014.Species Scutigera coleoptrata - House Centipede, Bugguide.net. Accessed online June 3, 2014.House Centipedes on the Move, Whats Bugging You?, Dr. Arthur Evans. Accessed online

Nian, the Chinese Spring or New Years Day Festival

Nian, the Chinese Spring or New Years Day Festival The Spring Festival is the grandest festival for the Chinese. The Spring Festival is also called Nian, but who knows the term, Nian, was once the name of a furious monster that lived on human beings in the ancient time. How the festival has some relationship with the monster lies in a story about the origin and development of the Spring Festival. The legend says, long ago, there was a monster called Nian. It was born to be very ugly and ferocious, which looked like either dragons or unicorns. On the first and the 15th of each lunar month, the monster would come down from the mountains to hunt people. So people were very much afraid of it and locked their doors early before sunset on the days of its coming. There lived an old wise man in a village. He thought it was the panic in people that made the monster so bold and furious. Thus the old man asked people to organize together and to conquer the monster by means of beating drums and gongs, burning bamboo, and lighting fireworks for the purpose of making large noises to threaten the hateful monster. When he told people about the idea, everybody agreed on it. On a moonless and freezing cold night, the monster, Nian, appeared again. The moment it opened its mouth to people, burst out the frightening noises and fire made by people, and wherever the monster went, it was forced to back off by the terrible noises. The monster couldnt stop running until he fell down with exhaustion. Then people jumped up and killed the evil monster. Savage as the monster was, he lost in the end under the efforts from the cooperation of people. Since then, people have kept the tradition by beating drums and gongs, and lighting fireworks at the coldest day in winter to drive the imagined monsters away and to celebrate the victory over it. Today, Nian refers to the New Years Day or the Spring Festival. People often say Guo Nian, which means live the festival. Furthermore, Nian also means the year. For example, the Chinese often greet each other by saying Xin Nian Hao, which means Happy New Year! Xin means new and Hao means good.

Rise and Fall of Civilizations During Pre-History to 1500 CE Research Paper

Rise and Fall of Civilizations During Pre-History to 1500 CE - Research Paper Example The current socio-political status-quo is said to be the continuation of the previous political world order. This paper aims to discuss the rise and fall of different civilizations and how the acted as a base to shape the contemporary political practices. The civilizations which have been chosen for the purpose of discussion in the paper are chosen on the basis of their impact on political contribution. Byzantine Empire Contribution to Political Diplomacy: Byzantine Empire was basically a facet of the Roman Empire during middle Ages. Likewise other civilizations, the Byzantine Empire had its own army and societal setup. Byzantine Empire had to face a number of challenges as the demise of the Roman Empire in its initial phase was noted. The era of Byzantine Empire can also be referred to an era of preservation of Roman traditions and values. The employment of diplomacy was concerned as significant in the era of Byzantine Empire. It can be said that most of the modern practices in the political diplomacy are inspired by the Byzantine Empire1. ... on made to the modern political practices of diplomacy, the Byzantine Empire ultimately led to its dissolution in the long run2 Anglo-Saxon Empire Contribution to Democracy: By going through the history of the Anglo-Saxon Empire, it becomes easy to understand that common language and the control of the ancestors on the tradition of a community can create a balance in the community. The political control was bestowed to the ancestors of the civilization as they were considered as the teachers of the forerunners. The Anglo-Saxon Empire is basically referred to the German invaders who invaded British during the 5th century. The contribution of the Anglo-Saxons on the modern political practice was their tradition of following meetings and discussion. This act of discussing any political action is considered as democratic act in the modern time. The political order in the era of Anglo-Saxons was stable and able to meet the needs of its people which ultimately led in increased loyalty from the people. It would not be incorrect to state that Anglo-Saxons could not survive for a very long period of time in Britain because they were divided into groups which fought frequently. The increased fights between these invader groups resulted in the fall of the civilization. Despite the interest of the civilization in maintaining army, Anglo-Saxons lost because of its own armed men3 Ottoman Empire Contribution to Bureaucratic Structures: Among different civilizations, Ottoman Empire is considered to be an Empire which lasted longer than any other Empire in the history. This Empire was also known as Turkish Empire which had its own supremacy in terms of monarch. The political control in the Ottoman Empire was strictly liable to the monarchs. The Empire is also known as a symbol of

Sitcom Internet Assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sitcom Internet Assignment - Research Paper Example Presently, people cite most of these sitcoms lack the necessary â€Å"glue† and creativity, which in the past used to draw large masses into watching them (Rowles). They are just like other â€Å"easygoing† shows comprising TV programs often trying hard to be clever in both entertaining and creating attention but in vain (Rowles). For instance, Rowles in his article cites the current â€Å"Modern Family† does not have those â€Å"gluing† and thrilling scenes, hence, many viewers currently only watch them because it is â€Å"just there†. This depicts lack of creativity leading to retarding nature of characters that almost throughout relayed episodes do not have anything new but the recycled depiction of behaviors. Hence, turning to be predictable such that viewers are always aware of the upcoming episode and what will present, which signifies absence of originality almost in all shows. Therefore, current sitcoms seem to attract viewers only by use of well-crafted and scripted names or titles. This is evident in â€Å"Modern family† whereby the show ought to depict the reality characterizing 21st century family setting but assumes a conservative nature, which is even far from incomparable to the 1920s American sexual transition era (Rowles). Most of this show’s episodes do not deal with modern predicaments facing families to make them thrilling and entertaining but tend to focus on jealousy issues mostly represented by Petty. This has prompted some of its viewers claiming the show even in ten decades to come will remain the same irrespective of airing numerous episodes. Since, the show has never presented viewers with anything thrilling to challenge their imaginations to such an extent they are unable to guess the nature of next episodes (Rowles). Ojalvo, Doyne and Schulten in their study refer sitcoms as â€Å"cultural texts† whereby anybody is capable of predicting their entire outcomes. They are similar t o numerous texts students normally analyze whereby eventually manage to get similar stylistic devices. This is absence of innovation on the part of scriptwriters and those behind sitcoms despite giving them fancy names bear similar materials. This is recycling of ideas with little or no change to add on the thrilling aspects contrary to the viewers who are changing by the day as they watch other varied programs. Hence, they depict a downward trend that has prompted numerous viewers stop watching them or doing so because they are â€Å"just there† while waiting for their favourite programs (Ojalvo, Doyne and Schulten). The new sitcom family has certainly matured since the days of â€Å"I Love Lucy,† yet do the new sitcom families represent the diversity of American families today? Do we see African-American families? Asian families? Same-sex families? Are we seeing diversity or are the networks still playing it safe so as to not â€Å"offend† advertisers. In the present age, despite directors and other proponents citing sitcoms have undergone immense transformation by presenting mature content, they have lacked representation of American racial diversity. Characters comprising most of the current sitcoms are whites, which is not a reflection of American families. For instance, after â€Å"Cosby† series, other telecasted shows like â€Å"Reed between the Lines† feature attractive and well off family having beautiful children facing daily challenges but manage to resolve them within 30 minutes (Braxton). This leaves viewers

Czech Republic country analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Czech Republic country analysis - Essay Example (4) Masculinity pertains to the degree to which a society supports the traditional masculine work role model of male achievement, control, and power (â€Å"Hofestede’s Cultural Dimensions† 1, 2, 3, 4). (1) Czech has a slightly lower power distance index in comparison to the US. This means that in the Czech Republic managers treat their subordinates with respect, entrust them with vital work and may even socialize with their subordinates. This is supported by the fact that the Czech has a well-educated population (â€Å"Czech Republic† 2). (2) The US individualism score is substantially greater than the Czech’s. In the Czech Republic the social unit is more important than the individual. Therefore when running a business there one has to remember that conformity is not only expected but is also perceived positively. In line with this it is important to note that most Czech’s end business early on Fridays for shopping or traveling to their country cottages for the weekend. (3) The US has a fairly greater masculinity score than Czech. This means that in Czech Republic men and women are given equal opportunities and positions. This would definitely affect the staff recruitment policy for a business moving from the US to Czech. With less masculinity, the Czech culture prioritizes family relationships and quality of life over work. People work to live which implies flexible working hours and longer vacations than their counterparts in the United States. This could be a disadvantage to opening a textile factory because the workforce may not be as willing to work round the clock to meet the often demanding short lead times characteristic of successful apparel retailers. (4) The Czech has a substantially greater uncertainty avoidance score than the US. According to Hofstede this is reflective of a society with a deep and long cultural history and a largely homogeneous population. The high

Bretton Woods system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Bretton Woods system - Essay Example It is undeniable that in the current debate on the international economic co-operation, we miss historical prospect completely. Or at least, we do not want to remember us the context in which was set up what we can call the great sedentary project of post-war period, not more of the role that one intended to make play at the time each great institution in their respective field. It is not a question to reconsider a period, already completed, but at least to remember, on a side, that the Agreements of Bretton Woods belong to a great project which, was not going from there to be carried out, at least until the failure of the Charter of Havana and the Cold war do not come to put at it a downtime. On the other side, which it is a question of setting up this great project, to make "the great decision" as could write it Shotwell in a book which completely reflects the spirit of its time, ''that if the crisis of the Thirties, with its batch of unemployment, dislocation of the world economy, commercial wars, etc, had sufficiently traumatized the spirits so that any idea of return to the past, with this economic order that had exerted oneself to restore in the inter-war period, is immediately evacuated. That is in question; is to set up a new order, an order which breaks with the past. And so that it was thus, it was not only necessary to rebuild the world economy on new bases, but also to rebuild the national economies on bases such renewed. At the time when is held the conference of Bretton Woods, in July 1944 let us recall it, the exit of the War is sealed since the unloading successful in Normandy. It is at the post-war period that is consequently a question of thinking, with the errors of the past which was a question of avoiding renewing, with the way in which one was going to rebuild the world economy. It is also the way in which one was going to institutionalize and widen this solidarity between the allied nations which, across the systemic differences, made so that it appeared possible to set up a new order. It is clear, when one looks at this period with a certain passing that the United States played a role determining in the installation of this new kind, but it agrees to bring many nuances with what could appear with the first access only the installation of a new hegemonic order, a kind of Pax Americana imposed. In this respect, it will be certainly interesting to return on the contents even of the American project, on the debates that one could raise at the time including in the American public opinion, as on the role played by these two large protagonists of Bretton Woods who were Keynes and White, to precisely see the project could be set up only insofar as this project rested on common principles, and that it answered common aspirations. It is under this angle that it is necessary, to approach the international order of post-war period and its prospects; while looking initially towards the United States, as it is them which mainly drew contours of this order, but also and in parallel, while looking towards the other countries, and in

Mass Media and the Impact of Violent Imagery on Teens Essay

Mass Media and the Impact of Violent Imagery on Teens - Essay Example Within this context, one must learn to see media as more than just entertainment. It is also a library, a channel of communication and a means of self-betterment. In other words, teenagers must be guided toward a better understanding of mass media specifically because its function in society is subjective and undefined. Teenagers who are guided toward a broad utilitarian view of the media are more apt to use it responsibly and are less likely to exhibit negative behavior than those who are exposed indiscriminately to violent video games, programmes and films. Those who criticise the culture of violence that unquestionably proceeds from films, television, the Internet and video games have quite successfully leveraged the impressionable vulnerability of youth. However, this ideological position, which is now widely accepted, underestimates the capacity of teenagers for independent thought and reason. ‘The systematic derision of children’s resistant capacities can be seen a s part of a broader conservative project to position the more contemporary and challenging aspects of the mass media, rather than other social factors, as the major threat to social stability today’ (Gerbner 1993, p. 139). This tendency to emphasize the negative end of the spectrum, which is apparently enhanced every time a young person perpetrates an act of violence, is the rallying cry of interest groups and politicians seeking to prove a point. These factions have benefited from the published opinions of scholars and theorists who warn against the terrible residual effect of violence in the media on young people. George Gerbner, a communications professor, and social scientist, wrote that while there have been bloodier eras in human history, none have been so filled with violent imagery as the present: ‘We are awash in a tide of violent representations the world has never seen. There is no escape from the massive invasion of colorful mayhem into the homes and cultura l life of ever larger areas of the world’ (Gerbner 1993, p. 139). Gerbner and others associate violence with power, the acquisition of which is of keen interest to people of all ages. For teenagers, exercising power in the ‘virtual’ world of video games is an elaboration of personal power that is otherwise beyond the reach of young people. Gerbner argues that violent behavior among young people should be studied from the standpoint of the ‘cradle-to-grave’ violent imagery with which young people are bombarded. It is not perceived, isolated causes of violent acts that should be considered, Gerbner claims, but other less apparent factors to which pervasive media violence has contributed. He holds that the uniquely modern phenomenon of media-produced violence has engendered unconscious, deeply rooted feelings of vulnerability and personal insecurity and that it is this, more than anything, that produces aggressive and violent behavior in teenagers (Gerb ner 1993, p. 139).

Bretton Woods system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Bretton Woods system - Essay Example It is undeniable that in the current debate on the international economic co-operation, we miss historical prospect completely. Or at least, we do not want to remember us the context in which was set up what we can call the great sedentary project of post-war period, not more of the role that one intended to make play at the time each great institution in their respective field. It is not a question to reconsider a period, already completed, but at least to remember, on a side, that the Agreements of Bretton Woods belong to a great project which, was not going from there to be carried out, at least until the failure of the Charter of Havana and the Cold war do not come to put at it a downtime. On the other side, which it is a question of setting up this great project, to make "the great decision" as could write it Shotwell in a book which completely reflects the spirit of its time, ''that if the crisis of the Thirties, with its batch of unemployment, dislocation of the world economy, commercial wars, etc, had sufficiently traumatized the spirits so that any idea of return to the past, with this economic order that had exerted oneself to restore in the inter-war period, is immediately evacuated. That is in question; is to set up a new order, an order which breaks with the past. And so that it was thus, it was not only necessary to rebuild the world economy on new bases, but also to rebuild the national economies on bases such renewed. At the time when is held the conference of Bretton Woods, in July 1944 let us recall it, the exit of the War is sealed since the unloading successful in Normandy. It is at the post-war period that is consequently a question of thinking, with the errors of the past which was a question of avoiding renewing, with the way in which one was going to rebuild the world economy. It is also the way in which one was going to institutionalize and widen this solidarity between the allied nations which, across the systemic differences, made so that it appeared possible to set up a new order. It is clear, when one looks at this period with a certain passing that the United States played a role determining in the installation of this new kind, but it agrees to bring many nuances with what could appear with the first access only the installation of a new hegemonic order, a kind of Pax Americana imposed. In this respect, it will be certainly interesting to return on the contents even of the American project, on the debates that one could raise at the time including in the American public opinion, as on the role played by these two large protagonists of Bretton Woods who were Keynes and White, to precisely see the project could be set up only insofar as this project rested on common principles, and that it answered common aspirations. It is under this angle that it is necessary, to approach the international order of post-war period and its prospects; while looking initially towards the United States, as it is them which mainly drew contours of this order, but also and in parallel, while looking towards the other countries, and in

How has law enforcement operation evolved since the 1800 Research Paper

How has law enforcement operation evolved since the 1800 - Research Paper Example However, with changing trends, the law enforcement system has substantially evolved over the decades and perceptions have changed from penalizing a criminal to providing them with improvement and correction routes (Germann et al., 1970). This dissertation provides a comprehensive discussion on evolution of law enforcement and criminal justice systems from the 1800s to present. Brief history Law enforcement and crime has always been part and parcel of our society in one form or the other, even back in times of cave dwellers. Tribal people also had a raw form of justice system whereby law-breakers and their closed ones were punished in any manner deemed appropriate. Soon, a need was felt for a formal law and order system with special agencies in place to control crime through authorized punishments. Eventually a system was formed whereby laws were established by ruling authorities while enforced by designated officials. First time, during the Middle Ages, standard form of punishment wa s introduced in form of exile from a territory or tribe, later followed by payment systems for compensating aggrieved party or his family against waiver of punishment. Subsequently in beginning of 18th century, William Penn introduced the corrections facility system in order to eradicate and replace harsh means of punishment. As a direct result of this, crime rates decreased and there was an overall improvement in criminals’ mindsets. Nevertheless, the system was unfair towards minors and was based on the Puritan view whereby offenses committed by children were severely prosecuted with the beliefs that they are sinful and wicked. This was combated by establishment of a juvenile justice system in 1820s which aimed at protecting minors from prosecution under criminal law. Illinois introduced the 1st juvenile court to regulate cases involving offenses made by children and to protect interests of neglected, dependent or orphaned minors. Evolution process A political era ran from 1840 till 1930 and was characterized mainly by decentralization of law enforcement. Officers were designated to various sects and they develop close relationships with people belonging to those territories. They controlled crime through foot patrolling and had political support from various bureaucratic leaders. As a result, they were significantly absorbed by corruption and bribery and exhibited discrimination against minority classes. However, subsequently regulatory bodies introduced Pendleton Act to suppress bureaucracy and power of such people. Additionally, they made efforts to empower and give equal rights to classes treated inferiorly. Consequently, first woman police officer, namely Maria Owen, was appointed in 1883, marking a turning point in law enforcement history. The era soon faded away and was replaced by the professional era which lasted till 1980. This era saw stronger controls, decreased crime rates and centralization and better managed operations. Officers were tr ained to keep a professional stance within societies, keeping distance from people to avoid emotional attachment. They were well-educated and were given better facilities such as vehicles for patrolling. Consequently, various federal agencies were established by Congress, intended to help conventional police forces in complex cases. The term ‘national security’, commonly used today, was coined under this era by President Truman. He instructed that a body and law

The Spirit of Disciplines By Dallas Willard Essay Example for Free

The Spirit of Disciplines By Dallas Willard Essay About the Author   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dallas Willard is known for his enthusiasm in the basic elements of true â€Å"Christianship†. Most of his writings pertain to the different characteristics and disciplines that a true Christian is expected to posses. Being a professor of philosophy, Dallas is also known for his being logical and practical in the process of his presentations of the truth about Christianity and the basic attitudes that are involved in being a real follower of the Christ. It could not be denied then that through his writings, he was able to inspire different individuals, even student who are at some point obliged to review his writings and comment on his idealisms in becoming the rightful Christians that they ought to be. His writings are considered enlightenment to the soul as they all pertain to the ability of man to reach the standards of God and fulfill his requirements to mankind. One of his most remarkable writings is the book entitled â€Å"The spirit of disciplines†. This book has been noted to have changed the views of people in the reality of being Christ-like in their ways of living. It has also been noted by several religious teachers to be a powerful material that have changed the attitude of many readers towards the responsibilities of being a Christian. About the Book   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Published in the year 1996, â€Å"The Spirit of Disciplines† came in as a part of the Willard’s trilogy on Christianity which primarily includes his two major authored books entitled In Search of Guidance and The Divine Conspiracy. These particular books are indeed published to assist Christians find their way back to righteousness amidst all the challenges and the hardships that they need to face in living within the cruel world of the present society.   â€Å"The spirit of disciplines† particularly helps readers understand the different pointers of consideration that they need to learn to be able to create a much more considerable Christian-like personality within themselves. Content and Analysis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The entire context of the book deals with the different virtues of being a Christian. Among which includes the impending belief on the fact that by applying the disciplines of abstinence which includes solitude, silence, fasting, frugality, chastity, secrecy and   sacrifice a Christian would be able to bring out the fruits of the disciplines of engagement which in turn includes study, worship, celebration, service, prayer, fellowship, confession and submission. Through the application of these major virtues, Willard points out that the essence of true Christianity could then be established within the personality of a certain individual.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this book, Willard also points out that there is an importance placed in the capability of a person to apply these major characteristics in his dealings with other people through his ministry. The Bible verse 1 Timothy 4:7 which reads: â€Å"But turn down the false stories which violate what is holy and which old women tell. On the other hand, be training yourself with godly devotion as your aim† has also been strongly used by Willard as the major basis of his thoughts that have been presented through the book that he has published. Personal Reaction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If the verse 1 Timothy 4:7 is continued until verses 8, 9 and 10, it would imply: â€Å"For bodily training is beneficial for a little; but godly devotion is beneficial for all things, as it holds promise of the life now and that which is to come.   Faithful and deserving of full acceptance is that statement.   For to this end we are working hard and exerting ourselves, because we have rested our hope on a living God, who is a Savior of all sorts of men, especially of faithful ones.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Certainly the verses indicate that for one to be able to attain the absolute state of being a true Christian, he must be able to face the challenges of being a follower of the Christ through his ability of disciplining himself as an individual who is able to train himself in attaining the best results in his ministry. As the book of Willard points out, the application of ones’ learning and training as received from the principles of the Holy Scriptures shall be the main reason for a person to progress in becoming a Christian-like individual who is able to reach the standards of God that HE himself has provided for his disciples to follow.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   True, reading this particular writing of Willard is indeed inspiring and beneficial especially for those who are enthusiastic enough in taking the necessary steps needed in becoming a real Christian. The essence of being a true follower of the Christ indeed lies on the ability of one to discipline himself accordingly to the ways of righteousness. Reference: Dallas Willard. (1996). The Spirit of the Disciplines. Hodder Stoughton Religious; New Ed edition.

Factors Influencing Static Electricity

Factors Influencing Static Electricity Abstract The purpose of this experiment is to understand the magnitude of static electricity and the factors influencing it. The importance of this study can be linked to climate, technological advances, and improving existing inventions or creating new inventions. The fascination with static electricity motivated me to understand what static electricity is, in order to further my knowledge and flawlessly explain the science of lightning. Static electricity is the imbalance of electric charge which produces a small spark, therefore on a much larger scale, lightning in a thunderstorm is the result of the separation of protons and electrons. For my experiment, I created an electroscope using a glass jar with a plastic lid, a paperclip holding two small pieces of aluminum foil and tape securing the paperclip. I used 3 balloons of different sizes, small, medium, and large and rubbed it on my hair to separate charges, then I brought the balloon closer to the electroscope and the aluminum  foil then repelled from the other piece of aluminum; this successfully conveyed  that there was a separation of charge on the balloon from rubbing it on my hair. I repeated this experiment with the next 2 balloons and recorded my results. To decrease the likelihood of failure, I did 2 more trials; the results I came across supported my original hypothesis which stated that the bigger the material, the greater amount of electric   ch arge, and after conducting the experiment 2 more times with each different size of material, my hypothesis still was proved to be accurate. Upon proving the hypothesis to be true, I then concluded that the magnitude of lightning must have extreme strength considering the large scale damage it can do, and the fascination continued as I felt as though the science behind lightning was now between my very fingertips. To conclude, my experiment has taught me about the science of static electricity, the different ways we can separate charges in order to induce a shock, and how it can be related and interconnected with climate. This field of study has extreme significance and I am confident that the use of static electricity will grow, such as the use of static electricity in printers and photocopiers has already been implemented. For the next experiment I conduct, I would like to test the different influences other factors have on static electricity, such as the type of materials tested, the effects of the environment where the experiment takes place, or the significance of climate regarding static electricity. Introduction fI have always been fascinated with electric charge, static electricity, and the effects of friction. The fascination with science and its relationship to static  electricity and climate leaves me wondering what causes static electricity, how it is produced, and what are the factors that create a higher magnitude of static electricity. The main reason I am motivated to do this experiment is due to the fact that the world is advancing technologically each and every  day. In my opinion the incorporation of static electricity into common  applications is a very important subject to study; especially considering the amazing capabilities, and future advancements, of printers, photocopiers. I have many un-answered questions about the science of static electricity and the various factors that influence it. The topic of static electricity raises interesting points and thought provoking questions, I would like to answer a few such as; how does static electricity relate to lightning? What is the effect of size and temperature on static electricity? And, is static electricity necessary for life on Earth? + The purpose of this experiment is to examine the difference in magnitude of  static electricity, using several materials of different sizes. Testing the different materials will then lead me to understand the factors that may influence the strength of electric charges, and how it could relate to climate. +Hypothesis: I think that the size of an object is ther essential factor affecting  the magnitude of static electricity, that is, the bigger the material, the  greater magnitude Indicatevariables Manipulated  variable :Size of the material testing balloons Responding  variable:  Amount of static electricity Constants:  The types of materials, number of times each balloon is rubbed, and the temperature in the room the experiment will be conducted in. Research Static electricity is an imbalance of electric charges, and is generated by the separation of positive charges and negative charges. Therefore, when two different materials are within contact, the electrons can move from one material to the next when then leaves a surplus of positive charge on the other material, this consequently creates static electricity. Static electricity may be produced by friction and create a spark; however friction does not create it, but rather the transfer of electrons will create the static charge. All materials, people, and objects contain atoms. Atoms possess a nucleus which consist of protons and neutrons, whereas the electrons are outside of the nucleus. Objects and materials are usually neutrally charged as there is an equal number of protons and electronshowever if there is an imbalance between the  electric charges induced by contact, static electricity will generate. Static electricity can also be generated through various ways, such as when putting ceramics under pressure or heat. One can also separate charges by positioning a charged object   near a neutral object. This results in the charges of the neutral object repelling the same polarity as the charged object while the charged object will be attracted to the opposite polarity, which then causes the neutral object to have an unequal amount of charge. Discovering the different ways to separate charges increases my motivation to understand the factors that affect the magnitude of static electricity. The transfer of electrons onto a different material and having an imbalance between charges will result in static electricity, however I would like to understand the  relationship between polarity and size. My entire experiment is based on the many factors that could possibly influence the degree of static electricity. I am using the factors that could possibly affect static electricity as my foundation because static  electricity is vital to human existence, and important.                    . Hypothesis Based on my research, I think that the size of an object is the significant factor affecting the strength of static electricity, in other words, the larger the material, the greater the magnitude. Research that I have conducted has helped me discover the science behind lightning, which reenforces my hypothesis of larger  materials or objects that hold electric charge having greater strength because of how strong lightning is. Lightning is essentially static electricity on a bigger scale. Procedure Materials Glass jar Plastic lid Tape Aluminum foil Paper clip Balloons Ruler Variables o Manipulated variable- For this experiment, the size of each balloon will be manipulated. o Respondingvariable The magnitude of static electricity observable from the  foil repels.   o Constants Types of material, number of times each balloon is rubbed, and the temperature of the environment that the experiment will be conducted in. Stepbystep 1. Inflate 3 balloons of different sizes; small, medium, and large 2. Straighten   the paper clip out, then create a shape with a center circle with two hooks attached to it 3. Make a small opening in the middle of the plastic lid 4. Place the paper clip in the opening with the center circle sticking out from the top, and the hooks at the bottom, then secure it with tape 5. Cut two small pieces of aluminum foil of equal size, then make a small hole in the end of each strip 6. Attach the strips of foil onto the hooks of the paperclip 7. Now we have an electroscope and its time for the experiment to be conducted, create a data chart to record trials and measurements 8. Grab the small balloon, and rub it on your hair 10 times, then take the balloon and get close to the top of the electroscope, the foil should then move apart; this conveys that there is a separation of charges. 9. Measure the distance between the aluminum foil in the data chart 10. Repeat step 8 with the next two balloons and record the results to compare the strength of static electricity 11. Complete 2 more trials for each size of the balloons Results Observations Small balloon 0.7 inches Medium balloon 1inch Large balloon 1.2 inches Conclusion Based on the results of this experiment, the hypothesis that   the bigger the material is, the stronger the magnitude, is proven to be true. The small balloon on  each trial has the smallest distance between the 2 strips of aluminum foil, and the  large balloon has the largest distance. This correlation supports my original  chypothesis and can therefore expand my knowledge of static electricity and apply  Q-:it to wider scales. This study has extreme significance as it can be applied to  creating new inventions with the use of static electricity, explaining climate, and  understanding the different strengths of static electricity and its uses. On a personal interest, I believe the fascination with this topic is because of how   powerful lightning can be, and how it can be conducted from my very fingertips. The purpose of this project for me is to understand the science behind lightning  learned the details of static electricity, why we feel a shock when there is an imbalance of charges, and the different ways to separate charges. For next time, I would like to experiment with varying materials rather than different sizes, and possibly change small details such as, number of rubs per material, number of trials, and trying to experiment in different temperatures. Bibliography Hanania, Jordan, Kailyn Stenhouse, and Jason Donev. Static electricity. Static electricity-EnergyEducation.N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2017. . How does static electricity work? Howdoesstaticelectricitywork?{Everyday Mysteries: FunScienceFactsfrom theLibraryofCongress).N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2017. . What Is Static Electricity? LiveScience.Purch, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2017. .                 Ã‚