electoral college3 essays

electoral college3 essays It seems to be that amars major complaint Is that the college was made for and favors white southerners and that the EC diminishes the value of one-man one vote. Yet all his problems seem to be just statements with nothing to back it up. He fails to mention that there were other reasons that the Electoral College was made. Such as our fathers did not want a president dependent on the legislature, so they rejected a parliamentary model in which legislators would pick the prez. Second citizens back then could not be trusted to choose wisely. Laslty becuz the north overpowered the south in population becuz slaves were not aloud to vote. He then makes the generalization that it was created solely for the southerners. So I read his proposal that he made before the supreme court to abolish the ec and he said none of these arguments are valid today I agree. Yet I disagree his with statement that the ec favors southerners. He brings the proof that the first 36 years of the ec most of the p rezs were from the south. Yet fails to tell us that the only reason they did so well was becuz they were given a lot of electoral votes for each state becuz they had a lot of slaves, yet the slaves werent aloud to vote. U might ask what about after slavery yet there were still poll taxes and literacy tests. Today since we dont have either blacks although a minorities nationaly they still can play big roles in election becuz of the ec Minorities tend to live in very populated states like new york and california. Critics such as Mr. amar of the Electoral College believe that the principle of democratic legitimacy or one man one vote is based on numbers alone. They believe that under the Electoral College the power of your vote is diminished - even to the point where your vote might be wasted if the candidate you voted for doesn't win the state. In this year's election approximately 100,000,000 people voted and so it would seem that any one vo...

The Nile River and Nile Delta in Egypt

The Nile River and Nile Delta in Egypt The Nile River in Egypt is among the longest rivers in the world, running for a length of 6,690 kilometers (4,150 miles), and it drains an area of roughly 2.9 million square kilometers, about 1.1  million square miles. No other region in our world is so dependent on a single water system, especially as it is located in one of our worlds most extensive and severe deserts. More than 90% of the population of Egypt today lives adjacent to and relies directly on the Nile and its delta. Because of ancient Egypts dependence on the Nile, the rivers paleo-climatic history, particularly the changes in the hydro-climate, helped shape the growth of dynastic Egypt and led to the decline of numerous complex societies. Physical Attributes There are three tributaries to the Nile, feeding into the main channel which flows generally northward to empty into the Mediterranean Sea. The Blue and the White Nile join together at Khartoum to create the main Nile channel, and the Atbara River joins the main Nile channel in northern Sudan. The Blue Niles source is Lake Tana; the White Nile is sourced at equatorial Lake Victoria, famously confirmed in the 1870s by David Livingston and Henry Morton Stanley. The Blue and Atbara rivers bring most of the sediment into the river channel and are fed by summer monsoon rains, while the White Nile drains the larger Central African Kenyan Plateau. The Nile Delta is roughly 500 km (310 mi) wide and 800 km (500 mi) long; the coastline as it meets the Mediterranean is 225 km (140 mi) long. The delta is made up mainly of alternating layers of silt and sand, laid down by the Nile over the past 10 thousand years or so. The elevation of the delta ranges from about 18 m (60 ft) above mean sea level at Cairo to around 1 m (3.3 ft) thick or less at the coast. Using the Nile in Antiquity The ancient Egyptians relied on the Nile as their source for reliable or at least predictable water supplies to allow their agricultural and then commercial settlements to develop. In ancient Egypt, the flooding of the Nile was predictable enough for the Egyptians to plan their yearly crops around it. The delta region flooded annually from June to September, as a result of monsoons in Ethiopia. A famine resulted when there was inadequate or surplus flooding. The ancient Egyptians learned partial control of the flood waters of the Nile by means of irrigation. They also wrote hymns to Hapy, the Nile flood god. In addition to being a source of water for their crops, the Nile River was a source of fish and waterfowl, and a major transportation artery linking all of the parts of Egypt, as well as linking Egypt to its neighbors. But the Nile does fluctuate from year to year. From one ancient period to the next, the course of the Nile, the amount of water in its channel, and the amount of silt deposited in the delta varied, bringing abundant harvest or devastating drought. This process continues. Technology and the Nile Egypt was first occupied by humans during the Paleolithic period, and they were undoubtedly affected by the Niles fluctuations. The earliest evidence for technological adaptations of the Nile occurred in the delta region at the end of the Predynastic Period, between about 4000 and 3100 B.C.E., when farmers began building canals. Other innovations include: Predynastic (1st Dynasty 3000–2686 B.C.E.)- Sluice gate construction allowed deliberate flooding and draining of farm fieldsOld Kingdom (3rd Dynasty 2667–2648 B.C.E.)- 2/3 of the delta was affected by irrigation worksOld Kingdom (3rd–8th Dynasties 2648–2160 B.C.E.)- Increasing aridification of the region leads to the progressively advanced technology including the building of artificial levees and enlarging and dredging of natural overflow channelsOld Kingdom (6th–8th Dynasties)- Despite the new technologies developed during the Old Kingdom, aridification increased such that there was a 30 year period in which flooding of the delta did not occur, contributing to the end of the Old Kingdom.New Kingdom (18th dynasty, 1550–1292 B.C.E.)- Shadoof technology (so-called Archimedes Screw invented long before Archimedes) first introduced, allowing farmers to plant several crops a yearPtolemaic period (332–30 B.C.E.)- Agricultural intensificatio n increased as population moved into the delta regionArab Conquest (1200–1203 C.E.)- Severe drought conditions led to famine and cannibalism as reported by the Arabic historian Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (1162–1231 C.E.) Ancient Descriptions of the Nile From Herodotus, Book II of The Histories: [F]or it was evident to me that the space between the aforesaid mountain-ranges, which lie above the city of Memphis, once was a gulf of the sea,... if it be permitted to compare small things with great; and small these are in comparison, for of the rivers which heaped up the soil in those regions none is worthy to be compared to volume with a single one of the mouths of the Nile, which has five mouths. Also from Herodotus, Book II: If then the stream of the Nile should turn aside into this Arabian gulf, what would hinder that gulf from being filled up with silt as the river continued to flow, at all events within a period of twenty thousand years? From Lucans Pharsalia: Egypt on the west Girt by the trackless Syrtes forces back By sevenfold stream the ocean; rich in glebe And gold and merchandise; and proud of Nile Asks for no rain from heaven. Sources: Castaà ±eda IS, Schouten S, Ptzold J, Lucassen F, Kasemann S, Kuhlmann H, and Schefuß E. 2016. Hydroclimate variability in the Nile River Basin during the past 28,000 years. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 438:47-56.Krom MD, Stanley JD, Cliff RA, and Woodward JC. 2002. Nile River sediment fluctuations over the past 7000 yr and their key role in sapropel development. Geology 30(1):71-74.Santoro MM, Hassan FA, Wahab MA, Cerveny RS, and Robert C Balling J. 2015. An aggregated climate teleconnection index linked to historical Egyptian famines of the last thousand years. The Holocene 25(5):872-879.Stanley DJ. 1998. Nile Delta in its destruction phase. Journal of Coastal Research 14(3):794-825.

Advanced auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Advanced auditing - Essay Example Rob Gray tries to identify the scope of social accounting as "the preparation and publication of an account about an organisation's social,environmental,employee,community, customer and other stakeholders' interactions and activities and where possible the consequences of those interactions and activities" With the increase in the business activities backed by globalization, business enterprises have started locating their production facilities across the world, breaking cross border barriers. Such a rapid development, many a times will result in the firms overlooking their social obligations in the interest of maximizing their profits. Hence there has been a good deal of efforts being taken to devise the techniques that measure the contribution of an enterprise to the society. These developments may be considered as the result of the increasing realization of the Social Responsibilities of the enterprises and it becomes necessary that the performance of these enterprises should be s een in the context of their fulfilling their social obligations.According to George Clark "What is now coming to be called Social Auditing is similar in many ways to Financial Auditing except that it is about everything else that an organisation does apart from handling money."There has been a number of proposals put forth to design an extended accounting system that measures the social performance of an enterprise. Linowes has proposed the preparation of a Socio-Economic Operating Statement (SEOS) to show the various social costs and benefits of actions of enterprises. This statement proposes to indicate monetary values of various actions of an enterprise classified in to following categories: Relations with people - to include items like training programmes for handicapped workers, contribution to schools for employees, extra costs incurred in hiring persons from minority or suppressed communities. These items would constitute the contribution of the enterprise in 'improving' the relations with the people. The 'detriments' that need to be shown may be items like postponement of installing safety devices etc Relations with Environment - monetary values of improvements and detriments are to be listed and the net effect shown separately. Relations with Products - In a similar way, monetary values of improvements and detriments are to be listed. Since there is yet to be a significant development to take place in this area, many of the existing models aim at measuring the performance of an enterprise vis--vis the society tales into account the factors like human resource contribution, public contribution, environmental contribution, product or service contribution and net income of the enterprise. 1.2 Environmental Audit: "An environmental audit is a means by which businesses can assess the environmental impacts of their operations. At its core is the measurement and evaluation of all inputs and outputs from the production process." (Australian Government) In the context of the increasing emphasis on protection of environment, environmental accounting and auditing have assumed special importance in recent years. Environmental Accounting aims at measuring the impact of the activities of an organization on the environment. The resultant product is the environmental statement, containing the following among other things to be asserted by the management: A brief description of the activities of the organization and the effect of such activities on the environment as envisaged by the organization A description of the organisation's environmental policy, programme and management systems to implement the stated policies A summary of the figures of emissions which may cause pollution of air and water, waste generation, consumption of raw material, energy, water and other significant environmental aspects. There should also be presented a comparison of such data with the legal norms if any

Letter to the editor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Letter to the editor - Essay Example Does dieting cause weight loss?No, dieting does not cause weight loss, on the contrary it is the main contributor of obesity among many people. The reason as to why dieting results to weight gain instead of weight loss is that by not eating, one is bound to get hungry. Whereas people that are not dieting eat only once, this is not the case for persons on diet. This is because unlike their counterparts not on diet, these people consume little food but on several occasions (Brune). Hence, at the end of the day such people end up consuming more than those who are not on diet. People on diet have the belief that fats cause obesity; hence, they avoid food enriched with fats and opt for carbohydrates. According to Brune, this ends up doing more harm than good to those on diet. Studies show that too much consumption of carbohydrates promotes the increase in blood sugar levels causing high insulin levels. Insulin is directly responsible for increase of fat storage in the body. It is therefore evident that instead of weight loss, dieting plays a major role in weight gain. Although many researchers claim dieting does more harm than good to one’s body, not everyone is in agreement with this claim. This is because some researchers claim that dieting indeed causes weight loss. For instance, according to Yuhnke (2), there are certain types of food that if consumed could result to cutting of calories. According to Yuhnke, some of the foods that one ought to consume while on diet include Egg-Tofu, Sandwich pepper and Sardines pepper. Dieting is the process where one restrains from the normal consumption of food in a move to reduce his or her weight. Although many people have the perception that dieting results to weight loss, it is not the case. This is because studies show that dieting makes one fat instead of slim. The reason why dieting promotes weight gain is because it triggers body hormones hence making them behave as if they are starving and are

Dear Junior Admin Essay Example for Free

Dear Junior Admin Essay There are several things to check and several things that could be wrong. I would start by making sure that you have your ranges of IP addresses right and that you didn’t mistype any numbers. Check your exclusions and be sure that your new ranges don’t fall in between the old ranges that were there before if you had any for the last set. You can also check the workstations that didn’t take the changes individually. Be sure that they don’t have static IP address set for those computers. If they do, then change them to dynamic and restart the computers. If they have the dynamic bullet check then open up a command prompt and ping the server. If you get no response use the ipconfig commands. Release the IP addresses with the IP release command and then use the ip renew command. If the workstations still do not work after trying the previous suggestions you can always assign your workstations using static IP addressing. It will be time consuming but with only twenty five workstations it shouldn’t be too overwhelming. If the first suggestions do not work and you simply don’t want to do all the work of using static ip addresses then you can always start over and try putting in the new configurations again. The second time around be sure to restart your server and restart all of your workstations so the new changes will take effect. You may have to do it at a time when the company can afford the network to be all the way down for a few hours.

U.s Investment In Mexico :: essays research papers

U.S Investment in Mexico Economics 580 Dr. Leon Haitham Boukhadour Fall 96 Mexico has established itself as one of the biggest emerging markets in the world today. It has exhibited many of the signs of a high growth economy, offering several advantages to prospective investors. Some highlights of the Mexican economy include " single-digit inflation, a balanced public budget, real economic growth (presently at a rate of 12 percent), a deregulated economy and a favorable investment climate" (Risk Management/ June 94, P.32). Mexico also possesses a strategic geographic location as a gate way to Latin American markets. Mexico is among the fastest- growing export markets for the United States. In 1985, Mexico became the third largest market for total U.S. exports, behind Canada and Japan. In 1992, Mexico surpassed Japan as the second largest export market for U.S. manufactured goods. Mexico now accounts for $1 out of every $10 of total U.S. exports. After the passing of NAFTA, bilateral trade was quite balanced in 1994, with the U.S. registering a surplus of $1.3 billion, virtually unchanged from 1993. However, there was a sharp increase in trade opportunities, as both import and export growth exceeded 20 percent. One-fifth of the total trade that occurs between the United States and Mexico was created in 1994. One of the major sectors that holds a large promise for the U.S. manufacturers is that of the automobile industry. The Mexican market for auto parts is expected to grow by 24 percent from 1994 levels to $16.9 billion in the year 2000. It is also expected that NAFTA will help increase the U.S. export share of the Mexican market to around 70 percent by the year 2000. In the long run, Mexico's location could profit the U.S. industries that establish themselves there, through an expanded free trade area in Latin America, which could include Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, and Chile. Such expansion could prove crucial to the U.S. industry, as a strong export orientation helped sustain industry growth. Exports increased from 18.5 percent of total output in 1989 to 27.2 percent in 1991. And the level of employment which could be attributed to exports increased from 116,500 in 1989 to 154,200 in 1991. Mexico also offers some intriguing possibilities in terms of production facilities for U.S. based firms. In 1994 alone Mexican car and truck production totaled 1.173 million units, up 8.6 percent from 1993. The Mexican government had along term plan in terms of automobile production in Mexico, and it is in a phase now that favors foreign investors and exportation out of the Mexican market. Check the figure bellow to see how the plan has progressed so far.

Discoveries of Maria Montessori

2. What are the discoveries of Dr. Maria Montessori ? Dr. Maria Montessori was a keen observer of children. She used her observational and experimental proclivities from her medical background to develop, what we might today call, a Constructivist understanding of the process of learning. She studied them scientifically. If she saw some unusual behavior in a child, she would say,†I won’t believe it now, I shall if it happens again†. She studied the conditions in which the children would perform those actions. She thought education always involved three elements: The learner, the Prepared Environment, and the Trained Adult. The basic areas in which she gave importance was freedom, independence, respect and responsibility. She believed that the child constructs knowledge from experiencing the world. Learning, she said, was not something that needed to be forced or motivated. Instead, learning is something that humans do naturally. The early years especially are ones of great mental growth. Throughout the early years of life, the child absorbs impressions from the world around him. Not with his mind, but with his life. She recognized that children go through certain phases during which they learn more easily than at any other time in their lives. This innate potential to learn is dependent upon a loving environment that encourages the active pursuit of knowledge. The child should be given the freedom to do his work and must be given the respect for the child as an individual. The behavioral change shown to respect and freedom is very eminent Dr. Montessori's developmentally-appropriate approach to learning is designed to fit each child instead of making each child fit into a preset program. She believed that learning should take place in multi-aged classrooms where children who are at various stages of development can learn from and with each other. This learning should take place in a non-competitive atmosphere in order for each child to develop at his/her own speed. Dr. Montessori observed that the best way for young children to learn is by active, hands-on experiences. She developed the idea of the prepared environment, where the classroom contains a wide variety of cognitive materials that foster learning in numerous areas. The purpose of the materials is not just to impart knowledge to children, but rather to provide them with stimuli that capture their attention and initiate a process of concentration. She was compelled to believe that the children love to do constructive work proved it suited their age and the stage of development. She observed that they worked with great interest and repeated the activities on their own volition to reach a stage of concentration. Montessori saw two streams of energy within the young child. The first is the physical energy of the body expended in voluntary movement. And the second is mental energy: the energy of intellect and will. She felt that these two streams of energy are often separated by the forces of modern life. And children who are not helped to unite them tend to move aimlessly and clumsily and have unfocused thought patterns. A unification of mental and physical energies comes about when a child becomes absorbed in work. Montessori called this â€Å"normalization. † And concentration, she said, was the key. The carefully prepared environment in the Montessori schools provide the opportunity for children to grow intellectually and emotionally. She decided to follow the child. Thanks to the revelations and the freedom she allowed to the children she was able to discover several aspects of the child and childhood. With her scientific approach of mind she tested whether every child in similar opportunities and similar conditions would manifest the same types of behavior. She tested these again and again and after twenty two years of such experimentation Dr. Montessori could say that she had found a method of helping children in their educational pursuits. Thus came the Montessori Method of education. Some of the discoveries Dr. Maria Montessori made during her work. 1. Children love to work purposefully. The inner drive to work is sufficient to reach their goal if it corresponded with the inner developmental need. With the provision of the necessary conditions and necessary environment the child without the instigation of an adult can reach his goal. 2. When an inner need to do something meets with the inner urge spontaneous Interest is generated. When the inner urge or the Interest finds a suitable working condition it leads to spontaneous Repetition. When this spontaneous Repetition of an activity is done with interest the natural result is Concentration. Concentration is not the end product of education, its just the beginning. Any true learning happens with concentration. The children revealed that given the right conditions they would work with concentration. 3. Very young children need order for their development. This order need not be only with things in the environment but also with values, functions and other human activities. The child needs to see human values like ‘Say the Truth’ being practiced. But the adults do not practice in the everyday life. The child gets confused and this can create a warp in his development. Similarly any object in the environment being used for a purpose other than it is meant for creates disturbance. (e. g. the other end of a teaspoon used as a screwdriver). Contrary instructions about behaviour muddle his decisions how some action is allowed at some other time (for example. when a visitor is there). The examples can go on multiplying but the important factor that we need to remember is that the young child is in the process of building his personality which lasts his lifetime. He needs consistency in everything in his environment. It takes a while for him to understand that things can also be different 4. Freedom is another basic requirement of a child’s development process. Dr. Maria found that to perform well in any activity they should be given the option to choose their own activity then only they excel it according to their own capabilities. 5. Normality depended on all the human powers working in unison, in collaboration. Very often children deviate from this normality because they do not find the conditions necessary for their development. D Montessori says that during the early childhood it is possible to rectify any developmental errors and bring the child back to normality The rectification can be made possible only by the child’s working individually at the developmental activities in freedom. ACTIVITY was essential. 6. These developmental activities belonged to areas that the child needed for building his personality generally activities involving sensorial concepts, language, arithmetic, art, culture were considered necessary for the child’s education. The introduction of the exercise of practical life as developmental activities was Dr Montessori’s contribution to education. She found out how the children needed to perform these activities of everyday life. These became developmental activities especially because they brought the intelligence, will and voluntary movements together this co-ordination brought about integration of the personality Dr Montessori realized that these activities were very well understood by the children and thus mobilized their intelligence to the fullest participation. 7. Several other topics that were considered too high and out of reach for the children of 3 to 5 years were brought into the House of Children. Dr Montessori found out that these areas of knowledge are necessary for the child’s total development rather than being subjects to be learnt and, perhaps, memorized. The children showed that they could assimilate the knowledge if they were given in a suitable form. 8. In the House of Children, discipline that is a bugbear in educational institutions came in a new form. The children managed their individual life,their manner of speaking, moving, handling material, interacting with other children. The children revealed quiet, orderliness, remarkable work attitude striving for perfection, sense of responsibility towards themselves and the environment and also others in the community Above all they showed independence in their control of errors, love for silence, indifference with regard to reward or punishments. Discipline did not have to be enforced. 9. At a social level they lived and let others live, helping others, co-operating with them, having quarrel, exhibiting no possessiveness and giving respect for elders who worked with them. At some point of time it was also seen that the children worked irrespective of whether the elders were there or not. The absence of adults did not influence their discipline, orderliness, quiet in their individual or social life. This suggested that discipline must come from within and not imposed from outside. Discipline is an inner development born in freedom. Freedom and discipline are two faces of the same coin. These are two forms of discipline. the outer and the inner the inner discipline is a natural and inner urge to follow the laws that govern development. This inner discipline is the basic on which the outer discipline can rest. So the outer discipline imposed by the adults on the child should be in a form that will be given to the inner innate discipline and it can reveal itself in all its glory 10. Real obedience is based on love, respect and faith. When obedience leads to inner satisfaction it becomes real obedience and hence it becomes real development. 11. Dr Montessori discovered that the children are often seen to behave in a certain manner- destructive, disorderly, stubborn, disobedient etc. But in specially prepared environments and with specially trained adult they show orderly, responsible, loving behaviour both are seemingly real. But why is the contradiction? Dr Montessori says that the second instance is the real one and the very common behaviour is the result of the child not finding the right conditions for development. Dr Montessori calls this the social question of the child. This discovery was possible because she could witness this grandeur of human normality 12. Many of the activities presented to children in Montessori Houses of Children are results of observing the child and, therefore, may be considered as discoveries- The Silence Activity, Exercises of Practical Life, Walking on the Line are some of the examples. 3. It is a well-known truth that human life is a series of steps in gaining independence and credit could go to Dr Montessori who pointed that this is true with child life also. All the help we offer should lead the child to Independence in his individual and social life. The Montessori Method bases itself on these and various other discoveries Dr Montessori made while she worked with chi ldren. We might conclude by saying that Dr Montessori calls upon every adult human being to develop the humility to [earn from the child in order to help the child create a healthy human being.

Succubus Shadows Chapter 16

Really, when you thought about it, what I was going through wasn't that much different from dying after all. They always said you saw your life flash before your eyes, and that's how it was for me. Dream after dream. I relived the most painful moments of my life, true dreams where I'd done terrible things and seen terrible things done to those I loved. More â€Å"realities† that had never happened were shown to me as well. In one, Roman's recent display of affection turned out to be a scam. It was a front to punish me for my role in the death of his sister. Only, he didn't go after me directly. He went after all my friends, mortal and immortal. I watched him kill them one by one as he ignored my pleas to just finish me off instead. The Oneroi latched onto how I was bothered more by the suffering of those I loved than of myself. They mocked me, claiming that Roman's rampage was a vision of the future that had come through the gate of horn. I didn't believe it†¦at least, I didn't think I did. Nyx could see the future. Could they? Or were they maybe in contact with her, despite her imprisonment? My higher reasoning was giving way to paranoia as I was stripped further and further of my essence. I even began to dread the true dreams from the mortal world, the ones that showed me my friends. They were no longer a comfort; they only plunged me further into darkness. Because as the Oneroi had predicted, there seemed to be no hope of rescue in sight. Still, I kept dreaming†¦. Roman, Hugh, and the vampires were in a van. Peter was driving, and the clock on the dashboard read two o'clock in the morning. No one spoke in the small space, giving me no clue as to what was transpiring. Their headlights illuminated a sign along the freeway that indicated an exit for Idaho State Route 41. Idaho? â€Å"Can you change the station?† asked Hugh. â€Å"I hate talk radio.† â€Å"Because you might learn something?† asked Peter. â€Å"Because I'm trying to stay awake.† â€Å"It's a rule of the road: driver controls the radio.† â€Å"What rule book says that?† â€Å"Enough,† said Roman. His voice was weary, his face more so. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping much, but considering the time of night, that wasn't a surprise. He unfolded a map and then checked a piece of paper with some notes scrawled on it. â€Å"It should be the next exit.† â€Å"How'd Carter even find this guy?† asked Cody. â€Å"Because Carter moves in mysterious ways,† said Hugh. â€Å"Hard-drinking, hard-smoking mysterious ways.† â€Å"Yeah, but if he knew, why didn't he tell Jerome?† â€Å"Because Jerome would go into blasting mode if he found out. I guess Carter was keeping it on the down-low as some sort of compassionate act. He's an angel and all.† â€Å"Oh, right.† Cody seemed to have forgotten about that. It was an easy mistake. â€Å"Jerome'll blast us too if he knows what we're doing,† warned Peter. â€Å"He's too distracted. He thinks we're just following a vampire lead.† â€Å"That's the point,† said Peter. â€Å"If he finds out we lied to him – â€Å" â€Å"He won't,† interrupted Roman impatiently. â€Å"Not if we just get what we need from this guy and get out of here. This is it – take that exit.† Hugh veered off onto what hardly seemed like a road at all. It had no businesses and only one streetlight to illuminate an intersection, just before darkness swallowed everything. Roman continued giving directions, steering them farther and farther into the countryside. â€Å"You can't do anything to him,† said Hugh, craning his head to look at Roman in the backseat. â€Å"Show any flare of power in another demon's territory, and you're dead – probably along with the rest of us.† â€Å"Do you think I'm stupid?† demanded Roman. â€Å"Not exactly. But I do think you're short-tempered, have poor impulse control, and would do anything for Georgina.† I expected Roman to deny all of that – or at least the last part – but he said nothing. Silence fell again until Roman at last pointed to a narrow gravel driveway. It was so hard to see that Peter drove past it, squealed the brakes, and backed up. They parked near the driveway's end and began walking up it. I saw then that the back of the van had blacked-out windows, and it was a safe bet that the vampires' coffins were likely back there in case daytime travel was required. Out here in the middle of nowhere, stars clustered the sky, and night insects rained down a symphony of chatter. The faint outline of a house appeared. No lights were on within. â€Å"Can we do it SWAT team style?† asked Cody eagerly. â€Å"Surround the house and swoop in?† â€Å"I don't think that's necessary,† said Roman. He gave the door a sharp kick. It shuddered but didn't come close to breaking apart action-movie style. Keeping his nephilim powers in check meant he had the same abilities as a human. Peter sighed. â€Å"Let me.† He took Roman's place, repeated the kick, and this time the door did burst in and break apart. With their goofy attitudes, it was easy to forget sometimes that both Cody and Peter had super fast reflexes and enhanced strength. Peter stepped back, brushing splinters off his pants. The foursome entered, and a light turned on in the back of the house. â€Å"What the hell?† a voice demanded. What the hell, indeed. Dante entered the room. He took one look at my friends and said, â€Å"Oh, shit.† Then he bolted back toward the room he'd come from, no doubt heading for a window. He was too slow, though. In a flash, Cody had Dante by the scruff of his shirt and dragged him back to the living room, shoving my ex-boyfriend into a chair. Dante immediately started to rise, noticed how my friends had closed rank around him, and then thought better of it. Dante sighed. â€Å"Well, I knew this had to happen some day. Why didn't your boss come himself?† He peered at Roman. â€Å"And haven't I seen you somewhere?† Dante had seen Roman on a beach when we rescued Jerome from the summoning. There'd been a fair amount of chaos, so I wasn't surprised Dante's memory was sketchy – especially since he'd been beaten up by a demon. â€Å"We're not here because of Jerome,† snapped Hugh. Then, he reconsidered. â€Å"Well, we are, but not for the reasons you think.† â€Å"Answer our questions, and you might live another day,† said Peter. Apparently, the action-movie theme was still going strong. â€Å"Where's Georgina?† demanded Roman. It was interesting that every time my immortal posse interrogated someone, they phrased the question that way first, instead of, â€Å"Do you know where Georgina is?† When you worked for Hell, everyone was guilty until proven innocent. Dante's face lost some of its fear and took on its usual cynical look. He tossed messy black hair out of his face. â€Å"In Seattle, sleeping with that fucking writer.† â€Å"No,† said Roman. â€Å"She's not.† â€Å"She's not what? In Seattle or sleeping with the writer?† Dante arched an eyebrow. â€Å"And who are you exactly?† â€Å"The muscle,† said Hugh dryly. â€Å"Georgina's gone. Vanished. And if anyone's got reason to make her disappear† – he paused and glanced uneasily at Roman – â€Å"it's you.† â€Å"I'm not the kind of magician that pulls rabbits out of my hat. Or makes them disappear.† Dante was growing more and more confident, now that he knew Jerome wasn't going to send him to the torture pits of Hell. â€Å"If you can't find her, ask your archdemon. Unless he's been summoned again, he'll know.† â€Å"He doesn't,† said Cody. â€Å"But maybe you already knew that.† Dante rolled his eyes. â€Å"You think I'm going to go anywhere near Seattle when there's a price on my head? Do you think I'm hiding out in the fucking sticks because I want to? The best I can do is sell charms and fake fortunes to tourists in Coeur d'Alene.† â€Å"Carter should have come with us,† said Hugh in exasperation. â€Å"He should have known that too after sending us here.† Dante stiffened, his arrogance faltering. â€Å"That angel knows where I am? Then Jerome has to know.† â€Å"He's keeping it from Jerome. For now.† Peter was still using that melodramatic voice. â€Å"That can change if you don't help us.† â€Å"I don't know where she fucking is, okay? I told you: I can't make a succubus disappear.† Roman's hand closed around Dante's neck in a fair approximation of Jerome. Even without supernatural abilities, Roman was still strong. â€Å"You've worked with immortals before. You could do it again and have them do the dirty work.† â€Å"I show my face to any immortal, and I'm a dead man,† choked Dante. Roman fixed Dante with a dark glare that reminded me of the time Roman had tried to kill me. And when he had killed me in a recent Oneroi dream. At last, Roman let go. Rubbing his neck, a puzzled Dante asked again, â€Å"Who are you?† Cody glanced at the others. â€Å"Do you think he's lying?† â€Å"Wouldn't surprise me,† said Hugh. He crossed his arms across his broad chest. â€Å"But maybe you can be useful. What could make a succubus disappear?† â€Å"What'll you give me for helping you?† asked Dante slyly. Yes, that was my ex. Always looking for an advantage. â€Å"We won't call Jerome,† growled Peter. This time, the anger in his voice was not faux movie style. It was real, again a reminder that at the end of the day, he really was a vampire who could break necks easily. This sobered Dante up. â€Å"Fine. Not that I care what the fuck happens to her. How did she disappear?† Again, the story was recounted, something that was beginning to depress me – largely because everyone seemed to emphasize just how depressed and miserable my life was. â€Å"It's a lure,† said Dante with certainty. â€Å"We know that,† said Roman. â€Å"Erik told us.† Dante scowled at the mention of his nemesis. â€Å"Of course he did. It's a wonder you need me with his almighty wisdom at your disposal.† â€Å"What would lure her?† said Peter, no doubt interrupting Dante from asking again who Roman was. â€Å"All sorts of things,† said Dante. â€Å"Anything could create a lure, but visions like that would most likely be tied to dreams. Did you guys lose Nyx again?† â€Å"No,† said Hugh. Dante shrugged. â€Å"Then look for something else that can control dreams, maybe try a – â€Å" I stood in the village I'd grown up in. The transition was so abrupt that I was dizzy for a moment. There hadn't been a transition, no fragmenting of the image or a fade to black. It had been a quick movie cut. A bad editing job. I stared around, seeing again the place that had caused me so much torment. I wondered what else the Oneroi had to show me here and why I'd come here so suddenly. I'd already relived the false wedding accusations. At one point, they'd even had me dream the true story of how my infidelity had led to me selling my soul. I was probably now in store for some new contrived horror. The world spun around me, the buildings and people moving around in rough-spun clothes dizzying me. â€Å"Are you all right?† a voice asked. Turning around, the scenery settled a bit and I found myself looking into the face of an ancient man. Bushy eyebrows stretched across a heavily lined brow, nearly obscuring dark brown eyes. â€Å"Yes†¦I'm fine.† I frowned and did a double take. â€Å"Gaius?† Those eyebrows rose. â€Å"Have we met?† I stared, unable to speak for a moment. I'd known Gaius since the time I could walk. He was a blacksmith, the brawniness of his arms proving as much. But he'd been young the last time I'd seen him, a man in his prime. With no control, words spilled off my lips, words I'd spoken before when I'd lived this event the first time. This was a true memory. So far. â€Å"We met a very long time ago,† I said. He chuckled. â€Å"Girl, I'd remember you. And ‘a very long time ago' could only have been a few years for you.† I became aware of my body, knowing what I looked like even without a mirror. I had shape-shifted just before entering the village, taking on a form I had sworn I would never, ever wear again. And, in fact, after this day, I never would wear it again. I was in my original body: fifteen-year-old Letha, too tall with thick, tangled black hair. I'd come here to find out something. Something I had to know. I gave Gaius a weak nod. My old self had been as shocked as my current self at what time had done to him. How long since I'd become a succubus and left my village? Thirty years ago? â€Å"Can you tell me†¦is there a man here – a fisherman – named Marthanes? Does his family still live here?† â€Å"Sure,† he said. â€Å"Same house they've always been in, out past the – â€Å" â€Å"I know where it is,† I said quickly. He shrugged, not minding my interruption. â€Å"He's probably down at the bay, though. He's too old to still be working but swears his sons-in-law can't get by without him.† Sons-in-law. Of course. My sisters would have gotten married long ago. â€Å"Thanks,† I said. I began to walk away. â€Å"It was nice seeing you again.† He gave me a puzzled look but said nothing more. I walked toward the bay, where the water glowed with such a vivid, teal-tinged blue that it seemed to be some Technicolor vision. Surely nothing in nature could produce such beauty. Longing and nostalgia welled up within my watching self. The town was busy at midday, and I recognized more faces than I expected. Children I'd known grown to adulthood, adults I'd known now in their golden years. The waterfront was just as busy, with ships loading and unloading goods that made commerce in the Mediterranean boom. It took me a while to find my father, and here, I earned more looks than I had in the village. Women were rare in this district, choosing to avoid the rough sailors and workers. I located my father largely because of his voice, shouting orders just as he had in my youth. â€Å"Are you trying to cost me a fortune? What do you do out there all day? My granddaughter could catch this many fish wading by the beach!† He was yelling at a man I didn't know, his face sheepish and cowed as he displayed what must have been today's meager catch. I wondered if this was one of my sisters' husbands. The man promised to do better and then scurried away. â€Å"Fa – Marthanes?† My father turned at my approach, and I tried not to gasp. Like Gaius, the years had carved away Marthanes the fisherman as well. How old would he be now? Sixties? Seventies? Time had grown blurred since I became immortal. â€Å"What do you want?† he snapped. â€Å"I've got no use for prostitutes anymore. Go down to Claudius if you're looking for business. He hasn't slept with his own wife in ten years. Not that I blame him. That woman's a harpy.† Age might have grayed and thinned out his hair, lines might have creased his face†¦but my father's tongue was still the same. â€Å"N-no. That's not why I'm here. I met you†¦a few years ago.† He frowned, looking me up and down. â€Å"Never seen you in my life. Pretty sure I'd remember someone as tall as you.† As a succubus, I could change into any man's fantasy, taking on the shape of a woman whose beauty transcended words. Yet, even with that ability, the old remarks about my height still stung. â€Å"Well, I remember you.† Seeing his eyes shift impatiently to his workers, I asked, â€Å"Do you know a musician named Kyriakos? He'd be my age – er, about thirty years older than me. He used to live south of town.† My father snorted. â€Å"That Kyriakos? He's no musician. He took over his father's business when he died. Does okay with it, even though the rates he demands for my fish are ridiculous.† â€Å"Does he still live in his same house?† â€Å"You mean his father's house? Yes. Like you said, in the south.† My father's restlessness was palpable now. He didn't know me. He had no use for me. â€Å"Thank you,† I said. I was about to tell him it was nice to see him, as I had Gaius, but my father was gone before I could. With a heavy heart, I walked back through town but instead of heading south, I took a detour to my old home, wondering what I'd discover. What I found was my mother, hanging clothing outside, humming as she did. Off to the house's side a middle-aged woman dug herbs out of the ground. It took me a few moments to recognize her as my younger sister. My mother's face was different, but her kind eyes were still the same as she gave me directions to a place I already knew. My sister glanced up and watched a moment, then returned to her work. Neither recognized me. Just like with my father, I was a brief interruption to their day. I'd known this would happen. It was what I'd sold my soul for. My contract with Hell had erased all memories of me from everyone who had ever known me. The Oneroi had shown me a lie on my wedding day. I'd been a virgin, faithful to Kyriakos. But a couple years later, weakness had struck me. I'd betrayed him, and it had devastated him more than anyone could have imagined. He'd wanted to kill himself over the heartache, and only my bargain had saved him. That was the truth. Still†¦some part of me had thought maybe, just maybe someone might recognize me. Just the faintest spark of remembrance. Kyriakos could have been down near my father, overseeing his fleet, but something told me he'd be doing administrative tasks, not manual labor. My hunch was correct. Before I'd become a succubus, Kyriakos and I had had our own house. He must have moved back to his family's home after Hell erased his memories. I braced myself to meet the lady of the house, the woman Kyriakos must have undoubtedly married. But when he came out to see who was visiting him, I found him alone. Seeing him made my heart stop. He too had been touched by age, but he was still young enough that the lines were few. Only the faintest of gray graced his hair, and like my mother, his eyes were the same. Dark and wonderful and full of goodness. â€Å"Do you need help?† he asked, voice friendly and curious. For a moment, I couldn't speak. I was drunk from seeing him, filled with a mix of love and pain. I wished so badly that I had stayed with him, that I had never committed such sins. I wished I didn't wear this youthful face. I should have grown old with him. My ability to conceive children had seemed sketchy at the time, but maybe we would have eventually had a family. Just like with everyone else, I claimed to need directions, stammering out the first random place I could think of. He described the way in detail, though I already knew it. â€Å"Do you want me to escort you there? This is a safe area†¦but you never know.† I smiled but felt no joy. The same Kyriakos. Infinitely kind to others, even a stranger. â€Å"I'll be fine. I don't want to take you from your work.† I hesitated. â€Å"We met†¦a few years ago.† â€Å"Did we?† He studied me, apparently searching for the memory. His eyes remained blank, though. No trace of recognition. I was a stranger. I had never existed for him. I wondered if he'd even remember me when I left here. He shook his head, sounding sincerely apologetic. â€Å"I'm sorry. I don't recall it†¦.† He was waiting for my name. â€Å"Letha.† The word burned on my lips. Like this shape, the name was dead to me. Only Hell ever used it. â€Å"I'm sorry,† he said again. â€Å"It's okay. Maybe I'm wrong. I thought†¦I thought you were a musician.† When we'd been married, he worked for his father but had hopes of giving that up and playing music full-time. Kyriakos chuckled. â€Å"Only as a hobby. Most of my days are hunched over numbers.† The loss of his ambition made me almost as sad as his lack of memory. â€Å"Well†¦your wife must be glad to have you home.† â€Å"Not married, I'm afraid.† He was still smiling. â€Å"My sister keeps house for me when she's around.† â€Å"Not married?† I asked incredulously. â€Å"But why? At your age†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I blushed, realizing how rude I sounded. â€Å"I'm sorry.† He wasn't offended. â€Å"At your age, marriage is all girls think about, huh? You probably have a dozen suitors with as pretty as you are.† Typical. Few had found me pretty while mortal; he had always believed me beautiful. â€Å"I just never found the right woman. I'd rather be alone than spend my life with the wrong person.† A dreamy, sad look filled his features, and then he shook his head and laughed. It was an uneasy laugh. â€Å"Anyway, you don't want to hear some old man babbling about romantic nonsense. Are you sure you don't want me to show you the way?† â€Å"No, no†¦I think I know where it's at now. Thank you.† I started to turn away and then paused. â€Å"Kyriakos†¦are you†¦are you happy?† This question from someone less than half his age caught him by surprise. And I was surprised he answered. â€Å"Happy? Well†¦content, I guess. I have a good life. Better than most. A very good life, really. Sometimes I wonder†¦Ã¢â‚¬  My breath caught. â€Å"Wonder what?† â€Å"Nothing,† he said, giving me another good-natured smile. â€Å"More nonsense. Yes, Letha. I'm happy. Why do you want to know?† â€Å"Nonsense of my own,† I murmured. â€Å"And you're sure you don't remember me?† I had my answer before I spoke. No. Those eyes had never laid sight on me before. I was just an odd, passing girl. I was no one. â€Å"I'm sorry, I don't.† He winked. â€Å"But I'll remember you now.† Somehow, I doubted it. Leaving him, I felt my heart break. Really, my heart was breaking all the time. You'd think it could only happen once. This was what I'd wanted. What I'd gambled eternity for. Kyriakos was happy. I'd saved him and should be happy in return. Yet, I felt unhappier than I had since becoming a succubus. I decided at that moment I'd never use Letha's shape or name again. I wanted to wipe her from my mind too†¦. â€Å"It's so easy with you,† hissed the Oneroi. It was Two, I thought. I was back in the box. â€Å"We don't even need the ivory gate.† I was so scarred from that memory of Kyriakos, by the truth of what it really meant to be erased from someone's life, that I was inclined to agree with Two. Then, a tiny spark within me glimmered just a bit. I studied the two Oneroi carefully. â€Å"What was the other dream?† I asked. â€Å"Before the one about my husband? Why didn't you let it finish?† â€Å"It did finish,† said One. Their blue, blue eyes were the same, revealing nothing. â€Å"It didn't,† I argued. â€Å"You cut it off. It didn't go the way you planned, did it? My friends found out something from Dante – something you didn't want them to know.† â€Å"They found nothing,† Two replied. â€Å"It was a lie. We gave you false hope, hope that will turn to ashes when you find yourself spending the rest of eternity here.† â€Å"You're the lie,† I said. The spark within my ragged, worn body flared just a little more. â€Å"The dream was true.† One continued the denial. â€Å"The only truth is that you can't tell the difference. And that there is no hope.† â€Å"You're lying,† I said, but as those cold sets of eyes surveyed me, my spark wavered. Uncertainty spread within me. I'd been through so much, a mental rape of sorts, that I questioned once more if I trusted myself. My words were bold, but I no longer knew if I could believe them. Two smiled, able to see into my mind. â€Å"Dream,† he said.

The Bra Boys Essays

The Bra Boys Essays The Bra Boys Paper The Bra Boys Paper Bra Boys From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The Bra Boys is an Australian gang founded and based in Maroubra, an eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. Dating back to the 1990s, the gang has gained notoriety through violent clashes with members of the public and police. The gang achieved national and international attention in 2007[1] with the release of a feature-length documentary entitled Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water, written and directed by members of the gang. Contents 1 Origins Notoriety and violence 2. 1 Criminal matters 2. 2 General community activism 2. 3 Art imitating life 3 Documentary 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links Origins The Bra Boys are held together by surfing as well as community ties. [2] The group is often linked with the Maroubra Surfers Association, with which a number of its members are associated. [citation needed] In an interview on Triple J radio, Koby Abberton pointed out the Bra is a reference to the gangs suburb, Maroubra,[3] and partly after the street slang for brother. 1] Some members of the gang tattoo My Brothers Keeper across the front of their chest,[4] Bra Boys and Maroubras postcode 2035 on their backs. [citation needed] With a reputation of being territorial,[1] the group is known to have taken control of a Sydney reef break, known as Cape Solander, located in Kurnell, and renaming the break Ours. In July 2007, The Sydney Morning Herald reported an altercation that took place between professional bodyboarder Mitch Rawlins and a group of several Bra Boys members, including Koby Abberton. Rawlins was allegedly approached by a Bra Boy member and told to fuck off. It is believed an argument broke out and then turned physical with Rawlins being punched in the head. A spokesman for the Bra Boys confirmed there had been some sort of small incident but denied any major violence. [5] Notoriety and violence Prominent Bra Boys members include rugby league players Reni Maitua, John Sutton, as well as the Abberton brothers, Sunny, Jai, Dakota, and Koby, with the latter being the most notorious of the brothers. 6] Criminal matters A syndicate with alleged links to members of the Bra Boys were caught smuggling cocaine following interceptions of conversations dating back to 1997. It was alleged that the syndicate was granted security passes to restricted areas within Sydney Airport, by-passing Australian Customs, enabling the prohibited narcotics to be smuggled from Los Angeles by being concealed in on-board catering refuse. [7] In 2005, Jai Abberton was acquitted of the 2003 murde r of stand-over man Anthony Tony Hines. 8] However, his brother Koby was handed a suspended nine-month jail sentence after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice in the same matter. [9][10] In November 2008, Koby Abberton was jailed for three days by a US court after being found guilty of assaulting an off-duty police officer in a fight outside a nightclub in Honolulu, Hawaii. [6] In November 2009 Jai Abberton was jailed for eight months for breaching a good behaviour bond. [11] General community activism In late 2002, around 160 members of the gang attending a birthday party at the Coogee-Randwick RSL Club were involved in a brawl with off-duty Waverley police officers leaving a Christmas party on the same premises. News reports numbered the combatants in the incident at around 120, with 30 police officers left injured after the event. [12] In August 2005, the Bra Boys led a 100-person non-violent protest against plans by Randwick Council to introduce parking meters near the local beaches. [13] In the lead up to the 2005 Cronulla riots in Cronulla, Koby Abberton spoke to The Daily Telegraph about the assault of a lifeguard that sparked the incident, claiming: The reason why its not happening at Maroubra is because of the Bra Boys. Girls go to Cronulla, Bondi, everywhere else in Sydney and get harassed, but they come to Maroubra and nothing happens to them. I read all this stuff about kids getting harassed because they want to have a surf and I say are you kidding? The beach should be for Aussie kids. But if you want to go to beaches and act tough in groups you better be able to back it up. If these fellas come out to Maroubra and start something they know its going to be on, so they stay away. [14] Following the riots, in which the Bra Boys did not claim any involvement, Maroubra was the target of retaliation by Middle Eastern gangs. The Abberton brothers then held well-publicised meetings with other groups to help ease tensions. [15] I think that this is the start, the boys have agreed to come down and talk to us, to start some dialogue between the groups, you know, to try and ease some tension, said Sunny Abberton in a group interview on The 7. 30 Report. [16] Art imitating life The Bra Boys were made the subject of satire by The Chasers War on Everything, episode 29, aired on 11 April 2007. [17] In the skit Julian Morrow approached gang members while wearing a pill-filled brassiere and sporting a tattoo similar to Koby Abbertons saying mybrothersalibi. A gang member responded by slipping off one of his thongs and flinging it at Morrow. Long-running Australian television soap opera, Home and Away has produced a thinly veiled reference to the Bra Boys in the fictional storyline of the River Boys that was broadcast in Australia commencing 16 February 2011. 18] Inspired by the friendship and brotherhood codes instilled by the Bra Boys, the Abberton brothers created a clothing line to reflect the importance of solid bonds between friends and family entitled MyBrothersKeeper Clothing, sometimes referred to as MBK Clothing. MyBrothersKeeper is a reference to the unspoken motto of the Bra Boys and can be somewhat translated as the unconditional love, respect and su pport of those close to you regardless of race, gender and age. [4] Documentary A 90 minute documentary film about the surf gang, entitled Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water premiered in Sydney on 7 March 2007 and was released on 15 March 2007. The film details a story of the Bra Boys from the viewpoint of the gang, particularly the Abbertons. Sunny Abberton wrote and co-directed the film with Macario De Souza. Actor Russell Crowe provided narration. The films official cast included 49 well known surfers from Bra Boys members Evan Faulks and Richie Vas Vaculik to ten-time world champion, Kelly Slater,[19] and surfing legends including Mark Occhilupo, Bruce Irons, and Laird Hamilton. 20] Australian reviewer Margaret Pomeranz gave the movie an overall positive review, while her At the Movies co-host David Stratton criticised Sunnys amateurish direction and questioned how objective a documentary can be when it is directed by its subject. [21] The documentary became Australias highest-grossing non-IMAX documentary film[22] and won the Best Documentary at the 2008 Movie EXTRA Filmink Awards. [23] The movie saw a limited release in the United States that began on 11 April 2008, in 23 select locations in Southern California, New York and Hawaii. 20] The film was distributed in Australia by Hopscotch Films and internationally by boutique distributor, Berkela Films. [24] The film was released on DVD on 16 August 2007 with extras including the documentary, The Making of Bra Boys, extended surfing footage, coverage of the films premiere, history of Australian surf culture, a fitness program presented by one of the Bra Boys, and music videos. [25] References ^ a b c Marks, Kathy (19 March 2007). Sydneys notorious surf gang turns tide of violence into big-screen adulation. The Independent (United Kingdom). Retrieved 16 November 2008. ^ Carroll, Nick (9 March 2007). Bra Boys World Film Premier in Sydney, Australia Movie review. Surfing Magazine. Retrieved 6 February 2011. ^ Warhurst, Myf; Whalley, Jason; McDougall, Lindsay (7 May 2007). Myf, Jay and the Doctor: Interview with Koby Abberton (radio). Triple J (Australia). ^ a b Minion, Lynne (8 August 2009). Brothers in Arms. Canberra Times. Retrieved 6 February 2011. ^ Gilmore, Heath (15 July 2007). Bra Boys say its Ours and well fight for it. The Sydney Morning Herald. ^ a b Hellard, Peta (21 November 2008). Guilty Bra Boy Koby Abberton in Honolulu jail for three days. The Daily Telegraph (Australia). ^ McKenzie, Nick (24 September 2009). Cocaine gang had security clearance. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 February 2011. ^ Wallace, Natasha (6 May 2005). Surf gang member cleared of standover mans murder. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 February 2011. ^ Bra Boys: The often maligned surf brotherhoods new movie. Surfer Magazi ne. 22 July 2010. ^ Jones, Caroline (7 November 2005). Sons of beaches (transcript). Australian Story (Australia). Retrieved 6 February 2011. Jail for Bra Boy Jai Abberton, Pussycat Doll Melody Jail for Bra Boy Jai Abberton, Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton dines with Sonny and Koby Abberton. The Daily Telegraph (Australia). 12 November 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2011. ^ Kennedy, Les (24 December 2002). Night the thin blue line ran into the Maroubra stomp. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 February 2011. ^ Cuming, Angela; Munro, Catharine (7 August 2005). Rage over 7000 meters for beaches. The Sun-Herald (Australia). Retrieved 6 February 2011. ^ McIlveen, Luke (9 December 2005). A beast surfaces. The Daily Telegraph (Australia). Silkstone, Dan (14 December 2005). When two tribes go to war: a culture clash. The Age (Australia). Retrieved 6 February 2011. ^ Emergency powers to crack down on riots (transcript). The 7. 30 Report (Australia). 13 December 2005. Retrieved 6 February 2011 . ^ The Chaser vs. The Bra Boys Hilarious Gags (video). The Chaser. Australia. 11 April 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2011. ^ Casamento, Jo (6 February 2011). Bra Boys amused by Home and Away homage. The Sun-Herald (Australia). Retrieved 6 February 2011. ^ Howard, Jake. Kelly Slater wins his 10th world title. ESPN Action Sports (United States). Retrieved 6 November 2010. a b Bra Boys. Internet Movie Database. Amazon. com. 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2011. ^ Pomeranz, Margaret; Stratton, David (14 March 2007). Bra Boys. At the Movies (Australia). Retrieved 6 February 2011. ^ Bra Boys breaks box office record. ABC News (Australia). 27 March 2007. ^ ‘Bra Boys:’ Best Documentary at Movie EXTRA Awards. Transworld Skateboarding (United States). 17 March 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2011. ^ Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water. Berkela Films. Retrieved 6 February 2011. ^ Idato, Michael (27 August 2007). Bra Boys DVD review. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

Flower Shop Chemistry Magic Trick - Violets

Flower Shop Chemistry Magic Trick - Violets In this chemistry magic trick, youll produce the odor of violets by mixing two common chemicals. This demonstration is also known as the flower shop magic trick. Odor of Violets - Materials Sodium carbonate and castor oil are sold at many stores. Sodium carbonate is used in cooking and as a water softener. Castor oil usually is sold in the pharmacy section. sodium carbonate [buy online]castor oil [buy online] Perform the Trick This is a terrific chemistry demonstration because the materials are common and inexpensive and its extremely quick and easy to perform: In a dry test tube or small beaker, add a scoop of sodium carbonate and 3 drops of castor oil.Heat the container in a burner flame or on a hot plate until a cloud of white vapor rises from the chemicals.Walk around the room with the glassware to allow the fragrance to dissipate. The odor of violets is evident. How It Works When sodium carbonate and castor oil are heated together, one of the products is ionone. Although it is a simple demonstration, this is a fairly complicated reaction, in which citral and acetone with calcium oxide catalyze an aldol condensation followed by a rearrangement reaction. A mixture of alpha and beta ionone is responsible for the characteristic odor of violets. Beta ionone is a component of the fragrance responsible for the scent of roses, too. Natural or synthetic ionone is used in many perfumes and flavorings. In flowers, ionones derive from the degradation of carotenoids, which are pigment molecules. An interesting property of violets is that they are responsible for another type of chemical magic. Violets temporarily steal your sense of smell! Initially, ionone binds to scent receptors and stimulates them, so you smell the odor of violets. Then, for a few moments, the receptors are unable to receive further stimulus. You lose awareness of the fragrance, only to regain it when it registers as a new smell. Whether you like the scent of violets or not, its a scent that cant become overpowering or fade with time. Learn More More Science Magic TricksMake Rose WaterDesign Your Own Perfume

The battle of Yarmuk (636) and the arab conquest of syria and palesine Essay

The battle of Yarmuk (636) and the arab conquest of syria and palesine - Essay Example One of the deciding factors of these battles aside from the strategies is the increase in numbers of Muslims that formed alliances with those of their own fates, and also their conquests of nearby regions, stopping the expansion of Christianity towards the Middle East and India, and allowed the Muslims to move westward up to Spain (The Great Islamic Conquests 49). It was believed by historians that if these battles did not happen or if it had other results, the history of the world might have been changed dramatically, since the major contributions of Islam like mathematics and science would be prevented from being spread, and without these two important concepts the beginning of the scientific revolution would be prevented. The Arab Conquests of Syria and Palestine When the Muslims were able to take control of former cities that were previously under Christianity, not only did they expanded their territories, but also removed the fertile lands that the Byzantine Empire relied on (Fo uracre 298). The unification of the bands of Arabs by the Muslim faith has created large and uniform bands that were able to take over territories because of their members having something in common: a strong faith in Muhammad (The Great Islamic Conquests 48). ... This created an opening for the Muslim Army to take over Syria and Palestine, before ultimately fending off the advancing Byzantine army at the Valley of Yarmuk. Around the year 628 A.C.E., the Prophet Muhammad signed a non-aggression pact with the Meccans because he was not yet allowing the Jihad, or Holy War to commence yet. However, due to the need to expand the Islamic faith and to loot the rich countries, some three thousand of his men initiated attacks on the eastern regions of Jordan, and eventually caused them a devastating defeat from the defending Byzantines (Avi-Yonah and Peres 199). Initially this made the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius complacent about the defenses of the Syrian borders, and after a year from being attacked by Muslim Arabs, he created an opening by not paying the tribes that defended this side of the kingdom (Kennedy 143). In addition to the discontent with the Byzantine rulers and religions, the persecutions added to the disinterest of the tribes that were living in the Syrian border, which made these parts vulnerable to either attacks or conversions (Kennedy 147). The Muslim army advanced towards southern Syrian borders, and one of the governors signed a peace treaty with Muhammad, which helped him secure one of the entrances to Syria (Avi-Yonah and Peres 199). After gaining control of Syria around 633-634 A.C.E., the Muslim army then planned on invading Palestine, annexing it and liberating the people from Byzantine rule. The battle lead by Khalid entered Palestine first by invading the northern part in order to control the region without other problems. The Byzantines were taken over by the Muslim soldiers due to the former undermining the capacity of the advancing Muslim army. Aside from the Byzantine Emperor

Globalization and Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Globalization and Environment - Essay Example The culture, trade, business, ethics and conduct of one group in one part of the world can influence others may or may not be of same nation. It is irrespective of the time and space and language bindings as these communications are in terms of trade, social internet forums. The process of globalization is therefore, an amalgamation of interaction and integration among different groups of people, various organizations and governments of different nations. This communication is supported by information technology (What is globalization). The interaction not only influences people and their welfare in terms of civilization, traditions, political structure, financial growth and affluences but also affects the environment as a whole (What is globalization). Gradually globalization has defined its terminologies in all aspects of human civilization by making the countries formulate to the policies for open economies both, domestically and internationally (What is globalization). With the implementation of free market economic systems, path is paved for mounting their own industrious potentials and creating multitude openings for international trade and investment. This served as an opportunity for the foreign markets, factories, production and marketing measures with people belonging to different parts of the world (What is globalization). These ... 2. Political Interaction 3. Information and Information Technology (IT) 4. Culture These are the various magnitudes of globalization affecting the natural, local, national and finally the global environment. It directly influences human development (Panayotou, 2000). An outline is drawn to study the globalization and the environment encompassing economic proportions of trade, investment and capital flows (Panayotou, 2000). It is evident that regardless of its mounting strength, the side-effects of globalization and economic trends are inadequately understood as these effects are not straight but are indirect. The growing concern for the environment and its protection has given least emphasis on the prevalence of inexorable globalization (Ehrenfeld, 2003). Globalization is multiplying with such a rapid pace that its consequences are being experienced by the smallest and secluded communities and natural areas may it be a developed or an undeveloped nation. It is evident that despite its insightful impact on the environment, globalization is going to have its say (Ehrenfeld, 2003). The present article therefore signifies the impact of globalization on the environment as a whole may it be natural, social, local, national and lastly global. Globalization has tremendously affected world in various different aspects 1. Industrial- it has provided the surface to the production market with an enhanced access to a wide variety of foreign products and therefore globalization has increased large number of customers for itself. This has helped in the movement of goods and materials between and within the national boundaries. 2. Financial- Globalization has opened the way to procure external financing opportunities to the