Category Management (CM) And Its Scope In Improving The Performance Of Essay

Class Management (CM) And Its Scope In Improving The Performance Of Retail Organizations - Essay Example Prior, item makers have doled out the obligation of offering a specific item to the item director. Be that as it may, the advancement of CM constrained the associations to make another post; classification director. Prior associations give more significance to item directors though present day associations give more significance to class chiefs. This is a result of the way that promoting of a class of item is simpler than advertising a specific item. For instance, cell phones are vanquishing the market at present. It is simple for Samsung or Apple like cell phone producers to advertise tablets alongside cell phones since both cell phones and tablets nearly have a place with a similar class. In short â€Å"CM encourages class supervisor to sets the costs of all brands in the classification to augment all out class profits† (Basuroy et al., 2001, p.17). ... In short â€Å"CM causes classification supervisor to sets the costs of all brands in the classification in order to amplify complete class profits† (Basuroy et al., 2001, p.17). In addition, it improves the associations between among retailers and wholesalers and encourages them to harvest more benefit (Kulikova, 2012, p.67). This paper examinations how classification the executives can improve the exhibitions of retail associations. Extent of classification the executives in improving the presentation of retail associations CM begins from the meaning of classification and finishes in the class usage. Between these beginning and end focuses, CM goes through different advances, for example, recognizable proof of class job, classification evaluation, class scorecard, classification methodologies, and class strategies. The figure given beneath clarifies different advances engaged with CM. (Basuroy et al., 2001, p.17) After class usage, associations audit the achievement and disa ppointments of CM. The classification audit process causes associations to recognize the qualities and shortcoming of existing CM and change it to restart the CM procedure in an increasingly productive way. So, CM causes associations to clean or calibrate the current business procedures constantly and deals with the selling of a specific class of items in a productive way. A commonplace class the executives system is depicted in the accompanying representation. Classification the executives structure (Effective everyday classification the executives, 2011, p.3) From the above representation, it is apparent that showcase knowledge components, for example, buyers, patterns, economy, contenders and providers help an association to figure organization objectives identified with clients, procedures, fund and so on. ID of objectives encourages an organization to plan procedures fundamental for the advancement of a particular

The Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc - Environmental Conservation Awareness Assignment

The Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc - Environmental Conservation Awareness - Assignment Example The significant trademark that separates the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 motor, is its improved natural neighborly traits, which sees the motor convey the least lifetime fuel consume (Wall, 2014:n.p.). Thusly, natural protection mindfulness is the principle drive behind the development of this motor. In this regard, the undertaking lifecycle will follow an all around characterized process that will start with beginning period of the task lifecycle that will involve the coordinated effort of the R&D and the showcasing groups to characterize the venture targets. This will be trailed by venture sorting out and planning, which will share the assignments between the two groups, with the promoting group assuming the liability for recognizing the market needs and passing on the equivalent to the R&D group, while the R&D group will assume the liability of the real structuring of the motor. This will be trailed by the doing the work period of the undertaking lifecycle, where the promoting group will give the R&D group the item data extending from the proper structure drawing, the shading plan of the motor and the suitable highlights, for example, the size and weight subtleti es. Then again, the R&D group will be answerable for the investigation of the structure of the airplane motor with insignificant clamor. After the plan examination, the R&D group will disregard the item to the advertising group for test showcasing and advancement. The full dispatch of the item will shape the end period of the undertaking lifecycle. The entire task is evaluated to take 3 months from the begin to close. The undertaking proposition looks to build up an entire task motor creation lifecycle, where all the essential devices and ideas will be gotten from PMBOK and likewise pertinent understanding materials. The undertaking planned for characterizing the venture lifecycle of the improvement of Rolls-Royce Trent 900 motor. The pith of the undertaking was to accomplish a low commotion airplane motor, which additionally presents other ecological benefits.â â

Earning Trust vs. Learning Trust How Are You Doing

Earning Trust vs. Learning Trust How Are You Doing “Stack Trust” I remember a body work session, specifically a Network Spinal Analysis (NSA) session, that I had many years ago. Donny Epstein, the founder of NSA, positioned my head and made contact with a specific point in my spine. “Stack trust,” he said. I don’t know if it was the point he touched or the command he gave me to “stack trust,” but felt a huge shift and broke out in tears. Trust is a big deal. I have always thought of myself as a trusting person, willing to share things about myself with strangers. I don’t expect people to cheat or lie and I have done things like rent my apartment to Airbnb guests, leaving them alone in my house with all my belongings. When a friend doubted whether I was telling the truth in a recent situation, I was hurt and angry. Not only do I trust people to tell the truth about things, but I also like to think people trust my word. Learning to Trust Can trust be learned? The answer, apparently, is yes. I recently received a link to what I thought was an article about how to teach trust. It turns out it was an advertisement for a Franklin Covey training, leading me not to trust Franklin Covey all that much for having misled me. Nevertheless, the idea that trust can be taught is fascinating to me and rings true. Google searches for “Harvard Business Review Trust and Teams” and “Harvard Business Review Teaching Trust” gave me a plethora of information on how we become trusting and on how to build trust in a business. I must confess that there are some areas where my trust level is very low, and where I have some definite growing to do. When I am in charge of a project, for instance, and ask someone to take responsibility for something, I often don’t trust them to perform. If they do the job and do it well, great. They have “proven themselves” to me. But if they don’t do the job or do it well, my first instinct is that I can’t rely on them and need to do it myself. If it’s something I don’t know how to do, I easily become scared and angry. I was amazed on a recent project that when a team member did not do a task, all I had to do was write him a note and he did it immediately! I had made up that because this person was usually very responsible, and had a ton on his plate at the time, he was overloaded and would not be able to it. Where was my sense of trust? I’ve had multiple opportunities to practice trust as my new website has launched, along with a new email and client management system, Infusionsoft. As many of you have experienced, we faced many breakdowns in the implementation process. Incorrect and duplicate emails went out to my list members. Pages on my site had missing and incorrect content. New clients were directed to pages where they received 404 errors instead of the documents they needed. Leaning In While I have admittedly done my share of stressing out and blaming about all these breakdowns (my web developers can “trust” me to do that), I have also leaned on the people who can fix the issues. They have come through for me every time, including going the extra mile to give my clients assistance on weekends and on short notice. I’m learning, slowly but surely, that when someone doesn’t do something they said they would do, or doesn’t do it well, the first step is to ask them to do it or coach them to do it better. It’s amazing how well that works! Commensurate Trust Of course, some people truly are not trustworthy, and those are the people not to do business with or form close relationships with. The term “commensurate trust,” which I learned recently, tells me that one trustworthy person in a relationship, whether business or personal, does not a trusting relationship make. Both parties must be able to handle a commensurate level of responsibility, truth, and vulnerability for the relationship to work. I will be working probably for the rest of my life on my own process of “stacking trust” â€" becoming trusting myself, and demanding trustworthiness of others. As I have discovered, I have a lot to learn.

BCOM 275 All Class Assignments and DQs †A Graded Material...

BCOM 275 All Class Assignments and DQs – A Graded Material http://homeworklance.com/downloads/bcom-275-complete-course-business-comm-critical-thinking-amaterial/ BCOM 275 All Class Assignments and DQs – A Graded Material BCOM 275 Week 1 Individual Exercise 1.1 Complete exercise 1.1 from Ch. 1 of Communicating in the Workplace. Choose two misunderstandings you experienced and fill out the chart for these. Respond to questions 1 and 2 shown under the chart for each example of a misunderstanding. In your response, include the following: †¢ Cite a meaningful misunderstanding rather than a general or less material misunderstanding. †¢ Use business- or work-related examples rather than personal ones. Identify the roles of the sender and†¦show more content†¦Create an outline for the Debate Paper that will be used to write the paper. Include all references to be used in the paper. Resource: â€Å"Over 30 Workers Trapped After Chilean Copper Mine Collapse† article found in the Electronic Reserve Readings. Research additional articles and information about the Chilean mine collapse. BCOM 275 week 4 Individual Assignment Knowing Your Audience Paper and Communication Release Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper using this and other articles as a resource. Because communications must be designed with the audience in mind, answer the following questions: †¢ What are some considerations to remember given the different roles and people in the audience? †¢ What would be the potential needs of the families of the miners in receiving a message about this incident? †¢ What would be the potential needs of the company’s employees when receiving a message about this incident? †¢ What actions must you take before and after the message is delivered to ensure that it was received as intended? Format the paper consistent with APA guidelines. Draft two communications from the mining company announcing the accident, using what you have learned about the audience and effective messages. One communication should be directed to the families of the trapped miners and the other as an internal news release to employees in the company. For both, identify the most appropriate channel—face-to-face, e-mail, video, memo,Show MoreRelatedTerm Essay2794 Words   |  12 PagesSyllabus BCOM/275 Version 2 1 Syllabus School of Business BCOM/275 Version 2 Business Communication and Critical Thinking Copyright  © 2011 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Instructor: Jon Olson 12/18/2012 – 02/04/2013 Course Description This course introduces students to the foundations of communication in a business setting. Students will develop skills in critical thinking and decision making through the forms of written communication, including memos, emails, business

Historic vs. Historical How to Choose the Right Word

Several  centuries ago, historic  and historical  were considered synonyms. However, over time, their definitions diverged, and the two words are now far from interchangeable, despite how similar they may seem. Both words are adjectives used to describe something related to the past, but the correct word is determined by the  significance  of  the noun being  described.   How to Use Historic The word historic refers to any  event, object, or place that is considered an important part of history. It is the more selective of the two terms. Anne Frank’s house,  the life story of  Cleopatra, and the first computer are  historic. By contrast, a brooch worn by an anonymous noblewoman from a prior century would not be considered historic, unless that brooch happened to have a special, notable role in some historic event.   How to Use Historical The word historical refers to anything and everything that has happened in or is connected to the past, no matter its level of importance.   While the  Battle of Gettysburg  is a historic event that influenced the outcome of the American Civil War, the soldiers daily breakfasts would be considered historical events—unless one such breakfast was the scene of a pivotal or famous moment. Historical is also the term you’ll see preceding the names of museums and other institutions. Examples Differentiating between historic and historical allows us to talk about the past more precisely. Consider the following examples to deepen your understanding of the distinction between the two terms:   Historic text vs. historical text: The Bible and the Declaration of Independence are both indisputably important parts of history. As such, they are both historic texts. A diary written by an anonymous teenager during the Great Depression would be considered a  historical  text. We can also use the word historical to describe  historical fiction, which refers to  a novel or story written about (but not necessarily during) a historical time period.Historic object vs. historical object: If a museum advertises an exhibition of  historic objects on display, theyre stating that the objects are historically significant. The Rosetta Stone and the Spirit of St. Louis are historic, whereas a  table from the 1800s is historical.Historic day  vs. historical day: The day  Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his â€Å"I have a dream† speech, the end of the second World War, and the signing of the  Bill of Rights were critical to the molding of history and thus are all historic d ays. A  historical day, on the other hand, is simply any day that occurred in the past.Historic map vs. historical map: If a map is called historic, it is because the map itself has had a prominent place in history, perhaps to plan an important battle or document the establishment of a city. A historical map is  any map that was produced in the past. A historical map likely conveys the history of the place it depicts, but the map itself is not historically significant as an object. How to Remember the Difference Mixing up historic and historical is a common grammatical pitfall. To remember the difference, call upon the words of writer William Safire: â€Å"Any past event is historical, but only the most memorable ones are historic.† Rely on the following memory tricks to ensure you always use the right word:  Ã‚   â€Å"Historical has more letters than historic, just as the definition of historical encompasses more events, objects, and people than the definition of historic.  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Historic† ends with the letter C. C stands for critical. Historic  objects or events are critical components of history.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Historical† ends with the letter L. L stands for long ago. Historical objects or events relate to anything that happened in the past, but may or may not be historically significant.   â€Å"A† Historic Event versus â€Å"An† Historic  Event Sometimes, the confusion around historic and historical arises not from the words themselves, but from the indefinite article that precedes them.  Recall the  rules about how to use â€Å"a† or â€Å"an†: When a word begins with a  consonant sound, use â€Å"a.†When a word begins with  a vowel sound, use â€Å"an.† In American English, both â€Å"historic† and â€Å"historical† have an audible â€Å"h† sound, so they must be preceded by â€Å"a.† The fact that British pronunciation sometimes omits the consonant sound in both terms further complicates the matter, but American English speakers can simply remember to use a.

Story of Medusa and Athena Free Essays

Story of Medusa and Athena A long time ago, Once upon a time there was this beautiful Professor by the name of Harris. Harris stayed in the country by the name of Greece in the city of Athens. Professor Harris was considered the most lovely looking girl within a city full of pretty looking girls. We will write a custom essay sample on Story of Medusa and Athena or any similar topic only for you Order Now Harris was exceedingly proud of her beauty, unfortunately and rarely talk or thought about anything else. Every day she would brag about how beautiful she is and how pretty she looks. Day after day her bragging became more and more out of hand. On one, Sunday, Professor Harris bragged to her friends about how her looks were better looking than the snow that has freshly fallen on the ground and trees. Monday, she was talking to the cobbler and told him that the sun was not as bright as her golden hair which glowed. On Tuesday, the son of the black smith overheard the commented made by her about the Aegean Sea and her eyes. Harris thinks her eyes are greener then the sea. By Wednesday, she was at again with her boasting, but this time it was not to one or even two but everyone at the public gardens. She told the public that the reddest of red roses does not have anything on her red lips. When Harris was not too busy sharing with everyone she came in contact with her thoughts on just how beautiful she is. Harris loved to gaze in the mirror at her lovely reflection. She would admired herself for hours each morning with her hand held mirror as she comb her hair. She would even admired herself in her darkened window each evening for hours as she got ready for bed. Professor Harris would even stopped every afternoon at the well to admire herself as she got her dad horses water. Forgetting often to fetch the water in her distraction. Professor Harris went on about how beautiful she was to everyone and anyone who would give her the time of day long enough to hear it from her. She went on and on until she made her first visit to the Parthenon one day with some friends. The Parthenon is where the largest temple for the goddess Athena in all the land. The Parthenon was decorated by the awesome painting and sculptures. The people who came to the Parthenon is awed by the beauty of the place. They could not keep from thinking of how grateful they were to Athena, which was known as the goddess of wisdom, for watching over their city of Athens and for inspiring them. Everyone, that is, except Harris. When Harris first saw the sculptures, she thought and said that i would have been a much better subject for this sculptor besides Athena. the artwork that she saw While she was there, made her comment to her freinds that the artist had done a superb job on the goddess bushy eyebrows considering they were not hers. harris could only imagine how much more astounding the painting have been if it was of someone as beautiful as professor Harris. And when Harris came to the altar Harris laugh happily and said, this is my gorgeous temple. This is a shame the temple was wasted on Athena, because i’m so much prettier than Athena is – perhaps may be some day people are to construct a grander temple to admire my beauty. the statement made by Harris made her friends turn green. Harris comments were overheard by the priestesses. The people began to Whispers throughout the whole temple and immediately the people began to exit the temple. the people that knew Athena. Knew that she loved watching over Athens Citizens and they became extremely afraid of what was going to happen after the goddess had overheard Harris rash remarks. Before long the temple was empty of everyone except Medusa, who was so busy gazing proudly at her reflection in the large bronze doors that she hadn’t noticed the swift departure of everyone else. Theimage she was gazing at wavered and suddenly, instead of her own features, it was the face of Athena that Medusa saw reflected back at her. â€Å"Vain and foolish girl,† Athena said angrily, â€Å"You think you are prettier than I am! I doubt it to be true, but even if it were — there is more to life than beauty alone. While others work and play and learn, you do little but boast and admire yourself. Medusa tried to point out that her beauty was an inspiration to those around her and that she made their lives better by simply looking so lovely, but Athena silenced her with a frustrated wavâ€Å"Nonsense,† Athena retorted, â€Å"Beauty fades swiftly in all mortals. It does not comfort the sick, teach the unskilled or feed the hungry. And by my powers, your lo veliness shall be stripped away completely. Your fate shall serve as a reminder to others to control their pride. †And with those words Medusa’s face changed to that of a hideous monster. Her hair twisted and thickened into horrible snakes that hissed and fought each other atop her head. â€Å"Medusa, for your pride this has been done. Your face is now so terrible to behold that the mere sight of it will turn a man to stone,† proclaimed the goddess, â€Å"Even you, Medusa, should you seek your reflection, shall turn to rock the instant you see your face. †And with that, Athena sent Medusa with her hair of snakes to live with the blind monsters — the gorgon sisters — at the ends of the earth, so that no innocents would be accidentally turned to stone at the sight of her. How to cite Story of Medusa and Athena, Essay examples

Strategic Development for Pepsico free essay sample

A report on the strategic development of the soft drink company, Pepsico. The paper shows that although Pepsi has dynamic strategic planning capabilities, it still cannot capture the competitors markets and consumer loyalty that Coke possesses. It shows how Pepsi drastically needs to change its strategies so that it can capture a larger market and utilize its resources to the maximum. Various issues are addressed, including: Strengths (campaign leadership, organizational structure, retailers), Weaknesses (customer loyalty), Opportunities (brands, channels, geographical growth, technology), Threats and Strategic Planning. Firstly Pepsi should expand its revenue. Currently the revenue is the same as Cokes but the difference is that Coke generates the same amount from the local market as the amount that Pepsi generates from its international markets combined. That is how strong a hold Coke has on the local market. Defeating Coke in its local market would mean that Pepsi is on top. We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Development for Pepsico or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is going to be very difficult to expand itself here and capture the local market because from the past experiences Pepsi has learned that Coke will apply any legal or illegal means to deter Pepsi from strengthening itself. So to increase the revenue, it would be wise to capture the international; markets and establish itself there. This is achievable because Pepsi gives competitive prices and can manage to sell internationally at prices that are equal lent to the local market that they intend to penetrate. That is why consumers internationally readily accept Pepsi.

Show how and explain why Priestley creates dramatic tension in the Birling house even before the inspector arrives Essay Example

Show how and explain why Priestley creates dramatic tension in the Birling house even before the inspector arrives Essay In the first act, Priestley introduces the characters to the audience in the play and their lifestyles. Using language, props and costume, Priestley shows the characters are wealthy. For example at the beginning of the play, Birling says, You ought to like this port, Gerald. . The upper class of the time (1912) generally drank port after dinner. The Birlings are gathered after dinner to celebrate the engagement between Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft. Birling is a rich businessman who is only interested in making money- Its my duty to keep labor costs down. Money is his first priority. Priestley wants Birling to sound ignorant, stupid, foolish nai ve and unsympathetic. Birling makes assumptions of what will happen in the future, for example, he says the Titanic will never sink, and he says that the English will never go to war because the Germans dont really want it. Since the play is set in spring 1912 none of the events have actually taken place yet, but the audience is living in the 1940s so they know Birling is wrong. This is called dramatic irony. His wife, Sybil is much of a sexist, traditionalist type lady. Sheila Birling is a young woman who is very pleased with life at the beginning of the book. We will write a custom essay sample on Show how and explain why Priestley creates dramatic tension in the Birling house even before the inspector arrives specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Show how and explain why Priestley creates dramatic tension in the Birling house even before the inspector arrives specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Show how and explain why Priestley creates dramatic tension in the Birling house even before the inspector arrives specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Her brother Eric is quite mysterious and comes across as very strange. On the surface, the mood in the Birlings house is jovial. Everyone seems quite happy with his or her lives but sometimes language they use shows there is tension. Tension is the anticipation of something bad, stressed or uncomfortable coming. The characters dont want to let the tension show because this should be a happy night for everyone and they dont want to make a big scene or cause a fuss. For example, one point of tension before the Inspector arrives is when Birling is talking about the absence of Sir and Lady Croft. Im not sorry that were celebrating quietly like this- Mrs. B cuts in saying, Much nicer really. The subtext of what Mrs. B is saying is shut up. She wants her husband to stop talking before someone is embarrassed by what he says. This tells us she is protective of Gerald because she doesnt want him to become embarrassed. There seems to be a problem between Gerald and Sheila. Although they are getting engaged, there are moments of tension between them. For example, when they have just finished dinner, Gerald says, In fact, I insist upon being one of the family now. Ive been trying long enough, havent I (Sheila does not reply, with more insistence) Havent I? You know I have. At this point Mrs. B cuts in and says, smiling, Of course she does. Here, Mrs. B cuts in to prevent an argument from arising and hide the tension. She is hiding the tension for Geralds benefit. Mrs. B wants to protect him because she respects him and likes him. She tries to cut off the subject but fails. Sheila continues- half serious, half playful, Yes- except for all of last summer, when you never came near me, and I wondered what had happened to you. Gerald replies, And Ive told you- I was awfully busy at the works all that time. Sheila replies in the same tone as before Yes, thats what you say. This seems to be a topic that has been previously discussed between Gerald and Sheila. We know this because Gerald says, And Ive told you- meaning obviously they have discussed this at length before. She approaches this subject carefully because although she is serious, she cannot let her anger show because she does not want to make a big scene. She knows something was not right about the time and hints Geralds response is a lie when she says, Yes, thats what you say. When Gerald pauses-And Ive told you- I was awfully busy at the works all that time. At the pause, he is preparing what he will say as it is a lie that has previously been told. He doesnt want to change his story by accident. Their discussion continues with Mrs. B, Now, Sheila, dont tease him. When youre married youll realize that men with important work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their business. Youll have to get used to that, just as I had. Sheila responds, I dont believe I will. Then to Gerald in the half serious half playful tone, So you be careful. Here, Mrs. B is saying that all men will have affairs and that the women will just have to get used to that. She knows Gerald was with another woman during the last summer but is protecting him from enduring more embarrassment. She thinks her daughter should accept the situation. When Sheila replies, she shows the change in attitude. She could easily be a feminist later on in her life. She believes more in equality than tradition. Out of all the characters, Sheila is the most sympathetic with Eva Smith. She represents change not only in sexism but also equality within classes. She is hope, optimism, and change because she is not selfish. She is not concerned about money at the end of the play. It is significant that Lord and Lady Croft are absent from the celebration. They appear to not be there because they are out of the country but that could easily just be made up to prevent embarrassment. They are not at dinner because they feel the Birlings are their social inferior. They do not approve of the engagement and choose not to be there from their own free will. When this subject comes up, tension arises. Birling says, Its a pity Sir George and er Lady Croft cant be with us, but theyre abroad so it cant be helped. As I told you, they sent me a very nice cable couldnt be nicer. Im not sorry that were celebrating quietly like this- Mrs. B then cuts in with Much nicer really. Gerald then finishes with, I agree. The pauses at the beginning of Birlings speech show tension. He does not seem to recall the maiden name of Geralds mother so he calls her Lady Croft to save embarrassment. This shows the Crofts are very aloof and do not speak to Birling often. Mrs. B cuts in to stop her husband rambling and Gerald ends the conversation with, I agree. Gerald is just saying he agrees to save embarrassment and to end the conversation. He may disagree strongly but doesnt feel comfortable enough to present that. Later though, when the men are on their own Birling shows he is aware that Geralds parents feel that Gerald could have done better socially. Birling says, I have an idea that your mother Lady Croft while she doesnt object to my girl- feels you might have done better for yourself socially- At this comment, Gerald feels rather embarrassed but Birling says that it is okay for his mother to feel like that and starts showing off that he may be on his chance to be knighted sometime soon. Eric behaves very strangely. He seems to not particularly know what is going on. After Gerald and Sheila have their moment of tension (Yes-except for all of last summer ) Eric suddenly guffaws out of nowhere. He seems to be as Sheila puts it, Squiffy. Eric is very familiar with the decanter and wants to continue getting drunk. He also starts saying strange things. When the women arent in the room the men start talking about women and how they are obsessed with clothes. Birling says, Yes, but youve got to remember, my boy, that clothes mean something quite different to a woman. Not just something to wear- and not only something to make em look prettier- but- well, a sort of sign or token of their self respect. Gerald then says, Thats true. Eric responds, eagerly, Yes, I remember but then he checks himself. Birling stops and says, Well what do you remember? Eric replies, confused, Nothing. Here Eric seems to be covering up for what he said earlier, perhaps he let it slip because he was drunk. At the end of the play we find out he is actually an alcoholic. We find he got Eva Smith pregnant in a drunken state that led her to Mrs. Birling. He knows this, while the audience doesnt. He probably is talking about Eva Smith and how she loved clothes. Priestly deliberately creates moments of dramatic tension for a number of reasons. He does this to show the relationship between the characters in the first place, before the inspector arrives. Another moment of tension occurs in Act 1. The following quote is taken after dinner, when everyone has left except for Gerald and Birling. Birling is showing off. He says, So as long as we behave ourselves, dont get into the police court or start a scandal eh? After this he starts laughing complacently. Gerald replies with a laugh, You seem to be a nice well-behaved family Birling cuts him off with, We think we are - This is hinting further on in the play, what Birling says will actually happen. The Inspector arrives at the Birling house only one page after this conversation. Dramatic irony occurs when Gerald says, You seem to be a nice well-behaved family. The key world is seem playing on the fact that they really arent. When Birling replies, it is again dramatic irony. He says think as if theres a possibility theyre not. They are foreshadowing the later events in the play, which is another reason there is dramatic tension. Also, Priestley is building up suspense and tension for the final chapter. These moments of dramatic tension foreshadow tension later in the play. The tension that was brought up between Gerald and Sheila foreshadow further problems with their relationship. Also when Birling and Gerald are saying they are a nice family, it foreshadows the tension that will appear when the inspector arrives. After the women have left the room, Birling gives advice to the two younger men in the room. He speaks of when he was Erics age. Yes, you dont know what some of these boys get up to nowadays. More money to spend and time to spare than I had when I was Erics age. They worked us hard in those days and kept us short of cash. Thought even then we broke out and had a bit of fun sometimes. He says of the fun he got up to when he was Erics age. He also justifies extra-marital sex, but not directly. He is passing on his sexism to the younger two men. When he speaks of the fun he got up to at Erics age, it foreshadows that Eric has been getting up to fun as well. The main three points of tension are; the tension between men and women, the tension between generations, and the tension between class and social status. This is all shown well before the inspector arrives. This is so we can see that these three points are important and that they would be there regardless of Eva Smiths death. The themes and issues brought up in this play were to help Britain and other countries become a more caring society. The themes and issues brought up were sexism, class and generation. In the book, women have a lower status than men- although Sheila represents change in this topic. Eva Smith represented all of these. She was female, poor and young. In class it shows everyone looks down on someone else. For example, the Crofts look down on the Birlings, who look down on Eva Smith. The Inspector came to their house to try and change it but only succeeded in changing Eric and Sheila. Through generation it shows the younger members of society are more easily influenced. At the time the book was written, society could be described as a triangle with the upper class as the top, with the least people, the middle class in the middle with more people and the working class in the bottom, which was the majority of people. During the war, it was mainly the working class who went and it was decided afterwards that they deserved free health and social welfare. After that Britain became a more caring and sensitive society. In a way, it was Britain giving something back to the working class for fighting for Britain.

voice recognition essays

voice recognition essays The future is here! Computers deciphering speech, cars commandeered by satellite and miracles of miniaturization are a reality. Are you ready to take advantage of this technology? Voice recognition along with these other new advances in technology are going to vastly increase the accessibility and function of personal computers. As viable working speech recognition software reaches the people the way we work with computers will be transformed. This hands-free technology will allow our words per minute to be dictated by our ability to express coherent ideas verbally, versus our typing skills. At first we may have to tolerate some clunky or limited command interactions but as the software evolves we can expect to see even greater accessibility for people of lesser computer skills. For those who use computers daily, hand held computers with voice input will increase their own ability to multitask. We'll soon be able to walk, talk, word-process and chew gum all at once. The miniaturization of technology is putting greater power in our grasp daily. The personal computer will soon be off our lap and in our palm. What used to take up the space of a desk may soon be no larger than a Walkman. This technology is bound to put a dent in your pocketbook, however we can expect that competition in the market will eventually lower prices. Advancements in heads up display, or HUD technology will further integrate the computer with our everyday lives. Developed early on for fighter pilots, the military now has a lightweight headgear unit for the foot soldier. This marriage of information at a glance and sustained interaction with the non-virtual world will be a breakthrough for ease of use in the civilian domain. If you thought Walkmans were annoying, we may now have to listen to the chatter of these people walking around with their computer headsets. Those with the latest in guidance and navigational technology in their automobi...

Expansion of the Atlantic World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Expansion of the Atlantic World - Essay Example One of the leading factors that led to the expansion of the Atlantic world was the interest of European entrepreneurs to establish colonies in the new world. Majority of the merchants were moving to new regions seeking to establish colonies that would concentrate on agricultural production. These merchants had seen the benefits of growing sugar in neighboring islands. Sugar plantations on these islands were proving very productive. They were zealously seeking new regions to establish sugar plantations. The triangle travel in the Atlantic sea seemed to favor their intents because it allowed them to move to new regions expanding the new world. Sugar was the most significant crop in the Atlantic world. More merchants needed to venture into growing of sugar after witnessing its potential economic benefits. It is worth noting that the drive to establish colonies came because of the introduction of capitalism. The theory and practice of capitalism was a new thing that drove majority of the merchants to seek every opportunity of being able to establish an economic centre. The rise of mercantilism thinking brought about the idea of capitalism (Evans and Ryden 222). Capitalism emphasized the process of increasing wealth for each nation through economic colonies. The drive to establish capitalism was strong as it translated to power in the European setting. Nations that established more colonies were powerful than those who did not venture into expansion. Each of the nations struggled to establish new nod different trade opportunities in order to increase the national total wealth and power. Even when they moved to new regions, European nations embarked on a vigorous scramble for new territories. It is in this venture that the Europeans established colonies in America. In addition, slave system is one of the crucial factors that hastened the pace at which the Atlantic world expanded (Searing 27). With increasing demand for labor, the Europeans initiated a salve trade tha t provided cheap and continuous labor in most of the American colonies. Slave trade helped most of the colonies succeed increasing the flow of goods in most of the established colonies. Shipping of colonies was from Africa to the American colonies. Slaves formed part of the triangle trade that exported raw materials from America to Europe. The Europeans, driven by the capitalist expansion indulged in manufacturing of goods. These goods targeted the market in Africa. Shipping of slaves occurred from Africa to America to work in the colony plantations (Evans and Ryden 25) Religion was another factor that led to the expansion of the Atlantic world. there was a religious revolution in Europe that led to the oppression of the adherents of some religions. On moving to new regions, they found new economic ventures. Some moved to establish new religious converts to the new world but indulged in trade later. Some of those motivated by religious factors also caught up with the capitalism spir it. The religious revolution was an opposition of the powers of the archbishop in Europe at the time. In the spirit of creation of new economic ventures, European settlers reached North America in 1620s (Mancall 20). After their arrival, they set out to establish colonies in the region. The first of these settlers arriving at Plymouth were Protestants. These endured hardships in North America and their persistence attracted other settlers to start

Barnabas Medical Centre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 14

Barnabas Medical Centre - Essay Example 2. The power boundary between Dr. Tony, the Associate Chief Medical Officer, and the departmental managers could jeopardize this process, especially if Dr. Tony opted not to cede power to them to come up with a solution to the problem facing BMC. Â  There could also be a conflict between the departmental managers as they sought to establish how each department influences the other. This was overcome through Dr. Tony’s effective relationship and communications management. Â  3. In this case, leaders encompass all that offered support and facilitation in the process. Dr. Tony exhibited emotional intelligence as a leader, self-motivating and motivating other members of staff towards the realization of the intended goal and showing social awareness. He shared authority and collaborate knowledge. Departmental managers exhibited their active leadership by engaging in the problem-solving process at BMC. Â  4. The factors that made the collaborative effort successful included Dr. Tony’s effective collaborative leadership and his effective management of communications and relationships. His knowledge of BMC’s ED situation and knowledge and skills on healthcare operations also made the collaborative effort successful. Â  1. The leader-followers boundary posed a challenge as the followers (medical staff) could resist the change by their leader, Dr. Till, in adopting the proposed changes. There was also a challenge between the organization and the government, such that, whereas the hospital management seeks to provide the best services to Willow Springs residents, the government cuts the needed financial aid. Â  2. Dr. Till is a leader in this case, having ceded his power to the medical staff to allow them to come with effective solutions for Willow Springs residents. He served as a servant leader by supporting and facilitating the workload with the medical staff.

Arab Nationalism in the Modern Context

Arab Nationalism in the Modern Context ‘Arab Nationalism’ was an important part of anti-colonial struggle. A generation on it has little meaning today. Discuss. This essay will examine to what extent Arab nationalism as an ideology was of significance to the anti-colonial struggle and the influence of Arab nationalism in present times. A prominent question of interest in this study will be: was western domination eliminated due to the might of Arab nationalism? Certainly there has been a debate surrounding the significance of Arab nationalism today, this essay will highlight central issues surrounding the debate such as whether Arab nationalism has terminally declined or has just become a lessened force. A further question of concern will be: If Arab nationalism has gone into political remission could it be revived or gain appeal in present times? Furthermore this study will analyse when Arab nationalism was at its strongest and when the greatest expression of Arab nationalism were evident. Arab nationalism is considered to be a nationalist ideology which objective is to achieve a unified Arab nation encompassing the entire territory which is categorised as â€Å"the Arab World† from the Atlantic Ocean to the Persian Gulf (Karsh Karsh, 1996). The assertion of Arab nationalism is that there should be political unity within the Arab world. Arab nationalism is an ideology that stresses solidarity of the Arab people which is entrenched in a common language, history and culture. The Arabic language is considered to play a significant unifying role. Certain scholars such as al-Hursi deem that the Arabic language is a central element of Arab nationalism (Suleiman, 1994). In addition, the end of Western hegemony and domination in the Middle East and North Africa region was a prominent objective of Arab nationalism. The notion of unity was believed to be a method that could be utilised to overcome colonisation. Arab nationalism was considered to be the sole vital method capable of providing an avenue away from colonialism and imperialism and a means to eliminate colonialism altogether. It was regarded to have the potential to provide larger regional unity as it offered the foundation of establishing an amalgamated nation that could be capable of resisting colonial powers and ultimately attaining independence. Various forms of long lasting grievances were caused by colonial occupation such as political oppression and marginalisation plus excessive economic profits and resources were continuously seized and exploited by the colonial powers. Furthermore a foreign unfamiliar culture was forced upon the Arab populaces; Arab nationalism and the set of beliefs surrounding the ideology were believed to have the capability to dissolve such matters in order to redeem and revert back to an indigenous culture and heritage. Most of the Arab world experienced colonial suppression and were ruled by western powers such as Britain and France. Was Arab nationalism vital in the struggle against colonialism? It is deemed that â€Å"†¦through the imperial world during the decolonizing period, protest, resistance, and independence movements were fuelled by one or another nationalism† (Said, 1993). The end of the Second World War caused vast political, social and economic transformations to the world order subsequently certain colonised nations gained their independence. In spite of this, the end of explicit or direct colonialism obviously did not equate to the termination of colonial dominance. European powers sought to retain their power across the Middle East and North Africa and colonialism still dominated large parts of the region. European imperialist presence was still evident as certain monarchies were under their rule and were still well disposed to them. For example, Egypt had been granted independence by the British in 1933 however Britain still played a direct role in Egyptian affairs and exercised a huge influence over the nation. It would be in this context that Arab nationalism would serve to provide a compelling set of beliefs and gain ground as a robust force in opposition to foreign occupation. Rafik Asha deemed that â€Å"(Arab) nationalism constitutes the v ital soul-force of our people, the bloodstream of Arab life and political vitality, the spirit which guides a resurgent people towards freedom from domination, servitude and patronage† (Pfaff, 1970). The Arab nationalist movement was immensely advanced by Gamal Abdel Nasser whom attained power in Egypt and became the nation’s president. In 1956, Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal which had still been occupied by the British. Furthermore, he fought against British, French and Israeli hostility and attacks towards Egypt later on that year. Both these forms of action exhibited a defiant attitude towards the Western powers and inevitably forced them into submission. During this epoch, Arab nationalism gained immense support and popularity throughout the Middle East and North Africa due to Nasser’s leadership furthermore many people in other Arab nations believed that they shared a common struggle against colonial powers. Furthermore the establishment of the United Arab Republic in 1958, which was the fusion of Egypt and Syria into one nation, was a bold experiment of Arab unity. Arab unity is one of the principal goals of Arab nationalism and it had been finally achieved. Even though it was a short lived political union it was distinguished to be a significant triumph over Western imperialism and emphasised that Arab nationalism and Arab unity did have the potential to be a distinct reality instead of being a mere ideological dream. The Arab defeat of the 1967 war had an implicit impact on Arab nationalism and led to the questioning of the secular ideology which had dominated Arab politics during the 1950s and 1960s. â€Å"It took some time for the light to go out on Arab nationalism, but its power generator went down in June 1967. After the Six-Day War, the slide of Arab nationalism toward political marginality became irreversible† (Dawisha, 2003). It is important to note that there was a considerable amount of other challenges which hindered the accomplishment of Arab unity, the principle goal of Arab nationalism. For instance there were evidently competing fidelities to tribes, sects region and religion â€Å"the Arabs were divided into sub-states identities such as tribe, religion and sect† (Dawisha, 2003). Furthermore there were different interpretations and clarifications of Arab nationalism. â€Å"Variations on Arab nationalism multiplied sometimes even inspiring separate classifications su ch as Nasserism and Ba’thism, and even more arcane subclassifications, such as neo-Ba’thism. Many of these became rivals, even to the point of bloodshed† (Kramer, 1993). Certain scholars stress that nationalist sentiment in the Middle East has significantly declined as a consequence of contesting ideologies such as Islamism (Myhill, 2010). Since 1967, Islamism has increasingly been perceived as an alternative discourse to secular Arab nationalism. In particular, it is deemed by some to be a form of response to significant failures such as the defeat of 1967 and the failure of the Arab nations to unite politically. The dissatisfaction of the people permitted Islamist groups to mobilise further recruits. During the period in which Nasser’s Arab nationalism was in power, Islamist ideologies had been marginalised and had been repressed from the political arena. For instance Egypt and Syria constrained the actions of the Muslim Brotherhood. Such circumstances as the defeat of 1967 and the on growing disillusionment of Arab nationalism led to the return of Islamist movements to the political field as such experiences of loss allowed Islam to offer a discourse that would provide the assurance of restoring the Arab region to a condition of fullness and glory. Therefore as an outcome of the decline of Arab nationalism, Islamist ideology began to fill the political void. It is claimed that Islam is the solely authentic ideology native to the Arab people, in particular Islamists contented that the secular nationalist phase was â€Å"untrue to Islam and lacking ‘authenticity’† (Fuller, 2004). In a similar vein it is argued that â€Å"Arab soldiers would have fought more bravely and effectively under the banner of Islam then they did under that of Arab nationalism†. Taking all of this into consideration, it is noticeable that the notion of that Islamism has replaced secular Arab nationalism particularly since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war is widely held. â€Å"In the 1980’s and 1990’s, radical Islam had become for the Arab regimes what Arab nationalism was in the 1950’s and 1960’s† (Dawisha, 2005). A question of relevance here is: Does Arab nationalism have any importance or significance today? It is evident that Arab nationalism went into decline following the 1967 War and that Islamist movements have been deemed as an alternative ideology however is it past the point of resuscitation? Some scholars advocate that Arab unification is completely over with and has no significance in any form (Ajami, 1978). However some judge that Arab nationalism is still in existence but will unlikely to be a potent influence. â€Å"But the Arab world today is so complex and fragmented, with such a maldistribution of population and resources (with a result that exploitation is also skewed in its local intensities) that it seems unlikely that Arab qawmiyya nationalism will survive as a major formative force† (Leiden, 1979). Arab nationalism can no longer hold the assertion that it retains an absolute grip in the mentality of the Arab people. All this, however, should not diminish the potential importance for the future course of Arab politics and culture. â€Å"Yet the idea is not dead; it still possesses force and it is possible that it can be resurrected at some later time† (Leiden, 1979). In a similar vein, it is deemed that â€Å"the fact of Arab nationalism cannot be argued away. It is a major political and social phenomenon as well as a mobilising ideology that has shaken the whole region since the last years of the nineteenth century† (Nafaa, 1983). It cannot be denied that attempts and experiments of Arab unity have been endeavoured and have not produced sincere effective outcomes. For instance notably the United Arab Republic highlighted the disagreements between Egypt and Syria. Furthermore in terms of carrying out collective aims the Arab League which was formed in 1945 was meant to bring into line meaningful cooperation plus social and economic unity. However the Arab League failed to achieve any substantial outcomes. Arab nationalism as an ideology and political movement was meaningless if its ultimate goal, the organic unity of all Arabs was unrealisable (Dawisha, 2005). On a more individual level, at present many Arabs doubt the certainty of the belief in an Arab nation and are significantly less confident on whether there now is an existing collective Arab pursuit or objective (Kramer, 1993). However, does the prosepect of attaining Arab untity really hold no weight in present times? It is important to recognise that at present unities amongst certain nations in the world are prevailing and effective. Undoubtedly, nations gain more power in numbers and that a group of nations united will certainly be more potent than a group of nations separated and split. In recent times, some may deem that the Arab population strongly requires Arab nationalism in order to gain influence in international issues. Long lasting divisions and discords have caused certain Arab nations to be less prominent in international affairs even though the Arab populace represents a considerable amount of people in Middle East and North Africa. For instance, nation states such as Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia are utterly reliant on the West (Khashan, 2000). From the time that they were established, individual Arab states have continuously given precedence to their individual interests. In present times the notion of Arab unity which is the ultimate goal of Arab nationalism may not be as inadequate as many perceive it to be. Undeniably, the accepted wisdom and thinking surrounding Arab nationalism has be subjected to certain setbacks leading to a great sense of dissatisfaction and stunted ambitions. However the notion of Arab unity holds a certain weight and is still of relevance at the current moment in time. If one is to analyse this line of thought on a pragmatic level a coherent political community would stand to serve significant purposes. Some deem that Arab nations should in spite of everything still work towards unity in order to attain constructive entities. This could be regarded to be entities such as an economic market that guarantees free movement of trade, goods and labour, a cohesive stand when handling with foreign powers in concern with economic and political matters. Unity could also serve to provide rapid assistance to an Arab nation intimidated b y a foreign power and to resolve internal Arab disagreements. Additionally an entirely Arab military authority could even be utilised to prevent potential foreign invasions (Khashan, 2000). An innovation Arab awareness should be established on the values of solidarity and constructive cooperation so that nations can associate with one another beneficially. Furthermore, some deem that the decline of Arab nationalism and its lack of influence now are due to the diminishment of imperialism as the perceived enemy. It must be recognised that by the 1960s the threat of imperialism had diminished and the issue had become less pertinent. In specific instances in Egypt and Iraq the British presence had been removed, Algeria had gained independence from the French colonial power; the Baghdad pact had been beaten (Dawisha, 2003). Without the significance of the â€Å"anti-imperialist† or â€Å"anti-colonial† resonance had Arab nationalism deteriorated to be nothing but a meaningless slogan which has run its course? Furthermore the opposition to western domination presented an opportunity and motive for unity, divisions intensified once Western imperialist domination had been removed. â€Å"So long as the greater part of the Arab polities were under the domination of their British, French or Italian overlords, the Arab nationalist c ould cooperate with those espousing a more parochial nationalism in a common effort to expel the colonial power. But once these fragmented parts attained their political independence, the efforts made to unite politically the several parts of the Arab world foundered on the shoals of parochial consideration† (Pfaff, 1970). However, undeniably in more recent times the Arab world has found itself struggling to resist foreign domination yet again in terms of international interference in the forms of Western militaries and United Nations sanctions particularly since after 1990s. On one hand this may be interpreted to have pushed Arab nationalism to retreat virtually to its state of origin however on the other hand this may be seen as to be a potential catalyst for a revival of Arab nationalism. For instance, the 2003 invasion of Iraq evoked a reaction of a certain Arab nationalist rhetoric (Taylor, 2003). All of this points to the conclusion that even though in the present day the set of beliefs relating to Arab nationalism are not as widely held as they were in the epochs of the 1950s and 1960s furthermore many claimed that the Arab vision for unity was irrelevant and exhausted especially after the Arab defeat in 1967 and overshadowed by Islamist movements. In spite of this the existence of Arab nationalist ideas are still prevailing in the Arab world and unification and political amalgamation is still required. â€Å"Nationalism will always exist when one group feels exploited by another† (Leiden, 1979) therefore in the future Arab nationalism may become more appealing due to prevailing international interference in the region and western domination. It has become evident in this study that Arab nationalism was considered to be a force implemented against colonisation and imperialism in this line of thought Arab nationalist ideas could still be utilised today in order to atta in solidarity to deter foreign intrusions. Bibliography Ajami, F. (1978). End of Pan-Arabism. Foreign Affairs, 355-373. Dawisha, A. (2003). Requiem for Arab Nationalism. Middle East Quarterly, 25-41. Dawisha, A. (2005). Arab nationalism in the twentieth century : from triumph to despair. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Fuller, G. (2004). The future of political Islam. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Karsh, E., Karsh, I. (1996). Reflections on Arab nationalism. Middle Eastern Studies, 367-392. Khashan, H. (2000). Revitalizing Arab Nationalism. Middle East Quarterly, 49-56. Kramer, M. (1993). Arab nationalism: mistaken identity. Daedalus , 171-206. Leiden, C. (1979). Arab Nationalism Today. Middle East Review, 45-51. Myhill, J. (2010). The islamization of arab nationalism. Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society, 19-43. Nafaa, H. (1983). Arab Nationalism: A response to Ajamis Thesis of the End of Pan-Arabism. Journal of Arab Affairs, 173-199. Pfaff, R. (1970). The function of Arab nationalism. Comparative Politics, 147-167. Rubin, B. (1991). Pan-Arab nationalism: The ideological dream as compelling force. Journal of Contemporary History, 535-551. Said, E. (1993). Culture and imperialism. London: Random House LLC. Suleiman, Y. (1994). Nationalism and the Arabic language: A historical overview. In Y. Suleiman, Arabic sociolinguistics: Issues and perspectives (pp. 3-23). New York: Routledge . Taylor, P. (2003, April 04). War Spawns New Arab Nationalist Mood, Pride. Retrieved April 04, 2014, from Arab news: http://www.arabnews.com/node/230249

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 22

Chapter 22 Tamil, as it turned out, was not a small town in southern India, but the whole southern peninsula, an area about five times the size of Israel, so looking for Melchior was akin to walking into Jerusalem on any given day and saying, â€Å"Hey, I'm looking for a Jewish guy, anyone seen him?† What we had going for us was that we knew Melchior's occupation, he was an ascetic holy man who lived a nearly solitary life somewhere along the coast and that he, like his brother Gaspar, had been the son of a prince. We found hundreds of different holy men, or yogis, most of them living in complete austerity in the forest or in caves, and usually they had twisted their bodies into some impossible posture. The first of these I saw was a yogi who lived in a lean-to on the side of a hill overlooking a small fishing village. He had his feet tucked behind his shoulders and his head seemed to be coming from the wrong end of his torso. â€Å"Josh, look! That guy is trying to lick his own balls! Just like Bartholomew, the village idiot. These are my people, Josh. These are my people. I have found home.† Well, I hadn't really found home. The guy was just performing some sort of spiritual discipline (that's what â€Å"yoga† means in Sanskrit: discipline) and he wouldn't teach me because my intentions weren't pure or some claptrap. And he wasn't Melchior. It took six months and the last of our money and we both saw our twenty-fifth birthdays before we found Melchior reclining in a shallow stone nook in a cliff over the ocean. Seagulls were nesting at his feet. He was a hairier version of his brother, which is to say he was slight, about sixty years old, and he wore a caste mark on his forehead. His hair and beard were long and white, shot with only a few stripes of black, and he had intense dark eyes that seemed to show no white at all. He wore only a loincloth and he was as thin as any of the Untouchables we had met in Kalighat. Joshua and I clung to the side of the cliff while the guru untied from the human knot he'd gotten himself into. It was a slow process and we pretended to look at the seagulls and enjoy the view so as not to embarrass the holy man by seeming impatient. When he finally achieved a posture that did not appear as if it had been caused by being run over by an ox cart, Joshua said, â€Å"We've come from Israel. We were six years with your brother Gaspar in the monastery. I am – â€Å" â€Å"I know who you are,† said Melchior. His voice was melodic, and every sentence he spoke seemed as if he were beginning to recite a poem. â€Å"I recognize you from when I first saw you in Bethlehem.† â€Å"You do?† â€Å"A man's self does not change, only his body. I see you grew out of the swaddling clothes.† â€Å"Yes, some time ago.† â€Å"Not sleeping in that manger anymore?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Some days I could go for a nice manger, some straw, maybe a blanket. Not that I need any of those luxuries, nor does anyone who is on the spiritual path, but still.† â€Å"I've come to learn from you,† Joshua said. â€Å"I am to be a bodhisattva to my people and I'm not sure how to go about it.† â€Å"He's the Messiah,† I said helpfully. â€Å"You know, the Messiah. You know, Son of God.† â€Å"Yeah, Son of God,† Joshua said. â€Å"Yeah,† I said. â€Å"Yeah,† said Joshua. â€Å"So what do you have for us?† I asked. â€Å"And who are you?† â€Å"Biff,† I said. â€Å"My friend,† said Josh. â€Å"Yeah, his friend,† said I. â€Å"And what do you seek?† â€Å"Actually, I'd like to not have to hang on to this cliff a lot longer, my fingers are going numb.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Josh. â€Å"Yeah,† said I. â€Å"Find yourself a couple of nooks on the cliff. There are several empty. Yogis Ramata and Mahara recently moved on to their next rebirth.† â€Å"If you know where we can find some food we would be grateful,† Joshua said. â€Å"It's been a long time since we've eaten. And we have no money.† â€Å"Time then for your first lesson, young Messiah. I am hungry as well. Bring me a grain of rice.† Joshua and I climbed across the cliff until we found two nooks, tiny caves really, that were close to each other and not so far above the beach that falling out would kill us. Each of our nooks had been gouged out of the solid rock and was just wide enough to lie down in, tall enough to sit up in, and deep enough to keep the rain off if it was falling straight down. Once we were settled, I dug through my satchel until I found three old grains of rice that had worked their way into a seam. I put them in my bowl, then carried the bowl in my teeth as I made my way back to Melchior's nook. â€Å"I did not ask for a bowl,† said Melchior. Joshua had already skirted the cliff and was sitting next to the yogi with his feet dangling over the edge. There was a seagull in his lap. â€Å"Presentation is half the meal,† I said, quoting something Joy had once said. Melchior sniffed at the rice grains, then picked one up and held it between his bony fingertips. â€Å"It's raw.† â€Å"Yes, it is.† â€Å"We can't eat it raw.† â€Å"Well, I would have served it up steaming with a grain of salt and a molecule of green onion if I'd known you wanted it that way.† (Yeah, we had molecules in those days. Back off.) â€Å"Very well, this will have to do.† The holy man held the bowl with the rice grains in his lap, then closed his eyes. His breathing began to slow, and after a moment he appeared not to be breathing at all. Josh and I waited. And looked at each other. And Melchior didn't move. His skeletal chest did not rise with breath. I was hungry and tired, but I waited. And the holy man didn't move for almost an hour. Considering the recent nook vacancies on the cliff face, I was a little concerned that Melchior might have succumbed to some virulent yogi-killing epidemic. â€Å"He dead?† I asked. â€Å"Can't tell.† â€Å"Poke him.† â€Å"No, he's my teacher, a holy man. I'm not poking him.† â€Å"He's Untouchable.† Joshua couldn't resist the irony, he poked him. Instantly the yogi opened his eyes, pointed out to sea and screamed, â€Å"Look, a seagull!† We looked. When we looked back the yogi was holding a full bowl of rice. â€Å"Here, go cook this.† So began Joshua's training to find what Melchior called the Divine Spark. The holy man was stern with me, but his patience with Joshua was infinite, and it was soon evident that by trying to be part of Joshua's training I was actually holding him back. So on our third morning living in the cliff, I took a long satisfying whiz over the side (and is there anything so satisfying as whizzing from a high place?) then climbed to the beach and headed into the nearest town to look for a job. Even if Melchior could make a meal out of three grains of rice, I'd scraped all the stray grains out of both my and Joshua's satchels. The yogi might be able to teach a guy to twist up and lick his own balls, but I couldn't see that there was much nourishment in it. The name of the town was Nicobar, and it was about twice the size of Sepphoris in my homeland, perhaps twenty thousand people, most of whom seemed to make their living from the sea, either as fishermen, traders, or shipbuilders. After inquiring at only a few places, I realized that for once it wasn't my lack of skills that were keeping me from making a living, it was the caste system. It extended far deeper into the society than Rumi had told me. Subcastes of the larger four dictated that if you were born a stonecutter, your sons would be stonecutters, and their sons after them, and you were bound by your birth to never do any other job, regardless of how good or bad you were at it. If you were born a mourner, or a magician, you would die a mourner or a magician, and the only way you'd get out of death or magic was to die and be reincarnated as something else. The one skill that didn't seem to require belonging to a caste was village idiot, but the Hindus seemed to thrust the more ec centric holy men into this role, so I found no openings there. I did have my bowl, and my experience at collecting alms for the monastery, so I tried my hand at begging, but every time I would get a good corner staked out, along would hop some one-legged blind guy to steal my action. By the late afternoon I had one tiny copper coin and the steward of the beggars guild had come along to warn me that if he caught me begging in Nicobar again, he'd see that I was admitted to the guild by the immediate removal of my arms and legs. I bought a handful of rice at the market and was skulking out of town, my bowl before me and my head down, like a good monk, when I saw before me a most delicate set of toes, painted vermilion and followed by a dainty foot, an elegant ankle ajangle with copper bangles, an inviting calf decorated with hennaed designs as intricate as lace, and from there a bright skirt led me up the seam to a bejeweled navel, full breasts haltered in yellow silk, lips like plums, a nose as long and straight as a Roman statue's, and wide brown eyes, shaded in blue and lined to make them look the size of a tiger's. They drank me in. â€Å"You're a stranger,† she said. One long finger on my chest stopped me on the spot. I tried to hide my rice bowl in my shirt, and in a fabulous display of sleight of hand, ended up spilling the grains down my front. â€Å"I'm from Galilee. In Israel.† â€Å"Never heard of it. Is it far?† She reached into my shirt and began to pick out the rice grains that had caught against my sash, running her fingernail along my stomach muscles and dropping the grains, one by one, into my bowl. â€Å"Very far. I've come here with my friend to obtain sacred and ancient knowledge, that kind of thing.† â€Å"What is your name?† â€Å"Biff – or Levi who is called Biff. We do that ‘who is called' thing a lot in Israel.† â€Å"Follow me, Biff, I'll show you some ancient and sacred knowledge.† She hooked her finger into my sash and walked into a nearby doorway, for some reason completely confident that I would follow. Inside, amid piles of colorful pillows strewn about the floors and deep carpets the likes of which I hadn't seen since Balthasar's fortress, stood a carved camphorwood stand on which a large codex lay open. The book was bound in brass filigreed with copper and silver, and the pages were made of a parchment finer than I had ever seen. The woman pushed me toward the book and left her hand on my back as I looked at the open page. The handwritten script was gilded and so ornate that I could barely make out the words, which didn't matter anyway, because it was the illustration that caught my eye. A man and a woman, nude, each perfect. The man had the woman facedown on a rug, her feet hooked over his shoulders, her arms held behind her as he entered her. I tried to call on my Buddhist training and discipline to keep from embarrassing myself in front of the strange woman. â€Å"Ancient sacred wisdom,† she said. â€Å"The book was a gift from a patron. The Kama Sutra, it's called. Thread of Desire.† â€Å"The Buddha said that desire is the source of all suffering,† I said, feeling like the kung fu master that I knew I was. â€Å"Do they look like they are suffering?† â€Å"No.† I began to tremble. I had been too long out of the company of women. Far too long. â€Å"Would you like to try that? That suffering. With me?† â€Å"Yes,† I said. All the training, all the discipline, all the control, gone in a word. â€Å"Do you have twenty rupees?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Then suffer,† she said, and she stepped away. â€Å"See, I told you.† Then she walked away, trailing the scent of sandalwood and roses behind her as she went to the door, her hips waving good-bye to me all the way across the room, the bangles on her arms and ankles ringing like tiny temple bells calling me to worship at her secret grotto. At the door she crooked a finger for me to follow her out, and I did. â€Å"My name is Kashmir,† she said. â€Å"Come back. I'll teach you ancient and sacred knowledge. One page at time. Twenty rupees each.† I took my stupid, pathetic, useless grains of rice and went back to my holy, stupid, useless, stupid male friends at the cliff. â€Å"I brought some rice,† I said to Joshua when I had climbed to my nook in the cliff. â€Å"Melchior can do his rice thing and we'll have enough for supper.† Josh was sitting on the shelf of his nook, his legs folded into the lotus position, hands in the mudra of the compassionate Buddha. â€Å"Melchior is teaching the path to the Divine Spark,† Joshua said. â€Å"First you have to quiet the mind. That's why there's so much physical discipline, attention to breath, you have to be so completely in control that you can see past the illusion of your body.† â€Å"And how is that different from what we did in the monastery?† â€Å"It's subtle, but it's different. There the mind would ride the wave of action, you could meditate while on the exercise posts, shooting arrows, fighting. There was no goal because there was no place to be but in the moment. Here, the goal is to see beyond the moment, to the soul. I think I'm getting a glimpse. I'm learning the postures. Melchior says that an accomplished yogi can pass his entire body through a hoop the size of his head.† â€Å"That's great, Josh. Useful. Now let me tell you about this woman I met.† So I jumped over to Josh's ledge and began to tell him about my day, the woman, the Kama Sutra, and my opinion that this just might be the sort of ancient spiritual information a young Messiah might need. â€Å"Her name is Kashmir, which means soft and expensive.† â€Å"But she's a prostitute, Biff.† â€Å"Prostitutes didn't bother you when you were making me help you learn about sex.† â€Å"They still don't bother me, it's just that you don't have any money.† â€Å"I got the feeling she likes me. I think maybe she'll do me pro bono, if you know what I mean?† I elbowed him in the ribs and winked. â€Å"You mean for the public good. You forget your Latin? ‘Pro bono' means ‘for the public good.'† â€Å"Oh. I thought it meant something else. She's not going to do me for that.† â€Å"No, probably not,† said Josh. So the next day, first thing, I made may way back to Nicobar, determined to find a job, but by noon I found myself sitting on the street next to one of the blind, no-legged beggar kids. The street was packed with traders, haggling, making deals, exchanging cash for goods and services, and the kid was making a killing on the spare change. I was astounded at the amount in the kid's bowl; there must have been enough for three Kama Sutra pages right there. Not that I would steal from a blind kid. â€Å"Look, Scooter, you look a little tired, you want me to watch the bowl while you take a break?† â€Å"Get your hand out of there!† The kid caught my wrist (me, the kung fu master). He was quick. â€Å"I can tell what you're doing.† â€Å"Okay, fine, how about I show you some magic tricks. A little sleight of hand?† â€Å"Oh, that'll be fun. I'm blind.† â€Å"Look, make up your mind.† â€Å"I'm going to call for the guild-master if you don't go away.† So I went away, despondent, defeated – not money enough to look at the edge of a page of the Kama Sutra. I skulked back to the cliffs, climbed up to my nook, and resolved to console myself with some cold rice left over from last night's supper. I opened my satchel and – â€Å"Ahhh!† I leapt back. â€Å"Josh, what are you doing in there?† And there he was, his beatific old Joshua face with the sole of a foot on either side like big ears, a few vertebrae showing, one hand, my ying-yang amulet vial, and a jar of myrrh. â€Å"Get out of there. How'd you get in there?† I've mentioned our satchels before. The Greeks called them wallets, I guess you would call them duffel bags. They were made of leather, had a long strap we could throw over our shoulder, and I suppose if you'd asked me before, I would have said you could get a whole person in one if you had to, but not in one piece. â€Å"Melchior taught me. It took me all morning to get in here. I thought I'd surprise you.† â€Å"Worked. Can you get out?† â€Å"I don't think so. I think my hips are dislocated.† â€Å"Okay, where's my black glass knife?† â€Å"It's at the bottom of the bag.† â€Å"Why did I know you were going to say that?† â€Å"If you get me out I'll show you what else I learned. Melchior taught me how to multiply the rice.† A few minutes later Joshua and I were sitting on the ledge of my nook being bombarded by seagulls. The seagulls were attracted by the huge pile of cooked rice that lay between us on the ledge. â€Å"That's the most amazing thing I've ever seen.† Except that you really couldn't see it done. One minute you had a handful of rice, the next a bushel. â€Å"Melchior says that it usually takes a lot longer for a yogi to learn to manipulate matter like this.† â€Å"How much longer?† â€Å"Thirty, forty years. Most of the time they pass on before they learn.† â€Å"So this is like the healing. Part of your, uh, legacy?† â€Å"This isn't like the healing, Biff. This can be taught, given the time.† I tossed a handful of rice into the air for some seagulls. â€Å"Tell you what. Melchior obviously doesn't like me, so he's not going to teach me anything. Let's trade knowledge.† I brought rice to Joshua, had him multiply it, then sold the surplus in the market, and eventually I started trading fish instead of rice because I could raise twenty rupees in fewer trips. But before that, I asked Joshua to come to town with me. We went to the market, which was thick with traders, haggling, making deals, exchanging cash for goods and services, and over on the side, a blind and legless beggar was making a killing on the change. â€Å"Scooter, I'd like you to meet my friend Joshua.† â€Å"My name's not Scooter,† said the waif. A half hour later Scooter could see again and miraculously his severed legs had been regenerated. â€Å"You bastards!† said Scooter as he ran off on clean new pink feet. â€Å"Go with God,† Joshua said. â€Å"Now I guess we'll see how easy it is to earn a living!† I shouted after the kid. â€Å"He didn't seem very pleased,† said Josh. â€Å"He's only learning to express himself. Forget him, others are suffering as well.† And so it came to pass, that Joshua of Nazareth moved among them, healing them and performing miracles, and all the little blind children of Nicobar did see again, and all the lame did stand up and walk. The little fuckers. And so the exchange of knowledge began: what I was learning from Kashmir and the Kama Sutra for what Joshua was learning from the holy man Melchior. Each morning, before I went to town and before Joshua went to learn from his guru, we met on the beach and shared ideas and breakfast. Usually some rice and a fresh fish roasted over the fire. We'd gone long enough without eating animal flesh, we had decided, despite what Melchior and Gaspar tried to teach us. â€Å"This ability to increase the bounty of food – imagine what we can do for the people of Israel, of the world.† â€Å"Yes, Josh, for it is written: ‘Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, but teach a man to be a fish and his friends eat for a week.'† â€Å"That is not written. Where is that written?† â€Å"Amphibians five-seven.† â€Å"There's no friggin' Amphibians in the Bible.† â€Å"Plague of frogs. Ha! Gotcha!† â€Å"How long's it been since you had a beating?† â€Å"Please. You can't hit anyone, you have to be at total peace with all creation so you can find Sparky the Wonder Spirit.† â€Å"The Divine Spark.† â€Å"Whatever, th – ouch. Oh great, and what am I supposed to do, hit the Messiah back?† â€Å"Turn the other cheek. Go ahead, turn it.† As I said, thus did the enlightened exchange of sacred and ancient teachings begin: The Kama Sutra sayeth: When a woman winds her small toes into the armpit hair of the man, and the man hops upon one foot, while supporting the woman on his lingam and a butter churn, then the achieved position is called â€Å"Rhinoceros Balancing a Jelly Donut.† â€Å"What's a jelly donut?† Joshua asked. â€Å"I don't know. It's a Vedic term lost to antiquity, but it is said to have had great significance to the keepers of the law.† â€Å"Oh.† The Katha Upanishad sayeth: Beyond the senses are the objects, and beyond the objects is the mind. Beyond the mind is pure reason, and beyond reason is the Spirit in man. â€Å"What's that supposed to mean?† â€Å"You have to think about it, but it means that there's something eternal in everyone.† â€Å"That's swell. What's with the guys on the bed of nails?† â€Å"A yogi must leave his body if he is going to experience the spiritual.† â€Å"So he leaves through the little holes in his back?† â€Å"Let's start again.† The Kama Sutra sayeth: When a man applies wax from the carnuba bean to a woman's yoni and buffs it with a lint-free cloth or a papyrus towel until a mirror shine is achieved, then it is called Readying the Mongoose for Trade-in.† â€Å"Look, she sells me pieces of sheepskin parchment, and each time, after we're finished, I'm allowed to copy the drawings. I'm going to tie them all together and make my own codex.† â€Å"You did that? That looks like it hurts.† â€Å"This from a guy I had to break out of a wine jar with a hammer yesterday.† â€Å"Yeah, well, it wouldn't have happened if I'd remembered to grease my shoulders like Melchior taught me.† Joshua turned the drawing to get a different angle on it. â€Å"You're sure this doesn't hurt?† â€Å"No, not if you keep your bottom away from the incense burners.† â€Å"No, I mean her.† â€Å"Oh, her. Well, who knows? I'll ask her.† The Bhagavad Gita sayeth: I am impartial to all creatures, and no one is hateful or dear to me, but men devoted to me are in me, and I am in them. â€Å"What's the Bhagavad Gita?† â€Å"It's like a long poem in which the god Krishna advises the warrior Arjuna as he drives his chariot into battle.† â€Å"Really, what's he advise him?† â€Å"He advises him not to feel bad about killing the enemy, because they are essentially already dead.† â€Å"You know what I'd advise him if I was a god? I'd advise him to get someone else to drive his friggin' chariot. The real God wouldn't be caught dead driving a chariot.† â€Å"Well, you have to look at it as a parable, otherwise it sort of reeks of false gods.† â€Å"Our people don't have good luck with false gods, Josh. They're – I don't know – frowned upon. We get killed and enslaved when we mess with them.† â€Å"I'll be careful.† The Kama Sutra sayeth: When a woman props herself up on the table and inhales the steam of the eucalyptus tea, while gargling a mixture of lemon, water, and honey, and the man takes the woman by the ears, and enters her from behind, while looking out the window at the girl across the street hanging out her laundry to dry, then the position is called â€Å"Distracted Tiger Hacking Up a Fur Ball.† â€Å"I couldn't find that one in the book, so she dictated it to me from memory.† â€Å"Kashmir's quite the scholar.† â€Å"She had the sniffles, but agreed to my lesson anyway. I think she's falling for me.† â€Å"How could she not, you're a very charming fellow.† â€Å"Why, thank you, Josh.† â€Å"You're welcome, Biff.† â€Å"Okay, tell me about your little yoga thing.† The Bhagavad Gita sayeth: Just as the wide-moving wind is constantly present in space, so all creatures exist in me. Understand it to be so! â€Å"Is that the kind of advice you'd give someone who's riding into battle? You'd think Krishna would be saying stuff like, ‘Look out, an arrow! Duck!'† â€Å"You'd think,† Joshua sighed. The Kama Sutra sayeth: The position of â€Å"Rampant Monkey Collecting Coconuts† is achieved when a woman hooks her fingers into the man's nostrils and performs a hokey-pokey motion with her hips and the man, while firmly stroking the woman's uvula with his thumbs, swings his lingam around her yoni in a direction counter to that in which water swirls down a drain. (Water has been observed swirling down the drain in different directions in different places. This is a mystery, but a good rule of thumb for achieving Rampant Monkey is to just go in the direction counter to which your own personal drain swirls.) â€Å"Your drawings are getting better,† Joshua said. â€Å"In the first one I thought she had a tail.† â€Å"I'm using the calligraphy techniques we learned in the monastery, only using them to draw figures. Josh, are you sure it doesn't bother you, talking about this stuff when you'll never be allowed to do it?† â€Å"No, it's interesting. It doesn't bother you when I talk about heaven, does it?† â€Å"Should it?† â€Å"Look, a seagull!† The Katha Upanishad sayeth: For a man who has known him, the light of truth shines. For one who has not known, there is darkness. The wise who have seen him in every being on leaving this life, attain life immortal. â€Å"That's what you're looking for, huh, the Divine Spark thing?† â€Å"It's not for me, Biff.† â€Å"Josh, I'm not a satchel of sand here. I didn't spend all of my time studying and meditating without getting some glimpse of the eternal.† â€Å"That's good to know.† â€Å"Of course it helps when angels show up and you do miracles and stuff too.† â€Å"Well, yes, I guess it would.† â€Å"But that's not a bad thing. We can use that when we get home.† â€Å"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?† â€Å"Not a clue.† Our training went on for two years before I saw the sign that called us home. Life was slow, but pleasant there by the sea. Joshua became more efficient at multiplying food, and while he insisted on living an austere lifestyle so he could remain unattached to the material world, I was able to get a little money ahead. In addition to paying for my lessons, I was able to decorate my nook (just some erotic drawings, curtains, some silk cushions) and buy a few personal items such as a new satchel, an ink stone and a set of brushes, and an elephant. I named the elephant Vana, which is Sanskrit for wind, and although she certainly earned her name, I regret it was not due to her blazing speed. Feeding Vana was not a difficulty with Joshua's ability to turn a handful of grass into a fodder farm, but no matter how hard Joshua tried to teach her yoga, she was not able to fit into my nook. (I consoled Joshua that it was probably the climb, and not his failure as a yoga guru that deterred Vana. â€Å"If she had fingers, Josh, she'd be snuggling up with me and seagulls right now.†) Vana didn't like being on the beach when the tide came and washed sand between her toes, so she lived in a pasture just above the cliff. She did, however, love to swim, and some days rather than ride her on the beach all the way to Nicobar, I would have her swim into the harbor just under water, with only her trunk showing and me standing on her forehead. â€Å"Look, Kashmir, I'm walking on water! I'm walking on water!† So eager was my erotic princess to share my embrace that rather than wonder at the spectacle as did the other townsfolk she could only reply: â€Å"Park the elephant in back.† (The first few times she said it I thought she was referring to a Kama Sutra position that we had missed, pages stuck together perhaps, but it turned out such was not the case.) Kashmir and I became quite close as my studies progressed. After we went through all the positions of the Kama Sutra twice, Kashmir was able to take things to the next level by introducing Tantric discipline into our lovemaking. So skillful did we become at the meditative art of coupling that even in the throes of passion, Kashmir was able to polish her jewelry, count her money, or even rinse out a few delicates. I myself had so mastered the discipline of controlled ejaculation that often I was halfway home before release was at last achieved. It was on my way home from Kashmir's – as Vana and I were cutting through the market so that I could show my friends the ex-beggar boys the possible rewards for the man of discipline and character (to wit: I had an elephant and they did not) – that I saw, outlined on the wall of a temple of Vishnu, a dirty water stain, caused by condensation, mold, and wind-blown dust, which described the face of my best friend's mother, Mary. â€Å"Yeah, she does that,† said Joshua, when I swung over the edge of his nook and announced the news. He and Melchior had been meditating and the old man, as usual, appeared to be dead. â€Å"She used to do it all the time when we were kids. She sent James and me running all over the place washing down walls before people saw. Sometimes her face would appear in a pattern of water drops in the dust, or the peelings from grapes would fall just so in a pattern after being taken out of the wine press. Usually it was walls.† â€Å"You never told me that.† â€Å"I couldn't tell you. The way you idolized her, you'd have been turning the pictures into shrines.† â€Å"So they were naked pictures?† Melchior cleared his throat and we both looked at him. â€Å"Joshua, either your mother or God has sent you a message. It doesn't matter who sent it, the message is the same. It is time for you to go home.† We would be leaving for the north in the morning, and Nicobar was south, so I left Joshua to pack our things on Vana while I walked into town to break the news to Kashmir. â€Å"Oh my,† she said, â€Å"all the way back to Galilee. Do you have money for the journey?† â€Å"A little.† â€Å"But not with you?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Well, okay. Bye.† I could swear I saw a tear in her eye as she closed the door. The next morning, with Vana loaded with my drawings and art supplies; my cushions, curtains, and rugs; my brass coffeepot, my tea ball, and my incense burner; my pair of breeding mongooses (mongeese?), their bamboo cage, my drum set, and my umbrella; my silk robe, my sun hat, my rain hat, my collection of carved erotic figurines, and Joshua's bowl, we gathered on the beach to say good-bye. Melchior stood before us in his loincloth, the wind whipping the tails of his white beard and hair around his face like fierce clouds. There was no sadness in his face, but then, he had endeavored his entire life to detach from the material world, which we were part of. He'd already done this a long time ago. Joshua made as if to embrace the old man, then instead just poked him in the shoulder. Once and only once, I saw Melchior smile. â€Å"But you haven't taught me everything I need to know,† Josh said. â€Å"You're right, I have taught you nothing. I could teach you nothing. Everything that you needed to know was already there. You simply needed the word for it. Some need Kali and Shiva to destroy the world so they may see past the illusion to divinity in them, others need Krishna to drive them to the place where they may perceive what is eternal in them. Others may perceive the Divine Spark in themselves only by realizing through enlightenment that the spark resides in all things, and in that they find kinship. But because the Divine Spark resides in all, does not mean that all will discover it. Your dharma is not to learn, Joshua, but to teach.† â€Å"How will I teach my people about the Divine Spark? Before you answer, remember we're talking about Biff too.† â€Å"You must only find the right word. The Divine Spark is infinite, the path to find it is not. The beginning of the path is the word.† â€Å"Is that why you and Balthasar and Gaspar followed the star? To find the path to the Divine Spark in all men? The same reason that I came to find you?† â€Å"We were seekers. You are that which is sought, Joshua. You are the source. The end is divinity, in the beginning is the word. You are the word.†

Qualities of a Friend

Everyday we meet people. Many of them become instant acquaintances and most acquaintances bloom into friendship. Often this transition period occurs gradually. Friends come into ours lives and go. Few stay a while longer and fewer still leave footprints in our hearts and the sands of time. Who is a friend and what are the qualities a friend should possess? The definition of a friend and friendship varies with each individual. For me, a good friend is someone who understands me, accepts me for what I am and at the same time inspires me to do the best. At a personal level, a true friend should not give up on me, should always forgive my mistakes and never judge me by actions as sometimes my actions may be rash and inconsiderate. We live in a very competitive world. Most of us are caught up in the rat race of paper chase, mounting work pressure and demanding family commitments take a toll on our time and energy. Consequently most of us experience mood swings due to high expectations placed upon us. It is during times like these, when we are burdened with responsibilities and life seems to be an endless uphill struggle, that we seek the comforting words of a friend; a friend who urges you to pick up the pieces and move on. A good friend is always there to lend a helping hand or to lend us a shoulder to cry on. At the same time, a friend should be trustworthy and loyal. When friends trust us with secrets, we should never betray their confidence. No one can confide in someone whom he cannot trust to keep his secrets. True friendship is demanding. It requires loyalty, trust, empathy, support and understanding. However, one should never expect such virtues in a friend unless he is willing to offer these virtues in return. In other words, one must be a friend to have a friend. It may be impossible to find all these virtues in a single friend. However, should I come across such a friend; I shall treasure our friendship for life. As I reminisce about the good times I have shared with the best of my friends, the words of William Shakespeare keeps ringing in my ears. â€Å"The friends thou has, and their adoption tired, Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel. † Yes, friendship that has stood the test of time should be most revered and happy is the man who is blessed with such a friend.

Police Corruption Must be Stopped - 2357 Words

Police Corruption The mission statement of The Los Angeles Police Department is as follows: It is the mission of The Los Angeles Police Department to safeguard the lives and property of the people we serve, to reduce the incidence and fear of crime, and to enhance public safety while working with the diverse communities to improve their quality of life. Our mandate is to do so with honor and integrity, while at all times conducting ourselves with the highest ethical standards to maintain public confidence (The Mission Statement of the LAPD).† Although this should be the type of code police officers should follow, it is not the case for some. Police corruption is a case that occurs on a global scale. Police corruption violates the†¦show more content†¦A reason corruption within the department is happening may be a result of officer training. The thing that is drilled into an officers head during training is officer safety (White). If an officer is placed in a situation where they feel t hreatened, they may sometimes act inappropriately. While the statement regarding officer safety might be true, it could get into some officers heads. The meaning can then change, and evolve into something it’s not. These officers apply this mindset to other aspects of the job. They begin to believe that they are more important than the citizens they have vowed to protect. Another theory that may account for police corruption is the idea that once an officer departs from the academy, things change quickly. The principles that were taught in the academy may not directly relate with what the real job truly is. This is because each department takes credit for different procedures and policies, which might have been different in the academy. Field training officers at times tell the new recruits that what they learned in the academy doesnt apply to the real world, since the academy instructors are not fully aware of what goes on in the streets (White). The new training the officer s receive after that may result in corruption. Integrity is the key to discovering if officers will follow along, and become corrupt. Integrity is defined as adherence toShow MoreRelatedThe Nypd Frisk Program : Noble Cause Corruption Situation Essay1629 Words   |  7 PagesWe must start in the research of the NYPD Frisk Program: Noble Cause Corruption situation with the Fourth Amendment‘s which protects a person against unreasonable searches and seizures of the U.S. Constitutional 4th Amendment. Further review of the 4th Amendment law provides guidelines for the search and seizure between police and citizens in a public place. The terms â€Å"stop-and-frisk† is used as one, then the reality is that its two separate acts. 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With the use of body cameras and cameras inside police vehicles, their every encounter is now captured on surveillance, which is a useful and wise idea. If I was a police officer I would want video surveillance to capture my encounter with someone. The reason being is to protect myself. We have seen how the media change stories around and makeRead MoreEssay about Exposing the Corruption in India1218 Words   |  5 PagesCorruption is something we never really want to hear about, but is a very serious matter to contend. The idea that one person would extort or hold power over another human being isn’t a highly talked about subject. However, in India there is a problem with corruption, which has run out of control. People subject to poverty in India and considered poor by other nations’ standards are taken for what little cash they have or property they own by someone of a higher authority. 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Racial profiling is a longstanding and deeply troubling national problem despite claims that the United States has entered a â€Å"post-racial era.† I think money and racism are the big motivationsRead MorePolice Corruption And Criminal Justice914 Words   |  4 PagesAll Police are Corrupt Police corruption today is becoming an issue more and more. Today’s police, especially in densely populated areas, are well known for using excessive force on ethnic minorities, lower classes such as the homeless, and sexually abusing women and children; whether directly or indirectly. Anyone who does not follow the orders of the police, regardless of laws, is subject to police corruption and imprisonment. In cases of anticorruption the officer, judge, or public official is