Essay The Legacy of the Great War by William R. Keylor

The Legacy of the Great War by William R. Keylor After reading William R. Keylors The Legacy of the Great War, I realized the important events that pertain to the international relations. Until our present day there has not been so many great leaders come together to address issues such as: politics, economics, and social settings in Europe. This is the beginning of the problems in European civilization. The Paris Peace conference had a total of twenty-seven countries with their highest representatives and aides who devise a peace settlement. For two months they had redrawn the map of Europe with political and economical arrangements. It took another six months for the leaders who†¦show more content†¦He already promised Poles a free port, and France also wanted to weaken Germany by giving Poland territory. The outcome of the German-Polish Frontier is a free international port in the hands of Polish control. After the war the French wanted to destroy the German economy. The French wanted control of the German coalmines. But Wilson would not agree. He was looking out for the Germans economically. Premier Clemenceau called Wilson pro-German which obviously hurted the President. (p.29) With this going on President Wilson was self-determine to do his best for the redrawing of Europe. Most leaders in France believed the way to weaken Germany without hurting it economically was to move Germans under rule of other nations. Most of these small states have never set up a stable government for themselves and adding large amount of Germans to their native lands could be dangerous. This is one way how Wilson and his delegates were violated. One of French main goals in the Peace Conference was security from the Germans in the future. The only way for this is if the Americans and British take charge, and give the Germans a punch and never let them get up again. Germany is the strongest country on the continental Europe. The Germans have the Rhineland, which is a shield against aggression. On April 22, 1919 Wilson and George came up with a French security formula. The pledge to defend France against any German aggression,

The Impact Of Technology On Human And Animal Life

Technology is one of the great areas that have a great impact on human and animal life. It has dramatically changed the society. Many people across the globe use and benefit from modern technology, and the vast opportunities that it provides play an important role in almost all fields of life. It has simplified access to education, industry, communication, transport and even medicine. Over the years, technology was employed as a tool for improving survival. However, in the current world, technology is no-longer a tool for survival but a means of communication and entertain mass communication technology has made it even easier to connect with people in the global arena. It is technology that has rendered the vast world a global village. The birth of technology comes up with positive and negative impacts in equal measure. Excessive use of technology has setbacks. Though it has increased the speed of task performance, it has also equally harmed the society, and its considerable development has changed the way of life in different ways. In this paper, I am going to analyze the various causes and respective effects of the use of technology. In the quest of advancing this, the research paper shall draw from various current challenges that care attributed to technological advancement. It is true that technology advancement plays a significant role in peoples lives. According to (Volti, 3), Today s technology leaves us both exhilarated and terrified. It shows its tremendousShow MoreRelatedAnimal Cloning Debate Essay1045 Words   |  5 PagesAnimal Cloning Debate A clone is a genetic copy of another living organism –animal, plant or human. Animal cloning is a widely discussed issue in our society today. The question now is whether the Australian government should ban animal cloning. 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Using cloning technologies, genetic researchers would have a better understanding of genes. Researchers could gain the ability to alter genetics in order to clone humans and other organisms, and cloning could also help cure diseases. . The time of Injury recovery could be lowered becauseRead MoreEssay about Early Humans and the Environment907 Words   |  4 PagesEarly Humans and the Environment Early humans were quite different from modern humans. Modern humans have many technologies and advances that we take for granted. In my lifetime (1982 - present) I have seen the five and a half inch floppy yield to the dvd, cloning of sheep and other advances in the fields of math, science, and engineering. Humans and Pre-Humans have always been developing, either intentionally or unintentionally, technologies that were either necessary for the continuation

Auditing and Assurance in Australia

Questions: 1. Identify the type of audit opinion issued by each auditor, and justify your answer. 2. Do you agree with the type of opinion issued by the auditor? Why or why not? Please indicate an alternative audit opinion if you do not agree with the one issued. 3. Are there any other matters or events that have taken place after the issue of the audit report that strengthens or weakens the auditors opinion? 4. Audit opinion. Answers: 1. Identification of the type of the audit opinion issued by the auditors The annual report of Woolworths indicates that Deloitte acts as the independent auditor of the company. The auditing firm also has examined other supplementary report of the firm that consists of the different sorts of consolidated financial statements. Accordingly, the auditor also takes note of the significant accounting regulations, changes in the equity, cash flows, profit and loss statements as well as directors declarations regarding the corporations as well as its entities. Deloitte, the independent auditor of Woolworths conducts the auditing tasks that are in compliance with the Australian Auditing Standard and conducts the entire procedure in accordance with the ethical code of conduct as stipulated under the APES 110 Code of Ethics, ASA 102 Compliance with different ethical necessities when carrying out the audit tasks examinations as well as other assertion engagement (Apesb.org.au 2016). The reports also notify that the auditor Deloitte also ensures reasonable assurance of avoidance of material misstatement in the financial statements of the financial reports of Woolworths. The audit opinion of Woolworths also states that the financial reports of the company is presented in accordance with the Corporation Act 2001 that helps in providing a true as well as a fair view of the particular consolidated entity as on the period 28 June 2015. In addition to this, the audit opinion also declares that the reports also comply with the International Financial Reporting Standards as declared in the preparation regulation. Furthermore, the audit opinion also provides assurance regarding the compliance of the report with the Australian Standards and the Corporations Regulations 2001 (Auasb.gov.au, 2016). The independent auditor of Woolworths that is the Deloitte presents an opinion based on audit conducted as per AAS. This opinion also assures regarding the compliance of the remune ration report of the company with the 30A of the Corporation Act 2001 (Woolworthslimited.com.au 2016). In the case of Qantas, KPMG acts as the independent auditor of the company. Similarly, KPMG also presents the independent auditors report that presents the directors responsibility for different financial reporting, auditor accountability, auditors opinion and the remuneration report. The auditors opinion declares that the financial report of the Qantas Group complies with the Corporation Act 2001 that ensures true as well as fair view of the Qantas Groups overall financial position including its performance for the period ended as on 30 June 2015. Again, the auditor opinion also notifies the compliance of the financial reports of Qantas Group with the Australian Auditing Standard as well as Corporation Regulation 2001. The independent auditor KPMG also declares the assurance regarding the remuneration report of Qantas Airways and notifies about the compliance of the same with the Section 30A of the Corporation Act 2001 (Investor.qantas.com 2016). 2. Agreement with the audit opinion The type of the audit opinion provided by the both the independent auditors of Woolworths and Qantas can be regarded as a disclaimer thereof presented as a result of both the internal as well as external audit. This is presented as an assurance in a bid to make the user of the financial information arrive at decisions founded on the results of the audit. The audit opinion provided in both the cases can be classified as the unqualified opinion where in the auditor concludes that the financial declaration of the company presents a true as well as fair view of the financial health of the corporations (Millichamp and Taylor 2012). Therefore, there can be agreement with the type of opinion of the auditor. Therefore, it can be hereby ascertained as per the report of both the companies Woolworths and Qantas that independent auditors Deloitte and KPMG respectively engages in unqualified assurance regarding the financial declaration (Iia.org.au 2016). Agreement with the type of opinion issued by the auditor There can be agreement with the audit opinion of both the companies that is the Woolworths and the Qantas Group, as it is based on the audit evidence regarding the amounts as well as the disclosures provided in the financial report. The procedures of the audit also depend on the judgement of the auditors as well as the assessment of the risks of the material misstatements of the financial reports owing to the fraudulent activities (Millichamp and Taylor 2012). However, there is adequate internal control that the auditor takes into consideration that is relevant to the process of preparation and presentation of the financial report and in turn provides a true and fair outlook. The agreement with the auditors opinion is justified as the both the independent auditors for the two different companies has performed the entire auditing procedure in accordance with the Corporations Act and the Australian Auditing Standards. The auditors have also conducted the entire procedure with the inten tion and purpose of evaluation of the financial reports and whether it presents a true as well as fair view in all respects. 3. Matters or events that have taken place after the issue of the audit report The things that can strengthen the auditors opinion include the illustrative description of different position that helps in assessment of the performance of the audit committee. The effective risk management by the audit committee also helps in strengthening the audit opinion of the company. In addition to this, the events of executive sessions conducted with the audit committee that includes private sessions with the professional of internal audit as well as the external audit. The transparent dialogue between the professionals can also help in judging the assurance regarding the accounting policies, disclosures, judgements about estimates, suspected error, material issues and many others. 4. Audit opinion The auditor views the financial report to present a true and a fair view of the financial health of the company as the audit procedure discovers no material errors in the accounting practices of both the companies compliant with the Australian Auditing standard. The remuneration report also conforms to the Corporation Act declared during the year 2001. Therefore, the auditor can present an unqualified opinion based on the good records of various accounts that conclude the cash accounts, inventory calculation, and appropriate calculation of the depreciation. References Apesb.org.au. (2016). Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board. [online] Available at: https://www.apesb.org.au [Accessed 24 May 2016]. Auasb.gov.au. (2016). Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB) - Home. [online] Available at: https://www.auasb.gov.au [Accessed 24 May 2016]. Cpaaustralia.com.au. (2016). CPA Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au [Accessed 24 May 2016]. Iia.org.au. (2016). Internal Audit Membership, Courses, Conferences, Certifications and Qualifications - Institute of Internal Auditors - Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.iia.org.au [Accessed 24 May 2016]. Investor.qantas.com. (2016). Qantas | Investors - Home. [online] Available at: https://investor.qantas.com [Accessed 24 May 2016]. Millichamp, A. and Taylor, J. (2012). Auditing. Andover, Hampshire: Cengage Learning EMEA. Woolworthslimited.com.au. (2016). Quality Brands and Trusted Retailing - Woolworths Limited. [online] Available at: https://www.woolworthslimited.com.au [Accessed 24 May 2016].

Mckinsey Essays - Organizational Theory, McKinsey Company

Mckinsey Over the decades, McKinsey's success and its reputation have been determined by the quality of its clients not just the institutions, but the individuals. The firm was founded in 1926, when the Universiry of Chicago professor James Mc Kinsey began recruiting experienced executives and trained them to be accounting and engineering advisors. When James O. McKinsey died in the late 1930's Marvin Bower, graduate of Harvard Law as well as Harvard Business School became the leader of his small consulting firm. He believed that management consultants should be professionals and initiated the upgrade of the firms image and broaden associates expertise. He placed client interests first, accepted only those assignments that we are fully qualified to perform and maintained independence and objectivity, even if it means declining or withdrawing from an assignment. The next decade the global economic environment changed drastically but the firm did not respond to those changes accordingly. That lead to a stall in the firms growth. The newly assigned Commission on firm aims and goals researched the problem thoroughly and concluded that the focus on expansion has diluted the professionalism. The recommendations included an increased number of MGM and utilization of narrow-specialized consultants. When Ron Daniel took over the company the Commissions recommendations still were not met. Even worse, the company was feeling pressure from strong and innovative competition. Their local office based model was inadequate to the rising need of information and knowledge sharing. The first important step Daniel did was to emphasize on the training and developing process, creating the first Director of training position. Second step was to initiate structural changes creating cross-geographic Clientele Sectors and encouraging the development of functional ex pertise in the general areas. The concern was that the fine line between the new direction and product driven approach shouldnt be crossed because of the established business relationships in the local offices. Also he attracted well known experts to form a group that will develop and share the existing knowledge of the company. The open minded Fred Gluck contributed much to the innovation starting with the brainstorm strategizing during the Super Group session. He also brought his ideas about the knowledge as a core firms activity and asset. The creation of the 15 virtual Centers of Competence was a revolutionary step towards the functional expertise. That was a very costly project with unspecified budget but he was aiming high. It was actually a long-term blue skying for the practice leaders with one single purpose to collect as much new ideas as possible. Gluck supported the practice development and defended it with Judging by the evidence of the three mini cases, we see that the firm has been somewhat effective iin it's two decade long change process. However, it's not as simple to decipher whther or not it has been successful since each of the three case pointed out some strengths and weaknesses that have resulted from the over two decades of change. The Sydney office case for example, actually proves that the last two decades of management change have had varying differences.. The client on the project was very impressed with the value added in their acces to knowledge, which was one of management's objectives. Also the amount of resources that Stuckey had available was quite large. He was able to organize a team with such diverse members. However, it was a very complex and difficult process finding associates that to complete the team. Stuckey also felt that even though the customer was satisfied, that the company had become very introverted in it'sway of looking at and handling of client challenges. He felt that even though the knowledge systems were helpful, it is also important for the company to focus on new fresh ideas that were not part of the knowledge base. A similar theme was seen in the European Telecom case where the consultants working for McKinsey wanted to implement a new innovative way of sharing information in the telecom industry, which was outside of the traditional inter company knowledge base. Telecom was growing so rapidly that it was difficult for Soderstrom working as the sole intelligent switch, to maintain all of the info coming in about telecom. But their proposals for an

Free Essays on A Perfect Day For Bananfish

â€Å"A Perfect Day for Bananafish† was written by J. D. Salinger as a one of The Nine Stories. â€Å"A Perfect Day for Bananafish† tells the life of Seymour Glass at a time when he is struggling to find peace in his life after returning home from World War II. Seymour’s struggle emanates from psychological effects of the war, alienation from society and the lack of compassion from his wife. In the story, a bananafish is a fish that swims into a hole in the ocean and eats bananas. These bananas represent things that are taken and consumed along the journey to adulthood. But, if pursued with too much urgency, these bananas can prevent spiritual development and lead to a greater materialistic development. Seymour and his wife, Muriel, have different views on life; he wants to see a beautiful world of meaning, while she wants to be beautiful in a world without depth. Muriel’s lack of compassion concerning Seymour’s emotional state drives him further to dislike the adult world. Seymour realizes that he cannot get rid of enough bananas to make further spiritual progress in life, so, rather than waste time, he commits suicide. This is slightly obvious when he is taking the elevator back up to his room on the afternoon of his suicide. In the elevator he has a fixation upon his feet, which do not reassemble childlike feet that he desires to have. Seymour believes a woman in the elevator is looking at his feet and becomes defensive. The women’s scorn attitude towards Seymour encourages him to believe that his suicide will give him the chance he wants, and needs, to start all over again. Seymour willingly takes that chance. Seymour’s mental state from the war, along with the harsh treatment from adults around him causes his suicide. He is the bananafish who cannot escape the hole and achieve the spiritualism and childlike characteristics that he desires. J. D. Salinger’s use of the image of a Bananafish has more complexity than fi... Free Essays on A Perfect Day For Bananfish Free Essays on A Perfect Day For Bananfish â€Å"A Perfect Day for Bananafish† was written by J. D. Salinger as a one of The Nine Stories. â€Å"A Perfect Day for Bananafish† tells the life of Seymour Glass at a time when he is struggling to find peace in his life after returning home from World War II. Seymour’s struggle emanates from psychological effects of the war, alienation from society and the lack of compassion from his wife. In the story, a bananafish is a fish that swims into a hole in the ocean and eats bananas. These bananas represent things that are taken and consumed along the journey to adulthood. But, if pursued with too much urgency, these bananas can prevent spiritual development and lead to a greater materialistic development. Seymour and his wife, Muriel, have different views on life; he wants to see a beautiful world of meaning, while she wants to be beautiful in a world without depth. Muriel’s lack of compassion concerning Seymour’s emotional state drives him further to dislike the adult world. Seymour realizes that he cannot get rid of enough bananas to make further spiritual progress in life, so, rather than waste time, he commits suicide. This is slightly obvious when he is taking the elevator back up to his room on the afternoon of his suicide. In the elevator he has a fixation upon his feet, which do not reassemble childlike feet that he desires to have. Seymour believes a woman in the elevator is looking at his feet and becomes defensive. The women’s scorn attitude towards Seymour encourages him to believe that his suicide will give him the chance he wants, and needs, to start all over again. Seymour willingly takes that chance. Seymour’s mental state from the war, along with the harsh treatment from adults around him causes his suicide. He is the bananafish who cannot escape the hole and achieve the spiritualism and childlike characteristics that he desires. J. D. Salinger’s use of the image of a Bananafish has more complexity than fi...

10 Geography Facts About Florida

10 Geography Facts About Florida Capital: Tallahassee Population: 18,537,969 (July 2009 estimate) Largest Cities: Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Hialeah, and Orlando Area: 53,927 square miles (139,671 sq km) Highest Point: Britton Hill at 345 feet (105 m) Florida  is a state located in the southeastern United States. It is bordered by Alabama and Georgia to the north, while the rest of the state is a peninsula that is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico to the west, the Strait of Florida to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Because of its warm subtropical climate, Florida is known as the sunshine state. Florida Geography Facts Florida is a popular tourist destination for its many beaches, wildlife in areas like the Everglades, large cities such as Miami, and theme parks like Walt Disney World. Discover 10 more geography facts about Florida. 1. Many Native Americans Lived Here Florida was first inhabited by a number of different Native American tribes thousands of years prior to any European exploration of the region. The largest known tribes in Florida were the Seminole, Apalachee, Ais, Calusa, Timucua, and Tocabago. 2. It Was Discovered in 1513 On April 2, 1513, Juan Ponce de Leà ³n was one of the first Europeans to discover Florida. He named it as the Spanish term for flowered land. Following Ponce de Leà ³ns discovery of Florida, both the Spanish and the French began to build settlements in the region. In 1559, Spanish Pensacola was established as the first permanent European settlement in what would become the United States. 3. Its the 27th State Florida officially entered the U.S. on March 3, 1845, as the 27th state. As the state grew, settlers began to force out the Seminole tribe. This resulted in the Third Seminole War, which lasted from 1855 to 1858 and resulted in most of the tribe being moved to other states (such as Oklahoma and Mississippi). 4. Tourism Drives the Economy Floridas economy is based mainly on services related to tourism, financial services, trade, transportation, public utilities, manufacturing, and construction. Tourism is the largest sector of Floridas economy. 5. The State Relies on Fishing Fishing is also a large industry in Florida. In 2009, the state made $6 billion and employed 60,000 Floridians. A large oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 threatened both the fishing and tourism industries in the state. 6. Its Low-Lying Most of Floridas land area is built on a large peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Because Florida is surrounded by water, much of it is low-lying and flat. Its highest point, Britton Hill, is only 345 feet (105 m) above sea level. This makes it the lowest high point of any U.S. state. Northern Florida has a more varied topography, with gently rolling hills. However, it also has relatively low elevations. 7. It Rains Year-Round Floridas climate is highly affected by its maritime location as well as its southern U.S. latitude. The northern parts of the state have a climate thats considered humid subtropical, while the southern portions (including the Florida Keys) are tropical. Jacksonville, in northern Florida, has an average January low temperature of 45.6 degrees F (7.5 degrees C) and a July high of 89.3 degrees F (32 degrees C). Miami, on the other hand, has a January low of 59 degrees F (15 degrees C) and a July high of 76 degrees F (24 degrees C). Rain is common year-round in Florida. The state is also prone to hurricanes. 8. It Has Rich Biodiversity Wetlands like the Everglades are common throughout Florida and as a result, the state is rich in biodiversity. It is home to many endangered species and marine mammals like the bottlenose dolphin and the manatee, reptiles like the alligator and sea turtles, large land mammals like the Florida panther, as well as a  plethora of birds, plants, and insects. Many species also breed in Florida due to its mild climate and warm waters. 9. The People Are Diverse, Too Florida has the fourth highest population of any state in the U.S. and it is one of the countrys fastest growing. A large portion of Floridas population is considered Hispanic, but the majority of the state is Caucasian. South Florida also has significant populations of people from Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica. Additionally, Florida is known for its large retirement communities. 10. It Has Many Higher Education Options In addition to its biodiversity, large cities, and famous theme parks, Florida is also known for its well-developed university system. There are a number of large public universities in the state, such as Florida State University and the University of Florida, as well as many large private universities and community colleges. Source: Unknown. Florida. Infoplease, 2018.

HISTORY - choose 1 of the questions to answer Essay - 7

HISTORY - choose 1 of the questions to answer - Essay Example It also fired a round lead ball. The efficient range of the smoothbore musket was only 200 yards (Adams 1). The Mississippi Rifle, on the other hand, which fielded simply to an extremely limited extent, is considered as one of the first army rifles. The rifle incorporated rifling, and was noticeably more precise than the smoothbore musket, but its main difficulty was that it fired a round orb making it hard to reload and not as precise as the future Minie Ball (Adams 1). The American Civil War led to the death of numerous traditional styles of warfare, the performance of new weapons, and the start of new creations. It also confirmed how unarmed inventions like rail, steam, as well as the telegraph, could renew the way war was fought. As weapons become more successful, warfare became harsher than in the past. Military conditions were in frequent instability during the mechanized age as fresh weapons were developed and communication, as well as transportation, improved. Fresh technology made it feasible to produce a lot of weapons with improved power, precision and range. New inventions comprised of the percussion cap, breech-loading, cylindro-conodial bullet, metal cartridges, machine guns, magazine-fed small arms, smokeless powder and the TNT explosives with timers. Mass production of firearms, during the American Civil War, contributed to more dependence of technological weapons than normal weapons (Adams 1). Army Generals, in both sides, failed to adapt quickly to this change as they were acquainted to the old weapons making it hard for them to change immediately (Adams 1). When the soldiers used the musket, they only aimed in the path of the opponent and fired volleys. The soldiers were acquainted to the musket, which was extremely inaccurate that they were taught to aim just to the general direction of the opponent. The suggestion of the volley was to gather as much ground towards the opponent as possible. It was, therefore, hard for the soldiers to

Are Technologically Advanced Societies More Advanced Essay

Are Technologically Advanced Societies More Advanced - Essay Example This is to say that such word is susceptible to varying interpretations. In such case, it is contended that the advancement of a community should not be measured by the number of technologies that it has. Rather, it should be determined by considering the whole aspects of society. It is not to be limited to the advantages that new technology has brought to the people. Stated otherwise, the definition of advancement should not be superficial but substantial. A substantial definition is one which involves the consideration of the people’s state of life. This is to say that, as of this moment, the determination of what constitutes progress should involve economic factors. A country’s economy actually reflects its growth and development. Also, in today’s world, the definition of the word progress is often associated to economic terms due to globalization. Advancement and progress are two interchangeable terms. Both of them signify the growth and development of a soci ety. In such case, either of the two words could actually be used to explain the topic of the essay. It is a contention that there is progress if the following factors are present: (1) all the members of the society are experiencing a high standard of living (2) there is full employment and (3) there is good governance. The three factors are actually essential in determining â€Å"progress.†

Jealousy in the book of Genesis Essay Example for Free

Jealousy in the book of Genesis Essay The first book of the Pentateuch is rife with Jealousy. It seems a peculiar obsession of those writing in the Lord’s name. After all, such sins as murder, adultery and slothfulness seem so much more damaging to our communities and our selves. Why are the jade eyes of jealously given so much attention in the bible’s leadoff book, especially in the story of the second and third men, Cain and his brother Abel. I suspect that jealousy, being a universal human emotion, one which human beings so easily find themselves sinking into, and one which is so obviously coarse and negative, inspired the writers of the bible to bring attention to it’s dangers very early on in their text. Although the instances of jealousy found in the later narratives of Genesis, perhaps those of Noah and Abraham, present more nuanced and complex manifestations of this all too human frailty, the visceral nature of Cain’s crime and the ambiguity of his atonement must first be addressed, as well as the fundamental differences between jealousy among men and man’s jealousy of God. Cain is assigned to be the â€Å"tiller of the ground† (Genesis 4:2 – NKJV) in the garden of Eden. Abel, his younger brother, the second son of Adam and Eve, was given the more genteel task of tending to flocks of sheep. Both made offerings to the Lord, Cain in the form of the â€Å"fruit of the ground† (Genesis 4:3) and Abel â€Å"the firstborn of their flock and his fat† (Genesis 4:4) which God respected. However the next verse, 4:5, reveals that God did not respect Cain’s offering. Why? The Biblical writers, men knowing nothing at all of God’s motivations (not to mention his existence), don’t feel the need to indulge us with God’s motives or criteria for respecting an offering. We do know that he took unkindly to Cain’s â€Å"countenance†, which â€Å"fell† following his rejection. One could easily see how being rejected by God, who hints at some criteria when he says in 4:7 â€Å"If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at your door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. † Of course, in the very next verse, Cain, after a brief conversation with his brother of which we are told nothing about, kills Abel. Sin came to his door, in the form of jealousy toward his brother and he acted upon it in the most despicable way possible. The biblical writers are trying to dramatize an emotion and its consequences as effectively as possible. Did Cain feel that his offering was superior to his brothers and that he being unfairly judged by God? That God would not accept his offering, regardless of the quality of his fruit? Without more detail, it’s hard to erect any sort of value judgment, within the Christian Lexicon, on the matter of Cain and Abel. God seems a little overbearing and perhaps bears more than a small share of the guilt for Cain’s jealousy. If Cain had toiled that barren mid-eastern soil simply to praise God, rose day and night for his Lord’s glory, than was it perhaps a bit insensitive on the Lord’s part to reject him. Had Abel provoked Cain in any other way? What did they talk about that faithful day? In what language could they have spoken? As you can see, the first instance of jealousy in the Biblical text leaves more stones unturned and more questions unanswered than not. The story of Cain and Abel illuminates the first instance of intra-human jealousy. From the very beginning however, man was jealous of God. God creates man in his own image and makes him humble and stupid. Adam and Eve we’re simply to be in the Garden, lord of the Earth’s other creatures and stay out of God’s affairs, those that concern the moral and scientific complexities of the world. For as God puts it in Genesis 2:16-17, â€Å"Of every tree of the Garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. † Later, after man as created Eve, verse 2:25 exclaims â€Å"And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. † A surface reading suggests that man was meant for to remain in a pure, infantile state. Before man erected society, technology or democracy, man was designed to remain pure of the complexities of morality. Yet Adam and Eve, given the free will God had granted them and a base awareness of good and evil, ironically because of God’s edict to stay far away from the tree which allows one knowledge of such matters, had the ability to choose such knowledge, and with a little persuasion from the villainous serpent, they did. Surely the ways of God are mysterious, but why would he set up man with a series of bizarrely attractive ways to subvert his intentions for their well-being? Eve makes a series of evaluative judgments upon the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil when she thinks to herself in verse 3:6 â€Å"So when the woman saw the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, She took of the fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband, and he ate. † Was God setting up Adam and Eve for the fall when he created the tree in the first place? Hoew else to explain an omnipotent God who willfully creates beings who we’re, despite their naivete, are capable of learning and seeing the virtues of something which their creator had made arbitrarily off limits while simultaneously placing being in their midst whose whole obligation is to tempt them? Certainly the rest of the Biblical narrative depends on the jealousy inspired fall – without it, the rest of the story, which culminates with Jesus sacrificing himself for man’s sins and thus offering him redemption, several thousand year before the Earth is destroyed during Jesus’ rapturous return, could not have been constructed by the Biblical writers. Perhaps, if it is out their God wanted to fall. It is simply man’s innocent jealousy, of God’s wisdom and goodness and perhaps his power to arbitrarily, without fear of reprisal or retribution, horde power over his creations, which drove Eve to follow the serpent’s instructions. The instinct to want what others have is as old as man. Surely the omnipotent clockmaker deity that the early enlightenment era Europeans constructed out of King James’ text was aware of this opposition he was creating. It is, after all, just another part of God’s grand design. Bibliography The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Bibles, 1982.

Plagiarism and the Internet :: Exploratory Essays

Plagiarism and the Internet Plagiarism has always been a problem in schools. However, with the invention of the internet, it has made plagiarism even more of a challenge. Plagiarism.org, â€Å"estimates that nearly 30 percent of all students may be plagiarizing on all their written assignments and that the use of the Internet has made plagiarism much worse.† [1] The act of plagiarism can be defined as, â€Å"To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own, to use (another’s production) without crediting the source, to commit literary theft, to present as new and original as idea or product derived from an existing source†2. Plagiarism has become such a concern for colleges that almost all the sites on this topic are sponsored by schools. The three main topics with plagiarism are the copy and paste function, â€Å"paper mills† and the ways that can be used to prevent students from doing this. The first major concern with the internet would be the copy and paste function. Wittenberg lists that â€Å"Widespread availability of the internet and increased access to full text databases has made cut and paste plagiarism very easy†.3 While the function is actually very nice to have, people are using it the wrong way. Instead of just using it to copy quotes from websites, than pasting it to their word document and giving it the proper credit, people are passing it off as their own. This is where the problem occurs. The function is actually very beneficial. In fact it has helped with the writing of this paper. I just made sure to give the proper credit necessary. One aspect of this function that leads to plagiarism that many people are not aware of is as follows: â€Å"When students capture images or text from other websites or scan hard copy to include in a website without attribution or permission, the result can be a violation of copyright law†.4 Most people are used to just copy and pasting images when necessary but are not always aware pictures may be copyrighted. We must take extra care when copy and pasting in order to avoid plagiarism. The next problem with the internet and plagiarism that leads to a lack of independent thought would be the availability of paper mills. Plagiarism.org, â€Å"points to the proliferation of â€Å"paper mills†, Internet sites which allow students, sometimes at a nominal fee, to buy ready-made research papers†.

Workplace Honesty: Learning and Unlearning

Honesty is a virtue that is of major importance especially in business, yet very much neglected in the context of today’s rat race. Employees play a big role in uplifting the culture of honesty in their workplaces, a culture that is nevertheless radiated to the clients or end-users of the company’s offerings. But what if the employees are having problems with their own attitudes toward honesty? What can a company do to help maintain a culture of trust and trust worthiness among the employees, the management, and the customers as a whole? Who wins when a company wins over the battle for an honest corporate culture?This was the problem of Gerald Sy. Managing a training institution, Sy discovered that his instructors were cheating him on their timekeeping, costing him big sums for a long time because he was paying the instructors in full despite rampant tardiness. Sy moved against the problem and devised a process of accounting the instructor’s timekeeping even if i t meant additional work for him and additional time needed on his timeframe to process the salaries.As if that was not enough, he also ruled an 11-tardiness per month standard wherein whoever fails to meet the regulation shall be dismissed. This showed that it was not the money that the company can save from deductions which was important. On the contrary, it was the standards of the company, and how the employees uphold it, and how the final service is perceived by the customers. Sy expects that the measure will work, and is ready to evaluate if it really did.Dishonesty in Many FormsThere are many forms of dishonesty in the workplace. Most are as petty as stealing a paper clip from one’s officemate (no one saw anyway) or breaking down the coffee machine and not admitting it (it could be broken before I used it, I would not really know). It was easy to be dishonest in the workplace because people often mind their own businesses while at the peak of work. No one will ever both er to watch after an officemate making coffee to see if he will break the machine at some chance.Steven Gaffney, the writer behind Honesty Works!, states that it is not only lies and dishonesty that costs companies most of its revenues. He insists that the mere fact that many employees cannot honestly communicate with each other has wasted time, money and effort of employees and businesses. (Newswise, 2005) When a worker avoids a confrontation about an operational flaw with a co-worker to avoid conflict, the flaw will stay unresolved and may even result in bigger loopholes.Small lies also often lead to bigger dishonesties that are harder to get away with. Personnel who steal equipment from their companies, or money, or even work hours are nothing new in many workplaces. They are so common, yet they still do not fail to surprise. Some get away, yet some are caught to pay the big price of cheating. The problem with honesty, or the lack thereof, is that it becomes vicious. The more a p erson commits a work of dishonesty and gets away with it, the harder it is to be honest. The bottom line is how to end the vicious cycle.Can Honesty be Taught?From a young age, almost every child is taught basic values that are essential for living. One of these values is honesty. It is easier for children to understand its value, and when they learn it they often grow with it. Michael Daigneault agrees. However, he states that factors affecting the workplace, such as workplace pressure and competition, will require a person to have bedrock values to maintain righteousness. Otherwise, he will be tempted to sway away from childhood-learned ethics. (HR Magazine, 1999)Rigterink and Louzecky (n.d.) also concludes that virtue can be taught but do not agree that it should be taught as other academic subjects are taught. Moderation, they said is an important key. Teaching honesty, the authors propose, should convert the subjects into thinkers, analyzing the absorption of the value and its advantages before really absorbing it.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They assert that doing so will instill the value into the subjects more than when it is taught outright.End of the GameIf honesty like other values can not be taught in its simplest sense, how then can companies promote honesty? First, we should consider how a virtue is instilled. Fact is, ethics is not automatically learned. You can tell a hardened criminal to change his ways and there are chances that he will, but given a chance to strike a crime again there is definitely a slim chance for him to decline the opportunity.Thus, virtues are imbibed through practice. As aforementioned, the more a person practices the act of honesty the stronger it stays within his values and the harder it is to break. On the same way, the more a person cheats the harder for that person to be honest and break from the bondage of lies.The management is the best venue for a company to start promoting honesty. A company needs to be led by honest b oard of directors, managers, supervisors, team leaders, however the heads are called. If the top of the pyramid is governed by upright people, it is easier for the leaders to impose rules on moral values to the base of the pyramid. Honesty in this level may be showed by transparent management of funds, upfront and realistic relations with the subordinates, and open communication lines.A boss of a company who is married and is caught by his employees cheating on his wife will definitely drive down the morale of his people. His employees will be tempted to resolve in idle talk about him and his affair and forget about work altogether since the boss is not acting very boss-like anyway. Given that that is in a personal level, consider a scenario were the act of a boss’s dishonesty is on a professional scale.For instance, a manager was audited and the auditors discover that he was paying ten people in the payroll whereas there are actually only five people in his department who is actually reporting for work. The event will definitely pull down the confidence and team spirit of the five people in his team. Moreover, the manager himself will lose the drive to work for shame and guilt. Ultimately, it is not the manager or the employees who are the only ones who will suffer. The company as a whole loses considerable work time and revenue, just because of a single act of dishonesty from just one person. It is therefore safe to conclude that honesty is an individual decision that has collective effects.It is also important that the company verbalize subscription to a value. If the management discovers major flaws on dishonesty, the management can choose to make honesty a core value in the company. They will then need to define honesty in the context of their workplace, and define it as specific as possible. Does it mean creatively communicating issues and problems? Does it include choosing not to engage in secrets that may hurt co-employees? How does it affect cl auses on confidentiality?When the management has defined the core value to subscribe to, it is important that they communicate this decision to every person in the company. A general assembly as well as departmental meetings will be a great help. In doing so, an open forum should be encouraged so that questions can be immediately answered and reactions can be resolved.For continuity, it is equally important that people are trained about—not taught on—moral values. From the moment that a person is oriented on the vision, mission, and goals of the company, to the time that he is undergoing annual trainings within the organization, the value system of the company should be stressed and internalized by them. First, it is a good way to make them feel that they belong to the organization. Secondly, it will help them find a basis for actions and decision making processes. Learning good values at work will also make them worthwhile people even if they are out of the workplace, which is important especially because employees represent their companies.The orientation is another good venue for value formation. Each newly hired employee should be made familiar with issues in the company and how the management is resolving them. Values should be highlighted. Thorough discussion on how the management is working against it shall be made and stress that honesty is a very important virtue for anyone wishing to join the company. This will imply the value of such virtue in the company without being popish.Annually, it will help if value system is integrated in annual improvement seminars for employees usually done after evaluation periods. The training should discuss the ethical standards that the company subscribes to, and how each employee is expected to follow through. Lapses shall also be discussed along with solutions that can be done to prevent the occurrence of such ethical issues from arising again.It is still easier said than done. However a company makes efforts on promoting honesty, it is still virtually impossible to create a cheat-free workplace. Even if a company is good, employees will have their own attitudes to live with—employees will always undergo circumstances where they will be pressed on engaging into an act of dishonesty. It is therefore important for a company to follow through and have an open eye to see to it that their core value is being followed and respected for its benefit and for the welfare of its employees and customers.Mission Accomplished?It is hard to be honest in the corporate environment. Oftentimes the ones who are honest are the ones who are left behind, or even smeared with nasty labels and judgments. However, it is important for companies to promote the value of honesty because it greatly affects the company, employees, as well as the customers.If a company succeeds in achieving an honest workplace, the employees can enjoy a harmonious working relationship with each other. This will make them more productive and beneficial for the company. The company, in return, will maximize its potentials and prevent loss of revenue. It may even gain more. An honest workplace also reflects honesty with its customers. As such, customers will feel comfortable in transacting with the company and can become long-term clients.The company should anticipate failure in promoting honesty, though, and should be prepared in making follow-up actions. When failure occurs, an evaluation should be done identifying the weak points of the plan. This will enable determination of follow-up plans and corrective actions to try. Research and study is essential, as well as patience and determination by the company and the proponents of the core value being promoted.ConclusionHonesty is a choice. If the company chooses to be honest, and it can convince its employees to choose to be honest, there is more chance for such culture to exist and benefit the people surrounding the business. While it can be taught, it is still up to every person in the company to use such knowledge. It is therefore important to make them think and realize the value of honesty to them, to their work, and to their clients. After all, it is the best policy.BibliographyHR Magazine. 1999. Teaching business character. Retrieved February 15, 2007Newswise. 2005. Honesty in the workplace sorely lacking. Retrieved February 14, 2007 from http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/516781/Roger, R. Louzecky, D. n.d. Can virtue be taught? If so, should it be thought? Retrieved February 13, 2007

Drama Exploration †Response Essay

For the response phase of our drama exploration unit, we used two different explorative strategies in order to investigate our characters and help us to be able to define them better and also to allow us to be able to really become the character instead of imitating what we think the character is like. The two explorative strategies we use were called, â€Å"The Watering Hole† and â€Å"Marking the Moment†. The character that I play the part of is called Reg from the play â€Å"Table Manners† by Alan Ayckbourne. He is a realtor and is married to Sarah; they have two children and have what may be called a turbulent relationship. The Watering Hole The first explorative strategy which we covered was called â€Å"The Watering Hole†. During this exercise we were to think of what our character would be like as an animal. We were then to think of what it would be like as a group of this animal, much like flock of geese or a pride of lions. Once we had done this we had to think of a name for our group of animals. Then we had to act out what this group of our character would do at a watering hole and how they would react to other character/animals. In addition to this we had to think of a sound that our animal would make and emulate it. Finally we had to show also how our character would bathe and wash himself once at the watering hole. I was placed in a group with four other people who also played the character of Reg. First we decided that the creature that Reg could be most closely associated with is a sloth. His general disinterest in others and their business is reflected in this. We also felt that a major aspect of his character was that he becomes very engrossed in seemingly irrelevant things, such as when he ignores tom when he is talking about Annie and focuses upon the stale biscuits. This helps to show also that he is interested in feeding himself and in food in general. The only quality of his which did not match the sloth was his very short attention span. So eventually we decided to have a creature that was very slow and disinterested in other creatures, but still one that took passion in food and small items. For the name of our ‘group’ we decided to call it a mob due to the fact that mobs are very disjointed and disorganised and each person is an individual and yet they are still moving in a group. This is appropriate because Reg is not an organised person and he would not work well as a group as he is more of an independent creature. For the voice of our creature we came to the decision that his ‘voice’ would need to resemble that of his actual voice; droning and extremely boring as every other character finds him, he would drink from the pool while very engrossed in the water and would splash around in it and be very amused by it, showing some of his immature side. When faced with the task of acting out what our character would do if he were to wash himself, we chose to just flop onto the mattress (our watering hole) and splash the water and just lie in it as her is not interested in washing himself but in playing in the watering hole. We decided to have different reactions to each character. Name Of Character How we would act? Why we would act this way? Norman Be very calm, even friendly, offering a place at the watering hole. Reg likes Norman, in opposition of all the others who all hate him with the exception of Annie and I think Reg finds him extremely amusing. Ruth Be quite disinterested but also quite friendly. Disinterested because they are siblings and lived together for most of their life and friendly as they have a common enemy in Sarah. Annie Treat her like a loving child and keep her safe from others. Reg would do this because he thinks of Annie as his sweet younger sister and likes to take care of her. Tom Reg treats Tom like a friend. He thinks that he is suitable for Annie. Sarah Be very hostile. This is because he hates Sarah and there is no actual love between them. They are only together because of their children. Marking the Moment The second explorative strategy which we used in order to explore our characters was marking the moment. ‘Marking the moment’ is when a moment in a scene of particular significance is emphasised in some way, this may be by freezing the scene or by using thoughts spoken out loud. Since ‘Table Manners’ is a naturalistic play these methods cannot be used and other methods have to be used. The moment we chose to mark was the point in the play at which it is just Reg and Tom alone together in the dining room. Tom is talking about how he thinks that Annie wanted him to take her on a weekend holiday with him and Reg is talking about golf and his childhood days at which point Tom realises he has missed out on a weekend of pleasure with Annie. This moment is significant because it clearly shows Toms realisation and ignorance and Reg’s disinterest in others’ matters, giving us a clear insight into both characters. We marked this moment by using Tom’s facial expressions to show what he was thinking during Reg’s ignorant speech about aeroplanes. This helped me to understand Reg much better because it showed me that he is a very shallow person and only cares about a few things in life; food, golf and his own personal satisfaction. In conclusion I think that these strategies helped me to better understand my character due to the fact that it forces you to think about what your character would be like outside of the set lines in the play and he or she would be as an actual person and this develops the way I can fit into the role of the character in order to fulfil the role.

Anaxagoras and Aristophanes Essay

Anaxagoras and Aristophanes Essay Anaxagoras and Aristophanes Essay Anaxagoras and Aristophanes: Key roles in Plato’s Apology PL 201: Introduction to Philosophy Doctor Geoffrey Batchelder In The Apology: Defence of Socrates, Plato records the trial and sentencing of his mentor and teacher, Socrates. Socrates, though he would argue otherwise, is a very wise man and a great orator and debater. If the record of this trial is accurate, and we can assume that it is through the cross-examination of other records, Socrates makes his case very well and should not have even been in court. However, despite his great defense, insurmountable evidence to support his innocence, and the lack of validity in the trial itself, Socrates is found guilty on the old charges of teaching and getting paid to teach the ways of science and rhetoric, and on the new charges of corrupting the youth and religious nonconformity. He is sentenced to death by poison and accepts his fate willingly. As previously mentioned, Socrates argues his defense with great eloquence and poise. He uses every tool in his vocabulary arsenal, including his ability to show his accusers that they contradict themselves readily and unknowingly. Socrates is also sure to allude too many of his contemporaries. These allusions come about in many different ways. Some arise from accusers that may not necessarily be present or even be fully aware that they are in fact accusers themselves. Such is the case when Socrates mentions the playwright Aristophanes. Other allusions are made because Socrates is accused of actions or matters that do not concern him at all and are instead the matters of others; contemporaries. This occurs when Socrates references that some of the accusations Meletus makes against him are in fact accusations that would only make sense to make against a man named Anaxagoras. These two allusions are a brief but significant component of Socrates’ that unfortunately would ultimately become his undoing. In the beginning of The Apology, Socrates explains the first set of charges, which are teaching skewed methods of science and rhetoric, and how these may in fact be the most difficult to defend against. These charges stem from a group of individuals who have grown up with these accusations being accepted widely as truth. Socrates explains, â€Å"†¦those accusers are numerous, and have been denouncing me for a long time now, and they also spoke to you at an age at which you would be most likely to believe them, when some of you were children or young lads; and their accusations simply went by default for lack of any defense.† 1 In this part of the speech, Socrates explains that what is difficult in particular about these early accusations is that not only have they been around for so long and so widely accept, but no one has contested them in any way. This then leads to what Socrates believes to be, â€Å"†¦the most absurd thing of all is that one cannot even get to know their names or say who they were – except perhaps one who happens to be a comic playwright.†2 This currently anonymous playwright, who will be named in a later quotation as Aristophanes, is largely to blame for the spread of these accusations. Even if he was not accusing Socrates formally, his success as a playwright allows him to reach the public in ways that others perhaps common folk, who Socrates is unable to name, can. The patrons who then go and see this play, where â€Å"a character called ‘Socrates’ swings around, claims to be walking on air, and talks a lot of other nonsense on subjects of which [Socrates] has no understanding, great or small,†3 then make the association between this Socrates and the real one. This is engrained in the minds of the people and becomes common knowledge. These

The Beautiful and Damned Quotes

'The Beautiful and Damned' Quotes The Beautiful and Damned is the second novel, published by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book is about Anthony Patch, a socialite during the 1920s Jazz Age. Here are quotes from the famous classic. The Beautiful and Damned Quotes The victor belongs to the spoils. In 1913, when Anthony Patch was twenty-five, two years were already gone since irony, the Holy Ghost of this later day, had, theoretically at least, descended upon him. As you first see him he wonders frequently whether he is not without honor and slightly mad, a shameful and obscene thinness glistening on the surface of the world like oil on a clean pond, these occasions being varied, of course, with those in which he thinks himself rather an exceptional young man, thoroughly sophisticated, well adjusted to his environment, and somewhat more significant than anyone else he knows. This was his healthy state and it made him cheerful, pleasant, and very attractive to intelligent men and to all women. In this state, he considered that he would one day accomplish some quiet subtle thing that the elect would deem worthy and, passing on, would join the dimmer stars in a nebulous, indeterminate heaven half-way between death and immortality. Until the time came for this effort he would be Anthony Patch - not a portrait of a man but a distinct and dynamic personality, opinionated, contemptuous, functioning from within outward - a man who was aware that there could be no honor and yet had honor, who knew the sophistry of courage and yet was brave. To Anthony life was a struggle against death, that waited at every corner. It was as a concession to his hypochondriacal imagination that he formed the habit of reading in bed - it soothed him. He read until he was tired and often fell asleep with the lights still on. Curiously enough he found in senior year that he had acquired a position in his class. He learned that he was looked upon as a rather romantic figure, a scholar, a recluse, a tower of erudition. This amused him but secretly pleased him - he began going out, at first a little and then a great deal. Once upon a time all the men of mind and genius in the world became of one belief that is to say, of no belief. But it wearied them to think that within a few years after their death many cults and systems and prognostications would be ascribed to them which they had never meditated nor intended. Lets join together and make a great book that will last forever to mock the credulity of man. Lets persuade our more erotic poets to write about the delights of the flesh, and induce some of our robust journalists to contribute stories of famous amours. Well include all the most preposterous old wives tales now current. Well choose the keenest satirist alive to compile a deity from all the deities worshipped by mankind, a deity who will be more magnificent than any of them, and yet so weakly human that hell become a byword for laughter the world over and well ascribe to him all sorts of jokes and vanities and rages, in which hell be supposed to indulge for his own diversion, so that the people will read our book and ponder it, and therell be no more nonsense in the world. Finally, let us take care that the book possesses all the virtues of style, so that it may last forever as a witness to our profound skepticism and our universal irony. So the men did, and they died. But the book lived always, so beautifully had it been written, and so astounding the quality of imagination with which these men of mind and genius had endowed it. They had neglected to give it a name, but after they were dead it became known as the Bible.

Genetic Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Genetic Engineering - Essay Example Insulin is usually secreted by the pancreas in order to regulate sugar levels in the body; however in patients with diabetes, this does not occur. There are many advantages to genetic engineering in that it gives scientists greater control over the type of gene which is being encoded for. Scientists can also control the rate of production which can be accelerated unlike its natural counterparts. It works through plasmid recombinant technology. First, enzymes are used to isolate the human gene which encodes for the production of insulin. Then, this â€Å"sticky† fragment is inserted into a plasmid, which is a circular piece of DNA in a bacterial cell. Then, the bacteria are stimulated to reproduce and they undergo mitosis, meanwhile replicating the human gene along with its own. Then, the insulin is produced by the bacteria which can be harvested and administered to the population in large quantities, quickly and efficiently (Watson 456-58). This is only one aspect in which gen e manipulation technology has influenced pharmaceuticals and the daily life of diabetics. Gene technology has also been used in other applications of medicine such as in gene therapy, cancer research, and genetic counseling. All have been made possible by the technological advances.

The business environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

The business environment - Essay Example Charities under this category One of the most frequently used route for running a non-for-profit business is to establish it as a company limited by guarantee as these companies will not have either shareholders or shares but is has members. Under this, members consent in the eve of liquidation or winding up, to guarantee a certain sum of money that may be needed to cater the demands of any creditors. Such amount of guarantee will be illustrated in the Memorandum of Association of such companies. Further, companies whether they are limited by guarantee or by shares have to adhere the requirements under the Companies Act of 2006 in UK. Charities under this category have to register their Memorandum and Articles with the Charity Commission at the time of incorporation (Bloomsbury 2013: 60). Nominet UK is an UK based company limited by guarantee, and it is carrying on UK domain registry business in UK. Its members cannot have the right participate in its profit, and anybody can become the member of Nominet UK and majority of its members are Internet service providers in UK (Lambert 2012:44). A private company limited by shares can be incorporated under the laws of Scotland, Wales and England.† Limited by shares â€Å"connotes that the capital of the company is contributed by the shareholders of the company, and creditors can have access to the shareholders’ share capital amount in the event of winding up only up to the amount invested by them in the share capital of the company. It connotes that shareholder’s personal assets cannot be attached by the creditors in the event of insolvency or winding up of the company. A limited company may be either private or public as the private limited company disclosure norms are less flexible than the public company. Due to this reason, a private company is not allowed to issue shares to the general public and hence, it is not entitled to be listed or traded on a

SEX AS CRIME 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

SEX AS CRIME 2 - Essay Example The essay will also explore the different situations in which women might find themselves in which predispose them to rape. The sex industry is a large sector where acts of rape are perpetrated and the victims have no means of seeking legal action. In this regard, the essay seeks to bring into perspective the policies that have been put in place to combat sexual offences such as rape. In the essay, challenges that the government, the law enforcement officers and social services officers encounter in assisting victims of sexual violence are explored. Rape is forced sex. It involves forcing an individual to engage in sexual activity without their consent. It may involve penetration through various body openings and using various objects. Rape mostly occurs because of the social inequalities between men and women, or the inequalities related to age and position at the workplace. The most type of rape is date rape, which is done by a familiar person. Marital rape also occurs in marriage- like settings. Sexual violence allows men to control women (Brown miller, 1975). In her analysis of rape, Miller points out that rape is not a crime of irrational impulse or an uncontrollable act, but a deliberate violent, hostile act of degradation possessions on the part of the would be conqueror. According to Miller, rape is designed to intimidate and inspire fear. This explains why many rape cases go unreported and are tolerated in silence by victims. The silence of the society is equated as the silence of the victims. According to a 2005 report by the Sanders, many people believe that a woman bears the responsibility of her rape, either partially or completely, in case she demonstrated flirty behavior. A small percentage of the people interviewed expressed the opinion that a woman is partly to blame if she is raped and she has worn revealing attire or is under the influence of drugs (Sanders, 2005). These reasons do little to shed light on the low number of convicted criminals of sexual violence. Around 14% of the reported cases find their way in a court house, while almost 10% of these are termed as faulty allegations on the suspects. Majority of these are cases that involve women and girls from the age of 16 to 25. Some of these cases are later withdrawn for the victims fear that they are not believed, while others are dismissed on the grounds of insufficient evidence. The above mentioned reasons explain why very few cases are reported by rape victims. The public exudes no confidence in the justice system when it comes to handling sexual violence victims. Vulnerability of rape victims varies with different people. Different situations expose individuals to sexual assault. Adolescents make up the largest and most vulnerable group of individuals most susceptible to rape. They are most vulnerable because of their age. Assailants instill fear in them and they do not report cases of sexual assault until it is too late. On the other hand, teenagers are easily manipulated but their assailants as they are offered gifts and money in return for their sexual services (Phoenix, 2001). These are gifts that are very appealing to the teens as they make them stand out from their peers. Another group that is very vulnerable to rape is that of individuals whose mental health is problematic or unstable. Sexual violence also occurs as part of domestic violence. Studies show that almost 50% of women and 35%

Intrusion Detection System Using Node-Predictive Attack

Intrusion Detection System Using Node-Predictive Attack Intrusion Detection System Using Node-Predictive Attack Graph Model for Cloud Ambikavathi C Dr.S.K.Srivatsa Abstract- The role of Intrusion Detection System (IDS) in security world is considered as a key requirement for any computing model. This traditional methodology can add its own contribution of security to the distributed Cloud environment. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the steps that are needed to be taken in order to efficiently implement the IDS in cloud environment. The proposed system uses node predictive attack graph to correlate the newly occurred attacks with known attacks. The prediction steps are used to later monitor the environment and control the attacks. Keywords-Attack Graph; Cloud Computing; IDS ,; I. INTRODUCTION A. What is Cloud computing? Cloud computing is â€Å"a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction†[1]. This cloud model is co mposed of three service models, four deploy ment models and five essential characteristics . The three service models are So ftware as a Service (SaaS), Platfo rm as a Se rvice (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The four deployment models are private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud and community cloud. The five essential characteristics of cloud are on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity and measured service. B. What is IDS? Intrusion detection systems are software or hardware systems that automate the process of monitoring the events occurring in a computer system or network, analyzing them for malicious activities or policy violations and produces reports to a management station. IDSs a rehost-based, network-based and distributed IDSs. Hos t based IDS (HIDS) monitors specific host machines, network-based IDS (NIDS) identifies intrusions on key network points and distributed IDS (DIDS) operates both on host as well as network [7]. IDS can be a valuable addition to the security arsenal. IDS performs the following functionalities : Monitoring and analyzing both user and system activities .Analyzing system configurations and vulnerabilities .Assessing system and file integrity.Ability to recognize patterns typical of attacks.Analysis of abnormal activity patterns.Tracking user policy violations.The extensive use of virtualization in implementing cloud infrastructure brings unique security concerns for customers or tenants of a public cloud service. Virtualization alters the relationship between the OS and underlying hardware. This introduces an additional layer virtualization that itself must be properly configured, managed and secured. Specific concerns include the potential to compromise the virtualization software, or hypervisor. So virtual machine security is essential in cloud environment. C. Attack Graph Attack graphs are used to determine how vulnerable their systems are and to determine what security measures to deploy to defend their systems. In the predictive attack graph, a node represents a host and an edge represents vulnerability. The predictive attack graph representation accurately forecasts the effect of removing vulnerabilities by removing edges from the attack graph. The predictive attack graph is the full attack graph with redundant paths removed. A path is considered redundant if the path contains the same vulnerability-host pair in two or mo replaces along the same attack path. In node predictive attack graph, a node can be host or a group of hosts, and an edge can be vulnerability or a group of vulnerabilities. The node predictive attack graph is a simplified version of the predictive attack graph. The node predictive attack graph’s purpose is to mitigate the effects of â€Å"firewall explosion.† Firewall explosion causes redundancy in the predictive gr aph. Thus, the node predictive attack graph mitigates this issue by merging nodes of the attack graph. Two nodes are merged if the attacker can compromise the two hosts from all hosts the attacker has already compromised. [16] Rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section II discusses about the related work done. Proposed system is described briefly in section III. Section IV, presents the implementation part of EIDS and section V concludes with references at the end. II. RELATED WORK In this section, we present related research to our proposed work: Intrusion detection in cloud and attack graph models. A. Anomaly based IDS Anomaly or behavior based detection [7] refers to techniques that define and characterize normal or acceptable behaviors of the system (e.g., CPU usage, job execution time , system ca lls). Behaviors that deviate fro m the expected normal behavior are considered intrusions. Generation of high false alarms is the major drawback of this type which leads to low detection efficiency. But it is able to detect new attack patterns. Here, Input parameter selection and analysis of ciphered data are tedious processes . It attains low throughput but high cost. Metrics and frame work to evaluate this IDS and compare with alternate IDS techniques is in need. Also it is poor in defending themselves from attacks. To avoid false alarms in anomaly based systems the system must be trained to create the appropriate user profiles. It requires extensive training to characterize normal behavior patterns. B. Signature based I DS Signature or Misuse based detection refers to techniques that characterize known methods to penetrate a system. These penetrations are characterized as a ‘pattern’ or a ‘signature’ that the IDS looks for. The pattern/signature might be a static string or a set sequence of actions[9]. It can only detect known attacks. Frequent updation is needed in the database for signatures of new attacks. The advantages of this IDS are, it generates less number of false alarms. A single signature can detect a group of attacks. It does not require extensive training. C. Fuzzy based IDS Fuzzy logic can be used to deal with inexact description of intrusions. It provides some flexibility to the uncertain problem of intrusion detection. Fuzzy logic techniques[5] are used for classification techniques. The classification algorithm is applied to audit data collected which learns to classify new audit data as normal or abnormal data. It allows greater complexity for IDS while it provides some flexibility to the uncertain problem of IDS. Most fuzzy IDS require human intervention to determine fuzzy sets and set of fuzzy rules . D. Artificial Neural Network based The goal of using ANNs for intrusion detection[5] is to be able to generalize data from incomplete data and to be able to classify data as being normal or intrusive. It is best because of it’s self learning capabilities , quick processing and can find small behaviour deviations. But it’s downside is it requires more tra ining sa mples and time consuming. E. Data Mining based IDS Some intrusion attacks are formed based on known attacks or variant of known attacks. To detect such signatures or attacks, signature apriori algorithm can be used, which finds frequent subset (containing some features of original attack) of given attack set. In Cloud, association rules can be used to generate new signatures. Using newly generated signatures, variations of known attacks can be detected in real time[5]. F. Profile based IDS In VM profile based IDS[12], a profile is created for each virtual machine in cloud that describes network behavior of each clouduser. The behavior gathered is then used for detection of network attacks on cloud. It detects the attacks early with robustness and minimum complexity. G. Entropy based IDS Entropy is, in general, used for measuring the data’s degree of impurity using a Threshold value. Entropy based anomaly detection system[14] is mainly proposed to prevent DDoS attacks. This is done in two steps. First users are allowed to pass through a router in network site. It detects for legitimate user using detection algorithm. Second again it passes through a router in cloud site. In this methodology confirmation algorithm is incorporated to detect the intruder by checking a threshold value. H. Multithreaded IDS Multithreading technique improves IDS performance within Cloud computing environment to handle large number of data packet flows. The proposed multi-threaded NIDS[8][4] is based on three modules named: capture module, analysis module and reporting module. The first one is responsible of capturing data packets and sending them to analysis part which analyzes them efficiently through matching against pre-defined set of rules and distinguishes the bad packets to generate alerts. Finally, the reporting module can read alerts and immediately prepare alert report. The authors conducted simulation experiments to show the effectiveness of their proposed method and compared it with single thread which presented high performance in terms of processing and execution time. However, the problem of detecting new types of attacks still needs many works to be done. I. Integrated model IDS It uses the combination two or more o f above techniques. It is advantageous since each technique has some advantages and drawbacks. Grid and Cloud Computing Intrusion Detection System (GCCIDS)[10] proposed the integration of knowledge and behavior analysis to detect specific intrusions. However, the proposed prototype cannot discover new types of attacks or create an attack database which must be considered during implementing IDS. A new integrated intrusion detection approach, called FCA NN[13] is proposed based on ANN and fuzzy clustering. Through fuzzy clustering technique, the heterogeneous training set is divided to several homogenous subsets. Thus complexity of each sub training set is reduced and consequently the detection performance is increased. J. Graph based IDS A graph is constructed in which nodes represent state of attack and edges represent the correlations between attacks. Queue graph, Dependency graph and Attack graph are the existing works done on IDS. To prevent vulnerable virtual machines from be ing compromised in the cloud, a multiphase distributed vulnerability detection, measurement, and countermeasure selection mechanism called NICE[2] is proposed, which is built on attack graph-based analytical models and reconfigurable virtual network-based countermeasures. III. PROP OSED WORK In this section, we describe how to construct and utilize node predictive attack graph model to handle vulnerabilities in cloud environ ment. Any attack has some set of predefined steps to incorporate it. An attack can only be accomplished when all its pre-conditions are met [11]. So that by keen monitoring the attack can be prevented. An attack graph is an abstraction that represents the ways an attacker can violate a security policy by leveraging interdependencies among discovered vulnerabilities. An attack graph can be generated from network configuration details and known vulnerabilities within the network. An attack path is a sequence of steps that starts from an attacker’s initial state to the attacker’s goal state (security policy violation) in an attack graph. Every virtual machine has it’s own logfile for recording the actions of that virtual machine. Th is logfile along with the knowledge base provides information for constructing attack graph. Fig. 1. Proposed Architecture IV. IMPLEMENTATION EIDS is implemented using Openebula[15] and OSSIM (Open Source – Security Information Management)[3] which comprises of traffic analyzers, vulnerability scanners. OS-SIM is embedded as a virtual mach ine in the c loud environment. The ro le of this virtual machine is to monitor all other virtual machines running in the environment. OSSIM provides a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution. It is a one-stop solution and integrated the open source software’s NTOP, Mrtg, Snort, Open VAS, and Nmap. OSSIM is a cost effective solution in the area of monitoring network health and security of network/hosts compared to other propriety products[6]. A. Attack Analyzer Attack Analyzer is built on the top the traffic Analyzer of OS-SIM. It uses each virtual machine’s logfile to analyze and extract attack trace steps. Whenever an attack occurs it is added to the attack graph as a node along with its state and correlation function is invoked. Attack Graph Attack Graph Generator Alert System Knowledge Base Attack Analyzer B. Correlation function Correlation function correlates this new attack with known attacks and gives the prediction steps for this attack. These prediction steps for each attack are used to monitor the further attacks in future. C. Attack Graph Generator Each node in the graph defines an attack and the edge between nodes represent the correlation between that two attacks. V. CONCLUSION Defending distributed environment is difficult. Always prevention is better than cure. Prediction of Intrusions in prior enhances the security of cloud environment. So that predictive attack graph model is chosen for providing security to the distributed cloud environment. At any point the known attacks are correlated with each other to predict new attacks. REFERENCES: [1] NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology ) http://csrc.nist.gov/p ublications/nistp ubs/800-145/SP800-145.p df [2] Chun-Jen Chung, Pankaj Khatkar, Tiany i Xing Jeongkeun Lee, Dijian g Huan g, â€Å"NICE: Network Intrusion Detection and Countermeasure Selection in Virtual Network Systems†, IEEE Transactions On Dependable And Secure Computing, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 198 – 211, July /August 2013. [3] â€Å"OSSIM †, https://www.alienvault.com/ [4] Ms. Parag K. Shelke, M s. Sneha Sontakke, Dr. A. D. Gawande, â€Å"Intrusion Detection Sy stem for Cloud Comp uting†, International Journal of Scientific Technology Research Volume 1, Issue 4, M ay 2012. [5] M odi, C., Patel, D., Patel, H., Borisaniy a, B., Patel, A. Rajarajan, M ., â€Å"A survey of intrusion detection techniques in Cloud†, Journal of Network and Computer App lications. [6] â€Å"OSSIM †, http ://www.op ensourceforu.com/2014/02 /top -10-op en-source-security -tools/ [7] Amirreza Zarrabi, Alireza Zarrabi, â€Å"Internet Intrusion Detection Sy stem Service in a Cloud† IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 9, Issue 5, No 2, Sep tember 2012. [8] I. Gul and M . Hussain, â€Å"Distributed Cloud Intrusion Detection M odel†, International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology, vol. 34, pp. 71-82, 2011. [9] R. Bhadauria, R. Chaki, N. Chak i, and S. Sany al â€Å"A Survey on Secur ity Issues in Cloud Comp uting†, Available at: http ://arxiv.org/abs/1109.5388 [10] K. Vieira, A. Schulter, C.B. Westp hall, and C.M . Westphall, â€Å"Intrusion Detection for Grid and Cloud comp uting†, IT Professional, Volume: 12 Issue: 4, p p. 38-43, 2010. [11] X. Ou and A. Singhal, â€Å"Quantitative Secur ity Risk Assessment of Enterp rise Networks†, Sp ringerBriefs in Comp uter Scien ce, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-1860-3_2,  © The Author(s) 2012 [12] Sanchik a Gupta, Padam Kumar and Ajith Abraham, â€Å"A Profile Based Network Intrusion Detection and Prevention System for Secur in g Cloud Env ironment†, International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks, Feb 2013 [13] Swati Ramteke, Rajesh Dongare, Ko mal Ramteke, â€Å"Intrusion Detection System for Cloud Network Using FC-ANN Algorithm†, Int. Journal of Advanced R esearch in Comp uter and Communication En gineeringVo l. 2, Issue 4, April 2013. [14] A.S.Sy ed Navaz, V.San geetha, C.Prabhadevi, â€Å"Entropy based Anomaly Detection System to Prevent DDoS Attacks in Cloud†, Int. Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887) Volume 62– No.15, January 2013 [15] â€Å"Op ennebula†, http ://opennebula.org [16] Nwokedi C. Idika, â€Å"Characterizin g and A ggregating Attack Grap h-based Security M etrics†, CERIAS Tech Rep ort 2010

Philosophy of Education :: Philosophy of Teaching Statement

Philosophy of Education â€Å"Be all that you can be. Find your future- as a teacher.† No, joining the army is not what Madeline Fuchs Holzer had in mind when she said this quote. Being all you can be in life requires dedication, responsibility and a desire to do what you love. Teaching is a profession that requires 110% from a person. I have the drive and ability to be the best that I can be as a teacher. There is not anything else I would want to do with my life besides teaching. I want to be a reflection to my students that they can be all that they can be. Another quote by Henry Adams, â€Å"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.† To be that type of teacher has been a lifelong goal for me. I want to make my mark in the world and this is my way of doing it. To have the ability to affect a child’s life for an eternity is something that not everyone can say they have accomplished. Teaching definitely is a profession that will affect eternit y. The main reasons for wanting to become a teacher would be my love for children, my family inspirations; God’s calling for me, and my love for learning. All my life I have enjoyed being around children. They have great spirits about them that makes me feel free spirited. Their innocence, undying energy and their love for life makes me take these characteristics and apply them to my own life. Another motivation for me is the inspirations of my grandfather and my father. My grandfather died when I was very young and the one thing everyone has always said about him is his love of flying and teaching. His life was spent on teaching others and when he passed away he was remembered as being a great teacher devoting himself entirely to his family and his students. My father spent the first thirty years of his life going form job to job since he had not finished his schooling younger in life. At middle age he decided to go back to college and earned his degree in education. He felt that becoming a teacher he would be a testimony to children to continue their education to better their future.

Levi’s Organization Essay

Levi Strauss & Co. is a worldwide corporation organized into three geographic divisions: Levi Strauss Americas (LSA), based in the San Francisco headquarters; Levi Strauss Europe, Middle East and Africa (LSEMA), based in Brussels; and Asia Pacific Division (APD), based in Singapore. The company employs a staff of approximately 10,500 people worldwide. The core Levi’s was founded in 1873 in San Francisco, specializing in riveted denim jeans and different lines of casual and street fashion.[3] From the early 1960s through the mid-1970s, Levi Strauss experienced significant growth in its business as the more casual look of the 1960s and 1970s ushered in the â€Å"blue jeans craze† and served as a catalyst for the brand. Levi’s, under the leadership of Walter Haas Jr., Peter Haas, Ed Combs, and Mel Bacharach, expanded the firm’s clothing line by adding new fashions and models, including stone-washed jeans through the acquisition of Great Western Garment Co. (GWG), a Canadian clothing manufacturer, and introducing Permanent Press trousers under the Sta-prest name. The company experienced rapid expansion of its manufacturing capacity from 16 plants to more than 63 plants in the United States from 1964 to 1974 and 25 overseas. They used of â€Å"pay for performance† manufacturing at the sewing machine operator level up. 2004 saw a sharp decline of GWG in the face of global outsourcing, so the company was closed and the Edmonton manufacturing plant shut down.[4] The Dockers brand, launched in 1986[5] which is sold largely through department store chains, helped the company grow through the mid-1990s, as denim sales began to fade. Dockers were introduced into Europe in 1993. Levi Strauss attempted to sell the Dockers division in 2004 to relieve part of the company’s $2 billion outstanding debt.[6] Launched in 2003, Levi Strauss Signature features jeanswear and casualwear.[7] In November 2007, Levi’s released a mobile phone in co-operation with ModeLabs. Many of the phone’s cosmetic attributes are customisable at the point of purchase.

Deception Point Page 100

I tried to help him, Pickering told himself, recalling all the damaging evidence he had sent Marjorie Tench. Unfortunately, Herney had forbidden its use, leaving Pickering no choice but to take drastic measures. â€Å"Rachel,† Pickering said, â€Å"the information you just faxed off this ship is dangerous. You must understand that. If it gets out, the White House and NASA will look complicit. The backlash against the President and NASA will be enormous. The President and NASA know nothing, Rachel. They are innocent. They believe the meteorite is authentic.† Pickering had not even tried to bring Herney or Ekstrom into the fold because both were far too idealistic to have agreed to any deceit, regardless of its potential to save the presidency or space agency. Administrator Ekstrom's only crime had been persuading the PODS mission supervisor to lie about the anomaly software, a move Ekstrom no doubt regretted the moment he realized how scrutinized this particular meteorite would become. Marjorie Tench, frustrated by Herney's insistence on fighting a clean campaign, conspired with Ekstrom on the PODS lie, hoping a small PODS success might help the President fend off the rising Sexton tide. If Tench had used the photos and bribery data I gave her, none of this would have happened! Tench's murder, though deeply regrettable, had been destined as soon as Rachel called Tench and made accusations of fraud. Pickering knew Tench would investigate ruthlessly until she got to the bottom of Rachel's motives for the outrageous claims, and this was one investigation Pickering obviously could never let happen. Ironically, Tench would serve her president best in death, her violent end helping cement a sympathy vote for the White House as well as cast vague suspicions of foul play on a desperate Sexton campaign which had been so publicly humiliated by Marjorie Tench on CNN. Rachel stood her ground, glaring at her boss. â€Å"Understand,† Pickering said, â€Å"if news of this meteorite fraud gets out, you will destroy an innocent president and an innocent space agency. You will also put a very dangerous man in the Oval Office. I need to know where you faxed the data.† As he spoke those words, a strange look came across Rachel's face. It was the pained expression of horror of someone who had just realized they may have made a grave mistake. Having circled the bow and come back down the port side, Delta-One now stood in the hydrolab from which he had seen Rachel emerge as the chopper had flown in. A computer in the lab displayed an unsettling image-a polychromatic rendering of the pulsating, deepwater vortex that was apparently hovering over the ocean floor somewhere beneath the Goya. Another reason to get the hell out of here, he thought, moving now toward his target. The fax machine was on a counter on the far side of the wall. The tray was filled with a stack of papers, exactly as Pickering had guessed it would be. Delta-One picked up the stack. A note from Rachel was on top. Only two lines. He read it. To the point, he thought. As he flipped through the pages, he was both amazed and dismayed by the extent to which Tolland and Rachel had uncovered the meteorite deception. Whoever saw these printouts would have no doubt what they meant. Fortunately, Delta-One would not even need to hit â€Å"redial† to find out where the printouts had gone. The last fax number was still displayed in the LCD window. A Washington, D.C., prefix. He carefully copied the fax number down, grabbed all the papers, and exited the lab. Tolland's hands felt sweaty on the machine gun as he gripped it, aiming the muzzle at William Pickering's chest. The NRO director was still pressuring Rachel to tell him where the data had been sent, and Tolland was starting to get the uneasy feeling that Pickering was simply trying to buy time. For what? â€Å"The White House and NASA are innocent,† Pickering repeated. â€Å"Work with me. Don't let my mistakes destroy what little credibility NASA has left. NASA will look guilty if this gets out. You and I can come to an arrangement. The country needs this meteorite. Tell me where you faxed the data before it's too late.† â€Å"So you can kill someone else?† Rachel said. â€Å"You make me sick.† Tolland was amazed with Rachel's fortitude. She despised her father, but she clearly had no intention of putting the senator in any danger whatsoever. Unfortunately, Rachel's plan to fax her father for help had backfired. Even if the senator came into his office, saw the fax, and called the President with news of the meteorite fraud and told him to call off the attack, nobody at the White House would have any idea what Sexton was talking about, or even where they were. â€Å"I will only say this one more time,† Pickering said, fixing Rachel with a menacing glare. â€Å"This situation is too complex for you to fully understand. You've made an enormous mistake by sending that data off this ship. You've put your country at risk.† William Pickering was indeed buying time, Tolland now realized. And the reason was striding calmly toward them up the starboard side of the boat. Tolland felt a flash of fear when he saw the soldier sauntering toward them carrying a stack of papers and a machine gun. Tolland reacted with a decisiveness that shocked even himself. Gripping the machine gun, he wheeled, aimed at the soldier, and pulled the trigger. The gun made an innocuous click. â€Å"I found the fax number,† the soldier said, handing Pickering a slip of paper. â€Å"And Mr. Tolland is out of ammunition.† 124 Sedgewick Sexton stormed up the hallway of the Philip A. Hart Senate Office Building. He had no idea how Gabrielle had done it, but she had obviously gotten into his office. While they were speaking on the phone, Sexton had clearly heard the distinctive triple-click of his Jourdain clock in the background. All he could imagine was that Gabrielle's eavesdropping on the SFF meeting had undermined her trust in him and she had gone digging for evidence. How the hell did she get into my office! Sexton was glad he'd changed his computer password. When he arrived at his private office, Sexton typed in his code to deactivate the alarm. Then he fumbled for his keys, unlocked the heavy doors, threw them open, and burst in, intent on catching Gabrielle in the act. But the office was empty and dark, lit only by the glow of his computer screensaver. He turned on the lights, his eyes scanning. Everything looked in place. Dead silence except for the triple-tick of his clock. Where the hell is she? He heard something rustle in his private bathroom and raced over, turning on the light. The bathroom was empty. He looked behind the door. Nothing. Puzzled, Sexton eyed himself in the mirror, wondering if he'd had too much to drink tonight. I heard something. Feeling disoriented and confused, he walked back into his office. â€Å"Gabrielle?† he called out. He went down the hall to her office. She wasn't there. Her office was dark. A toilet flushed in the ladies' room, and Sexton spun, striding now back in the direction of the restrooms. He arrived just as Gabrielle was exiting, drying her hands. She jumped when she saw him. â€Å"My God! You scared me!† she said, looking genuinely frightened. â€Å"What are you doing here?† â€Å"You said you were getting NASA documents from your office,† he declared, eyeing her empty hands. â€Å"Where are they?† â€Å"I couldn't find them. I looked everywhere. That's what took so long.† He stared directly into her eyes. â€Å"Were you in my office?† I owe my life to his fax machine, Gabrielle thought. Only minutes ago she'd been sitting at Sexton's computer, trying to make printouts of the images of illegal checks on his computer. The files were protected somehow, and she was going to need more time to figure out how to print them. She would probably still be trying right now if Sexton's fax machine had not rung, startling her and snapping her back to reality. Gabrielle took it as her cue to get out. Without taking time to see what the incoming fax was, she logged off Sexton's computer, tidied up, and headed out the way she had come. She was just climbing out of Sexton's bathroom when she heard him coming in.