Of Mice And Men Essays (434 words) - English-language Films

Of Mice and Men Of Mice and Men Many of you may think it was easy enough for George to pick up that Luger and shoot this man, Lennie, right in the back of the head. This, however, is not so. The internal conflict that George must have faced was no doubt greater than anything you can imagine. George, an angel of mercy to his good friend and confidant, Lennie Small, is not a murderer. He is quite the opposite. The care of Lennie had been placed into George's hands by a dying woman. George had promised that he would take care of Lennie, watch after him, make sure he was safe. Because the greatest danger to Lennie, George and this Aunt Clara must have known, was himself. His sheer strength and simple mindedness had gotten Lennie in trouble many times before, and then, suddenly, he had killed a woman. The blame can not be placed anywhere for this woman's death. Lennie had no idea what he had done, the only thing he knew was that George would be upset. George did not kill Lennie out of spite, not because his thoughtless, innocent, act had dashed George's hopes of having a small farm. George had to do this because the other choices were grim. Lennie could be hanged, bludgeoned and beaten by the group of ranch hands that were after him. Or, maybe worse, Lennie would have been ripped from George's side and been thrown into some horrid mental institution, a danger to himself, a danger to others. After all, if they had escaped that town there would be the next town, the next dead girl, and another gang to out run. Perhaps it is best if Lennie's last, simple thoughts were of George telling him of the land they would own and work together. George did not, after all, just go up to Lennie and shoot him, point blank in the back of the head. He painted a lovely picture for Lennie to gaze upon before Lennie died, of the vegetable garden they would plant and the rabbit hutch that Lennie would be in charge of. Also, had Lennie lived, he would have never understood why there would not be ranch, only that there would be no soft rabbits for him to tend. What George did was a duty to himself, to Lennie, to society, because they would have always been running from something to somewhere. George has suffered the most out of any of these parties involved. He has lost a good friend and companion, a rarity in these times. What he did was out of love, not malice, and he should not be prosecuted. George has to live with what he had to do. That should be enough punishment.

Understanding Basic MIDI essays

Understanding Basic MIDI essays This article was designed to give you a basic understanding of the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), and to leave you with a brief knowledge of it's past. It is a tool widely used today in many varied recording or live preformance situations. MIDI is what allows electronic musical instruments to communicate with each other to preform certain tasks. These tasks may include starting or stopping a song, changing the voice of a keyboard or other controller, etc. A few of the main types of components are listed below: Controller - A device used to recieve the information from the user. (keyboard, electronic drum pads) Sound Module - This is the machine that actually contains the sounds that you hear. Sequencer - The device used to record the data in which it was played from the controller. (which note, when it was played) In this description, we will use a keyboard for our default controller. When the keyboard is played, four basic types of note information are being sent out. For instance, if you press down the note "middle c", it sends: 'note# 36 (middle c) was pressed with a velocity of 91 (1 -127)'. That note is now considered 'on' by the other machines until you release the key and the receive the "note off" command. The basic duties of a controller are to translate what your playing into note information. Sound modules can be very fun. They can contain any sound imaginable; from pianos to drums to nature sounds. When a sound module recieves the note information that 'middle c' has been pressed, it will play whichever sound is assigned to that note number. For instance, if you had piano sounds in the module, you would hear 'middle c' as a piano would play it. If you had say, percussion sounds called up, you may hear a snare or bass drum. A sequencer recieves all the same information as the sound ...

Anyone Can Be A Monster

Anyone Can Be A Monster Primo Levi, an Italian Jewish chemist, writer, and Holocaust survivor, once said that Monsters exist, but they are far too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions. When people think of evil people or monsters, we typically think of the main figure of a movement or group. The most evil person people think of is Hitler or Stalin. It is easy to blame the main figure solely, but by doing this we fail to remember the ordinary people who are involved in letting horrendous acts occur. These people did not work alone. It is everyday people who have the power to control what will happen. It is through civilian opinions and actions that evil acts can occur. Hitler had millions of followers and supporters that did not question what he was doing to Jews. They and many other countries failed to realize by following blindly without questioning, they were condemning a group of people to death. Mon sters do not have to be a completely evil being. Many people do not realize that all monsters are just ordinary people. In her short story, The Lottery, Shirley Jackson is able to express the chilling horror of blind obedience. Jackson is able to show that any ordinary person is capable of horrific acts by conforming mindlessly to a persons surroundings. Although people are have the ability to cause change and do good, Shirley Jackson is able to convey in her story The Lottery that the normalization of events, fear and tradition, and selfishness are the roots of blind obedience and cause everyday people to become monsters. To begin, Shirley Jackson shows that heinous deeds can become normal over time. The most sinister aspect of The Lottery is the normalization of the killing of a neighbor. Every single person in the town is not bothered by the lottery. The townspeople schedule the lottery to happen around 10, so that it will be over in time for them to have lunch. The people of the town have no issue with continuing their day after killing someone that was apart of their community. It is through normalization that bad things can occur. The Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, points out that the killing of Jews was not the first step in the Holocaust. In 1930s Germany there was a lot anti-Jew propaganda. Jews were often an object people could blame for their problems. They complained that Jews were taking jobs away from Germans; which is much like some Americans views on immigrants. Through the constant blame of Jews and propaganda against them in the media, the Nazis were able to normalize the hatred of Jews. By blindly listening to the media and bias, the people in 1930s Germany became just as bad as Nazis. The townspeople in The Lottery do the exact same thing. The children are playing with the rocks that will kill a person that they know and interact with constantly; they fill their pockets full of stones. Children should be questioning whether it is right to be killing a person, but they conform to what others do around them. No one questions the lottery. The townspeople gossip and joke before the lottery begins. They just think of the lottery as a mundane activity that they are forced to do. The lottery is just another part of their day they have to get thorough. If someone were to question the lottery, than people wouldnt have to die. In addition, once Tessie is chosen to be stoned and begins to panic, the townspeople tell her to be a good sport. These people dont even think about her or her situation. They blindly stone this lady without thinking of her family or why they are really doing it. The act of killing someone has become so normal to this town that they just want it to be over with quickly. Jackson warns that if heinous acts are normalized then the true horrors of a situation are hidden, making ordinary people monsters by blind obedience. Furthermore, the blind obedience found in The Lottery is even more intensified by fear and tradition. Fear is one of the best motivators; anyone can control another person through fear. Fear and tradition in The Lottery go hand in hand. There is a fear that if the sacrifice from the lottery is stopped, than the crops wont flourish; the lottery has worked for the townspeople for centuries, so they dont consider stopping the tradition. They repeatedly conform to the same pattern every year of bringing out the old box and killing someone. This is all they have ever know; lotteries are conducted in villages in all of the surrounding areas around the townspeople. The oldest man in town, Old Man Warner, has been apart of over 70 lotteries. No one in town has ever not been apart of the lottery. It has always happened and the crops always grow. The townspeople are like drones that carry out orders without thinking or realizing how pointless the lottery really is. They are afraid to speak up about the lottery because of what might happen to them. It is just a small town of just 300 people; no one talks about the lottery because they are afraid of judgment by the town, and they are afraid to alter the lottery for what might happen to their crops. The black box used for the lottery is old and shabby. There is always talk about making a new box, but no one wants to mess with the tradition that is represented by the black box. Jackson is able to demonstrate how strong of a hold tradition and fear have on people. Tradition makes it easy to blindly follow a routine, and fear is used a deterrent to stop an sort of questioning toward the lottery. In addition, selfishness is a further exemplifies blind obedience. We as people tend to not question anything until we personally are involved. The townspeople do not care about the families of the people who are sacrificed at the lottery; they only care about themselves. Even Tessie, the woman who gets stoned, jokes around during the lottery until she is chosen to be killed. We only care about ourselves and our safety. Tessie even tries to bring some of her married children in the lottery draw for her family to increase her odds of living. She would rather one of her own child die in her place than her. Nobody questions anything until they are apart of it. In present day, many people do not sympathize with the suffering and discrimination of minority groups because it does not affect them personally. They cannot see the pain of others because it does not affect them. Once the Hutchinsons have been chosen for the lottery, some of Nancy Hutchinsons school friends hope that it isnt her . Nancys friends do not care about Nancys family. They only think about themselves and what they would do without Nancy. They dont think of Nancys suffering or how the lottery will affect her and her family. Thomas Du Bose believes that Jackson is suggesting that people are not concerned about injustice and kindness unless these problems touch them personally. The townspeople are able to blindly obedient because the lottery doesnt concern them or their families. Once they open their piece of paper and dont see a black dot, they are relaxed; its not them. They just want the stoning to end quickly so they can go to lunch. Selfishness and not being able to put yourself in someone elses place causes people to be apart to horrific deeds. Any person can become a monster. It is not just figureheads who are evil, it is also ordinary people. Shirley Jackson is warning us that by being blindly obedient that we can create terror and suffering. Jackson is urging us to look for signs of normalization of awful things. She is telling us to question everything even if it is tradition, or is it scary to oppose. Jackson is telling us to look beyond ourselves and to not conform to awful practices. The Lottery is a call to action to be more aware of our surroundings and what we do. We need to be more self aware and see what we can do to help and change other people. Works Cited Du Bose, Thomas. The Lottery. Masterplots, Fourth Edition, November 2010, pp. 1-3. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx direct=truedb=lkhAN=103331MP421429820000662site=lrc-plus. Green, Jordan. CAIR Executive Director Decries normalization of Hate. The NC Triads Altweekly. Triad City Beat, 31 Mar. 2017. Web. 7 Apr. 2017. Quotes About Monsters (389 quotes). (389 quotes). N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2017.

The International Jurisdiction of the Internet - A Study in Essay

The International Jurisdiction of the Internet - A Study in Perspective - Essay Example According to Leiner, et.al. (2003), the history of the Internet revolves around four distinct aspects: the technological aspect, operational and management aspect, social aspect, and commercialization aspect. â€Å"The technological evolution that began with early research on packet switching and the ARPANET (and related technologies), and where current research continues to expand the horizons of the infrastructure along several dimensions, such as scale, performance, and higher level functionality. There is the operations and management aspect of a global and complex operational infrastructure. There is the social aspect, which resulted in a broad community of Internauts working together to create and evolve the technology. And there is the commercialization aspect, resulting in an extremely effective transition of research results into a broadly deployed and available information infrastructure.† (Leiner, et.al. 2003)According to Leiner, et.al, the history of the Internet r evolves around four distinct aspects: the technological aspect, operational and management aspect, social aspect, and commercialization aspect. â€Å"The technological evolution that began with early research on packet switching and the ARPANET (and related technologies), and where current research continues to expand the horizons of the infrastructure along several dimensions, such as scale, performance, and higher level functionality. There is the operations and management aspect of a global and complex operational infrastructure.

Illegal action of a nurse Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Illegal action of a nurse - Research Paper Example Thus, nurses play an important role in the safety of the patient. In this article, medication errors by nurses will be discussed with reference to a case scenario in an old age nursing home. Ms X is a registered nurse in the State of Georgia working in a renowned Long-term care nursing home. On a busy day, the nursing manager noticed that she did not sign the MARs sheet even after administering the drugs to a patient. This was against the rule that all nurses must sign the medication chart soon after administering medication to patient. When confronted Ms.X argued that she had to do so to save time in the busy ward. She had planned to sign the charts after delivering medications to all the patients. However, the manager tells her that "no sign means not given the medication." Thus, there is a medication error and this is an illegal action by the nurse. Medication error may be defined as "any preventable medication-related event that adversely affects a patient in a nursing home and is related to professional practice, or healthcare products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing, prescription order communications, product labeling, packaging and nomenclature, compounding, dispensing, distribution, administration, education, monitoring and use" (Greene et al, 2005). Like any other safety issues, medication errors occur due to system failures or human errors. Factors associated with medication errors include using wrong name, abbreviation or dosage form of the drug, wrong calculation of drug dosage, atypical dosage, deficiencies in training, poor perception of risk of medication error and undue time pressure. The most commonly reported medication errors are omission errors, improper dosage and unauthorized drug errors (ICN, 2009). Medication errors by nurses can be prevented by following the "five rights" of giving medication. They are "right drug,

The Pursuit of Happiness Essay Example for Free

The Pursuit of Happiness Essay The 2006 movie The Pursuit of Happyness, featuring will smith and real-life son Jaden Smith received significant financial success both during its original release and subsequent DVD edition. Inspired by the memoirs by self-made millionaire Chris Gardner together with Quincy Troupe, the film features the challenges of pursing the â€Å"American dream†, a challenge more easily associated with foreigners or immigrants to the country. The inspirational value of the movie is one of the reasons for its appeal. In the story, Gardner is portrayed as having employment is al subject to the social change faced by the unemployed. Though the premise of the story is not unique, the films approach illustrating how the collective impact of small social challenges can lead to homelessness highlights the concern of the spiraling social exclusion most middle class Americans have to deal with.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gardner’s joke to his son regarding the drowning man who turned down the rescue of two boats in favor of waiting for God himself to save him is a testimony to the philosophy that he believes was key to his success. Similar to the adage that God helps those who help themselves, Gardner points out that one should not be so proud as to accept the help of others even if they do not compare to one’s expectation of the help that one needs. Moreover, Gardner’s story to his son encourages him to see the hand of God behind the opportunities, good and bad that comes his way going beyond corporeal or mystical manifestations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are key moments in the film where this can be most apparent. One of the early moments where this is seen is when he asks a man going out of a Ferrari what he did for a living and how he did it. The encounter, in real life with then top stockbroker Bob Bridges, led to Gardner’s introduction to a career in stock trading. Gardner again illustrates this idea in his interview with the internship position where he had to convince the panel to accept him though he came underdressed to the interview. Another example is portrayed in the daily rush father and son would always have to make at the end of the day to be able to get s a lot in the church shelter as well as the times when he sought â€Å"creative† ways of finding a place to spend the night in with his son which included railway station bathroom, subways and busses. The other scene that brings the deliver the same message was when the light of the bone density machine was being repaired by Gardner. But the most poignant illustrations of the philosophy behind Gardner’s quip are delivered by the conversations between father and son such as in Gardner’s lecture to his son regarding pursuing one’s dream despite others’ negative opinion viewing the city.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At many points in the picture, Gardner is portrayed as someone who is driven to the edge but is able to keep himself from totally falling into despair. His moments of self-pride in the movie are always resolved to have negative consequences such as having to run from a taxi driver and missing a slot in the shelter due to lending his boss cab fare. Often he is shown to have to swallow his pride to seek shelter or care but remains committed to alleviating his situation with his son as best he can and to not be dependent on welfare or the charity of others. Gardner’s view of helping one’s self emphasizes self-reliance but also self-realization. He points out that to be able to triumph from challenges: one has to be able to commit one’s self on doing so and pursuing every opportunity that comes. This implies the need to actively seek ways to accomplish such an objective, improving one’s self and learning from others and to persist regardless of failure. Work Cited The Pursuit of Happyness. Dir. Gabriele Muccino. Perf. Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Thandie Newton. Sony Pictures. 15 December 2006.

Capital Punishment Essay - The Fatal State of the Death-Penalty System

The Fatal State of the Death-Penalty System    In 1997, the state of Florida botched Pedro Medina's execution. When the switch was flipped on the 50-year-old electric chair, nicknamed "Old Sparky," the mask covering Medina's face caught on fire. Flames up to a foot long shot of his face for 6-10 seconds. A thick, black smoke filled the room, and the prison guards closed the curtain, hiding the rest of the job from the shocked witnesses. Bob Butterworth, then Florida's attorney general, said that Medina's agonizing death would be a deterrent to crime. People who want to commit murder, he said, better not do so in Florida because "we may have a problem with our electric chair." Such cases are likely to horrify death penalty proponents and foes alike. (After another botched execution in 1999, this time with the new electric chair, Florida gave inmates the option of lethal injection or the chair). What is even more abominable than these clear instances of "cruel and unusual punishment," however, is the mounting evidence that many people being convicted of murder, sent to death row, and probably even executed in the United States are simply not guilty. The only way to reasonably evaluate the system without running the risk of executing more innocents in the process is for Congress to issue an immediate national moratorium on executions. On Jan 31, 2000, Governor George Ryan (R-IL), a death-penalty proponent, announced a moratorium on executions in his state until the system is investigated. Governor Ryan had more than sufficient grounds to say that Illinois's criminal-justice system is "fraught with error": Since 1977, when Illinois reinstated the death penalty (following a 1976 Supreme-Court ruling allowing states to do ... ...s-16,000 of them, dating back five years." While rapists can be feed from prison if DNA evidence clears them, executions are irrevocable. Given the problems in state and national DNA databanks, it is crucial that those on death row get more time to explore any evidence that could exonerate them. Governor George W. Bush of Texas (where 463 people are on death row) maintains that he is certain that every person of the over 100 who have been executed during his tenure is guilty. The fact that Texas has no public-defender system and that Bush has spent much time over the past year campaigning outside the state has not made a dent in Bush's certainty. For those who, regardless of their stance on the death penalty, would like to take the time to examine the evidence and aim for a higher standard, state and national moratoriums are presently the best course of action.

Andy Warhol research

Warhol created his pieces by discovering what was popular, what stood out in modern art, and also something with standard American values. Warhol also took everyday objects and turned them into pop art sensations. He realized that the majority of the United States went food shopping and decided to create a line of supermarket products. This line of Whorl's included the very popular Brills boxes, price tags, the banana, and Coca-Cola bottles (Warwick). His creation of Coca Cola Bottles in 1962 became very popular. The bottles are in the everyday life of anAmerican which made them very familiar with practically everyone. â€Å"Warhol used to identify the nature of the great American society, anonymous and consumerist, devoted to conformism and with a pride in unanimity, was the ubiquitous Coca Cola bottle- â€Å"(Cobblestone 12). To Warhol, a Coca Cola bottle seemed so simple but, also a universal icon in the United States. Before Warhol, lots of artists had assistants who stretched and primed canvases, ran errands, or even participated in making the work. But at the Factory, the crew grew to the size of a small business.It was seen as sort of entourage, but Warhol turned that idea on its head: â€Å"People thought it was me that everyone at the Factory was hanging around†¦ But that's absolutely backward. It was me who was hanging around everyone else. I Just paid the rent. † gave rise to? a type for whom conflating culture and commerce is about â€Å"engaging with modern life on its own terms,†Andy Warhol went back to the origin of art: drawing Stuff That Matters cavemen drawing animals that either fed them or killed them, later paintings and sculptures of gods and demons.Andy Warhol looked at the world and asked, what matters now? Which is how â€Å"icons† of Marilyn Monroe and consumer products such as Campbell Soup ended up being part of his work. Warhol created his pieces by discovering what was popular, what stood out in modern a rt, and also something with standard American values. Warhol also took everyday objects and turned them into pop art sensations. He realized that the majority of the United States went food shopping and decided to create a line of supermarket products.This line of Whorl's included the very popular Brills boxes, price tags, the banana, ND Coca-Cola bottles (Warwick). His creation of Coca Cola Bottles in 1962 became very popular. The bottles are in the everyday life of an American which made them very familiar with practically everyone. â€Å"Warhol used to identify the nature of the great American society, anonymous and consumerist, devoted to conformism and with a pride in unanimity, was the ubiquitous Coca Cola bottle- â€Å"(Cobblestone 12). To Warhol, a Coca Cola bottle seemed so simple but, also a universal icon in the United States. Andy Warhol research By stark

The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 2

Dear Diary, I AM HOME! I can hardly dare to believe it, but here I am. I woke with the strangest feeling. I didn't know where I was and just lay here smelling the clean cotton-and-fabric-softener scent of the sheets, trying to figure out why everything looked so familiar. I wasn't in Lady Ulma's mansion. There, I had slept nestled in the smoothest satin and softest velvet, and the air had smelled of incense. And I wasn't at the boardinghouse: Mrs. Flowers washes the bedding there in some weird-smelling herbal mixture that Bonnie says is for protection and good dreams. And suddenly, I knew. I was home. The Guardians did it! They brought me home. Everything and nothing has changed. It's the same room I slept in from when I was a tiny baby: my polished cherry-wood dresser and rocking chair; the little stuffed black-and-white dog Matt won at the winter carnival our junior year perched on a shelf; my rolltop desk with its cubbyholes; the ornate antique mirror above my dresser; and the Monet and Klimt posters from the museum exhibits Aunt Judith took me to in Washington, DC. Even my comb and brush are lined up neatly side by side on my dresser. It's all as it should be. I got out of bed and used a silver letter opener from the desk to pry up the secret board in my closet floor, my old hiding place, and I found this diary, just where I hid it so many months ago. The last entry is the one I wrote before Founder's Day back in November, before I†¦ died. Before I left home and never came back. Until now. In that entry I detailed our plan to steal back my other diary, the one Caroline took from me, the one that she was planning to read aloud at the Founder's Day pageant, knowing it would ruin my life. The very next day, I drowned in Wickery Creek and rose again as a vampire. And then I died again and returned as a human, and traveled to the Dark Dimension, and had a thousand adventures. And my old diary has been sitting right here where I left it under the closet floor, just waiting for me. The other Elena, the one that the Guardians planted in everyone's memories, was here all these months, going to school and living a normal life. That Elena didn't write here. I'm relieved, really. How creepy would it be to see diary entries in my handwriting and not remember any of the things they recounted? Although that might have been helpful. I have no idea what everyone else in Fell's Church thinks has been happening in the months since Founder's Day. The whole town of Fell's Church has been given a fresh start. The kitsune destroyed this town out of sheer malicious mischief. Pitting children against their parents, making people destroy themselves and everyone they loved. But now none of it ever happened. If the Guardians made good on their word, everyone else who died is now alive again: poor Vickie Bennett and Sue Carson, murdered by Katherine and Klaus and Tyler Smallwood back in the winter; disagreeable Mr. Tanner; those innocents that the kitsune killed or caused to be killed. Me. All back again, all starting over. And, except for me and my closest friends – Meredith, Bonnie, Matt, my darling Stefan, and Mrs. Flowers – no one else knows that life hasn't gone on as usual ever since Founder's Day. We've all been given another chance. We did it. We saved everyone. Everyone except Damon. He saved us, in the end, but we couldn't save him. No matter how hard we tried or how desperately we pleaded, there was no way for the Guardians to bring him back. And vampires don't reincarnate. They don't go to Heaven, or Hell, or any kind of afterlife. They just†¦ disappear. Elena stopped writing for a moment and took a deep breath. Her eyes fil ed with tears, but she bent over the diary again. She had to tel the whole truth if there was going to be any point to keeping a diary at al . Damon died in my arms. It was agonizing to watch him slip away from me. But I'll never let Stefan know how I truly felt about his brother. It would be cruel – and what good would it do now? I still can't believe he's gone. There was no one as alive as Damon – no one who loved life more than he did. Now he'll never know – At that moment the door of Elena's bedroom suddenly flew open, and Elena, her heart in her throat, slammed the diary shut. But the intruder was only her younger sister, Margaret, dressed in pink flower-printed pajamas, her cornsilk hair standing straight up in the middle like a thrush's feathers. The five-year-old didn't decelerate until she was almost on top of Elena – and then she launched herself at her through the air. She landed squarely on her older sister, knocking the breath out of her. Margaret's cheeks were wet, her eyes shining, and her little hands clutched at Elena. Elena found herself holding on just as tightly, feeling the weight of her sister, inhaling the sweet scent of baby shampoo and Play-Doh. â€Å"I missed you!† Margaret said, her voice on the verge of sobbing. â€Å"Elena! I missed you so much!† â€Å"What?† Despite her effort to make her voice light, Elena could hear it shaking. She realized with a jolt that she hadn't seen Margaret – really seen her – for more than eight months. But Margaret couldn't know that. â€Å"You missed me so much since bedtime that you had to come running to find me?† Margaret drew slightly away from Elena and stared at her. Margaret's five-year-old clear blue eyes had a look in them, an intensely knowing look, that sent a shiver down Elena's spine. But Margaret didn't say a word. She simply tightened her grip on Elena, curling up and letting her head rest on Elena's shoulder. â€Å"I had a bad dream. I dreamed you left me. You went away.† The last word was a quiet wail. â€Å"Oh, Margaret,† Elena said, hugging her sister's warm solidity, â€Å"it was only a dream. I'm not going anywhere.† She closed her eyes and held on to Margaret, praying her sister had truly only had a nightmare, and that she hadn't slipped through the cracks of the Guardians' spel . â€Å"Al right, cookie, time to get a move on,† said Elena after a few moments, gently tickling Margaret's side. â€Å"Are we going to have a fabulous breakfast together? Shal I make you pancakes?† Margaret sat up then and gazed at Elena with wide blue eyes. â€Å"Uncle Robert's making waffles,† she said. â€Å"He always makes waffles on Sunday mornings. Remember?† Uncle Robert. Right. He and Aunt Judith had gotten married after Elena had died. â€Å"Sure, he does, bunny,† she said lightly. â€Å"I just forgot it was Sunday for a minute.† Now that Margaret had mentioned it, she could hear someone down in the kitchen. And smel something delicious cooking. She sniffed. â€Å"Is that bacon?† Margaret nodded. â€Å"Race you to the kitchen!† Elena laughed and stretched. â€Å"Give me a minute to wake al the way up. I'l meet you down there.† I'll get to talk to Aunt Judith again, she realized with a sudden burst of joy. Margaret bounced out of bed. At the door, she paused and looked back at her sister. â€Å"You real y are coming down, right?† she asked hesitantly. â€Å"I real y am,† Elena said, and Margaret smiled and headed down the hal . Watching her, Elena was struck once more by what an amazing second chance – third chance, real y – she'd been given. For a moment Elena just soaked in the essence of her dear, darling home, a place she'd never thought she'd live in again. She could hear Margaret's light voice chattering away happily downstairs, the deeper rumble of Robert answering her. She was so lucky, despite everything, to be back home at last. What could be more wonderful? Her eyes fil ed with tears and she closed them tightly. What a stupid thing to think. What could be more wonderful? If the crow on her windowsil had been Damon, if she'd known that he was out there somewhere, ready to flash his lazy smile or even purposely aggravate her, now that would have been more wonderful. Elena opened her eyes and blinked hard several times, wil ing the tears away. She couldn't fal apart. Not now. Not when she was about to see her family again. Now she would smile and laugh and hug her family. Later she would col apse, indulging the sharp ache inside her, and let herself sob. After al , she had al the time in the world to mourn Damon, because losing him would never, ever stop hurting.

Free Essays on Safety Management Systems

SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ABSTRACT: Author: Title: Safety Management Systems Institution: Year: 2005 This paper briefly describes the Safety Management Systems (SMS) recently mandated by Transport Canada for all Canadian Airlines. The paper first summarizes where the program originated and the events that led to its inception. The paper then reviews the components and key elements of SMS. Finally the paper concludes by observing the benefits and obstacles to implementing SMS. SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (SMS); WHERE IT COMES FROM: On August 24, 2001 Air Transat flight 236 was in route from Toronto, Canada to Lisbon, Portugal when the crew noticed a fuel imbalance. Within minutes the crew initiated a diversion to Terceira Island in the Azores due to a fuel shortage. Approximately 25 minutes after the initial diversion the right engine flamed out and just 13 minutes after that the left engine flamed out, both due to fuel exhaustion. With the assistance of Air Traffic Control (ATC) the crew flew the Airbus A-330 without power from an altitude of 34,500 feet and a distance of 65 nautical miles to a successful landing at the Lajes Airport, Terceira Island in the Azores. The aircraft suffered substantial damage and 16 passengers and 2 crew members were injured during the ensuing evacuation. Transport Canada and Air Transat did not wait for the final accident report, which took more than three years, to be published before taking action. In order to salvage their Extended Range Twin Operation (ETOPS) certificate, and their airline, Air Transat needed to make some changes. Transport Canada was in the process of developing Safety Management System (SMS) regulation and as a result of this incident, Air Transat would become the first airline in Canada to implement SMS. The Canadian Aviation Regulations (CAR) defines SMS as â€Å"a systematic, explicit comprehensive and proactive process for managing risks that integrat... Free Essays on Safety Management Systems Free Essays on Safety Management Systems SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ABSTRACT: Author: Title: Safety Management Systems Institution: Year: 2005 This paper briefly describes the Safety Management Systems (SMS) recently mandated by Transport Canada for all Canadian Airlines. The paper first summarizes where the program originated and the events that led to its inception. The paper then reviews the components and key elements of SMS. Finally the paper concludes by observing the benefits and obstacles to implementing SMS. SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (SMS); WHERE IT COMES FROM: On August 24, 2001 Air Transat flight 236 was in route from Toronto, Canada to Lisbon, Portugal when the crew noticed a fuel imbalance. Within minutes the crew initiated a diversion to Terceira Island in the Azores due to a fuel shortage. Approximately 25 minutes after the initial diversion the right engine flamed out and just 13 minutes after that the left engine flamed out, both due to fuel exhaustion. With the assistance of Air Traffic Control (ATC) the crew flew the Airbus A-330 without power from an altitude of 34,500 feet and a distance of 65 nautical miles to a successful landing at the Lajes Airport, Terceira Island in the Azores. The aircraft suffered substantial damage and 16 passengers and 2 crew members were injured during the ensuing evacuation. Transport Canada and Air Transat did not wait for the final accident report, which took more than three years, to be published before taking action. In order to salvage their Extended Range Twin Operation (ETOPS) certificate, and their airline, Air Transat needed to make some changes. Transport Canada was in the process of developing Safety Management System (SMS) regulation and as a result of this incident, Air Transat would become the first airline in Canada to implement SMS. The Canadian Aviation Regulations (CAR) defines SMS as â€Å"a systematic, explicit comprehensive and proactive process for managing risks that integrat...

Barriers to Critical Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Barriers to Critical Thinking - Essay Example Meaning, it deprives individuals of an opportunity of making their own independent decisions. Instead, it compels them to conform to certain behaviors and standards accepted by the family. Unfortunately, this happens even if not the best approach to adopt is. For example, a family might require all its members to abide by certain traditions and practices that do not necessarily suit all its members (Elder & Richard, 2006). In this situation, everyone would have to behave and think in a certain manner regardless of its relevance, and objectivity thus ending up making decisions without critically thinking about them. So, family can be a great obstacle to critical thinking because it does not allow everyone to make their individual decisions based on their reflection, reason and understanding. As the saying goes, â€Å"When everyone thinks alike, no one thinks very much† (Cederblom & Paulsen, 2006). Group-centered thinking is not objective as it is promptly don e without creating enough time to think and deliberate over the issue of concern. To prevent such a problem, I would have to be autonomous in my thoughts and decisions. On the other hand, critical thinking can be harmed by emotions. Once a person is overwhelmed by emotional distress, one can not make a rational decision because it does not provide a conducive environment to do so. Emotional feelings such as stress can result into prejudice, stereotypes, arrogance and intolerance. All these can prevent a person from making a critical and objective decision as this needs to be done when one is in a sober and relaxed condition (Hendricks, 2005). For example, when a person is seriously distressed, he can not get an ample opportunity to sit down, reason, reflect and make proper decisions. Instead, they will be acting under pressure to hurriedly make a decision without thinking about it. Personally, when faced with such a situation, I

Compare the ethical views of Aristotle and Aquinas ( Editing, writing Essay

Compare the ethical views of Aristotle and Aquinas ( Editing, writing the final draft) - Essay Example The life is of three types; the life that was mentioned, the contemplative life and the political life (Aristotle 8). Aquinas also agrees with Aristotle on what entails a noble task and highest good. Aquinas claims that external acts, the product of activity and the activity are considered as the highest goods. The other types of goods that Aquinas pointe out are the acts of reasoning and understanding. Both the philosophers place substantial importance to external goods and say that external goods are the highest quality of good activities. These goods are very vital for a person to perform well. Both Aristotle and Aquinas agree that every person can be a good judge of himself. According to Aristotle (5), a person can competently judge the items he knows. The judge has to be trained in that particular field in order to pass judgment. According to Aquinas (168), a judge can examine a witness and find ways to acquit the innocent individual. Aquinas also comments on the competence of the judge and says that if the judge is unable to give the required judgment, the person being judged can be remitted to the higher court. Aristotle and Aquinas propose similar philosophy in the area of virtuous actions and virtues. Aristotle defined virtue as a balance point that lies between the minimum and the maximum quantity of a train. Aristotle (39) says that in virtue, knowledge has little significance and it is the repeated acts of self-control and justice that can lead to the possession of values. Virtue brings out the good thing itself of which the good thing is the excellence. Virtue also results in excellences to perform assigned functions in a nice way (Aristotle 41). Virtue entails actions and emotions and actions consist of deficiency, excess and median. Success and praise constitute the signs of excellence or virtue (Aristotle 43). Knowledge brings no benefit to a deficient and morally weak person. The person pursues his or her interests under the