Cis 500 Case Study 1

Case Study 1: The Big Data Challenges Richard Lall Dr. Kim Anthony CIS500010VA016-1128-001 Info Syst Decision-Making October 28, 2012 Judge how Volvo Car Corporation integrated the cloud infrastructure into its networks. Volvo split from Ford in in 2010. In doing so they needed to create their own standalone IT environment and at the same time improve its business intelligence capabilities and operational efficiency (Microsoft, 2012).In a world where many consumers value smart technology in coexistence with automotive engineering, Volvo has created vehicles with hundreds of sensors and CPU’s embedded throughout the car (I-CIO, 2011). â€Å"Besides vehicle data gathered by sensors in and on the vehicle, we also collect visual information from four cameras. This gives us a good view of what happened in the cab and on the road at any given point in time† (Volvo Group, 2011).From the central locking system to the on board camera’s, data is being captured for use with in the vehicle and then transmitted via the cloud back to Volvo (I-CIO, 2011). Once data is received at Volvo it is streamed to a centralized analysis hub (the Volvo Data Warehouse), alongside data from customer relationship management systems (CRM), dealership systems, and product development and design systems (I-CIO, 2011). Once data is retrieved at the Volvo Data Warehouse it is archived where it can be retrieved and analyze or manipulated by Volvo employees.Through the cloud Volvo is massing large amount of rich data and this is providing them with the opportunity to â€Å"turn that resource into something that no only helps build better cars, but also helps the customer have a better experience [through their interaction and above all safety]† (I-CIO, 2011). Explain how Volvo Car Corporation transforms data into knowledge. Utilizing the Volvo data Warehouse to splice data together Volvo is able to perform analysis on various vehicle aspects. Having this abundance of dat a quicker allows Volvo to be pre-warned about potential issues pertaining to mechanical problems (I-CIO, 2011).Becoming educated on vehicle issues early in the car’s lifecycle allows Volvo to spot flaws in vehicle parts allowing them modify the manufacturing process to correct the issue (I-CIO, 2011). By applying â€Å"well-honed lean processes†, Volvo is able limit the number of part defects that reach the consumer (I-CIO, 2011). Instead of 500,000 units being impacted the issue can be stopped at the first 1000, leaving a majority of customer experience positive and brand name intact (I-CIO, 2011). â€Å"Another area where large-scale data capture and analysis is driving improvements is in safety† (I-CIO, 2011).At the safety center in in Sweden the company is performing detailed forensic examinations on Volvo’s that have been in various accidents (I-CIO, 2011). Using these examinations, Volvo can detect and analyze the timing of airbags, timing of brakin g system and weather conditions. Post analysis results allow Volvo to create software and system updates that can be loaded onto consumer vehicles ensuring that vehicles will perform better in accidents (I-CIO, 2011). Identify the real-time information systems implemented and evaluate the impact of these implementations.Post the Ford break-up in 2010, Volvo had a unique opportunity to implement a new standalone IT infrastructure. Pre implementation Volvo sought to improve data management. The company relied on IT personnel to design and generate data reports, which was slow and in-efficient (Microsoft, 2012). â€Å"Also, there [was] no central location for storing reports, so information often is distributed by sending a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or other attachment in an email message. This means distribution is limited, and the information can be hard to find† (Microsoft, 2012).To address the various issues of quality and efficiency Volvo deployed a â€Å"solution based on Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence data management software and related BI technologies, including Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Microsoft Office 2010. One of the big reasons for choosing Microsoft is that Microsoft products are designed to work well together† (Microsoft, 2012). The impact of this implementation led to reduce costs and enhanced collaboration across various Volvo business units and departments. Argue how the Big Data strategy gives Volvo Car Corporation a competitive advantage.Being able to see into future is still impossible but using the knowledge we gain to today to make better decisions so tomorrow is better is exactly the advantage that Volvo has attained. Their Big Data strategy has allowed them analyze a variety of aspects of vehicle and consumer coexistence. From specific parts to safety Volvo is now empowered to create better overall vehicles not just initially but throughout the life of the vehicle. Big Data gives Volvo a height ened sense of collaboration from design to manufacturing to the dealership, thus giving them an edge over their competition. Works Cited I-CIO. 2011, January). Converting data into business value at volvo. Retrieved from http://www. i-cio. com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/8833/i-cio_Case_Study_Volvo. pdf Microsoft. (2012). Bi solution boosts operational efficiency and reduces costs at volvo car corporation . Retrieved from http://www. microsoft. com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail. aspx? CaseStudyID=710000000271 Volvo Group. (2011). Collecting driving data to improve safety. Retrieved from http://www. volvogroup. com/group/global/en-gb/researchandtechnology/transport_society/enhancing_safety/collecting_data_for_safety/Pages/collecting_data_for_safety. aspx

Basic Essay Essay

Introduction This forms the beginning of your essay. It tells the examiner, or your teacher, that you understand the question and gives them an idea of the plan that you have to answer the essay. Give a very brief summary of the text or a definition, if necessary. Answer the question that was asked, without any details or explanation. These answers will become your topic sentence / points in the upcoming paragraphs. your introduction does not need to be more than five lines in length. Body This portion of the essay is an expansion of the points, or the answer, that you gave in your introduction. Each segment of the essay, hence each point, should be given its own paragraph. This is the case because your aim is to express a single idea in one paragraph. State your topic sentence, or one of the points listed in your introduction. Provide at least two appropriate examples, from the text, to prove your point (these can come in the form of quotes, in relation to Shakespeare, or simply a brief retelling of the action). Expand by discussing how the previous examples prove your point, or solidifies your topic sentence. Repeat this process for each point, or topic sentence. Conclusion This is the end of your essay. It prevents your essay from ending abruptly and gives it a feeling of completion. A repetition of the points, or topic sentences, expressed in the body End of essay! EXAMPLE: (Single Text) The book Twilight is about complicated love. a. Discuss one sign, each, that indicates that the two protagonists are in love with each other. b. In your opinion, should Edward have left Bella alone? Introduction Complex love is a complicated relationship between two people. In the text Twilight, Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen share an intricate interconnection that is exhausting, yet fulfilling. Bella obviously loves Edward because she was willing to become a vampire in order to spend all her days with him, while Edward displayed an extreme level of protectiveness towards Bella. Despite this fact, he should have left her alone. Body: point # 1 There is no question that Bella was deeply in love with Edward. This is the case because she was willing to become a vampire in order to spend her life with him. In doing this, she would have to sacrifice life as she knows it. She would have to give up her humanity, her family and friends; her way of life. For some-one to make this choice they would need to be deeply mesmerized by the person. Body: point # 2 Edward’s protectiveness towards Bella also indicates that he too was in love. An example of this over-protectiveness is the fact that he did not drink her blood. In denying his voracious need, as seen when he states that â€Å"you are like my personal brand of heroine†, he is making a major sacrifice. He is fighting his ‘vampire nature’ in order to ensure that she was safe. This can be nothing but love. Body: point #3 Despite the overwhelming love between the two characters, Edward should have left Bella alone. This is the case because he is endangering her life by his mere presence. The major point to prove this fact is that she was hunted by vampires because she was in his company. She was perfectly safe without him in her life, therefore, he should have stayed out of it. Conclusion Based on an analysis of the relationship between Bella and Edward, one could conclude that both characters were deeply in love. This does not, however, excuse the fact that he should have left her alone. [This essay is a class construction: grade 10, 2011] b) COMPARATIVE ESSAY (two texts, poems or short stories) The format for this essay does not differ greatly from the basic essay. It is comprised of an introduction, body and conclusion, with a similar format. The difference is that while you are still answering one question, you are using two texts / short stories / poems to do so. Therefore, your approach to the body of this essay would be slightly different: Your topic sentence, or point, would relate to two texts / poems / short stories. Your examples would come from two texts etc. You would attempt to explain how the examples from each text etc. explains the point, or topic sentence.   The physical structure of your comparative essay, therefore, can look one of two ways. (i) You can choose to address two texts in a single paragraph, with the topic sentence as the connector, or, (ii) you can choose to address the texts in separate paragraphs that follow each other (meaning one below the other). Please note that the paragraphs must follow each other because they are connected by the same topic sentence. (i) Single paragraph INTRODUCTION Give a very brief summary of the texts or a definition, if necessary. Answer the question that was asked, (without any details or explanation), using both texts. These answers will become your topic sentence / points in the upcoming paragraphs. Due to the fact that two texts will be used, the introduction for this essay might be lengthier than the single essay. Think along the lines of 6-8 lines in length. BODY State your topic sentence, or one of the points listed in your introduction (must relate to both texts). Provide at least one appropriate example, from each text, to prove your point (these can come in the form of quotes, in relation to Shakespeare, or simply a brief retelling of the action). Expand by discussing how the previous examples, from each text, proves your point, or solidifies your topic sentence. Repeat this process for each point, or topic sentence. CONCLUSION A repetition of the points, or topic sentences, expressed in the body End of essay! (ii) Separate paragraphs INTRODUCTION Give a very brief summary of the texts or a definition, if necessary. Answer the question that was asked, (without any details or explanation), using both books/poems/short story. These answers will become your topic sentence / points in the upcoming paragraphs. Due to the fact that two texts/poems/short stories will be used, the introduction for this essay might be lengthier than the single essay. Think along the lines of 6-8 lines in length. BODY State your topic sentence, or one of the points listed in your introduction (relate to one text). Provide at least two appropriate examples to prove your point from one text (these can come in the form of quotes, in relation to Shakespeare, or simply a brief retelling of the action). Expand by discussing how the previous examples prove your point, or solidifies your topic sentence. Repeat this process in the following paragraph for the next text. Please remember that both texts are, at this point, still exploring the same topic sentence. The analysis of one topic sentence, therefore, occurs in two paragraphs. Each text gets a separate paragraph, and they follow each other. Remember, twins cannot be separated! CONCLUSION A repetition of the points, or topic sentences, expressed in the body End of essay! Rules for the comparative essay: The important point to note is that wherever one text / short story / poem is mentioned, the twin text etc. must immediately be addressed as well. Under no circumstance must you write completely on one text etc, and then address the twin text etc. four paragraphs after. If this is done, it means that you have written two separate essays. If you have three paragraphs for your body, then the two texts etc., must be mentioned simultaneously in each paragraph. Please note that the points from the separate texts etc. can be addressed in different paragraphs, but they must follow each other if they are addressing the same point. Think of the comparative essay as your twin children; it is impossible to go anywhere without both of them. Therefore, do not complete a point without linking your thoughts to the two texts etc. that are to be addressed.

Art of the 20th century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Art of the 20th century - Essay Example Surrealism was a new way of expression and was based on the idea of higher reality of certain forms of association which had been neglected previously. In addition, it was based on the notion of the omnipotence i.e. the dominance and control of dream and in the impartial play of thought. Thus, surrealists sought to break the dreadlock of predictable ways of thinking. In essence, its experiments sought to highlight the task of the unconscious in creativity in a bid to be innovative (ibid 477). Given the fact that the surrealists were interested in the works of expression of the unconscious, and the finest place of longing in psychoanalytical theory, it was unavoidable that in the long run an effort would be made so as to bring together works of surrealism based on the theme of desire. One such attempt by surrealism was "surrealism: Desire unbound", an exhibition at fate Modem in London which lasted till the 1st of January, 2001(ibid). The exhibition was a major undertaking in which fourteen rooms were set by a given topic. It focused on specific artistic works and highlighted artists by name. This was such an inspiration to artists since most of the important and a great number of the lesser known facts and figures of the surrealist movement were represented there. During the exhibition, waiting rooms prepared the scene. Men shall know nothing of this was one of the artistic works at the scene presented by Max Ernst. The curator introduced his works by giving his theme. According to him, a theme vital to surrealism is its vision of man as a being driven by desire. The desire of surrealists was the authentic variety of the self in the inside. In itself, this is not a problem but it can also not be said to be the whole story. In addition, it implies that representations desire can be considered principarily as biographical (Summers&Claude 324). Marcel Duchamp's artistic work, the bride stripped bare by Her Bachelors. dominated the first room which was named after the artistic works reconstructed by Richard Hamilton. Duchamp can be said to be a very good place where a survey on surrealism can be carried out. From earlier days of Dada, an Iconoclastic vision was found at the frontage of the way out. Andre' Breton had a place written on Duchamp's massive influence. He explained that someday, one can question oneself as to what degree it will be measured legitimate to have painting continued as if the Bride stripped Bare had been created. The great works of glass bold in the room poses a mechanistic vision of sexual desire (ibid 324) The love and poetry room contains artifacts of surrealism as a Literary and a movement across the globe. In the room, there were publications and manuscripts. The small handbills were the most rewarding in contributing a lot to surrealism. "Parents-tell your dreams to your children" and most significantly, "surrealistic is Literature denied''. In this room, there was the first proposition that there was any form of union within surrealism since there were photographs of international groupings and meetings (Ruhr berg & Waither 477). The last room in the exhibition had enormous amounts of material, some of it unfamiliar. The material was laid out in an active manner and the subject is a legitimate one in surrealism. The material was disappointing though; it was ultimately not fulfilling due to a number of reasons. One is that whilst

Catering as a Stand-Alone Business Research Proposal

Catering as a Stand-Alone Business - Research Proposal Example In starting up a business, there is always the need to get to carry out a very comprehensive research on the various industries. Indeed, it is the research that may help in coming up with the best choice from the array of options that may be at stake. Once on settles on a specific industry, they still have to dig deep on the various tricks and crucial steps to making it in the industry. After an analysis of the available avenues for the choice of business, this is an already established, though small, catering company. In carrying out the research, the analysis of the trends in the industry will be taken into consideration. This will come in terms of the positioning of the company within the market, its key rivals and the possible areas that seem of great threat to the company. This will also help in the formulation of the best strategies by the company so that it may raise its market share. The chosen business is in the catering industry. Catering: as a process, is defined as the provision of beverages and foodstuffs for events. As a business, it deals with the provision of food services from and at various locations (Jacob 2013, 7). Unlike hotels, catering services are mobile; hence, the advantage over hotels in the food industry. The catering process comes in many forms (The Mirror 2011, 9). For the mobile catering, the food is mainly served from vehicles, trucks or carts that are designed for serving food. Catering comes in a full range of events, such as; business meetings, exhibitions, conferences, weddings, special events and other social occasions. The caterers, as well as their staff, form a very crucial part of the foodservice industry. The services provided are dependent on the event. These include; cooking and delivery of food to s remote location, cooking, food delivery, and service, or a full range of the service.  

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde written by Robert Louis Essay

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde written by Robert Louis Stevenson - Essay Example Jekyll’s counter part, Mr. Hyde, a very important character in the story is rather like a synonym for iniquitous personality. A quote from page 40 reads like this, â€Å"Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky, whispering and somewhat broken voice† (Stevenson, Chapter, 2). One can easily identify the deliberate attempts the author makes to exhibit the villain in Mr. Hyde. Take the following for reference; Mr. Earnfield describes to Utterson how the creature trampled over a child in the street-â€Å"and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the childs body and left her screaming on the ground. It sounds nothing to hear, but it was hellish to see. It wasnt like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut† (Chapter, 1). It gives the greatest visual effect of a narration- here, a man is a brute personified! Irony of the expression is that the narrator calls the Mr. Hyde ‘a man’ and ‘a juggernaut’ at the same time. There is another example of how Mr. Stevenson visualizes the wicked image of a true brute. Hyde’s encounter with an old guy referred in page 47 runs like this, â€Å"he broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot, brandishing the cane, and carrying on (as the maid described it) like a madman., †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..the bones were audibly shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway†(Stevenson, chapter, 4). It shows the maximum of severity that an individual can posses. It is definitely indisputable that the character of Mr. Hyde is the reflection of the devilish mindset of human. There can be probably nothing more brutal about anyone than killing a fellow being for insistent

Managerial economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managerial economics - Essay Example Mechanism of Demand Within a market framework, demand for any commodity or good or service is generally referred to as an amount which will be purchased at a particular price during a particular period of time. Now the law of demand can be also incorporated so as to analyze the relationship between price and quantity. In the domain of microeconomics or price theory it can be stated that the other things remaining constant (Cetaris Paribus) the quantity demanded of a commodity increases when its price decreases and decreases when its price rises (normal commodity and the exceptions of the law of demand are eradicated in this case and is not of relevance) (Arnold, 2010, p.56). So it can be stated that there exists a negative or inverse relationship between price and quantity. The negative association between price and quantity can be described as This negative relationship between price and quantity can be represented with the help of a linear demand curve by taking a smooth relation b etween price and quantity which can be depicted as follows: The above relationship can be depicted by the help of a two-dimensional graph with price and quantity axis. Fig. ... the quantity supplied rises with the rise in price and falls with the fall in price as in there is a direct relationship between price and quantity (Tucker, 2010Â  , p.57). The supply function is given by: The relation between price and quantity can be shown with a short mathematical exercise and a graph. Fig. 2 The Supply Curve (Tucker, 2010Â  , p.57). The diagram above it is the supply curve and it has a positive intercept which ‘a’ is taken from both the (2) and (4). The market equilibrium is said to achieve when the demand equals the supply curve and the intersection between the demand and supply curve gives us the equilibrium price on the vertical axis and quantity on the horizontal axis as depicted in the previous graphs. The answers to the questions can be explained with respect to diagrammatic framework which would be representing both demand and supply framework with equilibrium and the conditions deviating from the equilibrium. Fig. 3 The calculated Demand Cu rve Fig. 4 The calculated Supply Curve The calculated demand curve and the calculated supply curve are shown in the diagrams 3 and 4. Now the intersecting point of the demand and the supply curve would be giving us the equilibrium quantity of the pizzas in the market. In this particular case $ 6 is the equilibrium price and 81 quantities of pizza is the equilibrium quantity as at $ 6, 81 units of pizza are demanded and supplied and at this point there is no excess demand or excess supply existent in the market. The equilibrium condition can be depicted with the help of the following diagram: Fig.5 The market equilibrium and adjustment procedure In the above figure, the equilibrium price is $ 4 and the equilibrium quantity is given

Motivation criticism essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Motivation criticism - Essay Example Howard’s ego for instance allowed him to move on and perform the task of painting the house, a job that Jim Sr. was supposed to do. There is a sense of self-actualization in the part of Howard that there is nothing he could have done to prevent Jim Jr.’s death, it was an accident. He reinforces this belief through sublimation which is a very mature way of dealing with his loss. He do so by talking about his experiences as he narrates it to his client, and how he and his wife are also helping Jim Sr. to cope up with his loss. This allows Howard to vent out his emotions rather than suppressing them. Howard and his wife even suggest Rationalization to help Jim Sr. to cope up with his loss suggesting that there are many ways that could contribute to why Jim Sr. had made lemonade that day even tracing back the cause to the very existence of lemonade so as to remove the blame from his son, to somehow potentially influence his way of thinking. His mother also consciously would like Jim Sr. to distant himself from the familiarity of his surrounding, taking him to Europe to see places in hopes that it will distant Jim from the traumatic memories that the familiarity of their place brings. Mrs. Sear’s Super Ego justifies that it is her duty as a mother to help her son deal with his loss as she and her husband was able to find closure from their loss. Finally, Jim’s id was to endure all the pain and defer all gratification as in the Reality Principle; manipulating—brainwashed himself even that the death of his son is his fault, thus he has to be punished for it. Jim started to regress as evident of no longer doing his usual work, becomes dissociate despite the many attempts of his mom to get him involved in activities like crafting, he displaced himself by suppressing his emotion. There was a continuity of painful emotions because he failed to motivate himself to get over the loss of

Theatre history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Theatre history - Essay Example One of these elevated stages will represent Olivia’s house and will be found at the upper right side of the arena. The lower stage, a foot lower from the other, represents the front of her house. At the extreme right of the lower stage looks like an alley where characters enters and the other end where they exit. Lights flood the stage as each character enters and delivers his or her lines. We see gothic designs in the facades (I suggest that it would be a minimalist stage, perhaps columns to represent the foundations of Olivia’s house and steps that lead to the front of her house). A tree or two (short-growing trees or shrubs, may be placed at one or opposite ends of opposite sides of the road, perhaps some props resembling a hawthorn tree, with apple-shaped, bright red resemblance of its fruit hanging on its branches). Most likely, this part of the play will take place later in the evening, perhaps a little after dinner time, that we will observe characters in the play are like having their relaxing time, in one of the dialogues Olivia reveals that she and Sebastian (mistaken as his twin Viola, who will disguise herself as Cesario) have just been married a couple of hours ago, and Toby will later be seen already drunk. Colorful medieval costumes that are common during the Elizabethan and the Renaissance theatre will be seen worn by the actors, except for Malvolio who should be wearing all black which is evocative of his character’s mood throughout the play. Music is an element predominantly present throughout the play; it is through music that the love of Orsino is magnified, the irony as well as comedy is amplified in the portrayals of Feste, Malvolio and his tricksters, and in the drunkenness and merriment of Sir Toby Belch. Music, as one of the underlying themes of the play suggests the comic as well as the tragic episodes or scenes in the play. Fast music is played every now and then, which becomes louder when a climactic episode is

To what extent does achieving customer satisfaction help to retain Essay

To what extent does achieving customer satisfaction help to retain customers in the hospitality industry - Essay Example 451). The fact that the hospitality industry is seasonal serves to ensure that constant marketing is the only way to keep the customers interested in the services and other products that are offered (Gallicano & Van Rheede 2010, p. 26). There is need to ensure that connections with customers run throughout the year. This paper will be aimed at analyzing the extent to which customer satisfaction affects the retaining of customers in the hospitality industry. Additionally, the paper will attempt to analyze to what extent relationships between the customers and organizations are valued in order to satisfy them. The marketing communication methods will also be central in the determination of the way that relationships with customers and other stakeholders are maintained in a bid to creating the platform for the satisfaction of said customers. There is need for the generation of competitive advantage so as to ensure that customers are loyal to the hospitality outlet in question. This is in a bid to conquering the perennial problem of market saturation. Many hospitality outlets nearly offer the same products and services. This means that customers are more focused on the outlets that offer a unique range of products and services. The major focus of the hospitality industry today is the segmentation of the market so that a few ranges of products are offered that reflect the needs of a few people in the population (Boksberger & Laesser 2010, p. 311) (Montinaro & Sciascia 2011, p. 661). The fastest growing sector of the hospitality industry is that which deals with pets. It is amazing to learn that in the Americas alone, the only industry that competes with the pet hospitality industry is consumer electronics. Large chain hotels, kennels, airlines and other hospitality outlets have realized the potential of these types of bus iness and are now working tirelessly to ensure that their customers are satisfied (ONeill &

Macroeconomics Keynesian and Classical Model Essay

Macroeconomics Keynesian and Classical Model - Essay Example Given below is the diagram showing a horizontal aggregate supply curve in Keynesian Model. If there is a decrease in income, the reasons are assigned to decrease in government spending, increase in taxes or decrease in money supply and so on. The change in income leads to changes in a number of things out of which fall in demand is one of them. Aggregate demand depends on real money supply. The real money supply is the value of money provided by the central bank and the banking system. If we write the number of dollars in the money supply as M' and the price level as P, we can write the real money supply as M'/P. When M'/P falls, interest rates increase and therefore the investment falls, leading overall aggregate demand to fall as well. When there is a fall in demand we need less output to cater the market, this is another reason for fall in investment, and an increase in unemployment as well. This was a briefing of how things would change with a decrease in income. The below given diagram shows AD as the aggregate demand before the reduction in income with E as the equi librium. Once the demand decreases due to above-mentioned reasons another line AD' is formed showing the current level of demand at the given price level. ... Now consider how wages adjust when the demand for labor decreases and firms do not need any over times. In the short run when the demand decreases workers are being paid more as compared to the output produced. The employer would want to reduce the wage expense. Change in wages is a slow process hence the employer will have to look for an alternative like looking for those employees who would be willing to work at a lower wage. This would increase some of unemployment. The employer has to be very careful in setting the wage through negotiations with the employee to consider the morale of the employee. If there is an overall decrease in demand then hiring new labor force may not be difficult, but if only one employer's demand of output has decreased then the employer may have to pay higher wage in order to keep the employees attracted to their current job. The Keynesian theory believes that, the employment offered by firms depends on the demand for their output, workers would be unemployed if the output produced exceeds the demand of the products excessively. Which would mean too much of unnecessary labor force. As such, demand-deficient unemployment is not caused by labor insisting on a wage incompatible with full employment. Since that unemployment is not the fault of the workers, but is due to factors beyond their control, it may be termed 'involuntary unemployment'. Labor market is not depended on the rate of real wages but infact on the quantity of output required. Therefore wage does not have much to do with unemployment. When the aggregate expenditure equals to AD', the equilibrium level of income is established at Y', which happens to be lower than Yf (full employment). Referring to the production function diagram [sector (b)] we see

Caribbean Economy and Haitian revolution Essay Example for Free

Caribbean Economy and Haitian revolution Essay The Revolution wrecked Haiti’s economy because it challenged the world as it was then. Slavery was the heart of a thriving system of merchant capitalism that profited Europe, devastated Africa, and propelled the expansion of the Americas. Independent Haiti had few friends. All the worlds powers sided with France against the self-proclaimed Black Republic which declared it a haven for runaway slaves. Hemmed in by slave colonies, Haiti had only one non-colonized neighbor, the slaveholding United States; which refused to recognize Haiti’s independence for decades. The Haitian Revolution of 1789-1803 transformed French Saint Domingue, one of the most productive European colonies of its day, into an independent state run by former slaves and the descendants of slaves It produced the worlds first examples of wholesale emancipation in a major slaveowning society, of colonial representation in a metropolitan assembly, and of full racial equality in a European colony. It occurred when the Atlantic slave trade was at its peak, and when slavery was an accepted institution from Canada to Chile. The slave revolt that between 1791 and 1793 laid waste the immensely wealthy colony was probably the largest and sole fully successful one there has ever been. Of all American struggles for colonial independence, the Haitian Revolution involved the greatest degree of mass mobilization, and brought the greatest degree of social and economic change. In an age of tumultuous events and world war, it seized international attention with images of apocalyptic destruction and of a new world in the making. The Black Jacobins by Trinidadian intellectual C.L.R. James remains, although written in the 1930s, the best introduction to the subject.

The Proof Of Gods Existence

The Proof Of Gods Existence When non-Christians and anti-Christians ask that God does not exist and Bible is merely a book, how do Christians answer to them and what should Christians say? Christians are in difficulties to explain God, Bible, and salvation to secular people, because belief of Christians is based on the Holy Bible, which seculars do not believe in, and because Christians do not like explain these thing through secular ways, such as science and philosophy. At this point, there is big gap between Christians and non- and anti-Christians.  [1]  Christians want to explain their belief from, in, and through the Bible, but secular people do not want to listen to the Bible. Christians do not want to cover their belief with secular techniques, but secular people pay attention to explain these through secular methods. For example, according to Kingdom Triangle by J.P. Moreland, scientific naturalism has challenged Christianity and religious belief with four arguments. These arguments are that 1) religious belief is not scientific, 2) religious belief is unprovable, 3) religious belief is unsupported by evidence, and 4) religious belief is superfluous.  [2]  Furthermore, according to the Ethics of Belief written by a nineteenth-century mathematician named W.K. Clifford. He said, Anyone who accepts a religious belief is guilty of acting immorally, irresponsibly, and irrationally.  [3]  According to Faith beyond Reason by C. Stephen Evans, he explains the circumstance of thoughts about faith. There is probably no word in the English language that is more complex and is used in more different senses than the word faith. Religious faith is a concept that both friends and opponents of religion often misunderstand. Thus, the free-thinking critic of religion alleges that religious belief is not backed up by evidence, but is held solely by faith. The critic may mean by this simply that such beliefs have no support at all, but are something like a personal choice made for no good reasons. Embattled religious believers who have no answer for the septic may embrace the same impoverished view of faith, thus relieving themselves of any need to think about their beliefs.  [4]   Do Christians have any solution of this gap of thoughts between Christians and non- and anti-Christians? Do Christians must wait until one day that secular people become Christians by receiving the supernatural grace from God? Christians know the answer is no. Christians must answer the question whether God exist or not, by something that secular people want. Some theologians tried to make a bridge between them by using the philosophical methods. Some hated to be explained their theology and the God by philosophy. Some put theology onto philosophy, and they opened a little gate of mind. Obviously, Christians will find some solution from the synthesis of Thomas philosophy and theology in his achievements.  [5]   Relation between Philosophy and Theology in the history Many theologians tried to systematize the relationship between theology and philosophy, and the relationship is characterized into four forms. The first form is that faith is superior to reason, the second is that reason is superior to faith, the third is to pursuit harmony between faith and reason, and the forth is to assert disconnection between them . These four figures have been represented peoples worldview in the history. Faith Priority People who suggested faith priority opposed the reason of people, and only use the Bible, revelation, and faith. The reason why the people conflicted to the reason is that there are big risks of using reason to theological foundation and faith. They believed philosophy itself has fault and error, and there is the limitation of philosophy. These people believed that if theologians use the reason having error to explain revelation, revelation could not be revelation, and revelation would be damaged its characters. For instance, even though Aristotle maintained the first mover, and he accepted polytheism, he did not believe in the Creator God. The theologians who asserted faith priority were Tertullian. What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? This question of the relation between reason, here represented by Athens, and faith, represented by Jerusalem, was posed by the church father Tertullian (c.160-230 CE), and it remains a central preoccupation among contemporary philosophers of religion.  [6]   Tertullian, the early Church Father, considered the thoughts of philosophy as the source of heresy. He wrote in the book concerning the death and resurrection of Christ: It is by all means to be believed; because it is absurdà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.the fact is certain because it is impossible,  [7]   Reason Priority The reason priority is the idea that the humans reason could discover all truth, and everything is measured by the reason. A theologian Sieger von Brabant asserted that the philosophy of Aristotle is the best result of the wisdom of human.  [8]  Revelation must be explained by Aristotles philosophy, and his philosophy must be the measure of revelation. People could understand the Word of God by theological ways, but theological ways is not always clear to people. Therefore, Aristotles philosophy is the real truth, and theology must be reorganized by the philosophy. Peoples mind could be clean by philosophy. Famous rationalists, Rene Descartes, Benedict Spinoza, and Immanuel Kant, believed that everything could be explained by reason, and people have ability to measure religion. Immanuel Kant succinctly summed up the reason only movement with the title of his book, Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone.  [9]   Disconnection Nominalism at 14-15 century is the idea that there is any connection between faith and reason. A nominalist, William Ockham, improved the theory of knowledge. Ockham believed that people could talk about god if there are resemblance between God and human, but because there are no similarity between god and people, Ockham disagreed epistemology of revelation. Therefore, God is shown only through revelation, so, reason is almost nothing. Some evaluate Ockham: Ockham is not a radical intellectual separatist who disdains natural reason or regards with suspicion any Christian thinker who wishes to study the works of non-Christian philosophers with the same intensity as the books of Sacred Scripture. In fact, anyone familiar with Ockhams thought knows that he has immense respect for Aristotle and that his theology is marked by (what he believes to be) Aristotelian positions on a wide range of issues in ontology and philosophical semanticsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.Ockhams is an irenic separatism that rejects the prototypically Catholic intellectual project of unifying classical philosophy and the Christian faith in such a way as to exhibit the latter as the perfection of the former, and yet that stops short of disdaining the light of natural reason in the manner of radical intellectual separatismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Ockham will always be viewed as something of an outsider both by the radical separatist, who is bent on isolating faith and reason completely f rom one another, and by the mainstream Catholic thinker, who seeks a genuine synthesis of faith and reason.  [10]   Harmony Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus agree with harmony between faith and reason. The reason is both of them came from One God both faith and reason. It is true that the Bible shows some awareness of the fact that not everyone believes in God. Many people are regarded as worshipping false gods rather than the true God, and it is noted that the fool has said in his heart that there is no God (Psalm 14:1). In Romans 1, Paul explains that there is a natural knowledge of God, which is sufficient to make human beings responsible before God, but that this knowledge can be and has been suppressed. The Bible as a whole seems to assume that people are aware of Gods reality, or at least that they can be aware of God without any special revelation or philosophical argument.  [11]   People thought either reason or faith is better than another. However, Thomas accepts both reason and faith are God-given faculties, and they cannot ultimately be opposed one another. The reason people believe one is better than another is either philosophy has been misused or faith has mistook Gods revelation. The proper sphere of reason is philosophy, in which man seeks to discover the first cause and final purpose of all his manifold experience, and the departmental sciences in which man seeks to discover immediate causes and how they operate in particular fields. The object and aim of philosophy and the sciences is to discover truth. Now St. Thomas believes that God is Truth and the Source of all truth. Hence all mans efforts to aim true knowledge are really directed towards God.  [12]   Thomas Aquinas Background and Thoughts Aristotles Effect Aristotle attempt about god influenced not only the history of philosophy but also the history of Christianity deeply and widely. Aristotle systematized thoughts about god that previous people had, and he especially developed ideas of god based on the idea of a philosopher Parmenides. Many theologians did not have free from the ideas of Aristotle for a long time. For example, Parmenides term, unmoved mover, flowed into the idea of Aristotle, and philosopher Aristotles conception came into the proof of God of theologian Thomas Aquinas.  [13]   I take Thomass relationship to Aristotle to be a complex one, and hardly one of disciple to master. Thomas is surely an admirer of Aristotle and a brilliant commentator on his writings. In particular, he thinks Aristotle more useful for Christian theology than Plato, not least because Aristotle helps him focus on and analyze the concrete particular existing thing, which for him fits well with the Christian ideas of creation and incarnation.  [14]   However, even though Aquinas used the thoughts and terms of Aristotle, Aquinas developed Aristotles things toward Christian things.  [15]  According to Bauerschmidt, Thomas is not an Aristotelian, because his strong interest in Aristotle must be balanced by the fact that he draws upon a wide range of thinkers, including the two very different forms of Neoplatonic Christian theology represented by Augustine and by Dionysius the Arepagite, both of whom are pervasive influences on Thomass writings, because he is willing to change Aristotle both when he conflicts with divine revelation and when Thomas judges him to be philosophically inadequate.  [16]   Aristotle and Aquinas have many similar thoughts on the way that the human person should live. Both of them believe that humans are rational beings. They also believe that because humans are rational they can follow their instincts and live a life of moral goodness. Aquinas however, believed that God was leading human beings to a rational, moral life, while Aristotle believed that being moral was naturally inherent in human beings. Although they had different views as to why human beings should want to live a good life, they both agreed that the one thing that humans should strive for is eudaimonia. Aquinas, being an Aristotelian, agreed with many of the ways in which Aristotle viewed the human person. However, where he diverged was his belief in God. He took the teachings of Aristotle and added God to them so that they would allow for more acceptances from our Christian society.  [17]   Aquinas Harmony Thomas Aquinas was very wise theologian and philosopher in terms of his attempted to use philosophy to explain the God.  [18]  Aquinas believed that everything on the earth came from the one God, so the creatures of God showed people Himself. Aquinas took up a positive attitude to use reason, and pursuit the harmony not only between theology and philosophy, but also between faith and reason. In this perspective, Thomas Aquinas tried to prove the existence of God in his book, Summa Theologiae. However, to Aquinas, theology is always better than philosophy and above it. Aquinas did not think that the proof of the existence of God is proving the existence of the Christians God. Rather Aquinas does this not to prove to the atheist the a God exists but to show that the normal way in which people use the word God is not nonsensicalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.  [19]   In his achievements, Summa Theologiae and Summa Contra Gentiles, there is the proof of existence of God by five ways. The arguments are 1) from motion, 2) from the nature of the efficient cause, 3) from possibility and necessity, 4) from the gradation to be found in things, and 5) from the governance of things. Aquinas used some terms and ideas of Aristotle in his argument. Even though Thomas Aquinas and his proof of existence of God were not perfect, his effort to make harmony between reason and faith, his attempt to meet the ideas of philosophers, and his humility to the Christian God must be honored by Christians who are ignoring reason.  [20]   The Five Way and Sources The First way: Motion It is certain, and evident to our senses, that in the world some things are in motion. But whatever moves is moved by something else, for nothing can be moved unless it has a potential for that toward which it is moved; whereas something moves inasmuch as it is actual, since motion is nothing other than the transition of something from potentiality to actuality. But nothing can be moved from potentiality to actuality except by something in a state of actuality.  [21]   Thomas Aquinas was very much aware of the fact that he was using materials form philosophical tradition. People may think that the First Ways remote origin is Platos reduction of all movements to a being or form which is essentially movement.  [22]   However, St. Thomas argument is directly dependent on Aristotles demonstration of the existence of the First unmoved Mover, especially in his book, the Physics.  [23]   Did motion itself ever come into existence, never having been before? And will it in like manner cease to be, so that nothing will move thereafter? Or did it never begin to be and will it never cease to be, so that there always has been and always will be motion, belonging to all things as their deathless and never- failing property and constituting a kind of life for everything that is constituted by nature?  [24]   If a thing is in motion it is, of necessity, being kept in motion by something. If it has not the source of its motion within itself, then it is clear enough that it is being moved by something. If on the other hand its source of motion is in itself, let AB represent something that is in motion, not accidentally by virtue of some part of it being on motion, but primarily and in itselfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.The series mist therefore come to an end, and there must be a first moved mover.  [25]   The second way: Causality People may say that the second way was prepared by Platos doctrine of the Demiurge that framed the world, and Aquinas seems to ascribe the argument to Aristotle.  [26]   However, the Second way came to be used by several authors, at least in a less formal manner, such as Cicero, Philo, and Avicenna.  [27]   Furthermore, Aristotle could hardly demonstrate of Gods existence, but Aquinas refrains from reading a demonstration of Gods existence in to these lines.  [28]   In the perceptible world we find that there is an order of efficient causes; but we do not find, nor could we find, anything that is the efficient cause of itself, for in that case it would be prior to itself, which is impossible. Now in efficient causes it is not possible to go on to infinity, because in every ordered series of efficient causes the first is the cause of the intermediate cause, and the intermediate is the cause of the ultimate cause, whether there are many intermediate causes or only oneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Therefore it is necessary to accept some first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God.  [29]   The Third Way: Contingency The third way is taken from possibility and necessity, and goes like this: we find among things those that have the possibility of existing or not existing, since they are found to be generated, and to corrupt, and consequently have the possibility of existing or not existing. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Therefore, if at one time nothing was in existence, it would have been impossible for anything to have begun to exist; and thus even now nothing would exist-which is obviously false. Therefore one must posit the existence of something that is the necessity of other things. This is what everyone speaks of as God.  [30]   St. Augustine takes up Platonic argument: whatever changes, does not exist of itself but is made by another, and St. John Damascene takes this argument.  [31]   Besides, the non-Christian authors also developed a proof of the existence of God from the mutability of things.  [32]   While, people must conclude that Aquinas used the Third Way in a novel and original way to construct an argument which is his own, because St. Thomas followed the Jewish philosopher quite closely and because he has differences come to light and an essential part.  [33]  . The Forth Way: Properties One finds among things that there are some more and some less good, true, noble, and so forth. But more and less are said of different things insofar as they approach, in their different ways, something that is the maximum, as in the case of a thing being said to be hotter insofar as it most nearly resembles that which is hottestà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Therefore there must also be something that is to all beings the cause of their existence, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.  [34]   The ultimate source of the Fourth Way is Plato. There is an outline of the argument in the Symposium, and St. Thomas also uses the argument in a form which goes back to Proclus.  [35]   St. Thomas Aquinas acknowledges this attachment of the argument to Plato. Leo explained, above all Aristotle teaches the unity of being, which to St. Thomas is of paramount importance: the transcendental coalesce in the unity of the concrete thing and do not constitute juxtaposed distinct formal realities.  [36]   Obviously, however, the argument of St. Thomas fundamentally differs from Platos view of participation. The Fifth way: Design The fifth way is based on the guidedness of nature. Goal-directed behavior is observed in all bodies obeying natural laws, even when they lack awareness. Their behavior hardly ever varies and practically always turns out well, showing that they truly tend to goals and do not merely hit them by accident. But nothing lacking awareness can tend to a goal except it be directed by someone with awareness and understanding; the arrow, for example, requires an archer. Everything in nature, therefore, is directed to its goal by someone with understanding, and this we call God.  [37]   The teleological argument, the fifth way, is that proof of Gods existence which is most widely found in religious and philosophical tradition.  [38]   The reason is that it is obvious to man that order does not come from nothing but requires someone who arranges things.  [39]   Xenophon, Plato, and Aristotle present the argument in their books, Memorabilia, Timaeus and the Laws, and De philosophia. St. Thomas quotes a text to this effect of St. John Damascenus. Conclusion In summary, St. Thomas Aquinas used philosophical idea and terms to proof of existence of God in his book, Summa Theologiae. Finding the ideas of Aristotle, Plato, and Xenophon in the book of Aquinas is not difficult, because Aquinas acknowledged philosophy and philosophical methods to one of gifts given from God. Therefore, St. Thomas Aquinas is a person who tried to use philosophy to understand revelation. To Aquinas, reason and faith are important to recognize God. However, even though Thomas accepted philosophy, he did not remain the area of philosophy. Thomas developed philosophical thoughts to theological ideas and Christian thoughts. Therefore, St. Thomas Aquinas is n wise person in terms of filling the gap between reason and faith. Thomas uniquely unites the two sides of the debate within the proof, so, in this proof, people find a synthesis of Thomas philosophy and theology.

Discussing Unemployment In A Theoretical Perspective Economics Essay

Discussing Unemployment In A Theoretical Perspective Economics Essay Unemployment is phenomenon which happens when we find people available without work. It is a big social and economic problem which is very common nowadays in developing and developed countries; Unemployment is usually measured using unemployment rate. Unemployment in Abu Dhabi is phenomenon which has many rates, reasons and results. Before the independence of the U.A.E., The economy was under basic economic control. Fishing and little agriculture were in use as the main activities in UAE. With the breakthrough of oil UAEs economy extended and the oil sector represented more than 35% of UAEs GDP. In 2005, the U.A.E. produced about 2.4 million barrels per day, 85% of it was Abu Dhabis own product. The oil income permitted the government to spend charitably on infrastructure, education, and job creation. The ascending of oil prices in the 1970s provided the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with the financial funds which made vast economic development programs that required invasion of non-national labor available. However, the slump in oil prices in the mid 1980s and the inhabitants expansion made unemployment an issue in GCC countries. This project assesses unemployment in the UAE and measures the unemployment rate in Abu Dhabi; the capital of the United Arab Emirates. As for the beginning, Unemployment is the incapability for workers who want to find profitable employment. The extent of unemployment in a nation is an indicator of the economic strength of that country. Many causes can negatively affect the unemployment rate counting corporate downsizing, mergers, implementation of automation technologies, and job outsourcing to other nations. UAE unemployment generally Unemployment in the UAE is seen one of the lowest in the world (Kawach 2002). It was initiated to be 2.4 percent by the end of 2001, where the estimated labor force was around 2.1 million and 2.0 million were employed. Due to the increase in population and the expansion in the number of national graduates from universities and higher education schools, unemployment along with nationals turned into a sensitive problem in latest years. Unemployment in the UAE has severe harmful effects on the society and the economy as well. The government will be under political force. It will spend more on social repayments. The economy will be wobbly and wealth misallocated. As a result, the government set a new labor policy to situate nationals in civic and private division jobs, which were up until that time overflowing by non-Emiraties. This policy alerted on a fussy sector, such as finance, in order to accomplish an aim of 30 percent nationalization. According to the Ministry of Planning, the number of working nationals did not surpass 9 percent of the total labor force in 2003. This shows the lack of the proper credentials of nationals to compete labor market requirements. In order to defeat this structural crisis in the 2 labor market, the government requested the educational foundations to put up the shutters of the breach between academic series and labor market through convenient and specialized schooling. Unemployment in UAE is determined in the middle of youth, where more than 50 percent of whole unemployment is involving those with an intermediary level of education and low level of expertise. Unemployment Labor Force We should know which people wants job and which dont in order to evaluate the scope of the unemployment problem. A lot of people dont have a job but people such as those are not part of our problem. Students which study in full-time bases are not among the labor force which is defined as People between 16-65 who are actually working plus all those who arent working but actively looking for a job. For example, old people who live through their retirement are not considered as part of a labor force. Moreover, prisoners who condemned in jail are not among the labor force. Housewives are not a part of the labor force except if they seek a job. Nevertheless, children under the age of 16 who are actually concerned about their play station are also not considered as parts of the labor force. So, actually labor force is about people who look for a paid job outside their houses which also means that people working voluntarily are not considered as part in the labor force. In the other hand, people who are neither employed nor actively looking for a job are called nonparticipants. In labor force we count both the employed and unemployed people who seek jobs. LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE: The amount of the total of no institutionalized and citizen population over 16 years old, we count them citizen labor force. The labor force participation rate is basically equal to the ratio of citizen labor force to the total of no institutionalized citizen population over 16 years old. To estimate the labor force participation rate we used the data that obtained along with other labor force data from the monthly current population survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of labor statistics. Labor force participation rate = civilian labor force total no institutionalized civilian population Labor force growth Figure: P1.a (NOT real just assumption to make it easier to be understood for a reader) Since the labor force continues to grow each year and the population increases with continuing immigration as well, this will expand the production possibilities which cause us to produce more job vacancies in every year. That is such a bad news because then we will have to produce almost millions of jobs more every year to close up the gap. Once the economy finds itself unable to provide jobs to the increasing population UNEMPLOYMENT will be faced as a serious issue. UNEMPLOYMENT has several definitions; one of these definitions is the people who are searching for a job and cant find it through a precise sum of time. Unemployment can be weighed up through dissimilar ways. One of them is taking in thought the amount of people who are employed and those who are fired. (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Macroeconomics/Definitions_of_Unemployment) Measuring Unemployment. Measuring Unemployment is one of steps which help us to study, analyze, evaluate and put solutions for this occur, economics are the most people who focus on the unemployment rate. A main reason for this occurs is the normal increase in the number of people employed due to population and labor force increasing. Statistics of the unemployment serve many different purposes, we need some information which essential to macroeconomic and human resources development planning and policy formulation , this information like measures of labor supply, the structure of employment and the extent to which available labor is actually utilized. Data Sources of Measuring Unemployment : Administrative Records Statistics of unemployment can be drown from administration records , in this way we can registration data which derived from records are based on complete counts, so they will not affected by sampling errors , in addition they are cheap to obtain. But also this way is limited because it only cover small part of the population which uses employment exchanges or is qualified for unemployment insurance benefits. 2. Household Surveys In this source statistics of unemployment can also be obtained from household or labor force surveys, this survey composed sample of household and asking people of working age about their employment activities and also about availability for work by using standard questionnaire. This way also was limited because it depends only on nature replies of people in the household survey , so it will contains many different kind of errors . Reasons of unemployment. Discouraged workers In economics, a discouraged worker is someone between 16 and 65 years old who is not keenly looking for employment. This usually happens because the person has given up searching or has had no accomplishment in finding a job, which is why he is called discouraged. His belief may be obtained from a mixture of factors counting: a lack of jobs in their area or line of work; apparent discrimination for reasons, for example, age, race, sex and religion; a lack of required skills, training, or experience; or a disability. Discouraged workers, who are categorized as marginally attached to the labor force, on the margins of the labor force, or as part of hidden unemployment, are not regarded as to be element of the labor force and are consequently not counted in most official unemployment rates, which persuades the exterior and explanation of unemployment statistics. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discouraged_worker) Underemployment The expression underemployment has three different separate meanings and functions. All meanings involve a state where a person is working, unlike unemployment, where a person who is searching for work but cannot find it. All meanings involve underutilization of labor that critics say [weasel  words] is neglected by a large amount of official (governmental agency) classifications and measurements of unemployment. Underemployment can mean: The employment of recruits with high skill levels in small wages occupations that do not require such abilities, for example a trained medical doctor who works as a taxi driver. Involuntary part-time workers who would like to be working for a full time work but can only hit upon part-time occupation. Overstaffing or hidden unemployment, the practice in which businesses provide work for people who are not fully occupiedfor example, workers at present not being used to produce goods or services due to legal or social limitations or because the work is highly seasonal. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underemployment). The Human Cost of Unemployment The unemployment causes the human cost, and there are many kinds of human costs. Because we are part of this world ,we must accept that there are casualties caused by unemployment and should be affected by losses. All the people going through these problems , but not all of them have a way to solve it. For the Psychological Study of psychological problems and disorders multiple passes by individuals as a result of these negative experiences and some of these psychological studies to mention talk that the psychological symptoms continue even after the economy improves which leades for men and womens problem to start getting worse. This stigma makes them away and cautious from the society, and perhaps makes them more faded. This increases the psychiatric unit that is the beginning of a psychological disorder at the other, and resorts of ignorance or desperation to relieve the pain do not like initially, including drugs or alcohol. After a long period of self begins Bloom, hates itself in a way that we cannot imagine. This ball will be circulated again and will be the beginning because the hate of others and resent them .., and the worst may retaliate against them (which means that the idea moved to negative behavior or criminal etc. Moreover, the negative aspects in the behavior for the unemployment people are sleeping for a long times and they become lack of sense in time or social and personal responsibly. The work make the person feel of his own personality and his impotents in the society and when he lost it he feel that he lost his social life and his personality as well. Full Employment It is clear that full employment is one of our major Goals in a countrys economy. It is also logical that there is no such a thing as (zero unemployment). That is why the term, Full Employment, is carried by other factors. In fact, There are some reasons why full employment à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   zero unemployment. Seasonal Unemployment Seasonal unemployment is defined as unemployment resulting from a fall in aggregate demand in some economic sectors (and not the economy as a whole). It could see some economic sectors (ex. tourism as a sector, agriculture, or fishing), periods of recession, leading to loss of personnel in these sectors to their jobs temporarily. Frictional Unemployment It is a temporary cessation of work due to the transition from one job to another, or pause to search for another job or to study and so on. Structural Unemployment Economists often use the term structural unemployment for employment problems that arise because of a mismatch between the needs of employers and the skills and training of the labor force. For example, if music schools were to educate many more oboe players than could get positions playing the oboe, we might find that many of them would have to get jobs in other fields. Lacking training for other skilled fields, some oboe players might be unable to get any jobs at all. This would be an instance of structural unemployment. Structural unemployment raises some questions. If an oboe player were offered a job as a disk jockey, at very good pay, and refused the job because it was not the field for which he was trained, what should we make of that? Is the oboe player really willing to work at the going wage? Or should we consider the would-be oboe player as being out of the work force unwilling to work in the opportunities available to him? On the other hand, people with little in the way of training suffer more than average unemployment in most of the industrialized countries. This suggests that structural unemployment is really quite an important problem in the industrialized countries at the end of the twentieth century. Cyclical Unemployment It is the unemployment resulting from the volatility of aggregate demand in the economy, where economy is facing periods of low aggregate demand, resulting in the loss of part of the workforce functions and consequently; a higher unemployment rate in the economy. But it starts to decline when demand starts to rise again overall. The natural rate of unemployment scientists have agreed that the natural rate of unemployment or as they call IT, full employment, the rate of unemployment between 4 to 6%. UAE Unemployment The oil price boom of the 1970s resulted in vast economic development programs in the UAE and a shortage of national labor who are mainly employed in the public sector causes to dependence on foreign labor In 1980 there were more than 80% employment in the use and all of them were non national. In 1986, the falling oil made in United Arab Emirates to the high unemployment rate for the non national and it rise the number of the unemployment national people they search for a job. In doing research in the 2003 show that there are 2.4 per cent is prepared for total unemployment in the UAE national and non national, either at another level, the unemployment rate among the national people of the State is 10.4, its also shown The unemployment rate for women than men, where the percentage of women compared to men, 16.5 percent and accounted for 8.4 The unemployment in UAE has a lot of negative effects on the society and the economy As a result of the ill effects of unemployment in the UAE society government decided to draw up laws that employ citizens in public areas for both. Based on the lack of sufficient qualifications of national have asked the state government educational institutions n upgrading the level of education among students in order to reduce the high level of riparian State Estimating Unemployment in Abu Dhabi The United Arab Emirates has the lowest rate of unemployment of only three percent between its citizens on the Arab words. Dr. Khalid Al Khazraji, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, has said that the unemployment percent between UAE citizens go beyond three percent. On the other hand he noted that the country is almost lacks a lot of statics on the size of the unemployment between UAE citizens. This rate is basically calculated prediction on which the governments build its plans and stratagems for the employment of the UAE nationals in the public and privets sectors. However the fact remnants that the influence of the UAE citizens to the private sector still weak for many reasons, some accredited to the unwillingness of national job seekers, while others to the unwillingness of companies. Although the unemployment rate in 2004 was about 20.60%, but this percent of the unemployment doesnt affect the UAEs position. The Survey Here is a simple survey analysis which is used to guess the unemployment rate in Abu Dhabi. And the questionnaire is promoted to cover the geographical area of Abu Dhabi. Actually the survey obtains the needed information on age, sex, level of education, family size, employed and unemployed members of the family, and why they are not employed, duration of unemployment, and types of jobs preferred. However the survey has been conducted by many ways such as mail distribution, phone cells, and personal interview on 500 families And the face rationality of government officials from the Ministry of Labor. The sample we selected it was depend on Cranachs Coefficient Alpha(0.83), the degree of confidence of the sample survey is tested using t- statics which are averaged 2 at 0.05 level of confidence. For the other statistical displays were measured such as frequency, mathematical average, and percentages. Results and analysis The results that are calculated from the returned survey are presented in Table 2. The unemployment rate along with nationals in Abu Dhabi was found to be 16 percent, and that is superior to the official approximations of 10.4 percent and 6.5 percent for the UAE and Abu Dhabi in that order. This is because rather to the tiny trial size, and can be also clarified by the diverse schemes used for assessment, and the reality that many families who have members that are at working age were barred from the labor force because they were not actually looking for jobs or were constant economically by social aid from the government or from unmitigated families. As anticipated, the result shows a high percentage of nationals that favor working at public sector managerial jobs, and this will enlarge the unemployment rates. The analysis proposes that unemployment rate is tend to boost for many explanations, such as the amplified number of graduates, the quality of education which market demand do es not meet with, and the work surroundings at the private sector with value to working hours and close performance dimensions which does locals are not attracted to. Finally, nationals still do not accept certain jobs because of society or that the jobs are not socially tempting. Conclusion The examination recommends improving the educational and training system to fit labor market requirements. It is also suggested to produce more exact and modernized data on the labor market including (job seekers, employers, and job opportunities), and for more information to be provided and an educational campaign to be carried out to change the approach of the UAE young people in the direction of working at the private sector. Further research is needed to revise the impact of unemployment on UAE economy, women contribution in the labor force and recognizing jobs favored by them, and measuring nationals efficiency weighted against to that of the expatriates, and finally restudying the labor law and rules in light of globalization and new scientific expansions. Resources Kqwach Nadim (Dec. 8, 2002), UAE Unemployment one of the lowest UAE Economic, Abu Dhabi. MENA Development report (2004), Unlocking the Employment Potential in the Middle East and North Africa. Toward a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Social Contract. The World Bank, Washington, D.C. UAE Ministry of Planning 2004, UAE, Abu Dhabi. Muwia E. Ilbrahim, (Jan. 22.2004), Unemployment Spirals among UAE Nationals, Khaleej Times Online. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/Economics/Unemployment-rate.aspx?symbol=AED http://www.ipsnotizie.it/wam_en/news.php?idnews=1486 http://emirateseconomist.blogspot.com/2007/03/unemployment-in-uae.html http://lmi.state.oh.us/laus/laus.html http://www.bls.gov/cps/ http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr98-99/english/sec/library/989rp05.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_unemployment http://1426.blogspot.com/2009_04_19_archive.html http://www.ctcdubai.org/images/Charts/infl_n_unempl.gif http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-seasonal-unemployment.htm http://www.ikhwanonline.com/Article.asp?ArtID=326SecID=391 http://www.ikhwanonline.com/Article.asp?ArtID=326SecID=391

Death in A Streetcar Named Desire Essay -- A Streetcar Named Desire Th

Death in A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams uses the theme of death continually in the play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ through the use of dramatic imagery and literal references. The characters of Blanche and Mitch are used the most frequently to express Williams’ own obsession with death. Though neither of the characters actually obsesses about death, Blanche’s life has been smothered by the deaths of those she loves and the coming death of Mitch’s mother is an obvious motivation for his actions. Blanche first voices the theme of death in the very first scene whilst discussing the fate that has befallen Belle Reve. She passionately raves at length about the horrible deaths and her experience of loved ones dying around her; â€Å"all of those deaths†¦ Father, Mother, Margaret, that dreadful way!† The horrific visions of bloated bodies and â€Å"the struggle for breath and breathing† have clearly cast a permanent effect on Blanche’s mind. She talks of the quiet funerals and the â€Å"gorgeous boxes† that were the coffins, with bitter, black humour. The deaths of Blanche and Stella’s family are important to the play as they highlight the desperation of Blanche’s situation through the fact that she has no other relative to turn to. This makes Stella’s decision at the end of the play seem even harsher than if Blanche had just simply shown up on her doorstep instead of going elsewhere. Stella states that Blanche’s life has been heavily affected by the death of her husband, Allan. Blanche’s marriage â€Å"killed her illusions† which can be interpreted literally. Blanche states that she fell in love â€Å"all at once and much, much too completely,† however, her love was unrequited since instead of returning the love Blan... ...o have experienced some sorrow,† which Mitch agrees with, thus revealing that he has been affected by the loss of this girl. This statement also emphasises much of Blanche’s own views on sorrow and explains how it has affected her life since she has made the comment from personal experience. To conclude, Tennessee Williams’ dramatic use of death and dying is an overarching theme in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’ from which everything about Blanche’s character has formed from. Without the death of Allan, Blanche would not have resorted to prostitution and the brief affairs with strangers, also the deaths of her family have driven Blanche to Stella’s where she is â€Å"not wanted† and â€Å"ashamed to be†. Therefore these dramatic deaths have lead to the past which comes back to haunt Blanche meaning that she can never find happiness until she dies and is forgotten.

Augustus Caesar Essay -- Classics Rome Emperor Essays

Augustus Caesar Works Cited Missing Augustus Caesar, the Rome's first true Emperor was the historical figure who had the greatest impact upon the western world between the dawn of civilization and the end of the middle ages. Augustus Caesar (31B.C. - 14 A.D.) was originally named Gaius Octivian, the name Augustus was granted by the Roman Senate, which means magnificent. The success of Augustus was he developed an honest government, and during his reign, he rebuilt many structures to improve the Roman Empire, which included temples and roads with classical style. He created an efficient postal service that encouraged free trade among the region. The soul power of Augustus had established him to distribute the long standing of Rome. Augustus Caesar did not gain his position easily. He was the adopted heir of Julius Caesar, and he attained his position and held it without meeting with the same fate as his Uncle Julius Caesar. Augustus had to bring the people to his side and win the support of the military in order to gain his trust from the senate. He had raised his own military. Meanwhile, many of the senate was against Mark Antony, who was the right hand man of Julius Caesar and also wanted to become the heir. The leader of the senate, Cicero, realized Augustus was a useful alley, ordered Angustus to make war on Antony and forced him to retreated to Gaul, but Cicero failed to do so (Scarre, 17). Because during 43B.C. "Augustus marched on Rome with his army, and compelled the senate to to accept him as a consul" (Scarre, 17). Later on, Augustus met Antony and Lepidus and the three of them started to form a triumvirate, which excluded the senate power. They divided three parts of the Roman Empire. Antony took the east, Augustus took the west, and Lepidus away to Africa, since he was no long an equal partner (Scarre, 17). Augustus started to gain some reputation in the west; meanwhile Antony had left and conquered Egypt in order to gain his popularity. Unfortunately he married the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, which was a disgraceful to Rome. Augustus raised an army of his own to fight Antony. The battle took place in Actium, and Augustus won the battle. In addition, Egypt was also conquered by Augustus and it became a new territory of Rome. "Augustus's overall policy was to keep the military establishment at the minimum ne... ... had brought people a better living. Augustus developed a very efficient postal service before the end of his reign, which gave the Romans the advantage to trade freely with other provinces. But the postal system was only used for imperial use and not for public use. He create the postal services by choosing a "Commissioner of the Roads near Rome", and their duty was to discharge to the assigned leader for each trunk road, and "carried out by couriers stationed along the main roads, which the couriers would answer questions relating to the dispatches that he carried, performed the whole journey, with changes of horses, in the same carriage" (Homles, 35). Even though, the postal systems were only for imperial use, the letters that they wrote were indebted. Augustus Caesar was a sole ruler during his reign; he stayed in power for almost half a century. He worked for the past and the future consciously, brought peace and prosperity to the people in the past and also in the future. Augustus succession was to control Rome in a wise way, without affecting the senate. After he died at the age of seventy-five, the people of the Roman Empire worshipped him as a god.

Pride and Prejudice :: essays research papers

Pride and Prejudice is set some 200 years ago in England. When the story opens, we are introduced to the Bennett family on their estate, Longburn. A handsome, wealthy gentleman named Charles Bingley has just moved to the neighborhood. Charles develops a crush for Jane Bennett, but his friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy, thinks Jane is not good enough for his friend. Becauseof this, Darcy, along with the help of Charles' sisters', plots to break up Jane and Charles. In themean time, though, Darcy falls for Jane's sister, Elizabeth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elizabeth Bennett, though, detests Darcy. She sees him as being to haughty. She hears, through word of mouth that he is rude and cheated George Wickham out of his inheritence. Then, George begins to court Jane.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since Mr. Bennett has no sons, his heir is to be the closest male to the family. This turns out to be a man named Mr. Collins. Collins is a priest who is very arrogant. He marries Elizabeth's friend, Charlotte Lucas. Charlotte marries Collins to get away from he life, not for love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Because Elizabeth frequently visits her friend Charlotte, who lives with Darcy's aunt, she sees Darcy often. Darcy beings to ask Elizabeth to marry him, but each time she refuses. She's angry at him for breaking up Jane and Bingley's love affair, and because she was led to believe he stole George Wickham's inheritance. Darcy admitted to interfering with her sisters' relationship, but denies any involvement with Wickham and his inheritence. He claims Wickham is not what he appears to be, but actually is a dishonest.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At this point, Elizabeth is beinging to like Darcy. She goes on a trip with her aunt and uncle to Darcy's mansion. While there, his housekeeper tried to cinvince Elizabeth what a great person Darcy is.

Succubus on Top CHAPTER 1

Demons are scary. No matter what religion or walk of life you come from, this remains pretty constant. Oh sure, they have their absurd moments – especially in the circles I run with – but all in all, people have good reason to fear and avoid hell's diabolical servants. They're cruel and merciless, delight in pain and suffering, and torture souls in their free time. They lie. They steal. They cheat on their taxes. Yet, in spite of all that, I couldn't help but think I was about to witness the most terrifying demonic act yet. An awards ceremony. For me. Horatio, vice demon of such-and-such division of Infernal Affairs, stood before me, trying to impart an air of solemnity to the moment and failing miserably. I suspected his sky blue polyester suit and matching paisley bow tie were largely to blame. The sideburns didn't help either. He probably hadn't left the inner circles of hell in about six centuries, back around the last time sky blue polyester was in style. With a too-long clearing of his throat, he glanced back and forth between those gathered, verifying we were all paying attention. My supervisor Jerome stood nearby, looking utterly bored, occasionally glancing at his watch. Beside him, Horatio's impish assistant Kasper grinned from ear to ear. A briefcase sat on the floor near him, and he clutched an assortment of papers. The eager, suck-up, lapdog look on his face indicated a burning desire for promotion. As for me†¦well, I was fighting a hard battle to look excited too – and failing. Which was unacceptable, of course. I'm a succubus. My entire existence relies on making people – men in particular – believe and see what they want to in me. I can switch from simpering virgin to sultry dominatrix in a heartbeat. All it takes is a bit of shape-shifting and a dash of playacting. I'd picked up the former ability when I traded away my human soul; I'd acquired the latter over time. After all, you can't spend centuries telling every guy, â€Å"Yeah baby, you were the best I've ever had† and not learn a little something about schmoozing. Myths may paint us as ethereal, demonic creatures of pleasure, but honestly, being a succubus just comes down to a convincing poker face and a good sales pitch. So, really, this awards thing shouldn't have been a problem for me. But Horatio wasn't making it easy to keep a straight face. â€Å"Verily, it gives me great honor to be here today,† he intoned in a nasal, baritone voice. Verily? â€Å"Hard work is what makes us great, and we gather here now to recognize one who has. shown dedication and given her all to the Greater Evil. Such individuals are what make us strong, what will allow us to win in this immense battle when all tallies are counted at the end of time. Such individuals are worthy of our esteem, and we strive to reward their commitment, letting all know just how important it is to push hard against the odds and fight for our objectives in these difficult times. â€Å" He then added: â€Å"Whereas those who do not work hard are cast into the fiery pits of despair, to burn for all eternity and be ripped asunder by the hounds of hell.† I opened my mouth, on the verge of noting how that would be more cost effective than severance pay, but Jerome caught my eye and shook his head. Meanwhile, Horatio had nudged Kasper, and the imp hastily handed over a gold embossed certificate. â€Å"It is therefore with great pleasure that I present unto you this Award of Achievement for Excellently Exceeding and Surpassing Requisite Succubus Quotas in this Most Recent Quarter. Congratulations.† Horatio shook my hand and handed me the certificate, which had been signed by about fifty different people. This Certifies that: LETHA (alias Georgina Kincaid), Succubus in the Archdiocese of Seattle, Washington, United States of America, North America, Earth, has hereby Excellently Exceeded and Surpassed Requisite Succubus Quotas in this Most Recent Quarter, demonstrating outstanding performance in seduction, damnation, and corruption of human souls. Everyone looked at me when I finished reading, so I supposed they expected some kind of speech or something. Mostly I was wondering if I'd get in trouble for trimming this down to fit an eight-by-ten frame. â€Å"Urn, thanks. This is†¦cool.† That seemed to satisfy Horatio. He nodded smartly, then shot a glance to Jerome. â€Å"You must be so proud.† â€Å"Exceptionally,† murmured the archdemon, stifling a yawn. Horatio turned back to me. â€Å"Keep up the good work. You might find yourself in line for promotion to the corporate level.† As if giving my soul away wasn't already bad enough. I forced a smile. â€Å"Well. There's still so much to do here.† â€Å"Excellent attitude. Most excellent. You've done well with her.† He gave Jerome a chummy pat on the back, something my boss did not look happy about at all. He didn't really like friendly pats. Or being touched, period. â€Å"Well, if there's nothing more, I should probably – oh, I nearly forgot.† Horatio turned to Kasper. The imp handed over something else to his master. â€Å"These are for you. As a token of our appreciation.† He gave me a gift card for Applebee's, as well as some Blockbuster free-rental coupons. Jerome and I both stared for a moment, dumbstruck. â€Å"Wow,† I finally said. The runner-up for this award probably got a gift card for Sizzler. Never doubt that second place really is the first loser. Horatio and Kasper vanished. Jerome and I stood in silence for a few moments. â€Å"You like riblets, Jerome?† â€Å"Droll, very droll,Georgie.† He strolled around my living room, pretending to study my books and artwork. â€Å"Nice job with the quota thing. Of course, it's easy to excel when you're starting at zero, huh?† I shrugged and tossed the certificate on my kitchen counter. â€Å"Does it really matter? Still gets you the laurels. I figured you'd like that.† â€Å"Of course I do. In fact, I've been rather pleasantly surprised at just how well you've kept your promise.† â€Å"I always keep my promises.† â€Å"Not all of your promises.† My silence made him smile. â€Å"So what now? Going out to celebrate?† â€Å"You know where I'm going. I'm going to Peter's. Aren't you?† He avoided the question; demons excelled at that. â€Å"I thought perhaps other plans had arisen. Plans with a certain mortal. You do seem to be doing that an awful lot lately. â€Å" â€Å"It's none of your business what I do.† â€Å"All of your business is my business.† Again, I didn't answer. The demon stepped closer, dark eyes boring into me. For inexplicable reasons, he chose to look like John Cusack while walking the human world. That might seem like it would reduce his power to intimidate, but I swear, it only made things worse. â€Å"How long are you going to keep up this farce, Georgie?† His words were a challenge, trying to draw me out. â€Å"You can't honestly think you have a future with him. Or that you two can stay chaste forever. For Christ's sake, even if you can keep your hands off him, no human male's going to stay celibate for long. Especially one with a large fan base.† â€Å"Did you miss the part where I said it's my business?† Heat rose to my cheeks. Despite knowing better, I'd recently gotten myself involved with a human. I wasn't even entirely sure how it had happened since I've always gone out of my way to avoid that kind of thing. I guess you could say he sort of snuck up on me. One moment he was simply a warm and comforting presence at my side; the next I realized how intensely he loved me. That love had blindsided me. I hadn't been able to resist it and had decided to see where it might take me. As a result, Jerome never failed to remind me of the potential disaster I courted daily in this romance. His opinion wasn't entirely unfounded. A small part of this was because I didn't have a good track record with serious relationships. The larger part was that doing much more than hand-holding with a human would inevitably lead to me sucking away some of his life. But hey, all couples have their stumbling blocks, right? The demon smoothed down the jacket of his perfectly tailored black suit. â€Å"Just friendly advice. It makes no difference. I don't mind if you keep playing house with him – denying him a future, a family, a healthy sex life. Whatever. So long as you keep up the good work, it's all the same to me.† â€Å"Are you done with the pep talk? I'm late.† â€Å"One more thing. I thought you might like to know I just made some arrangements for a pleasant surprise. One you'll like.† â€Å"What kind of surprise?† Jerome didn't really do surprises. Not good ones, at least. â€Å"Wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it?† Typical. I scoffed and turned away. â€Å"I don't have time for your games. Either tell me what's going on or leave.† â€Å"I think I'll leave. But, before I do, just remember something. † He put his hand on my shoulder and turned me around to face him again. I flinched at his touch and his proximity. The demon and I were not as buddy-buddy as we had once been. â€Å"You only have one man who's a constant in your life, only one man you will always answer to. A hundred years from now, he will be dust in the earth, and I will be the one you keep coming back to.† It sounded romantic or sexual, but it wasn't. Not in the least. My tie to Jerome ran deeper than that. A binding and loyalty that literally went straight to my soul. A connection I was bound to for all eternity, at least until the powers of hell decided to assign me to a different archdemon. â€Å"Your pimp routine is getting old.† He stepped back, undisturbed by my rancor. His eyes danced. â€Å"If I'm a pimp, Georgina, what's that make you?† There was an ostentatious poof of smoke, and Jerome disappeared before I could reply. Fucking demons. I stood alone in my apartment, turning over his words in my mind. Finally, remembering the time, I headed for the bedroom to change clothes. As I did, I passed Horatio's certificate. Its gold seal winked up at me. I flipped it over, face down, suddenly feeling queasy. I might be good at what I did, but that didn't mean I was proud of it. I ended up only being about fifteen minutes late for my friend Peter's shindig. He answered his door before I could even knock. Taking in his billowing white hat and KISS THE COOK apron, I said, â€Å"I'm sorry. No one told me Iron Chef was being filmed here tonight.† â€Å"You're late,† he chided, waving a wooden spoon in the air. â€Å"So what, you win an award and think you can forget all about propriety now?† I ignored his disapproval and swept inside. It was the only thing you could do with an obsessive-compulsive vampire. In the living room, I found our other friends Cody and Hugh sorting large piles of cash. â€Å"Did you guys rob a bank?† â€Å"Nope,† said Hugh. â€Å"Since Peter's trying to provide us with a civilized meal tonight, we decided a civilized pastime was required.† â€Å"Money laundering?† â€Å"Poker.† From the kitchen, I could hear Peter muttering to himself about a souffle. It sort of diminished my image of a bunch of shady characters huddled around a backroom card table. â€Å"I think bridge would be more appropriate.† Hugh looked doubtful. â€Å"That's an old-person's game, sweetie.† I had to smile at that. â€Å"Old† was kind of a relative term when most of us could boast centuries. I had long suspected that among my circle of lesser immortals – those who were not true angels or demons – I had more years than any of them, never mind the optimistic claim of being twenty-eight on my driver's license. â€Å"Since when do we even play games?† I wondered aloud. Our last attempt had involved a game of Monopoly with Jerome. Competing with a demon in a struggle for property and ultimate control is kind of futile. â€Å"Since when don't we play games? Games of life, games of death. Games of love, of hope, of chance, of despair, and of all the myriad wonders in between.† I rolled my eyes at the newcomer. â€Å"Hello, Carter.† I'd known the angel was lurking in the kitchen, just as Peter had felt me coming down the hall. â€Å"Where's your better half tonight? I just saw him. I thought he was coming too.† Carter strolled in and gave me one of his mocking smiles, gray eyes alight with secrets and mirth. He wore his usual transient ware, ripped jeans and a faded T-shirt. When it came to age, the rest of us couldn't even compare to him. We had all once been mortal; we measured our lives in centuries or millennia. Angels and demons†¦well, they measured their lives in eternity. â€Å"‘Am I my brother's keeper?'† Classic Carter answer. I looked to Hugh, who was, in a manner of speaking, our boss's keeper. Or at least a sort of administrative assistant. â€Å"He had to take off for a meeting,† said the imp, stacking twenties. â€Å"Some kind of team-building thing in L.A.† I tried to imagine Jerome participating in a ropes course. â€Å"What kind of team building do demons do exactly?† No one had an answer for that. Which was probably just as well. While the money sorting continued, Peter made me a vodka gimlet. I eyed the bottle of Absolut on his counter. â€Å"What the hell is that?† â€Å"I ran out of Grey Goose. They're practically the same anyway.† â€Å"I swear, if you weren't already an abomination before the Lord, I'd accuse you of heresy. â€Å" When all the money was sorted, including my contribution, we sat around the vampires' kitchen table. Like everyone else in the known world right now, we started playing Texas Hold,em. I could play okay but fared far better with mortals than immortals. My charisma and glamour had less effect on this group, which meant I had to think harder about odds and strategy. Peter scurried around during the game, attempting to play and watch his meal at the same time. It wasn't easy, since he insisted on wearing sunglasses while playing, which then had to be removed while he checked the food. When I commented on how this would be my second fancy dinner in two nights, he nearly had a fit. â€Å"Whatever. Nothing you had last night will even compare to this duck I've made. Nothing.† â€Å"I don't know about that. I went to the Metropolitan Grill.† Hugh whistled. â€Å"Whoa. I wondered where you got the glow from. When a guy takes you to the Met, you can't really help but put out, huh?† â€Å"The glow's from a different guy,† I said uncomfortably, not really wanting to be reminded of a tryst I'd had this morning, even if it had been pretty hot. â€Å"I went to the Met with Seth.† The memory of last night's dinner brought a smile to my face, and I suddenly found myself rambling. â€Å"You should have seen him. He actually didn't wear a T-shirt for once, though I'm not sure it made a difference. The shirt he did have on was all wrinkled, and he couldn't really tie the tie. Plus, when I first got there, he had his laptop out on the table. He'd shoved everything else aside – napkins, wineglasses. It was a mess. The waiters were horrified.† Four sets of eyes stared at me. â€Å"What?† I demanded. â€Å"What's wrong?† â€Å"You are,† said Hugh. â€Å"You're a glutton for punishment.† Cody smiled. â€Å"Not to mention totally love struck. Listen to yourself.† â€Å"She's not in love with him,† said Peter. â€Å"She's in love with his books.† â€Å"No I'm – † The words died on my lips, mainly because I wasn't sure what I wanted to argue. I didn't want them to think I only loved the books, but I wasn't entirely sure I loved Seth yet either. Our relationship had blossomed with remarkable speed, but sometimes, I worried what I actually loved was the idea of him loving me. â€Å"I can't believe you guys are still doing the sexless-dating thing,† continued Hugh. My temper flared. I'd already taken this from Jerome; I didn't need to hear it here too. â€Å"Look, I don't want to talk about this if you guys are just going to nag me, okay? I'm tired of everyone telling me how crazy it is.† Peter shrugged. â€Å"I don't know. It's not that crazy. You always hear about these married couples who never have sex anymore. They survive. This would be almost the same thing.† â€Å"Not with our girl.† Hugh shook his head. â€Å"Look at her. Who wouldn't want to have sex with her?† They all looked again, making me squirm. â€Å"Hey,† I protested, feeling the need to clear up a point. â€Å"That's not the problem. He wants to, okay? He's just not going to. There's a difference.† â€Å"Sorry,† said Hugh. â€Å"I'm just not buying it. He can't be with you in the clothes you wear and not crack. Even if he could, no guy could handle his woman seeing as much action as you do.† It was a well-worn point in my mind, the same Jerome had made, the one that worried me more than our ability to keep our hands off each other. One of my greatest nightmares involved having a conversation akin to: Sorry, Seth. I can't go out tonight. I have to go work this married guy I met, so I can get him to sleep with me, thus leading him further and further down the road to damnation while I suck away part of his life. Maybe when I'm done, you and I can catch a late movie. â€Å"I don't want to talk about this,† I repeated. â€Å"We're doing just fine. End of story.† Silence fell, save for the sound of cards and money hitting the table. Glancing around, I saw Carter watching me levelly. Only he had stayed out of the Seth bashing. This didn't surprise me. The angel usually just listened until he could interject some sarcastic or esoteric quip. This used to infuriate me, but recent events had changed my attitude toward him. I still didn't fully understand him or know if I could trust him, but I had come to respect him. Troubled by the scrutiny, I glanced back down and discovered I finally had a respectable hand after several rounds of shit. Three of a kind. Not the greatest but passable. I raised high, wanting to get the others out before more cards came into play and made my hand less passable. My strategy worked on the vampires. The next card fell. Seven of spades. Hugh scowled and folded when I raised again. I waited for Carter to drop out as well, but instead, he reraised further. I hesitated only a moment before calling. As the last card was about to play, I puzzled over what the angel might have and whether I could beat it. A pair? Two pair? Ah. The last card came out. Another spade. There was now a strong possibility he had a flush. That would beat me. Still hoping I could bluff him out, I raised even more. He reraised me again, more than doubling my initial bet. That was a lot of money to add, especially considering what I'd already put in. Centuries of investments kept me pretty comfortable, but that didn't mean I had to be stupid. What did he have? It had to be the flush. Balking, I folded. With a pleased grin, he swept in the massive pot. When he tossed his hand over to the discard pile, the cards' edges caught, making them flip over. Two of diamonds. Eight of clubs. â€Å"You†¦you bluffed!† I cried. â€Å"You had nothing!† Carter wordlessly lit a cigarette. I looked to the others for confirmation. â€Å"He can't do that.† â€Å"Hell, I've been doing it for half this game,† said Hugh, borrowing Carter's lighter. â€Å"Not that it's done me any good.† â€Å"Yeah†¦but†¦he's, you know. An angel. They can't lie.† â€Å"He didn't lie. He bluffed.† Cody considered, twisting a piece of his blond hair around one finger. â€Å"Yeah, but bluffing is still dishonest.† â€Å"It's implied lying,† said Peter. Hugh stared at him. â€Å"‘Implied lying?' What the fuck does that mean?† I watched Carter stack his money and made a face at him. You'd think an angel who hung around with employees of evil would be a good influence, but at times, he seemed worse than we were. â€Å"Enjoy your thirty pieces of silver, Judas.† He gave me a mock hat tip while the others argued on. Suddenly, like a row of dominoes, conversation steadily dropped. Carter felt it first, of course, but he merely arched an eyebrow, as indifferent as ever. Then came the vampires with their heightened reflexes and sensitivity. They exchanged glances and looked toward the door. Finally, seconds later, Hugh and I sensed it as well. â€Å"What is that?† Cody frowned, staring across the room. â€Å"It's sort of like Georgina but not.† Hugh followed the young vampire's gaze, face mildly speculative. â€Å"Incubus.† I had already known that, of course. The signatures we all carried differed by creature. Vampires felt different from imps, just as imps felt different from succubi. If one knew an immortal well enough, one could also pick up on an individual's unique attributes. I was the only succubus who inspired sensations of silk and tuberose perfume. In a room full of vampires, I would have been able to quickly determine if Cody or Peter were present. Likewise, I immediately knew there was an incubus approaching Peter's door, and I knew exactly which incubus it was. I would have known his signature anywhere, even after all this time. The fleeting feel of velvet on the skin. A whispered scent of rum, almond, and cinnamon. Not even realizing I'd gotten up, I flung the door open, staring with delight at the same fox-faced features and mischievous eyes I'd last seen over a century ago. â€Å"Hello, ma Fleur ,† he said.