Most Admired Person

Do you have any individual that you respect most in your life? I’m sure that the supposed reverence trademark is a characteristic nature for each individual. At whatever point a person or thing that fit our cravings feasts at us, we without a doubt will come into an activity which is known as esteem. We may totally or in part change in the way whereby our appreciated people do. Subsequently intelligently, we all ought to have the most respected individual in openings of our souls. There is no special case for me too. For sure, I generally respect an understand British female creator. She composed books and a couple of articles which sold in excess of 400 million duplicates worldwide and had won different honors, for example, British Children’s Book of the Year (1998 and 1999), Nestle Smarties Book Prize (1997, 1998 and 1999, etc. What's more, one of her novel arrangement had been reason for a mainstream film arrangement which featuring by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. All things considered, I surmise all of you most likely perceive this creator. Indeed, she is the creator for the well known Harry Potter arrangement, J. K. Rowling. I appreciate her simply because of her prosperity, yet additionally include a few reasons. Have you at any point caught wind of her â€Å"rags to riches† biography? She began to compose this novel when she was on a four-hour-deferred train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. The thought for an account of a little fellow going to a school of wizardry â€Å"came completely formed† into her psyche around then. In any case, the unexpected passing of her mom because of different sclerosis had vigorously influenced her composition. As you glance through the Harry Potter first book, you will discover that she presented considerably more insight concerning Harry's misfortune, since she thought about how it felt. Her marriage had bombed once and at that point, she turned into a jobless single parent with a reliant youngster. She even needed to get by on state government assistance support. She depicted her disappointment as a stripping endlessly of inessential. Anyway as the truism goes, â€Å"when there’s a will, there’s a way. † Soon the â€Å"Harry Potter† arrangement become well known far and wide, she become twelfth most extravagant lady in United Kingdom. Her biography demonstrated that â€Å"rags to riches† is consistently conceivable to accomplish as long as there is a solid will and difficult work in our spirits. So as to achieve accomplishment in our lives, we ought to be bolder and not handily surrendered in which appeared by her tendency. â€Å"Anything’s conceivable in the event that you got enough nerve,† she said. In this manner, we ought to let it all out yet not in wild way and get any open doors that thump our ways to abstain from crying over the spilt milk. Moreover, when we step upon this excursion of life, we generally should run over with decisions throughout everyday life. From the start, I very befuddled and pondered about the decisions I have to make and terrified in the event that I have settled on an off-base choice. All things considered, the statements by Rowling herself had roused me in various manners. One of her statement is â€Å"It is difficult to live without fizzling at something, except if you live so mindfully that you may have well not have inhabited all, in which case you have bombed of course. † And the other is â€Å"It is our choices†¦ that show what we genuinely are, unmistakably more than our capacities. † Out of the blue, I understood about what she had said. We ought to never reluctant to settle on choices as without disappointment we can't pick up life encounters. Disappointment is consistently the way which prompts achievement. Besides, the decisions we have made are demonstrating what our identity is. As it were, we must be straightforward to ourselves and not self-deluding. Life is difficult but significant excursion. Decisions that we made will lead us to various ways and at there we will learn fundamental life exercises. â€Å"Imagination isn't just the remarkably human ability to imagine what isn't, and in this way the wellspring of all development and advancement. In its seemingly generally transformative and impactful limit, it is the ability to that empowers us to feel for people whose encounters we have never shared. She cited. This is likewise a motivation behind why I appreciate her. Truth be told, I love to envision and trusting that I can create my own dream novel simply like her. Creative mind isn't just piece of my life, however it likewise comforts me and gives me more dreams. In straightforwardly, I can attempt to feel the experience which I never experienced. I additionally can share my s atisfaction and tears by communicating them through creative mind. Obviously, minds should be recorded or attracted out to become perpetual thing. As life is very dull, creative mind is the main way I look for perseverance and fulfillment. To put it plainly, J. K Rowling has her own unique character which impacts me in numerous angles. Her â€Å"Harry Potter† arrangement has inspired me to move further and venture out. Truly, I begin to imagine a storyline for dream novel. Later on, I may have the option to distribute my novel to worldwide in spite of the fact that I am currently seeking after the drug store profession. Nonetheless, don't reluctant to take activities, so simply step forward. I will consistently allude to her character and get familiar with her disposition towards life so as to turn into a genuine man. At that point, my prosperity is inside my compass and that will be my valuable second!

Communicable Disease Paper Essay

Hepatitis B is a viral contamination that is brought about by the hepatitis B infection (HBV). It assaults the liver and can cause both intense and ceaseless sickness. Intense HBV is under a half year and ones invulnerable framework can battle and clear the disease. Constant HBV endures longer than a half year and ones insusceptible framework can't battle the disease prompting liver disappointment, malignant growth or cirrhosis. Once in a while incessant HBV can go undetected for a considerable length of time because of an individual being asymptomatic (Mayo Clinic, 2011). Method of Transmission In profoundly tainted zones of the world, HBV is most generally spread from mother to infant during childbirth or from individual to individual in youth (World Health Organization [WHO], 2013). The HBV is likewise spread by means of parenteral contact with tainted blood or blood items, sharing of or inadvertent needle sticks and having unprotected sex with one who’s blood, spit, semen or vaginal emissions are contaminated and enter your body (Copstead and Banasik, 2010). Signs and Symptoms Signs and side effects of HBV may never show up or show up over a two to half year time span. Signs and manifestations incorporate stomach torment, dim pee, fever, joint agony, loss of craving, queasiness and heaving, shortcoming and exhaustion and jaundice (yellowing of the skin as well as sclera) (Mayo Clinic, 2011). Entanglements Having constant HBV can prompt genuine dangerous complexities, for example, cirrhosis, liver disease, disappointment, hepatitis D contamination or kidney disappointment. Liver cirrhosis happens when HBV has made irritation liver prompting frightening and arrangement of fibrotic cell tissue that squares hepatic blood stream and cell work. This thus brings about abundance of new cells endeavoring to recover causing diminished liver capacity Liver malignant growth and disappointment can happen if a patient has cirrhosis due to being a hazard factor (Copstead and Banasik, 2010). Treatment of HBV is steady. Care centers around nourishment, hydration and solace (WHO, 2013). For the individuals who have been tainted with intense HBV, may not require treatment yet just administration of side effects. Those tainted with incessant HBV may require progressively obtrusive medicines, for example, antiviral prescriptions or need a liver transplant (Mayo Clinic, 2011). Antiviral drugs are utilized to slow and battle the infection from destructing the liver. Liver transplants are an alternative if a patient has end-stage liver malady where conventional medications have not worked and are a certified up-and-comer (Copstead and Banasik, 2010). Demogrphics Approximately 60,000 individuals kick the bucket each year from HBV (WHO, 2013). There are around 200 billion individuals living far and wide with HBV with an expected 1. 2 million living in the United States (CDC, 2013). In 2011 the United States was assessed to have 18,800 real new instances of the HBV (CDC, 2013). The individuals who are at most serious hazard for creating HBV are Asian and Pacific Islanders, African Americans, gay and androgynous people, the individuals who have numerous sex accomplices and don't rehearse safe sex or are intravenous medication clients. Gay and indiscriminate men make up 20% of new HBV cases and half Asian and Pacific Islanders are living with HBV (CDC, 2013). Generally Asian and Pacific Islanders were contaminated with HBV as newborn children or youngsters and 1 out of 12 are living with it and are not by any means mindful. Determinants of Health Environmental factors, for example, everyday environments, informal organizations and social emotionally supportive networks are for the most part key drivers for one getting tainted with the HBV. For instance, a vagrant who has an unexpected frailty status, is uninsured, jobless and has an absence of training is bound to be determined to have HBV. Likewise certain races are bound to be contaminated with the HBV, as expressed above, Asian and Pacific Islanders make up half of the populace living with HBV (CDC, 2013). Likewise there is an absence of assets accessible to ensure, improve and keep up one wellbeing because of the expense and absence of good wellbeing administrations to people with low financial foundations. In this manner, center should be made around improving access to mind just as treating the ecological and social variables of wellbeing. Epidemiologic Triangle The epidemiologic triangle is utilized to dissect the regular history of an illness. It asses the operator â€Å"what†, have â€Å"who† and condition â€Å"where† (Maurer and Smith, 2013). The natural operator for hepatitis B is an infection. The host’s socioeconomics can run from early stages into adulthood and any race is powerless to the infection. The body’s barriers are bound to fend off intense than ceaseless HBV. A person’s conduct too assumes an enormous job in one getting contaminated. The individuals who are intravenous medication clients or have a past filled with numerous sex accomplices are my powerless to creating HBV. Natural elements dependent on social and monetary contemplations could be immediate individual to-individual contact of organic liquids through kissing or sex or accepting tainted blood items from contaminated people. Inside the working environment, an individual could accidently prick oneself with a polluted needle expanding their odds of getting tainted. Job of Community Health Nurse It is significant for the network wellbeing medical caretaker to instruct and advance avoidance of HBV. Showing hazard decrease mediations and systems, for example, not having unprotected sex and utilizing condoms can help forestall transmission of hepatitis B. For the individuals who have just gotten contaminated with the HBV it’s essential to give auspicious referrals to sexual wellbeing related administrations to additionally keep others from getting tainted. Making the hepatitis inoculations progressively open and accessible is a successful method to forestall hepatitis B. Teaching wellbeing and human specialist organizations about hepatitis B advances nature of care and mindfulness just as diminishes odds of transmission. Guaranteeing satisfactory assets are accessible (state and neighborhood reconnaissance) to precisely screen malady patterns, transmission and how powerful treatment is can improve and guarantee right information assortment. It’s additionally significant that the medical caretaker alludes patients to available consideration and treatment offices with the goal that consistence can be acquired and the pace of transmission, grimness and mortality can be decreased. National Organization The World Hepatitis Alliance is a non-benefit worldwide umbrella non-legislative association that speaks to each district of the world with viral hepatitis. They bring issues to light, diminish the disgrace related with viral hepatitis, work with the WHO and give preventive consideration just as help and access to treatment. Their objective is annihilation of HBV and HCV. They plan on accomplishing this objective by having more nations with a total hepatitis technique set up, local patient associations in all WHO areas, on going help for worldwide hepatitis gatherings, acknowledgment at a worldwide degree of HBV and HCV, expanded coalition and a progressively broadened financing base for the union. End There are two billion individuals worldwide that are contaminated with HBV and in excess of 350 million are tainted with interminable liver diseases, which expands their danger of death essentially (Maurer and Smith, 2013). Luckily, there is an antibody for hepatitis B yet it has not gotten effectively available to those in creating nations. This is an infection that can be forestalled if people are being teaching on the causes and dangers just as approaches to ensure themselves. It is up to us social insurance suppliers to spread mindfulness and makes our patients progressively educated about the kinds of transferable illness in our reality with the goal that they can settle on sound decisions.

The Finest Steel Come From The Hottest Furnaces

The Finest Steel Come From The Hottest Furnaces Ill never forget the night in 1946 when disaster and challenge visited our home.My brother, George, came home from football practice and collapsed with a temperature of 104 degrees. After an examination, the doctor informed us it was polio. This was before the days of Dr. Salk, and polio was well known in Webster Groves, Missouri, having killed and crippled many children and teenagers.After the initial crisis passed, the doctor felt duty bound to inform George of the horrible truth. I hate to tell you this, son, he said, but the polio has taken such a toll that youll probably never walk again without a limp, and your left arm will be useless. George had always envisioned himself as a championship wrestler for his senior year, after just missing it the season before while he was a junior. Barely able to speak, George whispered, DoctorYes, said the doctor leaning over the bed, what is it, my boy?Go to hell, said George in a voice filled with determination.You see, Mom and Dad taught u s that just like you would never let someone else come into your house with an axe and allow them to break up your furniture, you should never let a damaging thought come into your mind and break up your dreams.The next day the nurse walked into Georges room to find him lying flat on his face on the floor.Whats going on in here? asked the shocked nurse.Im walking, George calmly replied.George refused the use of any braces or even a crutch that was given to him. Sometimes it would take him 20 minutes just to get out of the chair, but he refused any offers of aid.I remember seeing him lift a tennis ball with as much effort as a healthy man would need to lift a 100-pound barbell.I also remember seeing him, six months later, step out on the mat as captain of the wrestling team. Georges rehabilitation from the devastating effects of polio was written up all over the state of Missouri. No one had ever been known to recover so quickly or so completely from this disease.The story continues. The next year, after being named to start for Missouri Valley College in one of the first football games to be televised locally, George came down with mononucleosis.It was my brother Bob who helped reinforce Georges already strong philosophy of never giving up.The family was sitting in Georges room at the hospital, watching the game on TV, when Valleys quarterback completed a 12-yard pass to the tight end. Then the announcer said, And George Schlatter makes the first catch of the game.Shocked, we all looked at the bed to make sure George was still there. Then we realized what had happened. Bob, who had made the starting line-up, had worn Georges number so George could spend the afternoon hearing himself catching six passes and making countless tackles. Later he said, If I can do that flat on my back with a temperature of 103 degrees, just think what I can do when Im up!As he overcame mono, he did it with the lesson Bob taught him that daythere is always a way!George was destined t o spend the next three falls seasons in the hospital. In 1948, it was after he stepped on a rusty nail. In 1949, it was tonsillitis, just before he was to sing in an audition for Phil Harris, a great orchestra leader and radio comedy icon. And in 1950, it was third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body and collapsed lungs. After an explosion had set Georges body on fire, my brother Alan put the flames out by throwing himself on George. Alan had saved his brothers life, but he received serious burns himself.Following each challenge, George came back stronger and surer of his own ability to overcome any obstacle. He had read that if one looks at the roadblocks, he isnt looking at the goal.Armed with these gifts, he entered the world of show business and revolutionized television by creating and producing such innovative shows as Laugh In and The American Comedy Awards. He also won an Emmy for his production of Sammy Davis Jr.s 60th Anniversary Celebration Special.He had literally b een through the furnace and come out of it with a soul as strong as steel, and he used it to strengthen and entertain a nation.Of course, the four of us didnt always get a long, but we were brothers through and through, and yet out of the conflicts came new respect and even memories about which we would later laugh.By John Wayne Jack Schlatter

Chinas Historic Transformation from a Dynasty to Communism - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2159 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/10/31 Category Politics Essay Level High school Tags: Communism Essay Did you like this example? China as a regional power in Asia carried the reputation as The Middle Kingdom as its name literally translates. This reflects the historical position of power China held in the region. This enabled the nation to greatly influence the political affairs of other countries in the region. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Chinas Historic Transformation from a Dynasty to Communism" essay for you Create order This status of power of power that China had in the days of its Glory as The Middle Kingdom is is particularly synonymous with that Ancients Romes influence on the European continent. The Chinese were able to reinforce their dominance by establishing themselves as culturally, ethnically, and religiously superior to their neighbors. This tactic was, in fact, customary for every major civilization of the past as well as those of present. This ideology was perpetuated by every sitting emperor of The Middle Kingdom and remained central to the Chinese identity and perception of the changing world around them. This attitude would eventually lead to their ensuing calamity and subsequent downfall but not before theyve enjoyed great success trading with the West. Early into the 18th century, The Middle Kingdom prospered tremendously in their trade relations with Europe leading into rapidly growing economies in both sides. This success came during the Qing dynasty. In the terms of the trade, the Chinese government mandated silver as the only material of value to be traded for commodities with the western powers. This would go on for years until the British silver reserves were almost deplenished. This particular trade deficit would have the British East India company restrategize its trading terms with China with the introduction of opium otherwise Heroin for silver into the Chinese economy. This was essentially done to reverse the transference of precious metals back to the British reserves. The opium trade would official kick off in the year 1719 with about 200 chests and a 200 percent increase later in the year 1838, essentially amounting to 40000 chests. Each chest of opium would account for 63kg of the addictive substance. This would pr ove to be catastrophic for the Chinese economy as thousands of hours would be lost in productivity thereby severely inhibiting economic success and industrial output. The populace would be hooked on the drug and China was now running out of silver itself. Later in the year 1839, the sitting emperor, Daoguang, would have had enough the madness going on in his country. He imposed an import ban on the British opium which also resulted in the destruction of tons of the drug. This act would infuriate the British Kingdom that would later take up arms. Little did Daoguang know that his action would cause a political uproar against his government. The British Kingdom responded aggressively with its Navy that was sent to China to demand compensation for the loss of trade and economic deprivation. This conflict would escalate to what is now commonly regarded as the opium wars. The Chinese Navy was no match for the British counterpart and they lost the war. The Chinese would later cede the island of Hong Kong to the British and in an interesting twist, post first opium war, the import of opium increased by more than 350 percent from the initial 200 chests to an astonishing 70000 chests. Perspectively, this number can be equated to the total heroin traded between the start of the millennium and 2010. The humiliation served by the British Navy to their Chinese counterpart was brought about by only 44 battle-ready ships. This perceived vulnerability of the Chinese army would leave them under potential threats. It did in fact, lead to the second opium war which let the French and Americans gain several additional trading ports which gave them unrestricted access to The Middle Kingdom. This would also result in the annexation of the Northeastern regions of China by their far eastern neighbors, Russia, as todays Vladivostok and Sakhalin Island. With opium also came Christianity. Smaller European nations would also attempt to subjugate China by carving up a coalition in Asia. This placed China on the limelight as they became a thing of ridicule. The aggression of the small European nations would later force the Qing dynasty to cede the port City of Macau for an indefinite amount of time to the Portuguese. Following these events, China would suffer what is known as the Yellow River Flood that ended up claiming the life of an estimated 1 million people with over 2 million more without shelter and basic amenities. A pandemic and famine ensued throughout The Middle Kingdom shortly after that escalated and cause a particularly historic social unrest which resulted in the more aggression from the Korean Peninsula. During this period, China would experience a severe form of social unrest. Later in the years 1894 and 1895, the ruling Qing dynasty would lose influence over the Korean Peninsula and subsequently Taiwan. This period would be followed by the First Sino-Japanese War where the Japanese troops of about 240t,000 would deal a great blow to the 630,000 strong Chinese military. A historic defeat, this would lead to The Middle Kingdom ceding both Taiwan and the Korean peninsula in Perpetuity. Later in the year 1899, the Chinese civilians from the boxer rebellion would take up arms to brin g the spread western religious identity and Chinas enslavement to an end. The former ultimately became analogous to foreign presence. The rebellion rallied around the now emboldened Empress Cixi in Beijing to support her will to retake the kingdom. The boxer militia became united in their course under the rule of the Empress and she seized the opportunity and ultimately declared war on the countries that threatened the sovereignty of The Middle Kingdom and the dynasty. These countries include Germany, Japan, France, Russia, United States, Italy, Austria, and the United Kingdom. The Empresss plan, however, failed and the western coalition quickly brought the kingdoms imperial army to its heels. The result was particularly dramatic and some of the biggest cities of Beijing and Tianjin continued to remain occupied for what seemed like forever. The coalition wreaked havoc on these cities and against the local dwellers. The atrocities committed was beyond overwhelming for ruling dynasty. It seemed the realm was coming to an ultimate downfall. Later in the year 1912, the last imperial dynasty would be overthrown in a revolution wherein the emperor was made to abdicate his throne and The Middle Kingdom would begin the process of transformation to a democratic system of governance. Sun Yat-Sen would assume the position as the first democratically elected president of the Republic. However, this progress would be short-lived given that after about 30 years, thered be an uprising from the regional warlords thatd connive against the central government. Sun who let the ruling Kuomintang party, would come up with the initiative of unifying the revolutionary groups which included the co mmunist party as one coalition as they shared the same principles. Sun presidential tenure would come to an end in 1925 and shortly after, the formed alliance of the communist party and the Kuomintang came crumbling down and this development would result in a civil war. Russia and China would take advantage of this situation and violate the Chinese sovereignty by launching an attack in the Manchuria regions while the Chinese government sought to settle its internal conflict. This was all in the 1930s and in the same period, China would be plagued with an episode of severe flooding that left over 4 million people dead. Mao who was the leader of the communist party at the time was faced with the challenge of consolidating power and bringing the entire internal and external conflict to a halt while threatened with extinction by the opposition, The Kuomintang. This presented a challenge as Mao Zedong and his forces were further driven east while the country remained mostly unattended to. Fast forward later in the year 1937, Japan that was on an expansionist agenda at the time would invade the rest of China that was under the control of the The Kuomintang and vulnerable due to the ongoing conflicts the Chinese government was involved in. The Japanese forces dealt a severe blow on The Kuomintang killing 300,000 Chinese forces and citizenry. This famously became known as the Nanking massacre which markedly changed the relations between the government of China and Tokyo. Later in the year 1940, Chinas luck would would turn for the better when Mao Zedong would find a new footing in challenging the status q uo by using the economic disparity amongst the Chinese citizenry to his advantage. He had the poor peasants from the eastern region to take on military ranks and formulate an actual army that was capable of standing up to western aggression. Mao was able to achieve his goal of sending the The Kuomintangs leader and his loyals off the Chinese Mainland to the Island of Taiwan. They were also able to challenge the Japanese aggression and had them packing in no time as well. The Kuomintang vacated the Mainland of China with over two million people who continued to maintain the identity of China while Mao Zedong declared the Mainland of China as The Peoples Republic of China. Under Maos government, a lot of reforms were introduced but the one that particularly struck a cord was the Great Leap Forward. This policy was essentially established to revitalise the Chinese economy with industrialization at the forefront of this effort in rural areas. The government put an end to subsistence farming and seized all the farmland and had millions of people relocated from the agriculture industry to work in Chinas growing heavy machinery industry. The agricultural industry output would fall as a result and The Communist Party representative were forced to overstate the actual output of the agriculture sector. This would lead to a five year long famine. The famine was severe and spread like wildfire claiming the lives of an estimated 23 to 55 million people. This brought Maos Great Leap Forward initiative to an abrupt halt which subsequently and steadily led to an economic decline that lasted for over two decades. These series of unfortunate events made people questio n Mao Zedongs leadership capabilities. This would lead to his temporary marginalization from the Chinese ruling elite who later requested him stepping down from his position as the overseer of The Peoples Republic of China. He, however, continued to enjoy significance as the symbol and face of the Republic. He essentially took a break while The Communist party general secretary, Deng Xiaoping took control over the governance of the nation and sought to roll back some of the failures of Maos Great Leap initiative. Later in the year 1966, Mao Zedong would launch a comeback against his political party with a quest to rid the party of his rivals and was able to accomplish this be introducing revolution in perpetuity. This way, he was able to launch a cultural revolution by galvanizing citizens of a lower socioeconomic status, including students, soldiers, mobilizing the lot of them to do bidding for restoring his position as the chairperson of The Communist Party and subsequently regaining control of the Peoples Republic of China. This movement became known as the Red Guards and they were brutal in their quest as they rounded up millions of targeted citizens rounding them up to reeducation camps in remote areas of China. The people rounded up included teachers, intellectuals and anyone that stood against the cultural revolution. Mao Zedong later consolidated power in all of China for a second time till his death in 1976. Maos legacy would continue to outlive him for most of the 20th century despite efforts by his successors to undo some of his work. The Communist Partys image essentially revolved around the era of opium wars; a period that was referred to as the century of Humiliation. This period of humiliation was essentially in the shaping the of Chinas geopolitics and perception of their immediate neighbors and the international community as a whole. It was also such that a total of 21 historic documentations were officiated during the Chinas opium saga as the Unfair treaties. This dark history has thereby caused most of the lawmakers in Beijing to have a distrust of the western civilization outside of it geopolitic space and has nurtured the idea of emulating the west its main adversary in order to be able to counter their plans if there were to ever be an attack on their sovereignty again. Chinas. however, focused on its geoeconomics objective which it believes will help it grow its sphere of influence and make new allies as opposed to taking an aggressive military stance like its counterparts in the west do. This is, however, unlikely to remain the status quo as China has taken a rather emboldened approach with what is a supposedly newfound expansionist mindset as they continue to lay territorial claims around Asia threatening their original geoeconomics objective. These latest steps taken by Beijing under the current Xi Jinping have been perceived by potential allies as an aggressive posture and has been condemned by the international community as a violation of international laws.

Organ Systems Involved With Performing Or Assisting With...

There are several organ systems involved with performing or assisting with the action of typing. The integumentary system acts as a barrier to protect the fingers from harm or pathogenic agents from the keyboard. Thick skin, such as the skin of palms, has five skin layers including the stratum basale, stratum spinosum, stratum granulosum, stratum lucidum, and stratum corneum, in order to protect the fingers from wear and tear. The integumentary system also provides protection with chemical barriers such as the acid mantle, which retards bacterial growth; human defensin, which kills bacteria; and cathelicidins, which prevent infections. Biological barriers in the epidermis such as Langerhans cells, tissue macrophages that act as antigen presenting cells, are also present. The integumentary system is also responsible for cutaneous sensation by sending signals received from Merkel cells in the epidermis and Meissner’s corpuscles in the dermis to the brain via nerves. The nervous system is in charge of carrying signals from the fingers to the brain, processing information, and sending signals back from the brain to the fingers. The nervous system’s afferent nerves carry signals from the peripheral nervous system to the central nervous system, neural integration is carried out by interneurons, and efferent neurons send signals back from the central nervous system to the peripheral nervous system. Neurons conduct messages in the form of nerve impulses. They have dendrites toShow MoreRelatedFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 PagesCourier/Kendallville. The cover was printed by Courier/Kendallville. This book is printed on acid free paper. Copyright  © 2010, 2007, 2005, 2002 John Wiley Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission

The Golden Compass Chapter Twenty-One Free Essays

string(76) " since leaving Jordan College, and it brought a choking gasp to her throat\." Chapter Twenty-One Lord Asriel’s Welcome Lyra rode a strong young bear, and Roger rode another, while lorek paced tirelessly ahead and a squad armed with a fire hurler followed guarding the rear. The way was long and hard. The interior of Svalbard was mountainous, with jumbled peaks and sharp ridges deeply cut by ravines and steep-sided valleys, and the cold was intense. We will write a custom essay sample on The Golden Compass Chapter Twenty-One or any similar topic only for you Order Now Lyra thought back to the smooth-running sledges of the gyp-tians on the way to Bolvangar; how swift and comfortable that progress now seemed to have been! The air here was more penetratingly chill than any she had experienced before; or it might have been that the bear she was riding wasn’t as lightfooted as lorek; or it might have been that she was tired to her very soul. At all events, it was desperately hard going. She knew little of where they were bound, or how far it was. All she knew was what the older bear S0ren Eisarson had told her while they were preparing the fire hurler. He had been involved in negotiating with Lord Asriel about the terms of his imprisonment, and he remembered it well. At first, he’d said, the Svalbard bears regarded Lord Asriel as being no different from any of the other politicians, kings, or troublemakers who had been exiled to their bleak island. The prisoners were important, or they would have been killed outright by their own people; they might be valuable to the bears one day, if their political fortunes changed and they returned to rule in their own countries; so it might pay the bears not to treat them with cruelty or disrespect. So Lord Asriel had found conditions on Svalbard no better and no worse than hundreds of other exiles had done. But certain things had made his jailers more wary of him than of other prisoners they’d had. There was the air of mystery and spiritual peril surrounding anything that had to do with Dust; there was the clear panic on the part of those who’d brought him there; and there were Mrs. Coulter’s private communications with lofur Raknison. Besides, the bears had never met anything quite like Lord Asriel’s own haughty and imperious nature. He dominated even lofur Raknison, arguing forcefully and eloquently, and persuaded the bear-king to let him choose his own dwelling place. The first one he was allotted was too low down, he said. He needed a high spot, above the smoke and stir of the fire mines and the smithies. He gave the bears a design of the accommodation he wanted, and told them where it should be; and he bribed them with gold, and he flattered and bullied lofur Raknison, and with a bemused willingness the bears set to work. Before long a house had arisen on a headland facing north: a wide and solid place with fireplaces that burned great blocks of coal mined and hauled by bears, and with large windows of real glass. There he dwelt, a prisoner acting like a king. And then he set about assembling the materials for a laboratory. With furious concentration he sent for books, instruments, chemicals, all manner of tools and equipment. And somehow it had come, from this source or that; some openly, some smuggled in by the visitors he insisted he was entitled to have. By land, sea, and air, Lord Asriel assembled his materials, and within six months of his committal, he had all the equipment he wanted. And so he worked, thinking and planning and calculating, waiting for the one thing he needed to complete the task that so terrified the Oblation Board. It was drawing closer every minute. Lyra’s first glimpse of her father’s prison came when lorek Byrnison stopped at the foot of a ridge for the children to move and stretch themselves, because they had been getting dangerously cold and stiff. â€Å"Look up there,† he said. A wide broken slope of tumbled rocks and ice, where a track had been laboriously cleared, led up to a crag outlined against the sky. There was no Aurora, but the stars were brilliant. The crag stood black and gaunt, but at its summit was a spacious building from which light spilled lavishly in all directions: not the smoky inconstant gleam of blubber lamps, nor the harsh white of anbaric spotlights, but the warm creamy glow of naphtha. The windows from which the light emerged also showed Lord Asriel’s formidable power. Glass was expensive, and large sheets of it were prodigal of heat in these fierce latitudes; so to see them here was evidence of wealth and influence far greater than lofur Raknison’s vulgar palace. Lyra and Roger mounted their bears for the last time, and lorek led the way up the slope toward the house. There was a courtyard that lay deep under snow, surrounded by a low wall, and as lorek pushed open the gate they heard a bell ring somewhere in the building. Lyra got down. She could hardly stand. She helped Roger down too, and, supporting each other, the children stumbled through the thigh-deep snow toward the steps up to the door. Oh, the warmth there would be inside that house! Oh, the peaceful rest! She reached for the handle of the bell, but before she could reach it, the door opened. There was a small dimly lit vestibule to keep the warm air in, and standing under the lamp was a figure she recognized: Lord Asriel’s manservant Thorold, with his pinscher daemon Anfang. Lyra wearily pushed back her hood. â€Å"Who†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Thorold began, and then saw who it was, and went on: â€Å"Not Lyra? Little Lyra? Am I dreaming?† He reached behind him to open the inner door. A hall, with a coal fire blazing in a stone grate; warm naphtha light glowing on carpets, leather chairs, polished wood†¦ It was like nothing Lyra had seen since leaving Jordan College, and it brought a choking gasp to her throat. You read "The Golden Compass Chapter Twenty-One" in category "Essay examples" Lord Asriel’s snow-leopard daemon growled. Lyra’s father stood there, his powerful dark-eyed face at first fierce, triumphant, and eager; and then the color faded from it; his eyes widened, in horror, as he recognized his daughter. â€Å"No! No!† He staggered back and clutched at the mantelpiece. Lyra couldn’t move. â€Å"Get out!† Lord Asriel cried. â€Å"Turn around, get out, go! I did not send for you!† She couldn’t speak. She opened her mouth twice, three times, and then managed to say: â€Å"No, no, I came because – â€Å" He seemed appalled; he kept shaking his head, he held up his hands as if to ward her off; she couldn’t believe his distress. She moved a step closer to reassure him, and Roger came to stand with her, anxious. Their daemons fluttered out into the warmth, and after a moment Lord Asriel passed a hand across his brow and recovered slightly. The color began to return to his cheeks as he looked down at the two. â€Å"Lyra,† he said. â€Å"That is Lyra?† â€Å"Yes, Uncle Asriel,† she said, thinking that this wasn’t the time to go into their true relationship. â€Å"I came to bring you the alethiometer from the Master of Jordan.† â€Å"Yes, of course you did,† he said. â€Å"Who is this?† â€Å"It’s Roger Parslow,† she said. â€Å"He’s the kitchen boy from Jordan College. But – â€Å" â€Å"How did you get here?† â€Å"I was just going to say, there’s lorek Byrnison outside, he’s brought us here. He came with me all the way from Trollesund, and we tricked lofur – â€Å" â€Å"Who’s lorek Byrnison?† â€Å"An armored bear. He brought us here.† â€Å"Thorold,† he called, â€Å"run a hot bath for these children, and prepare them some food. Then they will need to sleep. Their clothes are filthy; find them something to wear. Do it now, while I talk to this bear.† Lyra felt her head swim. Perhaps it was the heat, or perhaps it was relief. She watched the servant bow and leave the hall, and Lord Asriel go into the vestibule and close the door behind, and then she half-fell into the nearest chair. Only a moment later, it seemed, Thorold was speaking to her. â€Å"Follow me, miss,† he was saying, and she hauled herself up and went with Roger to a warm bathroom, where soft towels hung on a heated rail, and where a tub of water steamed in the naphtha light. â€Å"You go first,† said Lyra. â€Å"I’ll sit outside and we’ll talk.† So Roger, wincing and gasping at the heat, got in and washed. They had swum naked together often enough, frolicking in the Isis or the Cherwell with other children, but this was different. â€Å"I’m afraid of your uncle,† said Roger through the open door. â€Å"I mean your father.† â€Å"Better keep calling him my uncle. I’m afraid of him too, sometimes.† â€Å"When we first come in, he never saw me at all. He only saw you. And he was horrified, till he saw me. Then he calmed down all at once.† â€Å"He was just shocked,† said Lyra. â€Å"Anyone would be, to see someone they didn’t expect. He last saw me after that time in the Retiring Room. It’s bound to be a shock.† â€Å"No,† said Roger, â€Å"it’s more than that. He was looking at me like a wolf, or summing.† â€Å"You’re imagining it.† â€Å"I en’t. I’m more scared of him than I was of Mrs. Coulter, and that’s the truth.† He splashed himself. Lyra took out the alethiometer. â€Å"D’you want me to ask the symbol reader about it?† Lyra said. â€Å"Well, I dunno. There’s things I’d rather not know. Seems to me everything I heard of since the Gobblers come to Oxford, everything’s been bad. There en’t been nothing good more than about five minutes ahead. Like I can see now, this bath’s nice, and there’s a nice warm towel there, about five minutes away. And once I’m dry, maybe I’ll think of summing nice to eat, but no further ahead than that. And when I’ve eaten, maybe I’ll look forward to a kip in a comfortable bed. But after that, I dunno, Lyra. There’s been terrible things we seen, en’t there? And more a coming, more’n likely. So I think I’d rather not know what’s in the future. I’ll stick to the present.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Lyra wearily. â€Å"There’s times I feel like that too.† So although she held the alethiometer in her hands for a little longer, it was only for comfort; she didn’t turn the wheels, and the swinging of the needle passed her by. Pantalaimon watched it in silence. After they’d both washed, and eaten some bread and cheese and drunk some wine and hot water, the servant Thorold said, â€Å"The boy is to go to bed. I’ll show him where to go. His Lordship asks if you’d join him in the library, Miss Lyra.† Lyra found Lord Asriel in a room whose wide windows overlooked the frozen sea far below. There was a coal fire under a wide chimneypiece, and a naphtha lamp turned down low, so there was little in the way of distracting reflections between the occupants of the room and the bleak starlit panorama outside. Lord Asriel, reclining in a large armchair on one side of the fire, beckoned her to come and sit in the other chair facing him. â€Å"Your friend lorek Byrnison is resting outside,† he said. â€Å"He prefers the cold.† â€Å"Did he tell you about his fight with lofur Raknison?† â€Å"Not in detail. But I understand that he is now the king of Svalbard. Is that true?† â€Å"Of course it’s true. lorek never lies.† â€Å"He seems to have appointed himself your guardian.† â€Å"No. John Faa told him to look after me, and he’s doing it because of that. He’s following John Faa’s orders.† â€Å"How does John Faa come into this?† â€Å"I’ll tell you if you tell me something,† she said. â€Å"You’re my father, en’t you?† â€Å"Yes. So what?† â€Å"So you should have told me before, that’s what. You shouldn’t hide things like that from people, because they feel stupid when they find out, and that’s cruel. What difference would it make if I knew I was your daughter? You could have said it years ago. You could’ve told me and asked me to keep it secret, and I would, no matter how young I was, I’d have done that if you asked me. I’d have been so proud nothing would’ve torn it out of me, if you asked me to keep it secret. But you never. You let other people know, but you never told me.† â€Å"Who did tell you?† â€Å"John Faa.† â€Å"Did he tell you about your mother?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Then there’s not much left for me to tell. I don’t think I want to be interrogated and condemned by an insolent child. I want to hear what you’ve seen and done on the way here.† â€Å"I brought you the bloody alethiometer, didn’t I?† Lyra burst out. She was very near to tears. â€Å"I looked after it all the way from Jordan, I hid it and I treasured it, all through what’s happened to us, and I learned about using it, and I carried it all this bloody way when I could’ve just given up and been safe, and you en’t even said thank you, nor showed any sign that you’re glad to see me. I don’t know why I ever done it. But I did, and I kept on going, even in lofur Raknison’s stinking palace with all them bears around me I kept on going, all on me own, and I tricked him into fighting with lorek so’s I could come on here for your sake†¦.And when you did see me, you like to fainted, as if I was some horrible thing you never wanted to see again. You en’t human, Lord Asriel. You en’t my father. My father wouldn’t treat me like that. Fathers are supposed to love their daughters, enâ⠂¬â„¢t they? You don’t love me, and I don’t love you, and that’s a fact. I love Farder Coram, and I love lorek Byrnison; I love an armored bear more’n I love my father. And I bet lorek Byrnison loves me more’n you do.† â€Å"You told me yourself he’s only following John Faa’s orders. If you’re going to be sentimental, I shan’t waste time talking to you.† â€Å"Take your bloody alethiometer, then, and I’m going back with lorek.† â€Å"Where?† â€Å"Back to the palace. He can fight with Mrs. Coulter and the Oblation Board, when they turn up. If he loses, then I’ll die too, I don’t care. If he wins, we’ll send for Lee Scoresby and I’ll sail away in his balloon and – â€Å" â€Å"Who’s Lee Scoresby?† â€Å"An aeronaut. He brought us here and then we crashed. Here you are, here’s the alethiometer. It’s all in good order.† He made no move to take it, and she laid it on the brass fender around the hearth. â€Å"And I suppose I ought to tell you that Mrs. Coulter’s on her way to Svalbard, and as soon as she hears what’s happened to lofur Raknison, she’ll be on her way here. In a zeppelin, with a whole lot of soldiers, and they’re going to kill us all, by order of the Magisterium.† â€Å"They’ll never reach us,† he said calmly. He was so quiet and relaxed that some of her ferocity dwindled. â€Å"You don’t know,† she said uncertainly. â€Å"Yes I do.† â€Å"Have you got another alethiometer, then?† â€Å"I don’t need an alethiometer for that. Now I want to hear about your journey here, Lyra. Start from the beginning. Tell me everything.† So she did. She began with her hiding in the Retiring Room, and went on to the Gobblers’ taking Roger, and her time with Mrs. Coulter, and everything else that had happened. It was a long tale, and when she finished it she said, â€Å"So there’s one thing I want to know, and I reckon I’ve got the right to know it, like I had the right to know who I really was. And if you didn’t tell me that, you’ve got to tell me this, in recompense. So: what’s Dust? And why’s everyone so afraid of it?† He looked at her as if trying to guess whether she would understand what he was about to say. He had never looked at her seriously before, she thought; until now he had always been like an adult indulging a child in a pretty trick. But he seemed to think she was ready. â€Å"Dust is what makes the alethiometer work,† he said. â€Å"Ah†¦I thought it might! But what else? How did they find out about it?† â€Å"In one way, the Church has always been aware of it. They’ve been preaching about Dust for centuries, only they didn’t call it by that name. â€Å"But some years ago a Muscovite called Boris Mikhailovitch Rusakov discovered a new kind of elementary particle. You’ve heard of electrons, photons, neutrinos, and the rest? They’re called elementary particles because you can’t break them down any further: there’s nothing inside them but themselves. Well, this new kind of particle was elementary all right, but it was very hard to measure because it didn’t react in any of the usual ways. The hardest thing for Rusakov to understand was why the new particle seemed to cluster where human beings were, as if it were attracted to us. And especially to adults. Children too, but not nearly so much until their daemons have taken a fixed form. During the years of puberty they begin to attract Dust more strongly, and it settles on them as it settles on adults. â€Å"Now all discoveries of this sort, because they have a bearing on the doctrines of the Church, have to be announced through the Magisterium in Geneva. And this discovery of Rusakov’s was so unlikely and strange that the inspector from the Consistorial Court of Discipline suspected Rusakov of diabolic possession. He performed an exorcism in the laboratory, he interrogated Rusakov under the rules of the Inquisition, but finally they had to accept the fact that Rusakov wasn’t lying or deceiving them: Dust really existed. â€Å"That left them with the problem of deciding what it was. And given the Church’s nature, there was only one thing they could have chosen. The Magisterium decided that Dust was the physical evidence for original sin. Do you know what original sin is?† She twisted her lips. It was like being back at Jordan, being quizzed on something she’d been half-taught. â€Å"Sort of,† she said. â€Å"No, you don’t. Go to the shelf beside the desk and bring me the Bible.† Lyra did so, and handed the big black book to her father. â€Å"You do remember the story of Adam and Eve?† ‘†Course,† she said. â€Å"She wasn’t supposed to eat the fruit and the serpent tempted her, and she did.† â€Å"And what happened then?† â€Å"Umm†¦They were thrown out. God threw them out of the garden.† â€Å"God had told them not to eat the fruit, because they would die. Remember, they were naked in the garden, they were like children, their daemons took on any form they desired. But this is what happened.† He turned to Chapter Three of Genesis, and read: â€Å"And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: â€Å"But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. â€Å"And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: â€Å"For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and your daemons shall assume their true forms, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. â€Å"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to reveal the true form of one’s daemon, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. â€Å"And the eyes of them both were opened, and they saw the true form of their daemons, and spoke with them. â€Å"But when the man and the woman knew their own daemons, they knew that a great change had come upon them, for until that moment it had seemed that they were at one with all the creatures of the earth and the air, and there was no difference between them: â€Å"And they saw the difference, and they knew good and evil; and they were ashamed, and they sewed fig leaves together to cover their nakedness†¦.† He closed the book. â€Å"And that was how sin came into the world,† he said, â€Å"sin and shame and death. It came the moment their daemons became fixed.† â€Å"But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lyra struggled to find the words she wanted: â€Å"but it en’t true, is it? Not true like chemistry or engineering, not that kind of true? There wasn’t really an Adam and Eve? The Cassington Scholar told me it was just a kind of fairy tale.† â€Å"The Cassington Scholarship is traditionally given to a freethinker; it’s his function to challenge the faith of the Scholars. Naturally he’d say that. But think of Adam and Eve like an imaginary number, like the square root of minus one: you can never see any concrete proof that it exists, but if you include it in your equations, you can calculate all manner of things that couldn’t be imagined without it. â€Å"Anyway, it’s what the Church has taught for thousands of years. And when Rusakov discovered Dust, at last there was a physical proof that something happened when innocence changed into experience. â€Å"Incidentally, the Bible gave us the name Dust as well. At first they were called Rusakov Particles, but soon someone pointed out a curious verse toward the end of the Third Chapter of Genesis, where God’s cursing Adam for eating the fruit.† He opened the Bible again and pointed it out to Lyra. She read: â€Å"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return†¦.† Lord Asriel said, â€Å"Church scholars have always puzzled over the translation of that verse. Some say it should read not ‘unto dust shalt thou return’ but ‘thou shalt be subject to dust,’ and others say the whole verse is a kind of pun on the words ‘ground’ and ‘dust,’ and it really means that God’s admitting his own nature to be partly sinful. No one agrees. No one can, because the text is corrupt. But it was too good a word to waste, and that’s why the particles became known as Dust.† â€Å"And what about the Gobblers?† Lyra said. â€Å"The General Oblation Board†¦Your mother’s gang. Clever of her to spot the chance of setting up her own power base, but she’s a clever woman, as I dare say you’ve noticed. It suits the Magisterium to allow all kinds of different agencies to flourish. They can play them off against one another; if one succeeds, they can pretend to have been supporting it all along, and if it fails, they can pretend it was a renegade outfit which had never been properly licensed. â€Å"You see, your mother’s always been ambitious for power. At first she tried to get it in the normal way, through marriage, but that didn’t work, as I think you’ve heard. So she had to turn to the Church. Naturally she couldn’t take the route a man could have taken – priesthood and so on – it had to be unorthodox; she had to set up her own order, her own channels of influence, and work through that. It was a good move to specialize in Dust. Everyone was frightened of it; no one knew what to do; and when she offered to direct an investigation, the Magisterium was so relieved that they backed her with money and resources of all kinds.† â€Å"But they were cutting – † Lyra couldn’t bring herself to say it; the words choked in her mouth. â€Å"You know what they were doing! Why did the Church let them do anything like that?† â€Å"There was a precedent. Something like it had happened before. Do you know what the word castration means? It means removing the sexual organs of a boy so that he never develops the characteristics of a man. A castrate keeps his high treble voice all his life, which is why the Church allowed it: so useful in Church music. Some castrati became great singers, wonderful artists. Many just became fat spoiled half-men. Some died from the effects of the operation. But the Church wouldn’t flinch at the idea of a little cut, you see. There was a precedent. And this would be so much more hygienic than the old methods, when they didn’t have anesthetics or sterile bandages or proper nursing care. It would be gentle by comparison.† â€Å"It isn’t!† Lyra said fiercely. â€Å"It isn’t!† â€Å"No. Of course not. That’s why they had to hide away in the far North, in darkness and obscurity. And why the Church was glad to have someone like your mother in charge. Who could doubt someone so charming, so well-connected, so sweet and reasonable? But because it was an obscure and unofficial kind of operation, she was someone the Magisterium could deny if they needed to, as well.† â€Å"But whose idea was it to do that cutting in the first place?† â€Å"It was hers. She guessed that the two things that happen at adolescence might be connected: the change in one’s daemon and the fact that Dust began to settle. Perhaps if the daemon were separated from the body, we might never be subject to Dust – to original sin. The question was whether it was possible to separate daemon and body without killing the person. But she’s traveled in many places, and seen all kinds of things. She’s traveled in Africa, for instance.The Africans have a way of making a slave called a zombi. It has no will of its own; it will work day and night without ever running away or complaining. It looks like a corpse†¦.† â€Å"It’s a person without their daemon!† â€Å"Exactly. So she found out that it was possible to separate them.† â€Å"And†¦Tony Costa told me about the horrible phantoms they have in the northern forests. I suppose they might be the same kind of thing.† â€Å"That’s right. Anyway, the General Oblation Board grew out of ideas like that, and out of the Church’s obsession with original sin.† Lord Asriel’s daemon twitched her ears, and he laid his hand on her beautiful head. â€Å"There was something else that happened when they made the cut,† he went on. â€Å"And they didn’t see it. The energy that links body and daemon is immensely powerful. When the cut is made, all that energy dissipates in a fraction of a second. They didn’t notice, because they mistook it for shock, or disgust, or moral outrage, and they trained themselves to feel numb towards it. So they missed what it could do, and they never thought of harnessing it†¦.† Lyra couldn’t sit still. She got up and walked to the window, and stared over the wide bleak darkness with unseeing eyes. They were too cruel. No matter how important it was to find out about original sin, it was too cruel to do what they’d done to Tony Makarios and all the others. Nothing justified that. â€Å"And what were you doing?† she said. â€Å"Did you do any of that cutting?† â€Å"I’m interested in something quite different. I don’t think the Oblation Board goes far enough. I want to go to the source of Dust itself.† â€Å"The source? Where’s it come from, then?† â€Å"From the other universe we can see through the Aurora.† Lyra turned around again. Her father was lying back in his chair, lazy and powerful, his eyes as fierce as his daemon’s. She didn’t love him, she couldn’t trust him, but she had to admire him, and the extravagant luxury he’d assembled in this desolate wasteland, and the power of his ambition. â€Å"What is that other universe?† she said. â€Å"One of uncountable billions of parallel worlds. The witches have known about them for centuries, but the first theologians to prove their existence mathematically were excommunicated fifty or more years ago. However, it’s true; there’s no possible way of denying it. â€Å"But no one thought it would ever be possible to cross from one universe to another. That would violate fundamental laws, we thought. Well, we were wrong; we learned to see the world up there. If light can cross, so can we. And we had to learn to see it, Lyra, just as you learned to use the alethiometer. â€Å"Now that world, and every other universe, came about as a result of possibility. Take the example of tossing a coin: it can come down heads or tails, and we don’t know before it lands which way it’s going to fall. If it comes down heads, that means that the possibility of its coming down tails has collapsed. Until that moment the two possibilities were equal. â€Å"But on another world, it does come down tails. And when that happens, the two worlds split apart. I’m using the example of tossing a coin to make it clearer. In fact, these possibility collapses happen at the level of elementary particles, but they happen in just the same way: one moment several things are possible, the next moment only one happens, and the rest don’t exist. Except that other worlds have sprung into being, on which they did happen. â€Å"And I’m going to that world beyond the Aurora,† he said, â€Å"because I think that’s where all the Dust in this universe comes from. You saw those slides I showed the Scholars in the retiring room. You saw Dust pouring into this world from the Aurora. You’ve seen that city yourself. If light can cross the barrier between the universes, if Dust can, if we can see that city, then we can build a bridge and cross. It needs a phenomenal burst of energy. But I can do it. Somewhere out there is the origin of all the Dust, all the death, the sin, the misery, the destructiveness in the world. Human beings can’t see anything without wanting to destroy it, Lyra. That’s original sin. And I’m going to destroy it. Death is going to die.† â€Å"Is that why they put you here?† â€Å"Yes. They are terrified. And with good reason.† He stood up, and so did his daemon, proud and beautiful and deadly. Lyra sat still. She was afraid of her father, and she admired him profoundly, and she thought he was stark mad; but who was she to judge? â€Å"Go to bed,† he said. â€Å"Thorold will show you where to sleep.† He turned to go. â€Å"You’ve left the alethiometer,† she said. â€Å"Ah, yes; I don’t actually need that now,† he said. â€Å"It would be no use to me without the books anyway. D’you know, I think the Master of Jordan was giving it to you. Did he actually ask you to bring it to me?† â€Å"Well, yes!† she said. But then she thought again, and realized that in fact the Master never had asked her to do that; she had assumed it all the time, because why else would he have given it to her? â€Å"No,† she said. â€Å"I don’t know. I thought – â€Å" â€Å"Well, I don’t want it. It’s yours, Lyra.† â€Å"But – â€Å" â€Å"Goodnight, child.† Speechless, too bewildered by this to voice any of the dozen urgent questions that pressed at her mind, she sat by the fire and watched him leave the room. How to cite The Golden Compass Chapter Twenty-One, Essay examples

Monetary Policy Essays (5418 words) - Foreign Exchange Market

Monetary Policy International Dimensions to U.S. Monetary Policy Executive Summary Federal Reserve monetary policy has traditionally focused on the domestic economy. Over time, however, a number of significant trends have underscored the potential importance of the international dimensions of contemporary monetary policy. Such trends include the following: ? Financial markets continue to become increasingly integrated internationally; capital is evermore mobile. ? The U.S. dollar continues to remain the world's principal international currency despite evolving exchange rate arrangements. ? Official and unofficial dollarization has continued in several emerging market economies. These trends suggest that monetary policy may have differing transmission mechanisms increasingly involving international variables than was earlier the case. In addition to these trends, empirical evidence recently has accumulated showing that changes in U.S. monetary policy can significantly impact emerging market economies in a number of ways. For example, changes in U.S. monetary policy can (1) dominate capital flows in emerging market economies, (2) be associated with financial crises in these countries, and (3) significantly impact interest rates and financial markets in emerging economies under differing exchange rate arrangements. Furthermore, experience shows that the Federal Reserve can successfully assume international lender-of-last-resort responsibilities and stabilize world financial markets in situations of international liquidity crises. The Federal Reserve should increasingly recognize these international considerations when conducting monetary policy. International Dimensions to U.S. Monetary Policy I. Introduction Traditionally, Federal Reserve monetary policy has focused on the domestic economy. Although international factors have not been ignored, they have been subordinate to domestic concerns. International concerns are rarely important rationale influencing Federal Reserve monetary policy decisions; further, the global impacts of U.S. monetary policy decisions seldom receive much attention from monetary officials. Recent trends and developments, however, suggest this domestic orientation may not be entirely satisfactory for U.S. monetary policy. There is a growing recognition of the fact that financial capital is increasingly mobile, and financial markets are evermore globally integrated. At the same time, varying degrees of dollarization have occurred in several emerging market economies and the dollar remains the world's principal international currency despite evolving developments in exchange rate arrangements. These considerations have a number of important implications for U.S. monetary policy. For example, they help to explain why changes in U.S. monetary policy can have increasingly potent effects on emerging market economies that should be recognized and why the Federal Reserve's implicit international lender-of-last-resort (LOLR) responsibilities are so important.1 These international considerations can be taken into account by anchoring prices with a price stabilization policy goal and using key market price indicators as policy guides. After briefly describing these evolving circumstances -- namely, increased capital mobility, dollarization, and the international role of the dollar -- this paper briefly reviews the evidence suggesting that changes in Federal Reserve monetary policy have implications for both emerging markets and the global economy. Implications for the Federal Reserve's international LOLR role are highlighted and some recommendations for monetary policy are outlined. Recent Trends and Developments ? Increasing Financial Integration and Growing Capital Mobility. Clearly, one important trend of recent years is increasing international financial integration and growing capital mobility.2 Most economists now recognize the inexorable trend toward globalization or growing international integration of financial markets and increasing capital mobility. Empirical results, for example, increasingly provide evidence of growing capital mobility. In particular, data on capital flows as well as interest rate differentials indicate that a growing degree of capital market integration or increased capital mobility has occurred since the 1970s.3 The U.S. economy, along with most other economies, is more open. Many experts believe these trends are largely inevitable and irreversible, partly because they are being driven by communications and informational technological change and partly because policymakers increasingly recognize the many compelling benefits of regulatory changes that foster financial integration.4 Accordingly, a growing consensus among econo mists is that there is no turning back: i.e., that capital mobility is here to stay.5 There are a number of important implications of this increased international financial integration. This more open environment, for example, implies that changes in monetary policy involve a somewhat different transmission mechanism. In particular, the more integrated the economy, the more quickly and substantially do divergent policies affect financial markets and capital flows. And the foreign exchange rate may play an increasingly

Biography of James A. Garfield, 20th U.S. President

Biography of James A. Garfield, 20th U.S. President James A. Garfield ( November 19, 1831- September 19, 1881) was an educator, lawyer, and a major general in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was elected to the Ohio State Senate and to the U.S. Congress before becoming the 20th American president on March 4, 1881. He served only until Sept. 19, 1881, when he died from complications caused by an assassins bullet 11 weeks before. Fast Facts: James A. Garfield Known For: 20th president of the United StatesBorn: Nov. 19, 1831 in Cuyahoga County, OhioParents: Abram Garfield, Eliza Ballou GarfieldDied: Sept. 19, 1881 in Elberon,  New JerseyEducation: Williams CollegeSpouse: Lucretia RudolphChildren: Seven; two died in infancy Early Life Garfield was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, to Abram Garfield, a farmer, and  Eliza Ballou Garfield. His father died when Garfield was just 18 months old. His mother tried to make ends meet with the farm, but he and his three siblings, two sisters and a brother, grew up in relative poverty. He attended a local school before moving on to Geauga Academy in Geauga  County, Ohio in 1849. He then went to the Western Reserve  Eclectic  Institute (later called Hiram College) in Hiram, Ohio, teaching to help pay his way. In 1854, he attended Williams College in Massachusetts, graduating with honors two years later. On Nov. 11, 1858, Garfield married  Lucretia Rudolph, who had been a student of his at the Eclectic Institute. She was working as a teacher when Garfield wrote to her and they began courting. She contracted malaria while serving as first lady but lived a long life after Garfields death, dying on March 14, 1918. They had two daughters and five sons, two of whom died when they were infants. Career Before the Presidency Garfield began his career as an instructor in classical languages at the Eclectic Institute and was its president from 1857 to 1861. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1860, and he was ordained a minister in the  Disciples of Christ  church, but he soon turned to politics. He served as an Ohio state senator from 1859 to 1861. Garfield joined the Union army in 1861, taking part in the Civil War battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga and reaching the rank of major general. He was elected to Congress while still in the military, resigning to take his seat as a U.S. representative and serving from 1863 to 1880. During this time he had an extramarital affair with a woman in  New York City. He later admitted the indiscretion and was forgiven by his wife. Becoming President In 1880, the Republicans nominated Garfield to run for president as a compromise candidate between conservatives and moderates. Conservative candidate Chester A. Arthur was nominated as vice president. Garfield was opposed by Democrat Winfield Hancock. Acting upon the advice of President Rutherford B. Hayes, Garfield shied away from actively campaigning, speaking to reporters and voters from his home in  Mentor, Ohio, in what was referred to as the first â€Å"front porch† campaign. He won 214 out of 369 electoral votes. Events and Accomplishments Garfield was in office for only six and a half months. He spent much of that time dealing with patronage issues. The one major issue that he faced was an investigation of whether mail route contracts were being awarded fraudulently, with tax money going to those involved. The investigation implicated members of his Republican Party, but Garfield didnt flinch from continuing. In the end, revelations from the incident, called the Star Route Scandal, resulted in important civil service reforms. Assassination On  July 2, 1881, Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally disturbed office seeker, shot  Garfield  in the back in the Washington, D.C., railroad station while he was on his way to a family vacation in  New England. The president lived until Sept. 19 of that year. Guiteau apparently was driven by politics, saying to police after he surrendered, Arthur is now president of the United States. He was convicted of murder and hanged on June 30, 1882. The cause of death was massive hemorrhaging and slow  blood poisoning, which was later described as being related more to the unsanitary way physicians treated the president than to the wounds themselves. Doctors of the time were unschooled in the role of hygiene in preventing infection. The standard procedure was to devote most of the treatment effort to removing the bullet, and a number of doctors repeatedly poked his wound in an unsuccessful search. Legacy Garfield served the second shortest presidential term in American history, topped only by the 31-day term of William Henry Harrison, the ninth president, who caught a cold that turned into fatal pneumonia. Garfield was buried in Lake View Cemetery in  Cleveland. Upon his death, Vice President Arthur became president. Because of Garfields brief time in office, he couldnt achieve much as president. But by allowing the investigation into the mail scandal to continue despite its effect on members of his own party, Garfield paved the way for civil service reform. He also was an early champion of the rights of African-Americans, believing that education was the best hope for improving their lives. In his inaugural address, he said: â€Å"The elevation of the Negro race from slavery to the full rights of citizenship is the most important political change we have known since the adoption of the Constitution of 1787. No thoughtful man can fail to appreciate its beneficent effect upon our institutions and people.†¦It has liberated the master as well as the slave from a relation which wronged and enfeebled both.† Garfields prolonged death is credited with helping to establish the American president as a celebrity. The public and the media of the day were described as being obsessed with  his lengthy passing, more so even than they had been with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln 16 years before. Sources James Garfield. WhiteHouse.gov.James A. Garfield: President of the United States. Encyclopedia Brittanica.

The Best Way To Start Out In Freelance Writing

The Best Way To Start Out In Freelance Writing The Best Way To Start Out In Freelance Writing The Best Way To Start Out In Freelance Writing By Sharon When youre thinking of becoming a freelance writer, you will find a lot of advice about starting a writing career. However, theres one thing that you should do above anything else. Thats to write. If you dont write, you are not a writer. Skills Development There are several reasons why its a good idea to form the writing habit. First of all, you get to practice your writing skills. The more you write, the better your writing will become. Its as simple as that. Writing every day is a good opportunity to try out different types of writing and see what you like best. Its also a chance to study the writers you want to emulate and use what you learn as a basis for developing your own style and writing voice. Creative Freedom Another good reason to write is to enjoy the creative freedom of writing what you want. When you start writing for clients, you wont be able to do that as often. I find that most of my writing time is taken up with clients work, with very little time left for my own creative pursuits. However, its essential to spend some time on your own projects. That will keep you motivated to write and creatively fulfilled, helping to stave off the burnout that affects many freelance writers. Forming The Writing Habit Third, writing gets you in the writing habit. I recommend writing every day, even if its only for a little while. It makes writing part of your daily routine and it makes it easy to draw on the skills you have built up even if a particular writing project isnt very inspiring. The great thing about writing for practice is that you dont have to show it to anyone if you dont want to. However, once you feel confident, try showing your work to a critical friend or a group of fellow writers who will give you constructive criticism on where to improve. This will make you a better writer. Building Your Confidence As you get more confident, you will begin to find freelance writing opportunities that appeal to you. You have nothing to lose by trying to get a freelance writing commission. In fact, theres everything to gain. Since you have been practicing every day for the last little while, you have the skills you need to do the writing and you will be able to deliver a competent job. Im not saying that freelance writing is always easy. At first, there may be rejections and days when you doubt your own worth. But forming a writing habit and sticking to it will help you to overcome these obstacles and start a successful freelance writing career. Notice: Due to popular request we have finally released our Freelance Writing Course. Come check it out if you want to get started freelance writing online. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Math or Maths?10 Techniques for More Precise WritingThe 7 Types of Possessive Case

Supply Chain Management, Vertical Integration and Horizontal Research Paper

Supply Chain Management, Vertical Integration and Horizontal Integration of Business Structure - Research Paper Example There are two main issues that we need to consider when making a decision for the vertically integrated, these issues are control and cost. However, the cost feature relies on the cost of marketplace transactions among corporate versus the cost of administering similar activities within a single corporate. On the other hand, the next concern is the influence of asset control that is able to influence barriers to entry as well as that can make a certain collaboration of main value-adding players (Susan Crawford blog, 2010). According to (Clinton et al., 2008) there are a lot of advantages of the vertical integration that potentially a present reduction in transportation costs if general possession results in nearer geographic proximity. In addition, it enhances the supply chain coordination. Also, it offers additional opportunities to differentiate through augmented control over inputs. Since the vertical integration captures downstream or upstream profit margins. This also augments the entry barriers to potential business competitors, for instance, if the company is able to achieve sole access to a limited resource (Clinton et al., 2008). According to (Clinton et al., 2008), there are also various drawbacks those can negate some of the potential gains attained through vertical integration. The main problem is about the capacity balancing. For instance, the corporation can require constructing excess upstream capability to make sure that its downstream operations have enough supply beneath all demand circumstances. In addition, there is a problem of the potentially high costs because of little efficiencies consequential such as lack of supplier competition. Also, there is some decreased flexibility because of the previous downstream or upstream investments. Furthermore, there is some less capability to augment product diversity if major in-house development is needed.     Ã‚  

Financial Ratios Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Financial Ratios Analysis - Essay Example d. Cost of beverage sold percentage: Cost of beverage sold as percentage of total beverage sales. This works out to be 22.9%, which is within the range of industry average of 20-25%. Interestingly, the actual is very close to budgeted average of 22.5%. This shows that while management has made efforts to achieve what was budgeted, the efforts are certainly within the industry average. e. Average daily rate: This is taken as Room revenue to paid room nights. The paid room night is taken as 7555 and the average daily rate works out to be $62.7. As the value for previous year is not available, it is not possible to compare. f. Profit margin: This is income to revenue. The margin works out to be 56.4% of revenue. Profit margin has been worked out separately for room services and F&B. Profit margin for room service stands at 78.2%, which is marginally higher than the industry average of 70-75%. At the same time, F&B division has profit margin of 22% as against the industry average of 15-25%. g. Total revenue change from budget for rooms and F&B: This is actual revenue to budgeted revenue. This is almost one for F&B; but 0.88 for rooms. This is further corroborated by poorer occupancy rate. Marketing of room service is essential in this context. h. Housekeeping cost per occupied room: This is ratio of total housekeeping costs to total room sold. The actual is 6.5 which are substantially lower than budgeted 7.6. Thus, it appears that housekeeping costs has been controlled considerably. i. Room sales to total sales: This is a good indicator to gauge revenue generation by rooms. On the whole, room sales contributed 61.1% of total revenue. But this is found to be lower than budgeted 64.3%. This calls for some strategic intervention to boost up revenue collection from room service. Based on the above analysis, it can be concluded that F&B division has performed well in comparison

Oedipus And Othello :: Compare Contrast Oediput Othello Essays

Oedipus and Othello   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When comparing and contrasting the character's Oedipus and Othello by means of the different theatrical practices, one must take in account that there have been many interpretations, and productions of each of their respected plays. The differing presentations of each may lead someone to think differently about the play than another would. In comparing and contrasting the dramatic representation of the protagonists Oedipus and Othello, theatrical presentation, costume design, and character will lead the reader, and viewer, to have a greater insight into the theatrical practices of their times and their approaches to the issue of verisimilitude.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theatrical presentation of both plays are very similar. The two plays would both be presented on a thrust stage, which is a platform surrounded on three sides by the audience. Except for the backdrop which would have some element of scenery, the stage itself would be bare apart from a few scenic elements and props. Othello, like most of Shakespeare's plays, had what is called an abstract setting. That is a setting in which the locale may change rapidly, it may not be indicated by the script that it has changed, and was most likely suggested by a few props. Abstract settings place more emphasis on the language and the performer, which causes the spectator to use their imagination. It also places more emphasis on costuming. This type of setting helped set up the style of representational theater, which places high emphasis on the realistic. The style used in classical Greece was presentational which, because of the use of the mask, gave no illusion that this story is happening before their eyes. The audience is reminded that they are watching a play, and not merely observing life. Thus, the use of the thrust stage is the only similarity of the two types of presentation. Othello is a purely illusionistic play, whereas Oedipus Rex is one that when watched, the viewer knows that they are watching a performance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Costumes convey information about the character and aid in setting the tone or mood of the production. Because most acting involves impersonation, most costumes are essential to re-create historical or to the period in which the production takes place. Costumes like that of William Shakespeare's Othello maybe abstract, ever-changing, like it's setting. When using the costume design of the latest film version of Othello, he is usually seen in a toga-like uniform which may have stemmed from his moor background. Since costume elements were formalized in classical Greek theater, the costumes would be that of everyday dress with slight additions of colour, designs, all of which created a larger

Why Looks Are the Last Bastion of Discrimination

Why looks are the last bastion of discrimination In the 19th century, many American cities banned public appearances by â€Å"unsightly† individuals. A Chicago ordinance was typical: â€Å"Any person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated, or in any way deformed, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting subject . . . shall not . . . expose himself to public view, under the penalty of a fine of $1 for each offense. † Although the government is no longer in the business of enforcing such discrimination, it still allows businesses, schools and other organizations to indulge their own prejudices.Over the past half-century, the United States has expanded protections against discrimination to include race, religion, sex, age, disability and, in a growing number of jurisdictions, sexual orientation. Yet bias based on appearance remains perfectly permissible in all but one state and six cities and counties. Across the rest of the country, looks are the last bastion of acceptable bigo try. We all know that appearance matters, but the price of prejudice can be steeper than we often assume.In Texas in 1994, an obese woman was rejected for a job as a bus driver when a company doctor assumed she was not up to the task after watching her, in his words, â€Å"waddling down the hall. † He did not perform any agility tests to determine whether she was, as the company would later claim, unfit to evacuate the bus in the event of an accident. In New Jersey in 2005, one of the Borgata Hotel Casino's â€Å"Borgata babe† cocktail waitresses went from a Size 4 to a Size 6 because of a thyroid condition.When the waitress, whose contract required her to keep an â€Å"an hourglass figure† that was â€Å"height and weight appropriate,† requested a larger uniform, she was turned down. â€Å"Borgata babes don't go up in size,† she was told. (Unless, the waitress noted, they have breast implants, which the casino happily accommodated with paid medica l leave and a bigger bustier. ) And in California in 2001, Jennifer Portnick, a 240-pound aerobics instructor, was denied a franchise by Jazzercise, a national fitness chain.Jazzercise explained that its image demanded instructors who are â€Å"fit† and â€Å"toned. † But Portnick was both: She worked out six days a week, taught back-to-back classes and had no shortage of willing students. Such cases are common. In a survey by the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, 62 percent of its overweight female members and 42 percent of its overweight male members said they had been turned down for a job because of their weight. And it isn't just weight that's at issue; it's appearance overall.According to a national poll by the Employment Law Alliance in 2005, 16 percent of workers reported being victims of appearance discrimination more generally — a figure comparable to the percentage who in other surveys say they have experienced sex or race discrimination . Conventional wisdom holds that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but most beholders tend to agree on what is beautiful. A number of researchers have independently found that, when people are asked to rate an individual's attractiveness, their responses are quite consistent, even across race, sex, age, class and cultural background.Facial symmetry and unblemished skin are universally admired. Men get a bump for height, women are favored if they have hourglass figures, and racial minorities get points for light skin color, European facial characteristics and conventionally â€Å"white† hairstyles. Yale's Kelly Brownell and Rebecca Puhl and Harvard's Nancy Etcoff have each reviewed hundreds of studies on the impact of appearance. Etcoff finds that unattractive people are less likely than their attractive peers to be viewed as intelligent, likable and good.Brownell and Puhl have documented that overweight individuals consistently suffer disadvantages at school, at work and beyond. Among the key findings of a quarter-century's worth of research: Unattractive people are less likely to be hired and promoted, and they earn lower salaries, even in fields in which looks have no obvious relationship to professional duties. (In one study, economists Jeff Biddle and Daniel Hamermesh estimated that for lawyers, such prejudice can translate to a pay cut of as much as 12 percent. When researchers ask people to evaluate written essays, the same material receives lower ratings for ideas, style and creativity when an accompanying photograph shows a less attractive author. Good-looking professors get better course evaluations from students; teachers in turn rate good-looking students as more intelligent. Not even justice is blind. In studies that simulate legal proceedings, unattractive plaintiffs receive lower damage awards. And in a study released this month, Stephen Ceci and Justin Gunnell, two researchers at Cornell University, gave tudents case studies involving real criminal defendants and asked them to come to a verdict and a punishment for each. The students gave unattractive defendants prison sentences that were, on average, 22 months longer than those they gave to attractive defendants. Just like racial or gender discrimination, discrimination based on irrelevant physical characteristics reinforces invidious stereotypes and undermines equal-opportunity principles based on merit and performance.And when grooming choices come into play, such bias can also restrict personal freedom. Consider Nikki Youngblood, a lesbian who in 2001 was denied a photo in her Tampa high school yearbook because she would not pose in a scoop-necked dress. Youngblood was â€Å"not a rebellious kid,† her lawyer explained. â€Å"She simply wanted to appear in her yearbook as herself, not as a fluffed-up stereotype of what school administrators thought she should look like. † Furthermore, many grooming codes sexualize the workplace and jeopardize em ployees' health.The weight restrictions at the Borgata, for example, reportedly contributed to eating disorders among its waitresses. Appearance-related bias also exacerbates disadvantages based on gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation and class. Prevailing beauty standards penalize people who lack the time and money to invest in their appearance. And weight discrimination, in particular, imposes special costs on people who live in communities with shortages of healthy food options and exercise facilities.So why not simply ban discrimination based on appearance? Employers often argue that attractiveness is job-related; their workers' appearance, they say, can affect the company's image and its profitability. In this way, the Borgata blamed its weight limits on market demands. Customers, according to a spokesperson, like being served by an attractive waitress. The same assumption presumably motivated the L'Oreal executive who was sued for sex discrimination in 2003 after a llegedly ordering a store manager to fire a salesperson who was not â€Å"hot† enough.Such practices can violate the law if they disproportionately exclude groups protected by civil rights statutes — hence the sex discrimination suit. Abercrombie & Fitch's notorious efforts to project what it called a â€Å"classic American† look led to a race discrimination settlement on behalf of minority jobseekers who said they were turned down for positions on the sales floor. But unless the victims of appearance bias belong to groups already protected by civil rights laws, they have no legal remedy.As the history of civil rights legislation suggests, customer preferences should not be a defense for prejudice. During the early civil rights era, employers in the South often argued that hiring African Americans would be financially ruinous; white customers, they said, would take their business elsewhere. In rejecting this logic, Congress and the courts recognized that custome r preferences often reflect and reinforce precisely the attitudes that society is seeking to eliminate.Over the decades, we've seen that the most effective way of combating prejudice is to deprive people of the option to indulge it. Similarly, during the 1960s and 1970s, major airlines argued that the male business travelers who dominated their customer ranks preferred attractive female flight attendants. According to the airlines, that made sex a bona fide occupational qualification and exempted them from anti-discrimination requirements. But the courts reasoned that only if sexual allure were the â€Å"essence† of a job should employers be allowed to select workers on that basis.Since airplanes were not flying bordellos, it was time to start hiring men. Opponents of a ban on appearance-based discrimination also warn that it would trivialize other, more serious forms of bias. After all, if the goal is a level playing field, why draw the line at looks? â€Å"By the time you' ve finished preventing discrimination against the ugly, the short, the skinny, the bald, the knobbly-kneed, the flat-chested, and the stupid,† Andrew Sullivan wrote in the London Sunday Times in 1999, â€Å"you're living in a totalitarian state. Yet intelligence and civility are generally related to job performance in a way that appearance isn't. We also have enough experience with prohibitions on appearance discrimination to challenge opponents' arguments. Already, one state (Michigan) and six local jurisdictions (the District of Columbia; Howard County, Md. ; San Francisco; Santa Cruz, Calif. ; Madison, Wis. ; and Urbana, Ill. ) have banned such discrimination. Some of these laws date back to the 1970s and 1980s, while ome are more recent; some cover height and weight only, while others cover looks broadly; but all make exceptions for reasonable business needs. Such bans have not produced a barrage of loony litigation or an erosion of support for civil rights remedies gener ally. These cities and counties each receive between zero and nine complaints a year, while the entire state of Michigan totals about 30, with fewer than one a year ending up in court.Although the laws are unevenly enforced, they have had a positive effect by publicizing and remedying the worst abuses. Because Portnick, the aerobics instructor turned away by Jazzercise, lived in San Francisco, she was able to bring a claim against the company. After a wave of sympathetic media coverage, Jazzercise changed its policy. This is not to overstate the power of legal remedies. Given the stigma attached to unattractiveness, few will want to claim that status in public litigation.And in the vast majority of cases, the cost of filing suit and the difficulty of proving discrimination are likely to be prohibitive. But stricter anti-discrimination laws could play a modest role in advancing healthier and more inclusive ideals of attractiveness. At the very least, such laws could reflect our princ iples of equal opportunity and raise our collective consciousness when we fall short. [email  protected] edu Deborah L. Rhode is a Stanford University law professor and the author of â€Å"The Beauty Bias: The Injustice of Appearance in Life and Law. â€Å"