Smallpox Viruses Essay -- Smallpox Viruses

For approximately three-thousand years, smallpox has ravaged and plagued the four corners of the globe. In fact, in the 17 th and 18 th centuries, it was claimed to be the most infectious disease in the West, with an astounding 90% mortality rate in America. It wasn't until 1796, with English surgeon Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccination, that the world saw relief from this devastating virus. However, even with this inoculation in use, the world continued to witness death from both the virus and the vaccine. In the year 1966, it was estimated that 10-15 million infected citizens world wide had passed away from smallpox that year alone ( â€Å"History† 12). As a result of these devastating numbers, in the following year, 1967, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) created a program to eradicate the smallpox virus. Ten years later, in 1977, the estimated 10-15 million cases had dwindled down to one; a man in Somalia. Three years later, W.H.O. officially announced that smallpox h ad been eradicated, leaving the only remaining virus cultures stored and guarded in laboratories in Russia and the United States. Inoculations ceased, smallpox epidemics were non-existent, and the virus was no longer a concern. In order to ensure complete eradication of this deadly virus, the W.H.O. insisted that the remaining smallpox cultures be destroyed by 1999 ( â€Å"Smallpox Eradication† 2). However, despite the W.H.O.'s recommendation, the remaining cultures continue to be contained and protected to this day, five years after the suggested date of elimination. As a direct result, a world-wide debate has raged on for nearly the past decade posing the question of smallpox eradication. If small pox were to be eradicated as originally suggested, the safe and only remaining known cultures would be wiped out. However, not knowing what countries may illegally hold this virus, the world as a whole would be vulnerable to bioterrorist attacks using smallpox. Lacking the virus to create inoculations, it will be virtually impossible to vaccinate the public or quarantine an outbreak. Likewise, if the virus cultures are kept, there is a possibility that enemies could obtain it to use against other countries at their leisure. However, because it is impossible to identify countries that are harboring the virus in order to take action to eradicate it, eliminating the only protection the world has again... ...6 Nov. 2014 Mahler, Halfdan. â€Å"Smallpox and its Eradication.† 2008. Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response. 4 Nov. 2014 McCrary, Van. â€Å"Smallpox and Bioterrorism: A Growing Threat.† 3 Aug. 1999. 6 Nov. 2014 Preston, Richard. â€Å"A Demon in the Freezer.† 17 July 2012. 8 Nov. 2014 â€Å"Smallpox and Bioterrorism† 6 June 2001. Center for Disease Control. 4 Nov. 2014. â€Å"Smallpox Eradication: Destrcution of the Variola Virus Stocks.† 15 April 2009. World Health Organization. 15 Nov. 2014 Updated Interim CDC Guidance for Use of Smallpox Vaccine, Cidofovir, and Vaccinia Immune Globulin (VIG) for Prevention and Treatment in the Setting of an Outbreak of Monkeypox Infections.† 25 June 2013. Center for Disease Control 20 Nov. 2014.

Great Memory

Memory†¦ is the diary that we all carry about with us† is a quote by Oscar Wilde that in my personal opinion describes memory pretty well. Memory is something that people carry with them all the time. It is a powerful thing and something that most people never want to lose. In some cases memories can be of something good or they can also be a bad memory. It all depends on how you want to remember it. Samuel Taylor Coleridge talks about memory in one of his poems he wrote called â€Å"Frost at Midnight. † Also there is talk about memory in â€Å"Ode to the West Wind† written byPercy Bysshe Shelly. Both of these poems show how the authors are using their memories to write the pomes. Both writers talk about a memory they have and they tell a story using it. Coleridge talks about how he feels now and reflects to how he felt as a child while raising his own child. Shelly talks about how he wishes he felt different now and how he wants to feel like he did when he w as young. Both authors I think are sort of depressed. In their poems the tone is kind of melancholy and sad. In â€Å"Frost at Midnight† it is winter time hence the name.And in the winter is when he feels lonelier. The author lives in a cottage and it is very late at night. In the poem he talks about it being so quite. In the poem he says â€Å"The inmates of my cottage, all at rest. Have lett me to that solitude, which suits abstract musings: save that at my side my cradled infant slumbers peacefully' (as cited in Damrosch, 2004, p. 344). Everyone is asleep even his child is sound asleep; he is the only one up. And he is starting to feel lonely with all the stillness. The only other thing that is up is a piece of soot in the fire place.As Coleridge says in the poem â€Å"Only that film, which fluttered on the rate, still flutters there, the sole unquiet thing. Great Memory 3 Methinks, its motion in this hush nature gives it dim sympathies with me who live, making it a comp anionable form† (p. 344). This piece of â€Å"film† or soot makes him think back to his childhood. This is where the memory part comes into play. He is thinking back to his child hood. He is thinking about his birthplace, the old church-tower, and the bells of the poor man and thinking about this is making him homesick. Then he talks about how he was a lonely child.In the poem he says â€Å"save if the door half opened, and I natched a hasty glance , and still my heart leaped up, for still I hoped to see the stranger's face, townsman, or aunt, or sister, more beloved, my playmate when we both were clothed alike† (p. 344). This is when I think that the author is most depressed in this poem. Reflecting back to his childhood makes him sad and feel lonely. Reflecting back on his childhood and how he felt that loneliness he talks later on about how he wants better for his child. He doesn't want his kid to feel the emptiness and loneliness that he is feeling and has fe lt as a child.He says â€Å"but thou, my babe! Shalt wander like a breeze by lakes and sandy shores, beneath the crags of ancient mountain, beneath the clouds, which image in their bulk both lakes and shores and mountain crags: so shalt thou see and hear the lovely shapes and sounds intelligible of that eternal language† (p. 345). He wants his child to have better childhood than he did. He wants his child to have more and be better than he was a child. He says that he wants all seasons to be sweet for his child. In this poem he uses his 4 memory to tell a story and he was as a child and how he doesn't was his child to row up feeling like he did as a kid.In â€Å"Ode to the West Wind† Percy Shelly is talking about a storm that is going to hit. In this poem he talks about being weighed down and he wants to be free again. And he feels like this storm will do that for him. In this poem he wants the wind to inspire him to write poetry, and wants new thoughts. The writer doe sn't even care that this storm is going to hit. He is welcoming it with open arms. The wind is blowing the leaves and clouds and is blowing over the ocean. He wants to be the wind. Memory is talked about in this poem when the talks about how he wants to be ree again.He wants to feel Joy and emotion again. He feels like this storm can do that for him that's why he wants it to come. In the poem he says â€Å"The impulse of thy strength, only less free than thou, o uncontrollable! If even I were as in my boyhood, and could be free the comrade of thy wanderings over heaven, as then, when to outstrip the skiey speed scarce seemed a vision, I would ne'er have striven† (as cited in Damrosch, 2004, p. 401). This says if he was in his boyhood he would be free and as an adult he is not. So that is why he refers to going back to his childhood to be ree again. His childh memory is a g one.And as ne got older ne teels like ne isn't free and wants a free spirit. I think his tone in this is also sad. But when he talks about his boyhood I think he is feeling better. In both of these poem that I discussed go back to a memory. But however, both of the memories are different. In Coleridge's â€Å"Frost at Midnight† the memory he refers to is sad and Great Memory 5 not one that a person wants to remember. He talks about how lonely he was as a child how he hoped he would see someone he knows while he was at school. Every ay he hoped that he would see someone threw the window that he would know.And he hoped that his child would never feel like this. He wanted to make sure his child had better and felt better than he did. In Percy Shellys â€Å"Ode to the West Wind† the memory also goes back to his childhood, but in this poem his childhood was a good time. In this poem he talks about how he wished he was back in his boyhood because was free then. As an adult he doesn't feel free, he feels weighed down. That's why he wants to storm to come he feels it will make h im feel something again. This memory is a happy one. One that a person would want to remember, not like the one is Coleridge's â€Å"Frost as Midnight. In both of these poems I think that there is a common theme of emotion and nature. Both of them describe how they are feeling. One is lonely and one feels no joy. But they both use nature to describe it. Coleridge uses the winter and the frost. And Shelly uses the big storm that is about to his to describe how he feels in the poem. With both of these poem is shows that a memory is not always good or bad, happy or sad. They can be both. And In the two poems I picked to write about the authors, Samuel Coleridge and Percy Shelly, talk about memorys they had.Both of them happen to be different. One is a happy memory and one that he wants to remember. And the other is one that is not so happy, more of a gloomy memory that he doesn't want to remember. Memories are what you make of them. You are the only person who can decide how they are going to be remembered. Great Memory 6 No one else can tell you how to feel or how to keep things in your memory. â€Å"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things ou never want to lose – From the television show The Wonder Years† I think this is a perfect quote for memory.

The Golden Lily Chapter 16

I WASTED NO TIME in getting the group together. This was big. I still didn't know the level of danger we were facing, but I refused to take any chances. I chose Clarence's house as a meeting spot, seeing as the hunters didn't know about it yet. It still made me nervous. I would've been nervous even if we'd been meeting in an Alchemist bunker. And apparently, â€Å"hunters† wasn't even the right term. According to their low-quality pamphlet, they called themselves â€Å"The Warriors of Light.† I wasn't sure they deserved that fancy title, especially since in their mission statement, they spelled â€Å"abyss† as â€Å"abiss.† The pamphlet was really very sparse, simply stating that there was an evil walking among humanity and that the Warriors were the force there to destroy it. They urged their fellow humans to be ready and stay pure. None of the vampires were mentioned by name, for which I was glad. The pamphlet also didn't mention much about any of the shared history they claimed to have with the Alchemists. Before we went to Clarence's, Eddie scoured Latte for any sort of tracking device. The very idea creeped me out, the same way being watched at Adrian's did. There was a feeling of violation to it all. It was only my lack of faith in their technology that made me feel somewhat better. â€Å"It seems unlikely they'd be that advanced,† I told Eddie, as he wiggled under the car. â€Å"I mean, that pamphlet looked like it had been made on a 1980s copy machine. I don't know if that's because they've had the pamphlets sitting around that long or if that's the actual machine they still use†¦ but regardless, they don't scream high tech to me.† â€Å"Maybe,† he agreed, voice slightly muffled. â€Å"But we can't take any chances. We don't know what they're capable of. And for all we know, they're trying to hook up with the Alchemists to score technology.† Chills ran through me. It was an outrageous thought: that the Alchemists and this violent fringe group could be related. It had been crazy when Adrian and I had speculated about it and was hard to accept even in the face of mounting evidence. At least now I had enough information to take to my superiors without being ridiculed. Even though I'd never heard of hunters like this, it seemed plausible that somewhere, at some point, they'd tried to connect with my organization. Hopefully someone in the Alchemists could help. Eddie scooted out from under Latte. â€Å"You're clean. Let's head out.† Jill and Angeline were waiting nearby, both tense and anxious. Jill gave Eddie an admiring smile. â€Å"I didn't know you knew how to do any of this. I never would have even thought about it.† He wiped sweat off his forehead. â€Å"You thought guardian training was all about hitting and kicking?† She flushed. â€Å"Pretty much, yeah.† â€Å"Can you tell me about some of this stuff sometime?† asked Angeline. â€Å"Seems like I should know it.† â€Å"Sure,† said Eddie, sounding like he meant it. She beamed. He'd been much easier around her ever since her attitude had become more serious and restrained. I think some of that good behavior had played a role in me getting permission for her to join us tonight. She was still technically on suspension, but I'd managed to get a special exemption on the grounds of our family's so-called religion. I'd used a similar excuse when Jill had been suspended last month, in order to take her to feedings. Even still, we were on very strict orders with Angeline tonight. She couldn't be out for more than two hours, and the price was adding an extra day of suspension to her sentence. We took an abnormal route to Clarence's, and Eddie watched behind us carefully, looking for any signs of pursuit. He tried to explain some of the things I needed to watch for when I was on my own. I was so nervous, I hardly heard. After a tense ride, we made it safely to Clarence's. There, we found Adrian already waiting for us. Dimitri had apparently been downtown earlier and picked Adrian up – no doubt taking all the same precautions Eddie had for travel. I'd given Eddie and Dimitri some of the info on the hunters, but everyone else required a more thorough explanation. We gathered in our usual spot, the formal living room, and Dimitri paced around the room, bracing for an attack at any moment. Clarence looked on from his chair with that typical distracted gaze. When I held up the pamphlet, however, he came to life. â€Å"That's them!† he cried. I thought he might actually spring up from the chair and rip the pamphlet from my hands. â€Å"Those are their symbols!† Most of the same alchemical symbols that had been on the sword were strewn across the pamphlet's front. â€Å"That circle. I remember that circle.† â€Å"The gold symbol,† I confirmed. â€Å"Or, I guess in their case, the sun symbol since they're so obsessed with light and dark.† Clarence looked around frantically. â€Å"They're back! We have to get out of here. I came to this city to escape them, but they've found me. We have no time. Where's Dorothy? Where's Lee? I must pack!† â€Å"Mr. Donahue,† I said, in as a gentle a tone as I could manage, â€Å"they don't know you're here. You're safe.† I didn't know if I believed that and hoped I was convincing. â€Å"She's right,† said Dimitri. â€Å"And even if they did, you know I wouldn't let them hurt you.† There was such confidence and strength in the way Dimitri spoke that I had a feeling that we'd believe him even if a group of Strigoi were invading, and he said, â€Å"It's fine, you're safe.† â€Å"If what you're saying is true,† said Sonya, â€Å"I'm the one that's in danger.† She seemed much calmer than I would be in that situation. â€Å"They're not going to hurt you either,† said Dimitri sharply. â€Å"Especially if you don't leave this house.† â€Å"The research – † she began. † – is nothing compared to your safety,† he finished. There was a look in his eyes that said he would tolerate no arguments. â€Å"You need to get back to Court. You were planning on it anyway. Just make the trip early.† Sonya didn't look happy about that. â€Å"So I leave the rest of you in danger?† â€Å"Maybe we aren't,† said Eddie, though the tension in his body said otherwise. â€Å"From what Sydney said – and their mini-manifesto – their focus seems to be Strigoi, not Moroi.† He glanced over at Jill. â€Å"Not that we can let our guard down. If they've mistaken Sonya for a Strigoi, who knows what other craziness they might do? Don't worry. I won't let them near you.† Jill looked ready to swoon. â€Å"That's a good idea,† I said. â€Å"They still think the Moroi are a threat but not as much as the Strigoi.† â€Å"Kind of like the Alchemists,† said Adrian. He was sitting in a corner armchair and had been quiet this whole time. I hadn't seen him since the night of the dance or had any communication with him, which was odd. Even when he wasn't sending me pathetic e-mails about the experiments, he almost always had some witty quip to pass along. â€Å"True,† I admitted, with a smile. â€Å"But we're not trying to kill any of you. Not even Strigoi.† â€Å"And there's the problem,† said Dimitri. â€Å"These warriors are convinced Sonya used to be a Strigoi and is using some trick to disguise herself.† â€Å"Maybe they have some tracking or inventory system,† Sonya mused. â€Å"They keep tabs on various Strigoi in the country and then try to hunt them down.† â€Å"And yet they didn't know about you,† I pointed out to Dimitri. His face stayed neutral, but I knew it was hard for him to be reminded of his Strigoi days. â€Å"And from what I know†¦ you were much more of a, um, notable figure than Sonya.† He'd essentially been a Strigoi mobster. â€Å"So, if you're off their radar, they probably don't have an international presence – or at least not a Russian one.† Angeline leaned forward, hands clasped, and regarded Clarence with a smile sweet enough to justify her name. â€Å"How do you know about them? How did you first run into them?† At first, he looked too terrified to answer, but I think her kindly attitude soothed him. â€Å"Well, they killed my niece, of course.† We all knew Lee had killed Clarence's niece, but the old man didn't believe this any more than he believed Lee was dead. â€Å"Did you see them when they did it?† asked Angeline. â€Å"Did you ever see them at all?† â€Å"Not when Tamara died, no,† he admitted. His eyes got a faraway look, as though he were staring straight into the past. â€Å"But I knew what signs to look for. I'd run into them before that, you see. Back when I was living in Santa Cruz. They like California, you know. And the Southwest. Goes back to their sun fixation.† â€Å"What happened in Santa Cruz?† asked Dimitri. â€Å"A group of their young ones began stalking me. Trying to kill me.† The rest of us exchanged glances. â€Å"So they do go after Moroi,† said Eddie. He actually moved closer to Jill. Clarence shook his head. â€Å"Not usually. From what Marcus told me, they prefer Strigoi. These were young, undisciplined members of their order going off on their own, without the knowledge of their superiors. I assume it was the same type who killed Tamara.† â€Å"Who's Marcus?† I asked. â€Å"Marcus Finch. He saved me from them a few years ago. Fended them off during an attack and later got in touch with their order to keep those ruffians away from me.† Clarence shivered at the memory. â€Å"Not that I stayed around after that. I took Lee and left. That was when we moved to Los Angeles for a while.† â€Å"This Marcus,† I said. â€Å"Was he a guardian?† â€Å"A human. He was about your age then. He knew all about the hunters.† â€Å"I suppose he would if he got in touch with them,† Dimitri speculated. â€Å"But he must be friendly to Moroi if he helped you?† â€Å"Oh, yes,† said Clarence. â€Å"Very much so.† Dimitri looked over at me. â€Å"Do you think – â€Å" â€Å"Yes,† I said, guessing his question. â€Å"I'll see if we can find this Marcus guy. It'd be nice to get a source of info that's not one of these crazy warriors. I'm also going to report on all of this, actually.† â€Å"Me too,† said Dimitri. Although Clarence wasn't the expert on the hunters that this mysterious Marcus was, the old Moroi still had a surprising amount of info to share – info none of us had wanted to hear before. He verified what we'd already deduced, about the hunters' â€Å"devotion to the light.† The group's focus was Strigoi (for now), and all of their hunts were carefully planned and organized. They had a ritualized set of behaviors, particularly in regard to their younger members – which was why the rogue group harassing Clarence had been stopped. From what Clarence had gathered, the group was quite tough on their new recruits, emphasizing discipline and excellence. With the clock ticking down on Angeline's reprieve, we needed to wrap things up shortly thereafter. I was also in charge of taking Adrian home, since we figured it'd be best to eliminate any chance of Dimitri being followed back to Clarence's. Besides, I could tell Dimitri was anxious to begin putting certain things in motion. He wanted to finalize Sonya's departure and also confer with the guardians – in case Jill needed to be removed. Her face reflected what I felt about that possible outcome. We'd both become attached to Amberwood. While he was giving some last-minute instructions to Eddie, I pulled Sonya aside for a quiet word. â€Å"I†¦ I've been thinking about something,† I told her. She studied me carefully, probably reading my aura and other body language. â€Å"What is it?† she asked. â€Å"If you want†¦ if you really want it, you can have some of my blood.† It was a huge, huge admission. Was it something I wanted to do? No. Absolutely not. I still had the same instinctive fears about giving my blood to Moroi, even for scientific purposes. And yet, yesterday's events – and even the alley attack – had begun making me re-analyze my worldview. Vampires weren't the only monsters out there. They were hardly monsters at all, especially next to these vampire hunters. How could I judge the enemy on race? I was being reminded more and more that humans were just as capable as vampires of evil – and that vampires were capable of good. It was actions that mattered, and Sonya and Dimitri's were noble ones. They were fighting to destroy the ultimate evil of all, and as squeamish as I felt about giving my blood, I knew the right thing was to help them. Sonya knew what a sacrifice this was for me. Her face stayed calm – no whoops of joy – and she nodded solemnly. â€Å"I have my collection kit here. I can take a sample before you leave, if you're sure.† So soon? Well, why not. It was best to get it over with – especially if Sonya would be leaving town soon anyway. We did it in the kitchen, which seemed slightly more sanitary than the living room. Sonya was no doctor, but whatever training she'd had, it was right in line with what I'd observed when getting physicals. Antiseptic, gloves, a new syringe. All the right procedures were followed, and after a quick poke of the needle, she had my blood sample. â€Å"Thank you, Sydney,† she said, handing me a plastic bandage. â€Å"I know how difficult this must have been for you. Believe me, this could really help us.† â€Å"I want to help,† I told her. â€Å"I really do.† She smiled. â€Å"I know. And we need all the help we can get. After being one of them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her smile faded. â€Å"Well, I believe more than ever that their evil needs to be stopped. You might be the key.† For one second, her words inspired me – that I might somehow play a greater role in the fight against evil and possibly even stop it. Immediately, that thought was replaced by my old panic. No. No. I wasn't special. I didn't want to be. I would make a good faith effort to help, but surely nothing would come of it. I returned to fetch the others. Adrian and Jill were having some earnest conversation in the corner. Eddie and Angeline were also talking, and I overheard her say, â€Å"I'll stay with Jill more at school, just to be safe. We can't have her be part of some accident or mistaken identity.† Eddie nodded and looked impressed that she'd suggested it. â€Å"Agreed.† Amazing, I thought. I left soon with my carpool and swung by downtown to drop Adrian off. As I pulled up in front of his building, I saw something that made my jaw drop. Awe and disbelief rolled through me. In what was probably the most ungraceful parking job I'd ever done in my life, I brought Latte to an abrupt stop and was out of the car the second I pulled my keys from the ignition. The others followed moments later. â€Å"What,† I breathed. â€Å"Is that?† â€Å"Oh,† said Adrian casually. â€Å"That's my new car.† I took a few steps forward and then stopped, afraid to approach it in the same way someone hesitated before royalty. â€Å"It's a 1967 Ford Mustang convertible,† I said, knowing my eyes were probably bugging out of my face. I began walking around it. â€Å"The year they did a major overhaul and increased the size to keep up with other high-powered competition. See? It's the first model with the concave tail lights but the last to have the Ford block lettering up front until 1974.† â€Å"What in the world is that color?† asked Eddie, not sounding impressed at all. â€Å"Springtime Yellow,† Adrian and I said in unison. â€Å"I would've guessed Lemon Chiffon,† said Eddie. â€Å"Maybe you can get it repainted.† â€Å"No!† I exclaimed. I tossed my purse over onto the grass and carefully touched the car's side. Brayden's beautiful new Mustang suddenly seemed so ordinary. â€Å"It's been touched up, obviously, but this is a classic color. Which engine code is this? C, right?† â€Å"Um†¦ not sure,† said Adrian. â€Å"I know it's got a V-8 engine.† â€Å"Of course it does,† I said. It was hard not to roll my eyes. â€Å"A 289. I want to know what the horsepower is.† â€Å"It's probably in the paperwork,† Adrian said lamely. It was at that moment that I really processed Adrian's earlier words. I looked up at him, knowing my face must be filled with disbelief. â€Å"This is really your car?† â€Å"Yup,† he said. â€Å"I told you. The old man spotted me the money for one.† â€Å"And you got this one?† I peered in through the window. â€Å"Nice. Black interior, manual transmission.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Adrian, a note of unease in his voice. â€Å"That's the problem.† I glanced back. â€Å"What is? The black is great. And the leather's condition is fantastic. So is the rest of the car.† â€Å"No, not the interior. The transmission. I can't drive a stick.† I froze. â€Å"You can't drive a stick?† â€Å"Neither can I,† said Jill. â€Å"You don't have a license,† I reminded her. Although, my mother had taught me to drive before I had a license – both automatic and manual transmission. I knew I shouldn't be surprised the stick was a lost art, as savage as such a lack seemed to me. That paled, of course, in comparison to the other obvious problem. â€Å"Why on earth would you buy a car like this if you can't drive a stick? There are dozens of cars – new cars – that have automatic transmission. It'd be a million times easier.† Adrian shrugged. â€Å"I like the color. It matches my living room.† Eddie snorted. â€Å"But you can't drive it,† I pointed out. â€Å"I figure it can't be that hard.† Adrian sounded remarkably unconcerned about what I found blasphemous. â€Å"I'll just practice taking it around the block a few times and figure it out.† I couldn't believe what I was hearing. â€Å"What? Are you out of your mind? You'll ruin it if you don't know what you're doing!† â€Å"What else am I supposed to do?† he asked. â€Å"Are you going to teach me?† I turned back to the beautiful Mustang. â€Å"Yes,† I said adamantly. â€Å"If that's what it takes to save it from you.† â€Å"I can show you too,† said Eddie. Adrian ignored him and focused on me. â€Å"When we can start?† I ran through my school schedule, knowing I'd have to make talking to the Alchemists about the Warriors of Light my top priority. Then, the obvious hit me. â€Å"Oh. When we see Wolfe this week. We'll take this out there.† â€Å"Is that really to help me?† asked Adrian. â€Å"Or do you just want to drive the car?† â€Å"Both,† I said, not embarrassed to admit it. Angeline's clock at school was ticking, so the rest of us had to leave. I'd driven three blocks away when I realized I'd left my purse on the grass. With a groan, I looped around and returned to his building. My purse was there, but the Mustang was gone. â€Å"Where's the car?† I asked, panicked. â€Å"No one could have stolen it that fast.† â€Å"Oh,† said Jill from the backseat, sounding slightly nervous. â€Å"I saw through the bond. He, um, moved it.† It was handy having the bond as a source of information, but her words made me panic more than if the car actually had been stolen. â€Å"He what?† â€Å"Not far,† she said quickly. â€Å"Just behind the building. This street's got weird overnight parking rules.† I grimaced. â€Å"Well, I'm glad it won't get towed, but he should've had me move it! Even if it's not far, he could ruin the transmission.† â€Å"I'm sure it's fine,† said Jill. There was a strange note to her voice. I didn't respond. Jill was no car expert. None of them were. â€Å"It's like letting a toddler loose in a room full of china,† I muttered. â€Å"What was he thinking? About any of this?† No one had an answer for that. I got us back to Amberwood in time for Angeline's curfew and retreated to the sanity and calm of my room. As soon as I was satisfied my friends were safe and secure for the night, I e-mailed Donna Stanton – a high-up Alchemist whom I'd inexplicably developed a good relationship with – about the hunters and what we'd learned. I even took pictures of the pamphlet and e-mailed those as well. Once that was done, I sat back and tried to think if there was anything else at all I could provide her with that might help. It was only when I'd exhausted all options (and refreshed my inbox a few times to see if she'd responded already) that I finally moved on to homework. As usual, I was pretty much caught up on every assignment – save one. Ms. Terwilliger's. That stupid book was on my desk, staring back at me, daring me to open it. I still had a number of days before her spell was due, time during which I could continue to procrastinate. I was beginning to accept, however, that this assignment wasn't going to go away. Considering how long some of the prep on these took, maybe it'd be best to bite the bullet and get it out of the way. Resolved, I brought the book over to my bed and opened it to the table of contents, scanning some of the spells she'd gone over with me. My stomach twisted at most of them, every instinct telling me how wrong it was to even be attempting these. Magic is for vampires, not humans. I still believed that to be true, but the analytical part of my mind couldn't help but apply some of the defensive spells to various situations. Much like my decision to give blood, recent events had made me look at the world differently. Was magic wrong? Yes. But that blindness spell would have certainly been useful in the alley. Another spell, one that temporarily immobilized people, could've been used if I'd wanted to flee from the hunters at the cafe. Sure, it only lasted thirty seconds, but that was more than enough time for me to have escaped. On and on, I went down the list. They were all so wrong and yet†¦ so useful. If I hadn't seen the fire charm I'd made ignite a Strigoi, I wouldn't have believed any of these were possible. But by all accounts, they were. So much power†¦ the ability to protect myself†¦ Immediately, I rebuked myself for such a thought. I had no need for power. That kind of thinking was what led freaks like Liam to want to be Strigoi. Although†¦ was it really the same? I didn't want immortality. I didn't want to hurt others. I just wanted to protect myself and those I cared about. Wolfe had a lot to teach me, but his preventative techniques wouldn't help if determined vampire hunters cornered Sonya and me again. As time went on, it was becoming clear that the hunters were very determined. I returned to the table of contents, finding several that would be useful and well within my capabilities to make. According to Ms. Terwilliger, someone like me had excellent potential for magic because of inborn talent (which I didn't entirely believe) and the rigorous Alchemist training in measurement and attention to detail. It wasn't difficult to figure out how long it would take me to produce any of these likely candidates. The question was which spell did I make? Which did I have time to make? The answer was eerily simple. I had time to make all of them.

Free Essays on Heart Song Of Charging Elk

Charging Elk, â€Å"Friend or Foe?† Culture is always important to groups and societies. Throughout Heartsong of Charging Elk, Welch emphasized the point about culture and assimilation and what life is like on the other side. People are very ethnocentric and feel only their ways are the right ways. This book showed Charging Elk as an outsider who learned to live in the new ways of this society even though that wasn’t part of who he was, but eventually made him who he is. Culture and traditions are key in the heart and soul of Charging Elk. From the beginning of his journey in Marsielle, he was very content about finding is way home. He wanted to be reunited with his people and their way of life. He dealt with a lot of communication barriers in this foreign town. No one knew his language or who he was, nor did he know anything about theirs. I think that as much as he wanted to stay strong in his Indian attributes, he was forced to conform to this new society and the ways he was now trapped in. He was treated as nothing more than a savage or a foreigner. He wanted to be home again but as circumstances had it, he was given to the Soula’s where he slowly changed who he was. He had his hair cut short and was given new clothes. He went to work like them, dressed like them, and I felt that he was given no credit for who he was as a person nor was he allowed to really hold the values that were true to him. As time went on I don’t think he had any other choice but to try and become one of them or at least to look like he belonged. I think the author was saying a lot about how a society works and how they can thread in those that don’t belong. I don’t think it’s because they are welcoming those who are different but they engulf them with so many cultural standards that their choices are made for them. Had Charging Elk knew enough about the language and culture their he might have made it home, but in the end I don’t think thatï ¿ ½... Free Essays on Heart Song Of Charging Elk Free Essays on Heart Song Of Charging Elk Charging Elk, â€Å"Friend or Foe?† Culture is always important to groups and societies. Throughout Heartsong of Charging Elk, Welch emphasized the point about culture and assimilation and what life is like on the other side. People are very ethnocentric and feel only their ways are the right ways. This book showed Charging Elk as an outsider who learned to live in the new ways of this society even though that wasn’t part of who he was, but eventually made him who he is. Culture and traditions are key in the heart and soul of Charging Elk. From the beginning of his journey in Marsielle, he was very content about finding is way home. He wanted to be reunited with his people and their way of life. He dealt with a lot of communication barriers in this foreign town. No one knew his language or who he was, nor did he know anything about theirs. I think that as much as he wanted to stay strong in his Indian attributes, he was forced to conform to this new society and the ways he was now trapped in. He was treated as nothing more than a savage or a foreigner. He wanted to be home again but as circumstances had it, he was given to the Soula’s where he slowly changed who he was. He had his hair cut short and was given new clothes. He went to work like them, dressed like them, and I felt that he was given no credit for who he was as a person nor was he allowed to really hold the values that were true to him. As time went on I don’t think he had any other choice but to try and become one of them or at least to look like he belonged. I think the author was saying a lot about how a society works and how they can thread in those that don’t belong. I don’t think it’s because they are welcoming those who are different but they engulf them with so many cultural standards that their choices are made for them. Had Charging Elk knew enough about the language and culture their he might have made it home, but in the end I don’t think thatï ¿ ½...

Atomic Bomb1 essays

Atomic Bomb1 essays The use of the atomic bombs on Japan was necessary for the revenge of the Americans. These bombs took years to make due to a problematic equation. The impact of the bombs killed hundreds of thousands of people and the radiation is still killing people today. People today still wonder why the bombs were dropped. If these bombs werent dropped on the Japanese the history of the world would have been changed forever. The Atomic bomb took 6 years to develop (1939-1945) for scientists to work on a equation to make the U-235 into a bomb. The most complicated process in this was trying to produce enough uranium to sustain a chain reaction. The bombs used on the cities cost about $2 billion to develop, this also making the U.S. wanting to use them against Japan. Hiroshima was a major military target and we have spent 2 billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history- and won. (3) The bomb dropped on Hiroshima weighted 4.5 tons and the bomb used on Nagasaki weighted 10 kilotons. On July 16, 1945, the first ever atomic bomb was tested in the Jamez Mountains in Northern New Mexico, code named Gadget. The single weapon ultimately dropped on Hiroshima, nicknamed Little Boy, produced the amount of approximately twenty- thousand tons of TNT, which is roughly seven times greater than all of the bombs dropped by all the allies on all of Germany in 1942. The first Japanese City bomb was Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. An American B-29 bomber, named Enola Gay, flown by the pilot Paul W. Tibbets, dropped the Little Boy uranium atomic bomb. Three days later a second bomb named Fat Boy, made of plutonium was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. After being released, it took approximately one minute for Little Boy to reach the point of explosion, which was about 2,000 feet. ...

Canons of Taxation

A good tax system is one which is designed on the basis of an appropriate set of principles (rules). The tax system should strike a balance between the interest of the taxpayer and that of tax authorities. Adam Smith was the first economist to develop a list of Canons of Taxation. These canons are still regarded as characteristics or features of a good tax system. Adam Smith gave following four important canons of taxation. 1. Canon of Equity The principle aims at providing economic and social justice to the people. According to this principle, every person should pay to the government depending upon his ability to pay. The rich class people should pay higher taxes to the government, because without the protection of the government authorities (Police, Defence, etc. ) they could not have earned and enjoyed their income. Adam Smith argued that the taxes should be proportional to income, i. e. , citizens should pay the taxes in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state. 2. Canon of Certainty According to Adam Smith, the tax which an individual has to pay should be certain, not arbitrary. The tax payer should know in advance how much tax he has to pay, at what time he has to pay the tax, and in what form the tax is to be paid to the government. In other words, every tax should satisfy the canon of certainty. At the same time a good tax system also ensures that the government is also certain about the amount that will be collected by way of tax. 3. Canon of Convenience The mode and timing of tax payment should be as far as possible, convenient to the tax payers. For example, land revenue is collected at time of harvest income tax is deducted at source. Convenient tax system will encourage people to pay tax and will increase tax revenue. 4. Canon of Economy This principle states that there should be economy in tax administration. The cost of tax collection should be lower than the amount of tax collected. It may not serve any purpose, if the taxes imposed are widespread but are difficult to administer. Therefore, it would make no sense to impose certain taxes, if it is difficult to administer. Additional Canons of Taxation v Activities and functions of the government have increased significantly since Adam Smiths time. Government are expected to maintain economic stability, full employment, reduce income inequality amp; promote growth and development. Tax system should be such that it meets the requirements of growing state activities. Accordingly, modern economists gave following additional canons of taxation. 5. Canon of Productivity It is also known as the canon of fiscal adequacy. According to this principle, the tax system should be able to yield enough revenue for the treasury and the government should have no need to resort to deficit financing. This is a good principle to follow in a developing economy. 6. Canon of Elasticity According to this canon, every tax imposed by the government should be elastic in nature. In other words, the income from tax should be capable of increasing or decreasing according to the requirement of the country. For example, if the government needs more income at time of crisis, the tax should be capable of yielding more income through increase in its rate. . Canon of Flexibility It should be easily possible for the authorities to revise the tax structure both with respect to its coverage and rates, to suit the changing requirements of the economy. With changing time and conditions the tax system needs to be changed without much difficulty. The tax system must be flexible and not rigid. 8. Canon of Simplicity The tax system shoul d not be complicated. That makes it difficult to understand and administer and results in problems of interpretation and disputes. In India, the efforts of the government in recent years have been to make the system simple. 9. Canon of Diversity This principle states that the government should collect taxes from different sources rather than concentrating on a single source of tax. It is not advisable for the government to depend upon a single source of tax, it may result in inequity to the certain section of the society; uncertainty for the government to raise funds. If the tax revenue comes from diversified source, then any reduction in tax revenue on account of any one cause is bound to be small.

Seminar paper (Sydney Harbour Bridge) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Seminar paper (Sydney Harbour Bridge) - Essay Example of the Sydney Harbour Bridge; and how the author uses the theories of Roland Barthe to explain the depoliticisation, as well as the aura and allure of the bridge. The Sydney Harbour Bridge, opened in March 1932, was a spectacular event in Sydney’s history1. It was one of the major engineering feats of the twentieth century, and is the largest though not the longest one-bow bridge in the world. The construction of the bridge was a remarkable accomplishment in the years of the Great Depression, using labour-intensive technology. The Bridge crosses from Dawes’ Point on the downtown side to Milsons’ Point on the North Shore2. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate what Carl Hooper means by the ‘depoliticisation’ of the Sydney Harbour Bridge; and how Hooper uses Roland Barthes’ theories to explain this depoliticisation, and the aura and allure of the bridge. harbour†3. A steel deck hangs from the arch, and each side are five steel truss approach spans. The hinges or bearings support the entire weight of the bridge, and allow it to move with expansion and contraction of the bridge, with temperature changes. The Sydney Harbour Bridge was part of the Bradfield Plan, named after the engineer John J.C. Bradfield who conceptualized the detailed and comprehensive plan4. Besides solving Sydney’s transport problems of that time, he foresaw the city’s future transport formulating the plan, he took care to orient the Sydney Harbour Bridge towards the future. There is provision of four railway lines, six-lane roadway for vehicular traffic, and two wide footwalks. â€Å"Adequate transport facilities between the city and Northern suburbs enable 1,000,000 people to reside on the northern side of the Harbour without unduly congesting traffic†5. With a view to overseas developments and their impacts on the local waterway traffic, adequate size of the vessels and ample waterways for the mammoth liners of the future were provided for6. Carl