Importances essays

Significances papers One can say there are numerous things that individuals overestimate the significance of, however the one that is most irksome would be the wide universe of sports. It is a significant viewpoint in our lives, I mean, it keeps us engaged. Yet, there is positively no requirement for the total tumult with regards to the serious fight. In addition to the fact that it takes from other significant issues on the news, it gives poor good examples and avarice to excess. When is it that one can turn on the TV and not see a battle eject during a game. Regardless of whether it would be baseball, football, ball, or hockey. Do you truly need your youngsters to see this and think this is how they should act on the off chance that they don't dominate in a match? Its fair not right. It is in our tendency to be serious, yet lets not take it to the outrageous. Competitors need to figure out how to control their activities and chill off before they accomplish something that they lament. In addition to the fact that athletes play filthy, however mentors and fans also. And all due to a terrible call or an irritated misfortune? Its fair not justified, despite any potential benefits. Competitors should be taken a gander at as constructive good examples to whom individuals gaze upward to. Presently, we see them on the every day news overstepping the laws. Heres a model, Kobe Bryant put on rape charges. That is genuine decent, a thing a kid should see without a doubt on TV. Also, shouldn't something be said about all the competitors that are taking medications and taking steroids? Its a joke; they ought to have the option to play out their athletic capacities without a medication to support their exhibition. That is not a genuine competitor. So mull over the competitor that you believe is so extraordinary, in light of the fact that it may not be all his exertion. While conversing with one of my companions, he expressed that a TV program that he was getting a charge out of was hindered by an exceptional news brief which frightened him. He thought something had turned out badly in this universe of our own. Be that as it may, no, it was a report on the exchange o ... <!

De Niros Game

De Niro’s Game â€Å"De Niro’s Game† by Rawi Hage is a story about growing up about a kid named Bassam from war torn Lebanon. The principle settings are the headings of the three pieces of the novel; Roma, Beirut and Paris. The settings help to outline character improvement, the novel’s subjects and are significant images all through. The main area of the novel is entitled â€Å"Roma,† however the occasions all happen in Beirut. Bassam never goes to Roma, anyway it is constantly present in the novel and a significant image all through. Roma is a spot that Bassam has needed to go his whole life.Roma represents Bassam’s trust in a superior life. He fantasizes that it is an ideal spot, very nearly a paradise. At the point when a young lady from his local passes on he says â€Å"I went to the little girl’s memorial service, the young lady who was en route to Roma. † pg. 25. While visiting his companion George he says that they †Å"whispered intrigues, traded cash, drank lager, moved hash in delicate, white paper and I commended Roma. † pg. 34. In the Roma segment Bassam is more youthful and more honest than in different segments. Bassam is as yet an insignificant criminal.He just carries out little violations, for example, vandalism and medication use. The way that the principal area is called Roma, yet it isn't in Roma, is a type of anticipating, proposing this dream may never become reality. The second piece of the novel is called â€Å"Beirut. † This area is the defining moment of Bassam’s life. In this area Bassam quits dreaming about Roma. Beirut represents Bassam’s loss of honesty. He begins carrying out significant violations, for example, killing the minute man ‘Rambo. ’ Bassam begins to find out about the mercilessness of the war and the butcher being submitted by the militia.Beirut is an image of the ghastliness on the planet. In Beirut, Bassam acknowledges how cruel reality and the war are. Not long after understanding this he says â€Å"Ten thousand final resting places had slipped underground and the living despite everything moved over the ground with guns in their hands† pg. 88. At a certain point Bassam says â€Å"From the rooftop I could see West Beirut ablaze. The Israelis shelled the occupants for a considerable length of time, orange light sparkled in the night, automatic rifle slugs left the ground and shot into the air in red curves. The city consumed and suffocated in alarms, uproarious blood and death† pg. 163.Not just does Bassam find out about the awful things going on in the war yet he additionally witnesses his closest companion George slaughtering himself, since George can't continue realizing that he has carried out such horrifying wrongdoings against humankind. As a result of the war Bassam is sold out by his closest companion, tormented by the state army for a wrongdoing he didn't submit and is compe lled to understand that the local army and war are bad, but instead ethically off-base and futile. Part III, of the novel is called Paris. Bassam escapes from Beirut and goes to Paris scanning for George’s father. After Bassam discovers Georges family, they before long deceive him.Paris is an image of Bassam’s complete and articulate sadness. In Paris Bassam thinks â€Å"I had no plans, and understood that I was unable to think about any. Other than Rhea, nobody in Paris knew me, nobody was anticipating me for supper, nor to stroll in a burial service parade, nor to work, eat, convey the injured, speed around on motorcycles† pg. 215. He has practically no spot in Beirut and even to a lesser degree a spot in Paris. Paris represents that Bassam is demolished by the war in Lebanon. Bassam is a pariah in Paris due to his contorted ethics and qualities that were defiled because of the war.He peruses â€Å"The Outsider† by Albert Camus, which discusses the poin tlessness of presence and acknowledges there are numerous likenesses among him and the character in the book. Regardless of where he goes, Bassam will consistently be an untouchable. Paris helps Bassam create as an individual, understanding that things are repulsive all over the place, and he can't get away from quite a while ago. Close to the finish of the novel, Bassam says â€Å"And so I floated for a considerable length of time, trying and neglecting to accommodate Paris with the apparition of my childhood, with the books I had perused, with my instructors stories† pg. 204. Bassam acknowledges Roma is a fantasy.Setting and spot are essential scholarly gadgets in â€Å"De Niro’s Game†. The settings are connected to the subjects, in that Beirut is a city decimated by war as Bassam is obliterated by war, and because of his excursion through Paris he understands his fantasies of Roma are unreachable. The adjustments in setting additionally equal and imprint the phases of his transitioning. In Roma Bassam was a kid, in Beirut his change started and in Paris, Bassam turned into a man. While Bassam is not the slightest bit an ideal or even great individual, he has made a change into adulthood. Without the setting his change into masculinity would have been less clear and with

Visualize whirled peas

Visualize whirled peas I dont want to alarm those of you in California, Texas, Florida but its snowing here, and it is beautiful. Im overlooking this winter wonderland as Im reading applications today, and it makes me feel calm, very much at peace. Last night I went to see the opening night premiere of the Bollywood movie Veer-Zaara. I love the energy of opening night film crowds, especially for big releases. The last crowd I was in that was this juiced was for The Matrix: Revolutions, and dont expect to be in one again until Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (have you seen the teaser trailer yet?). There were cheers and shouting as each of the major actors made their first appearance. I thought Amitabh Bachchan was particularly good. The film is primarily a love story, but there are major themes of justice and peace running throughout the film. During intermission, I was thinking about a students essay I had read the day before about the India-Pakistan conflict and how it continues to affect even South Asians in the United States, and how it related to the promotion of unity and understanding on the Indian subcontinent in the film. Peace has been on my mind a lot lately. Another essay I read recently talked about the conflict in Northern Ireland. In the news, Mahmoud Abbas will lead the PLO, what will this mean for the conflict in Israel and Palestine? US troops are fighting in Falluja (a conservative radio commentator in Boston has been advocating dropping an atomic bomb on Falluja. Sadly, Im not making this up). Its important to remember that while this college application process is going on and everything else, there are many important things going on in the world. The application reading process continues. Right now, Im taking a little break from reading, eating some dumplings I bought down at Super 88. Theres a pretty big stack of folders on my dining room table. Just how does the reading process work, you ask? Ill take the folders one at a time. First, I read the application components. I try to understand who you are, where youre coming from, what motivates you, what youve accomplished, what you hope to accomplish. Then, after carefully thinking about everything youve told us, and everything your teachers, counselor, and interviewer have told us, it is my job to summarize your application on the previously mentioned E-3 card. I really take my job seriously and give each and every one of you the consideration that you deserve. All of this reading and summarizing takes about 30 minutes. Usually this process will be repeated by a second reader. Finally, in a few weeks, that E-3 card will go to the entire Admissions Committee to make a decision on (more on this part of the process later). You may wonder where we read these applications. For the most part, we do not read applications in our office. We want to be somewhere where we wont be disturbed by visitors, where we can really focus on your application. Most of the people in our office read in their homes. For me, there are several places where you might find me (though I beg you to not seek me out in any of these places): the dining room table (when my housemates are out) Cassava Boba Lounge (founded by two MIT alums!) Diesel Cafe (Starbucks rival in my neighborhood) MIT Rotch Architecture Planning Library (good light, nice tables) my office (weekends only) Youll find me at one of these five places pretty much every day for the rest of the month. There are a lot of your applications to be read! And speaking of your applications, back to reading I go Current music: Peking Opera, The Forest on Fire Not the same few colleges: McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Remember, not all of the best colleges are in the United States. Why not check out this beautiful campus in downtown Montreal? And you can practice your French while youre there

Time Value - 2842 Words

Time Value of Money Extra Problem Set 1 1. You are planning to retire in twenty years. Youll live ten years after retirement. You want to be able to draw out of your savings at the rate of $10,000 per year. How much would you have to pay in equal annual deposits until retirement to meet your objectives? Assume interest remains at 9%. [$1254] 2. You can deposit $4000 per year into an account that pays 12% interest. If you deposit such amounts for 15 years and start drawing money out of the account in equal annual installments, how much could you draw out each year for 20 years? [$19964.12] 3. What is the value of a $100 perpetuity if interest is 7%? [$1428.57] 4. You deposit $13,000 at the beginning of every year†¦show more content†¦How much would you have to set aside each year if you could put money away starting now? 14. If you put $5000 in the stock market, how many years would it take you to triple your money if the market is making 12% a year? 15. If the effective annual interest rate is 8.5% per year, what is the nominal annual interest rate under monthly compounding? 16. If you put $10 away at the end of each month for the next 40 years at a 12% simple annual interest rate, how much money would you end up with? What if you started at the beginning of each month? 17. If you borrow $150,000 for a house at 8% simple annual interest rate for 15 years, what is your monthly payment? 18. Referring to question 17, how much interest did you pay over the 15 years? 19. What is the value of a $10,000,000 lottery ticket paid out over 20 years if interest rates are at 6%, the average tax rate is 35%, and the odds of winning are 1/7,000,000? 20. How long would it take to accumulate $50,000 if you started putting $5 in the bank every day starting at the end of today at simple annual interest rate of 7.3%? 21. How long would it take to accumulate $50,000 if you started putting $5 in the bank every month starting now at a simple annual interest rate of 7.3%? What if you started at the end of each month? Answers: 1. 3,558 2. 5,131 3. 952 4. 14.87 5.Show MoreRelatedTime Value of Money712 Words   |  3 Pageswill pay the bank over the life of the loan? $123,945.04 4. What is the effective rate of interest on a CD that has a nominal rate of 7.25 percent with interest compounded monthly? EAR = (1+.0725/12)^12 – 1 = 7.5% 5. What is the future value of $4,950 placed in a saving account for six years if the account pays 3%, compounded quarterly? PV = 4,950 N = 6 x 4 = 24 I =3/4 = .75% Pmt = - FV = $5,922.24 6. Your firm, Vandelay Industries, has just leased a $32,000 BMW for youRead MoreTime Value of Money3904 Words   |  16 PagesTime Value of Money Problems 1. What will a deposit of $4,500 at 10% compounded semiannually be worth if left in the bank for six years? a. $8,020.22 b. $7,959.55 c. $8,081.55 d. $8,181.55 2. What will a deposit of $4,500 at 7% annual interest be worth if left in the bank for nine years? a. $8,273.25 b. $8,385.78 c. $8,279.23 d. $7,723.25 3. What will a deposit of $4,500 at 12% compounded monthly be worth at the end of 10 years? a. $14,351.80 b. $14,851.80 c. $13,997.40 d. $14Read MoreTime Value of Money1028 Words   |  5 PagesAbstract The first steps toward understanding the relationship between the value of dollars today and that of dollars in the future is by looking at how funds invested will grow over time. This understanding will allow one to answer such questions as; how much should be invested today to produce a specified future sum of money? Time Value of Money In most cases, borrowing money is not free, unless it is a fiver for lunch from a friend. Interest is the cost of borrowing money. An interest rateRead MoreTime Value of Money1033 Words   |  5 PagesTime Value of Money (TVM), developed by Leonardo Fibonacci in 1202, is an important concept in financial management. It can be used to compare investment alternatives and to solve problems involving loans, mortgages, leases, savings, and annuities. TVM is based on the concept that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar in the future. That is mainly because money held today can be invested and earn interest. A key concept of TVM is that a single sum of money or a series of equal,Read MoreTime Value of Money Analysis1405 Words   |  6 Pages5-42 Integrated Case Time Value of Money Analysis. You have applied for a job with a local bank. As part of its evaluation process, you must take an examination on time value of money analysis covering the following questions: a. Draw time lines for (1) a $100 lump sum cash flow at the end of Year 2; (2) an ordinary annuity of $100 per year for 3 years; and (3) an uneven cash flow stream of -$50, $100, $75 and $50 at the end of Years 0 through 3. (1) 100 0 1 2 100 0 1 2 (2) Read MoreTime Value of Money Essay708 Words   |  3 PagesTime Value of Money Project Show all your work! Name _________________ 1. If Mrs. Beach wanted to invest a lump sum of money today to have $100,000 when she retired at 65 (she is 40 years old today) how much of a deposit would she have to make if the interest rate on the C.D. was 5%? a. What would Mrs. Beach have to deposit if she were to use high quality corporate bonds an earned an average rate of return of 7%. b. What would Mrs. Beach have to deposit if sheRead MoreTime Value11008 Words   |  45 PagesTIME VALUE OF MONEY 1. If you were scheduled to receive Rs 100,000 five years hence, but you wish to sell your contract note for its present value, which type of compounding would you rather have the purchaser of your contract note to use to find the purchase price, 8 percent compounded: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) Continuously Quarterly Semi-annually Annually None of the above 2. According to the rule of 69, the doubling period is equal to (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) 0.25 + (69/ Interest rate) 0.35 + (69/ InterestRead MoreTime Value of Money2124 Words   |  9 PagesTime Value of Money: Simple Interest versus Compound Interest Outline I. Applications of Time Value of Money 1.1 Example One 1.2 Example Two 2. Interest 2.1 What is Interest? 2.2 Three Variables of Interest 1. Principal 2. Interest Rate 3. Time 2.3 Why is Interest Charged? 3. Simple Interest 3.1 What is Simple Interest? 3.2 Simple Interest Formula 4. Compound Interest 4.1 What is Compound Interest? 4.2 Compound Interest Formula Read MoreTime Value of Money967 Words   |  4 PagesTime Value of Money The time value of money relates to many activities and decision in the financial world. â€Å"Understanding the effective rate on a business loan, the mortgage payment in a real estate transaction, or the true return on an investment depends on understanding the time value of money† (Block, Hirt, 2005). The concept of time value of money helps determine how financial assets are valued and how investors establish the rates of return they demand. Many different types of companiesRead MoreFin U02A2 Time, Value and Money610 Words   |  3 PagesTIME VALUE OF MONEY: ANNUITY CASH FLOWS FIN u02a2 Would you rather have a savings account that paid interest compounded on a monthly basis, or one that compounded interest on an annual basis? Why? Compound interest arises when interest is added to the principal. Therefore, the interest that has been added also earns interest. This addition of interest to the principal is called compounding. If the savings account has $1,000 initial principal and 20% interest per year, the account will have a

The Awakened Leader One Simple Leadership Style Essay

Leadership Paper Joan Marques, author of the book â€Å"The Awakened Leader: One Simple Leadership Style That Works, Every time, Everywhere,† says â€Å"leadership is a sacred calling to make a life-enriching difference in the world† (Marques 11).There have been many studies about what makes a great leader. Scholars have looked at the traits and characteristics of some of the best leaders and managers in the world to see what makes them so successful. In the book â€Å"Management,† authors Richard Kreitchner and Carlene Cassidy say that, â€Å"managers become inspiring leaders by serving as role models and adapting their management style to the demands of the situation† (16). Leadership assessments or tests are used in many instances to see what type of leadership style a person has. And although the test criteria can vary a lot in the traits identified, many of those traits seem to be universal. Some scholars believe great leaders are people who inspire others to reach higher goals. Management scholar Marques says effective leaders must be able to â€Å"inspire people and be the type of leader that people want to imitate† (Marques 140). Often great leaders are generally great collaborators, communicators, and produce excellent work products. In this paper I intend to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of my own leadership style in order to better prepare myself for future leadership roles as a student and professional. On the Havard Business Review website, authors Karen West, Elliot Stixrud,Show MoreRelatedThe Leadership Style Known As Servant Leadership1920 Words   |  8 Pagestheir car. This reality awakened the sense that something is mis sing at a higher organizational level. It is this experience that compels the author of this paper to research the Leadership Style known as Servant Leadership. In an effort to understand how Servant Leadership is different from other styles of leadership, this research paper will seek to define Servant Leadership and provide useful examples of companies that currently operate under this style of leadership and will seek to answerRead MoreOrganizational Behavior : A Study Of The Way People Interact Within Groups Essay1818 Words   |  8 Pagespersonality during the hiring process. The application regarding the theory and knowledge from the field of organizational behavior can be broken down into sections like Personality, Job Satisfaction, Reward Management, Leadership, Authority, Power, and Politics. There is never one correct way to asses the right way to manage any of these thing. Organizational- Behavior research can provide a set of guidelines and topics to follow. Personali ty- a series of patterned behavior that plays a large roleRead MoreIntellectual Freedom During The 20th Century1923 Words   |  8 Pagesquickened his soul in order to be a major leader in the abolitionist movement. Historical Context Douglass’s narrative is credited as one of the best autobiographies produced by ex-slaves during the 1840’s and 1850’s (Matlack 15). This effectiveness was largely due to his eloquent way in which Douglass told his tale of slavery and liberation (Matlack 15). Throughout this time in history, aspects of life in American for black was controlled by white leaders. There were high racial prejudices on bothRead More The Saltation of Malcolm X Essay example3388 Words   |  14 Pagesand the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. By proclaiming himself a prophet Elijah Muhammad built the Nation of Islam, and by doing that he created Malcolm X. He educated Malcolm X to be his spokesman, his disciple, his enforcer, and his salesman. He awakened a hunger for knowledge inside him and encouraged his quest for satisfying that hunger. Elijah gave Malcolm a religion, which gave him an identity and a purpose. In return for this awakening Malcolm X gave Muhammad to America. Malcolm X told AmericaRead More American Indian Movement: Activism and Repression Essay3016 Words   |  13 Pagesabout frequent harassment and brutality by local police forces. In an effort to address this issue, the formation of Indian patrol units took action by monitoring the activities of police in Indian neighborhoods. Eventually, three of these patrol leaders, Clyde Bellecourt, Dennis Banks, and George Mitchell organized the American Indian Movement in the summer of 1968. â€Å"Molded loosely after the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense established by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, CaliforniaRead MoreAmerican Indian Movement Essay3074 Words   |  13 Pagesabout frequent harassment and brutality by local police forces. In an effort to address this issue, the formation of Indian patrol units took action by monitoring the activities of police in Indian neighborhoods. Eventually, three of these pa trol leaders, Clyde Bellecourt, Dennis Banks, and George Mitchell organized the American Indian Movement in the summer of 1968. Molded loosely after the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense established by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, CaliforniaRead MoreGandhi and the Foundations of a Bloodless Revolution Essay examples2464 Words   |  10 PagesMohandas Karamchand Gandhi entered the world in 1869, the youngest son of Karamchand Gandhi, a diwan – one of a group of chief advisors to the princes in the peninsular region of Gujarat, on the western coast of India (Hay, â€Å"Two Worlds† 305-307). Born into the Modh Bania caste, a â€Å"middle-class† caste, Gandhi enjoyed a fairly secure life as a youth and received a good education. According to one biographer, â€Å"the Banias were by tradition traders, moneylenders and grocers, though Gandhi’s family hadRead MoreRise and Decline of the Muslim Ummah9373 Words   |  38 Pagesthe century th e state of the Muslim world had taken a definite turn, and there were some signs of resuscitation in the moribund body of the Muslim Ummah. If we look at it closely, the middle half of this century presents an astounding picture. On one hand, the process of decline and deterioration reached its lowest ebb in the events of 1967 and 1971. On the other hand, there was also a widespread movement towards revival and the beginning of a process of renewal. It commenced during the years 1920-1925Read MorePropaganda by Edward L Bernays34079 Words   |  137 Pages............................................ THE NEW PROPAGANDA ............................................ THE NEW PROPAGANDISTS .... 9 19 32 47 62 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS BUSINESS AND THE PUBLIC .... PROPAGANDA AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP 92 WOMENS ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA . . . 115 121 135 141 150 PROPAGANDA FOR EDUCATION PROPAGANDA IN SOCIAL SERVICE . ART AND SCIENCE ..................................................... THE MECHANICS OF PROPAGANDA . . CHAPTERRead MoreSwami Vivekananda14669 Words   |  59 Pages | Swami Vivekananda (Bangla: à ¦ ¸Ã  § Ã  ¦ ¬Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ ®Ã  §â‚¬ à ¦ ¬Ã  ¦ ¿Ã  ¦ ¬Ã  §â€¡Ã  ¦â€¢Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ ¨Ã  ¦ ¨Ã  § Ã  ¦ ¦, Hindi: à ¤ ¸Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ µÃ  ¤ ¾Ã  ¤ ®Ã  ¥â‚¬ à ¤ µÃ  ¤ ¿Ã  ¤ µÃ  ¥â€¡Ã  ¤â€¢Ã  ¤ ¾Ã  ¤ ¨Ã  ¤ ¨Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ¦) (whose pre-monastic name was Narendranath Dutta Bangla: à ¦ ¨Ã  ¦ °Ã  §â€¡Ã  ¦ ¨Ã  § Ã  ¦ ¦Ã  § Ã  ¦ °Ã  ¦ ¨Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ ¥ à ¦ ¦Ã  ¦ ¤Ã  § Ã  ¦ ¤, Hindi: à ¤ ¨Ã  ¤ °Ã  ¥â€¡Ã  ¤ ¨Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ¦Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ °Ã  ¤ ¨Ã  ¤ ¾Ã  ¤ ¥ à ¤ ¦Ã  ¤ ¤Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ¤) (January 12, 1863 - July 4, 1902) is considered one of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of the Hindu religion. He was the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and was the founder of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. He is considered by many as an icon for his fearless courage, his positive exhortations

A Dirty Job Chapter 10 Free Essays

string(201) " Charlie was fascinated by the creatures from the very deep sea, the big-eyed squid, cuttlefish, the blind sharks that located prey with electromagnetic impulses – creatures who never saw light\." PART TWO SECONDHAND SOULS Do not seek death. Death will find you. But seek the road which makes death a fulfillment. We will write a custom essay sample on A Dirty Job Chapter 10 or any similar topic only for you Order Now – Dag Hammarskjà ¶ld 10 DEATH TAKES A WALK Mornings, Charlie walked. At six, after an early breakfast, he would turn the care of Sophie over to Mrs. Korjev or Mrs. Ling (whoever’s turn it was) for the workday and walk – stroll really, pacing out the city with the sword-cane, which had become part of his daily regalia, wearing soft, black-leather walking shoes and an expensive, secondhand suit that had been retailored at his cleaner’s in Chinatown. Although he pretended to have a purpose, Charlie walked to give himself time to think, to try on the size of being Death, and to look at all the people out and about in the morning. He wondered if the girl at the flower stand, from whom he often bought a carnation for his lapel, had a soul, or would give hers up while he watched her die. He watched the guy in North Beach make cappuccinos with faces and fern leaves drawn in the foam, and wondered if a guy like that could actually function without a soul, or was his soul collecting dust in Charlie’s back ro om? There were a lot of people to see, and a lot of thinking to be done. Being out among the people of the city, when they were just starting to move, greeting the day, making ready, he started to feel not just the responsibility of his new role, but the power, and finally, the specialness. It didn’t matter that he had no idea what he was doing, or that he might have lost the love of his life for it to happen; he had been chosen. And realizing that, one day as he walked down California Street, down Nob Hill into the financial district, where he’d always felt inferior and out of touch with the world, as the brokers and bankers quickstepped around him, barking into their cell phones to Hong Kong or London or New York and never making eye contact, he started to not so much stroll, as strut. That day Charlie Asher climbed onto the California Street cable car for the first time since he was a kid, and hung off the bar, out over the street, holding out the sword-cane as if charging, with Hondas and Mercedes zooming along the street beside him, pas sing under his armpit just inches away. He got off at the end of the line, bought a Wall Street Journal from a machine, then walked to the nearest storm drain, spread out the Journal to protect his trousers against oil stains, then got down on his hands and knees and screamed into the drain grate, â€Å"I have been chosen, so don’t fuck with me!† When he stood up again, a dozen people were standing there, waiting for the light to change. Looking at him. â€Å"Had to be done,† Charlie said, not apologizing, just explaining. The bankers and the brokers, the executive assistants and the human-resource people and the woman on her way to serve up clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at the Boudin Bakery, all nodded, not sure exactly why, except that they worked in the financial district, and they all understood being fucked with, and in their souls if not in their minds, they knew that Charlie had been yelling in the right direction. He folded his paper, tucked it under his arm, then turned and crossed the street with them when the light changed. Sometimes Charlie walked whole blocks when he thought only of Rachel, and would become so engrossed in the memory of her eyes, her smile, her touch, that he ran straight into people. Other times people would bump into him, and not even lift his wallet or say â€Å"excuse me,† which might be a matter of course in New York, but in San Francisco meant that he was close to a soul vessel that needed to be retrieved. He found one, a bronze fireplace poker, set out by the curb with the trash on Russian Hill. Another time, he spotted a glowing vase displayed in the bay window of a Victorian in North Beach. He screwed up his courage and knocked on the door, and when a young woman answered, and came out on the porch to look for her visitor, and was bewildered because she didn’t see anyone there, Charlie slipped past her, grabbed the vase, and was out the side door before she came back in, his heart pounding like a war drum, adrenaline sizzling through his veins like a hormonal ti lt-a-whirl. As he headed back to the shop that particular morning, he realized, with no little sense of irony, that until he became Death, he’d never felt so alive. Every morning, Charlie tried to walk in a different direction. On Mondays he liked to go up into Chinatown just after dawn, when all the deliveries were being made – crates of produce, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, melons, and a dozen varieties of cabbage, tended by Latinos in the Central Valley and consumed by Chinese in Chinatown, having passed through Anglo hands just long enough to extract the nourishing money. On Mondays the fishing companies delivered their fresh catches – usually strong Italian men whose families had been in the business for five generations, handing off their catch to inscrutable Chinese merchants whose ancestors had bought fish from the Italians off horse-drawn wagons a hundred years before. All sorts of live and recently live fish were moved across the sidewalk: snapper and halibut and mackerel, sea bass and ling cod and yellowtail, clawless Pacific lobster, Dungeness crab, ghastly monkfish, with their long saberlike teeth and a sin gle spine that jutted from their head, bracing a luminous lure they used to draw in prey, so deep in the ocean that the sun never shone. Charlie was fascinated by the creatures from the very deep sea, the big-eyed squid, cuttlefish, the blind sharks that located prey with electromagnetic impulses – creatures who never saw light. You read "A Dirty Job Chapter 10" in category "Essay examples" They made him think of what might be facing him from the Underworld, because even as he fell into a rhythm of finding names at his bedside, and soul vessels in all manner of places, and the appearance of the ravens and the shades subsided, he could feel them under the street whenever he passed a storm sewer. Sometimes he could hear them whispering to one another, hushing quickly in the rare moments when the street went quiet. To walk through Chinatown at dawn was to become part of a dangerous dance, because there were no back doors or alleys for loading, and all the wares went across the sidewalk, and although Charlie had enjoyed neither danger nor dancing up till now, he enjoyed playing dance partner to the thousand tiny Chinese grandmothers in black slippers or jelly-colored plastic shoes who scampered from merchant to merchant, squeezing and smelling and thumping, looking for the freshest and the best for their families, twanging orders and questions to the merchants in Mandarin, all the while just a second or a slip away from being run over by sides of beef, great racks of fresh duck, or hand trucks stacked high with crates of live turtles. Charlie was yet to retrieve a soul vessel on one of his Chinatown walks, but he stayed ready, because the swirl of time and motion forecast that one foggy morning someone’s granny was going to get knocked out of her moo shoes. One Monday, just for sport, Charlie grabbed an eggplant that a spectacularly wizened granny was going for, but instead of twisting it out of his hand with some mystic kung fu move as he expected, she looked him in the eye and shook her head – just a jog, barely perceptible really – it might have been a tic, but it was the most eloquent of gestures. Charlie read it as saying: O White Devil, you do not want to purloin that purple fruit, for I have four thousand years of ancestors and civilization on you; my grandparents built the railroads and dug the silver mines, and my parents survived the earthquake, the fire, and a society that outlawed even being Chinese; I am mother to a dozen, grandmother to a hundred, and great-grandmother to a legion; I have birthed babies and washed the dead; I am history and suffering and wisdom; I am a Buddha and a dragon; so get your fucking hand off my eggplant before you lose it. And Charlie let go. And she grinned, just a little. Three teeth. And he wondered if it ever did fall to him to retrieve the soul vessel of one of these crones of Chronos, if he’d even be able to lift it. And he grinned back. And asked for her phone number, which he gave to Ray. â€Å"She seemed nice,† Charlie told him. â€Å"Mature.† Sometimes Charlie’s walks took him through Japantown, where he passed the most enigmatic shop in the city, Invisible Shoe Repair. He really intended to stop in one day, but he was still coming to terms with giant ravens, adversaries from the Underworld, and being a Merchant of Death, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for invisible shoes, let alone invisible shoes that needed repair! He often tried to look past the Japanese characters into the shop window as he passed, but saw nothing, which, of course, didn’t mean a thing. He just wasn’t ready. But there was a pet shop in Japantown (House of Pleasant Fish and Gerbil), where he had originally gone to buy Sophie’s fish, and where he returned to replace the TV attorneys with six TV detectives, who also simultaneously took the big Ambien a week later. Charlie had been distraught to find his baby daughter drooling away in front of a bowl floating more dead detectives than a film noir festival, and after fl ushing all six at once and having to use the plunger to dislodge Magnum and Mannix, he vowed that next time he would find more resilient pals for his little girl. He was coming out of House of PFG one afternoon, with a Habitrail pod containing a pair of sturdy hamsters, when he ran into Lily, who was making her way to a coffeehouse up on Van Ness, where she was planning to meet her friend Abby for some latte-fueled speed brooding. â€Å"Hey, Lily, how are you doing?† Charlie was trying to appear matter-of-fact, but he found that the awkwardness between him and Lily over the last few months was not mitigated by her seeing him on the street carrying a plastic box full of rodents. â€Å"Nice gerbils,† Lily said. She wore a Catholic schoolgirl’s plaid skirt over black tights and Doc Martens, with a tight black PVC bustier that was squishing pale Lily-bits out the top, like a can of biscuit dough that’s been smacked on the edge of the counter. The hair color du jour was fuchsia, over violet eye shadow, which matched her violet, elbow-length lace gloves. She looked up and down the street and, when she didn’t see anyone she knew, fell into step next to Charlie. â€Å"They’re not gerbils, they’re hamsters,† Charlie said. â€Å"Asher, do you have something you’ve been keeping from me?† She tilted her head a little, but didn’t look at him when she asked, just kept her eyes forward, scanning the street for someone who might recognize her walking next to Charlie, thus forcing her to commit seppuku. â€Å"Jeez, Lily, these are for Sophie!† Charlie said. â€Å"Her fish died, so I’m bringing her some new pets. Besides, that whole gerbil thing is an urban myth – â€Å" â€Å"I meant that you’re Death,† Lily said. Charlie nearly dropped his hamsters. â€Å"Huh?† â€Å"It’s so wrong – † Lily continued, walking on after Charlie had stopped in his tracks, so now he had to scurry to catch up to her. â€Å"Just so wrong, that you would be chosen. Of all of life’s many disappointments, I’d have to say that this is the crowning disappointment.† â€Å"You’re sixteen,† Charlie said, still stumbling a little at the matter-of-fact way she was discussing this. â€Å"Oh, throw that in my face, Asher. I’m only sixteen for two more months, then what? In the blink of an eye my beauty becomes but a feast for worms, and I, a forgotten sigh in a sea of nothingness.† â€Å"Your birthday is in two months? Well, we’ll have to get you a nice cake,† Charlie said. â€Å"Don’t change the subject, Asher. I know all about you, and your Death persona.† Charlie stopped again and turned to look at her. This time, she stopped as well. â€Å"Lily, I know I’ve been acting a little strangely since Rachel died, and I’m sorry you got in trouble at school because of me, but it’s just been trying to deal with it all, with the baby, with the business. The stress of it all has – â€Å" â€Å"I have The Great Big Book of Death,† Lily said. She steadied Charlie’s hamsters when he lost his grip. â€Å"I know about the soul vessels, about the dark forces rising if you fuck up, all that stuff – all of it. I’ve known longer than you have, I think.† Charlie didn’t know what to say. He was feeling panic and relief at the same time – panic because Lily knew, but relief because at least someone knew, and believed it, and had actually seen the book. The book! â€Å"Lily, do you still have the book?† â€Å"It’s in the store. I hid it in the back of the glass cabinet where you keep the valuable stuff that no one will ever buy.† â€Å"No one ever looks in that cabinet.† â€Å"No kidding? I thought if you ever found it, I’d say it had always been there.† â€Å"I have to go.† He turned and started walking the other direction, but then realized that they had already been heading toward his neighborhood and turned around again. â€Å"Where are you going?† â€Å"To get some coffee.† â€Å"I’ll walk with you.† â€Å"You will not.† Lily looked around again, wary that someone might see them. â€Å"But, Lily, I’m Death. That should at least have given me some level of cool.† â€Å"Yeah, you’d think, but it turns out that you have managed to suck the cool out of being Death.† â€Å"Wow, that’s harsh.† â€Å"Welcome to my world, Asher.† â€Å"You can’t tell anyone about this, you know that?† â€Å"Like anyone cares what you do with your gerbils.† â€Å"Hamsters! That’s not – â€Å" â€Å"Chill, Asher.† Lily giggled. â€Å"I know what you mean. I’m not going to tell anyone – except Abby knows – but she doesn’t care. She says she’s met some guy who’s her dark lord. She’s in that stage where she thinks a dick is some kind of mystical magic wand.† Charlie adjusted his hamster box uncomfortably. â€Å"Girls go through a stage like that?† Why was he just hearing about this now? Even the hamsters looked uncomfortable. Lily turned on a heel and started up the street. â€Å"I’m not having this conversation with you.† Charlie stood there, watching her go, balancing the hamsters and his completely useless sword-cane while trying to dig his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. He needed to see that book, and he needed to see it sooner than the hour it would take him to get home. â€Å"Lily, wait!† he called. â€Å"I’m calling a cab, I’ll give you a ride.† She waved him off without looking and kept walking. As he was waiting for the cab company to answer, he heard it, the voice, and he realized that he was standing right over a storm drain. It had been over a month since he’d heard them, and he thought maybe they’d gone. â€Å"We’ll have her, too, Meat. She’s ours now.† He felt the fear rise in his throat like bile. He snapped the phone shut and ran after Lily, cane rattling and hamsters bouncing as he went. â€Å"Lily, wait! Wait!† She spun around quickly and her fuchsia wig only did the quarter turn instead of the half, so her face was covered with hair when she said, â€Å"One of those ice-cream cakes from Thirty-one Flavors, okay? After that, despair and nothingness.† â€Å"We’ll put that on the cake,† Charlie said. How to cite A Dirty Job Chapter 10, Essay examples

The Un And Environmental Issues Essays - Natural Environment, World

The Un And Environmental Issues The UN attempts to follow universal ideals, but at this point it is not fully universal and still reflects some great power interests because of economic situations. This can be clearly seen in the environmental issues. The problem is that the UN does not have enough power internationally to fully contain the issue. The trouble is that the developing countries and the developed countries do not agree on main points, and this leads to a division. When the UN was first established, ?the UN Charter makes no mention of environmental protection (Roberts and Kingsbury, 327).? One of the shortcomings of the League, which the UN was founded on, was the lack of environmental interest. The turning point was in the 1972 Conference of Human Environment. This conference stated that all human beings had the right to live in a clean world. This was the beginning of environmental awareness in the UN. After this the UN attempted to integrate environmental concern into the system. The UN was equipped with five economic commissions for different regional areas; Africa, Latin America, Western Asia, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe. Along with promoting economic development they also dealt with environmental issues. The European branch has been the most active. This shows the beginning of great power interests. By 1972 many countries had begun to establish their own environmental organizations. The separate states decided that at this time they should try to unite under the UN to make policies international. One of the main problems was that the governments had different thoughts on environmental concerns verses developmental concerns. The developing countries were concerned that the economic costs would slow their developments, along with the restrictions placed on them that developed countries did not have to deal with when they were developing. In the past, the greater powers were able to develop more freely as there were no restrictions placed on them. They had the freedom to pollute the world, as they did not know the harm they were causing the environment. Now, because of greater knowledge and damage around the world, restrictions need to be placed on all the countries in the world. The problem with environmental issues is that one country can damage something like the ozone layer, which ends up affecting the whole world and not just that one country. The 1992 conference, UNCED, on environment was a landmark. It recognized dangers of deforestation and global warming. Both of these are global problems that need to be solved, making environmental issues international concerns. One of the main problems with the UNCED was that its sponsorship was by donor governments along with major companies and foundations. This gave greater powers more say as they donated more money, while the lesser powers disagreed with many of the issues. The UNCED was not as successful as it had hoped to be. The main problem was that the greater powers saw environmental issues as not that big of problems, easily solved by restricting certain tests, chemical usage, and the destruction of nature. The countries had developed enough that they did not need to do extensive research in potentially dangerous areas. The developing countries saw these movements as a great threat on their advancements. Without being able to learn for themselves they felt that they were being treated unfairly. Along with that, they wanted to spend their money on furthering their country instead of helping solve environmental issues that did not need to be solved immediately. These problems created a divide between northern and southern countries. The South felt that their sovereignty was being threatened by the North, as the North had more technology, more knowledge, more access to natural resources, and most importantly, more economic power. The lesser-developed countries did not see it as fair that they had to help and spend money on issues such as global climate control as it was the more industrial countries that created the damage. Also the developing countries have not had the chance to acquire the experience that the other countries have. The latest attempt at universal environmental reform was at Kyoto. The countries gathered together and formed the Kyoto treaty. The treaty did not address issues such as when or