Macroeconomics Question Paper

Question 1 . Using a market-clearing model to analyze the demand for haircuts is ______ because the price of a haircut usually changes ______. Answer Selected Answer: unrealistic; infrequently Correct Answer: unrealistic; infrequently . Question 2 . Which of the following is not the correct combination for a U. S. president and an important economic issue of his administration? Answer Selected Answer: President Clinton, inflation Correct Answer: President Clinton, inflation . Question 3 . Macroeconomic models are used to explain how ______ variables influence ______ variables.Answer Selected Answer: exogenous; endogenous Correct Answer: exogenous; endogenous . Question 4 . The total income of everyone in the economy adjusted for the level of prices is called: Answer Selected Answer: real GDP. Correct Answer: real GDP. . Question 5 . A period of falling prices is called: Answer Selected Answer: a recession. Correct Answer: deflation. . Question 6 . The inflation rate is a measure of h ow fast: Answer Selected Answer: prices in the economy are rising. Correct Answer: prices in the economy are rising. . Question 7 . Exogenous variables are:Answer Selected Answer: fixed at the moment they enter the model. Correct Answer: fixed at the moment they enter the model. . Question 8 . In the relationship expressed in functional form, Y = G(K, L), Y stands for real GDP, K stands for the amount of capital in the economy, and L stands for the amount of labor in the economy. In this case G( ): Answer Selected Answer: is the function telling how the variables in the parenthesis determine real GDP. Correct Answer: is the function telling how the variables in the parenthesis determine real GDP. . Question 9 .The inflation rate in the United States averaged about: Answer Selected Answer: zero between 1900 and 1950. Correct Answer: zero between 1900 and 1950. . Question 10 . Endogenous variables are: Answer Selected Answer: determined within the model. Correct Answer: determined wit hin the model. . Question 11 . The best measure of the economic satisfaction of the members of a society is: Answer Selected Answer: real GDP. Correct Answer: real GDP. . Question 12 . In 2010 in the United States, the approximate percentage of GDP that was spent on consumption was: Answer Selected Answer: 7 percent. Correct Answer: 67 percent. . Question 13 . The national income accounts identity, for an open economy, is: Answer Selected Answer: Y = C + I + G + NX. Correct Answer: Y = C + I + G + NX. . Question 14 . If nominal GDP grew by 5 percent and real GDP grew by 3 percent, then the GDP deflator grew by approximately ______ percent. Answer Selected Answer: 2 Correct Answer: 2 . Question 15 . If the number employed increases while the number unemployed does not change, the unemployment rate: Answer Selected Answer: will not change. Correct Answer: will decrease. . Question 16 .As a percentage of GNP, depreciation (also called the consumption of fixed capital) amounts to approx imately: Answer Selected Answer: 10 percent. Correct Answer: 10 percent. . Question 17 . Prices of items included in the CPI are: Answer Selected Answer: weighted according to quantity of the item purchased by the typical household. Correct Answer: weighted according to quantity of the item purchased by the typical household. . Question 18 . Real GDP means the value of goods and services is measured in ______ prices. Answer Selected Answer: constant Correct Answer: constant . Question 19 .If nominal GDP increased by 5 percent and the GDP deflator increased by 3 percent, then real GDP ______ by ______ percent. Answer Selected Answer: increased; 2 Correct Answer: increased; 2 . Question 20 . Nominal GDP is measured in _____ dollars _____ time. Answer Selected Answer: current; per unit of Correct Answer: current; per unit of . Question 21 . Exhibit: Saving, Investment, and the Interest Rate 2 Reference: Ref 3-2 (Exhibit: Saving, Investment, and the Interest Rate 2) The economy begins i n equilibrium at Point E, representing the real interest rate, r1, at which saving, S1, equals desired investment, I1.What will be the new equilibrium combination of real interest rate, saving, and investment if there is a tax law change that makes investment projects less profitable and decreases the demand for investment goods (but does not change the amount of taxes collected in the economy)? Answer Selected Answer: Point C Correct Answer: Point A . Question 22 . National saving refers to: Answer Selected Answer: income minus consumption minus government spending. Correct Answer: income minus consumption minus government spending. . Question 23 .According to the neoclassical theory of distribution, if firms are competitive and subject to constant returns to scale, total income in the economy is distributed: Answer Selected Answer: between the labor and capital used in production, according to their marginal productivities. Correct Answer: between the labor and capital used in pro duction, according to their marginal productivities. . Question 24 . According to the model developed in Chapter 3, when government spending increases but taxes are not raised, interest rates: Answer Selected Answer: increase. Correct Answer: increase. . Question 25 .When there is a fixed supply of loanable funds, an increase in investment demand results in a(n): Answer Selected Answer: higher interest rate. Correct Answer: higher interest rate. . Question 26 . Assume that the production function is Cobb–Douglas with parameter ? = 0. 3. In the neoclassical model, if the labor force increases by 10 percent, then output: Answer Selected Answer: increases by about 7 percent. Correct Answer: increases by about 7 percent. . Question 27 . In the classical model with fixed income, if households want to save more than firms want to invest, then: Answer Selected Answer: he interest rate falls. Correct Answer: the interest rate falls. . Question 28 . Assume that equilibrium GDP (Y) is 5,000. Consumption is given by the equation C = 500 + 0. 6Y. Investment (I) is given by the equation I = 2,000 – 100r, where r is the real interest rate in percent. No government exists. In this case, the equilibrium real interest rate is: Answer Selected Answer: 5 percent. Correct Answer: 5 percent. . Question 29 . In the classical model with fixed income, if the demand for goods and services is greater than the supply, the interest rate will: Answer Selected Answer: increase.Correct Answer: increase. . Question 30 . Exhibit: Saving, Investment, and the Interest Rate 1 Reference: Ref 3-1 (Exhibit: Saving, Investment, and the Interest Rate 1) The economy begins in equilibrium at Point E, representing the real interest rate, r1, at which saving, S1, equals desired investment, I1. What will be the new equilibrium combination of real interest rate, saving, and investment if the government raises taxes, holding other factors constant? Answer Selected Answer: Point B Correct Answe r: Point B . Question 31 . Assume that the consumption function is given by C = 200 + 0. (Y – T), the tax function is given by T = 100 + t1Y, and Y = 50K0. 5L0. 5, where K = 100 and L = 100. If t1 increases from 0. 2 to 0. 25, then consumption decreases by: Answer Selected Answer: 175. Correct Answer: 175. . Question 32 . Assume that the investment function is given by I = 1,000 – 30r, where r is the real rate of interest (in percent). Assume further that the nominal rate of interest is 10 percent and the inflation rate is 2 percent. According to the investment function, investment will be: Answer Selected Answer: 760. Correct Answer: 760. .Saturday, November 10, 2012 12:07:36 PM EST .

Legalization of Marijuana outline and speech Essay

Marijuana has always been an issue in our country’s history. However, today, it has gained more attention than it has in the recent decades. People were raised and taught since their early years that this plant brings nothing but trouble to your life if you consume it, for any reason. However, marijuana isn’t as bad as we were all taught that it was. Legalizing marijuana can actually bring many benefits to many groups in today’s society. It’s actually not that bad of a plant once you get to know it a little better. Legalizing marijuana can benefit the American government in a few different ways. One way that it could benefit the government is by selling it and taxing it. Alcohol and tobacco, though known as two drugs that can cause harm to you, still sell and bring in a lot of federal and state tax revenue, regardless of how high taxes are placed on these products. The size of the marijuana market, though illegal, is still very huge and very profitable. If the government were to legalize marijuana, it could bring approximately up to $8.7 billion in federal and state revenue. This could help the government tremendously. This much money can be used for a lot of different things. One thing that this money can help improve is education. For example, in the state of Colorado, it is said that the state has already gained $10 million  in taxes from retail stores in the first 4 months. They said that the first $40 million that they gained in taxes from these â€Å"pot† retailers would be used in their education system and infrastructure, as well as educational campaigns about substance use. This money can be used to purchase new books, technology, equipment, etc., that could be useful to students and teachers in public schools. With a new industry and legal market going on, it could also help create more jobs. In Colorado, more than 10,000 jobs have been created since January of 2014. Many people that were unemployed have now been able to get a job in the marijuana industry, whether it be in distribution, trimming the plants, packaging, petitioning, educating, advertising, and so much more. Marijuana can also bring many health benefits to those who are in need of its â€Å"super high powers.† One disease that it can help treat or prevent is glaucoma. Glaucoma starts when pressure in the eyeball increases, damaging an optic nerve and causes the loss of vision. So, how does marijuana help exactly? Well, according to researchers, marijuana helps reduce the pressure in eye. It has been said that it lowers the pressure in the eyes of people with normal vision and even in people who have glaucoma. Marijuana can also help control epileptic seizures. Marijuana contains a chemical that many people know as THC. THC can help control seizures that are not responsive to other treatments taken to control them. It has been tested with animals and proven to reduce seizures in epileptic rats. There are epileptic people who actually consume marijuana and believe that it help to control their seizures, saying that it helps to regulate their relaxation. One important disease that marijuana may be able to treat is cancer. A chemical in marijuana knows as CBD is believed to stop the spread of cancer by turning of a gene that helps produce cancer cells. Some studies even show that some compounds in marijuana could even actually kill cancer cells. There are studies where people with cancer consume marijuana and believe that it reduces the size of their tumors. Legalizing marijuana can also help reduce crime rates and spending money on crimes related to marijuana. The United States government spends a lot of money on prisoners, approximately $68 billion a year. It is said that about  one-third of the prisoners are incarcerated for nonviolent drug related crimes. This means that legalizing marijuana could help save $11.3 billion from spending on imprisonments. That can help the government save a lot of money and maybe reduce the deficit. According to researchers, it is also believed that legalizing pot could reduce crime rates. Since the legalization in Colorado, about 10.1% of crime has decreased, and a 6.9% decrease in violent crimes. These crimes involve homicides, burglaries, and sexual assaults. Property crime rates have dropped about 11.1%, involving burglary, larceny, auto theft, and thefts from motor vehicles. Legalization of marijuana could also help reduce the number of traffic deaths. According to some economists’ studies, states that have legalized the use of medical marijuana have dropped 9% in fatal car wrecks, which means that there was a decline in drunk driving. This proves that driving high is so much safer than driving drunk. Many people will continue to believe that marijuana is worse than alcohol or tobacco and believe that it will bring nothing but bad things to people who consume it. However, there are facts and studies that prove that legalizing marijuana could bring various amounts of benefits to many people. Like I said, it’s not that bad once you get to know the plant a little better. Remember, don’t knock it until you try it.

AllinOne Computer Security Systems

The program also contains other features including ways to better the health of your PC. Norton Internet Security plus 360 versions 4. 0 warns you of dangerous downloads before you install and run them on your computer. Norton Internet Security has an extra layer of protection that detects viruses, spyware, Trojans and other threats. In addition Norton 360 4. 0 identifies applications that are impacting the performance of your PC. Using an all-in-one computer security protects your CPU from hijackers, identity theft, spyware, and virus. In addition using a security all in one center generally protects the user computer on its own. This keeps your system and all your information safe from others. There are some security programs which protect as well such as Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Spam, Anti-Root kit, Identity Protection, Link Scanner Active Surf, Link Scanner Search, Web Protection Firewall, and Sophisticated threat detection. Using an all-in-one security system is effective because the programs are not conflicting with each other; instead they all work together within one system. An all-in-one security system will use less running memory than several security systems running parallel to each other. All-in-one security system is effective in many elements such physically secured security appliance, content discrimination, quick recovery from failure, highly configurable logging and notification, simplicity, high uptime, economy secure connections, well-conceived security system policies, scalability, distributed architecture, of IP addresses, secure remote management and communication, authentication, virtual private networking, and summarize and report network activity. What the all in one computer security systems protect against is with spyware, virus, identity theft, and hijackers. The all in one computer security systems block the threats from getting onto your computer as long as it is running at all times. References McAfee. McAfee Total Protection 2010. Retrieved from. http://download. mcafee. com/products/manuals/en-us/mtp_datasheet_2010. pdf Norton by Symantec. Top-ranked Protection. Norton 360â„ ¢ Version 6. 0. Retrieved from. http://us. norton. com/360 Internet Security Handbook. What Makes a Good Network Security System and effective security system. Retrieved from. http://www. watchguard. com/help/lss/41/handbook/need_fo3. htm AllinOne Computer Security Systems The program also contains other features including ways to better the health of your PC. Norton Internet Security plus 360 versions 4. 0 warns you of dangerous downloads before you install and run them on your computer. Norton Internet Security has an extra layer of protection that detects viruses, spyware, Trojans and other threats. In addition Norton 360 4. 0 identifies applications that are impacting the performance of your PC. Using an all-in-one computer security protects your CPU from hijackers, identity theft, spyware, and virus. In addition using a security all in one center generally protects the user computer on its own. This keeps your system and all your information safe from others. There are some security programs which protect as well such as Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Spam, Anti-Root kit, Identity Protection, Link Scanner Active Surf, Link Scanner Search, Web Protection Firewall, and Sophisticated threat detection. Using an all-in-one security system is effective because the programs are not conflicting with each other; instead they all work together within one system. An all-in-one security system will use less running memory than several security systems running parallel to each other. All-in-one security system is effective in many elements such physically secured security appliance, content discrimination, quick recovery from failure, highly configurable logging and notification, simplicity, high uptime, economy secure connections, well-conceived security system policies, scalability, distributed architecture, of IP addresses, secure remote management and communication, authentication, virtual private networking, and summarize and report network activity. What the all in one computer security systems protect against is with spyware, virus, identity theft, and hijackers. The all in one computer security systems block the threats from getting onto your computer as long as it is running at all times. References McAfee. McAfee Total Protection 2010. Retrieved from. http://download. mcafee. com/products/manuals/en-us/mtp_datasheet_2010. pdf Norton by Symantec. Top-ranked Protection. Norton 360â„ ¢ Version 6. 0. Retrieved from. http://us. norton. com/360 Internet Security Handbook. What Makes a Good Network Security System and effective security system. Retrieved from. http://www. watchguard. com/help/lss/41/handbook/need_fo3. htm

Nursing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 18

Nursing - Assignment Example be more manipulated by the use of formats such as structured surveys, or naturalistic by means of a technique such as ordinary observation (Roth, 2004). In a research that is to be conducted on the observations of patients who are anxious about a potential medical experience, it might be more advisable to use data gathering methods that even define the non-verbal gestures of patients. For example, the researcher may use videography so as to permit patients to freely express themselves as they would in any other circumstances. If methods that include writing exercises are used, researchers could inadvertently limit participants to only having to express themselves through specific methods of expressing themselves. Essentially, the creative data collection methods may not be entirely naturalistic, in themselves, but are meant to symbolize a similar selection of means with which the researchers can manage the statistics that they gather. The point of using creative new data collection techniques is to capture the genuine experiences of each of the

SEMCO Company Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SEMCO Company Strategy - Essay Example As a conservative business strategy, many companies feel that employing more personnel in the same setup will increase their costs and this would reduce their profits at the end of a trading year (Mazzucato, 2002:34). However, this was a strategy that helped SEMCO to improve to greater heights of quadrupling their profits.When there is an increase in the number of employees, it is obvious that the cost for labour will increase. However, SEMCO did not reflect on the negative side of having an increase in the cost of labor. SEMCO reflected on the side of better services and products that are supplied to the customers. In essence, the company noticed that their products needed a greater increase in their value (Bruce and Langdon, 2000:55). This led to production of high quality goods that would be appreciated in the market. With such a manoeuvre, most of the market was dominated by the products that are produced by SEMCO.With an increase in the number of employees, a company is defined to have more manpower and labour. In such a position, a company may decide to concentrate in various production models. According to the schools of strategy by Mintzberg, when a company has maximum labour, it is in a position of investing in a wide variety of services. This includes investing on other services that it has not been producing. SEMCO decided to strategise on this point by increasing its output. Since it had enough labour, it only had to increase its resources and start other services in the market.

Kantian Sincerity and Professional Ethics Assignment

Kantian Sincerity and Professional Ethics - Assignment Example Sincerity makes him weigh his acts according to ethics. Kantian sincerity explains the aspects of sincerity based on good will. This paper intends to explain the essence of Kantian sincerity, and how it can relate to professional ethics and good will. The importance of professional ethics in the life of an organization is discussed, in correlation with Kantian sincerity. The characteristics of a sincere and ethical leader have been described, so as to give the reader an idea as to what is expected of a person who follows Kantian sincerity and ethical guidelines. Kantian sincerity is based on good will. â€Å"†¦the sincere will is both good and autonomous†, according to Palmquist (2010:635). Palmquist writes in his book that Kantian’s good will considers acts to be virtuous, good, and sincere, by associating them with the moral law coming from within the person, rather than weighing the acts on some external principle, lying outside the person. Similarly, profession al sincerity cannot be measured by a parameter defined by the external world; instead, sincerity will be measured by the person’s own good nature. The Kantian model helps us understand how professionals can generate professional sincerity or good will.... Professional sincerity has also got the same philosophy. When Kantian sincerity works with professional ethics, it becomes a part and parcel for the progress of an organization. Also, when this sincerity, which is valued by a person’s internal good will, is also recognized as a precious asset by the outside world, this is the point when sincerity achieves its milestone in the chain of human progress. This sincerity also plays an important role in Confucian process of moralization. Palmquist (2010:633) states that: The centrality of sincerity can be seen even more clearly when we take it to be primarily a quality of the will and when we compare the sincere will with the Kantian good will. As Kant says (4:392-3): â€Å"Nothing in the world- indeed nothing even beyond the world- can possibly be conceived which could be called good without qualification except a good will. Hence, Kantian sincere will brings the self in agreement with the dao; and since dao is good without qualifi cation, in the same way, sincerity is also good without qualification. Kantian model also states that sincerity is the Way of Heaven; and to achieve this sincerity is the way of man. And whosoever is easily walking on the Way of Heaven led by sincerity, is the one who can be called a sage. Kantian model describes a sage as a person who has got a perfectly manufactured good will. A Sage’s good will is absolutely sincere, and thus, it can also be related to holy will, guided by sincerity on the Way of Heaven (Palmquist 2010:636). 3. Professional Ethics Kantian ethics describe that those acts should be considered as right which seek our good will. We know that the accomplishment of an organization depends mainly on value-based actions and decisions. Value-based actions and

Conflict within Mcdonalds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Conflict within Mcdonalds - Essay Example Conflict can turn out to be either positive or negative depending on how it is managed. Conflict is part of our everyday life but conflict can turn out to be functional or negative depending on how the people involved in the conflict handle the conflict Van (Gramberg, 2005). This type of conflict is beneficial to McDonalds due to the fact that it supports the corporation’s goals. It helps to improve performance within the corporation by finding solutions to problems and listening to one another (Collins, & ORourke, 2009). A good example of a positive conflict within McDonalds is competition. This conflict can occur when sales agents within McDonalds compete to become the top sales person. The winner will feel motivated to work harder and the losers will feel even more motivated to become the best. This type of competition is beneficial to the organization as it helps the organization make more sales. These types of conflicts bring disagreements and disputes that affect the corporation’s performance. Such type of conflict causes rifts within various sections of the company (Van Gramberg, 2005). A good example of negative conflict within McDonalds is when an employee verbally, sexually or physical harasses another employee. This will bring bad blood between the employees and they will be unwilling to work together. This will affect their performance as well as the general performance of the organization. Organizational conflict can be caused by managerial expectations. This occurs when an employee is unable to meet the expectations of his or her manager. Communication breakdown is another cause of workplace conflict (Collins, & ORourke, 2009). This occurs when one department within McDonalds fails or is late in responding to information from another department. Misunderstanding information also causes workplace conflict.

Processed Food as a Cause of Obesity and Chronic Illnesses Assignment

Processed Food as a Cause of Obesity and Chronic Illnesses - Assignment Example This essay "Processed Food as a Cause of Obesity and Chronic Illnesses" outlines the health's risks connected with the consumption of the processed food and the ways how to prevent it. Most processed foods contain a high level of modified diet products such as soybean and canola. Processed foods such as potato chips and cookies are characterised by high amounts of calories. This is because most processing procedures remove the amount water in these foods to reduce transportation costs and increase the shelf-life. Consumption of such foods leads to increased intake of the calories with a corresponding decrease in nutritional gain. Sugar sweetened soft drinks are a prominent source of calorie intake in children leading to obesity in the young generation. Ultra-processed foods lack the healthy fats, minerals, vitamins, insoluble fibre and phyto-chemicals that guard the human body against cancer and heart diseases. Fresh fruits and vegetables have a lower concentration of sugar and requi re less insulin release for their digestion compared to processed foods. High consumption of processed products may alter or completely destroy the taste buds making a person develop a tendency of getting used to strong tastes. This makes them increase the consumption of foods rich sugar and salt content. According to Ludwig (2011:1352-53), an effective plan than can reverse obesity and related trends in the prevalence of chronic diseases is, â€Å"adoption of a collective strategy that includes individual, industrial, governmental, community participation...†.

Buyer Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Buyer Behaviour - Essay Example of viewing web site catalogue 32 30 24 Ease of downloading to device 24 35 15 Speed of download 16 28 8 Picture quality of downloaded movie 24 56 32 Cost of downloading movie 21 48 24 Fishbein’s analysis enables us to understand consumer preferences and thereby predict consumer behavior by understanding their preferences (Solomon et al 2009). Based on the above analysis, it provided us a snapshot of how the players in the Downloadable Film Services are faring in terms of consumer’s behavior towards them. It showed that Blockbuster is leading in almost all areas making it the dominant player in the UK market. It also gives NetFlix a hint however on which area should it improve for it to successfully launch in the UK. Fishbein’s analysis however is being critiqued to be an inaccurate basis for a product or service success in the market. Market entry such as NetFlix’s entry in the UK market involves a myriad and interplay of various marketing components that relying solely on Fishbein’s model to determine a company’s success of entry in a particular market would be inadequate. b. From the above data and from your Fishbein analysis make recommendations as to how Netflix can make its launch into the UK market more successfully. It is obvious that NetFlix lags behind its competitors in most of preferred ( except in cost and picture where it placed second at 24 to Blockbuster’s 48). Inferring from Fishbein’s extended analysis, NetFlix has a lot of things to do if it intend to launch in UK successfully. First, it has to increase the number of titles it intend to rent out because it is perceived as lacking in this area. Second, it also needs to improve the interface of its website because end users find it complicated compared to its competitors based on the... It is obvious that NetFlix lags behind its competitors in most of preferred ( except in cost and picture where it placed second at 24 to Blockbuster’s 48). Inferring from Fishbein’s extended analysis, NetFlix has a lot of things to do if it intend to launch in UK successfully. First, it has to increase the number of titles it intend to rent out because it is perceived as lacking in this area. Second, it also needs to improve the interface of its website because end users find it complicated compared to its competitors based on the survey conducted. In addition to it, it has to improve the download speed of its server because it is perceived to be slow by its consumers. These factors and perceived weaknesses however are within the control of NetFlix of which it can readily addressed if it wanted to launch in the UK market successfully. 2. Porsche Blackberry phones a. Construct two Means End chains, one for the new Porsche Blackberry and another for the standard Blackberry. Means End Chain was originally a research that showed how people’s values affect other aspect of their lives. Means End Chain was later expanded in business to understand how products interact with consumers and how specific values relate to consumption behavior (_____). Means End is divided into three constructs which are attributes, benefits and values that ultimately form the Chain.

Juan Francisco Manzano, Autobiography of a Slave Assignment

Juan Francisco Manzano, Autobiography of a Slave - Assignment Example The inhumane punishments and oppressive events narrated in the biography and the orthography and unorthodox syntax in the original manuscript and the mysterious â€Å"disappearance† of his work during his lifetime all bear the scars of slavery. He started documenting his life events at the request of his mistress. This was possible since she had already taught him how to read and write. His original work never surfaced since. Juan Francisco Manzano lived in isolation as he was never allowed to play with other black children, but he led a relatively comfortable life and enjoyed some â€Å"freedom† as he was treated as a white child. Sometime later, Manzano worked as a slave where he almost lost his life. â€Å"I was putting the sugarloaf comes in one of the sheds toward †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. It was a huge piece of the roof with several beams that fell behind me, hitting the black Creole, Andres.† From the shock I fell through to the filter house below us,† (Manzano, pg. 99). The filter house was a large low building with a dark and an almost airless interior. Andres, unfortunately, did not survive as his skull was crushed, and the eyes almost popped out. Later on, rumors would reach Manzano’s second prompting him to urge young master Pancho to speak to his mother on Manzano’s behalf and get him from Dionisio where he worked in the sugar farm. This happened without much ado and he went to have  a  great life worth  enough food to eat. He was also bought a hat and some shoes something that was very new to him (Manzano, pg. 101). Although he was still a young buy, he would not go out to play with the other children even after such comfort. â€Å"I sank into such depression that I did not emerge from my sorrowful despondency, even after I saw all the children engrossed in games or when they called,† (Manzano, pg. 101) At the age of nineteen, Manzano took a certain pride of everything he did. His

The Time Essay Example for Free

The Time Essay What is the most horrible of institutions that ever entered human lives? Anyone, by the perceived notion of institutions might start listing education, family, marriage, state, religion etc. But, if we think once, all these institutions have something in common. They are all time framed, time – bound, and submit us to conformity, which is again fitting itself into the framework of larger time that is life time. So, I would say, it is time that is the major institution that changed the face of our lives. Not only ours, but of course of the whole human society, be it in any part of the world. If you are someone like Plato, you would say, there is no such thing like time that is making life hard for us. Instead, it is the idea of time that is responsible for all the commotion. Well, I do agree with such people and say, â€Å"The Clock is the culprit†, and enquire how this dire consequence happened to us. Unfortunately, to track how this at all happened, we should still rely on time, gazing back at the past, so that our arguments would make some sense. By this, we could say that, time is eternal to our lives. It neither has a beginning nor ending. The entire creation moves on according to a time pattern. Time is one of those many necessary evils that happened to us. Tracing back to history, we don’t have any evidence to suggest when the word ‘time’ derived or established semantically, but the word ‘clock’ is derived from the Latin word ‘clocca’ which means ‘bell’ or French word ‘cloche’, which again means the same. We were introduced to clocks only in the 14th century. It is in this period that people were familiarized with devices like sun dial, clepsydra or water clocks etc. Mechanical, tower and quartz clocks, with gears, wheels and weights attached to them were invented somewhere around the medieval period (5th – 15th century) in Europe. Be it towards human development or mechanization, this invention is of course a giant leap in the history of mankind. But, these clocks had the facility of ticking only once in an hour, that is there were no minutes and seconds hands at that time. As a solution to this problem and avoid the accuracy and precision constraint of his experiments, Galileo, a physicist, observed the chandeliers in the church and tried to devise a similar device, but he failed to do so. Later, with the aid of Galileo’s works and further research to his credit, Huygens, a Dutch astronomer, devised the first successful pendulum clock. But, theseclocks too had a problem. They used to tick several times a second, making life even more miserable. Later, William Clement, an English clock maker devised pendulum clocks whose least measure was a second. These clocks were well appreciated and came to be known as â€Å"the grandfather’s clocks† in the history. The aftermath of this was known to be the period of scientific development where the pendulums were replaced by atomic vibrations. The clocks which we use today with seconds, minutes and hours hands are called the atomic clocks and were invented by Dr. L. Essen. Until 1840’s, the clocks we used consisted of external batteries. Meanwhile, people undertook research to avoid this problem of batteries losing life as they were exposed to harsh weather conditions which show their impact on this life – boosting device, battery. It was much later in 1906 that we started using internal batteries. The first portable time piece (such as time turner, wrist watch etc. ) ever was devised by a German, Peter Hele, the pioneer of human plethora and obviously the first one who deserves death penalty because without him, we would have left time at home and walked freely into the outer world, and would have lived peacefully. Coming to philosophy, renowned philosophers argue that time is a mental construct but nobody ever says how to get rid of it. Moreover, they propose alternative theories on time. Though these don’t solve the problem, they give us a ground to work on it, as it is believed that sticking with a problem for a longer time (time again! ) will give us possible scope to analyze it and would hopefully lead us to the solution. They provide us a pretty good set of facts such as time is one – dimensional, unidirectional, irreversible and hence precious, it is not cyclic but linear (as Stephen Hawking said), etc. There are also competing theories in philosophy which tries to present different perspectives, viewpoints regarding time. The Presentists argue that only the present is the only real thing. The Growing – block theorists argue that both present and past are real, but not future, that is I’m eating an ice cream and dinosaurs had once existed are real, but not certainly my death. Who knows? I might be that one mortal being on earth who doesn’t meet death. The Block – universe theorists or the Eternalists argue that the past, present and future are subjective and are mere mental constructs, just like time. But, as it is denying the tenet of time, and as it is deemed to be tense less, eternalism was considered illogical. We even have this distinctversion called there are different types of time namely, Public time (the time which runs on clocks), Biological time (the circadian rhythms which are regulated by sunlight and darkness), and the Psychological or the Phenomenological time (this is nothing different from public time and moreover, it is only how we use the public time). This psychological time is once again known to be a mental construct, subjective, and immeasurable. For example, psychological time passes when we are happy and drags when we are sad. The psychological time cannot be measured with any devise whereas the public time is a basic time that can be measured by the clock, which is devised for the very purpose. Psychological time helps us to understand human thought processes whereas the public time does not understand or analyze anything. It is merely a platform for the consequences that the psychological time should think of. Talking about the flow of time, there are two opposing theories namely the Myth – Flow theory and the Theory of Objective Reality. The former strengthens the rampant argument that the notion of time is a myth and it is our mental construct whereas the latter contradictorily tells us that time is mind – independent reality, which it clarifies by saying that though we die, time is eternal and it always exists in this universe, thus justifying its objective reality. It is certainly due to this concept of time flow that cognitive psychologists were also interested in the time. They were interested in knowing our experience of time flow and our ability to place events as per chronology. Neuroscientists, at a point of time, were also interested in time and suggested that your brain waits about 80 milliseconds for all the relevant input to come in before you experience a â€Å"now†. Neuroscientists and psychologists have investigated whether they can speed up our minds relative to physical time. If so, we might become mentally more productive, and get more high quality decision making done per fixed amount of physical time, and learn more per minute. Several avenues have been explored: using cocaine, amphetamines and other drugs, undergoing extreme experiences such as jumping backwards off a tall tower with bungee cords attached to one’s ankles, and trying different forms of meditation. So far, none of these avenues have led to success productivity-wise. Time is no doubt the central theme of modern life. Every single day, from dawn to dusk, we plan our day, or at least think of our day as per a time schedule. We get up inthe morning and enter into the inevitable business of time keeping and this burden becomes even more when we attach meaning to a whole jargon of words like once upon a time, past, present, future, yesterday, today, tomorrow, day after tomorrow, the next hour, within ten minutes, one second etc. I think it is because of fear of this time and the time constraint that we are taking our life so seriously, the whole world became so competitive in the pursuit of virtue and racing towards an unknown fortune, whose existence is still a matter of potential questionnaire. Human beings are so subjective that we cannot conduct a Meta – subjective analysis of their subjectivity. But, millions and billions of members of the human race are curbed off their creativity and were forced to fit into an artificial pitcher called the time – box, where, since centuries, people were supposed to do what they were expected to and that to within a fixed time – frame, and a lot of value is attached to time. At least once in life, let us take up this unique or peculiar experiment of putting this time outside human lives. Can we live at least a day without looking at our watch, mobile, or desktop without knowing what the time is? Can we lead our life succumbing just to gut feeling and nothing else? Time is said to be a free – force which does not wait for anyone. Then, why the hell do we bother about time, when it does not wait for us? Can’t we be little egoistic concentrating on self – emphasis rather than time – emphasis? This might sound a kind of utopian and something that never happens in this 21st century. If at all we still feel like attempting this, we must follow Rousseau, who just went off into the woods to lead his life calm and quiet, away from the hue and cry of the main – frame of society which is suffering from OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) of time ticking lives. Despite the cons it has, time has pros too. As Ovid says, â€Å"Time is the best medicine. † It is known to heal the wounds which reason cannot. Time is a wise counselor which gives us a healing touch. It reminds us to act and of course act wisely. It is the sole controller of our emotion and experience. To conclude, time is all in the mind and so it is up to us, our mindset and attitude as of how to get on with it, and we must thank the Temporal Logic (time based logic that is responsible for the functioning of any language) for which we attribute our whole understanding of this issue, and of course the rather creepy World.

Japanese traits Essay Example for Free

Japanese traits Essay In short, the characters of anime show the Japanese who so aspire to Western traits as they would like to see themselves. It is an effect that cannot possibly be duplicated by live actors, who — being alive — can never really change the physical characteristics determined by their genetic makeup. They can dye their hair and even change their eye color with contact lenses, but they cannot fundamentally alter their skin color, facial features, or physique. And even if they tried, using special make-up effects or plastic surgery, the result would be unnatural. Only anime, and its cousin manga, can convincingly meld Japanese and Caucasian attributes into a natural-looking human being. This is because the upside of these genres inherent lack of realism is their unique ability to exploit the appeal of and fascination for the unreal. And that is why manga and anime have attained such a high status in the popular culture of Japan, compared to that of other countries. These are the only two media capable of portraying reality the way Japanese feel it should be. By comparison, live-action films sacrifice appeal from the outset simply because they feature Japanese actors. Fashion illustrator Nagasawa Setsu expressed the feelings of many Japanese in an essay he wrote in 1983 for the Japanese playbill of the British film Dont Look Now: With their sharp-featured faces and long-limbed bodies, Westerners (read Caucasians) are physically suited to the movie screen; everyone looks almost too beautiful, down to the minor characters . .Japanese are just the opposite. Even people who appear delicately beautiful in person look round and dumpy and totally unstylish on camera. The reason many people today say they dislike the ugliness† of Japanese films — content notwithstanding — is that the looks of Japanese screen actors put domestic films at a crucial disadvantage. Period pieces at least allow one to cover up these failings with elaborate costumes. But when they take off their clothes for bedroom scenes, even the most glamorous Japanese actors and actresses look hopelessly unattractive — which is why you cant pay me to watch Japanese porn. That Nagasawa is not alone in his preference is attested to by the growing number of animated pornographic videos that have been produced in Japan since the mid 1980s. Thus, the history of the past twenty years, during which anime has pushed live-action to the side and emerged as the face of Japanese cinema, has in essence been the history of ethnic bleaching in Japanese film. Incidentally, it was also during the last two decades that manga, originally regarded as kids stuff, truly came into its own as adult entertainment. In contrast to ideologies of American communities being portrayed as great melting pots, Americans have historically aligned themselves along racial and ethnic divisions. This has flourished in stereotypes of practically all non-majority members in the media. Japanese-Americans have been no exception. Characterizations of Japanese-Americans in the media often fail to make distinctions between Japanese, Japanese-Americans, Asians and Asian Americans. Consequently, attitudes towards Japanese-Americans have been heavily influenced by portrayals of all Asians. The first Asians to come to America in significant numbers were Chinese laborers. The early depictions emphasized slant-eyes, buckteeth and yellow skin. This representation reinforced the notion of â€Å"otherness. † Anti-Asian bias was a major reason behind immigration exclusion acts directed first at he Chinese, then the Japanese. Rather than the media acknowledging the difference between Asian cultures, American representation of Asians often borrowed indiscriminately from all cultures. All the dozens of Asians and Pacific Island cultures are lumped together into one homogeneous group identity. Even the Korean and Vietnamese women in the late 1950’s-70 were commonly called â€Å"Mama San† despite the Japanese American origins of the term. Characterizations of Japanese-Americans (and all Asians) in the media of the 1920’s and 1930’s as â€Å"vicious, rat-like sneaks, part of a world-wide â€Å"yellow peril† appears to have been one of the reasons for the internment. Amy Kashiwabara in â€Å"Vanishing Son: The Appearance, Disappearance, and Assimilation of the Asian-American Male in American Mainstream Media (1996) states â€Å"The visceral hatred of the Japanese inevitably tapped into yellow peril sentiments before the turn of the century which had been directed mainly against the Chinese†. In early movies, attached to the assignation of being Japanese came the implication of duplicity, violence and untrustworthiness appearing as Japanese traits, thus, sending the message that Asians, particularly Japanese men could not be trusted, no matter how Americanized they seem. This furthered the notion that Japanese-American men were even more dangerous than unassimilated ones because they could deceive people into trusting them. Persistent in early media was the idea of the diabolical Japanese that continually plotted the destruction of America in general and white women in particular. The 1946 film, â€Å"The Yellow Menace,† showed attempted Japanese domination. The 1940’s images on film were rife with scenes of Japanese torturing and abusing white people. The majority of Americans in the ‘40’s were intimately introduced to the Japanese in the context of war and violence at the movies, newspaper editorials, propaganda posters (*scan example) and later on in the 1950’s on television. Films from 1942 included â€Å"Prisoner of Japan,† â€Å"Remember Pearl Harbor,† and â€Å"Secret Agent of Japan. †

The Rise Of Melaka

The Rise Of Melaka IN 1511,despite the brave efforts of its defenders the last defences of Malacca was overwhelmed in the face of a fierce and sustained Portuguese invasion.Sultan Mahmud and his remaining fighting men were finally forced to abandon the city and retreated to Pahang before moving to Johor where his descendents founded the Sultanate Of Johore which lasted into 1914 . The fall of Malacca to the Portuguese brought to an end more than a hundred years of Malay rule. At its height, the sultanate was one of the worlds busiest emporia, attracting ships from the Middle-East, India, China, the Ryukyu, and the surrounding islands of the Archipelago. During the period, Malay wealth and power dominated the region. It was also an influential Islamic centre.It was an international enterport of its day the same way Singapore is to us today. Scholars generally agree that the fall of the Malacca sultanate marked a turning point in Malaysian and world history. But they disagree as to the nature of that importance. Many Western writers portray the fall of Malacca as ushering in a new political and economic order in Malaysia and South-East Asia, one dominated by the West. Others, including Asian scholars, dispute this. They insist that the Portuguese Empire was really a commercial enterprise based on a series of strategically-located fortified posts. The Portuguese were never able to impose an influence in the way the Malacca sultanate once did. Within the sphere of power in the Straits of Malacca, the Portuguese were only one of them.And unlike the Malacca Empire did not expand its influence beyond the City of Malacca. From the Western perspective, the success of the Portuguese in Asia was of epoch making importance. The capture of Malacca was the highlight of nearly a hundred years of Portuguese exploration. Prior to this, Western traders had travelled overland to reach China. But it was only in 1498 that a Portuguese fleet under Vasco da Gama finally rounded the Cape of Good Hope and arrived at the Malabar Coast of India. For the first time, a Western fleet from Europe had reached Asia. Adam Smith, in his classic Wealth of Nations, declared this as one of the two great events recorded in human history. The other, according to him, was the discovery of The New World(America) For a long time Europe had searched for a sea route to China and the East. But what motivated countries such as Portugal and Spain to undertake early explorations and to seek territorial expansion? Portugal was then only a small and poor country of about a estimated 1 million people. A mixture of motives such as scientific curiosity, adventure, profits, and religious zeal explains the support given by the state in the early Portuguese and Spanish explorations. One of the earliest patrons was Prince Henry of the Portuguese ruling house and he was keenly interested in science and geography. But perhaps the overriding factor was that there were profits to be made in the trade of spices. During the Crusades from the 11th to the 13th century, Christian knights and pilgrims had acquired the tastes of the Mediterranean, including spices. Spices then meant Eastern luxuries but pepper, nutmeg, clovers, and cinnamon were the more highly sought. These various spices soon became essential for food preservation and preparation in the pre-refrigeration era of Europe. But the spice trade was controlled by Arabs and Indian Muslims who dominated the Indian Ocean. Europe could only obtain pepper and cinnamon through the middlemen merchants of Genoa and Venice. Religious zeal was also behind the attempt to weaken Arab and Indian Muslim control of the spice trade. To this could be added the evangelical hope to bring the gospel to non-Christian lands. But the Portuguese had very little navigational knowledge to get to Asia. Furthermore, the Muslims controlled long stretches of the waters. Some explorers decided to try a different route. Hence, six years before Da Gamas voyage, Christopher Columbus sailed westward, believing this to be a shorter and easier way to Asia. Instead, he reached America. It took several exploratory voyages down the west coast of Africa before Da Gama finally made it to India. If immediate returns were to be measured, then the expedition had really little to show. The trip had lasted more than two years and, of the original crew of 170, only 54 survived. The glass beads, trinkets and textiles brought to Calicut, India, by the Portuguese found no demand. On its way back, Da Gamas mission resorted to seizing a cargo of spices from a small Muslim ship. From a wider view, Da Gamas expedition must also be seen as really a modest maritime feat compared to Arab seamen who had been circumnavigating Africa for centuries before him. Arabs traded over long distances stretching from ports of the Mediterranean through to India and to China. By the time of Chinas Tang dynasty, there was a large community of Muslim merchants in Guangzhou (Khanfu to the Arabs). Detailed Arab navigational manuals such as by Ibn Majid provided sailing information from Africa to China. Likewise, Chinese ships had by the 9th century been trading regularly at Quilon, a port just south of Calicut. The use of the compass and advances in ship technology helped Chinese overseas trade. More than a hundred years before Da Gama, Admiral Zheng He (Cheng Ho) led a Ming fleet of 62 large ships that called on rulers in the South-East Asian region. In the next few years, the Ming emperors sent out six more expeditions. One of these led by Admiral Zheng He reached the east African ports of Malindi and Mogadishu as well as Aden and Hormuz in the Arabian Sea-Persian Gulf area. For Western scholars, Da Gamas expedition defined the beginning of a new epoch in world history. For over a thousand years, Europe had been on the defensive, having to fight off the Islamic and then the Mongol threats. According to British historian Eric Hobsbawm, Europe after Vasco da Gama took a more assertive international role and over the next 500 years gained hegemonic influence over most parts of Asia. The Portuguese first, and then the Spaniards, the Dutch, the British, and the French carved out empires. It was under two viceroys, Francisco de Almeida (1505-09) and Afonso dAlbuquerque (1509-15) that Portugals Asian empire, the Estado da India, was created. DAlbuquerque personally led naval campaigns to seize strategic points along the major trade routes. Goa was captured in 1510, Malacca in 1511, and Hormuz at the entrance of the Persian Gulf in 1515. The Portuguese took over Malacca but the city never regained the prosperity and the power that was seen during the sultanate period. Once Malacca was no longer ruled by Malays, it lost the daulat, or legitimacy, to command tributes and trade from the surrounding states. Where there was one dominant emporium in the Straits of Malacca in the 15th century, by the turn of the 16th there were several. The Portuguese presence survived largely by allying itself with one or several of the local states. From the local historians point of view, the fall of Malacca had at least three other major impacts on the immediate course of South-East Asian history. Firstly, the shift of Muslims merchants from Malacca contributed to the rise of Aceh. New commercial prosperity and political power strengthened Acehs claim to being the new Islamic centre in the Straits. Aceh, at the height of its power in the 16th and 17th centuries, conquered most of north Sumatra and extended influence over the Peninsular west coast states. The Acheh push to the coast states were anyway interrupted by The Portuguese Empire The Johore Empire which after the fall of Malacca took control of most of the Malacca former Vassal states such as Pahang,Perak,Terengganu and Temasik(Singapore).The three powers continued to struggle with each other for control of the Malacca straits trade on into the 18th century. The Sultanate of Melaka or Malacca Sultanate (Malay: Kesultanan Melayu Melaka) was a Malay sultanatecentered in the nowadays state of Melaka, Malaysia. Traditional historical treatise marks circa 1400 as the founding year of the sultanate by a traitor Malay Raja of Singapura, Iskandar Shah, who was also known in certain accounts as Parameswara. The view however is being compete by a new historical contract that place the founding year in circa 1262. At the height of the sultanates influence in the 15th century, its capital grew into one of the most important entrepots of its time, with domain covering much of the Malay peninsula, Riau Islands and a significant portion of the east coast of Sumatra. As a noisy international trading harbor, Melaka appeared as a center for Islamic tutorial and dissemination, and encouraged the development of the Malay language, literature and arts. It heralded the golden age of Malay sultanates in the archipelago, in which Classical Malay became the lingua franca of the Maritime Southeast Asia and Jawi script became the primary medium for historical, religious and intellectual exchange. It is through these intellectual, spiritual and cultural developments, the Melakan era witnessed the enculturation of a Malay status, the Malayisation of the region and the subsequent formation of an Alam Melayu. In 1511, the capital of Melaka fell to the Portuguese Empire, forcing the last Sultan, Mahmud Shah (r. 1488-1511), to decline to the further reaches of his empire, where his progeny established new ruling dynasties, Johor and Perak. The legacy of the sultanate remained, with significance lies in its far-reaching political and cultural legacy, which, arguably, continues to be felt in modern times. For centuries, Melaka has been held up as an exemplar of Malay-Muslim civilization. It established systems of trade, diplomacy, and governance that persisted well into the 19th century, and introduced concepts such as daulat- a distinctly Malay notion of sovereignty that continues to shape of a new generation understanding of Malay kingship. Before the arrival of the first Sultan, Malacca was a fishing village to live by local Malays. Malacca was founded by Parameswara, also known as Iskandar Shah or Sri Majara, the last Raja of Singapura (present day Singapore) following a Majapahit attack in 1377. He found his way to Malacca around 1400 where he found a good port-it was accessible in all seasons and on the strategically located small point of the Malacca Straits. According to a popular legend, Parameswara was resting under a tree near a river while hunting, when one of his dogs cornered a mouse deer. In self-defence, the mouse deer pushed the dog into the river. Impressed by the courage of the deer, and taking it as a propitious omen of the weak overcoming the powerful, Parameswara decided on the spot to found an empire on that very spot. He named it Melaka after the tree under which he had taken shelter, the Melaka tree (Malay: Pokok Melaka). In collaboration with united countries from the sea-people (orang laut), the wandering proto-Malay privateers of the Straits, he established Malacca as an international port by compelling passing ships to call there, and establishing fair and secure facilities for warehousing and trade. Mass settlement of Chinese, mostly from the imperial and merchant fleet occurred during the dynasty of Parameswara in the nearby of Bukit Cina (Chinese Hill), which was perceived as having excellent Feng Shui. Palace of Malaccas Malay Sultanate came from its strategic location, Malacca was an important stopping point for Zheng Hes fleet. To enhance relations, Hang Li Po, according to local folklore a daughter of the Ming Emperor of China, arrived in Malacca, accompanied by 500 attendants, to marry Sultan Manshur Shah who reigned from 1456 until 1477. Her attendants married locals and settled mostly in Bukit China (Bukit Cina). (See Zheng He in Malacca). At the height of its power, the Sultanate of Malacca ruled over the southern Malay Peninsula and much of Sumatra. Its rise helped to hold off the Thais southward expansion, as well as hasten the decline of the rival Majapahit Empire of Java, which had been declining in power as Malacca rose. Malacca was also pivotal in the spread of Islam in the Malay Archipelago. After Vietnam (then known as Annam) destroyed Champa in the 1471 Vietnamese encroachment of Champa, they engaged in hostilities with Malacca with the intent of conquest. In the 9th month of the year 1481 envoys arrived with the Malacca again sent envoys to China in 1481 to inform the Chinese that, while Malaccan abassador were returning to Malacca from China in 1469, the Vietnamese attacked the Malaccans, killing some of them while castrating the young and enslaving them. The Malaccans reported that Vietnam was in control of Champa and also sought to conquer Malacca, but the Malaccans did not fight back, because they did not want to fight against another state that was a tributary to China without approval from the Chinese. They enquired to face the Vietnamese party to China which was in China at the time, but the Chinese inquire them since the disturbance was years old, they could do nothing about it, and the Emperor sent a letter to the Vietnamese ruler responsibility him for the incident. The Chinese Emperor also ordered the Malaccans to lift soldiers and fight back with violent force if the Vietnamese attacked them again.

The Racial Ideology in the NBA Essay example -- Sports, Social Change

NBA (National Basketball Association) is not all about competition. The racial ideology has been present in the NBA. In NBA games, African American people are on display to entertain mainly white Americans. It reminds people of an inappropriate example, in the Colosseum, slaves bloodily fought among themselves or with animals until one’s death while the audiences viewed it as a kind of entertainment. Today, however, American society does not tolerate any downright prejudice, and the NBA helps to build this racial ideology in a more modern and subtle way. Both commercials and commentators are contributing factors to the construction of this racial ideology which has culturally shaped the values of sports. By looking into the historical events and social changes, people can get a greater understanding on this racial ideology in the NBA. After the NBA was founded in 1946, there was, â€Å"the shift from rigid to fluid competitive group relation, changing distributions of power, declining level of overt prejudice and new ideas about assimilation and pluralism† resulting from a civil right movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the urban riots and Black Power movement of the 1960s, briefly, â€Å"the changes in black-white relations in the 20th century† (Healey, 115-116). â€Å"Agricultural work became less labor intensive, and the need to maintain a large, powerless workforce declined†, hence the black laborers came out to urban areas, seeking opportunities (qtd. in Healey, 116). Meanwhile sports as one of several unlimited fields that were opened for African Americans, earned more attention around the countries, especially from the black laborers. Sage noticed, â€Å"in the early 1960s only about 20% NBA players were black, but in 1989 black athletes compr... ...9). Some African Americans compromise to white people who are economically dominating and this phenomenon also depicts supreme white culture, setting African Americans’ status under the white culture. Under the commercial system and influence of the commentary, the racial ideology in the NBA is covert. No one constructed it on purpose, but several inevitable reasons made it happen. Both the historical reasons and traditional stereotypes make African Americans constantly suffer from a racial hierarchy. Practically, what is the best answer to this racial problem? There couldn’t be a short-term and effective way. Nevertheless, with the increasing awareness of the racial problems and the tide of humanities, this racial ideology can be ultimately erased. Just like what happened before, the slavery which was deeply rooted in people’s minds, has been abolished forever.

Eric Clapton :: essays research papers fc

Eric Clapton Eric Clapton is an innovative guitarist, basically the first to combine blues and rock, which in turn popularized blues. Because of his skill and ever- evolving style, his music is a lasting contribution in itself. Eric Clapton made his recording debut with The Yardbirds, the British group that also featured guitar virtuosos Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. Together, they created a whole new blues/rock sound that many of the famous ‘60s and ‘70s bands copied. Clapton left The Yardbirds when he felt the band strayed too far from their blues roots towards pop music. E.C. then joined British keyboardist, harmonica player, singer/songwriter John Mayall and his band, The Bluesbreakers to work on an album. Clapton, with the fresh, up and coming band, made a pure blues album that many blues fans consider to be his best. After the one-album stint with The Bluesbreakers, Clapton formed a new group called Cream with bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. The trio made four highly successful albums together in the next few years. Their more rock like interpretations of old blues songs made blues more popular to the mainstream, much more so than with The Yardbirds. Cream had several top 40 hits, including "Sunshine of Your Love", "White Room", and "Crossroads". Towards the end of the ‘60s Cream split up. Eric Clapton joined the band Blind Faith in '69 and did fairly well with it, but the group broke up quickly after the release of their only album. It was then that Clapton launched his solo career. For A few years in the early ‘70s Clapton played with backup band "Delaney and Bonnie and Friends", and made a few pretty successful albums, but nothing in comparison to the popularity he had with Cream. This was the start of a period of time (basically most of the ‘70s) where Eric Clapton would switch around from backup band to backup band. In doing this, he had to play differently with each one, so it kept his style fresh and ever changing. In the ‘70s Eric took more of a departure from blues and went on to basically playing rock and pop. An exception to this would be when he covered Bob Marley's song "I Shot the Sheriff" and took a stab at reggae. He did excellently with it, too, it was a big Top 40 hit. The eighties saw Eric Clapton make fewer albums. Although this was the low point in his career, he still made albums that were quality by any standard. They also saw a more mature Clapton. The Eric from the sixties with his endless,

The Power of Myth :: American Myth Myths Essays

The Power of Myth In the texts that we have recently read, we have seen the importance of myth in giving meaning and understanding to life. In the Beginnings of the Western Mind we read about the importance of myth in the consciousness of the oral societies of pre-classical Greece; in Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs we read about the myth of the "West" in the U.S. and its influence on the thought of many Americans; In Things Fall Apart we see the power if myth and the consequences of the break down of those myths and stories upon which a culture is structured on. I wish to discuss the importance of telling myths and stories in influencing the quality of our culture. Often, Americans look back on older cultures and try to understand them in terms of their myths and stories but, I fear, we do not question our own myths and stories. Perhaps the problem is not that we don't question our myths, but that we are not aware that we have myths and stories. If we don't recognize that as part of human nature that we are going to have myths and stories to explain who we are, we can not fully understand who we are. Traditionally, myths have been our stories about "gods." Gods have been, throughout our history, the "personifications of the transformative power" (Malloy 1998, Lecture Notes). Our archetypes are part of our myths and stories--they tell us who we are and give us meaning. Myths can be thought of as messages in symbols (archetypes), they give meaning, explain "why?" and allow us to change and to understand change. Today however, we live in a demythologized world. Our myths and stories are us. Myths and stories tell us who we are, why we are and how we should be. But we must wonder, "what happens when we stop telling good myths and stories?" Carl Jung, the famous psychologist and pioneering anthropologist, after studying the archetypes, myths, and stories of the native American peoples, went back to Europe where he began to notice that Europe no longer had archetypes, myths, or stories to give the necessary meaning to life. Thus, while early twentieth century Europe may have been technologically more advanced than the tribes of the Amazon or Kalhari, it lacked any of the stories that give us meaning and in a sense (in the context of the history of humanity), we are in a disparate way, less culturally developed. The Power of Myth :: American Myth Myths Essays The Power of Myth In the texts that we have recently read, we have seen the importance of myth in giving meaning and understanding to life. In the Beginnings of the Western Mind we read about the importance of myth in the consciousness of the oral societies of pre-classical Greece; in Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs we read about the myth of the "West" in the U.S. and its influence on the thought of many Americans; In Things Fall Apart we see the power if myth and the consequences of the break down of those myths and stories upon which a culture is structured on. I wish to discuss the importance of telling myths and stories in influencing the quality of our culture. Often, Americans look back on older cultures and try to understand them in terms of their myths and stories but, I fear, we do not question our own myths and stories. Perhaps the problem is not that we don't question our myths, but that we are not aware that we have myths and stories. If we don't recognize that as part of human nature that we are going to have myths and stories to explain who we are, we can not fully understand who we are. Traditionally, myths have been our stories about "gods." Gods have been, throughout our history, the "personifications of the transformative power" (Malloy 1998, Lecture Notes). Our archetypes are part of our myths and stories--they tell us who we are and give us meaning. Myths can be thought of as messages in symbols (archetypes), they give meaning, explain "why?" and allow us to change and to understand change. Today however, we live in a demythologized world. Our myths and stories are us. Myths and stories tell us who we are, why we are and how we should be. But we must wonder, "what happens when we stop telling good myths and stories?" Carl Jung, the famous psychologist and pioneering anthropologist, after studying the archetypes, myths, and stories of the native American peoples, went back to Europe where he began to notice that Europe no longer had archetypes, myths, or stories to give the necessary meaning to life. Thus, while early twentieth century Europe may have been technologically more advanced than the tribes of the Amazon or Kalhari, it lacked any of the stories that give us meaning and in a sense (in the context of the history of humanity), we are in a disparate way, less culturally developed.

Physics Lost Insulation

Why loft insulation is needed? Loft insulation is the most cost-effective energy efficiency measure that can be installed. It can reduce heating costs up to 20%. The purpose of them is to hold the heat below within the property, reducing heat loss to the roof void and outside but also reducing the amount of heating needed to maintain the property at an ideal temperature. With insulation, the property will be warmer, more comfortable and it will cost less to heat. How loft insulation reduces heat loss? Heat will always flow from a warm area to a cold one.The colder it is outside, the faster heat from your home will escape into surrounding air. Glass fibre is laid across the loft to reduce heat transfer out of the roof. Glass fibre traps air and trapped air is a poor conductor therefore reduces heat transfer from the ceiling to the loft by convection and conduction. How the thicknesses of the loft insulation affect heat loss? As you increase the level of insulation in the loft, it will slow the rate of heat loss and maintain the comfortable temperature for longer.Installing 290mm thick insulation can save up to approximately 20%, compared to thin insulation which is only 14% The pay back time is long term Generally, loft insulation cuts loft’s u value rom around 2. 3 (for an uninsulated loft) to 0. 16 W/m2K, a reduction of around 95%. A more specific example is sheep wool. It shows for sheep wool over 140mm, it has a U value of 0. 16 compared to over 250mm, it has a U value of 0. 11 showing how thickness can affect heat loss greatly.

Impact of the internet Essay

Since the advent of the inter benefit, the universe has experienced umpteen transports in various aspects of life including the genial set up. There is virtu tout ensembley no limit to the information that peerless back end price of admission from the meshwork respectable from the pouf of ones chair or bed depending on where you are logged in. Getting in continue with flock from any corner of the world has been reduced to salutary a few strokes of the keys and a click of the mouse. The companionable impacts of these are umteen. To start with, in that respect is social lunacy leading to complete drop of physiologic conjure with relatives and friends.Individuals are tending to baffle got away from education and work fundaments. The burden of this is that people tend to lack baptismal font to face socialization as they just get locked up behind there computers. According to Brian, people tend to go significantly depressed, stressed and lonely with one another as they spend many hours chatting in the inter exonerate (Brian W, 2006). Even though chat rooms in the net provide almost the same synergistic approach to socialization, it however lacks the in person connection necessary for people to violate acceptable social skills.It is feared that this lack of touch will affect the way the unseasoned people socialize oddly in communities that dictates strong interpersonal relationships whether it is to the families or friends. This is just one solid example of a culture that faces being thrown kayoed or being given scant(p) significance by the people collect to advent of the net income. Another big change brought to the ordination due to meshwork is the lose of identity since most people especially in the urban set up are getting strongly attached to the bare-assed culture adopted from the internet .Almost all communities uphold good moral standards in the societies. However, with advent of internet, this has been all in all pu t at stake. High theatrical role of pictures and videos in the net are full-grown in nature. There are new cultures coming up in the society like establishing online friends. This is common with the many social sites like nimbuzz, tweeter and facebook. Furthermore, dating culture has shifted to the net where there are many sites to check for soul mate.The ease with which people accession the friends highly jeopardizes the morality of the society. Politically the license of flow of information is suggestion of the republican level in a country. The internet is one of the technological means in the area of information and knowledge revolution. The internet therefore bears political culture in many meanings. As a dissolute and handy way of disseminating information, many presidential terms have started using the internet to reach out(p) to the public.There are various g overnment sites with government information. In addition, many people converse about political issues over t he net finished chat rooms and networking sites. Internet is an available means through which people concerned with politics enunciate since it has a gigantic storage talent (Hasan A, 2005). The internet is an arena that has experienced fast growth economically. The net is no lifelong just a place for getting simple information and walk away. It has dark out to be taking the place of learning institutions.It is like a acting field full of games and even a shopping mall full of goods of all sorts. Actually, there is a lot of affair carried out in the net. Various companies initiative on providing internet services. They host the internet backbones acting as internet access points, service providers between countries and continents (Andrew O, 1998). They reap a lot profit due to the change magnitude high demand for internet services, though there is a lot of contention as more people in any case venture in to get the benefits.

The Da Vinci Code Chapter 13-17

CHAPTER 13For s ever soal seconds, Langdon sta rosy-cheeked in delight in at the photograph of Saunieres addendum. P. S. grow Robert Langdon.He matte as if the radix were tilting beneath his feet. Sauniere left wing a postscript with my name on it? In his wildest imagines, Langdon could non fathom why. instantaneously do you understand, Sophie promise, her eye urgent, why Fache ordered you here tonight, and why you are his main(a) suspect?The simply mutantction Langdon unders tood at the mo ment was why Fache had looked so smug when Langdon suggested Sauniere would declare accused his killer by name.Find Robert Langdon. wherefore would Sauniere write this? Langdon de earthded, his confusion forthwith giving counsel to anger. wherefore would I want to kill Jacques Sauniere?Fache has inso furthermost to uncover a motive, plainly he has been writ hug drug text his completed conversation with you tonight in hopes you index reveal unrivaled.Langdon opened his m re vealh, exclusively soothe no course came.Hes fitted with a miniature microph champion, Sophie explained. Its connected to a transmitter in his pocket that radios the signal pole to the command post.This is impossible, Langdon stammered. I obtain an alibi. I went today back to my hotel after my lecture. You can ask the hotel desk.Fache al determiney did. His report shows you retrieving your room key from the concierge at al or so cristal- thirty. Unfortunately, the time of the arrive at was closer to el dismantle. You easily could suck up left your hotel room unseen.This is insanity Fache has no yardSophies eyes widened as if to say No yard? Mr. Langdon, your name is compose on the theme beside the body, and Saunieres participation book says you were with him at approximately the time of the murder. She paused. Fache has more(prenominal) than enough evidence to take you into custody for questioning.Langdon absolutely sould that he needed a lawyer. I didnt do this.Sop hie sighed. This is non American television, Mr. Langdon. In France, the laws cherish the police, non criminals. Unfortunately, in this case, in that respect is also the media consideration. Jacques Sauniere was a very prominent and well-loved figure in Paris, and his murder narrow expose be raw(a)s in the morning. Fache ordain be under immediate pressure to earn a statement, and he looks a lot damp having a suspect in custody already. Whether or not you are guilty, you most surely testament be held by DCPJ until they can figure out what re thoroughgoinglyy happened.Langdon felt up equivalent a caged animal. wherefore are you herald me all(a) this?Because, Mr. Langdon, I intrust you are innocent. Sophie looked away(predicate) for a moment and then(prenominal) back into his eyes. And also because it is partially my fault that youre in trouble.Im sorry? Its your fault Sauniere is onerous to frame me?Sauniere wasnt trying to frame you. It was a mistake. That put across on the floor was meant for me.Langdon needed a minute to process that one. I beg your pardon?That message wasnt for the police. He wrote it for me.I cin one caseive of he was hale to do everything in such a hurry that he sound didnt view how it would look to the police. She paused. The numbered scratch is nubless. Sauniere wrote it to make sure the probe included cryptographers, ensuring that I would k instantly as presently as possible what had happened to him.Langdon felt himself lo hellg touch fast. Whether or not Sophie Neveu had lost her mind was at this usher up for grabs, notwithstanding at least Langdon straightway understood why she was trying to benefactor him. P. S.Find Robert Langdon.She evidently believed the conservator had left her a cryptic postscript telling her to find Langdon. save why do you moot his message was for you?The Vitruvian Man,she said matly. That particular animated cartoon has always been my favorite Da Vinci work. Tonight he used it to catch my attention.Hold on. Youre saying the curator knew your favorite piece of art? She n anomaloused. Im sorry. This is all advance out of order. Jacques Sauniere and ISophies voice caught, and Langdon heard a sudden melancholy thither, a painful past, boiling just below the surface. Sophie and Jacques Sauniere manifestly had more or less sorting of special kindred. Langdon studied the beautiful young char charr originally him, well aware that aging men in France often took young mistresses. Even so, Sophie Neveu as a kept woman somehow didnt expect to fit.We had a falling-out ten days ago, Sophie said, her voice a whisper outright. Weve barely spoken since. Tonight, when Crypto got the call that he had been murdered, and I saw the moving pictures of his body and text on the floor, I realized he was trying to light me a message. Because of The Vitruvian Man? Yes. And the letters P. S.Post hired hand?She shook her head. P. S. are my initials. tho your nam e is Sophie Neveu. She looked away. P. S. is the moniker he called me when I lived with him. She blushed. It stood for Princesse SophieLangdon had no response.Silly, I kip charge, she said. further it was years ago. When I was a petty(a) fille. You knew him when you were a little girl? Quite well, she said, her eyes welling now with emotion. Jacques Sauniere was my granddad.CHAPTER 14Wheres Langdon? Fache demanded, exhaling the kick the bucket of a cigarette as he paced back into the command post.Still in the mens room, sir. Lieutenant ferrule had been expecting the question. Fache grumbled, Taking his time, I see. The headwaiter eyed the GPS expatriation over collets shoulder, and ferrule could nigh hear the wheels turning. Fache was fighting the urge to go check on Langdon. Ideally, the subject of an observation was allowed the most time and freedom possible, lulling him into a false sense of security. Langdon needed to return of his own volition. Still, it had been a lmost ten minutes.Too gigantic.Any chance Langdon is onto us? Fache asked. ferrule shook his head. Were still seeing small movements within the mens room, so the GPS dot is obviously still on him. Perhaps he feels ill? If he had found the dot, he would have removed it and time-tested to endure. Fache checked his watch. Fine.Still Fache seemed preoccupied. All evening, Collet had sensed an atypical intensity in his captain.Usually iso youngd and cool under pressure, Fache tonight seemed emotionally em dodgeed, as if this were somehow a personal matter for him. non surprising, Collet thought. Fache needs this arrest desperately.Recently the Board of Ministers and the media had bring more openly critical of Faches aggressive tactics, his clashes with compelling foreign embassies, and his gross over bud explicateing on new technologies. Tonight, a high-tech, high-profile arrest of an American would go a long way to placidity Faches critics, helping him unafraid the job a som e more years until he could retire with the lucrative pension. God knows he needs the pension, Collet thought. Faches zeal for technology had diminished him both(prenominal) professionally and personally. Fache was rumored to have invested his entire savings in the technology craze a few years back and lost his shirt. And Fache is a man who wears yet when the finest shirts.Tonight, there was still plenty of time. Sophie Neveus odd interruption, though too bad, had been only a minor wrinkle. She was foregone now, and Fache still had tease to p set down. He had yet to assert Langdon that his name had been scrawled on the floor by the victim. P. S.Find Robert Langdon.The Americans chemical reaction to that little bit of evidence would be telling indeed.Captain? one of the DCPJ ingredients now called from across the office. I think you better take this call. He was safekeeping out a tele telecommunicate receiver, looking concerned.Who is it? Fache said.The agent frowned. Its t he conductor of our Cryptology Department. And? Its about Sophie Neveu, sir. Something is not quite a right.CHAPTER 15It was time.Silas felt strong as he stepped from the black Audi, the nighttime breeze rustling his muddy robe. The winds of change are in the air.He knew the task forwards him would require more finesse than force, and he left his handgun in the car. The thirteen-round Heckler Koch USP 40 had been provided by the instructor.A weapon of death has no direct in a house of God.The plaza before the great church was deserted at this hour, the only visible souls on the far side of bespeak Saint-Sulpice a couple of teenage hookers showing their wares to the late night tourist traffic. Their nubile bodies sent a familiar lust to Silass loins. His thigh flexed instinctively, causing the thorny cilice belt to cut painfully into his flesh.The lust evaporated instantly. For ten years now, Silas had faithfully denied himself all sexual indulgence, even self-administered. I t was The Way.He knew he had sacrificed some(prenominal) to follow Opus Dei, but he had received much more in return. A vow of virtue and the relinquishment of all personal assets hardly seemed a sacrifice. Considering the poverty from which he had hump and the sexual horrors he had endured in prison, celibacy was a welcome change.Now, having re turned to France for the first time since creation arrested and shipped to prison in Andorra, Silas could feel his homeland scrutiny him, dragging violent memories from his redeemed soul. You have been reborn, he reminded himself. His service to God today had required the sin of murder, and it was a sacrifice Silas knew he would have to defecate uncommunicatively in his heart for all eternity.The flyer of your faith is the measure of the pain you can endure, the Teacher had told him. Silas was no stranger to pain and felt yearning to prove himself to the Teacher, the one who had assured him his actions were ordained by a higher powe r.Hago la obra de Dios,Silas whispered, moving now toward the church entrance.Pausing in the shadow of the massive doorway, he took a deep breath. It was not until this instant that he truly realized what he was about to do, and what look him inside.The keystone. It volition lead us to our final goal.He raised his ghost- unobjectionable fist and banged three times on the door. Moments later, the bolts of the enormous wooden portal began to move.CHAPTER 16Sophie wondered how long it would take Fache to figure out she had not left the building. Seeing that Langdon was cl untimely overwhelmed, Sophie questioned whether she had done the right thing by cornering him here in the mens room.What else was I supposed to do?She pictured her granddads body, naked and stretch on the floor. There was a time when he had meant the world to her, yet tonight, Sophie was surprised to feel almost no sadness for the man. Jacques Sauniere was a stranger to her now. Their relationship had evaporated in a single instant one March night when she was twenty-two. Ten years ago.Sophie had come home a few days early from graduate university in England and mistakenly witnessed her grandpa engaged in something Sophie was obviously not supposed to see. It was an image she barely could believe to this day.If I hadnt seen it with my own eyesToo ashamed and stunned to endure her granddads pain attempts to explain, Sophie immediately moved out on her own, victorious money she had saved, and getting a small flat with some roommates. She vowed never to speak to whatsoeverone about what she had seen. Her grandpa tried desperately to reach her, sending cards and letters, begging Sophie to meet him so he could explain. justify how? Sophie never responded except once to forbid him ever to call her or try to meet her in public. She was afraid his explanation would be more affright than the incident itself.Incredibly, Sauniere had never given up on her, and Sophie now possessed a decades wort h of rest unopened in a dresser drawer. To her grandfathers credit, he had never once disobeyed her request and phoned her.Until this afternoon.Sophie? His voice had sounded startlingly old on her answering machine. I have abided by your wishes for so long and it pains me to call, but I moldiness speak to you. Something terrible has happened. stand up in the kitchen of her Paris flat, Sophie felt a cool down to hear him again after all these years. His downhearted voice brought back a flood of worshipful childhood memories.Sophie, please listen. He was sermon English to her, as he always did when she was a little girl. Practice cut at school.Practice English at home. You cannot be mad forever. Have you not read the letters that Ive sent all these years? Do you not yet understand? He paused. We moldiness speak at once. Please grant your grandfather this one wish. Call me at the Louvre. Right away. I believe you and I are in recruit danger. Sophie stared at the answering machi ne. Danger? What was he talk about?Princess Her grandfathers voice cracked with an emotion Sophie could not place. I know Ive kept things from you, and I know it has cost me your love. yet it was for your own safety. Now you mustiness know the integrity. Please, I must tell you the truth about your family.Sophie shortly could hear her own heart. My family? Sophies parents had died when she was only four. Their car went off a bridge into fast-moving water. Her granny and younger br otherwise had also been in the car, and Sophies entire family had been erased in an instant. She had a box of composition clippings to bear out it.His words had sent an unexpected surge of longing through her bones. My family In that fleeting instant, Sophie saw images from the dream that had awoken her countless times when she was a little girl My family is alive They are coming home But, as in her dream, the pictures evaporated into oblivion.Your family is dead, Sophie. They are not coming home.So phie her grandfather said on the machine. I have been cargo holding for years to tell you. Waiting for the right moment, but now time has run out. Call me at the Louvre. As soon as you get this. Ill wait here all night. I fear we both may be in danger. Theres so much you need to know.The message ended.In the relieve, Sophie stood trembling for what felt like minutes. As she considered her grandfathers message, only one mishap made sense, and his true intent dawned.It was bait.Obviously, her grandfather cute desperately to see her. He was trying anything. Her revolt for the man deepened. Sophie wondered if maybe he had fallen terminally ill and had decided to attempt any ploy he could think of to get Sophie to visit him one last time. If so, he had chosen wisely.My family.Now, standing in the darkness of the Louvre mens room, Sophie could hear the echoes of this afternoons phone message. Sophie, we both may be in danger.Call me.She had not called him. Nor had she planned to. Now , however, her skepticism had been deeply challenged. Her grandfather lay murdered inside his own museum. And he had scripted a write in code on the floor.A code for her.Of this, she was certain(a).Despite not understanding the meaning of his message, Sophie was certain its cryptic nature was additional proof that the words were intended for her. Sophies passion and aptitude for cryptography were a product of growing up with Jacques Sauniere a monster himself for codes, word games, and puzzles. How many Sundays did we elapse doing the cryptograms and crossword puzzles in the newspaper?At the age of twelve, Sophie could finish the Le Monde crossword without any help, and her grandfather graduated her to crosswords in English, numerical puzzles, and substitution ciphers. Sophie devoured them all. Eventually she turned her passion into a profession by becoming a code breaker for the Judicial Police.Tonight, the cryptographer in Sophie was forced to respect the efficiency with whic h her grandfather had used a simple code to unite two total strangers Sophie Neveu and Robert Langdon.The question was why?Unfortunately, from the bewildered look in Langdons eyes, Sophie sensed the American had no more intellect than she did why her grandfather had thrown them together.She pressed again. You and my grandfather had planned to meet tonight. What about?Langdon looked truly perplexed. His secretaire set the meeting and didnt offer any ad hoc soil, and I didnt ask. I assumed hed heard I would be lecturing on the pagan iconography of French cathedrals, was interested in the topic, and thought it would be fun to meet for drinks after the talk.Sophie didnt buy it. The connection was flimsy. Her grandfather knew more about pagan iconography than anyone else on earth. Moreover, he an exceptionally private man, not someone prone to chatting with random American professors unless there were an important reason.Sophie took a deep breath and probed further. My grandfather called me this afternoon and told me he and I were in grave danger. Does that mean anything to you? Langdons lamentable eyes now clouded with concern. No, but considering what just happened Sophie nodded. Considering tonights events, she would be a fool not to be frightened. Feeling drained, she walked to the small plate-glass window at the far end of the bathroom and gazed out in silence through the mesh of solicitude tape insert in the glass. They were high up forty feet at least.Sighing, she raised her eyes and gazed out at Pariss crying(a) landscape. On her left, across the Seine, the illuminated Eiffel Tower. Straight ahead, the curl de Triomphe. And to the right, high atop the sloping rise of Montmartre, the picturesque arabesque dome of Sacre-Coeur, its polished stone glowing white like a resplendent sanctuary.Here at the Hesperianmost tip of the Denon Wing, the north-south thoroughfare of steer du spinning top ran almost flush with the building with only a narrow s idewalk separating it from the Louvres outer(a) wall. Far below, the rough-cut caravan of the citys nighttime delivery trucks sat idling, waiting for the signals to change, their running lights seeming to twinkle mockingly up at Sophie.I dont know what to say, Langdon said, coming up loafer her. Your grandfather is obviously trying to tell us something. Im sorry Im so little help.Sophie turned from the window, sensing a sincere regret in Langdons deep voice. Even with all the trouble some him, he obviously treasured to help her. The teacher in him, she thought, having read DCPJs workup on their suspect. This was an academic who distinctly despised not understanding.We have that in common, she thought.As a code breaker, Sophie made her living extracting meaning from seemingly senseless data. Tonight, her best guess was that Robert Langdon, whether he knew it or not, possessed information that she desperately needed. Princesse Sophie, Find Robert Langdon.How much clearer could he r grandfathers message be? Sophie needed more time with Langdon. Time to think. Time to sort out this mystery together. Unfortunately, time was running out.Gazing up at Langdon, Sophie made the only play she could think of. Bezu Fache will be taking you into custody at any minute. I can get you out of this museum. But we need to act now. Langdons eyes went wide. You want me to run? Its the smartest thing you could do. If you let Fache take you into custody now, youll spend weeks in a French jail spot DCPJ and the U. S. Embassy fight over which courts try your case. But if we get you out of here, and make it to your embassy, then your government will protect your rights while you and I prove you had zip fastener to do with this murder.Langdon looked not even vaguely convinced. deflect it Fache has armed guards on every single termination Even if we escape without being shooting, running away only makes me look guilty. You need to tell Fache that the message on the floor was for you, and that my name is not there as an accusation.I will do that, Sophie said, speaking hurriedly, but after youre safely inside the U. S. Embassy. Its only about a mile from here, and my car is lay just outside the museum. Dealing with Fache from here is too much of a gamble. Dont you see? Fache has made it his missionary post tonight to prove you are guilty. The only reason he postponed your arrest was to run this observance in hopes you did something that made his case stronger. Exactly. Like running The kiosk phone in Sophies sweater pocket suddenly began ringing. Fache probably.She reached in her sweater and turned off the phone.Mr. Langdon, she said hurriedly, I need to ask you one last question. And your entire future may depend on it. The writing on the floor is obviously not proof of your guilt, and yet Fache told our team he is certain you are his man. Can you think of any other reason he might be convinced youre guilty?Langdon was silent for several seconds. None wh atsoever.Sophie sighed. Which means Fache is lying.Why, Sophie could not begin to imagine, but that was hardly the erupt at this point. The fact remained that Bezu Fache was determined to put Robert Langdon behind bars tonight, at any cost. Sophie needed Langdon for herself, and it was this quandary that left Sophie only one logical conclusion.I need to get Langdon to the U. S. Embassy.Turning toward the window, Sophie gazed through the alarm mesh embedded in the plate glass, down the dizzying forty feet to the pavement below. A leap from this visor would provide Langdon with a couple of broken legs. At best.Nonetheless, Sophie made her decision.Robert Langdon was about to escape the Louvre, whether he wanted to or not.CHAPTER 17What do you mean shes not answering? Fache looked incredulous. Youre calling her cell phone, right? I know shes carrying it.Collet had been trying to reach Sophie now for several minutes. Maybe her batteries are dead. Or her ringers off.Fache had looked distress ever since talking to the director of Cryptology on the phone. After hanging up, he had marched over to Collet and demanded he get Agent Neveu on the line. Now Collet had failed, and Fache was pacing like a caged lion.Why did Crypto call? Collet now ventured.Fache turned. To tell us they found no references to Draconian devils and lame saints. Thats all? No, also to tell us that they had just set the numerics as Fibonacci amount, but they suspected the series was meaningless.Collet was confused. But they already sent Agent Neveu to tell us that. Fache shook his head. They didnt send Neveu. What?According to the director, at my orders he paged his entire team to look at the images Id wired him. When Agent Neveu arrived, she took one look at the photos of Sauniere and the code and left the office without a word. The director said he didnt question her behavior because she was clear upset by the photos.Upset? Shes never seen a picture of a dead body?Fache was silent a mome nt. I was not aware of this, and it seems uncomplete was the director until a coworker informed him, but apparently Sophie Neveu is Jacques Saunieres granddaughter.Collet was speechless.The director said she never once mentioned Sauniere to him, and he assumed it was because she probably didnt want advantageous treatment for having a famous grandfather.No wonder she was upset by the pictures.Collet could barely conceive of the unfortunate coincidence that called in a young woman to decipher a code written by a dead family member. Still, her actions made no sense. But she obviously recognized the numbers as Fibonacci numbers because she came here and told us. I dont understand why she would leave the office without telling anyone she had figured it out.Collet could think of only one scenario to explain the troubling developments Sauniere had written a numeric code on the floor in hopes Fache would use up cryptographers in the investigation, and therefore involve his own granddaugh ter. As for the rest of the message, was Saunie recommunicating in some way with his granddaughter? If so, what did the message tell her? And how did Langdon fit in?Before Collet could ponder it any further, the silence of the deserted museum was shattered by an alarm. The bell sounded like it was coming from inside the Grand Gallery.Alarme one of the agents yelled, eyeing his extend from the Louvre security center. GrandeGalerie Toilettes MessieursFache wheeled to Collet. Wheres Langdon?Still in the mens room Collet pointed to the blinking red dot on his laptop schematic. He must have broken the window Collet knew Langdon wouldnt get far. Although Paris fire codes required windows above fifteen meters in public buildings be breakable in case of fire, exiting a Louvre second-story window without the help of a hook and ladder would be suicide. Furthermore, there were no trees or grass on the western end of the Denon Wing to cushion a fall. directly beneath that rest room window, the two-lane Place du Carrousel ran within a few feet of the outer wall. My God, Collet exclaimed, eyeing the screen. Langdons moving to the window ledgeBut Fache was already in motion. Yanking his Manurhin MR-93 revolver from his shoulder holster, the captain dashed out of the office.Collet watched the screen in bewilderment as the blinking dot arrived at the window ledge and then did something utterly unexpected. The dot moved outside the perimeter of the building.Whats going on? he wondered. Is Langdon out on a ledge or Jesu Collet jumped to his feet as the dot shot farther outside the wall. The signal seemed to shudder for a moment, and then the blinking dot came to an abrupt apprehension about ten yards outside the perimeter of the building. heavy-handed with the controls, Collet called up a Paris alley map and recalibrated the GPS. Zooming in, he could now see the get hold of location of the signal.It was no longer moving.It lay at a dead stop in the midway of Place du Carro usel. Langdon had jumped.