The Return: Nightfall Chapter 13

Much later that night, Elena couldn't sleep. She didn't want to be hemmed in inside the Tall Room, she said. Secretly, Stefan worried that she wanted to go outside and track the malach that had attacked the car. But he didn't think she was able to lie, now, and she kept bumping against the shut window, chiming to him that she just wanted air. Outside air. â€Å"We should put some clothes on you.† But Elena was bewildered – and stubborn.It's Night†¦. This is my Night Gown, she said.You didn't like my Day Gown. Then she bumped the window again. Her â€Å"Day Gown† had been his blue shirt, which, belted, made a sort of very short chemise on her, coming to the middle of her thighs. Right now what she wanted fit in with his own desires so completely that he felt†¦a bit guilty over the prospect. But he allowed himself to be persuaded. They drifted, hand in hand, Elena like a ghost or angel in her white nightgown, Stefan all in black, feeling himself almost disappear where the trees obscured the moonlight. Somehow they ended up in the Old Wood, where skeletons of trees mixed with the living branches. Stefan stretched his newly improved senses to the widest but could only find the normal inhabitants of the forest, slowly and hesitantly returning after being frightened off by Damon's lash of Power. Hedgehogs. Deer. Dog-foxes, and one poor vixen with twin kits, who hadn't been able to run because of her children. Birds. All the animals that helped to make the forest the wondrous place it was. Nothing that felt like malach or seemed as if it could do any harm. He began to wonder if Damon had simply invented the creature that influenced him. Damon was a tremendously convincing liar. He was telling the truth, Elena chimed.But either it's invisible or it's gone now. Because of you. Your Power. He looked at her and found her looking at him with a mixture of pride and another emotion that was easily identified – but startling to see out of doors. She tilted her face up, its classic lines pure and pale in the moonlight. Her cheeks were rose pink with blushing, and her lips were slightly pursed. Oh†¦hell, Stefan thought wildly. â€Å"After all you've been through,† he began, and made his first mistake. He took hold of her arms. There, some sort of synergy between his Power and hers started to bring them, in a very slow spiral, upward. And he could feel the warmth of her. The sweet softness of her body. She still was waiting, eyes closed, for her kiss. We can start all over again,she suggested hopefully. And that was true enough. He wanted to give back to her the feelings she had given to him in his room. He wanted to hold her hard; he wanted to kiss her until she trembled. He wanted to make her melt and swoon with it. He could do it, too. Not just because you learned a thing or two about women when you were a vampire, but because he knew Elena. They were really one at heart, one soul. Please?Elena chimed. But she was so young now, so vulnerable in her pure white nightgown, with her creamy skin flushing pink in anticipation. It couldn't be right to take advantage of someone like that. Elena opened her violet-blue eyes, silvered by the moonlight, and looked right at him. Do you want†¦She said it with sobriety in the mouth but mischief in her eyes†¦.to see how many times you can make me say please? God, no. But that sounded so grown-up that Stefan helplessly took her into his arms. He kissed the top of her silky head. He kissed downward from there, only avoiding the little rosebud mouth that was still puckered in lonely supplication.I love you. I love you. He found that he was almost crushing her ribs and tried to let go, but Elena held on as tightly as she could, holding his arms to her. Do you want – the chime was the same, innocent and ingenuous – to see how many times I can make yousay please? Stefan stared at her for a moment. Then, with a sort of wildness in his heart, he fell on the little rosebud mouth and kissed it breathless, kissed it until he himself was so dizzy that he had to let her go, just an inch or two. Then he looked into her eyes again. A person could lose themselves in eyes like that, could fall forever into their starry violet depths. He wanted to. But more than that, he wanted something else. â€Å"I want to kiss you,† he whispered, right at the portal of her right ear, nipping it. Yes.She was definite about that. â€Å"Until you faint in my arms.† He felt the shiver go through her body. He saw the violet eyes go misty, half closing. But to his surprise he got back an immediate, if slightly breathless, â€Å"Yes,† from Elena out loud. And so he did. Just short of swooning, with little shivers going through her, and little cries that he tried to stop with his own mouth, he kissed her. And then, because it was Time, and because the shivers were starting to have a painful edge to them, and Elena's breath was coming so quick and hard when he let her breathe that he really was afraid that she might pass out, he solemnly used his own fingernail to open a vein in his neck for her. And Elena, who once had been only human, and would have been horrified by the idea of drinking another person's blood, clasped herself to him with a small choked sound of joy. And then he could feel her mouth warm, warm against the flesh of his neck, and he felt her shudder hard, and he felt the heady sensation of having his blood drawn out by the one he loved. He wanted to pour his entire being out in front of Elena, to give her everything that he was, or ever would be. And he knew that this was the way she had felt, letting him drink her blood. That was the sacred bond they shared. It made him feel that they had been lovers since the beginning of the universe, since the very first dawning of the very first star out of the darkness. It was something very primitive, and very deeply ingrained in him. When he first felt the flow of blood into her mouth, he had to stifle a cry against her hair. And then he was whispering to her, fierce, involuntary things about how he loved her and how they could never be parted, and endearments and absurdities wrenched from him in a dozen different languages. And then there were no more words, only feelings. And so they slowly spiraled up in the moonlight, the white nightgown sometimes wrapping itself around his black-clad legs, until they reached the top of the trees, living and standing but dead. It was a very solemn, very private ceremony of their own, and they were far too lost in joy to look out for any danger. But Stefan had already checked for that, and he knew that Elena had, too. There was no danger; there was only the two of them, drifting and bobbing with the moon shining down like a benediction. One of the most useful things Damon had learned lately – more useful than flying, although that had been something of a kick – was to shield his presence absolutely. He had to drop all his barriers, of course. They would show up even in a casual scan. But that didn't matter, because if no one could see him, no one could find him. And therefore he was safe. Q.E.D. But tonight, after walking out of the boardinghouse, he had gone out to the Old Wood to find himself a tree to sulk in. It wasn't that he minded what human trash thought of him, he thought venomously. It would be like worrying what a chicken thought of him just before he wrung its neck. And, of all things he caredleast about, his brother's opinion was number one. But Elena had been there. And even if she had understood – had made efforts to get the others to understand – it was just too humiliating, being thrown out in front of her. And so he had retired, he thought bitterly, into the only retreat he could call home. Although that was a little ridiculous, since he could have spent the night in Fell's Church's best hotel (its only hotel) or with any number of sweet young girls who might invite a weary traveler in for a drink†¦of water. A wave of Power to put the parents to sleep, and he could have had shelter, as well as a warm and willing snack, until morning. But he was in a vicious mood, and he just wanted to be alone. He was a little afraid to hunt. He wouldn't be able to control himself with a panicked animal in his present state of mind. All he could think of was ripping and tearing and making somebody very, very unhappy. The animals were coming back, though, he noticed, careful to use only ordinary senses and nothing that would betray his presence. The night of horror was over for them, and they tended to have very short memories. Then, just as he had been reclining on a branch, wishing that Mutt, at least, had sustained some sort of painful and lasting injury,they had appeared. Out of nowhere, seemingly. Stefan and Elena, hand in hand, floating like a pair of happy wingd Shakespearean lovers, as if the forest wastheir home. He hadn't been able to believe it at first. And then, just as he was about to call down thunder and sarcasm on them, they had started their love scene. Right in front of his eyes. Even floating up to his level, as if to rub it in. They'd begun kissing and caressing and†¦more. They'd made an unwilling voyeur out of him, although he'd become more angry and less unwilling as time passed and their caresses had become more passionate. He'd had to grind his teeth, when Stefan had offered Elena his blood. Had wanted to scream that there had been a time when this girl had been his for the taking, when he could have drained her dry and she would have died happily in his arms, when she had obeyed the sound of his voice instinctively and the taste of his blood would make her reach heaven in his arms. As she obviously was in Stefan's. That had been the worst. He'd had to dig his nails into his palms when Elena had wrapped herself around Stefan like a long, graceful snake and had fastened her mouth against his neck, as Stefan's face had tipped toward the sky, with his eyes shut. For the love of all the demons in hell, why couldn't they just get done with it? Thatwas when he noticed that he wasn't alone in his well-chosen, commodious tree. There was someone else there, sitting calmly right beside him on the big branch. They must have appeared while he was engrossed in the love scene and his own fury, but still, that made them very, very good. No one had snuck up on him like that in over two centuries. Three, perhaps. The shock of it had sent him tumbling off the branch – without turning on his vampire ability to float. A long lean arm reached out to catch him, to haul him to safety, and Damon found himself gazing into a pair of laughing golden eyes. Who thehellare you? he sent. He didn't worry about it being picked up by the lovers in the moonlight. Nothing short of a dragon or an atomic bomb would catch their attention now. I'm the hell Shinichi,the other boy replied. His hair was the strangest Damon had seen in a while. It was smooth and shiny and black everywhere except for a fringe of uneven dark red at the tips. The bangs he tossed carelessly out of his eyes ended in crimson and so did the little wisps all round his collar – for he wore it slightly long. It looked as if tongues of dancing, flaring flame were licking at the ends of it, and gave singular emphasis to his answer:I'm the hell Shinichi. If anyone could pass as a devil come up straight from Hell, this boy could. On the other hand, his eyes were the pure golden eyes of an angel.Most people just call me Shinichi alone , he added soberly to Damon, letting those eyes crinkle a little to show that it was a joke.Now you know my name. Who are you? Damon simply looked at him in silence.

Outliers Essay

In the book Outliers author Malcolm Greenwell talks about a variety of topics that deal with how success is obtained by individuals who are blessed to have many different opportunities. They range from a school designed for students to excel, to being financially wealthy, or even being in the right place at the right time. Many different types of examples of people who found success through opportunities laid out in front of them are discussed in Outliers. From a man who was Jewish and just happened to be born in a location where lawyers were scarce, to hockey players who were born just after the cut off dates, Gladwell describes types of advantages and how these opportunities sparked success for these people. He also talks about how success is also derived from hard work and putting in the time to master a particular trade or skill. A theory of putting in ten thousand hours is discussed as the way to become an expert. This way of thinking is actually a very intelligent one due to the fact that to achieve greatness at the highest level it only makes sense that one would have to work the hardest. As Gladwell states, â€Å"The people at the top don’t work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder† (Gladwell 39). This is a great statement that shows how while luck and good fortune is never a bad thing, hard work and taking advantage of opportunities is what separates the ordinary from the extraordinary. While outworking the competition is a very important aspect, having and taking advantage of opportunities is just as important to achieving success. Today, people all around the world pay attention to many famous stars or athletes and are always inspired by stories of struggle or hardship that they may have dealt with. Josh Hamilton, a famous baseball player, is one of these examples. His story is one that has been heard by many that deals with a guy who had everything he needed in life and threw it all away when he fell into the proverbial grasp of alcohol and drugs. Then when all hope seemed lost he was able to escape the adversity in his life and turn it around and become the clean, Christian man that he is today. Josh Hamilton’s struggles and self-imposed obstacles played a major part in the early years of his major league career. He fought through and became a very successful player through the opportunities that he had and was given on his way back to the top. Josh Hamilton was a multi-talented person from the time he was very young. He could hit and throw harder than anyone his age and had all the skills that a coach would look for in a young child. At the age of eight he could out play most of the kids in the thirteen year old league. He was what most would call a protege. Many of the parents were scared with Josh’s ability and raised concern about Josh hurting their children who were not nearly as talented. He amazed anybody who watched him and he even talked about people being stunned after watching him take a round of batting practice. He states, â€Å"I enjoyed watching other players’ reactions when I took batting practice. Everyone was stunned of how hard the ball came off of my bat† (Hamilton, 181). He had a true talent that was unlike any that most had ever seen from a kid that age which was a God-given gift without a doubt. Throughout his teenage years he worked his butt off to be the best he could be by hitting and throwing just about every day, as well as lifting and staying in shape. Hamilton had everything to be a superstar, he just needed to keep his head straight and he was destined to become a millionaire straight out of high school if all went well. Hamilton grew up in an excellent household with two parents who loved him deeply and ones that supported everything he wanted to do. They did well financially and he received several opportunities to excel due to this financial stability. From all-star teams to personal coaches, Josh had it all laid out in front of him. He had a desire to be the best unmatched by most kids his age. He had a unique understanding of what it takes to be â€Å"big-time† that few adults every completely grasp. He talked to many pro scouts during his early years of high school and he was preparing to be drafted and continue his fast track to fame. Everything that Gladwell describes as keys to success Hamilton was provided. The only thing to keep him from this would end up being himself. Josh was drafted in the 1999 draft as the number one overall pick by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and signed a $3. 96 million dollar bonus straight out of high school (Hamilton, 187). He was playing ball and doing extremely well. He had his family support and was growing into quite the individual. Eventually, however, when a few incidents were placed upon him, he folded and turned to a terrible place to find happiness. He did things he never thought of doing before from drinking to smoking weed and eventually becoming a major crack addict. He got in with the wrong crowd and could not get out of the hold it had on him and was on his way to ruining everything. He spent all his money on drugs and alcohol and was very close to killing himself from the drugs he was taking. He had a family at the time and he distanced himself from them to a point where his wife wanted nothing to do with him. Life was falling apart for the once nationally renowned phenomena. It wasn’t until he was pushed to the brink that he began trying to get to rehab and fix his addictions. He talks about his problems regarding the extent of his issues in his book, Beyond Belief. He says, â€Å"My journey to the depths of human depravity- to a place where a single-minded desire to alter my consciousness was my only goal- defies logic† (Hamilton, 187). This helps bring his story full-circle to show how he went from such a high point to a low, and then back up again. It is a true story of opportunity and fight which Gladwell talks about in his book. Hamilton’s struggles fit in well with Gladwell’s success theories because Gladwell talks about how opportunity leads to success and Hamilton had every opportunity to excel. He was provided everything he needed and he obtained everything until he messed it up with bad decisions. He had many people help him as he worked back and thanks to these people he was able to make it, from the rehab people, to his teammates, to the baseball organization, and especially from his parents. This follows suit with Gladwell’s point of how opportunities can lead to success when all hope seems lost. When Hamilton came back he was better than ever. Surprisingly he was away from the game for over two years, but when he returned he had not lost anything. His swing was still solid and his arm was still what it always was. He was a much better person and he was blessed for his chance to come back. He found the Lord and ended all his struggles by putting his focus in much more important things such as family, faith, and ball. He now has exceled to become the league Most Valuable Player in 2010 and has lead the Texas Rangers to two consecutive World Series appearances. The writer of the Josh Hamilton biography talks about his physical attributes, especially his hitting ability when he says, â€Å"Josh has one of baseball’s most magnificent swings. It is smooth and powerful. His knowledge of the strike zone helps make him a great hitter, and he can clear any fence in the majors. In other words, he is a pitchers worst nightmare† (JockBio). Society can learn many things from Josh Hamilton’s story. It can learn that even with hard work and all the things that Hamilton had going for him, messing up and ruining it can happen. But through anything if a person has opportunities to come back, they can succeed. Malcolm Gladwell has many examples of how success can be obtained through opportunity and hard work and Josh Hamilton is an excellent example of this. He struggled and was in a terrible situation but with an excellent supporting staff behind him, he was able to come back better than ever and do things that everyone thought he could do in the first place. Josh Hamilton is a true testament to success and a great figure to look up to.

Health Promotion Issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Health Promotion Issue - Essay Example One such issue is the issue of smoking among health promoters. This issue is one of the most common issues in health care because it negates the teachings and goals which the health practitioners seek for their patients. Patients who have cardiovascular diseases and respiratory tract diseases may find it hard to take their doctor or nurse seriously if these health professionals advice them to quit smoking. In the end, the credibility of these health promoters is diminished. This paper shall now identify the way in which politics relates to this health promotion issue. In addition, it shall consider one theoretical knowledge base (advocacy) and evaluate the way it relates to practice. This paper is being carried out in order to establish a clear understanding of health promotion and the issues which interfere with it. Discussion Health promoters like nurses, doctors, pharmacists, occupational therapists, and other health professionals have vulnerabilities similar to the general popula tion. Just as the general population can be vulnerable to addictive behaviours and substance abuse, so can health promoters (Ayad, 2010, p. 11). The difference is that these health promoters are fully aware of the dangers that their possible addictions can bring to their body and their overall health condition. Moreover, the fact that these health promoters teach and educate their patients and the general public about applying and implementing healthy habits into their life, makes the addictive behaviours a greater concern (Ayad, 2010, p. 11). For the most part, they are compromising their credibility and believability as health professionals and as health promoters. Statistics in the US indicate that smokers among the health professionals are mostly nurses, with about 8% of nurses being smokers and only 1% of physicians being smokers (Ayad, 2010, p. 11). The fact that some of these health professionals smoke within health facilities makes this issue an even more difficult one to re solve. In the UK, the issue of smoking is more prevalent in the nursing profession, with about 30% of nurses being smokers, as compared to doctors with only about 9% of them being smokers (Nursing Times, 2008). With the above scenario in the health care practice, the issue of health promotion now stems from the credibility of health promoters who are also smokers. The health promotion process among nurses, doctors, and other health professionals can be considered in the wider area of health promotion – in terms of politics and research. Politics, more specifically, legislation and policy-making can help implement wider health promotion standards. In different countries and institutions, no smoking ordinances have been used as a means of promoting better health for the general population. In a study by Fichtenberg and Glantz (2002, p. 325), the authors set out to evaluate the impact of having smoke-free workplaces on smoking employees. This study was able to establish that hav ing totally smoke-free workplaces are linked with the reduced prevalence of smoking among smokers. The combination of decreased ease and convenience by which smokers can indulge their habits is effectively reducing the prevalence of smoking among health promoters. Moreover, smoke-free workplaces help protect non-smokers from the negative effects of passive smoking (Fichtenberg and Glantz, 2002, p. 325). Non-smoking policies in hospitals and in other health care facilities assist in the process of reducing smoking among hea

Online Store Popularity vs. Retail Outlets Research Paper

Online Store Popularity vs. Retail Outlets - Research Paper Example How to target consumers buying over the internet and how to make online store fruitful? The chief objective of the research is to estimate and inspect the consequences and decide is it worthy of time and effort when opening an online store (Laura, 2011). Online shopping turned out to be widely held 10 years ago. 94 percent of Americans use PCs for individual purposes. Nearly two-thirds have "a great level of dependency†. Nearly 70 percent of Americans shop online and 88 percent of that number has shopped online to some degree in the previous six months. Profits for products bought online now average over and above $34 billion annually, up to 500 percent further from the year 1999. According to a website which gives people a lot of discount vouchers, â€Å"The highest percentage of both men (77 percent) and women (68 percent) shop online in the mornings before lunch. Top level professional males and females prefer to shop at night. Stay-at-home moms tend to shop in the mid-afte rnoon, perhaps during nap time† The research also states that twenty-nine percent of males and 30 percent of females said their picks are "recurrently" inclined by online ads while 43 percent say choices are "from time to time" swayed. For this research, the use of random sampling method will be employed, since every living person has an equal right of being carefully chosen. The objective is to define the age group as well as gender from the people who purchase online. Likewise, the aim is to determine how repeatedly people shop online and what is the attractiveness of online shopping, and similarly to observe the most repeatedly bought products online. Literature Review Referring to an article by Gerald & Trifts (2003; n.p.), it is evident that a distinctive characteristic of online shopping is that they permit sellers to form retail crossing point with extremely intricate communication types. One looked-for method of interactivity from a customer viewpoint is putting into p ractice refined tools to help customers in their buying choices by adapting the electronic shopping environment to their separate preferences. The most important objective of this paper is to explore the environment of special effects that communication decision supports may have on customer choice-making in online shopping environment. Although while making buying-choices, customers are every so often incapable to assess all accessible substitutes in great deepness and, as a consequence, have a habit of using two-stage procedures to influence their judgments. At the major phase, customers naturally monitor a great set of offered goods and categorize a subcategory of the most auspicious substitutions. Afterwards, they appraise the latter with more gravity, carry out comparative judgments across goods on significant qualities, and make a buying choice. The two interactive tools used: RA (Recommendation Agent) and CM (Comparison Matrix) are used in the first and second stage respectiv ely. In conclusion the major findings by the two authors put forward are that the communication tools, used to support customers in the early selection of accessible substitutes and to assist in-depth judgments among carefully chosen substitutes in an online shopping environs, may have strong promising effects on both the superiority and the good organization of buying decisions-shoppers; this can make much improved choices by buyers who can spend considerably less energy this

Japan Having Some of the Lowest Birthrates in the World Essay

Japan Having Some of the Lowest Birthrates in the World - Essay Example LeBlanc, while making her observations on the political world of the Japanese housewives, addresses the issue of the low birthrate in Japan from a female point of view. While the taxi-bicycle contrast characterizes the male-female involvement in Japan’s political scenario, the author purports that women in Japan have clear cut political perspectives on such issues as the nation’s low birthrates. The author conducted an extensive ethnographic fieldwork study among housewives, volunteer groups, and consumer cooperative movements in suburban Tokyo; the results of the study throw light on the various underlying reasons behind the declining birthrates in Japan. LeBlanc rightly identifies that the â€Å"high cost of living, the declining birth rate, and a possible labor shortage combined with the high standard of education among young Japanese women today† determine women-related issues in the Japanese society (LeBlanc 200). The high cost of living and the difficulty i n child-rearing prompt many Japanese women to remain in their workplaces rather than getting married during their fertile productive period. Consequently, many of them marry late, whereas the number of never-married women is also at an increasing rate. LeBlanc’s interactions with the housewives underline certain environmental and healthcare practices that adversely affect the fertility rates of Japanese women. In the Ono campaign, Ono makes it clear that global environment has affected the health and that the Japanese disposal system itself is defective. She also mentions the growing pollution of water and purports that women can help the environment through proper disposal of cooking grease, use of non-polluting detergents, and proper disposal of water for washing dishes (LeBlanc 173). She also realizes that most of the environmental problems are related to people’s lifestyles and shares how her daughter wastes a lot of water in her morning showers. Ono also expresses her views on the problem of the aged and enumerates on the various reasons that have contributed to low birthrate in Japan. For her, birthrate in Japan is declining to almost one child per couple and she reasons: â€Å"What if this is your daughter? She wants to work so she marries late; she has children late. And the cost of bearing children is high† (LeBlanc 173). LeBlanc, thus, throws light on the three major reasons for the low birthrate among the Japanese women: marrying late, not giving birth to children in their most fertile period and the high cost of child rearing. Ono also refers to the average Japanese family’s difficulty of paying new day-care bill. Similarly, Schoppa in his seminal book argues that Japan as a nation lacks far reaching reforms that would better enable Japanese women to balance both their work and family roles. The author also observes that it is imperative for the policy framers to adequately address such issues as leave for child rearing, child care services, labor standards, child allowances, and tax and benefit rules.

The Work, Roles and Skills of a Manager are the Same Worldwide Essay

The Work, Roles and Skills of a Manager are the Same Worldwide - Essay Example As the report declares the Eastern commercial world sparks unusual dynamics in the workplace and defines its managerial structure in significantly differing roles. Whereas Western workers tend to conceptualize their employment in terms of the organization which employs them, Eastern societies rely upon the personal relationship as a basic social structure. This paper stresses that traditional Chinese, Hui, et al. argue, relate in this fashion to a single individual rather than to an impersonal organization. Traditional behaviour emphasizes respect for authority; more-traditional Chinese would construe the activities of organizational citizenship as the actions expected of family members supporting a chief or father figure. In fact, Hui, et al., comment, â€Å"the psychological basis of this behaviour is the belief that this supervisor has offered trust, respect, protection, and support in the manner of one’s father. the role of the supervisor in Eastern countries where Confucian norms hold sway and traditionalism dictates position and activity based on wu lun will differ significantly from the role played in Western commerce where individualism is paramount and worker allegiance is to the organization as a whole, rather than to a specific individual. This is not to suggest that the Western manager has less need for interpersona l skills, nor that strong ties between supervisors and subordinates will not result in greater investment in organizational citizenship in the Western world; such skills are necessary regardless of location.

Communication and Conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Communication and Conflict - Essay Example 71). An example of such a conflict is that between team members on the job. A common situation is when one team member wants to finish faster and therefore is willing to forego some tasks which he believes are unnecessary. The other team member, on the other hand, wants to ensure top quality and therefore would not want to rush the work. The goal of one is to finish sooner and may sacrifice quality; the other wants to ensure quality and therefore takes his time. Conflict ensues. If each person identifies and articulates his goals to the other, they often find that they could work up a compromise where the goals of each could be served by a common course of action. In the example, the team mates could agree on the level of quality and the steps necessary to attain it, with a view to reducing the time and eliminating those tasks not needed to ensure the quality. In such a scenario, the acceptable level of quality is attained at the soonest possible time. The perception of interference of goals and interests is therefore avoided, and conflict is eliminated. Page 1 question 2----Compare methods for improving conflict goals in this week's Case Study? Discuss concepts from the text, other than TRIP goals, which are addressed in the unit project. There are different methods by which conflict goals may be improved in most practical situations including the case study. First, it is important to understand that goals may change as actions are taken and the task progresses. Goals may be prospective, transactive or retrospective. Prospective goals occur prior to the conflict; for instance, prior to a vacation trip a wife may be thinking of going to a destination that includes shopping, while the husband may be thinking of going somewhere remote that allows for some fishing. Transactive refer to goals as the conflict is unfolding. The couple may realize that each of them have different interests, forcing them to adjust their expectations, like choose a destination that offe rs a little of both. Finally, there are retrospective goals, which occur after the conflict. Husband and wife may spend time and effort justifying to themselves the reasons they are adopting new goals. Another concept for improving conflict goals is to clarify one’s goals to the other. Clarifying goals allow for the elimination of misconceptions and arrival at a mutual agreement. It also helps to estimate the other person’s goals, in order to prepare an alternative proposal before the conflict may start, instead of just reacting to conflict situation. Finally, it is possible to arrive at collaborative goals among the conflicting individuals. By collaborating in goal setting, the short, medium, and long-range issues are addressed prior to the start of the conflict. The goals then arrived at are capable of being acted upon. PROJECT 1. Overview of the case The situation involves the conflicting goals of the cast, crew, producer and director of a play which is just to begi n production. The producer needs a commercial success, and the director is faced with the pressure of fulfilling this requirement while assembling his people who have conflicts with one another. 2. Presentation of the key facts The director, Roger, is uncertain of how to envision the new play. He is joined by Marla, the costumer, who is enthusiastic but a trifle disorganized. Tim, the set designer, and Risa, who is in charge of lighting, disagree about

Airline Industry in India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Airline Industry in India - Essay Example This Act ensured that IAC and AI had a monopoly over the Indian skies. This trend will be driven by the economic expansion India, according to IATA. The organization also said that cargo volume, which follows the trends in world trade, is also likely to see a 6% annual increase in 2004-2008.The forecasts were released as a part of IATA's year-end outlook, Reuters reported. IATA also predicted that India will be the world's second fastest growing market for air travel after China. According to the organization India is likely to lead the global economic expansion for the foreseeable future and this will create long-haul business traffic to and from North America, while the growth in air travel between North America and India is expected to exceed 10%. Three former Soviet Bloc countries will also be among the five fastest growing passenger markets during the period, with Poland at 5% Hungary at 9.6% and the Czech Republic at 9.1%, which is just behind United Arab Emirates at 9.3%. The UAE is fourth on IATA's forecast list of the fastest growing passenger markets. While the Indian airline industry is viewed as immature, it has incredible growth potential. In fact, observers say it will boast a growth rate among the highest in the world, and will eventually have the largest domestic market outside the U.S. and China. All four of the major Indian airlines are believed to ... In fact, observers say it will boast a growth rate among the highest in the world, and will eventually have the largest domestic market outside the U.S. and China. All four of the major Indian airlines are believed to be discussing aircraft acquisitions with manufacturers. The planned partial privatization of government-owned airlines is expected to provide greater impetus to future growth, Ian Thomas of the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) told World Airline News, but will also delay immediate purchasing plans. Airbus Industry recently gave a presentation in Delhi and Mumbai at which it presented its demand predictions for the Indian market. Airbus research indicates that the major Indian carriers will have to buy 222 airliners with 100 seats or more worth about US$7.5 billion in the next 20 years, and that fleet sizes will more than double from 112 aircraft at the end of 1999 to 236 by 2019. Scope for Airline Industry Expansion in India India's civil aviation industry will need to purchase 490 aircraft over the next 20 years, according Dinesh Keskar, vice-president for sales at Boeing. According to estimates from the aircraft manufacturer, falling ticket prices and an increase in passenger traffic will cause an increase in the demand for aircraft. Keskar told Reuters that the passenger traffic in India is likely to increase by 20% over the next three to four years. The Indian authorities have reportedly said that the domestic and international air traffic will increase by about 20% annually, due to investments from the government and private sector. The investments have been estimated at USD20bn over the next five years and the increase of aircraft numbers is expected to double the number of civilian

Health Promotion and Evidence Based Practice Assignment

Health Promotion and Evidence Based Practice - Assignment Example Alcohol and drug abuse are among the foremost causes of disability and demise in North Carolina. Alcohol and substance abuse dependence are both problems in themselves and contributors to other health problems. For example, people under the influence of substance abuse are at a risk of premature deaths. Other health problems associated with substance abuse include depressions, mental health disorders, interpersonal relation, poor school or workplace functioning and low overall sense of wellbeing. However, these health hazards are preventable risk factors (Andrews & National Research Council, 1991). For the prevention of drug substance abuse and the improvement of mental health, there are evidenced priority recommendations. According to the North Carolina prevention plan, priority number one is the development and implementation of a comprehensive plan for substance abuse. To be included in the plan are recommendations to beer and wine taxation. With expensive beer and wine, it will n ot be easily affordable to the addicted individuals (Hastings et al, 2010). Together with increasing tax rates on beer and wines, substance abuse prevention also requires community outreach. Therefore, a comprehensive community based programs for prevention of substance use and abuse is a sizeable community outreach strategy. The implementation of this community based prevention plan should include a team that provides emotional care and nutritional health to the victims and subjects of the program (Hastings et al, 2010). The article â€Å"prevention issues brief final in 2010† clearly outlines the prevention strategies and its elements. The evidence based prevention strategies shows a degree of effectiveness in decreasing the rate of substance use and abuse. Nevertheless, they also have several positive impacts like self -identification, improved sense of self -wellbeing, reduced levels of depreciation and improved health conditions. For all the evidence based prevention str ategies on substance use and abuse, youths should be the main target since their developing brain is susceptible damage by alcohol and others substances (Hastings et al, 2010). The strategies or action steps that form the evidence-based prevention of substance use and abuse and for improvement of mental health include the following. The activity begins from the individuals. Guidance and counseling provision to individuals to be substance use abuse free and in case of any mental disorder seek professional help. Again, from the individuals, home prevention is a strong evidence strategy. Parents should take the initiative to talk to their children about substance abuse dangers. (Hastings et al, 2010). To the victims of substance abuse clinical preventive measures like screening, brief intervention and treatment in case of any health problem is fundamental. Keeping the public up-to-date on these evidence-based clinical preventive measures will ensure that people are aware of where to go to find help (North Carolina Institute of Medicine & North Carolina, 2009). In worksites and offices, wellness programs for substance abuse will keep these people informed. In addition to the other programs, offering insurance programs to the community on incidences of substance abu

What is the role of sonication during protein extraction Assignment

What is the role of sonication during protein extraction - Assignment Example Sonication plays a role in the process of protein extraction. A sonicator, which is an ultrasonic device, helps grind samples that contain the protein. This initiates the sonication process. Sound waves that contain high intensity produced in the process of sonication disrupt cells. This in turn facilitates the extraction of protein from the cells and tissues after breaking open (Emily, 2012, 5). A sonicator consists of two tips of different sizes. The variation in tips creates diversity in the grounding of samples regardless of their amount. Large samples are ground in tubes with wide mouths while smaller samples are ground in eppendorfs. According to the Journal of Theoretical Biology, the process of sonication produces different efficiency levels (Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2012, 76) There is more resistance to the process by cell walls as compared to cell membrane. To tackle this, the samples with cell walls become flash frozen. This facilitates sonication. In conclusion, the process of sonication becomes essential in protein extraction. It is a mechanical method. Complemented by other chemical procedure of protein extraction, sonication allows the cells to break open and protein extracted from them by use of high intensity

Culture and Diversity in Decision Making Essay Example for Free

Culture and Diversity in Decision Making Essay The definition of the mission and goals of the enterprise is the foundation for any business. Mission is the answer to the question, what is the activity of the company is and what it intends to do. Procter Gamble has a pretty clear statement: We are there to improve your life After the mission, the organization needs to define the purpose. In this case, the goal to produce goods and services of the highest quality and customer value that improve the lives of todays and future generations around the world. Consumers help to take a leading position in terms of sales, to ensure the prosperity of the business that contributes to the well-being of employees and shareholders, as well as those areas where employees live and work. The goal unites workers for the common cause of the growth strategy. It has great potential due to a simple idea to improve on daily lives of consumers around the world. It is this setting allows P ; G to achieve maximum full growth. So, from the above we can highlight the important goals of the company: A. Providing quality products, customer focus; B. Creating a stable, growing company. 3. About the P;G company’s culture signs. The company provides a certain amount of self – dependence divisional governance structure that provides greater flexibility and faster response to changes in the business environment compared to the linear and linear- staff. Managerial responsibility for the activities of the company both in the domestic and foreign market is shared between them. This type of structure combines centralized coordination and control of centrally managed. Key figures in the management of an organization with a divisional structure not heads of functional units, and the managers in charge of the production department, the so-called divisions. The company groups are formed by categories, each of which includes experts in marketing, sales and advertising. These narrow specialists provide each its part under the direct control of the manager category. The level of the manager is very high. 4. Factors that caused the organization to embody this particular culture. P;G company has been working toward keeping its reputation and standards in all field. Since it was established, P;G has built rich heritage of touching consumers’ lives with brands that make life a little better every day. Here is to motto says â€Å"Do the Right Thing – For each other† The culture of the company is based on the basic moral and ethical values leadership, striving for the victory, the hosts respect, honesty and trust. These values are not something abstract they define the actions of the company. 5. What type of leader would be the best? In my opinion there are many reasons that this leader structure will be effective. First, as part of a huge company it managed to create an environment where every employee is interesting to work with. The responsibility of each employee, including the manager is the main driving force effectiveness. And this is the result of the constructed system of management, whose main task is to create conditions for the moral and material interests of each employee. Second, the complexity of management and collective management style in this company is proposed to use a single control method. The management system is structured in a complex of  functional subsystems. That is, they include highlights key subsystems within each of which formed goals, measurable indicators are introduced, developed a system for calculating them are formalized standards, business processes and organizational procedures. Disconnected from the management of the business functions of the companys managers are moving to a collective system of integrated management of business functions. 6. Imagine that there is a decline in the demand of products. What the change in culture would be need to be in response to this situation. I think company’s CEO should work with the sale’s department. Look up their regular planning and control of the department and its employees, hiring, selection and adaptation of staff; employee motivation, training, exchange of experience, the general debriefing, evaluation of the department, the calculation of cost of sales, cost of sales regulation, evaluation of individual performance of employees. In one word they have to find out their mistake and fix it, because without a reason demand not decreasing itself. References CNBC television channel – Documentary film about Procter ; Gamble company. Retrieved from http://www.hulu.com/watch/286095 Charan, R. (2008, August 26). P;G’s innovation culture: How we built the world-class organic growth engine by investing in people. Retrieved from http://www.strategy-business.com/article/08304?pg=all Procter and Gamble. (2013). Our worldwide business conduct manual. Retrieved from http://www.pg.com/en_US/downloads/company/governance/Policy_Worldwide_Business Conduct_Manual.pdf Schermerhorn, J. R. (2012). Organizational behavior (12th ed.). Danvers, MA: John Wiley ; Sons, Inc

Swot analysis Essay Example for Free

Swot analysis Essay Thus, using the SWOT analysis to determine their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, the restaurant can try accomplish their goals by forming new strategies. The restaurant has a variety of strong areas that it can rely on to enable the effective running of the business. These strengths are; firstly, the location. Being next to the university is a major advantage as there are no other major outlets in the area meaning most people have no choice making it a monopoly. On the other hand, one major weakness that counters its strengths’ is the lack of planning. No planning leads to lack of strategies or unclear strategies being made causing ineffectiveness. Another weakness includes the fact that the restaurant has made itself vanurable to competitive pressure since the customers are not satisfied. Meaning they will look for alternatives in the near future. Opportunities are random. A company has to oversee its opportunities to expand their business and thus arising effectiveness ( Nidumolu, Prahalad, Rangaswami, 2009). The restaurant in particular has an opportunity to expand courses to meet the broader range of customer needs. For example, it may develop an new ordering and waiting system to avoid customer dissatisfaction. Another opportunity is the one year guarantee to move to a better strategic group or plan by taking time to assess their limitations. The lack of alliances and communication with the government acts as a threat to the restaurant. The government may establish policies in which the restaurant may not comply hence leading to low profits or even the closure of the restaurant. Another threat is customer dissatisfaction , there is a high risk in loosing potential customers due to incompetence and dissatisfaction.

The Corruption In Turkey Politics Essay

The Corruption In Turkey Politics Essay In this report you can read about the corruption in Turkey. The purpose of this report is to show you where corruption in Turkey is taking place and how the Turkish government is fighting it. In chapter two youll find general information about Turkey. The corruption in Turkey, entitled Ergenekon, is described in chapter three. In chapter four the corruption in Turkey is being linked with one of the four syndromes described by Michael Johnston. The conclusion of this report can be found in chapter five. Turkey, as a successor of the Ottoman Empire, is a republican parliamentary democracy established in 29th October 1923 by Mustafa Kemal. Mustafa Kemal was honoured in 1934 by the Turkish citizens with the title of Ataturk, the Father of the Turks. Although Istanbul is the biggest and wealthiest city in Turkey, Ankara was chosen as the capital city of Turkey by Ataturk. Furthermore, Turkey has eighty-one provinces. In 28th August 2007 Abdullah Gul was elected president of Turkey by the National Assembly. A day later he appointed Recep Tayip Erdogan as the Prime Minister of Turkey. Just after two months, 21th October 2007, they successfully set with Turkey the next step towards democracy. In the future the president is going to be elected directly and not by the National Assembly. Going back in time, Turkey became an associate member of the European Community in 1964. In 2005, with Abdullah Gul and Recep Tayip Erdogan, Turkey began accession membership talks with the European Union. Tu rkey is a member of the UN since 1945 and also a member of the NATO since 1952.  [1]   2.1 Population In July 2009 the population of Turkey was estimated 76,8 million. Two-third of the population was estimated between the age of fifteen and sixty-five. More than twenty-seven percent of the population was estimated below the age of fifteen and more than six percent was estimated above the age of sixty-five. In 2008 the urban population of Turkey was estimated around seventy percent of the population. The majority of the Turkish population is Turkish, estimated around seventy-five percent in 2008. Eight-teen percent of the population was estimated Kurdish. With a minority figure the Arabs, Turkmen, Circassians and Greeks are also present in Turkey.  [2]  The EU issued in 2005 that Turkey didnt sufficiently guarantee the freedom of expression in line with the European Convention of Human Rights towards the minorities. According to article 301 of the Turkish Constitution, an insult to Turkish people is no longer used systematically to restrict freedom of expression. It is that articl e which the EU found not sufficient enough. The EU are of the opinion that Turkey must take more measures in line with the European Convention of Human Rights towards the minorities.  [3]  Next to that, most of the people in Turkey are Sunni Muslim. 2.2 Economy In Turkey the state is a major participant in basic industry, banking, transport and communication sector. Textile and clothing are the largest industrial sectors in Turkey. Today thirty percent of the eligible population is employed in the traditional agriculture. At the moment, the most notable progress in the Turkish economy is the rising of the automotive and electronic industries. That is a sign that the Turkish economy is modernizing. The GPD of Turkey grew between 2002 and 2007 with an average of six percent. Despite the strong economy, the GDP in 2008 grew with zero point nine percent and it was decreased in 2009 with five point nine percent, a thirty-four year record low. Explanation for that is the high account deficit en high external debts. The government of Turkey expects with further economic and judicial reforms and prospective EU membership to boost their economy with foreign investors. However, the global financial crisis in 2009 didnt affect the Turkish financial ma rkets. In their history, Turkey experienced in 2001 a financial crises. In that year Turkey implemented reforms in the banking sector which protected them from the global financial crisis in 2009. At the moment Turkeys future doesnt look so bright. The economical experts are expecting a decline in the export sector and because of the current political crisis, al lot of foreign and intern companies are afraid to invest in the Turkish economy. With an estimated GDP worth of 861,6 billion Euros in 2009, Turkey is ranked eighteenth compared to the other countries.  [4]  The top three of that same list is, respectively, dominated by the EU, the United States and China. 2.3 Military In October 2005 a National Security Policy Document was adopted by the Turkish government. That document increased the role of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) concerning the internal security of the state. Today the TSK leadership plays a key role in politics and considers itself the guardian of Turkeys secular state. They demonstrated their power sever times after the adoption of the National Security Policy Document. For example, in April 2007 they warned the ruling party about any pro-Islamic appointments. They are also responsible for limiting the progress of establishing a civilian supremacy over the military, which started in October 2005 after the Turkish government started to negotiate with the EU. The EU is of the opinion that the military power of Turkey must first decrease if Turkey wants to join the EU. The TSK has also been taken an international peacekeeping responsibilities and they took charge of a NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) command in Afghanis tan in April 2007. Furthermore, the Turkish military forces adopted an Aerospace and Missile Defence Concept in 2002 which set new priorities. The priorities included attaining a modern deployable, survivable, and sustainable force structure and establishing a sustainable command and control system. The affects of the Aerospace and Missile Defence Concept looked promising in 2008.  [5]   2.4 Corruption In December 2007 Turkey started, with the help of the European Union and the Council of Europe, the project on Ethics for the Prevention of Corruption in Turkey (TYEC) for a term of two years.  [6]  This project is funded by the European Union and by the Council of Europe. It is implemented by the Council of Europes Directorate of Co-operation. The projects main counterpart institution is the Council of Ethics for Public Service at the Prime Ministry of Turkey. In recent years the Turkish Government has taken a number of important steps in combating corruption. The country ratified the Council of Europes Civil and Criminal Law Conventions against Corruption in 2003 and 2004 respectively and joined the Councils Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) in January 2004. Moreover, in June 2004 the Council of Ethics for the Public Service was established and in 2005 the Regulation on the Principles of Ethical Behaviour for Public Officials, the Code of Ethics, was adopted. Despite t hese steps, corruption remains a serious concern for the people of Turkey. The Turkish authorities acknowledge that corruption is a priority issue requiring comprehensive and serious counter-measures.  [7]  The project will assist Turkey with their efforts in preventing corruption by supporting the implementation of specific measures, and provide support to other related reforms. The TYEC project has four main aims: Support the implementation of the Code of Ethics across the public administration in line with GRECO recommendations; Develop codes of ethics for other categories of officials or holders of public office; Develop systems of monitoring the effectiveness of prevention and other anti-corruption measures; Ensure and enhance coordination of anti-corruption measures. The corruption in Turkey is the continuing interference of judicial and military power in Turkish executive and legislative powers. This is problematic if viewed with historical hindsight. The weakness of the boundaries that divide Turkish powers seems to be confirmed by the Ergenekon trial, which saw more than three-hundred personalities involved in conspiracies aimed at weakening the government and possibly leading to a coup detat. 3. Ergenekon The state is not necessarily innocent, and the people convicted of crimes with political repercussions in the past may well be victims of a deep state operation. That is the main lesson Turkey has learned from the current Ergenekon investigation. The investigation itself is already related to several murders and terrorist attacks of the recent past. Analysts claim that the state and the relationship of the state organs with the society, terrorist organizations and the mafia will create a valuable opportunity to mobilize the public.  [8]  It will also create a political will and determination to reopen old dossiers filled with unsolved crimes and presumably victimized convicts. Allegations that the Ergenekon terrorist organization was behind two attacks, the Council of State attack in 2006 and bombs thrown at the headquarters of the Cumhuriyet Daily in the same year, ascribed to a certain segment of society, have changed the entire view to analyze politically influential crimes. I n this chapter I try to show you the link between Ergenekon and the corruption they caused on the fields of politics, economics and military. First I start with the describing a few cases. 3.1 Crime dossiers The Turkish history is full of crime dossiers, either left open or whose closure was disputed.  [9]  Starting from the infamous Sheikh Said Revolt of 1925, passing through to the Dersim Massacres of 1937-1938, the Taksim Square killings of May, 1977, the serial murders of secular-minded intellectuals in 1990 and more resentful and sophisticated attacks on symbolic names and institutions, question marks were left in the consciousnesses of the people. One reason was the inconceivability of state involvement in these crimes. The army, which still places first in public surveys of the most respected institutions, was not only beyond reproach, it was also unthinkable, unperceivable and unpronounceable to claim that army officers were committing crimes, not for the sake of the country, but for their own and evil interests. Now that the Ergenekon investigation has proven that Turkish officers are not sanctified angels and that they are judicable, detainable, liable to interrogation and arrest, that perplexed public consciousness is asking whether those old dossiers can be reopened and reinvestigated with this new framework in mind. The Istanbul chief prosecutor already announced that Ergenekon suspects would be trailed for their involvement in the Council of State attack of May, 2006, an attack which left a judge dead, and in the throwing of hand grenades at the headquarters of Cumhuriyet Daily. It is suggested that the indictment and subsequent court decision will influence the open cases and may also induce a reopening of closed ones. On top of the list of reopening closed cases are the murder of Necip HablemitoÄÅ ¸lu, the Gazi neighborhood events, the murder of ÃÆ'-zdemir SabancÄ ±, the murder of General EÃ…Å ¸ref Bitlis, the murder of UÄÅ ¸ur Mumcu and the murders that took place in the AdapazarÄ ±-Ä °zmit-Sapanca triangle. The Ergenekon decision will also influence the Ä °brahim Çiftà §i case, already waiting for th e Ergenekon trial to be finalized. Çiftà §i was killed in 2006 in a bombing soon after he confessed to a prosecutor that he killed HablemitoÄÅ ¸lu. The influence of the Ergenekon investigation wont wait for the prosecutors to open some of the older dossiers on their own. Already there are several criminal complaints about detainees of the Ergenekon terrorist organization from the relatives of lost and murdered people. Families of Serdar TanÄ ±Ãƒâ€¦Ã… ¸, a Peoples Democratic Party Silopi district deputy and Ebubekir Deniz already filed a complaint about Brigadier General Levent Ersà ¶z, who is still being sought and is said to have left for Russia before the last round of Ergenekon related detentions. The two were detained by the TSK seven years ago and were never heard from again. Relatives of the people killed during the Gazi incidents of 1995 also filed a complaint recently about Osman Gà ¼rbà ¼z, who was arrested during the Ergenekon investigation. The Peoples Democratic Party was banned from the society and therefore doesnt exists anymore. 3.2 Politics Avni ÃÆ'-zgà ¼rel, a columnist writing on Turkeys recent history is not optimistic. He thinks no one would be happier if real the perpetrators of certain political crimes were revealed.  [10]  Look at the Ä °pekà §i murder. There is already an understanding that this was the job of nationalists. If this explanation proves incorrect, we will lose the entire paradigm. The society may be ready for this, but the state is not, he told Sundays Zaman. According to ÃÆ'-zgà ¼rel, the state is happy with the current state of what is known. Further investigation would not be well received within the state. The state would be ready to claim some of the murders if they were really committed for the sake of the state or the country; But what if an investigation reveals that the real reason was of a financial nature? What if notions like state and nation were used as a disguise for personal interests? he asked. ÃÆ'-zgà ¼rel is not hopeful for the results of the Ergenekon investigat ion and hence does not want to attach additional hopes to it. There is a political will in Turkey, but politics is a politics of bargaining. The AK Party is dealing with a closure case and no one knows what will happen with the Ergenekon investigation if the AK Party is closed. Look at the constitutional amendments on the headscarf issue. There was a political will there, but it didnt help. We should wait and see whether this investigation will reach a meaningful end, he explained. Mithat Sancar, a professor of law at Ankara University, agrees that the Ergenekon investigation is an opportunity to confront the dark past.  [11]  However, he thinks that neither the government nor the courts can do this. The political government will understandably deal with what it sees necessary for its own political interests. Prosecutors and judges are in no position to start an investigation into the events of the past on their own. Such an investigation necessitates a mobilization of democrati c circles, especially the democratic left wing which has traditionally fought with militarism and the deep state, he told Sundays Zaman. According to Sancar, public control over the legal and political processes is also important to guarantee that the political government does not enter into the mistake of bargaining. 3.3 The influence of the military Ergenekon prosecutor Zekeriya ÃÆ'-z is claimed to have came upon significant information about the murder of assistant professor HablemitoÄÅ ¸lu in 2002. ÃÆ'-z is claimed to have received strong evidence that Brigadier Geneneral Veli Kà ¼Ãƒ §Ãƒ ¼k, the prime suspect of the Ergenekon investigation, was involved in the abduction and killing of several Kurdish businessmen in the AdapazarÄ ±-Izmit-Sapanca area within the first six months of 1994.  [12]  The influence of the Ergenekon investigation on a confrontation with historical crimes was not always direct and organic.  [13]  The fact that the KahramanmaraÃ…Å ¸ Massacre, in which over 100 Alevis were killed by alleged nationalists in December 1978, the murder of journalist Abdi Ipekà §i on February 1979, the murder of frontrunner nationalist Gà ¼n Sazak in May 1980 and the Çorum Massacre of twenty-six, unofficially fifty-six, Alevis paved the way for the military coup of 1980 is showing signs towards t hat direction. The link between these events and the Ergenekon terrorist organization doesnt have to be organic. The fact that the existence of a terrorist organization that penetrated into state organs, including the army, and conspired to stage violent coups gives enough material to rethink the KahramanmaraÃ…Å ¸, Ipekà §i, Sazak and Çorum incidents.  [14]  It has to be kept in mind that the prime suspects of the Ergenekon organization were already colonels in the army in the run-up to the 1980 coup and that their involvement in these events may have been more than learning a lesson. In Turkey it is already felt that the plans of the Ergenekon terrorist organization is pushing the country into a period of unrest in order to legitimize a military intervention. Next to that, former military judge ÃÅ"mit KardaÃ…Å ¸ thinks that the political will that would confront the dark events of the past should have been powerful enough to confront Turkeys recent problems, such as the Kurdish issue.  [15]  The prosecution needs to have special support from not only the government but also from the media and the society, he told Sundays Zaman. According to him, the AK Party was and still is strong enough to give that support but, considering previous opportunities lost, there is not enough evidence to be hopeful of its support. It has lost a major opportunity in Ã…Å ¾emdinli. We also dont know whether the AK Party will be closed or not nor what will happen to the Ergenekon investigation if the party is closed. The investigation in itself is an opportunity, but there are reasons to be pessimistic that this opportunity will also be lost, he explained. 3.4 Finances Former mayor of Istanbuls Esenyurt district Gà ¼rbà ¼z Çapan, who is also currently under arrest on charges of being a financer of Ergenekon, was once offered immunity from arrest in Turkey by Ergenekon suspect retired General Veli Kà ¼Ãƒ §Ãƒ ¼k, according to claims of Bertan Zà ¼laoÄÅ ¸lu and Ã…Å ¾erafettin Dà ¼z, who served as the former deputy mayor and an aide to Çapan, respectively, during his term as head of the Esenler municipality.  [16]  Ãƒâ€¡apan was being sought as a suspect in a major corruption operation carried out by the TSK into various municipalities, including Esenler, when he was abroad in Germany. He also owns ten percent of the shares of Cumhuriyet Daily and is currently being charged with financing Ergenekon. Çapan was established as a suspect in the Ergenekon investigations when it became clear that he had meetings with Ergenekon suspects DoÄÅ ¸u Perinà §ek, leader of the neo-nationalist Workers Party and Kemal ÃÆ'-zden, hea d of the Nationalist Industrialists and Businessmens Association. Furthermore, prosecutor Zekeriya ÃÆ'-z, who is the chief prosecutor on the Ergenekon case, has frequently been target of various smear campaigns directed from different segments of society. AydÄ ±nlÄ ±k, Cumhuriyet and Sà ¶zcà ¼ newspapers claimed that in 1998, when ÃÆ'-z served in the Çine district of AydÄ ±n, he tried to extort money from businessman Mehmet Ocak. Metin Uyar, the former head of the Çine Industrial Zone and Ahmet KeleÃ…Å ¸, president of the Çine Drivers and Motorists Chamber, denied any truth to those allegations. The future will hopefully tell us more about the link between Ergenekon and the corruption they caused on the field of economy. Popular history writer AyÃ…Å ¸e Hà ¼r thinks the Ergenekon gang has a distinctive ideological position.  [17]  The ideological tools of the organization are yet to be revealed. So far this has been an operation against a criminal gang, she told Sundays Zaman. According to her, as long as the ideological tools have not been revealed, it is almost impossible to disclose the link between criminal actions of the Ergenekon organization and the earlier political crimes. For that we need a stronger will. Political will is not enough, she said. According to her, the society is not ready for a full-fledged cleansing and there is no real consensus on the nature of the threat. The opposition of the AK Party is undervaluing the operation, whereas we should have dealt with the facts and not with who said what, she explained. 4. The four syndromes According to Michael Johnston, established democracies tend to have mature market economies in which liberalization is largely considered. He also states that there are also reforming democratic societies in which political competition is still emerging or undergoing significant change. Furthermore, he describes that there are countries who are undergoing major transitions in politics and economics. He noted that Turkey is an example of such country. Last, but not least, Johnston also describes that there are undemocratic regimes who are by definition marked by political opportunities. Johnston links those societies with four syndromes: Influence Markets, Elite Cartels, Oligarchs and Clans and Official Moguls. Below you can see a table with an overview  [18]  . In the recent years Turkey made a huge progress in reforming its democracy and economy. That is the reason I agree with Johnston that the corruption in Turkey can be described with the Elite Cartels syndrome. The stronger the economical and state institution, the lesser corruption occurs according to Johnston. In the syndrome Influence Markets the corruption will most likely seen in the economical system. Johnston also recognizes that the stronger a constitution is, the bigger the chance will be that such institution will abuse its power by sealing deals with other powerful institutions. In this chapter you can read what the Elite Cartels syndrome is according to Johnston and why Turkey can be linked with this syndrome. I will close this chapter with the Turkish governments point of view about its future. The other two syndromes have similar corruption cases, but it is likely that in undemocratic regimes the corruption is bigger than in transitional regimes. 4.1 Elite Cartels syndrome In the Elite Cartels syndrome, the corruption is of defensive nature, protecting existing economic, political or policy advantages. Corruption is conducted through networks and elite parties, sometimes seeking each other to become allies for a greater purpose. Looking back to chapter three, Ergenekon can be seen as a network who is extremely powerful. They are powerful because they have, as it is determined by the prosecutors, economical, political and policy advantages. While these advantages are decreasing, still no one really knows how big Ergenekon is. Therefore the power of Ergenekon cannot be underestimated. Prove was found, and mentioned in chapter three, that in the past Ergenekon could operate freely and successfully. Many cases were closed without a legitimate reason and political parties were banned from the society. The AK Party was also close to getting banned from the society. The fact that the closure of the AK Party failed determines the moderate power of the state an d its capacity. 4.2 The governments point of view We hope the shroud of mist over the facts will be dissipated with this operation. We want the Ergenekon indictment to be completed as soon as possible, stated ErdoÄÅ ¸an.  [19]  ErdoÄÅ ¸an also said during his parliamentary group meeting that his ruling AK Party is the only address for Turkeys full membership in the European Union. He noted that Ataturks goal of reaching a higher level of civilization equals integration with the modern world. By making that note he wants to drive his country towards mature democratic society.However, some circles cannot stand democracy in Turkey. Whenever Turkey attempts to stand on its own feet, whenever it musters up its strength, these circles put hurdles before it. The basis of Turkish politics lies in a struggle between those in favour of Turkeys development and those who oppose it. While some want Turkey to become a global power, others want the preservation of the status quo in the country, he stated. With that statement, ErdoÃ⠀žÃ… ¸an confirms the fact that corruption in turkey is of defensive nature. ErdoÄÅ ¸an also noted that a movement which isnt in harmony with the fundamental principles of the constitutional order and which doesnt act in harmony with the basic characteristics of the republic will not be successful in Turkey. With that note ErdoÄÅ ¸an points his finger to the economical and political reforms his government made in the recent years and that Ergenekon should be consider as a dark chapter of the Turkish history. 5. Conclusion Turkey, as a successor of the Ottoman Empire, is a republican parliamentary democracy established in 29th October 1923 by Mustafa Kemal. In July 2009 the population of Turkey was estimated 76,8 million. The GPD of Turkey grew between 2002 and 2007 with an average of six percent. Despite the strong economy, the GDP in 2008 grew with zero point nine percent and it was decreased in 2009 with five point nine percent, a thirty-four year record low. The TSK leadership plays a key role in politics and considers itself the guardian of Turkeys secular state. In December 2007 Turkey started, with the help of the European Union and the Council of Europe, the project on Ethics for the Prevention of Corruption in Turkey (TYEC) for a term of two years. The corruption in Turkey is the continuing interference of judicial and military power in Turkish executive and legislative powers. The weakness of the boundaries that divide Turkish powers seems to be confirmed by the Ergenekon trial, which saw mor e than three-hundred personalities involved in conspiracies aimed at weakening the government and possibly leading to a coup detat. The state is not necessarily innocent, and the people convicted of crimes with political repercussions in the past may well be victims of a deep state operation. That is the main lesson Turkey has learned from the current Ergenekon investigation. The Turkish history is full of crime dossiers, either left open or whose closure was disputed. According to Sancar, public control over the legal and political processes is also important to guarantee that the political government does not enter into the mistake of bargaining. It has to be kept in mind that the prime suspects of the Ergenekon organization were already colonels in the army in the run-up to the 1980 coup and that their involvement in these events may have been more than learning a lesson. In Turkey it is already felt that the plans of the Ergenekon terrorist organization is pushing the country in to a period of unrest in order to legitimize a military intervention. The future will hopefully tell us more about the link between Ergenekon and the corruption they caused on the field of economy, in which there is already made important progress. Anyway, Ergenekon can be seen as a network who is extremely powerful. They are powerful because they have, as it is determined by the prosecutors, economical, political and policy advantages. That is why the Elite Cartels syndrome can be linked with Turkey. The fact that the closure of the AK Party failed determines the moderate power of the state and its capacity. However, ErdoÄÅ ¸an points his finger to the economical and political reforms his government made in the recent years and that Ergenekon should be consider as a dark chapter of the Turkish history.

Definitions of Knowledge Essay -- Philosophy Papers

As Walker Percy explores the "dogfish" of perception and knowledge in his essay, "The Loss of the Creature," I wonder if he realizes how slippery and feisty the topic squirming on his desk is. Although anyone who has taken a guided tour will surely agree that the traditional tourist experience is necessarily divorced from that of a discoverer, the broad epistemological claims that Percy extracts from this scenario seem more complicated than Percy gives them credit, or space, for. When Percy suggests that an individual should aim to "extract the thing from the package," he insists that the individual seek out some solid bedrock beneath the surface of perception (519). In this statement, he implicitly calls the reader to believe that such bedrock exists and is accessible to humans, a controversial position in the postmodern world. By arguing that excavation towards a static and fixed "creature" is possible, Percy echoes the voice of Plato, who argues that humans should strive to know the essential "forms" lying beneath ephemeral existence. Plato and his mentor, Socrates, devised their theory of forms in large part to reconcile a constantly changing physical universe with the criterion of permanence inherent in the Greek definition of knowledge, an important problem for philosophers of the time, and still today. In other words, the Greeks, believing that only permanent and unchanging entities could truly be "known," needed a way to attain knowledge in light of a constantly changing natural world. With the forms, Plato provided a solution to this problem, saying that "beneath" the physical world a human perceives there exists a dimension of forms, or essences, which persist throughout time, independent of human perception but ... ...ans or dogfish. Like the physicist, they can benefit from recognizing elements of uncertainty inherent in the "creature." In a way, the postmodern knower is much like the man in Percy's essay, who takes the Grand Canyon bus tour as "an exercise in familiarity" (513). He intakes the same interpreted information as those who are on the level below him, yet he recognizes its limitations and understands what he sees all the more because of this awareness. Works Cited Heisenberg, Werner. Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science. New York: Harper & Row, 1958. Bartholomae, David and Anthony Petrosky, eds. Ways of Reading. 3rd Ed. New York: Bedford, 1995. Percy, Walker. "The Loss of the Creature." Bartholomae and Petrosky. 423-436. Tompkins, Jane. "'Indians:' Textualism, Morality and the Problem of History." Bartholomae and Petrosky. 584-601.

An Overview of Capital Punishment Essay -- Capital Punishment Death Pe

â€Å"The question with which we must deal is not whether a substantial proportion of American citizens would today, if polled, opine that capital punishment is barbarously cruel, but whether they would find it to be so in light of all information presently available.†- Justice Thurgood Marshall Imagine a man who commits murder once, is given a fifteen-year jail sentence and is returned to the streets where he kills again. He is imprisoned again only to be released. This could happen since almost one in ten death row inmates has been convicted of murder at least once. That means that some death row inmates have been given more than one chance to rehabilitate in prison and continue to commit violent crimes. Should the United States justice system continue to let violent criminals back on the streets where they are likely to commit murder again? Capital punishment is one of the oldest forms of punishment in the world. Most societies have considered it a fair punishment for severe crimes. It is even mentioned as an appropriate punishment in the Bible. American colonists used capital punishment before the United States was a country, and most states use it today. Currently, however, there is a great deal of controversy surrounding the death penalty. Capital cases are long and expensive, and there is no proof as to whether capital punishment deters crime. For these reasons total abolition may be the best way to resolve the capital punishment controversy. If the laws concerning capital punishment were modified, however, capital punishment could become much cheaper, and possibly a lot more effective. – Steve Brinker Capital Punishment: Give It A Chance Since the beginning of man, people have been put to death. Capital punishment has been used all over the world as a means of punishing people for their crimes. Here in America, people are usually given a trial for their crime, judged upon by the jury and judge, and then finally decided upon their final verdict. If the crime is serious enough, the person is sent to spend time on death row in a maximum-security prison. The judge then sets a date when the person is to be executed. The person has an opportunity to appeal, which must be granted by the governor in the state in which the person is imprisoned. If the pers... ...al punishment has been an instrument of government authority since it was first written into Hammurabi’s Code nearly four thousand years ago, if not before. In today’s modern, more â€Å"enlightened† times, many find the practice barbaric, and object on principle. Others believe the practice is sometimes justified, but object on grounds of iniquities in its application. Still others believe capital punishment lacks â€Å"teeth†, and would be a more effective deterrent to crime if used less sparingly, and with less of the Byzantine judicial process currently required. Recent reforms here in Florida reflect the latter view. In an effort to reduce the time actually spent on Death Row by the condemned, the State of Florida is altering its law to require that all appeals be complete within five years of sentencing in the absence of new evidence, and must be submitted simultaneously, not sequentially. At the same time, other states, such as Illinois, have imposed a moratorium on executions. It is an issue few are in total agreement about. Most Americans, however, agree that in the most heinous, horrific cases, the condemned has earned his fate.

Informed Consent Quality of Life: Respirating Cadaver Confidentiality :: Medicine Ethics

Informed Consent Quality of Life: Respirating Cadaver Confidentiality Artificial Heart: What makes humans human Artificial Heart Research vs. Quality of Life Informed Consent-Therapeutic Misconception Using humans as guinea pigs-respect for human life Barney Clark was used as a guinea pig. The patient was not going to benefit from the procedure but the procedure was done to try to improve the surgery for the whole of society. The chances of his prolonged survival were nearly nonexistent. Pros- The procedure could have improved the outcome for future patients of artificial heart transplants. The improvement of medicine to benefit whole of society. There are now models of artificial hearts that can lead to better chances for heart patients. Cons- The patients autonomy is compromised due to the fact the procedure would not benefit him in any way. The therapeutic effect is non-existent for Barney Clark and there is a possibility that there would be therapeutic misconception by Barney Clark thinking the surgery would in someway save his life. The use of humans for research does not show respect for the human life and what it represents and goes against the idea of beneficence since no good is being done for the patient. Quality of Life: Respirating Cadaver Following the surgery, Barney Clark was rendered almost completely immobile by the large machinery that was attached to him at all times. For the 112 days Barney Clark lived he was riddled by constant infection and he had several strokes due to clotting in the artificial heart. Pros- At least he was alive. Cons- The quality of life was terrible for Barney Clark after the surgery. The surgery did not save his life, it prolonged his death. With his immobility and constant pain from the Jarvik-7 Barney Clark probably would have been better off just allowing himself to die of the original heart failure.

A Game of Thrones Chapter One

Bran The morning had dawned clear and cold, with a crispness that hinted at the end of summer. They set forth at daybreak to see a man beheaded, twenty in all, and Bran rode among them, nervous with excitement. This was the first time he had been deemed old enough to go with his lord father and his brothers to see the king's justice done. It was the ninth year of summer, and the seventh of Bran's life. The man had been taken outside a small holdfast in the hills. Robb thought he was a wildling, his sword sworn to Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall. It made Bran's skin prickle to think of it. He remembered the hearth tales Old Nan told them. The wildlings were cruel men, she said, slavers and slayers and thieves. They consorted with giants and ghouls, stole girl children in the dead of night, and drank blood from polished horns. And their women lay with the Others in the Long Night to sire terrible half-human children. But the man they found bound hand and foot to the holdfast wall awaiting the king's justice was old and scrawny, not much taller than Robb. He had lost both ears and a finger to frostbite, and he dressed all in black, the same as a brother of the Night's Watch, except that his furs were ragged and greasy. The breath of man and horse mingled, steaming, in the cold morning air as his lord father had the man cut down from the wall and dragged before them. Robb and Jon sat tall and still on their horses, with Bran between them on his pony, trying to seem older than seven, trying to pretend that he'd seen all this before. A faint wind blew through the holdfast gate. Over their heads flapped the banner of the Starks of Winterfell: a grey direwolf racing across an ice-white field. Bran's father sat solemnly on his horse, long brown hair stirring in the wind. His closely trimmed beard was shot with white, making him look older than his thirty-five years. He had a grim cast to his grey eyes this day, and he seemed not at all the man who would sit before the fire in the evening and talk softly of the age of heroes and the children of the forest. He had taken off Father's face, Bran thought, and donned the face of Lord Stark of Winterfell. There were questions asked and answers given there in the chill of morning, but afterward Bran could not recall much of what had been said. Finally his lord father gave a command, and two of his guardsmen dragged the ragged man to the ironwood stump in the center of the square. They forced his head down onto the hard black wood. Lord Eddard Stark dismounted and his ward Theon Greyjoy brought forth the sword. â€Å"Ice,† that sword was called. It was as wide across as a man's hand, and taller even than Robb. The blade was Valyrian steel, spell-forged and dark as smoke. Nothing held an edge like Valyrian steel. His father peeled off his gloves and handed them to Jory Cassel, the captain of his household guard. He took hold of Ice with both hands and said, â€Å"In the name of Robert of the House Baratheon, the First of his Name, King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, by the word of Eddard of the House Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, I do sentence you to die.† He lifted the greatsword high above his head. Bran's bastard brother Jon Snow moved closer. â€Å"Keep the pony well in hand,† he whispered. â€Å"And don't look away. Father will know if you do.† Bran kept his pony well in hand, and did not look away. His father took off the man's head with a single sure stroke. Blood sprayed out across the snow, as red as surnmerwine. One of the horses reared and had to be restrained to keep from bolting. Bran could not take his eyes off the blood. The snows around the stump drank it eagerly, reddening as he watched. The head bounced off a thick root and rolled. It came up near Greyjoy's feet. Theon was a lean, dark youth of nineteen who found everything amusing. He laughed, put his boot on the head, and kicked it away. â€Å"Ass,† Jon muttered, low enough so Greyjoy did not hear. He put a hand on Bran's shoulder, and Bran looked over at his bastard brother. â€Å"You did well,† Jon told him solemnly. Jon was fourteen, an old hand at justice. It seemed colder on the long ride back to Winterfell, though the wind had died by then and the sun was higher in the sky. Bran rode with his brothers, well ahead of the main party, his pony struggling hard to keep up with their horses. â€Å"The deserter died bravely,† Robb said. He was big and broad and growing every day, with his mother's coloring, the fair skin, red-brown hair, and blue eyes of the Tullys of Riverrun. â€Å"He had courage, at the least.† â€Å"No,† Jon Snow said quietly. â€Å"It was not courage. This one was dead of fear. You could see it in his eyes, Stark.† Jon's eyes were a grey so dark they seemed almost black, but there was little they did not see. He was of an age with Robb, but they did not look alike. Jon was slender where Robb was muscular, dark where Robb was fair, graceful and quick where his half brother was strong and fast. Robb was not impressed. â€Å"The Others take his eyes,† he swore. â€Å"He died well. Race you to the bridge?† â€Å"Done,† Jon said, kicking his horse forward. Robb cursed and followed, and they galloped off down the trail, Robb laughing and hooting, Jon silent and intent. The hooves of their horses kicked up showers of snow as they went. Bran did not try to follow. His pony could not keep up. He had seen the ragged man's eyes, and he was thinking of them now. After a while, the sound of Robb's laughter receded, and the woods grew silent again. So deep in thought was he that he never heard the rest of the party until his father moved up to ride beside him. â€Å"Are you well, Bran?† he asked, not unkindly. â€Å"Yes, Father,† Bran told him. He looked up. Wrapped in his furs and leathers, mounted on his great warhorse, his lord father loomed over him like a giant. â€Å"Robb says the man died bravely, but Jon says he was afraid.† â€Å"What do you think?† his father asked. Bran thought about it. â€Å"Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?† â€Å"That is the only time a man can be brave,† his father told him. â€Å"Do you understand why I did it?† â€Å"He was a wildling,† Bran said. â€Å"They carry off women and sell them to the Others.† His lord father smiled. â€Å"Old Nan has been telling you stories again. In truth, the man was an oathbreaker, a deserter from the Night's Watch. No man is more dangerous. The deserter knows his life is forfeit if he is taken, so he will not flinch from any crime, no matter how vile. But you mistake me. The question was not why the man had to die, but why I must do it.† Bran had no answer for that. â€Å"King Robert has a headsman,† he said, uncertainly. â€Å"He does,† his father admitted. â€Å"As did the Targaryen kings before him. Yet our way is the older way. The blood of the First Men still flows in the veins of the Starks, and we hold to the belief that the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die. â€Å"One day, Bran, you will be Robb's bannerman, holding a keep of your own for your brother and your king, and justice will fall to you. When that day comes, you must take no pleasure in the task, but neither must you look away. A ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is.† That was when Jon reappeared on the crest of the hill before them. He waved and shouted down at them. â€Å"Father, Bran, come quickly, see what Robb has found!† Then he was gone again. Jory rode up beside them. â€Å"Trouble, my lord?† â€Å"Beyond a doubt,† his lord father said. â€Å"Come, let us see what mischief my sons have rooted out now.† He sent his horse into a trot. Jory and Bran and the rest came after. They found Robb on the riverbank north of the bridge, with Jon still mounted beside him. The late summer snows had been heavy this moonturn. Robb stood knee-deep in white, his hood pulled back so the sun shone in his hair. He was cradling something in his arm, while the boys talked in hushed, excited voices. The riders picked their way carefully through the drifts, groping for solid footing on the hidden, uneven ground. Jory Cassel and Theon Greyjoy were the first to reach the boys. Greyjoy was laughing and joking as he rode. Bran heard the breath go out of him. â€Å"Gods!† he exclaimed, struggling to keep control of his horse as he reached for his sword. Jory's sword was already out. â€Å"Robb, get away from it!† he called as his horse reared under him. Robb grinned and looked up from the bundle in his arms. â€Å"She can't hurt you,† he said. â€Å"She's dead, Jory.† Bran was afire with curiosity by then. He would have spurred the pony faster, but his father made them dismount beside the bridge and approach on foot. Bran jumped off and ran. By then Jon, Jory, and Theon Greyjoy had all dismounted as well. â€Å"What in the seven hells is it?† Greyjoy was saying. â€Å"A wolf,† Robb told him. â€Å"A freak,† Greyjoy said. â€Å"Look at the size of it.† Bran's heart was thumping in his chest as he pushed through a waist-high drift to his brothers' side. Half-buried in bloodstained snow, a huge dark shape slumped in death. Ice had formed in its shaggy grey fur, and the faint smell of corruption clung to it like a woman's perfume. Bran glimpsed blind eyes crawling with maggots, a wide mouth full of yellowed teeth. But it was the size of it that made him gasp. It was bigger than his pony, twice the size of the largest hound in his father's kennel. â€Å"It's no freak,† Jon said calmly. â€Å"That's a direwolf. They grow larger than the other kind.† Theon Greyjoy said, â€Å"There's not been a direwolf sighted south of the Wall in two hundred years.† â€Å"I see one now,† Jon replied. Bran tore his eyes away from the monster. That was when he noticed the bundle in Robb's arms. He gave a cry of delight and moved closer. The pup was a tiny ball of grey-black fur, its eyes still closed. It nuzzled blindly against Robb's chest as he cradled it, searching for milk among his leathers, making a sad little whimpery sound. Bran reached out hesitantly. â€Å"Go on,† Robb told him. â€Å"You can touch him.† Bran gave the pup a quick nervous stroke, then turned as Jon said, â€Å"Here you go.† His half brother put a second pup into his arms. â€Å"There are five of them.† Bran sat down in the snow and hugged the wolf pup to his face. Its fur was soft and warm against his cheek. â€Å"Direwolves loose in the realm, after so many years,† muttered Hullen, the master of horse. â€Å"I like it not.† â€Å"It is a sign,† Jory said. Father frowned. â€Å"This is only a dead animal, Jory,† he said. Yet he seemed troubled. Snow crunched under his boots as he moved around the body. â€Å"Do we know what killed her?† â€Å"There's something in the throat,† Robb told him, proud to have found the answer before his father even asked. â€Å"There, just under the jaw.† His father knelt and groped under the beast's head with his hand. He gave a yank and held it up for all to see. A foot of shattered antler, tines snapped off, all wet with blood. A sudden silence descended over the party. The men looked at the antler uneasily, and no one dared to speak. Even Bran could sense their fear, though he did not understand. His father tossed the antler to the side and cleansed his hands in the snow. â€Å"I'm surprised she lived long enough to whelp,† he said. His voice broke the spell. â€Å"Maybe she didn't,† Jory said. â€Å"I've heard tales . . . maybe the bitch was already dead when the pups came.† â€Å"Born with the dead,† another man put in. â€Å"Worse luck.† â€Å"No matter,† said Hullen. â€Å"They be dead soon enough too.† Bran gave a wordless cry of dismay. â€Å"The sooner the better,† Theon Greyjoy agreed. He drew his sword. â€Å"Give the beast here, Bran.† The little thing squirmed against him, as if it heard and understood. â€Å"No!† Bran cried out fiercely. â€Å"It's mine.† â€Å"Put away your sword, Greyjoy,† Robb said. For a moment he sounded as commanding as their father, like the lord he would someday be. â€Å"We will keep these pups.† â€Å"You cannot do that, boy,† said Harwin, who was Hullen's son. â€Å"It be a mercy to kill them,† Hullen said. Bran looked to his lord father for rescue, but got only a frown, a furrowed brow. â€Å"Hullen speaks truly, son. Better a swift death than a hard one from cold and starvation.† â€Å"No!† He could feel tears welling in his eyes, and he looked away. He did not want to cry in front of his father. Robb resisted stubbornly. â€Å"Ser Rodrik's red bitch whelped again last week,† he said. â€Å"It was a small litter, only two live pups. She'll have milk enough.† â€Å"She'll rip them apart when they try to nurse.† â€Å"Lord Stark,† Jon said. It was strange to hear him call Father that, so formal. Bran looked at him with desperate hope. â€Å"There are five pups,† he told Father. â€Å"Three male, two female.† â€Å"What of it, Jon?† â€Å"You have five trueborn children,† Jon said. â€Å"Three sons, two daughters. The direwolf is the sigil of your House. Your children were meant to have these pups, my lord.† Bran saw his father's face change, saw the other men exchange glances. He loved Jon with all his heart at that moment. Even at seven, Bran understood what his brother had done. The count had come right only because Jon had omitted himself. He had included the girls, included even Rickon, the baby, but not the bastard who bore the surname Snow, the name that custom decreed be given to all those in the north unlucky enough to be born with no name of their own. Their father understood as well. â€Å"You want no pup for yourself, Jon?† he asked softly. â€Å"The direwolf graces the banners of House Stark,† Jon pointed out. â€Å"I am no Stark, Father.† Their lord father regarded Jon thoughtfully. Robb rushed into the silence he left. â€Å"I will nurse him myself, Father,† he promised. â€Å"I will soak a towel with warm milk, and give him suck from that.† â€Å"Me too!† Bran echoed. The lord weighed his sons long and carefully with his eyes. â€Å"Easy to say, and harder to do. I will not have you wasting the servants' time with this. If you want these pups, you will feed them yourselves. Is that understood?† Bran nodded eagerly. The pup squirmed in his grasp, licked at his face with a warm tongue. â€Å"You must train them as well,† their father said. â€Å"You must train them. The kennelmaster will have nothing to do with these monsters, I promise you that. And the gods help you if you neglect them, or brutalize them, or train them badly. These are not dogs to beg for treats and slink off at a kick. A direwolf will rip a man's arm off his shoulder as easily as a dog will kill a rat. Are you sure you want this?† â€Å"Yes, Father,† Bran said. â€Å"Yes,† Robb agreed. â€Å"The pups may die anyway, despite all you do.† â€Å"They won't die,† Robb said. â€Å"We won't let them die.† â€Å"Keep them, then. Jory, Desmond, gather up the other pups. It's time we were back to Winterfell.† It was not until they were mounted and on their way that Bran allowed himself to taste the sweet air of victory. By then, his pup was snuggled inside his leathers, warm against him, safe for the long ride home. Bran was wondering what to name him. Halfway across the bridge, Jon pulled up suddenly. â€Å"What is it, Jon?† their lord father asked. â€Å"Can't you hear it?† Bran could hear the wind in the trees, the clatter of their hooves on the ironwood planks, the whimpering of his hungry pup, but Jon was listening to something else. â€Å"There,† Jon said. He swung his horse around and galloped back across the bridge. They watched him dismount where the direwolf lay dead in the snow, watched him kneel. A moment later he was riding back to them, smiling. â€Å"He must have crawled away from the others,† Jon said. â€Å"Or been driven away,† their father said, looking at the sixth pup. His fur was white, where the rest of the litter was grey. His eyes were as red as the blood of the ragged man who had died that morning. Bran thought it curious that this pup alone would have opened his eyes while the others were still blind. â€Å"An albino,† Theon Greyjoy said with wry amusement. â€Å"This one will die even faster than the others.† Jon Snow gave his father's ward a long, chilling look. â€Å"I think not, Greyjoy,† he said. â€Å"This one belongs to me.†