Facing the Effects of the Civil War

After the Civil War, it became evident that changes in the South had to be made. The old way had certainly not worked, and it was time for variation. Therefore, there was much political, economic, and social reforms introduced in the South between 1864 and 1877. After 1877, many of the changes stayed with the exception of Civil Rights. In 1865, the Freedmen†s Bureau was introduced in Congess. It was formed because the government realized that it could not longer meet the needs of Southerners. It was created to look after freed slaves as well as refugees and abandoned land. Groups of people soon received new rights. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. It gave black Americans full citizenship and guaranteed them equal treatment. Also, it passed the Fourteenth Amendment to make sure that the Supreme Court couldn†t declare the Civil Rights Act unconstitutional. The amendment made blacks citizens of the United States and the states in which they lived. Also, states were forbidden to deprive blacks of life, liberty, or property without due process. Additionally, blacks could not be discriminated by the law. If a state would deprive blacks of their rights as citizens, it†s number of congressional representatives would be reduced. The Civil Rights Act as well as the Fourteenth Amendment affected both the North and the South. Additionally, the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed blacks the right to vote, but the South found ways to get around this amendment. Reconstruction government made many changes. It strengthened public education and made it available to black children. It strengthened public education and made it available to black children. It also helped the position of women by expanding legal rights for women. Also, they eradicated incarceration for debt. Lastly, They legalized laws which made unjustified forclosures of homes and farms illegal. Many plantations, at one time he trademark of the South, were broken up. Tenant farming and sharecropping became prevalent. Alabama and Virginia instituted agricultural colleges. Also, although cotton was still vastly important, refined farming methods led to the heightened production of tobacco, rice, sugar, corn, and other conventional crops. Much money from farming went to the production of industry. The South built factories, mines, steel mills, and railroads, to name a few. Mills were created by groups of people in abundance. After the Compromise of 1877, most of these plans remained the same, with the exception of the position of blacks. After this date, the states severely limited the rights of blacks to vote as well as their position in society. In conclusion, there were many political, economic, and social reforms that were introduced in the South between 1865 and 1877. Most of them survived the Compromise of 1877. These reforms continue to remain until today.

Mental Retardation and Child Abuse

Sling Blade is a film about a mentally retarded individual by the name of Karl, who murders his mother and her lover – Karl’s classmate – at the age of twelve.   Subsequently, Karl is institutionalized.   Upon release, Karl returns to his hometown where he befriends a young boy, Frank.   The boy’s father had committed suicide, and his mother is dating Doyle, who abuses both Frank and his mother.   Eventually, Karl is responsible for the murder of Doyle as well, as he must put an end to the abuse that he is witnessing in the lives of Frank and his mother. The story of the film is atypical seeing that Karl is a mentally retarded individual who takes action against child abuse.   Scientific research, on the other hand, has revealed that it is usually the mentally retarded individual who must suffer abuse simply because he cannot take care of himself. As an example, Morse, Sahler, and Friedman studied twenty five children who had been abused, out of which forty two percent were mentally retarded.   All except one of the mentally retarded children in the study had already been diagnosed as mentally retarded before they were abused.   Hence, it is obvious that the abusers knew that the mentally retarded children are vulnerable to abuse. According to Morse, Sahler, and Friedman, people who spend time with mentally retarded children are usually aware that these children are not always able to physically or verbally defend themselves.   Moreover, these children are not always able to describe their abuse to others.   Typically, they are also unable to differentiate between proper and improper verbal communication and/or physical contact, regardless of whether the physical contact is sexual or violent in nature. Lastly, mentally retarded children are truly dependent on other people for all manners of assistance.   This makes them more trusting toward their caretakers as well as others.   Also according to the authors, passivity as well as compliance stem from the trust and dependency of the mentally retarded child.   Those who abuse mentally retarded children are, therefore, taking undue advantage of the trust shown by these children. Sandgrund, Gaines, and Green have also conducted a study on children.   Out of one hundred and twenty children studied by the authors, sixty had been abused, thirty had been neglected, and another thirty had not been abused at all.   The authors reported that twenty five percent of the abused children in their study had been diagnosed as mentally retarded. Twenty percent of the neglected children had similarly been recognized as mentally retarded, while only three percent of the children who had never been abused were mentally retarded.   The findings of this study reveal that mentally retarded children are quite likely to be abused.   The fact that Karl of Sling Blade was never abused – rather, he had the intelligence to differentiate between proper and improper verbal communication and/or physical contact – shows that the film is about an unusual mentally retarded individual.   Sandgrund, Gaines, and Green write that mentally retarded children are normally hesitant to report instances of abuse because they fear losing the essential relationships with their caretakers. Furthermore, these children are not always believed if they manage to report abuse.   Seeing that Karl was not afraid to lose his caretaker at the time he killed his mother reveals that this mentally retarded child was definitely not a typical one. McFadden has also written about the abuse of mentally ill children, including those who are mentally retarded.   Reporting a study conducted by the New York State Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled, McFadden writes that abuse in institutions for mentally retarded children is higher than abuse in institutions for children who are mentally fit.   Also according to the author: In analyzing those cases, the commission found that abuse most often occurred in leisure-  time areas, such as recreation rooms and sleeping quarters, where children congregate without  structured activities.   It also found that boys over 12 years of age and children who exhibited  disturbing conduct were at the highest risk of abuse. In 16 percent of the cases, the study said, a finding of abuse or neglect was made by the  reporting facility.   In another 18 percent, the facility found misconduct by an employee but no  evidence of abuse.   In 66 percent, some corrective action was taken and in nearly 20 percent  disciplinary action was taken against at least one employee. Most of those responsible for the abuse or neglect were not new employees.   The study said  80 percent of them had worked at the facility at least one year and 50 percent had been  employed more than three years (McFadden). Karl was fortunate because his mother did not abuse him.   He was not abused in an institution either.   All the same, research evidence suggests that mentally retarded children are highly vulnerable to abuse.   In unusual cases, perhaps mentally retarded individuals like Karl may be able to struggle against child abuse.   Then again, they might have to take drastic actions such as those of Karl in order to end child abuse.   After all, mentally retarded individuals are not considered credible if they simply manage to report abuse. Works Cited McFadden, Robert D. â€Å"Child Abuse High in New York Mental Centers.† New York Times. 1 Dec 1987. 17 Nov 2007. . Morse, C.W., O.Z. Sahler, and S.B. Friedman. â€Å"A Three-Year Follow-Up Study of Abused and Neglected Children.† American Journal of Diseases of Children. Vol. 120 (1970): pp. 439-446. Sandgrund, H., R. Gaines, and A. Green. â€Å"Child Abuse and Mental Retardation: A Problem of Cause and Effect.† American Journal of Mental Deficiency. Vol. 79 (1974): pp. 327-330. Sling Blade. Dir. Billy Bob Thorton. 1996.            

Please read instructions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Please read instructions - Essay Example The artwork refers to the historic context of the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ where he was covered with the crown of thorns. This is relevant to the Catholics and the Christian family as a whole as it gives them a reason to show their respect to Christ for carrying their own afflictions on their behalf (RiceUniversity, 2009). This artwork dates back to the 17th Century where it was done by an artist known as Andreas Praefcke. The artwork is of Italian origin and is normally placed in most catholic churches in the world. The viewer is engaged through the posture of the artwork where it is placed a way show how painful it was for Christ to be persecuted, and now crucified. The viewer’s attention is captured by the pierced palms and the manner in which Christ was crucified without clothing. The historical context of this artwork simply implies the remembrance of Christ’s crucifixion to the Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans and the Eastern Orthodox. It is an ancient symbol of the Christ’s body (CEJ,

Family Counseling and Gender Differences Assignment

Family Counseling and Gender Differences - Assignment Example The gender difference is important in the family to be able to have dynamics in the interaction and the roles being played. One experience that exhibited the importance of gender roles and gender differences in the family is having different perspectives in decision making. The mother can offer a different view from the father, thus as an offspring, I can make decisions wisely. II. Homeostasis in the Family Homeostasis means stability within the family, thus, it defines the different processes and actions undertaken by the members of the family to achieve this state. There are different instances when this had occurred in the family. One example is when one of my parents needed to work far from home. The habit of seeing and having my father at home to ask advice from became one of the deprivations when he worked in a place far from home. Adjustments to such situation and achievement of homeostasis can be considered as long and tiring journey (Goldenberg and Goldenderg, 2008, p.84; Wo rden, 2002, p.3) III. Marital Skew, Marital Schism, and Emotional Divorce There are different situations in the life of the family that can affect each member. Examples of these situations can be classified to marital schism, marital skew, and emotional divorce. Marital schism can be defined as the failure of the parent to fulfill his or her role in the family due to preoccupation in his or her own problems, e.g. work, which can ultimately result to the undermining of the role of the other parent in the eyes of the children. This can negatively affect the family relationship and dynamics (Goldenberg and Goldenderg, 2008, p.104). Marital skew is the situation wherein problems and stress are encountered in the family but not enough to threaten the marriage. One of the main examples that define the concept is having one psychotic parent who is continuously dependent and weak. One negative effect of such a situation is the development of denials and distortions in the reality being view ed by the children just to cope with the situation (Goldenberg and Goldenderg, 2008, p.105) Emotional divorce or emotional distance is a stage in the relationship of parents in the family which occurs between the periods of over closeness and over distance. It is similar to the situation within the family experiencing marital skew. This leads to the situation when the distance between the two parents balances out and stabilizes to the point where there is the least amount of anxiety in their relationship and w0ithin the family (Goldenberg and Goldenderg, 2008, p.105-6) IV. Symptomatic Family member A symptomatic behavior of an identified patient includes motives of improving family relationships by expressing that the conflict is caused by other family members. This is expected behavior, thus, the main method of intervention is talking to the whole family and then to each member of the family to fix any conflict. The main target is to let the patient feel at ease first prior to the intervention that can help the symptomatic member of the family (Goldenberg and Goldenderg, 2008, p.20; Worden, 2002, p.3). Thus, when this happens, other members of the family should cooperate and prevent from making negative reactions toward the intervention to be able to help a family member in need.  

Qualities of manhood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Qualities of manhood - Essay Example Fourth, do feel the cool waters of Niagara Falls’ deep expanse. Consequently, implementing such activities will make you understand that nature is your friend during times favorable and unfavorable manhood situations. Further, do make your best decisions during manhood (Bouyssou 16). First, do determine the problem. Next, do gather valid and relevant data. Third, do list down probable alternatives that may resolve the problem. Lastly, do implement the best alternative. Consequently, these activities ensure better decisions during your manhood years. In terms of conquering life’s challenges, learning will enhance your chances. First, do start learning starts at home (Donoghue 115). Second, do accept your parents unselfishly showering you with their growing up experiences in order to better overcome the grinding uphill climb called life. Third, do learn everything from your teachers consequently, doing these activities will equip you to surpass of life’s formidable challenges. Moreover, do prepare for possible unfavorable situations during manhood (Lliff 107). When in California, do prepare for forest fires. When in Boston, do prepare for bombing surprises. When in Florida, do prepare for hurricanes. When in New York, do everything to avoid being hit by air attacks. Consequently, preparation will reduce the ill effects of unfavorable manhood situations. Additionally, do prepare for life’s unexpected surprises during manhood (Bouyssou18). Do prepare for possible appearance of unidentified flying objects. Do prepare for unexpected tornadoes. As an expectant father, do prepare for twins to appear. Consequently, preparation for surprises will train you to inject acts that will reduce possible unfavorable manhood outcomes. Further, do learn everything needed to shorten your path to achieving your own preset goals and objectives in life (Donoghue 118). Do learn from the masters. The masters include the textbook

Mesozoic History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mesozoic History - Essay Example The sediment part from the bone is removed. Acid is used for preservation but in a very little amount as the bone is constructed of calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate. Ascetic acid and formic acid are commonly used for the purpose. The dinosaur bone that I own is from the Mesozoic period. Dinosaur bones are very helpful as index fossils and there are some specific reasons behind this phenomenon. First of all, dinosaur bones can be traced very easily. Understanding the age to which they belong is not hard if someone deals with the index fossils. Invertebrate Life: there were a few life forms existing during this period. Shells of silica and calcium carbonate are the two main forms. Class Sardonica was very important during this time. Marine invertebrates developed rapidly during the Mesozoic period. Vertebrate Life: there were three distinguished sections in Mesozoic vertebrate life and they were: sauropod, theropod and ornithischian dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were among the best known creatures which dominated the world at that period. Plant Life: this was the era when some of the major plants existed. Among them the mentionable ones are ginkoes, ferns and cycads. There were also some flowering plants present in the Mesozoic era too. Insect pollinating was one of these plants' characteristics. Mesozoic was a period the dinosaurs are believed to have become extinct from the world.

Cases of cyber attacks Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cases of cyber attacks - Case Study Example The historical landscape of how wars are fought changed drastically when Information Technology was used by developed countries to attack one another.Instead of bullets and guns, critical websites of government and news agencies are hacked or defaced to express political statement and display of IT power. In this paper,a comparison of three cases of cyber terrorism would be discussed to enable people understand the nature, power and threat caused by cyber attacks. Likewise, the governments’ initiatives to response to similar threats in the future are also included in this report. The case of the cyber attack in Estonia. In 2007, Estonia experienced a massive DDOS attack which paralyzed most of its government websites. Although Russian authorities denied the attack, the Estonian government highly believed that it was from Russia. The attack happened after a political issue which involved removing Estonia’s transfer of a Soviet war memorial in Talinn to a military cemeter y ( A cyber riot, The Economist.com). The cyber attack is considered a DDoS or Distributed Denial Of Service. According to searchsecurity, techtarget.com, DDoS happens when â€Å" a multitude of compromised systems attack a single target, thereby causing a denial of service; hence, the target system is forced to shut down which prevents legitimate users to receive service†. The main targets were banking institutions, schools, government websites and other institutions; however, the first launch targeted government sites. The government’s response was to shutdown all mobile phone networks as well as banking systems which really caused a lot of inconvenience to the public. The event was catastrophic enough to prompt NATO security experts to head to Estonia and investigate on the matter. A youth group known as Nashi meaning â€Å"Our† claimed the attack through its spokes person Konstantin Goloskokov which was funded by private business groups ( Shachtman, Wired.co m). Estonia has reacted by creating a Cyber Defense League composed of specialists. It also came up with a Cyber Security Strategy in 2008 that would provide as framework for improving its defense against cyber attacks. Ossetia’s cyber-attack on Georgia in 2008 In 2008, Russia was accused by Ossetia for hacking its government and commercial websites. The attack on Georgia was believed to be a part of Russia’s military support in South Ossetia. The target of the attack included government websites according to a report on smh.com.au, the cyber attack included: 1. The Georgian Parliament main website has been defaced. The website content showed images of Adolf Hitler which replaced the picture of then Prime Minister Saakashvili; 2. The servers of Azerbaijani Day was disabled; As a result, some of the government’s website like Ministry of Foreign Affairs created a temporary site on the Google Blogger to safely disseminate information. Even news agency servers were attacked that time which really alarmed other countries. The main culprit of the attack was South Ossetia Hack Crew which came from a group of programmers from Russia. Today.az reported that â€Å"Russian intelligence services â€Å"were responsible for the attack (today.az,2008). The cyber attack is similar to the DDoS attack that happened in Estonia in 2007. As aforementioned, a DDoS attack would force the target to shut down which denies the legitimate users to access the site. After the attack, different governments such as Ukraine, Poland and Estonia helped Georgia by mirroring the web pages, it was a historic moment in history when Estonia came to the aid of this country (Schachtman, 2008 July). Indeed, Georgia learned a valuable lesson like Estonia which prompted its government to focus on cyber security measures. The National Security Council of Georgia created a Computer Emergency Response Team that can immediately respond to cyber attacks. Similarly, it has been enhancin g security measures by continuously monitoring government websit

Great Famine in Ireland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Great Famine in Ireland - Essay Example Political life for the Irish before the famine had already been considered deplorable.1 According to Dudley Edwards, author of the book 'The Great Famine,' the Penal Law effected on the Irish population in the 18th century 'kept them poor' as more than half of the country's revenues were taken out of Ireland. The novelist Jonathan Swift commented that the Irish 'live[d] worse than English beggars.'2 Farmworkers and their families had to pay exorbitant rents and lived in filthy environment devoid of even a shoe or stocking to protect their feet. 3 This was brought about by the abolition of the Irish Parliament in Dublin and in turn, England administered the country4 whose population live in dire misery of 'poverty and insecurity.'5 Historians contend that reform of the social system could have been instituted during that period so as to advance political and economic security. It is clear therefore that the failure of the British government to introduce legislation, as for instance on , hindering emigration, land reform measures and agricultural improvement only showed the indifference of the British government on the plight of the Irish people. English reformists merely observed in dismay Ireland's doubling population before the advent of the famine. Harvests that were very productive and bountiful showed that people had enough to eat, yet employment opportunities were scarce. The Act of the Union caused Ireland's integration into the British economy as the England utilised Ireland as its 'dumping ground' for it surplus products. The hastening of industrialisation in Britain also resulted to the breakdown of certain industries which used to generate employment. Surveys at that period conducted by the English on the loves of the Irish people depicted a harsh reality of the Irish life. The survey revealed that around 75 percent of Irish laborers were out of regular employment and many begged on the the streets in order to live.6 Moreover, the dominance of the landed elite composed of the Anglo-Irish and the English families asserted their power and authority over their tenants. However, most of these landowners employed middlemen to manage their land for them. Appropriately called absentees, they showed no interest in the development of the land and agricultural areas they owned. The rental fees accrued from the the lands supported and kept the landed elites on their status. The rest of the population meanwhile, all 3 million of them, were left without regular employment.7 The struggle for tenant rights came later when the country trembles on the verge of the famine. Yet these were likewise not easily achieved. Many historians argued that the problem of poverty in Ireland in the 18th and 19th century was the outcome of land tenancy.8 However, Joel Mokyr proposes that neither the land tenure issue nor the issue of population could explain the economic and political failures Ireland had experienced. For Mokyr, violence and lawlessness constituted a major part of the Irish experience in the 19th century, including the period before the famine.9 Mokyr adds that the 'conflict and social unrest' which ensued during the aforesaid centuries could be held responsible for the economic turmoil and

Repositioning Target Market Demographics Using U.S. Census Data Essay

Repositioning Target Market Demographics Using U.S. Census Data - Essay Example It can be stated that the target customers for compact cassettes could be the students as well as the young people who possesses the fascination in listening music. According to the Census Data of the United States, it has been apparently observed that the nation has the highest amount of listeners. On the basis of this significant data, it can be affirmed from a broader perspective that the repositioning of the product especially targeting the listeners like the youths as well as the students along with others fond of listening music would be beneficial. Relating to the aspect of repositioning, certain key dimensions are needed to be implemented that includes understanding company’s’ effort for doing well, discovering the needs of the customers and exploiting organizational strengths for meeting the demands of the customers. Another key dimension can be identified as culture building for focusing on customers as well as market intelligence (Trout, & Rivkin, 2009). From the above observation it can be stated that in order to enter into new market segment, it is required to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the organizations. It can be observed that compact cassettes requires mass reproducing aspects, phonography records as well as prerecording for attracting customers in the global markets. According to the census data belonging to the US, it can be stated that the target market for the product concerning compact cassettes would be the rural areas of the nations wherein the students and the youths among others resides substantially. It has been apparently observed that the population in the rural areas of the US has been estimated to be nearly about 18% and with targeting this particular market, it would be possible to elevate technological advancements particularly in those areas. In accordance with the reports that published by the US Census Data, it can be observed that the value of shipments and annual payrolls is much higher in the US business markets as compared to others in the global context. The products like compact cassettes entering into the target market i.e. the US would have ample scope of generating greater revenues by delivering quality products to the customers (United States Census Bureau, 2011). 2. Type of Research Required for Repositioning Compact Cassettes The marketing research for products of compact cassettes can be identified as current marketing and promotion plan along with distribution of compensation, current customers profile and competitive products review (McGrath Marketing, n.d). In this similar concern, it can be stated that the types of research required for repositioning the product of compact cassettes in the new target market of the US can be identified as conduction of interview with practitioners, assessing the competition in the target market and developing a detailed understanding of the attributes of products. Furthermore, the other sort of research encompassing conduction of primary along with secondary data is also required for establishing a product such as compact cassettes in the target market of the US. It is quite significant that the identification of competitors within the market segment is quite indispensable for repositioning a product in target market. It can also be stated that the conduction of qualitative research is also required

Diabetes type 1 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Diabetes type 1 - Research Paper Example Inability of patients to control the levels of glucose in the blood through the normal mechanism makes their body adopt a new mechanism to control its blood sugar level leading to the disease. The condition affects about 17 per 100,000 school-aged children in the US. The condition is mostly prevalent in the Scandinavian countries, Eastern Europe and South East Asia (Alemzadeh 76). Early diagnosis and treatment is the most appropriate way for dealing with the problem. This research paper analyzes the role of technology in the diagnosis and management of type 1 diabetes. Diagnosis and Treatment According to Alemzadeh, early diagnosis management of type 1 diabetes is the most appropriate procedure for dealing with the problem (32). The researchers concluded that managing the condition among young children was a difficult undertaking. This is because young children require guidance by a guardian to oversee their medication. The researchers concluded their research based on the findings o f a quantitative research designed to establish the prevalence of type 1 diabetes. The survey established that 7.5% of the affected families did not exercise correct hypoglycemia care for their children. The survey also established that poor application of hypoglycemia care to children suffering from type I diabetes was the main cause of long-term complications resulting from the illness. It has also been established that most victims of type 1 diabetes do not live to their adulthood. In addition, those who make it to adulthood suffer from other opportunistic infections or health conditions such as cancers, blindness and amputations. This indicates that early diagnosis and management are significant for the management of the condition. Type I diabetes has no known specific cause and this complicates its treatment and management. Some of these causes are avoidable while others cannot be avoided. In addition, the disease has no known cure and patients depend on control through insulin injection. Management and control of the disease are therefore the main method that is applied in dealing with the disease. It is also important to note that patients who do not follow the advice given by the doctor such as taking insulin injection at regular time intervals may suffer from severe complications as a result. Complications resulting from mismanagement may lead to long-term ailments such as loss of eyesight and even to death. Proper nutrition is the basic management practices for type 1 diabetes patients. The condition is caused by imbalance of blood sugar levels. This implies that the patients suffer from excessive or insufficient glucose in their blood leading to body malfunctioning. A proper diet includes regular low starch foods and plenty of water. In addition, patients require emergency glucose intake when their blood sugar level goes below the required levels. According to Camilleri, proper diet is the most effective method of controlling type I diabetes (876). The researcher concluded that most of the complications resulting from type 1 diabetes are related to poor nutrition. His research recommends technological innovations and application as the most appropriate strategy for dealing with the problem. In this case, application of technology will enhance proper information and monitoring of patients. According to Farrar, application of information technology will contribute to proper diet among diabetes patients. With the current advancements in technology, patients can access information about

Cell Transport Mechanisms and Permeability Essay Example for Free

Cell Transport Mechanisms and Permeability Essay Exercise1 Cell Transport Mechanisms and Permeability Name ____________________________________________________________ Lab Time/Date ______________________________ Activity 1 Simulating Dialysis (Simple Diffusion) 1. Describe two variables that affect the rate of diffusion. * The size of the pores of the membrane * The size of the molecule diffusing through the membrane 2. Why do you think the urea was not able to diffuse through the 20 MWCO membrane? How well did the results compare with your prediction? * Because the pores of the membrane were not large enough * I predicted this correctly. 3. Describe the results of the attempts to diffuse glucose and albumin through the 200 MWCO membrane. How well did the results compare with your prediction? I predicted that only glucose would diffuse through it and was right. Albumin is too heavy to diffuse through that membrane. 4. Put the following in order from smallest to largest molecular weight: glucose, sodium chloride, albumin, and urea. NaCl, Urea, Glucose, Albumin Activity 2 Simulated Facilitated Diffusion 1. Explain one way in which facilitated diffusion is the same as simple diffusion and one way in which it differs. -Similar – They pass through the membrane without the use of ATP, they’re both forms of passive transport. -Different The solutes in facilitated diffusion pass through a carrier protein while the solutes pass through the membrane in simple diffusion. 2.The larger value obtained when more glucose carriers were present corresponds to an increase in the rate of glucose transport. Explain why the rate increased. How well did the results compare with your prediction? Since there were more carrier proteins, more glucose could diffuse into the cell at one time which made the process go along much quicker. I predicted this correctly. 3.Explain your prediction for the effect Na+Cl− might have on glucose transport. In other words, explain why you picked the choice that you did. How well did the results compare with your prediction? I said that the rate of diffusion would decrease, which was wrong, because I figured that having the NaCl would equalize the concentration gradient and make the concentration gradient and make it a slower process. The rate actually remained unaffected because NaCl is not required for glucose in the simulation. Activity 3 Simulating Osmotic Pressure 1. Explain the effect that increasing the Na+Cl− concentration had on osmotic pressure and why it has this effect. How well did the results compare with your prediction? I predicted correctly in saying that the NaCl concentration would increase the pressure because they are directly related, meaning if one increased, that means the other one must have increased as well. 2. Describe one way in which osmosis is similar to simple diffusion and one way in which it is different. -Similar – Solutes can still pass through the membrane in both simple diffusion and osmosis. -Different – In diffusion, the particles go from high concentration regions to low concentration regions, while in osmosis it crosses from a region of low solute concentration to high solute concentration. 3.Solutes are sometimes measured in milliosmoles. Explain the statement, â€Å"Water chases milliosmoles.† Water follows the solutes (milliosmoles) into higher concentrated areas of solutes, me aning it was going against the concentration gradient and chasing the milliosmoles. 4.The conditions were 9 mM albumin in the left beaker and 10 mM glucose in the right beaker with the 200 MWCO membrane in place. Explain the results. How well did the results compare with your prediction? Keeping in mind the past activities, I predicted correctly before doing this activity. The glucose diffused through to the left beaker forming equilibrium, which created osmotic pressure on the left side. The albumin cannot fit through that membrane so it didn’t reach equilibrium. Activity 5 Simulating Active Transport 1. Describe the significance of using 9 mM sodium chloride inside the cell and 6 mM potassium chloride outside the cell, instead of other concentration ratios. Because the sodium-potassium pump needs a 3:2 ratio to function, meaning once the concentration of the KCl runs out then the NaCl cannot function either. 2. Explain why there was no sodium transport even though ATP was present. How well did the results compare with your prediction? I predicted wrong with this activity because I said that the Na+ would be maximally transported. I know now that although in the presence of ATP, the pump still cannot function without any K. 3. Explain why the addition of glucose carriers had no effect on sodium or potassium transport. How well did the results compare with your prediction? I also predicted incorrectly on this one because I did not realize that the glucose carriers don’t need ATP to function so they were still at the mercy of how much potassium there was in the sodium-potassium pump. I thought that there would be easier access into the cell for the Na and K cells. 4.Do you think glucose is being actively transported or transported by facilitated diffusion in this experiment? Explain your answer. Facilitated diffusion because it is moving with the concentration gradie nt and the glucose carriers don’t require ATP to transport the glucose.

Theories of Punishment: Durkheim and Marxist

Theories of Punishment: Durkheim and Marxist Compare and contrast a Durkheim and a Marxist analysis of punishment in modern society. Emile Durkheim is well known for his work on suicide related issues. However, Durkheim is not exclusive to the area of suicide, he had ample experience and expertise in other areas of sociological interest and one prominent field is crime and punishment. Why do societies punish offenders? This is a question that has been deeply explored by many sociologists including Binding who felt that a society’s â€Å"right to punishment†¦was nothing but the right to obedience of the law, which has been transformed by the offender’s disobedience.† The main objective of punishment thus was â€Å"the inmate’s subjugation under the power of law for the sake of maintaining the authority of the laws violated.† Thus, punishment was meant to â€Å"represent the holiness and inviolability of the duties to which it is attached.† Durkheim assigns the power of punishment to the state for the purpose of restoring and maintaining social and collective conscience. He felt that crimes shatter societal solidarity and when there is a right to punishment, and then society can restore its faith in each other by punishing the offender. However, Durkheim contends that in complex modern societies, collective feelings of revenge have been somewhat replaced by Anomie. And this anomie has weakened punishment which leads to more crimes and offences against the society. Durkheim argues that people are shaped by their social experiences and it follows that if the collective conscience is weakened by, for example, too much criminal behavior, the moral ties that bind people together are also weakened. When this happens, the concept used by Durkheim to express this weakening of moral ties was that of Anomie. For Durkheim, anomie occurred when traditional norms of behavior were undermined without being replaced by new norms. In the absence of clear moral guidelines for their behavior, people experience feelings of anxiety, aimlessness, purposelessness, disorientation and so forth. Anomie, therefore, was seen by Durkheim to be a very dangerous phenomenon, mainly because when people no longer believe in their obligations to others, they revert to self-interest. In effect, they attempt to look after themselves without bothering too much about how this may affect the lives of others. How has this change occurred if at all? Is the criminal justice system really more lenient in modern societies than it used to be? This is the question that forms the basis for Durkheim’s entire premise on the subject of criminal justice in modern society. The fact that there is a close connection between Durkheim’s concept of anomie and changes in the criminal justice system cannot be denied. One of his sternest critics acknowledged that â€Å"there is also an underlying validity in the importance that Durkheim attaches to the law for any understanding of society† [9] p. 36. Certainly the phenomenon of law was of crucial importance in Durkheim’s sociological model because it was an external indicator of a level of social life at which moral forces became crystallized and institutionalized to a degree where they were formalized and backed by sanctions. Durkheim could see the difference between the law prevailing in traditional and modern societies. Though he went slightly overboard with his divisions, it is a fact that Durkheim was among the first few to highlight the differences that had led to a shift in punishment from corporal punishment to institutionalized revenge. On a milder note, Durkheim said, â€Å"The duty of the statesman is no longer to propel societies violently towards an ideal which appears attractive to him. His role is rather that of the doctor: he forestalls the outbreak of sickness by maintaining good hygiene, or when it does break out, seeks to cure it. (Durkheim, 1982: 104) Let us now study the differences in more detail. What was the primary difference? According to Durkheim the difference lied in the intensity of punishment. In traditional societies, punishment was more corporal in nature; it focused on the body of the offender. In modern societies, things have become more complex and focus has shifted to institutionalization. This institutionalization has led to a lenient form of punishment. And a lot of this can be attributed to breakdown of social cohesiveness. The modern society is different from what you would expect a traditional society to be. Modern society is usually more â€Å"progressive,† â€Å"industrial† but at the same time materialistic. This aspect of the society makes it highly individualistic too. The individualism factor leads to the creation of what you would call a self-centered culture. In this self-centered zone, people are more concerned about their own welfare than the welfare of the society on the whole. Durkheim blames this individualistic streak for the breakdown of social cohesiveness and collective conscience that is the primary cause of social decay as well as lenient punishment. I agree with Durkheim that punishment today is lenient. It does focus on revenge but there is a greater focus on rehabilitation of offenders which gives the whole picture a compassionate view thus resulting in leniency which is not often desired. Leniency is not desirable in all cases and in traditional societies or old world societies when punishment was stricter, crime rate was lower and recidivism was almost negligible. There is another important concept which should be instilled here. Conformity is what Durkheim would want in a social system today but this conformity factor has been missing since people want to have their own individualistic streak. They do not want to conform. But for a society to care about each other’s welfare and to build cohesiveness, conformity is desirable. Morals and values can often take a backseat or they lose their intensity when there are too many groups and each has its own view. (Anthony Giddens, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory. An Analysis of the writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press (1971), 103). When there is lack of conformity, there is also an increased risk of conflict and this can endanger the greater interest of the society. Durkheim feels that lack of conformity is one of the main reasons for growth of conflict and for further division of interest and for this reason; he suggests that conformity should exist. He also suggests the use of restitutive law as a possible solution bringing and maintaining law in a modern organic society. Durkheim’s view of modern society’s law and lenient punishment emerges from his views on anomic division of labor. According to this concept division of labor of anomic type takes place when norms regulating activities break down or fail to emerge. One source of this anomie has been the rapid growth in economic conditions which gave rise to new â€Å"interests in conflict (which) have not yet had time to be equilibrated† p. 370. Another major source was the discrepancies that existed between a group’s expectations and their achievements. In such an air of â€Å"relative deprivation†, rules that previously governed the means to goal attainment break down, and anomie and increased disorder could result. Some sociologists have sought to make international comparisons, maintaining that, on the basis of this theory, it should be possible to predict that in countries with an advanced division of labor, greater inequality and/or deprivation and/or rapid rate of change would be important predictors of higher levels of political instability and conflict. One general consequence is that the absence of regulation can lead to unspecified desires, and the other is that for the individual specialist worker, work itself can lose its meaning. With regard to the forced division of labor, the possible consequences are, firstly, a resentment of exploitation and an attempt to meet force with force (resistance or revolution); secondly, there is the response of fatalistic acceptance of domination. In a society where anomie and forced division of labor are combined, the unlimited desires/resentment and meaninglessness/fatalism pairs reinforce each other. Some critics (Horton) have sought to contrast Durkheim’s concept of anomie with Marx’s concept of alienation, but the contrast only holds up if anomie is kept separate from the forced division of labor; whereas in practice, as Durkheim perceived, they are frequently combined. There can be absence of regulation (anomie) at one level and coercive regulation at another level (forced div ision of labor), as exemplified by unrestricted competition and lack of agreement over the regulation of prices and incomes, on the one hand, and inequality of opportunities on the other. However, in Durkheim’s view, spontaneous attachment to norms (as distinct from coerced attachment deriving from an imposed ideology) could only occur when the forced division of labor was mitigated. Durkheim drew a sharp contrast between two systems of law: one dominated by repressive sanctions and corresponding to mechanical solidarity, and the other characterized by a predominance of restitutive principles corresponding to organic solidarity. Critics pointed out that the contrast was overdrawn, and also that many of the societies he used as examples of mechanical solidarity and repressive penal systems were in fact not simple tribal or clan societies, but already possessed the rudiments of central state organization, as in the case of the ancient Jewish and Roman societies. The most important additions or modifications to his original thesis were concerned with his classification of crimes, and with regard to the political factor. Whereas, in the original thesis, the main contrast was between repressive and restitutive sanctions, in the later article the contrast involves a classification of crimes into those that are fundamentally religious in character—offences against shared moral tenets that constitute the collective conscience—and those that are â€Å"individual†, in the sense of involving the essentially private interests of increasingly autonomous individuals. Penal sanctions also change in quantity and quality, with a movement away from corporal punishment and toward depriving the individual of possessions or freedom, i.e. fines and imprisonment. This development corresponds to the increasing differentiation within society, and the increasing focus on the individual, in this case as criminal or victim. Durkheim makes an inte resting point about prisons only coming into existence when a society reached a sufficiently advanced stage of material development to permit the existence of secure and fortified establishments, such as castles or other large dwellings of a king or class of notables. This was the kind of institutionalization I mentioned earlier in the paper. Now that a country has driven towards institutionalization, it has resulted in automatic leniency. Offenders do not suffer corporal punishment because it is generally disapproved of in the society. Such an attitude leads to leniency of punishment which may often prove to be damaging for social cohesiveness and general peace. One feature of Durkheim’s social thought—one that most modern students are likely to notice—is that he can be placed upon either side of the political spectrum in a fairly straightforward manner. This certainly suggests something about the density of his thought, as well as the numerous ways in which his writings can be misunderstood. Essentially, Durkheim borrowed portions of what he considered to be â€Å"social facts† from the left and the right. This should not be surprising considering Durkheim’s primary understanding of society: society, to him, is a moral reality. The social truths can only be grasped as such if they are reflected in moral beliefs. In other words, he believes there is an objective reality because social struggles serve to indicate to individual human beings that they are fighting for something independent of their own sense perceptions; something abstract and universal. Nevertheless, sociological explanation must fundamentally be concerned with what is independent of psychology and individual points of view; it consists of the search for the objective within the context of the subjective. To Marx, however, even if this form of understanding proposed by Durkheim is attainable, the material world surrounding humanity is inevitably altered through the process of knowing it. Accordingly, human perception is not fully capable of grasping the truth behind events; it is only able to develop some representative illustration of it. So, the scientific observations of the world and the knowledge gained from these observations enable humans to recognize and impose patterns of behavior upon the physical world, thus, to manipulate it in a manner that can never be completely comprehended. History, to Marx, has been misconstrued by the notion that some conceptual model can be used to characterize the history of production and labor. He attacks this way of understanding the progression of human history: â€Å"Thus, history must always be written according to an extraneous standard. The actual production of life appears as something unhistorical, while the historical appears as something separated from ordinary life, something superterrestrial,† (Marx 125).There is no such thing as objective truth, but our patterns of thought can evolve if human surroundings are also to evolve. Accordingly, to uphold the status quo is to selectively ignore the continuing processes of human thought and exploration. Durkheim, on the other hand, is concerned with making broad sociological and psychological assertions about humanity. In order to accomplish his goal, Durkheim must make use of a rather difficult term: milieu. Broadly, Durkheim contends that every feature of social phenomena must be viewed through the lens of the particular time period in which it exists—its â€Å"milieu.† Put differently, if we are concerned with sociological analysis, then the unit of measure of the â€Å"individual† is nearly extraneous; the only unit that can be profitably employed is the milieu. Accordingly, Durkheim believes that the social perspective is the most fundamental standpoint to view human life; therefore, psychological theories are inconsequential. So it should not be surprising that Durkheim argues that the social division of labor is not merely an abstract social phenomenon; instead it is a natural law of human existence. Although mankind interacts intimately with his environment, the social realities of his life trump the more concrete realities: â€Å"The same cause which increases the importance of the collective environment weakens the organic environment in such a manner as to make it accessible to the action of social causes and to subordinate it to them,† (Durkheim). The most prevalent objection to Marx’s theory of the state is that the mechanism needed to assure this equality of the classes is an authoritative state. Historically, this is why communist states have never been truly successful in the way Marx envisioned. To Marx, the continuation of class conflicts can only result in a form of communism. Others have asserted that the situations that are ripe for communism are merely situational and not unavoidable. As a result, capitalism will not necessarily progress to communism, but may take an altogether new form. Broadly, the differences between Marx and Durkheim’s interpretations of social institutions reveal the weakness inherent to both. Durkheim chose to take a purely mystical perspective regarding society; it was the outcome of abstract notions and social norms. Marx, on the other hand, saw it as purely a materialistic structure; it was based upon tangible and physical realities. Surely, neither can be completely accurate, but both maintain a level of truth as well as value for the future. Movie: A Thousand Words Movie: A Thousand Words In this essay I am going to talk about the business and business ethics about a movie called A Thousand Words. Jack, who is played by Eddie Murphy a world known Hollywood actor and comedian is an overly energetic, fast-talking, and committed agent who is known to closing even the most difficult of authors and other deals with celebrities into his agency. His main goal was to land the (as quoted in the movie by Jack in a meeting) Most popular, nondenominational religious Deepak-Chopra like spiritual leader on the planet named Dr. Sinja as his client. Jack claims he is the best agent in town. He also quotes Hey, I can talk anybody into doing anything. In order to sign him as his client, Jack lies and pretends to believe in Dr. Sinjas philosophy and path towards inner peace. In addition, he tells his assistant that he does not read scripts and believes that the first five pages and the last pages of any script/book will judge if its worth having a look at it and signing a specific autho r or not. Later on that day, a mysterious tree shoots up in his back garden, and he notices that every word he says a leaf falls off from the tree. When Jack goes back to his office the following day, he gets shocking news from his assistant telling him that the book was a quick read and that it was five pages long. In this scenario, the first five pages and the last pages are the whole book, yet Jack still refuses to read it because he thinks its some kind of joke or prank on him by Dr. Sinja. Jack is looking for answers and asks Dr. Sinja for help when he realizes that he has about 1000 words left until he and leaf die. Dr. Sinja leaves for a spiritual retreat to Bolivia for three days as in the meantime advises Jack not to speak until he gets back and finds out about this problem. Unable to speak, write, or communicate with everyone in his life, jeopardizes his relationship with his wife, boss, and other colleagues in which results him losing his job (Sandie Angulo Chen, March 9, 2012). Business ethics is the study of what is right and what is wrong, duty and obligation, moral norms, individual character, and responsibility but in the context of business. Jack has violated a few moral standards in order to achieve his dream signing. First, Jack lied to Dr. Sinja saying he has read the book before and that he is all for inner peace and spreading his wisdom and his words to the world. Another violation of the moral standards was putting his interest before the moral standards which is wrong. A moral standard at all times takes priority over ones self interest no matter what. He quoted in the movie Dr. Sinja: whats it in for you? Jack: just the satisfaction of knowing that I helped my hero to save the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and 10% of course. Saying that shows that Jack was in it for the money all along. Knowing that he topped several celebrities in sales and potentially could be the next big thing, Jack has targeted him and is willing to do whatever it takes to sign him . Having said that, leads me to one of the theories in business ethics: Egoism. Egoism is a theory that believes in short term sacrifices in necessary to long term self-interest. There are two types of egoism; Ethical Egoism and Psychological Egoism. Ethical egoism is where a person chooses the way they behave. An individual who can do anything and as long as there is some sort of benefit as the end result all entirely based on ones self-interest. Psychological egoism on the other hand is where an individual has behaved and acted. They perform something purely because they wanted to do it for their own self-interest. Mentioning the two sides to this theory, it is clear that Jack is an ethical egoist. With Jacks job being an agent, you will have to play the part of being nice and putting a poker face and lie in order to succeed in the business world. Albert Carr (a businessman) mentions this in the relativism and the fame in business. He believes that business is a game and that busi ness professionals are expected to follow a code that doesnt relate to ethics in any way. He uses poker as an analogy of lying, or a bluff of some sort. For example; lying about ones age on a CV, or using conscious misstatement, lie to sell products. Furthermore, Jack is doing just that in his company to achieve his goals. He chooses to behave in such a way to pretend that he is interested in their work and to boost up his status and salary bonus. Another example in the movie as well is when Jack goes to a coffee shop and sees a long queue of people waiting to be served. He looks at his watch and realizes he is going to be late for work if he waits in line. He picks up his phone pretending to speak to his wife who allegedly is in labor. Therefore he shouts out loud saying: hello? What? Shes in labor? Look I cant miss the birth of my first child! I only went out to get some coffee! After shouting that out loud, he was let through by all the people waiting in line just so he cant miss the birth of his so-called first child. When reaches the front of the line he is stopped by two tall grown constructor workers whom gave him a fearful look meaning youre not going to cut in front of us. Jack at this point had to improvise and quick in order to get his coffee. On the spot he says: Twins? Its twin! Im having twins. Im having twins. Thank you. Its on the house? Thank you so much! Jack has quickly thought of a lie in order to get throu gh and get his coffee. Jack not only makes his way through to skip the queue, but he also got his coffee for free as congratulation for the birth of his twins. We can also link this to the Albert Carr theory that he acted and played a poker face to get what he wanted. Lastly, within the theory of Egoism there is a difference between selfishness and self-interest. Selfishness disregards the needs of everyone else including people whose needs should be taken into account by doing something purely for your own satisfaction. Whereas self-interest; is a behavior on doing whats best for you in order to achieve. Jack in this movie is a bit of both. For example: his valet guy who parks his car for him in the morning asks him if he has read his manuscript and Jack replied that he is getting closer to reading it because it has moved from his kitchen table to his nightstand and next to his toilet and thats where it gets read he says (4:08-4:40mins in the movie). He didnt read his book and yet was rude to him by telling him to park his car somewhere else because he doesnt want bird feces on his car. Another example is when he gets back home and discusses to his wife about the house. She advises him to change houses because there is an open pool with no fence where on the other side is a cliff which has a drop of 2000 feet. His wife mentioned that she changes the babies diapers at the bar rather than a proper room for the child here it is user friendly. Jack agrees to make some changes but once again to his self interest instead of changing houses he told her that we could change up the media room into the babys room which the opposite of what his wife wanted(16:10-18:00mins). Jack has violated a few of the moral standards and has created an ethical dilemma. These results in affecting the environment around him, the society and the people involved in his life. For example: his wife, his assistant, his client, and his colleagues. As mentioned earlier, Jack is aware and realizes he has only 1000 words left until Dr. Sinja comes back with a solution. This situation makes it difficult for jack to communicate with people at work and his family. Jack needs to use his words wisely and know when to speak. Whatever happens to the tree happens to him. As the tree loses its leaves, jacks gets more and more sick, and when the tress loses all its leaves it is known that the tree dies which could result in Jack dying a well because they are connected. One of many examples of this is when Jack goes in to grab coffee in the morning and cannot talk or explain to the guy what he wants. For that reason, Jack uses sign language to communicate with the guy and ends up buying s everal coffees because he didnt understand the order (28:15-29:28mins). Secondly, he approaches the road trying to cross onto the other side, where a blind man comes and asks him to advise him when its safe to go. At this point Jack is pressured and cannot talk to the guy. The guy asks him could you tell me when its safe to cross? Are you deaf? I said can you tell me when its safe to cross? Jack stands there in silence not know how to answer the guy, he hums to the guy meaning that it is not but the old guy misinterpreted what Jack was trying to say so he walked into the road while there was traffic flowing past by. Jack quickly reacted and went after him trying to help him cross the road while cars were driving by. In the process of that, Jack has dropped several of his coffees and when they reached the other side in one peace, a bus passing by smacked the last coffee in his hand resulting in him not getting not only the coffee that he ordered but any coffee in general. Following up on this example, Jack affected the society around him which included th e old man almost getting run over by cars and also car drivers swerving left and right which can cause accidents on the road and affecting their lives. Another example of Jack affecting the society is when his wifes friend advises her to improve her relationship with her husband because he is slacking. So she rents a hotel room and tells her husband to meet her there. When Jack arrives, she tries to make love to him and get him to say I love you but Jack once again fails to respond to her which jeopardizes their relationship and leaves things between them complicated and unsure of what might happen to their family. Shes scared that Jack has lost his love for her which worries her. The last example of Jack affecting the society is when two offers come in and he fails to close any deal between them due to the lack of words he says. He asks his assistant to talk for him in one meeting where it goes all wrong and they lose their offer. On top of that, Jack gets a second chance at closing the book deal, but when they found out that the book is only 5 pages long, they declined the offer and stormed off. After the incident, his boss looks at him and asks him why he failed to mention that the book was five pages long. Jack still remains in silence and does not answer her which led him to get fired from his job. All in all, Jack has affected the society and the people around him to a point where he no longer has control of his situation. Towards the end he tries to explain his problem to his assistant who later monitors how many leaves he has left till it runs out and he dies. In the meantime, he goes around town trying to be nice and be moral and good person. For example: giving bread to the poor, giving money to charity, and trying to help a little girl get her cat from the tree in hopes that the leaves will stop falling from the tree. The problem with this, it is not done from pure goodness or performing good will. This leads us to Kants theorem, which focuses on the type of action rather than the consequence of the action. Goodness is the main requirement of the existence of the good will according to Kant. He believes that people should act morally regardless of the consequences. There is a difference between Good will and Happiness. For example: a person could be healthy, successful, h ave power, wealth, satisfied with his life, looks and considers himself a happy person. When people see this person they would assume he is a happy person and hes doing well in life. According to Kant, he questions the matter whether this persons happiness have moral bases. He also states the absence of good will such as kindness, ability, to judge, courage, decisiveness and many others may result in these qualities in becoming evil because they are not supported by the good will. From Kants opinion a good will forms, the most essential condition not of being happy, but worthy to be happy. There are two types in where we can determine morality in any situation, and in order to do so we must do things according to certain maxim, such as Universal Acceptability and Ends and Means. Universal acceptability everyone globally should act upon a specific rule and follow the rules stated. Ends and means is where we treat people like how we want to be treated. For example if you ask someone t o do you a favor, its only fair for you to reward or repay them back with the same effort they have put in to do that one thing for you, also to recognize their value of their hard work. Jack in the beginning of the movie treated people as means rather than ends as well. He didnt care of the people around him and used people by telling to do thing s for him and not appreciating their value of work and effort put in so that he gets what he asked for. Kants moral theory has application for organizations. Meaning just like other theories, they all have principles and approaches. Kants first principle points out that the categorical imperative (which are the universal acceptability and ends and means) gives us firm rules to follow in moral decision making. Second principle he introduces an important humanistic dimension into business decision, in other words forbids treating humans as means to ends. The third and last principle he stresses the importance of motivation and acting upon principles, which means doing the right thing is not necessarily enough. The individual has to perform an action that has moral worth and that its done with desire and real drive to do the r ight thing for its own sake. After mentioning these theories, Jack realizes he is wasting his time and nothing working out. So he goes back to his house to find out his wife packed all her stuff and left. He goes upstairs and looks at old photos of his family and a few pictures of his dad. In the beginning of the movie he was against his dad and never forgave him for leaving him and his mom behind a long time ago. His father has passed away and many years later Jack still hasnt forgiven his father for what he did to them. There was a picture of all three of them, he removed it from the photo album and went outside by the bodhie tree and started to pray. Jack meets Dr. Sinja at a diner to be let down hearing that Dr. Sinja couldnt find a cure for this curse. Jack sits there helpless and feeble having lost his family and his job in the process of all this mess. Dr. Sinja asks him that there is a reason why he is still there, its because he wants to seek advice from him and the only advice he can give him was for J ack to find the truth about himself, to quiet his mind and only then will he find the out the truth. He then goes back to his house under the influence of alcohol and his assistant follows him there where he tells him to be quiet and to stop talking. Jack gets furious and starts singing and talking as revenge to the tree trying to waste the leaves so he dies. He wakes up the next morning with his mouth taped, walks up to the bodhie tree and starts crying, he asks the tree what to do by talking to it from his inner voice in his head. While watering the tree he sees a butterfly landing on Dr. Sinjas book that he never read, so he sat down and started reading it. Later on that day, he visits his wife and with only a few words and facial expressions he shows her that hell be back and he truly loves her. On top of that, he goes back to the store where he usually gets his coffee in the morning and hands over a record of the Beatles which was the cashiers favorite CD/band. Also Jack heads to the valet guy that parks his car every morning and hands him his script saying that it was brilliant and sold with a cheque of $10,000 dollars, but when his car pulled up it was covered up in bird feces although didnt care and carried on with his day. Jack does all this with good intentions and good will just like I mentioned in Kants theorem. When he visit his mother, he accepts the fact she thinks he is her husband Raymond. She notices he cant speak so she starts speaking to him about how he was so angry at his father on leaving them and that he should forgive him and know that he father loved him and never stopped loving him. Mid way, she calls him jack and realizes that it was jack that visits her all along. Lastly, leaving to the cemetery to see his fathers grave, he prays and says his last three words which were I forgive you. Lightning struck and Jack McCall fell to the ground experiencing a heart attack. Soon after jack wakes up to the ringtone of his phone and it was his assistant informing him that all the leaves on the tree reappeared again and that he is able to talk again. In the end, Jack writes a book about is experience and named it a thousand words, Dr. Sinja was proud of him and his accomplishments, and his assistant took Jacks place at work as an agent. When his assistant (now agent) finds out he has a delivery he tells them to bring it in and also mistreats his new assistant, but as they bring it in, it was another tree and he finds out that he going to be going through the same curse as his ex-boss Jack did because of his bad intentions. In addition, he gets his wife a brand new baby-friendly home by the suburbs like she always wanted and asked for earlier on in the movie and reconciled with his family again. In conclusion, personally I think the best ethical and moral theory that Jack should have applied was Utilitarianism. Its a theory in which if an action produced more good than bad then it is a good action. Although the theory is demanding under two reasons: to do the most and maximize values and also put aside personal self-interest. Jeremy Bentham who is known to be the father or founder of this theory believes in pleasure, quantity and temporary (short term) actions, whereas the developer of the theory John Mill believed in happiness, quality, and long-term actions. I think John Mills theory is right and that Jack should consider happiness as well as other peoples happiness. This was just one of six points about the theory. Another point about it is an end justifies the means, which means anything is morally right if it brings better results in the end. Third point is to maximize happiness for a longer period of time. Fourth point is no-one can predict the future consequences rega rdless of the action implied. Moreover, should consider pleasure and pain as well as the others and not your own only. Lastly, the same action applied could give different results for different people. For example if you were to take action and take down a bad guy who is holding your sibling as hostage, the situation would be different and you would be hesitant and careful when taking down the bad guy rather than it being someone random that you dont know. The principles of utility in organizational are: provides clear and straight forward basis for formulating and testing policies, in other words allows us to test their worth against standard utility, also provides objective and attractive ways resolving conflicts with self interest and looks at the general good and lastly provides flexible, result-oriented approach to moral decision-making because utility focuses on results. There are also two types of utilitarianism, act utilitarianism looks at the consequences each time an act i s performed, whereas rule utilitarianism looks at the consequences each time anyone follows the rule by calculating if it is accepted or rejected. The disadvantages of this theory are that it doesnt work properly because you are responsible of your actions; also some actions are wrong even though they produce good action. For example sacrificing a bad guys life for the sake of the hundreds he could have harmed, and lastly the theory is dubbed as unfair because it puts your emotions and self interest aside. Another theory I would think would apply is Kant theorem because it is all about doing things morally with good intentions, but the disadvantages are; it is very strict, if any act alone is based on self interest then it has no moral worth. Second disadvantage is regardless of the consequences we cannot lie to save our lives, no exceptions to the rules. Last disadvantage states that it is unfair; this is due to people being used as means in order to reach their ends.

Development of Winston Smith in 1984

Development of Winston Smith in 1984 The ideological development of Winston Smith in 1984 One of the two most famous books of George Orwell, 1984, depicts a pessimistic vision of the future world consisting of three totalitarian states; Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia, constantly at war with each other and keeping masses under careful observation and entire control. Therefore, the average people in 1984 cannot develop in any ways, except physically, because all their thoughts and ideas are under control of the Party. Emotions are unwanted, except for the devoted love of Big Brother, and the profound hate of Emmanuel Goldstein, and the enemies of the Party. Party members are being watched through telescreens all day, so when the first symptoms of unorthodoxy are noticed, they can be â€Å"cured† immediately. In addition, telescreens are constantly providing people with the appropriate ideas. Even the future language of Oceania, Newspeak, prevents people from â€Å"unorthodox† thoughts. All he unnecessary words, such as the ones bearing only slight differences, are being removed from the dictionary. The rest of the words are being deprived of their secondary and â€Å"improper† meanings. Accordingly, in the near future, party members are not going to be able to think of inadequate ideas. Winston Smith seems to be the only man in London who has human thoughts. There might be other people like him around, but due to the current system, people are prevented from showing their â€Å"unorthodox† thoughts and feelings. Winston Smith is an ordinary party member, except for the fact that he is a thinking creature. He has had thoughts long before he starts to write his diary, and his thoughts have not been appropriate in the eye of the Party. His Therefore, he has been a thoughtcriminal for years, but he was able to hide it, by understanding what the Party expects from an ideal member, and miming it. The unpremeditated act of constantly thinking is his first step to revolution. The next level of revolt is to start writing his diary. Though the act of writing seems to be pointless, even dangerous; it is satisfactory. Winston Smith starts to write his diary in an unusual way, he does not think about what he is writing, he just lets his thoughts embody on the paper. This method is called automatic writing; †modern psychodynamic theories of personality propose that traits, attitudes, motives, impulses, and memories that are incompatible with the persons conscious awareness may be dissociated from awareness and rarely expressed overtly in the course of normal waking behaviour.† (Encyclopaedia Britannica) Using this method, the person is unaware of what will be written: â€Å"Suddenly he began writing in sheer panic, only imperfectly aware of what he was setting down. His small but childish handwriting straggled up and down the page, shedding first its capital letters and finally even its full stops.†(Nineteen Eighty-Four, p.11) â€Å"He did n ot know what had made him pour out this stream of rubbish.† (Nineteen Eighty-Four, p.11) After beginning his diary, he soon starts to think about how the regime works. He is in a good position to be able to see into the governance, because Winston works in Minitrue, Ministry of Truth, where he rectifies some earlier articles. He remembers an incident when he found an unquestionable evidence of the assumption that the Party changes past events to prove his statements. Winston comes to the conclusion that only the proles are free in his society, and they are the ones who could defeat the authority of the Party. He writes: â€Å"If there is hope it lies in the proles.† (Nineteen Eighty-Four, p.60) The only problem with the proles is that they do not care about politics, and they do not know what kind of power is in their hands. They are the great majority (85%) of the society, but they live politically unconsciously. â€Å"Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.† (Nineteen Eighty-Four, p.61) Smith realizes what the Party does. He knows how they falsify the past and how they manipulate party members and the proles, but he does not know why they do this. â€Å"The immediate advantages of falsifying the past were obvious, but the ultimate motive was mysterious. He took up his pen again and wrote: I understand HOW: I do not understand WHY.† (Nineteen Eighty-Four, p.68) He also realizes that the real freedom is the freedom of thoughts, and he thinks that it cannot be taken away from people: â€Å"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.† (Nineteen Eighty-Four, p.69) Accordingly, at the end of Part I, Winston is a real rebel, he finds out many things about the Party, yet he does not do anything against it. He starts to revolt in his private life, when he starts an affair with Julia. The Party considers sex only the way to produce citizens in the country. The Party wants to abolish sexual contact, therefore they encourage young people to undertake artificial insemination. As Daphne Patai points out, the Party â€Å"prohibits sex except for the purpose of procreation, on the assumption that sexual tension could be redirected as passionate hatred of an enemy and passionate love of an abstract leader.† (Patai, 1984) Julia pretends to be an innocent, perfect party member, but she often has sex secretly with other Party members. This is her way of rebelling against the current system. â€Å" Have you done this before? Of course. Hundreds of times well scores of times anyway. With Party members. Yes, always with Party members. † (Nineteen Eighty-Four, p.104) Winston and Julia start to have a secret life together. Winston rents a room from a prole man and they meet there regularly. They make love, consume things from the black market and talk a lot. Winston talks to Julia about politics. Although Julia is not truly interested in it, she listens to him and agrees, because she loves him. â€Å"Im not interested in the next generation, dear. Im interested in us. Youre only a rebel from the waist downwards, he told her. She thought this brilliantly witty and flung her arms round him in delight. â€Å" (Nineteen Eighty-Four, p.129) Winston is waiting for a sign of the Brotherhood; the underground organization, headed by Emmanuel Goldstein, that is secretly trying to overthrow the Party. He wants to do something effectively against the Party. People do not know anything about Brotherhood, but there has always been a rumor of something like the Brotherhood. Winston really believes in the Brotherhood, and he has always wanted to be a part of it. â€Å"It had happened at last. The expected message had come. All his life, it seemed to him, he had been waiting for this to happen.† (Nineteen Eighty-Four, p.131) OBrien, the one who Winston has always believed to be a rebellious person, invites him to his home. What Winston expects is some kind of initiation to the Brotherhood. He wants to belong to an organization that really does something against the Party. He has always believed what the arrested insurgents confessed, and he wants to do similar things to those. OBrien took Winston and Julia in the Brotherhood. Smith receives the book that Goldstein wrote and he starts to read it. He is satisfied because he thinks that his questions will be answered, but at the end he becomes disappointed by the book, because it does not give any answers yet. â€Å" He had still, he reflected, not learned the ultimate secret. He understood how; he did not understand why. Chapter 1, like Chapter 3, had not actually told him anything that he did not know; it had merely systematized the knowledge that he possessed already.† (Nineteen Eighty-Four, p179) After reading two chapters of the book, the worst thing happens to Winston and Julia. They have been betrayed and than arrested. It turns out that the prole man that let the room for them and even OBrien are the agents of the thoughtpolice. Therefore Winston is not only disappointed by the book, but also by the man that he really respected. Winston is taken to Miniluv where OBrien takes him in hand. OBrien teaches Winston in a Platonic method. He asks questions as far as Winston gives the right answer. OBrien , at last, gives the answers to Winstons questions. â€Å" Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from all the oligarchies of the past, in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites.† (Nineteen Eighty-Four, p.217) At the end, when he understood all that he wanted, he was taken to Room 101, and he had been changed. At the top of his ideological development, Winston became intellectually murdered. He knew what he wanted to know, but he did not believe himself. The only thing he trusted was the Party, and Big Brother. All in all, Winston goes through a hard and long process of ideological progress. According to Adibur Rahman, â€Å"Winston Smith wants to come â€Å"up for Air† in order to communicate with his genuine voice of self which is of course, not pessimistic. He no longer identifies himself with the existing callousness of the society.† (Adibur, 2002) First, he did not consciously think of rebelling, his subconscious thoughts and his dreams were his way of thinking. Then the next level was to disgorge his feelings and thoughts through his diary. After that he started to retrace his thoughts consciously, then he was not pleased with thinking, he wanted to act. At the beginning, he only rioted in his private life, after that he wanted to transfer it to public life, although he did not clearly understand his ideology. This was the point when he got arrested, and his questions were answered by OBrien, who was his traitor, his mentor, his enemy and his friend. He had intellectuall y been murdered, when he had reached the zenith of his ideological advance. Works consulted: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/44909/automatic-writing Retrieved on 08. 01. 2010 Patai, Daphne. The Orwell Mystique A Study in Male Ideology. Amherst, 1984 Rahman ,Adibur. George Orwell: a humanistic approach.New Delhi, 2002

Metaphor, Sociobiology, and Nature vs. Nurture: The Biological Battle o

Metaphor, Sociobiology, and Nature vs. Nurture: The Biological Battle of the Century Ladies and Gentlemen! I am proud to present one of the biggest and longest-running biological battles of the century! Tonight we recap the surprising nature vs. nurture fight. The following pages will explain the highlights, but if you want to learn about this war in its entirety, you’ll find the blow-by-blow account available to the public in Connie Barlow’s collection, From Gaia to Selfish Genes, in a chapter entitled "Nature, Nurture, and Sociobiology." What began this brawl of the biologists? Was it a woman? No. Was it a war? No. It was a metaphor. And the metaphor states that society is an organism. This metaphor believes that individuals in a society work together in order to function like an organism. But this isn’t the dispute—the real fight lies within the question, How is this organism organized? In other words, do we inherently possess the knowledge to function like an organism or are we taught this skill? Here come the returning champs now! In the Blue Corner—The Returning Champs: The Anti-Sociobiologists Weighing in with a professor from Harvard, a chair of neurobiology from the Open University, and a chair of psychology from Northwestern University, the anti-sociobiologists defend the idea that genes and environment work together, much like a dance, in which the individual is taught social behavior. In an excerpt from their book, Not in Our Genes, theorists Richard Lewontin from Harvard, Steven Rose from the Open University, and Leon Kamin from Northeastern University propose, as the title suggests, that social behavior is not genetic. Rather, it is taught or influenced by an individual’s surrounding environment... ...as hard, scientific evidence, both are lacking. For example, the sociobiologists cannot prove that altruism is a gene, yet the anti-sociobiologists cannot prove otherwise. Thus, the both the sociobiologists and the anti-sociobiologists attempt to answer how an organism is organized with theory—and neither have produced a hypothesis that is agreed upon by a consensus. Yet both positions assume that the metaphor that society is an organism is a commonly accepted idea. Robert Wright reflects my skepticism perfectly when he warns, "this blurring of the line between society and organism is a delicate matter" (150). It appears that, at least for the time being, both sides are going to have to agree to disagree. Work Cited Barlow, Connie, ed. From Gaia to Selfish Genes: Selected Writings in the Life Sciences. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT University Press, 1991.

Free Essays - Doing the Right Thing in Their Eyes Were Watching God :: Their Eyes Were Watching God Essays

Doing the Right Thing in Their Eyes Were Watching God When faced with urgent moral conflicts such as during the hurricane in Zora Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, men generally have two choices: help others or help themselves. Hurston's characters choose to they help others before attending to their own needs for survival. The characters' actions are typical of Immanuel Kant's philosophy of the categorical imperative: actions are intrinsically good and do not find justification in their effects, nor does one expect compensation for his actions. In short, one could say that the very lack of thought on the part of Hurston's characters indicates the characters unyielding confidence in their beliefs and the basic moral goodness they possess. The first event in Hurston's story is the evacuation of the muck as Lake Okechobee overtakes the characters' village. Hurston's characters could run away as fast as their legs can carry them, but they instead notify neighbors without delay. As Hurston describes it, "They cried out as best they could, `De lake is comin'!' and barred doors flew open and others joined them in flight..." (154). They expect nothing for their actions, but they inevitably save many families. Moreover, although Motor Boat refuses to leave the high house, he still makes an offer to his friends which is as selfless as he can make it: "Mah mamma's house is yours" (155). Motor Boat acknowledges his friends' trouble, as well as his own, but he offers his mother's house as a lodging simply because it is the right thing to do. Contrary to what might be contended, the white people on the Six Mile Bend bridge, however, are not necessarily demonstrating egoism. A finite area of bridge exists, and if white people were there first (156), then the white people can claim its use. On the other hand, they could be charitable by moving on after a rest and allowing the weary blacks to rest before continuing the journey to Palm Beach or high ground. Hurston could be again demonstrating her perceived differences between the races, but the degree of racism depends on readers' viewpoints. Not too long afterwards, Tea Cake demonstrates benevolence as he notices a man trapped between an electrified tin roof and a rattlesnake. Tea Cake notices the man's predicament and stops to urge him to move to his left. Readers can presume the man was freed by taking Tea Cake's advice, but in the spirit of the categorical imperative, Tea Cake does not wait in expectation of laurels. Free Essays - Doing the Right Thing in Their Eyes Were Watching God :: Their Eyes Were Watching God Essays Doing the Right Thing in Their Eyes Were Watching God When faced with urgent moral conflicts such as during the hurricane in Zora Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, men generally have two choices: help others or help themselves. Hurston's characters choose to they help others before attending to their own needs for survival. The characters' actions are typical of Immanuel Kant's philosophy of the categorical imperative: actions are intrinsically good and do not find justification in their effects, nor does one expect compensation for his actions. In short, one could say that the very lack of thought on the part of Hurston's characters indicates the characters unyielding confidence in their beliefs and the basic moral goodness they possess. The first event in Hurston's story is the evacuation of the muck as Lake Okechobee overtakes the characters' village. Hurston's characters could run away as fast as their legs can carry them, but they instead notify neighbors without delay. As Hurston describes it, "They cried out as best they could, `De lake is comin'!' and barred doors flew open and others joined them in flight..." (154). They expect nothing for their actions, but they inevitably save many families. Moreover, although Motor Boat refuses to leave the high house, he still makes an offer to his friends which is as selfless as he can make it: "Mah mamma's house is yours" (155). Motor Boat acknowledges his friends' trouble, as well as his own, but he offers his mother's house as a lodging simply because it is the right thing to do. Contrary to what might be contended, the white people on the Six Mile Bend bridge, however, are not necessarily demonstrating egoism. A finite area of bridge exists, and if white people were there first (156), then the white people can claim its use. On the other hand, they could be charitable by moving on after a rest and allowing the weary blacks to rest before continuing the journey to Palm Beach or high ground. Hurston could be again demonstrating her perceived differences between the races, but the degree of racism depends on readers' viewpoints. Not too long afterwards, Tea Cake demonstrates benevolence as he notices a man trapped between an electrified tin roof and a rattlesnake. Tea Cake notices the man's predicament and stops to urge him to move to his left. Readers can presume the man was freed by taking Tea Cake's advice, but in the spirit of the categorical imperative, Tea Cake does not wait in expectation of laurels.

coma :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book starts out with a woman, Nancy Greenly, going to the Boston Memorial Hospital because she is having an extra heavy period. After being examined, she is going to have an operation in OR room 8. Something happens during the operation, and Nancy becomes brain dead.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Susan Wheeler, a medical student, is waking up for her first day in the field after two years of studying to become a medical doctor. She is very attractive with blond hair. She has blue, brown, and flecks of green in her eyes. When she and five other medical students go the Boston Memorial Hospital, all that the nurses think of them is that they are nuisances. They find Mark Bellows, who will be watching over them while they were staying at the hospital. Bellows plans to give a lecture every morning, and have one of the students give a lecture every afternoon. After they go to an OR room to see a real operation, they see Nancy Greenly and Susan is shocked at what happened to her. Bellows tells her that the chance of something like that happening is one in one hundred thousand. When Bellows is talking to them, Susan gets paged and is needed to start an I.V. The patient, Sean Berman is having a minor knee surgery. When Sean is in surgery, the same thing that happened to Nancy Greenly happens to him too, and Susan decides to research the topic for her third year report and find out why these two things have happened in such a short time when the chances are so slim.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is my least favorite part. The first thing that Susan does is go to the hospital library to research coma. She finds out that no one really knows why anyone goes into a coma, and that the subject is so vast it is unbelievable. She writes down everything she finds out in her notebook. She then finds the main computer of the hospital and fills out a request form for all cases of coma occurring to inpatients which were unrelated to the patients known disease. She didn't sign her name, though, and when someone else put their request in the box she put it under his so that the information would be sent to that person who was Henry Schwartz. When he got his information with Susan's on the bottom, she told him that there was a mix-up and her request was put with his, so he gave her the bottom part of the printout. coma :: essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book starts out with a woman, Nancy Greenly, going to the Boston Memorial Hospital because she is having an extra heavy period. After being examined, she is going to have an operation in OR room 8. Something happens during the operation, and Nancy becomes brain dead.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Susan Wheeler, a medical student, is waking up for her first day in the field after two years of studying to become a medical doctor. She is very attractive with blond hair. She has blue, brown, and flecks of green in her eyes. When she and five other medical students go the Boston Memorial Hospital, all that the nurses think of them is that they are nuisances. They find Mark Bellows, who will be watching over them while they were staying at the hospital. Bellows plans to give a lecture every morning, and have one of the students give a lecture every afternoon. After they go to an OR room to see a real operation, they see Nancy Greenly and Susan is shocked at what happened to her. Bellows tells her that the chance of something like that happening is one in one hundred thousand. When Bellows is talking to them, Susan gets paged and is needed to start an I.V. The patient, Sean Berman is having a minor knee surgery. When Sean is in surgery, the same thing that happened to Nancy Greenly happens to him too, and Susan decides to research the topic for her third year report and find out why these two things have happened in such a short time when the chances are so slim.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is my least favorite part. The first thing that Susan does is go to the hospital library to research coma. She finds out that no one really knows why anyone goes into a coma, and that the subject is so vast it is unbelievable. She writes down everything she finds out in her notebook. She then finds the main computer of the hospital and fills out a request form for all cases of coma occurring to inpatients which were unrelated to the patients known disease. She didn't sign her name, though, and when someone else put their request in the box she put it under his so that the information would be sent to that person who was Henry Schwartz. When he got his information with Susan's on the bottom, she told him that there was a mix-up and her request was put with his, so he gave her the bottom part of the printout.

The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 37

The next morning found them al back at the boardinghouse. After the previous night's rain, the sunshine had a fresh quality to it, and everything felt bright and damp and clean, despite the smel of smoke that permeated the boardinghouse and the charred remains of the garage that could be glimpsed through the windows of the den. Elena sat on the couch, leaning against Stefan. He traced the burn lines, nearly entirely faded, on the back of her hand. â€Å"How do they feel, heroine?† he asked. â€Å"They hardly hurt at al , thanks to Damon.† Damon, on the other side of Stefan, gave her a brief, blinding smile but said nothing. They were al being careful of one another, Elena thought. She felt – and she thought everyone else probably did, too like the day looked: shining and freshly washed, but slightly fragile. There was a lot of quiet murmuring back and forth, exchanged smiles, comfortable pauses. It was like they had completed a long journey or a difficult task together, and now it was time to rest. Celia, dressed in pale linen trousers and a silk dove-gray top, elegant and poised as always, cleared her throat. â€Å"I'm leaving today,† she said when they al looked up at her. Her bags sat neatly on the floor beside her feet. â€Å"There's a train to Boston in forty-five minutes, if someone wil drive me to the station.† â€Å"Of course I'l take you,† Alaric said promptly, getting to his feet. Elena glanced at Meredith, but Meredith was frowning at Celia in concern. â€Å"You don't have to go, you know,† she told her. â€Å"We'd al like it if you stayed.† Celia shrugged expressively and gave a little sigh. â€Å"Thank you, but it is time I get going. Despite the fact that we destroyed a priceless rare book and I wil probably never be al owed on the Dalcrest campus again, I wouldn't have missed this whole experience for the world.† Meredith grinned at her and raised one eyebrow. â€Å"Even the brushes with death?† Celia raised an eyebrow of her own. â€Å"Was there a part that wasn't a brush with death?† They laughed, and Elena was grateful to see that the tension between them had evaporated. â€Å"We'l be glad to have you anytime you want to come back, dear,† Mrs. Flowers said to Celia earnestly. â€Å"I wil always have a room for you.† â€Å"Thank you,† Celia said, looking touched. â€Å"I hope I can come back and see you al again someday.† She and Alaric left the room, and soon the rest of them heard the sounds of the outside door shutting and a car starting up. â€Å"Good-bye, Celia,† Bonnie chirped. â€Å"She turned out to be okay in the end, though, didn't she?† She went on without waiting for an answer. â€Å"What are we going to do today? We need to have an adventure before summer ends.† â€Å"You haven't had enough adventure yet?† Matt asked her disbelievingly from where he was sprawled on a rocking chair in the corner. â€Å"I mean a fun, summery kind of adventure,† she said. â€Å"Not al doom and gloom and battles to the death, but fun-in-thesun stuff. Do you realize we've got only about three weeks before it's time to start school again? If we don't want our only real memories of this summer in Fel ‘s Church to be one disastrous picnic and a horrific battle with a phantom, we'd better get started. I vote we go out to the county fair today. Come on!† she urged them, bouncing in her seat. â€Å"Rol er coasters! Fun houses! Fried dough! Cotton candy! Damon can win me a big stuffed animal and take me through the Tunnel of Love! It'l be an adventure!† She fluttered her eyelashes at Damon flirtatiously, but he didn't take her up on her teasing. In fact, he was gazing down into his lap with a strained expression. â€Å"You've done very wel , children,† said Mrs. Flowers approvingly. â€Å"You certainly deserve some time to relax.† No one answered. Damon's tense silence was fil ing the room, drawing everyone's eyes to him. Final y, Stefan cleared his throat. â€Å"Damon?† he asked cautiously. Damon clenched his jaw and raised his eyes to meet theirs. Elena frowned. Was that guilt on Damon's face? Damon didn't do guilt – remorse wasn't one of his many qualities. â€Å"Listen,† he said abruptly. â€Å"I realized†¦ while I was making my way back from the Dark Dimension†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He stopped again. Elena exchanged an anxious glance with Stefan. Again, stammering and having trouble finding the words to say what he wanted to say were not typical of Damon. Damon shook his head and col ected himself. â€Å"While I was remembering who I was, while I was barely alive again, and then while I was getting ready to come back to Fel ‘s Church, and everything was so painful and difficult,† he said, â€Å"al I could think of was how we – how Elena – had moved heaven and earth to find Stefan. She wouldn't give up her hunt, no matter what obstacles she faced. I'd helped her – I'd risked everything to do so – and we were successful. We found Stefan and we brought him home, safe and sound. But when it was my turn to be lost, you al left me on that moon alone.† â€Å"But Damon,† said Elena, reaching out to him, â€Å"we thought you were dead.† â€Å"And we did try to move heaven and earth to save you,† Bonnie said earnestly, her big brown eyes fil ing with tears. â€Å"You know that. Elena tried everything to bribe the Guardians to get you back. She almost went crazy with grief. They just kept saying that when a vampire died, he or she was gone for good.† â€Å"I know that now,† Damon said. â€Å"I'm not angry anymore. I haven't been angry about it for what seems like ages. That's not why I'm tel ing you this.† He glanced guiltily at Elena. â€Å"I need to apologize to al of you.† There was a tiny col ective gasp. Damon just didn't apologize. Ever. Elena frowned. â€Å"What for?† Damon shrugged, and the ghost of a smirk passed over his face. â€Å"What not for, my princess.† He sobered. â€Å"The truth is, I didn't deserve saving. I've done terrible things to you al as a vampire, and even when I became human again. I fought Meredith; I endangered Bonnie in the Dark Dimension. I endangered al of you.† He looked around the room. â€Å"I'm sorry,† he said to everyone, a note of sincerity and regret in his voice. Bonnie's lips trembled; then she threw her arms around Damon. â€Å"I forgive you!† Damon smiled and awkwardly patted her hair. He exchanged a solemn nod with Meredith that seemed to indicate that she also forgave him – this time. â€Å"Damon,† said Matt, shaking his head. â€Å"Are you sure you're not possessed? You seem a little†¦ off. You're never polite to any of us but Elena.† â€Å"Wel ,† said Damon, looking relieved at having gotten the confession off his chest, â€Å"don't get used to it. Matt.† Matt looked so startled and pleased that Damon had cal ed him the right name for a change, instead of â€Å"Mutt† or nothing at al , that Damon might as wel have given him a present. Elena saw Stefan give his brother a sly, affectionate nudge, and Damon elbowed him back. No, she wouldn't get used to it. Damon, temporarily drained of his jealousies and resentments, was as beautiful and intriguing as ever, but a heck of a lot easier to get along with. It wouldn't last, but she could enjoy it for now. She took a moment to real y look at them, the Salvatore brothers. The vampires she loved. Stefan with his soft dark curls and sea green eyes, his long limbs and the sensitive curve of his mouth that she always longed to kiss. Sweetness and solidity and a sorrow she'd had a hand in lightening. Damon, leather and silk and fine chiseled features. Mercurial and devastating. She loved them both. She couldn't be sorry, couldn't be anything other than sincerely, whol y grateful for the fat e that had thrown them in her path. But it wouldn't be easy. She couldn't imagine what would happen when this new comfort and friendliness between the brothers, between al of them, ended. She didn't doubt that it would dissolve. Irritations and jealousies were just a part of life, and they would build up again. She squeezed Stefan's hand in hers and smiled past him at Damon, whose dark eyes warmed. Inwardly, she sighed a little, then smiled more widely. Bonnie was right: Col ege was just around the corner, a whole new adventure. Until then, they should take their pleasures where they could find them. â€Å"Cotton candy?† she said. â€Å"I can't remember the last time I had cotton candy. I'm definitely up for Bonnie's idea of adventure.† Stefan brushed his lips against hers in a kiss that was as sweet and light as cotton candy itself, and she leaned into the comfort of his arms. It couldn't last. Elena knew it. But she was very happy. Stefan was himself again, not angry or fearful or grieving, but himself, the one she loved. And Damon was alive, and safe, and with them. Al her friends were around her. She was truly home at last.