Free Will and Divine Foreknowledge Essay

Free will is the ability to make our own choices in issues regarding all aspects of life. It is a power that enables us to make our own choices that are not affected by external factors such as divine will. Therefore, each one sins by his/her own will. While, divine foreknowledge is the fact that God has complete knowledge of what will happen in the future. In â€Å"On Free Choice of the Will†, St. Augustine discusses a critical issue which is the incompatibility of man’s free will and God’s foreknowledge. So the question is, do we really have free will in spite of the fact that God foreknows everything? If God knows what must necessarily happen next, then how do have the free will to make our own choices? Augustine comes up with a series of arguments to prove that we sin by our own will with no intervention of the divine foreknowledge. Augustine first argued a characteristic of God that He has free will, and that He has foreknowledge of his own actions. Therefore, both God’s will and foreknowledge go along with each other. From this point he then assumes that man’s will and God’s foreknowledge are both compatible. But can we compare God with man? And is this argument convincing enough? More elaboration has to be given in order to make it more convincing. Augustine then proceeds to do so. He states that people who do not believe in the compatibility of free will and divine foreknowledge are those who â€Å"are more eager to excuse than confess their sins† (p. 73). That means that people who always blame others for their own wrong doings rather than admitting it are those who claim that we have no free will and that everything is already known by God, and that nothing can be changed, which they also use as a justification for their wrong actions. These people live their life by chance, leaving everything according to the circumstances rather than trying to take good actions. An example for that is the beggars, who always try to take money from people without giving anything in return or even having a job, although they have the ability to do so. But because of their laziness and their belief that this is what they were created to be, they leave everything to happen by luck and according to God’s foreknowledge that couldn’t be changed (p. 73). Augustine then moves to another point which is the relation between the will and the power to achieve that will. He states that the will itself is within our power. Therefore, our desire to commit certain acts is a power that we own. But if we will something that is not within our power then it is not considered as a will because we can only will what is within our power. Augustine then discusses that if something good happens to us then it is accordance to our will, not against it. So for example, being happy, although God foreknows that you will be so, doesn’t mean that we are happy against our will. Thus, God’s foreknowledge of our happiness doesn’t take away our will to be happy (p. 76). And so, he concludes that if God foreknows our will, then definitely this will is going to occur, and so it will be a will in the future. Consequently, his foreknowledge doesn’t take away our will. And since that what we will is in our power, God foreknows our power and He will not take it away. Hence, we will have that power because God foreknows it (p. 77). So Augustine made it clear â€Å"that it is necessary that whatever God has foreknown will happen, and that he foreknows our sins in such a way that our wills remain free and are with in our power† (p.77). However, the fact that God’s foreknowledge of our sins is consistent with our free will in sinning still stays questionable. Taking into consideration the fact that God is just, so how does He punish our sins that happen by necessity? Or is God’s foreknowledge not an obligation? The topic is still confusing so Augustine then proceeds to make it clearer. He explains that if we are certain that someone is going to sin, then we have foreknowledge with the wrongdoing that he/she is going to commit. This foreknowledge didn’t force them to do so, but it was done by their own free will. Accordingly, their will to sin is consistent with our foreknowledge of that sin. Therefore, â€Å"God forces no one to sin, even though he foresees those who are going to sin by their own will† (p. 78). Augustine then compares foreknowledge with memory. He states that our â€Å"memory does not force the past to have happened†, and similarly God’s foreknowledge of the future doesn’t force it to occur (p. 78). And we remember things in the past that we have done but didn’t do everything that we remember, likewise God foreknows everything that He will cause in the future, but doesn’t cause everything that is within His foreknowledge (p. 78). As a result, God punishes our sins that we do by our own will and which He did not cause, as God is known by his justice. Augustine then comes up with a good argument for all those who are still slightly confused, that if God should not punish us for our sins that He foresees then He also shouldn’t reward us for our good work that He also foresees (p. 78). To conclude, Augustine succeeded in coming up with a good argument showing that man’s free will and God’s foreknowledge are both compatible. The sequence of his ideas made his argument understandable and convincing for any reader. As a reader, I’ve always thought about that subject but didn’t receive any answers. However, reading â€Å"On Free Choice of the Will† made everything clear for me and made me well convinced that God’s foreknowledge doesn’t intervene with our own choices that we make. Works Cited Williams, Thomas. On Free Choice of the Will. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. , 1993. 129. Print.

Life Support Essay

The issue of sustaining life by medical technology is complicated by uncertainty as to when death actually occurs. Is it when breathing ceases, the heart stops beating, or brain activity is no longer evident? Medical support can keep a body breathing after meaningful signs of human life have ceased. There are individuals who seemingly have died, only to be resuscitated within minutes of interrupted heartbeat or breathing. Some who have been so resuscitated and kept alive with life support have recovered and returned to live normal lives. Others have not. Questions arise in these instances: How long should one try to hold on to life, especially when suffering persists and the quality of life is at question? When is our appointed time to die? Although most people may think of ventilators when they hear the words â€Å"life support machine,† there are many other types of machines used to sustain one’s life. The type of life support machine used depends on the medical condition of the patient and the reasons for the use of life support machines. Patients with life threatening illnesses may make the choice to use life support machines while they are still of sound mind and capable of making their own decisions. There are four main types of life support machines. The first is a ventilator, which forces air into the lungs of a patient who cannot breathe on her own. The second type is a pacemaker which is used for those who have irregular heartbeats, or for those who suffer from an abnormality of the blood vessels. Next, there are dialysis machines, which are most commonly used for patients who suffer from renal (kidney) failure. A ventilator works by forcing warm, oxygenated air into the lungs while removing carbon dioxide. A plastic tube is inserted through the mouth and into the trachea, and is then hooked up to the ventilator which monitors every breath of the patient while regulating the air pressure at which the patient receives the air. Pacemakers are used most frequently for those who suffer from an irregular heartbeat or rhythm. They are surgically inserted below the skin, and emit electrical impulses that remind the heart to beat normally. Dialysis machines are used for both short and long term use, sometimes as a temporary measure to maintain the patient’s health until they can receive a kidney transplant or to prolong and provide a quality of life for people who are not transplant candidates. Hemodialysis is often used three times a week to help cleanse the blood and remove the build-up of deadly toxins. Hemodialysis machines work by removing the patients blood, running it through the machine to cleanse it, and then pumping it back into the patient. This process happens simultaneously with the use of a shunt. Life support machines enable patients to survive for a period of time while their body is recovering from a specific illness or injury. They benefit patients who only need them for a short time as well as people who are attempting to maintain quality of life for the long term. Life support machines are also beneficial in the event that the patient is deemed â€Å"brain dead. † In these circumstances, the organs continue to receive oxygen-rich blood flow to keep them functioning until they can be removed for transplantation. Many believe that life support machines are used only for those who are comatose or critically ill. They are however, also used for those who have a life threatening disease or injury, such as paralysis, who are attempting to maintain a normal life. A perfect example of this is Christopher Reeve. He relied on a ventilator to breathe for him a majority of the time, and before his death, was still able to lead a productive life. Many also believe that life support systems are used only in a hospital. Again, this is not true. The use of noninvasive ventilators are becoming more popular for those who wish to live at home. Patients who receive dialysis are able to reside at home while visiting a dialysis treatment center on scheduled days.

Environmental Sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Environmental Sustainability - Essay Example Additionally, moving science, research, educational and training precedence is an opportunity to support policy implementation of a green economy. New knowledge is essential for government policy makers, workers, professionals and the community. Another opportunity for policy implementation is the resource and land rights that preserve the interests of those with informal rights. The reason is that most governments favor mighty actors who are in a position to claim rights, and underline practical efficiency of resources allotment, ignoring other people who have special dependence on the resource in question. This is particularly decisive for guaranteeing rights to water and traditional lands (Harris, 2003, p 12). Creation of enabling situation for behavior and psychological change offers an opportunity for policy implementation. This entails framing environmental sustainability as a social objective, reducing choices towards greener methodologies, as well as, creating information to match with stakeholder approaches to learning. Finally, easing business to completely incorporate sustainability and equity concerns is another opportunity for implementing policy for sustainable development. This arises through provision of information and synchronizing research on latent opportunities, particularly to embrace the best available technologies and meet principles that enable technology access. Easing business also involves trade barrier reduction where possible, offering finances and public private partnerships that carve up perils and cover upfront overheads, as well as, enhancing accountability. However, some of the noteworthy constraints include local community attitudes and reluctance to accept some policies aimed at environmental sustainability. Conflicts may arise in relation to implementation of sustainable development in a

Hovey and Beard Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hovey and Beard Company - Case Study Example The Hovey and Beard Company Case presents us with a job design of a painting process which demonstrates errors in the design of the job by engineers which resulted into inevitable problems at work (John, Robert and Michael, 2010). The fact that the hooks were designed to move in a continuous array in front of the painters without a method of regulating them indicates problems with job design. However it can be argued that the calculation of the time that each painter was given before the hook would fall out of reach shows that the engineers were aimed at ensuring that the job was designed well to meet the demands of the job. In this scenario, trainee painters are expected to make more errors especially with the timing of the hooks and thus decreasing their productivity. The reinforcement theory is used within the Hovey and Beard Company Case as illustrated by the training bonus that the trainee painters are given. The aim of this bonus is to enable the trainee to meet the gap in prod uctivity which would result from lack of skills and experience in the job. The job was designed in a way that the trainees were expected to be skills at the end of six months when the training bonus was withdrawn (John, Robert and Michael, 2010). The contribution of the reinforcement theory to job performance is to motivate employees to improve their performance in the job. In the Hovey and Beard Company Case, the training bonus was reduced gradually as a way of reinforcing the motivation of the painters to improve their performance so that by the end of the six months they were able to perform normally without mistakes and thus enable the efficiency of the job to be enhanced. The problems that were observed in the second month of the training in the Hovey and Beard Case can be attributed to poor reinforcement and thus less motivation by the supervisors. The job design would have been wrong leading to many of the hooks falling out of the range of the painter (John, Robert and Michae l, 2010). However, it can be argued that the engineers increased the rate at which the hooks moved because they expected the efficiency of the painters to have improved by the second month. The complaints of the painters that the hooks were too fast would also demonstrate that the supervisors expected unrealistic improvement of performance by the painters in the second month. Question 2 The performance diagnosis model is a tool that is used to define problems that result in the performance of tasks of a specific job. The diagnosis performance model aims at identifying the desired levels of employee performance in the execution of various processes of a job. Secondly, the model is important in the identification, specification and implementation of the most appropriate intervention of improving the employee performance so that the problems at the work place are solved with effectiveness (Stahl, 1997). In the Hovey and Beard Company case, some employees quit because of the high expect ations of performance which they would not cope with. The replacement of the employees with new ones caused even worse problems. This illustrates inappropriate application of the performance diagnostic model by the supervisors. The supervisors replaced the employees with new ones because they thought that it was the most appropriate intervention for the problem. Their failure in the application of the performance diagnostic tool is due to their inability to clearly identify the

Obesity in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Obesity in the US - Essay Example The beginning of the 21st century is marked by obesity problems and overweight affecting American population. Statistical results and research studies suggest that obesity becomes a national problem which affected millions of adults and children around the country. Obesity is an epidemic. It tends to have more negative than positive effect on the economy and can greatly reduce ones life expectancy. The best resolution to eradicate this spreading disease is by educating people about a healthy diet and regular exercises, starting with the younger generations. Aside from surgery, a healthy lifestyle is the only option that will work (Sugarmann and Sandman 1403). This paper will discuss the background of the disease, some preventative measures that can be taken as well as a proposed solution and proposed policy. The policy that will help the nation to improve their eating habits is to educate the public on the dangers and medical quandaries that obesity causes and to help eradicate this epidemic from our nation. Obesity is defined as: "an excess of body fat, and is distinct from "overweight" (Toth and Schwartz 13) which means an excess of body weight. When contrasted with smoking and drinking, obesity at first seems like a less serious health problem. Obesity is not only more hazardous than smoking and drinking, but it also leads to a higher cost for health care and medicine. Statistics also show that obesity contributes approximately 740,000 deaths from heart diseases, 540,000 from cancer, 158,000 from stroke, and 59,000 from diabetes are mainly contributable to obesity. In many cases of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa, female patients often feel pressure because they cannot accept their appearances and eventually starve themselves to stay in shape. Obesity is one of the main reasons for increases in suicides in the United States (CDC) (Pollan 2003). Pollan questions: "Since the raw materials of soda and popcorn, French fries and even hamburgers represent such a tiny fraction of their retail price (compared with labor, packaging and advertising), expanding portion size becomes a way to multiply sales without adding much to costs" (Pollan 2003'; see appendix 1). Prevalence For adults, obesity is a result of unhealthy eating behavior they follow from early childhood changing nothing during their mature years. Important detail is that people possess unhealthy eating patterns from the yearly age which lead them to overweight problem in near future. As a result, mental and physical health problems arise when two conflicting values are being absorbed by a child such as becoming more desirable if one is slim and beautiful, as opposed by a baser instinct to indulge one's gastronomical appetite (Toth and Schwartz 13) What is most commonly observed then among sufferers is their low self-esteem. They see weight reduction as the only way for them to be accepted and loved. Many of people feel that they are not good enough, they are not capable of doing anything right, and have an illusion that their appearance is always scrutinized by others, have an incorrect perspective that they would be happier and life would be better if they could just lose weight. Negative body image contrasts with media images of ideal body and the importance of physical attractiveness and supported by clothes manufacturers who "popularize" baggy life style. The problem is that many children consider that doing exercise is less delightful than other unhealthful alternatives such as watching

Modern Judaism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Modern Judaism - Essay Example A second covenant was made some 450 years later when Moses led the Jews from slavery out of Egypt back to Cannon. It was during this exodus upon Mount Sinai that God told Moses the ten commandments, now contained in the Torah or Old Testament, the first five books of the Bible Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy . It was here upon Mount Sinai that saw the beginnings of the structured religion, Judaism. The religion of Judaism is ethical; when the Israelites accepted the ten commandments they committed to follow a religious code of law. The Torah contains 613 commandments from God which teaches them how to act and think about life and death. The religion of Judaism believes that God will judge people by their actions alone this leads to a fundamental difference between Christianity and Judaism. Christians believe that all humans are born with original sin and that this sin cannot be absolved by oneself but that the sacrificial death of Jesus was atonement for all humans' sins. Jews on the other hand do not believe in original sin but believe that all have good and bad in them and that they have the choice of moral actions, Jewish principles are that humans themselves decide how to act and it is their actions that will be their salvation in the face of temptation, whereas in Christianity even the thought of temptation is classed as a sin. 1 Judaism is monotheistic; there is only one god, in Christianity the idea of trintarianism exists, God the Father, God the Son an God the Holy Spirit. Whilst all three represent the one God Almighty in Judaism God cannot be divided. Whilst both religions share the books contained in the old testament many Jews see that Jesus replaced Jewish law. The New testament containing the Gospels and scriptures of Jesus' disciples is not believed or is part of the Hebrew Bible. Whilst Jews do not deny the existence of Jesus they do deny that he was the messiah as they argue he did not fulfill what the prophets had said he would. The coming of the messiah or the Moshiach is a belief held by all Jews however the belief is that when he comes there will be peace created on earth, Jesus was not on this earth in times of peace and there has never complete global been peace since his death. Jewish faith proclaims that every generation has a person born who could potentially be the moshiach but only if the time is right will that person become the messiah however if they die before their mission is completed then he has still yet to come. 2 http://www.jewfaq.org/moshiach.htm Moshiach: The Messiah 2. History and Background the Worldview (2 pages) a. Describe the origin or beginning of this religion/cult. b. What are the major believes of this religion/cult and how do they contrast with the beliefs of Christianity c. Be sure to address the beliefs of your chosen worldview concerning Jesus Christ, their concept of salvation, and how salvation is attained. Instructions: RESEARCH PAPER At the end of the fifth week, you are required to turn in an academic research paper. REQUIREMENTS for the PAPER 1. Length - The Paper should be AT LEAST 5 -7 pages of text (to meet the minimum the 5th page MUST be a full page). If your paper does not meet the 5 page minimum

CaseStudy Paper Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CaseStudy Paper - Case Study Example The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and strengths of Shouldice Hospital must be taken into account when considering expanding operations. The strengths of the hospital entails: effective capacity utilization, efficient process, customer satisfaction, and specialized care. The hospital has a very effective and efficient service process. This entails four processes; pre surgery, surgery, recovery and follow ups (Hauch, 2002). These processes are overseen by highly trained and competent medical personnel. The hospital also faces some weaknesses; for instance, narrow product line, number of locations, and age of certain key personnel. The hospital only offers one major medical service; this is herania operations. The hospital should make attempts at broadening the medical services offered; for instance performing other different operations and transplants. Majority of medical specialist at the center are elderly; therefore, the management must start recruiting young medical practiti oners, who will receive mentorship from the older staffs (Bendavid, 2005). There exists tremendous opportunities for expanding hospital operations. For instance, entering new locations, and ability of increasing medical service demand (Atul, 2002). The hospital should open additional branches in the entire North American region. There is a huge demand for hernia operation services in the United States and Mexico. Therefore, the hospital should plan on offering medical services in United States and Mexico. The threats experienced by the hospital during operations are; government involvement, staff changes and inadequate capacity. The government keeps on introducing new legislations governing the health sector. Therefore, the hospital should be up to date on legislation changes. Implementing these new changes may be expensive, due to resources involved

Advanced HealthCare Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Advanced HealthCare Management - Assignment Example s that make employees perform their responsibilities, managers should then design appropriate motivational strategies to assist these employees towards accomplishing identified goals. Likewise, it was emphasized that since employees could manifest and assume needs and drives that could change over the course of time, the more that managers should be aware that any previously designed motivational program might need updating or revisions. For instance, in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it was specified that â€Å"people want to satisfy various needs that can be arranged in a hierarchy of importance† (Burns, Bradley, & Weiner, 2012, p. 98). And, according to Martires, â€Å"a need ceases to be potent when it is met and man strives to satisfy the next rung of needs† (Martires, 2004, p. 38). This simply means that if workers needs that need to be satisfied as initially assessed by the manager to be predominantly physiological needs (or receiving a base salary), when this has been satisfied, the manager should re-design the motivational program of the organization to earmark satisfying the next level needs – which is security needs (Burns, Br adley, & Weiner, 2012). In addition, it was also disclosed that â€Å"managers should periodically assess motivation and performance, taking into account the occupational, career-stage and professional factors† (Burns, Bradley, & Weiner, 2012, p. 96), which were considered as important types of individual and situational differences. To enable the manager to make a comprehensive and accurate assessment, it is therefore part of their role to conduct the following activities: â€Å"informal interviews with employees and coworkers in which open-ended questions are asked about individuals’ needs, motives, perceptions, and values† (Burns, Bradley, & Weiner, 2012, p. 96). This could be challenging since some organizations have employees who come and go; meaning, the hiring and firing (or retirement of people) contribute to the

LL.M. Transnational Commercial law- Aspects of Insurance Essay

LL.M. Transnational Commercial law- Aspects of Insurance - Essay Example He said; Lord Mustill recently reviewed the history of good faith and the need to ensure full disclosure in the case of Pan Atlantic Insurance Co v Pine Top Insurance Co4, where he pointed out that the formulation of insurance policy is largely dependent upon information furnished before the execution of the contract, therefore the inequality of information may be addressed only by full disclosure of all relevant information. In Australia, Section 21 of the Insurance Contracts Act of 1984 (Cth) clearly lays out the scope of duty of a party that is purchasing insurance to disclose all the information that may be relevant to an insurer. This would include all information that is necessary for the insurer to make an objective assessment of the situation in order to decide whether or not it is prepared to accept the risk that is involved. In the recent case of McCabe v Royal and Sun Alliance Life Assurance Australia Ltd5 1, Mrs McCabe applied for insurance, but her condition was diagnosed only after she had sent in her preliminary application. But although Ms McCabe was hospitalized subsequently, she did not submit her doctor’s report to the insurance Company not disclose details of her illness and hospitalization. In this case, the Court held that the insurance Company was entitled to avoid the policy because Mrs McCabe had not fully disclosed all the relevant information about her health which was v ital to the insurer in making a determination about insuring her life. While a person seeking insurance is entitled to expect that an insurance Company will conduct its own independent analysis in making an assessment about the risk, the person seeking insurance also has a duty to provide all relevant information and a failure to do so would provide grounds for avoidance of the policy. The nature of non disclosure is also

Beauty Essay Example for Free

Beauty Essay Beauty is something that can be interpreted completely different from person to person. A famous quote that goes along with this perfectly is â€Å"beauty is in the eye of the beholder. † I think a person’s inner beauty should be taken into account when deciding whether or not a person is beautiful. Wikipedia’s definition of beauty is, â€Å"a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction† while Oxford Dictionary states, â€Å"beauty is a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially sight. As you can see, inner beauty could be paired with Wiki’s definition and outer beauty could be paired with Oxfords. Of course, there is no way of telling which definition is more correct, but, for the majority of today’s society, outer beauty seems to be the primary focus. One example that proves just how important outer beauty is to society is the rise in beauty products and services that are around today. Surely, once the 21st century initiated, appearance definitely began to play a much bigger part in people’s lives. Interests in salons and day spas were rising generously, and surely, business was not hard to find. More than likely, most salons’ appointment books were filled, nail salon chairs were occupied, and an increase sales in beauty products all hit businesses with full force. Another illustration of our appearance obsessed society is seen in the surrounding woman and men. For instance, there are many events, even on a global scale, that support this shallow idea of exterior perfection, such as Beauty pageants; Miss America and Miss Universe are two of too many examples. These events are taken very seriously by a vast number of contestants who alter their body surgically, wear dentures, and add an, no doubt, unnatural amount of makeup and hair extensions. Furthermore, even more popular, exists pageants for young children with contestants of ages as low as a few months. With toddlers and infants being at their most influenced, getting done up in caked on make-up, eyelashes, spray tan, and fake teeth just isn’t something we should be backing. As you can see, it is time for people to focus more on things such as a person’s morality, personality, values, and intelligence rather than always infatuated with exterior. The main reason the word beauty has been used to describe external features rather than internal ones, so much more in the recent years, is the media. The media has evolved into something extremely influential, and the most clear message people recive from this, is what they are supposed to look like. For instance, magazines often create young girls who believe that thin as paper models seen in any magazine are what they are supposed to look like. Also, another component adding to the superficial terms people have are the celebrities that we idolize who are coached to not have even one single hair out of place; all those celebrity’s with perfect skin, hair, and body have been accomplices in the media’s outrageous spread shallow opinions. The outcome of the media’s bar being set so high is people all around doing whatever necessary to preserve their physical appearance regardless of the effect it has on their health or bank accounts. Everyone would be a lot happier if they drew their attention to the internal characteristics of a person, rather than all of the smoke and mirrors that is displayed on the surface. For example, someone who is the most kind-hearted, level headed, and selfless person could go through her whole life not having the opportunity to show others due to her presentation of a had exterior. Of course, although it can be hard for some, it’s never right to reject someone all because they don’t meet the unspoken of standards that most have set for themselves as well as the others. Helen Keller once said, â€Å"Beauty is not always seen but is felt in the heart. Helen was someone who was dealt a horrific hand yet still noticed and embraced the beauty in all of her experiences. To sum up, most of society goes without noticing, or simply doesn’t care, about any beauty that reaches deeper than the surface, which is very unfortunate. Many people become sick, depressed and some even die as a result of the pressure media and those greatly influenced by it puts on them. This world could be so much better, relationships could be so much stronger, and those who deserve it would be so much happier if the word â€Å"beauty† was interpreted as something deeper by the masses; one can only hope.

The Importance Of Determining A Plant Location

The Importance Of Determining A Plant Location The location of a plant or facility is the geographical positioning of an operation relative to the input resources and other operations or customers with which it interacts. Andrew Greasly (2003) identified three main reasons why a location decision is required. The first reason is that a new company has been created and needs a facility to manufacture products or deliver a service to its customers. The second reason is that there is a decision to relocate an existing business due to a number of factors such as the need for larger premises or to be closer to a particular customer base. The third reason is relocate into new premises in order to expand operations. Decisions with regards to where an organisation can locate its plant or facility are not taken often, however they still tend to be very important for the firms profitability and long-term survival. An organisation which chooses an inappropriate location for its premises could suffer from a number of factors, and would find it difficult and expensive to relocate. Location decisions tend to be taken more often for service operations than manufacturing facilities. Facilities for service related businesses are usually smaller in size, less costly, and are located in a location that is convenient and easily accessible to customers (Russell and Taylor, 2003). When deciding where to locate a manufacturing facility different reasons apply, such as the cost of constructing a plant or factory. Although the most imporant factor for a service related business is access to customers, a set of different criteria are important for a manufacturing facility (Russell and Taylor, 2003). These include the nature of the labor force, proximity to suppliers and other markets, distribution and transportation costs, the availability of energy and its cost, community infrastructure, government regualtions and taxes, amongst others (Russell and Taylor, 2003). Location Strategy The facilities location problem is one of major importance in all types of business. It is important to notice the different problems that may arise whilst trying to choose a suitable location. Normally, the decision on siting proceeds in two stages: in the first, the general area is chosen; and then a detailed survey of that area is carried out to find suitable sites where the plant or facility could be located (Muhlemann, Oakland and Lockyer, 1992). However, the final decision as to where to locate a facility is made by taking into consideration more detailed requirements. The following are a number of factors which might influence the choice of location (Muhlemann, Oakland and Lockyer, 1992). Proximity to market: organisations may wish to locate their facility close to their market, to be able to lower transportation costs, and most importantly, to be able to provide their customers with a better service. If the plant or facility is located close to the customer, the organisation would be in a better position to provide just-in-time delivery, to respond to fluctuations in demand and to react to field or service problems. Availability of labour and skills: a number of geographical areas have traditional skills but it is very difficult for an organisation to find a location which has the appropriate skilled and unskilled labour, both readily available and in the desired quantities. Even so, new skills can be tought, processes simplified and key personnel moved from one area to another. Availability of amenities: organisations would prefer to locate their facilities in a location which provides good external amenities such as housing, shops, community services and communication systems. Availability of inputs: a location which is near main suppliers will help to reduce cost and allow staff to meet suppliers easily to discuss quality, technical or delivery problems, amongst others. It is also important that certain supplies which are expensive or difficult to procure by transport should be readily available in the locality. Availability of services: there are six main services which need to be considered whilst a location is being chosen namely; gas and electricity, water, drainage, disposal of waste and communications. An assessment must be made of the requirements for these, and a location which provides most or all of these services will be more attractive than another which does not. Room for expansion: organisations should leave room for expansion within the chosen location unless long term forecast convey very accurately that the plant will never have to be altered or expanded. This is often not the case and thus adequate room for expansion should be allowed. Safety requirements: certain production and manufacturing units may present potential hazards to the surrounding neighbourhood. For example certain plants such as nuclear power stations and chemical factories should be located in remote areas. Site cost: the cost of the site is a very important factor, however it is necessary to prevent immediate benefit from jeopardising the long-term plans of an organisation. Political, cultural and economic situation: it is also important to consider the political situation of potential locations. Even if other considerations demand a particular site, knowledge of the political, cultural and economic difficulties can assist in taking a number of decisions. Special grants, regional taxes and import/export barriers: it is often advantegous for an organisation to build its plant or facility in a location where the government and local authorities often offer special grants, low-interest loans, low rental or taxes and other grants. Location Selection Techniques The location selection process involves the identification of a suitable region/country, the indentification of an appropriate area within that region and finally comparing and selecting a site from that area which is suitable for an organisation. The following are a number of analytical techniques from the several that have been developed to assist firms when choosing a location. Weighted Score The weithed scoring technique tries to take a range of considerations into account, including cost (Greasly, 2006). This technique, which is also referred to as factor rating, consists of determining a list of factors that are relevant to the location decision. Each factor is then given a weighting that conveys its importance compared with the other factors. Each location is then scored on each factor and this score is multiplied by the factor value. The alternative with the highest score is then chosen (Greasly, 2006). Locational Break-Even Analysis This technique makes use of cost-volume analysis to make an economic comparison of location alternatives. An organisation would have to identify the fixed and variable costs and graphing them for each location, thus determining which one provides the lowest cost. Locational break-even analysis may be carried out mathematically or graphically. The procedure for graphical cost-volume analysis is as follows (Falzon, 2009): Determine the fixed and variable costs for each location. Plot the total cost (i.e. the fixed + the variable) lines for the location alternatives on the graph. Choose the location with the lowest total cost line at the expected production volume level. 2.1.2 Plant Layout According to Andrew Greasly (2007), the layout of a plant or facility is concerned with the physical placement of resources such as equipment and storage facilities, which should be designed to facilitate the efficient flow of customers or materials through the manufacturing or service system. He also noted that the layout design is very important and should be taken very seriously as it can have a significant impact on the cost and efficiency of an operation and can involve substantial investment in time and money. The decisions taken with regards to the facility layout will have a direct influence on how efficiently workers will be able to carry out their jobs, how much and how fast goods can be produced, how difficult it is to automate a system, and how the system in place would be able to respond to any changes with regards to product or service design, product mix, or demand volume (Russell and Taylor, 2003). In many operations the installation of a new layout, or redesign of an existing layout, can be difficult to change once they are implemented due to the significant investment required on items such as equipment. Therefore, it is imperative to make sure that the policy decisions relating to the organisation, method and work flow are made before the facilities are laid out rather than trying to fit these three into the layout. This is an important area of production and operations management since it is dealing with the capital equipment of the organisation which, in general, is difficult to relocate once it has been put into position. Muhlemann, Oakland and Lockyer (1992) explained that the plant layout process is rather complex, which cannot be set down with any finality, and one in which experience plays a great part. The author also explained that it is impossible for an organisation to design the perfect layout, however he discussed a number of criteria which should be followed to design a good layout, namely the following: Maximum Flexibility A good layout should be designed in such a way that modifications could rapidly take place to meet changing circumstances, and thus should be devised with the possible future needs of the operation in mind. Maximum Co-ordination The layout should be designed in such a way that entry into, and disposal from, any department or functional area should be carried out in the most convenient way to the issuing and recieving departments. Maximum use of volume The facility should be considered as cubic devices and maximum use is to be made of the volume available. This principle is useful in stores, where goods can be stored at considerable heights without causing any inconvenience. Maximum visibility The authors further insists that all the workers and materials should be readily observable at all times and that there should be no hidden places into which goods or information might get misplaced and forgotten. Organisations should be careful when they make use of partitioning or screening as these may introduce undesirable segregation which reduces the effective use of floor space. Maximum accessibility The machinery, equipment and other installations should not in any way obstruct the servicing and maintenance points, which should be readily accessible at all times. Obstructing certain service points such as electricity and water mains could hinder the production process in place. Minimum distance and Material handling All movements taking place within the plant should be both necessary and direct. Handling work does add the cost but does not increase the value, thus any unecessary movement should be avoided and if present, eliminated. It is best not to handle the material and information, however if this is necessary it should be reduced to a minimum by making use of appropriate devices. Inherent Safety All processes which might constitute a danger to either the staff or customers should not be accessible to the unauthorised. Fire exists should be clearly marked with uninhibited access and pathways should be clearly defined and uncluttered. Unidirectional Flow All materials which are being used in the production process should always flow in one direction, starting from the storage, passing through all processes and facilities, and finally resulting in the finished product which is later dispatched for storage or sold directly to the customer. Management Coordination Supervision and communication should be assisted by the location of staff and communication equipment in place within the chosen layout. 2.2 Quality Management There is a widespread acceptance that organisations view quality as an important strategic core competence and a vital competitive weapon which should be used to gain a competitive advantage at the expense of rivals. Several organisations have been able to reep a number of benefits, such as substanstial cost savings and higher revenues, after implementing a quality improvement process into their operations. Subsequently, this led them to invest substantial amounts of money yearly on implementing and sustaining quality programmes and intiatives. The American National Standards Institution (ANSI) and the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC) define quality as the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy given needs. Similarily, Feigenbaum (2005), who is an American quality control expert, has defined quality as the total composite product and service characteristics of marketing, engineering, manufacture, and maintenance through which the product and service in use will meet the expectation by the customer. Put simply, this refers to an organisations ability to manufacture a product or deliver a service which satisfy the customers requirements and needs, and which conform to specifications. Muhlemann, Oakland and Lockyer, authors of Production and Operations Management (1992), noted that organisations must be dedicated to the continous improvement of quality and must implement systematic control systems that are designed to prevent the production or delivery of products or services which do not conform to requirements. To facilitate this process, organisations should first set up a quality policy statement which describes their general quality orientation and which is used to assist as a framework for action. Once set up, top management would be required to: ensure that is it understood at all levels of the organisation; identify the needs of the organisations customers; evaluate the organisations ability to meet these needs; make sure that all the materials and services supplied fit the required standards of efficiency and performance; continously train the workforce for quality improvement; assess and monitor the quality management systems in place. 2.2.1 Quality Control and Assurance in the Conversion Process Ray Wild (2002) has noted that the capability of the conversion process directly influences the degree to which the product or service conforms to the given specification. If the conversion process is capable of producing products or services at the specified level, then the products or services are provided at the desired quality level. Once the specification of the output is known and an appropriate process is available, management must ensure that the output will conform to the specification. In order to achieve this objective Ray Wild (2002) has defined three different stages which are outlined in figure 2.1; each discussed below. Figure 2.: The stages, processes and procedures of quality control and assurance Essentials of Operations Management by Ray Wild (2002) Control of Inputs Before accepting any items as inputs, organisations must make sure that they conform to the required specifications and standards. Normally, before items are supplied to an organisation, they are subjected to some form of quality control by the supplier. The organisation might also ask its suppliers for information about the quality of the items whilst they are being prepared, ask for a copy of the final inspection documentation, or ask a third party such as an insurance company to make sure that all the items supplied conform to the required quality standards. Even so, organisations still find the need to inspect the items supplied once they are recieved and before they are inserted into the conversion process. This inspection can be carried out by either inspecting every item recieved from suppliers, or by making use of the acceptance sampling procedure, which consists of taking a random sample from a larger batch or lot of material to be inspected. Organisations might also make use of the vendor rating procedure whereby suppliers are rated by taking into account a number of quality related factors such as the percentage of acceptable items recieved in the past, the quality of the packaging, and the price. Control of Process All manufacturing organisations must make sure that appropriate inspection is carried out during operations to ensure that defective items do not proceed to the next operations, and also to predict when the process is most likely to produce faulty items so that preventive adjustments could be adopted (Ray Wild 2002). The quality control of the production process is facilitated by making use of control charts, which convey whether the process looks as though it is performing as it should, or alternatively if it is going out of control. One of the benefits of this procedure is that it helps management to take action before problems actually take place. Ray Wild (2002) also notes that organisations should establish procedures for the selection and inspection of items which are used in the conversion process, for the recording and analysis of data, scrapping of defectives, and for feedback of information. Control of Outputs Organisations must ensure that the qulity inspection of output items is carried out effectively since any undetected defective items would be passed on to the customer. The inspection of output items is normally carried out by making use of a sampling procedure, such as acceptance sampling, or by carrying out exhaustive checks. Ray Wild (2002) notes that it is vital for an organisation to have in place suitable procedures designed for the collection and retention of inspection data, for the correction, replacement or further examination of defective items, and for the adjustment or modification of either previous inspection or processing operations in order to eliminate the production of defective items. 2.2.2 HACCP Nowadays, the food industry is responsible of producing safe products and also for conveying in a transparent manner how the safety of food is being planned, controlled and assured. In order to do so, organisations in the food industry need a system which will ensure that food operations are designed to be safe and that potential hazards are taken into account (Mitchell, 1992). One such system is the Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points which is a scientific and systematic method used to assure food safety, and a tool for the development, implementation and management of effective safety assurance procedures (Ropkins and Beck, 2000). The HACCP is known to be one of the best methods used for assuring product safety and is considered as a prerequisite for food manufacturing companies who wish to export their products into international markets. The objective of the HACCP system is to guarantee that the safe production of food by implementing a quality system which covers the complete food production chain, from the promary sector up to the final consuming of the product (Fai Pun and Bhairo-Beekhoo, 2007). It is capable of analysing the potential hazards in a food operation, identifying the points in the operation where the hazards may take place, and deciding which of these may be harmful to consumers (Mitchell, 2002). These points, which are referred to as the critical control points, are continously monitored and remedial action is effected if any of these points are not within safe limits. The HACCP is the system of choice in the management of food safety; one which is highly promoted by the food safety authorities in the United States, Canada and European Union. 2.3 Just-In-Time Scheduling 2.3.1 Scheduling in Manufacturing Decision making with regards to scheduling has become a very important factor in manufacturing as well as in service industries. Scheduling is a decision making process whereby limited resources are allocated to specific tasks over time in order to produce the desired outputs at the desired time (Psarras and Ergazakis, 2003). This process helps organisations to allocate their resources properly, which would further enable them to optimise their objectives and achieve their goals. A number of functions, conveyed in figure 2.2, must be performed whilst scheduling and controlling a production operation. Figure 2.: Functions performed in scheduling and controlling a production operation Adopted from the journal,Production scheduling in ERP systems, by Psarras Ergazakis (2003) In manufacturing systems, scheduling is highly dependent on the volume and variety mix of the manufacturing system itself. Mass process-type systems, which normally make use of a flow (product) layout where a standard item is produced in high volumes, make use of specialised equipment dedicated to achieve an optimal flow of work throughout the system (Greasly, 2006). Greasly notes that this is very important since all items follow the same sequence of operations. One of the most important objectives of a flow system is to make sure that production is kept at an equal rate in each production that takes place. This could be ensured by making use of the line balancing technique, which makes sure that the output of each production stage is equal and that all resources all fully utilised (Greasly, 2006). 2.3.2 Just-In-Time The Just-In-Time Philosophy The just-in-time philosophy originated from the Japanese auto maker Toyota after Taiichi Ohno came up with the Toyota Production System whose aim was to interface manufacturing more closely with the companys customers and suppliers. This particular philosophy is an approach to manufacturing which seeks to provide the right amount of material when it is required, which in turn leads to the reduction of work-in-progress inventories and aims to maximise productivity within the production process (Singh and Brar, 1991). The authors, Slack, Chambers and Johnston, of Operations Management (2001) defined the JIT philosophy as a disciplined approach to improving overall productivity and elimination of waste. They also state that it provides for the necessary quantity of parts at the right quality, at the right time and place, while using a minimum amount of facilities, equipment, materials and human resources. Thus, put simply the JIT system of production is one based on the philosophy of to tal elimination of waste, which seeks the utmost rationality in the way production is carried out. Bicheno (1991) further states that JIT aims to meet demand instantaneously, with perfect quality and no waste. In order to achieve this, an organisation requires a whole new approach in how it operates. Harrison (1992) identified three important issues as the core of JIT philosophy, namely the elimination of waste, the involvement of everyone and continous improvement. The following is a brief description of these three key issues (adapted from Operations Management by Andrew Greasly, 2006). Eliminate Waste Waste may be defined as any activity which does not add value to the operation. Ohno (1995) and Toyota have identified seven types of waste, which apply in many different types of operations, in both manufacturing and service industries. All of these types of wastes are displayed in figure 2.3 below. The involvement of everyone Organisations that implement a JIT system are able to create a new culture where all employees are encouraged to continously improve by coming up with ideas for improvements and by performing a range of functions. In order to involve employees as much as possible, organisations would have to provide training to staff in a wide range of areas and techniques, such as Statistical Process Control and more general problem solving techniques (Andrew Greasley 2002). Figure 2.: Types of wastes present in different types of operations Operations Management by Andrew Greasly (2002) Continuous Improvement Slack and Johnston (2001) note that JIT objectives are often expressed as ideals. Futhermore, Greasly (2002) states that through this philosophy, organisations would be able to get to these ideals of JIT by a continuous stream of improvements over time. The Benefits of Just-In-Time According to Russell and Taylor (2003), after fives years from implementing JIT a number of U.S. manufacturers were able to benefit from 90 percent reductions in manufacturing cycle time, 70 percent reductions in inventory, 50 percent reductions in labour costs, and 80 percent reductions in space requirements. These results are not achieved by each and every organisation that implements a JIT system, however JIT does provide a wide range of benefits, including: Reduced inventory Improved quality Lower costs Reduced space requirements Shorter lead time Increased productivity Greater flexibility Better relations with suppliers Simplified scheduling and control activities Better use of human resources Increased capacity More product variety 2.4 Health and Safety Management The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) define occupational health as the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations; the prevention amongst workers of departures from health caused by their working conditions; the protection of workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; and the placing and maintenance of the worker in an occupational environment adapted to his physiological and psychological capabilities. Many countries have introduced legislation which requires employers to manage the health and safety of their employees, and others who might be affected (Waring, 1996). To honour health and safety legislation, organisations have found it necessary to introduce active programmes of accident prevention. The preparation of a properly though-out health and safety policy, which is continously monitored, could dramatically reduce or eliminate injuries and damage to health (Muhlemann, Oakland and Lockyer, 1992). 2.4.1 Responsibilities for Safety All employees in an organisation should be active in creating and maintaining healthy and safe working conditions which are aimed to avoid accidents. Once a health and safety policy is established in an organisation, roles and responsibilities should be allocated within the management structure (Muhlemann, Oakland and Lockyer, 1992). As with other areas such as quality and production within an organisation, health and safety would only be able to progress successfully if all employees are fully co-operative and committed in doing so. A number of organisations have encouraged this total involvement by creating safety representitives, committees, and group discussions whereby all employees in a particular unit meet periodically for discussions about safety (Muhlemann, Oakland and Lockyer, 1992). 2.4.2 Planning for Safety Systematic planning is required to ensure effective planning for health and safety in all workplaces. A health and safety policy should be part of a continous review process which has no tolerance for accidents. This could only take place if the organisation in question adopts a strategy of never-ending improvement (Muhlemann, Oakland and Lockyer, 1992). It should set the scene from the top with regards to top management beliefs, intentions, priorities and requirement from managers and workforce (Waring, 1996). The overall plan should be made up of the basic elements conveyed in figure 2.4 below.

The House On Mango Street :: essays research papers

The House on Mango Street is a collection of mini stories wrapped around a Latin-girl’s view of her neighborhood and neighbors. Esperanza hates her name, it’s hope in English but has too many letters in Spanish. She is named after her free-spirited Grandmother, and lives with her parents and two brothers and one sister. Esperanza has moved every year to a new rental. Her parents always talk of owning their own home, and what it would be like. They finally move to Mango Street and don’t have to bother with landlords banging on the ceiling or floor, and they don’t have to share space. It definitely isn’t the home of their dreams, but even when Esperanza leaves this street, she will always remember the roots it gave her. The main character in this book is Esperanza, who is also the narrator. Esperanza has a way of finding everyone’s little idiosyncrasies that make us unique individuals. Boys and girls live in separate worlds, so Nettie, her sister is her responsibility and tags along everywhere. Lucy and Rachel are sisters that are her friends; they play games and watch the coming and goings of Mango Street. Louie, who lives in an apartment down the street, has a cousin, Marin, visiting from Puerto Rico. Marin tells the girls things about make-up and boys. One of Louie’s cousins visits with a beautiful yellow convertible and takes Marin and the girls for a ride. The white leather upholstery is like a beautiful sofa. They ride around the neighborhood. The girls are really impressed, and then he stops suddenly and tells them to get out quick. He speeds away and they hear sirens. He crashes and the beautiful car looks like an accordion. He is handcuffed and taken to jail. The girls wave and thank him. Esperanza is vaguely aware of what is going on, she is telling the story as a little girl with no concept of the significance of what is happening. Some of these stories told are from the innocence of youth, but the harsh reality makes some of the stories about the people sad and unfortunately true.

Research Paper on Pakistan :: essays research papers

PAKISTAN I chose to do my research on the customs and lifestyles of Pakistan and their people. It took me quite a while to get in contact with someone who lives there, but once I finally did, I made a friend for life! I was very curious how the Pakistani’s felt about Americans, and if I could get an honest answer from someone there. My friend â€Å"Hussain† assured me that although there are extremists, just as there are everywhere, who take their hatred for America, and for any other country that they feel â€Å"threatened† by, and use it to destroy innocent peoples lives. For instance, like the suicide bombers that we hear of so often, they would be considered â€Å"extremists†. As far as the â€Å"common people† as Hussain put it, they understand that our government (meaning President Bush and his administration) is doing what must be done in order to protect the citizens and/or the â€Å"common people† of America. I didn’t have as much time to correspond with Hussain before this research paper was due, as I would have liked too, I look forward to continue learning about the lifestyles and customs there. It’s amazing to learn how different people’s lives are depending on what culture they live in. I had so many questions for Hussain, but I was also afraid that I would overstep my boundaries by asking certain questions, therefore I tried to be very careful in the way I worded things. It’s very easy to tell even through an e-mail that he has a very distinct accent, however, he does speak good English. He told me that he was married and had 3 children. He was born in Sindh, Pakistan, which I later found out that Sindh is a â€Å"State† like â€Å"Oklahoma†. He got his education and graduated in 1991. (He did not say whether or not that meant high school, or college) He was married in 1994, through an arranged marriage. His parents picked out this young lad y for him, and he said that through time, he did learn to love her very much, and that he was grateful to have a â€Å"success story†. He did say, however, that his wife was NOT educated, and therefore it was difficult for her to do anything, as far as working, outside the home. She stays home with the children. His oldest son is in the 3rd grade, and the younger two have not yet started school.

Little Boy Essay -- Informative, Manhattan Project, Hiroshima

At midnight on August 6, 1945, the crew of the Enola Gay got the orders to get ready for their mission. By 2:45 AM they were all packed, ready to go, and took off for their intended target (Black & Blashfield, 1993, p. 30). They flew through the darkness of the night sky for many hours. Dawn appeared and finally Enola Gay came close to their future objective. Then, around 7:24 AM, the pilot received a transmission from a weather aircraft, which had flown ahead of them, that there was hardly a cloud in the sky and that they should continue to their goal (p. 30). As they grew closer to Hiroshima, about 30 miles away, the captain gave the controls over to Major Ferebee (p. 30). As the minutes and seconds passed by it seemed perpetual. Finally at 8:15:17 Major Ferebee yelled out, â€Å"Bombs away!† (p. 30). It took about 50 seconds for the atomic bomb to fall and reach1,900 feet above the city where it exploded (Langford, 2004, p. 57). One of the crew members commented on it: A column of smoke rising fast. It has a fiery red core. A bubbling mass, purple gray in color, with that red core. It’s all turbulent. Fires are springing up everywhere, like flames shooting out of a huge bed of coals†¦Here it comes, the mushroom shape†¦It’s like a mass of bubbling molasses†¦its nearly level with me and climbing†¦(pp. 32-34). Never again will anything be the same. Creating In New York City the main ideas about the atomic bomb were developed, it was called the â€Å"Manhattan Project†. It was originally General Leslie R. Groves that was put in charge of the development of the atomic bomb. He wasn’t exactly people friendly so he got Dr. Julius Robert Oppenheimer, a civilian, involved as a project director. Communication and working proficient... ...nt of the buildings were destroyed by the blast or the fires that started because of it (Encyclopedia.com). If the blast didn’t destroy the buildings at first then the heat from the bomb caused fires that slowly destroyed the buildings. Cleaning Up A â€Å"black rain† fell from the sky, for about an hour after the blast, it had radioactive debris dropping everywhere. There was no actual help from Japan officials, at first. It was just people that were less injured and that could help, would. In the days that followed, mostly collecting and disposing of the bodies. If they were recognizable and were claimed a funeral would be held for them. Collecting and storing contaminated debris was next. Eventually, rebuilding the city began. With rebuilding of the city there was a memorial park built called Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, with donations of monuments.

Oedipus Rex as a Religious Drama

Titans who devoured Dionysus. [3] Only his heart remained, which Zeus ate and Dionysus was born a second time. [4] Zeus destroyed the Titans with lightening, and from their remains sprang human life, consequently humans are both divine and evil. [5] Sophocles embodied this aspect of God given human nature, mutual opposites, In the character of Oedipus. His actions are driven by the mother. 6] He is not consciously guilty of the crimes of incest, but the reality and irony of the play states that he is endorsing them. He takes the role of husband and son, brother and father; he is mutually guilty and innocent, despite the Juxtaposed nature of these conditions, a reflection of the conditions from which humanity sprang. There is a definite tone of reverence in the dark subject matter, and a subsequent lesson that Gods that their prophecies demand respect. Nevertheless, the setting of the festival and tribute to the Gods make it a fundamentally religious lay.Central to religious drama is the concept that ‘man must conform to divine order- even at the cost of himself. 17] In Oedipus Rexes, this divine order Is predetermined by the prophecies of the Oracle which is the driving force for the entire plot. Oedipus' parents receive the prophecy at his birth; later, when called a ‘bastard', Oedipus goes to the Oracle and receives the same Information; and when a plague attacks Thebes, Croon Is sent to consult It again, which reveals Its fulfillment. [8] The oracle's presence Is highly active, and In this sense, fulfils the role of an antagonist.Its also enforces Aristotle notion that a character is only a result of plot, as the characters action are solely dictated by the information provided by the Oracle. [9] The role is further enforced by the fact that it is not a mere invention; it was a very real part of Greek culture, where spirituality and politics are intricately linked. Despite the characters best efforts (Accost and Alias leaving their son for dead, and Oedipus fleeing who he believed to be his parents. ) Its fulfillment was seemingly inevitable, perhaps even caused by their knowledge of the prophecy. 10] It s in the avoidance of circumstance in which the prophecy could be fulfilled, that is proximity to the dangerous other, that Oedipus and Alias were able to meet. [11] As afore mentioned the prediction is the force behind the plot, but it is the characters resistance that cause the conflict and therefore the drama. Not to taint a religious discussion with a Freudian psychoanalytical perspective, but, as this conflict shows, opuses Is perhaps ten least Kelly person to nave an opuses complex; en allocates his life to its avoidance. 12] When he discovers his predicament, his costs are encashment, the loss of his children and his eyes, â€Å"Now I will do what must be done to the source of This is a highly symbolic action as in Greek the words for ‘know and ‘see' are correspondent. [14] He is literally removing the à ¢â‚¬Ëœknowledge' of his sins, knowledge he sought with such dynamism from the oracle, an image drenched with irony. The eventual acceptance that Apollo will have been fulfilled is, perhaps, the religious moral of the play; the Gods are omniscient, therefore their laws will always be up held.Aristotle states, within its six elements (plot, character, diction, spectacle, thought ND song)[1 5], that ‘Tragedy is an imitation†¦ Of events inspiring fear or pity[16] and that the Tragic hero is ‘above the common man', but not definitively good, he must have a flaw. [17] In relevance to Oedipus Rexes, and the sense in which it is a religious play, these elements highlight the enforced influence the presence of the Gods have on the actions of the characters, and the concept of free will. The event ‘inspiring fear and pity is most likely the act of incest.Although a taboo subject regardless of culture and period, its interpretation changes across time. A modern view is o ne that inherently links incest to child abuse, as we are greatly influenced by feminist theory. [18] Such theory states that incest is an abuse of the power dynamics in the family unit, usually from father to daughter. [19] However the incest portrayed in the play is unwittingly performed, by consenting adults, but, nevertheless, provokes a disgusted reaction. The cross-contamination of ‘blood' is universally considered tainted and unnatural'. 20] The circumstances surrounding Oedipus and Costar's union could be the fear provoking element. The magnitude of the tragic universe created requires he reader to question whether or not Oedipus would really have killed a stranger over ‘right of way, if the riddle of the ‘Sphinx' was honestly that difficult- which allowed his passage to Thebes, or if the drunken mans accusation of ‘bastard' were mere coincidence. The enormity of the irony suggests some foul play on the part of the Gods.

Curriculum Implementation Plan

This curriculum plan is meant to provide meaningful learning experiences to K-5 students of Bronx Studio School. As a matter of fact, it is based on the state of New York educational standards, but most importantly it is tailored to the unique academic needs of the school community who apparently happen to be in a high-needs situation. The young students, K-5 have been observed to be experiencing great challenges in coping with learning demands in their respect grades. Basically, Bronx Studio School is currently considered a high-need school, a title it earned starting from a few years ago.The root cause of this curriculum mess has been the prevailing culture of aloofness among the school’s key stakeholders that ostensibly has gradually grown over the recent years. Precisely, the school management whose one of the key responsibilities is to ensure that all the key stakeholders are actively engaged in all the school matters has terribly been failing in this key area over the ye ars. As a result there has been an evidential rift between the members of the teaching staff and the parents’ body for a period not less than two years in a row.As a matter of fact, the school leadership under the former principal was somehow lax in getting the parents informed in good time about the school plans and programs and hence it became a problem in getting them to support such programs whether financially or morally. For that reason, a lax culture was built among the parents fraternity. Again, the relationship between the entire teaching staff and the school principal was also on a frosty situation, the principal seemed aloof with their concerns making them feel as if they were on two parallel programs.Furthermore, this lack of concern on the welfare and competencies of the teaching staff culminated into a state of professional limbo where teachers stopped attending in-service as well as refresher courses as recommended by the state board of education (Wagner and Ke egan, 2005). Ultimately, it was very hard to address the real issues pertaining to the smooth discharge of meaningful instructions experiences to the young and needy students.Overall, the implementation of the curriculum became a problem as most of the times the students inherent needs and interest were barely addressed making them to grow apprehensive and frustrated by this apparent aloofness. In fact, it was by sheer luck that the school managed to survive the set state educational standards though it terribly failed to meet them on a number of occasions prompting the education board to put it on a high-needs alert in bid to get the mess sorted (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005).Even so, at the moment the major stakeholders seem to have realized their shortcomings and have now expressed their concern to working together as a team at least to turnaround this looming academic quagmire. The parents for instance are willing to work with the new school principal and the newly elected school c ommittee to identify the root causes of the whole mess so that it can be fixed permanently. Apparently one key issue that has been identified as being in a state of despair is the school curriculum.Key players’ have indicated changing the existing curriculum would help address mess while not seeming to directly to lay the blame on any member of the school community on what they did or even failed to do in the past. As such, the core props for this new curriculum plan will be made of the strong desire discard the old and seemingly retrogressive school culture and in its place put other strong ones built around purposive and integrative efforts from all the stakeholders (Wiggins and McTighe, 31). Nature of the CurriculumThis curriculum acknowledges the uniqueness inherent in every student and it encompasses all the evidential and unique experiences practiced in other better performing elementary schools within the district. For instance the curriculum recognizes that young and growing children are normally inquisitive, quiet, confident, self-determined, weak, easily distracted, etc. (Wiggins and McTighe, 2007). As such, it endeavors to address this sensitive aspect of the learners by putting in place staggered instructional experiences that suit every age group and every grade.Tasks are drawn clearly to ensure that the teachers do not deviate from its general and basic idea while addressing all the unique aspects, the weak dropped and the strong ones encouraged. In a nutshell, this new curriculum emphasizes on the holistic development of the unique but worthwhile characters of the learners to ensure that they grow and develop in a supportive, healthy, and safe environment (Follari, 2010). Furthermore, the curriculum recognizes that for children to succeed in school they must be exposed to a wide range of meaningful learning experiences.In respect to this it seeks to create all-round environments that allows for the development of physical, emotional, soci al, spiritual as well as cognitive structures of the growing learners. In a nutshell, the curriculum aims at developing all the aspects of the students’ bodies and brains, taking great care to also nurture their delicate souls that are very crucial in determining their future perception of the whole learning process. Conclusively, the curriculum will successfully improve the overall students’ performance and lift the school from a high-needs category to a performing one.After all, it seeks to gradually engage the students in critical content areas as well as in key language areas. Moreover, it will endeavor to create purposive learning and development activities capable of utilizing and nurturing the rapidly growing students unique and varied capacities. As such, learning will be aligned to such variances and through the utilization of learning areas and other teaching and learning aids (Oldfield, 2001; Pugh and Duffy, 2020).Students especially those with learning diff iculties will benefit much from this curriculum given that it is founded on the basis of the staggered child development stages. As a matter of fact, one of its key facets is that it acknowledges that students tend to behave different differently in different stages of their growth and development, as such teaching and learning should be aligned to suit those behavioral and developmental needs (Follari, 2010). To achieve this, it will partake of holistic and regular appraisal by the teachers and parents alike on the young learners.This will be done for individual learners, in groups and also in the presence of role models such as teachers and parents so as to determine their inherent needs and achievements as individuals and as members of social groups. Moreover, the curriculum also advocates for kind of learning where the learners respect one another as unique beings, with the respect extended to teachers, parents, as well as other members of the school curriculum. Such respect whe n reciprocated will go a long way in achieving success at school as the community level (Oldfield, 2001).That the curriculum will involve high degrees of involvement makes the achievement of such respect an easy endeavor. It wild involve a key figure such as a teacher, or even parents to ensure control as well as to offer support to the learners. To this end the curriculum plans to use parents as they are the most recommended as the have been noted to command huge respect from their own children. He offers that in bid to enhance respect the teacher should be guided by the learners and should not force adult values on the young learners (Renchler, 3-4).This curriculum is guided by the humble notion that learners have got different talents and that every learner needs to be treated in their own unique way so as to nurture and develop these inherent and unique talents. Briefly stated, the core pillars of this curriculum are; to assist the growing students to achieve the five most impor tant feats of being safe, healthy, being happy and successful, and developing social skills to relate with others well and attaining their optimum academic performance (Wiggins and McTighe, 27-29).To achieve these seemingly high targets the curriculum uses a set of tested and achievable benchmarks capable of bringing out the expected developmental and academic outcomes. It also seeks to create friendly environments that are home to everyone irrespective of their racial, gender, nationality, and disabilities (Oldfield, 2001). It also seeks to provide meaningful foundations that the students can use to create avenues for future academic achievements. This is enhanced through a systematic procedure that offers learners clear exit paths from one grade to another.Moreover, that the curriculum provides avenues for new and anticipated collaborations with stakeholders to improve the quality and purpose during the implementation process guarantees a higher probability of succeeding. Furtherm ore, the growing students are guaranteed of future success in their academic pursuits by the integrative provisions of the curriculum (Pugh and Duffy, 2020). Overall, the curriculum is not so challenging as to frustrate the growing students, yet it is not so easy as to hold back students desire to achieve more.In a nutshell, it promotes a typical ‘hands-on’ type of learning whereby the learners as well as the teachers use their hearts and brains in equal measures as they indulge in passionate classroom and outside-classroom activities (Wiggins and McTighe, 67). Curriculum Reflection the School Mission The strength of this new curriculum lies on the fact that it adheres to the revised school mission statement and visions. As a matter of fact, the revised school mission statement recognizes that children are unique and they tend to learn at different paces.As such, it revolves creation of meaningful learning experiences within and outside classroom situations and it endea vors to achieve so by creating integrative environments that brings on board as many stakeholders as possible. Most importantly, given that the underlying concept of this new curriculum is motivation of the learners so as to develop positive habits toward learners it can be argued that this curriculum reflects the inherent needs of the Bronx studio school young children and the Bronx community at large.Furthermore, that it seeks to integrate all the stakeholders, parents, students, community, experts, teachers, the local government, as well as donors the curriculum will most likely in the education of the young children in the neighborhood, it is anticipated that it will be very easy to engage the parents and other stakeholders alike in its implementation (Renchler, 3). Furthermore, it seeks to inculcate a positive culture that is built around quality learning experiences that embraces motivation of the individual learners.The paper recognizes on the need to develop new and rich tea ching and learning methods that can be easily tested to determine their efficiency. Furthermore it delves on sound teacher-learner experiences that seek to arouse and shape students proclivity in during their class interactions with their teachers and with fellow students. Overall, this curriculum main aims is to â€Å"turn the [school] mission statement into specific† (Wiggins and McTighe, 55). Curriculum ResourcesBasing on the fact that this curriculum will be integrative in nature with motivation as its key facet, it will require intensive methods and materials for maximum implementation. To this end it will require new books as well regular seminars for teacher. Even so, only a few new books will need to be acquired afresh as most old books which has been revised and modified will still be utilized. Since the curriculum is new it will need a lot regular appraisal and evaluation to determine its ability to meet the prevailing challenges facing the school, as such it will b e necessary to have as many teachers working on it regularly.This will require that the school leadership together with the representatives from the parents body to come up with a budget of the tune of about $100,000 which will be used in the overall acquisition of the materials and recruitment of new and committed teaching staff. Other school facilities such as, desks, tables, new classes, playing areas, etc. will need to be acquired or even modified incase of the existing one. This is necessary as the new curriculum is built on the provision of new learning and teaching experiences that can enliven classroom atmospheres and provoke the learners into thinking creatively.Additionally, learning areas such, class interest arousing corners, nature corners, as well as other learner engaging areas within the classroom or within the school compound will need to be procured. Evaluation of the Curriculum In order to ensure efficiency, this curriculum will be subjected to a rigorous evaluati on and assessment procedure that will involve many approaches. Precisely, it will be subjected to both formative and summative e evaluation methods with the view of identifying its both short and long term impacts to the school needs and mission statement.The evaluation will start from as early as during the developmental stages where the existing materials will be appraised and their worth determined in regards to their capability to providing the teaching and learning experiences that the new curriculum plans to engage. The existing materials that survives the cut will then be subjected to a revision to given them a new facelift in preparation for the rigorous work that they will be expected to serve. Upon the testing and revision of the materials the curriculum will be now ready for the next stage which will be the piloting stage.Here it will be tried practically implemented in various grades, with close scrutiny and monitoring coming from the curriculum development committee, me mbers of the school teaching staff together with a few selected parents’ representatives. Other willing stakeholders will equally be involved in the process so as to accommodate as many views as possible. The views as well as the results of the pilot stage will be subjected to a full review by the development committee where necessary adjustments will be carried out in respect to the responses given during the piloting phase (Wiggins and McTighe, 29-30).Afterwards the curriculum will be formalized ready for the final summative evaluation which will involve the overall effectiveness of the curriculum in light of challenges such as availability and use of key curriculum materials as well as its interactivity with the teachers as well as its effect to other existing curricula with the school district or even within the state. Moreover, efforts will also be made to incorporate the professional views of the renowned curriculum researchers who will be required to carry out snap res earch studies in view of indentifying the overall impacts of the curriculum in the local learners’ academic pursuits.Lastly, the regular assessment methods for the curriculum once it has been launched will be identified and with view of putting them on board to enhance the ease with which the overall curriculum will be tested (Ministry of Education and Training, 24). Why the Community Should Invest in the Curriculum The main reason as to why the school community need to support this new curriculum is the apparent causes of the existing academic failure among the students.It is apparent that the school has been experiencing problems related to the overall academic performance in the last two years due to poor relationships between the parents and the school and between the teachers and the school leadership. Consequently, these two main reasons have given impetus to about a dozen of other problems which have compounded the issue. Luckily, despite these recurring poor results t he school community has shown concerns of working together to sort out the mess. As a matter of fact, the development of this new curriculum was prompted by the parents’ body and given the impetus by the school teaching staff.As such, there is every reason to believe that the school community will be willing to support it financially and morally. The fact that it needs a huge amount of money for its development and implementation means that its success will be wholly dependent on the community support. Even so, that it seeks to change an ineffective curriculum makes it more appealing to the school community. After all the community has a got a reason to invest in the new curriculum given its numerous benefits in enhancing the creation of new avenues for renewed collaborative efforts between the school and the large school community.Moreover, the new curriculum was created in constant consultation with the parents and the larger school community where efforts were made to ensu re that their opinions are given audience in order to enhance a sense of responsiveness on their part, something that is terribly missing in the existing curriculum. Lastly, its learning by doing strategy will seek to create the elusive motivation among the students and ultimately it will enhance their confidence and interest to â€Å"learn to love learning for learning’s sake† (Renchler, 3).Work Cited Follari, L. M. Foundations and best practices in early childhood education: History, theories and approaches. Prentice Hall. 2010. Kelly, A. The curriculum: Theory and practice (6th ed. ). 2009. Ministry of Education and Training. Choices into Action: Guidance and career education program policy for Ontario elementary and secondary schools. 1999. [Web] retrieved from; http://www. edu. gov. on. ca. / 2 May, 2010. Oldfield, L. Free to learn: Introducing Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood Education. Hawthorn Books. 2001 Pugh, G.and Duffy, B. (eds. ). Contemporary issues in the early years. 5th Ed. Sage Publications. 2010. Renchler, Ron. Student motivation, school culture, and academic achievement: What school leaders can do? ERIC Clearing House on Educational Management. 1992. Wagner, Tony and Keegan, Robert. Change leadership-a practical guide to transforming our schools. Jossey-Bass. 2005 Wiggins, Grants and McTighe, Jay. Schooling by design-mission, action, and achievement. ASCD. 2007. Wiggins, Grants and McTighe, Jay. Understanding by design. ASCD. 2005.

Night World : Secret Vampire Chapter 16

â€Å"You have got to be kidding,† Poppy said. Phil just gaped. â€Å"No. I'm perfectly serious. You're witches of thesecond kind. Remember what I told you?† â€Å"There are the kind of witches that know theirheritage and get trained-and the kind that don't.Who just have powers. And humans call that kind-â€Å" â€Å"Psychics!† James chorused with her. â€Å"Telepaths.Clairvoyants,† he went on alone. There was something in his voice between laughing and crying.†Poppy, that's what youare. That's why you picked up on telepathy so quickly. That's why you had clair voyant dreams.† â€Å"And that's why Phil heard me,† Poppy said. â€Å"Oh, no,† Phil said. â€Å"Not me. Come on.† â€Å"Phil, you're twins,† James said. â€Å"You have the same ancestors. Pace it, you're a witch. That's why I couldn't control your mind.†Ã¢â‚¬ Oh, no,†Phil said. â€Å"No.†He flopped back in his seat. â€Å"No,†he said again, but more weakly. â€Å"But whose side do we get it from?† Poppy wondered. â€Å"Dad's. Of course.† The voice from the backseatwas very faint. â€Å"Well, that would seemlogical, but-â€Å" â€Å"It's the truth. Don't you remember how Dad wasalways talking about seeing weird things? Havingdreams about things before they happened? And,Poppy, he heard you yell in yourdream. When you were calling for James. James heard it, and I heardit, and Dad heard it, too.† â€Å"Then that settles it. Oh, and it explains otherthings about all of us-all those times we've had feelingsabout things-hunches, whatever. Even youhave hunches, Phil.† â€Å"I had one that James was creepy, and I wasright.† â€Å"Phill—â€Å" â€Å"And maybe a few others,† Phil said fatalistically.†I knew it was James driving up this afternoon. Ithought I just had a fine ear for car engines.† Poppy was shivering with delight and astonishment, but she couldn't quite understand James.James was absolutely beaming. Filled with unbelieving elation that she could feel like streamers andfireworks in the air. â€Å"What, James?† â€Å"Poppy, don't you see?† James actually pounded the steering wheel in joy. â€Å"It means that even before you became a vampire, youwere a Night Person.Asecret witch. You have every right to know about the Night World. You belong there.† The world turned upside down and Poppy couldn't breathe. At last she whispered. â€Å"Oh . . .† â€Å"And webelong together. Nobody can separate us.We don't have to hide.† â€Å"Oh†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Poppy whispered again. Then she said,†James, pull the car over. I want to kiss you.† When they were in motion once more, Phil said, â€Å"But where are you two going to go now? Poppycan't come home.† â€Å"I know,† Poppy said softly. She had accepted that.There was no going back for her; the old life wasover. Nothing to do but build a new one. â€Å"And you can't just wander around from place toplace,† Phil said, doggedly persistent. â€Å"We won't,† Poppy said calmly. â€Å"We'll go to Dad.† It was perfect. Poppy could feel James think, Ofcourse. They would go to her father, the always-late, always-impractical, always-affectionate parent. Herfather the witch who didn't know he was a witch.Who probably thought he was crazy when his powersacted up. He'd give them a place to stay, and that was all they needed, really. That and each other. The whole Night World would be open to them, whenever theywanted to explore it. Maybe they could come back and visit Thea sometime. Maybe they could dance atone of Thierry's parties. â€Å"If we can findDad, that is,† Poppy said, struck by sudden alarm. â€Å"You can,† Phil said. â€Å"He flew out last night, buthe left an address. For the first time.† â€Å"Maybe somehow he knew,† James said. They rode for a while, and then Phil cleared his throat and said, â€Å"You know, I just had a thought. I don't want any part of the Night World, you understand-I don't carewhat my heritage is. I just wantto live like a human-and I want everybody to bedear on that†¦.† â€Å"We're dear, Phil,† James interrupted. â€Å"Believeme. Nobody in the Night World is going to force youin. You can live like a human all you want as long as you avoid Night People and keep your mouth shut.† â€Å"Okay. Good. But here's my thought. I still don'tapprove of vampires, but it occurs to me that maybethey're not as completely bad as they seem. I mean,vampires don't treat their food any worse than humans do. When you think of what we do to cows †¦at least they don't breed humans in pens.† â€Å"I wouldn't bet on it,† James said, suddenly grim.†I've heard rumors about the olddays†¦.† â€Å"You always have to argue, don't you? But my other thought was that you're part of Nature, and Nature just is what it is. It's not always pretty, but †¦ well, it's Nature, and there it is.† He wound upglumly, â€Å"Maybe that doesn't make any sense.† â€Å"It makes sense to me,† James said, entirely serious. â€Å"And-thanks.† He paused to look back at Philinacknowledgment. Poppy felt a sting behind hereyes. If he admits we're part of Nature, she thought,then he doesn't believe we're unnatural anymore. It meant a lot. She said, â€Å"Well, you know, I'vebeen thinking, too.And it occurs to me that maybe there are otherchoices for feeding besides just jumping on humans when they don't expect it. Like ‘ animals. I mean, isthere any reason their blood won't work?† â€Å"It's not the same as human blood,† James said.†But it's a possibility. I've fed on animals. Deer aregood. Rabbits are okay. Possums stink.† â€Å"And then there must be somepeople who'd bewilling donors. Thea was a donor for me. We could ask other witches.† â€Å"Maybe,† James said. He grinned suddenly. â€Å"Iknew a witch back home who was verywilling. Nameof Gisele. But you couldn't ask them to do it everyday, you know. You'd have to give them time to recover.† â€Å"I know, but maybe we could alternate. Animals one day and witches the next. Hey, maybe even werewolves on weekends!† â€Å"I'd rather bite a possum,† James said. Poppy socked him in the arm. â€Å"The point is, maybewe don't have to be horrible bloodsucking monsters.Maybe we can be decentbloodsucking monsters.† â€Å"Maybe,† James said quietly, almost wistfully. â€Å"Hear, hear,† Phil said very seriously from theback. â€Å"And we can do it together,† Poppy said to James. He took his eyes off the road to smile at her. Andthere was nothing wistful about his gaze. Nothingcool or mysterious or secretive, either. â€Å"Together,† he said out loud. And mentally headded, Ican't wait. With that telepathy of yoursyourealize what we can do, don't you? Poppy stared, then felt an effervescent rush that almost shot her out of the car. Oh, James-do youthink? I'm certain. The only thing that makes exchanging blood so special is that it enhances telepathy. But you don't needany enhancementyou little dreamer. Poppy sat back to try and still her heart. They would be able to join their minds again. Anytime they wanted. She could imagine it, being sweptinto James's mind, feeling him surrender histhoughts to hers. Merging like two drops of water. Together in a waythat humans could never know. I can't wait, either,she told him. Ithink I'm going tolike being a witch. Phil cleared his throat. â€Å"If you guys want someprivacy.. .† â€Å"We can't have any,† James said. â€Å"Not with youaround. Obviously.† â€Å"I can't help it,† Phil said through his teeth.†You're the ones who're yelling.† â€Å"We're not yelling. You're snooping.† â€Å"Both of you give it a rest,† Poppy said. But she felt warm and glowing all over. She couldn't resistadding to Phil, â€Å"So, if you're willing to give us someprivacy, that means you trust James alone withyour sister†¦.† â€Å"I didn't saythat.† â€Å"You didn't have to,† Poppy said. She was happy. It was very late the next day. Almost midnight, infact. The witching hour. Poppy was standing in a place she'd thought she'd never see again, her mother's bedroom. James was waiting outside with a carload of stuff,including one large suitcase of Poppy's CDs, smuggledfor them by Phil. In a few minutes James and Poppywould be heading for the East Coast and Poppy'sfather. But first, there was something Poppy had to do. She glided quietly toward the king-size bed, making no more noise than a shadow, not disturbing either of the sleepers. She stopped by her mother'sstill form. She stood looking down, and then she spoke withher mind. I know you think this is a dream, Mom. I know youdon't believe in spirits. But I had to tell you that I'm allright. I'm all right, and I'm happy, and even if you don'tunderstand, please try to believe. Just this once, be!ieve in what you can't see. She paused, then added, Ilove you, Mom. I alwayswill. When she left the room, her mother was stillasleep—andsmiling. Outside, Phil was standing by the Integra. Poppyhugged him and he hugged back, hard. â€Å"Goodbye,† she whispered. She got into the car.James stuck his hand out the window toward Phil. Phil took it without hesitation. â€Å"Thank you,† James said. â€Å"For everything.† â€Å"No, thank you.†Phil said. His smile and his voicewere both shaky. â€Å"Take care of her. . . and of yourself.† He stepped back, blinking. Poppy blew him a kiss. Then she and James droveoff together into the night.