More than a Lesbian Novel Essay

Anna Maria Moix is a Spanish novelist, journalist, essay writer, poet and a translator. â€Å"Julia† is her first novel which is an autobiographical novel. Many characters and incidents from this novel are influenced by her life. The novel â€Å"Julia† is a very beautiful and thought provoking novel by Moix. It is called as a lesbian novel. According to some critics, in Julia, the pedagogical scene of seduction is subverted by making it lesbian scene. Julia’s relationship with her teachers like Senorita Mabel and especially Eva is shown as lesbian type of relationship. While some critics oppose it by putting forward the opposite opinion. According to them the relationship between Eva and Julia is much more than a lesbian one. â€Å"The title character in this novel embarks on a relationship with Eva, her literature teacher. Though the novel suggests a sexual dimension to the relationship, it never makes the sexual dynamics patently clear, and Julia never becomes fully aware of her sexuality. For her, Eva represents mother, friend, and lover. † [1] Thus critically it is described as a lesbian novel. It is because of the inclination of the female protagonist towards Eva and some other women. Lesbian concept is not a new concept for the European writers. Virginia Woolf, Jeanette Winterson and other many writers have written on lesbian theory. Winterson â€Å"Written on Body† in this case is such an unusual novel in which the readers never realize whether the narrator on whom the entire story is woven is male or female character. It might be perhaps because the female authors could not explain the lesbian theories openly due to the social constraints. Hence that she has indirectly put the theory of lesbianism Julia was published after a great scrutiny because writing on lesbianism or homosexuality was a taboo in the society. Now on such background the question arises whether the novel â€Å"Julia† is really lesbian or it is about something more. As per my observation, though it has the references of obsessive and intense relationship of the protagonist Julia with her literature professor, it cannot be concluded that it is entirely a lesbian novel. In Julia Anna Moix has unfolded the gloomy and devastated life of the protagonist right from her tender age to entire life. The author has given more focus on the mental and psychosomatic condition of the protagonist Julia which appeals more than her lesbian tendency. According to Katharina Wilson â€Å"it is a story of a â€Å"self destructive adolescent psyche of a teenager. †Ã¢â‚¬  She states, â€Å"Her first novel Julia (1970) though narrated in the third person is intensely subjective and intimate, drawing the reader immediately into the inner monologues of a tormented and self destructive adolescent psyche. † Katharina Wilson also writes, â€Å"In exploring the dark world of divided self, obsessed by a lost double from the past (the sixteen years old Julia), Moix also delicately alludes to the problem of sexual identity as it takes shape in the form of unconscious lesbianism. †[2] Though Julia was closely attached with many women in her life she is not entitled lesbian. The circumstance in which Julia grows has to be taken into account. These circumstances compel her to attract towards women. She loves women not out of any attraction but because she hates men. Her experience about the men was very sickening. At the very tender age of six she was raped by Victor who was their family friend. And this was the reason that the repugnance for men developed in her mind and a strong and striking need for a female grew in her mind. In short Moix is persistent about explaining the inner mind of Julia. â€Å"Julia,† the novel published in 1970, describes about typical teenager young college girl. Julia, who is in love with her literature professor Eva and decides to commit suicide out of the nervous breakdown when she comes to know that she cannot keep romantic relationship with her female partner due to social bondage and threats,. Eva for Julia is more than just a sexual partner. For her she is like a mother and in her loneliness she just wants Eva to be with her. â€Å"She only wanted to be close to Eva. She wanted her presence and nothing else. † [3] The story starts with the protagonist mental condition when she is there in the hospital lonely and totally broken hearted. Here the author has vividly depicted each and every facets of the complex mind of the protagonist. Why she has been called as a lesbian, just because she has intense love in her mind for a female figure? This is not the only reason. The subterranean â€Å"raison d’etre† is that she wants a female figure under whose shelter she can be safe and secure. She cannot find the security and safety in the arms of any man, because for her man is just like a wolf who has crunched into her body as well as mind. Her childhood was a like a nightmare for her because of the very unfortunate experience of the rape. This is the reason why Julia wanted to keep herself far away from the men. Her relationship with Eva is thus dignified by the author which according to her not unusual and wrong. Julia’s mother was never close to her and she wants to experience the real love of the mother and for that she has chosen Eva, who is her mother in her imaginations â€Å"Eva is for Julia a mother, a sister and a friend. There is an attempt to ‘explain away’ lesbianism not as desiring women, but as fear of men. † [3] Here I would like to refer the story by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Anderson, â€Å"The Little Match Girl,† who was shivering and almost dead because of hunger and cold. At that time for getting herself warm she lit a stick from her matchbox and the small and tiny light of the little stick gives her hundreds of beautiful dreams from which she doesn’t want to come out. Eva’s presence for Julia is like a warm in the deadly winter. Eva is like an Oasis in the deserted life of Julia. But Eva’s presence is nothing but a hallucination. Eva is like a lighthouse for the ship of Julia’s life. When she realizes that this lighthouse is collapsed she cannot survive herself and then she decides to end her life. â€Å"Over a course of a sleepless night the 20-year-old Julia recollects instances from her past as she lies in a hospital bed following a suicide attempt. Her intense physical aversion to men and recurrent obsession with a series of strong female figures would seem to stem from traumatic childhood experiences, including her rape at the age of 6 by a family friend and the emotional deprivation felt in the relationship with her mother. † [4] From Julia the author brings forward her opinion that the lesbians are not women who love women but who hate men. Rather than calling this novel as a lesbian novel we can say that it is the novel depicts the rebellious attitude of the women who have been for years and years tormented by the patriarchal and male dominated society. This novel is also called a novel of relationship. Rather the theme of relationship constantly remains dominant rather than the lesbianism. Moix reveals the different ridges of relationship in it. The author has outspread the different types of relationships of the protagonist right from her childhood, her relationship with her family members, the deteriorated relationship between her and her mother, the death of her beloved brother Rafael, her relationship with her older brother Ernesto, Every where we find the blemished relationship. In the crowd of the people the Julia seems to be alone and isolated. The failure in maintaining the relationship can cause the mental and psychological damage of the person. Anna Moix tries to show the complexities of the relationship as well as the lack of harmony among all the characters. The novel represents such society where the family system is collapsed. This novel is the symbol of the society which has lost the family values and morality. The characters are shown self centered and no one seems to bother about the rest of the members of the society. Relationship is lacking with every character. Julia is searching for the love in the female figures. She has to search it from the outside world because she is not finding it in her family members. The relationship of Julia with her mother which ought to be very close, and there aught to be a natural attachment and affection between mother and daughter is in reality very stained. Her mother is shown as a self centered who never tries to know what exactly her daughter expects, and what exactly her responsibility towards her daughter. We strongly feel it when we read the scene of rape done on Julia by the Victor. At that time she needs her Mama’s tender touch and her love and solace but she was abdicated ruthlessly by her mother. â€Å"She would escape from Victor and run to mama, who was talking and laughing nonstop, ignoring her. Little Julia would tap her on the arms, and Mama would ask: Do you want a coke? No. And she would keep on touching Mama until, irritated, she would yell at her or slap her, and little Julia burst into tears. Aurelia – Mama called – put her to bed, she is unbearable. † [5]She needs love, pampering from her mother which is her Psychological and quite natural need. But this basic need is also never fulfilled by her mother. She knows that she is a big burden for her mother and this feeling creates more and more insecurity in her mind. This pampering she is searching in another woman. In Julia the author also focuses on the growing materialism in the society. Everybody is involved in gaining the worldly pleasure. Everybody is careless and is not in position to think of the other. Julia’s brother is a homosexual. There is total miscommunication between the relationships of Julia’s parents. Everybody has chosen their own path life in which they don’t want to involve other family members. Under the roof of one house they are living like strangers. They don’t want to share their happiness, their sorrow with the others. Why life has become so difficult for the protagonist? Why does she want to escape from her present? Why can’t she accept the present bravely? Why does she prefer to stay in her past life? These are very important questions arise while the reading of the novel. Julia is not a novel which just propounds the theory of lesbianism but it is the psychological novel which focuses on the mental condition of the protagonist. The protagonist is caught by the split personality. Young Julia is not ready to accept the fact of her being young and she wants to be in the past. The incident of rape has been carved on her mind so intensely that she prefers to live the life of listlessness and detachment. She prefers to live an isolated life. â€Å"As her remembrances peel away the layers of her past, she reveals chilling details of a life filled with alienation and unhappiness. [6] This is the reason why she cannot face the relationship with the opposite sex. The horror experience becomes her inability to enter into the relationship with opposite sex. When Carol kisses her she feels it as a nightmare and it reminds r the incident of her violent rape. â€Å"a beach, rocks, a sea urchin, the paddle boat floating on the sea. † (Page 209, Julia) There is a constant conflict in her mind, the conflict of two different personalities, Julia and Julita. Julita is her past which is being more and more dominated. â€Å"Her schizophrenic experience eventually leads to an unsuccessful suicide attempt. According to German Bleiberg â€Å"The novel is relentless psychological whodunit, narrated as the interior monologue of the disturbed and intermittently suicidal young protagonist. † [7] The novel consists of the series of memory of Julia’s life right from her childhood to the present day. â€Å"These memories carry from her childhood to her present traumatic psychological stagnation. † [8] Julia has locked herself in deep pains. Her pains are like a web which the protagonist fails to break. Her story is necessarily thought from psychological point of view. When we start thinking from that perception we realize that this is not just a lesbian novel. It is a deep and thorough study of human psyche. And when we change the angle of our thoughts and starts thinking from the point of view of the protagonist, we start feeling sympathetic about the protagonist. The entire novel seems to be haunted by a weird silence. A voiceless ness is spread around the protagonist. She is completely fed up of all types of relationships and the people that she wants to stay alone. She rather feels safe in her loneliness. That is why when she arrives in the city she feels as if she is captured in the cage. â€Å"The noise, continuous movement of cars and buses, and the sight of so many people in the streets made her feel dizzy. † [9] Julia was blamed by the other school children for being silent and for not mixing with anybody. â€Å"She found herself forced to stay locked up in the classroom for four hours in the morning and three in the afternoon, sitting behind a desk, among twenty other girls. She didn’t talk to anybody. If they asked her something, she answered with a fewest possible words. After a week at School, they called her â€Å"the girl who doesn’t talk. †[10] Thus apparently it seems a lesbian novel but if we consider the other factors of this novel we realize that the story has a depth and it wants to tell us something else and lesbianism is just one of the parts of the novel. Thus this novel focuses many factors such as a world of chaos and anarchy, the broken frame of the family structure, the voiceless ness, materialism and self centered attitude of the modern society, lack of communication between the human beings, the physical and psychological exploitation of the women by the society and the spoiled human relationships. This novel also reveals the psychological problems which arise due to the loneliness insecurity and individualism. Being a typical feminist novel it throws the light on various above factors which are more dominating than the lesbian theme. Sources: [1] (Page 4, Spanish Literature, glbtq literature, http://www. glbtq. com/literature/spanish_lit,4. html) [2] (Page 853, â€Å"An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers,† by Katharina M. Wilson, Published by Tailor & Francis) [3] (Page 4, â€Å"Julia,† Anna Moix, Sandra Kingery , published by University of Nebraska Press, 2004) [3] (Page 287, â€Å"Who’s who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History†, By Robert Aldrich, Garry, Published by Routledge, 2001) [4] (Page 199, â€Å"A New History of Spanish Writing by Christopher Perriam†, published by Oxford University Press. ) [5](Page 41, Julia, Written by Anna Moix, translated by Sandra Kingery, University of Nebraska Press, 2004) [6](Page 140, â€Å"Dangerous Virtues†, By Ana Maria Moix, Margaret E. W. Jones, published by University of Nebraska Press, 1997) [7] (Page1107, â€Å"L-Z†, by German Bleiberg, published by Greenwood Publishing Group. ) [8] (Page 37, â€Å"Queer Transitions in Contemporary Spanish Culture,† By Gema Perez-Sanchez, published by Suny Press. ) [9] (Page93, â€Å"Julia† Written by Anna Moix, translated by Sandra Kingery, University of Nebraska Press, 2004) [10] (Page93, â€Å"Julia† Written by Anna Moix, translated by Sandra Kingery, University of Nebraska Press, 2004)

You Suck: A Love Story Chapter 7

Chapter Seven The List While Jody showered, Tommy made a list. Feed Laundry New Apartment Toothpaste Sweet Monkey Love Windex Dispose of Vampire Minion â€Å"What do we need an onion for?† Jody asked. She was having a little trouble getting her vision to focus. â€Å"Minion, minion,† Tommy said. â€Å"Mint-flavored onion? Why do we need that?† â€Å"A minion! Someone who can move around during the day who can help us out. Like I was for you.† â€Å"Oh, my bitch.† Tommy dropped his list. â€Å"Nuh-uh.† Jody picked it up and walked over to the kitchen counter where the coffee machine stood. â€Å"I would sell my soul for a big cup of joe.† â€Å"I was not your bitch,† Tommy said. â€Å"Right, right, right. Whatever. So how long do we have to do this list?† â€Å"I checked the almanac. Sunrise is at six fifty-three, so we have about twelve hours. It's almost the solstice, so we get a lot of darkness.† â€Å"Solstice? Oh my God, it's almost Christmas.† â€Å"So?† â€Å"Hello? Shopping?† â€Å"Hello? We have an excuse. We're dead.† â€Å"My mother doesn't know that. I have to find something for her that she'll disapprove of. And your family – â€Å" â€Å"Oh my God! Christmas. I was supposed to go home to Indiana for Christmas. We need to redo the list.† â€Å"You do it. I'm going to dry my hair,† Jody said. The new list read: Christmas Presents Call Home Feed Minion (not our Bitch) Hot Monkey Love Windex Write Literature Dispose of Creepy Old Vampire New Apartment Laundry Toothpaste â€Å"I think you should take monkey love off of the list,† Jody said. â€Å"What if we lose the list and someone finds it?† â€Å"Well I think ‘dispose of Creepy Old Vampire' would be a little more embarrassing, don't you?† â€Å"You're right, cut monkey love and change ‘vampire' to ‘Elijah. † Jody tapped the list with a pen. â€Å"And take off Windex and put in ‘buy coffee. â€Å" â€Å"We can't drink coffee.† â€Å"We can smell it. Tommy, I desperately need coffee. It's like the blood hunger, only, you know, more civilized.† â€Å"Speaking of blood hunger – â€Å" â€Å"Yeah, you'd better move that up the list.† â€Å"And add a bottle of whiskey. You're going to have to buy it.† â€Å"Sorry, writer boy, but we're doing this stupid list together.† â€Å"I'm not old enough to buy liquor.† Jody stepped away from him and shuddered. â€Å"That's right. Isn't it?† â€Å"Yep,† Tommy said, nodding – trying to look wide-eyed and innocent. â€Å"Well, okay then. I should have checked IDs before picking my bitch.† â€Å"Hey!† â€Å"Kidding. What are you going to do with a bottle of whiskey anyway?† â€Å"Check something else off the list,† Tommy said. â€Å"I have an idea. Get your purse.† â€Å"What did the Animals want, anyway?† â€Å"Twenty grand.† â€Å"I hope you told them to fuck themselves.† â€Å"They did that already.† â€Å"Did they suspect, you know, about what you are now?† â€Å"Not yet. Lash said I looked a little pale. I sent them to the store. If Clint knows, well – â€Å" â€Å"Oh, good move. Maybe we should just take out an ad. ‘Young vampire couple seeks angry village people to hunt them down and kill them. ; â€Å"Ha. Village people. Funny. Put self-tanning lotion on the list. I think the pale thing is giving me away.† At seven in the evening, three days before Christmas, Union Square was awash in shoppers. There was a Santa's Village set up in the raised square, with a line of children and parents that wound five hundred deep through a labyrinth of red velvet cattle gates. Around the square, the street performers, who would normally have knocked off around five, lined the granite steps up to the square. A juggler here, a sleight-of-hand guy there, a half-dozen â€Å"robots† – people painted silver and gold who would move in machine-jerk rhythm for the drop of a coin or a bill – and even a couple of human statues. Jody's favorite was a gold guy in a business suit, who stood motionless for hours on end, as if he'd been frozen in midstep on the way to work. There was a small hole in his briefcase into which people stuffed bills and dropped coins after photographing him or trying to make him flinch. â€Å"This guy used to freak me out,† Tommy whispered. â€Å"But now I can see him breathing and the aura thing.† â€Å"I watched him for a whole lunch hour one time and he never moved,† Jody said. â€Å"In the summer, you know he has to be suffering in that painted suit.† Suddenly she shuddered at the thought of Elijah, the old vampire, still encased in bronze back at the loft. Yes, he had killed her, technically, but in a way he'd just opened a door for her, a door that, no matter how bizarre, was immediate, vital, and passionate. And yes, he'd done it for his amusement, he'd said, but also because he was lonely. She wound her arm into Tommy's and kissed him on the cheek. â€Å"What was that for?† â€Å"Because you're here,† she said. â€Å"What's first on the list?† â€Å"Christmas presents.† â€Å"Skip down.† â€Å"Sweet monkey love.† â€Å"Yeah, we'll do it in the Santa's Workshop window at Macy's.† â€Å"Really?† â€Å"No, not really.† â€Å"Okay, then we need liquor.† Jody snatched the list out of his hand so quickly that most people wouldn't have even seen her move. â€Å"You are no longer in charge of the list. We're getting me a new leather jacket.† I AM HOMELESS AND SOMEONE SHAVED MY HUGE CAT. William had changed his sign. Chet the huge cat was still wearing Jody's sweater. He eyed the two vampires suspiciously as they approached. Tommy held the bottle of Johnny Walker out to William. â€Å"Merry Christmas.† William took the liquor and squirreled it away in his coat. â€Å"Most people just give money,† he said. â€Å"We're cutting out the middleman,† Jody said. â€Å"How are you feeling today?† â€Å"Great, why? Really good, you know, considering that I'm homeless and you guys shaved my cat.† â€Å"You were pretty hammered last night.† â€Å"Yeah, but I feel great today.† â€Å"That's how it used to affect me,† Tommy said. â€Å"Remember. Kind of energizing.† Jody waved Tommy away. â€Å"You didn't get light-headed or anything?† Jody asked. â€Å"I was a little hungover when I woke up, but I was fine after a couple of cups of coffee.† â€Å"Fuck!† Jody spat. Then she held her head. â€Å"Calm,† Tommy said, patting her shoulder. â€Å"Dr. Flood will make it all better. Maybe.† Jody growled, just loud enough for Tommy to hear. â€Å"Ya know,† said William, when there was a break in the pedestrian traffic and he didn't have to concentrate on looking pathetic, â€Å"I'm flush for cash, but since you're in the Christmas spirit, I'd still go for a look at Red's hooters.† â€Å"Bite me, dirtbag,† Jody said as she rolled up on William. â€Å"Honey.† Tommy caught the back of her newly purchased red leather jacket, just in case. They'd never know if his idea was going to work if Jody snapped the bum's neck. â€Å"I will not be sexually harassed by the entree.† â€Å"Something you ate isn't agreeing with you?† Tommy grinned at her when she looked back at him, but the fire went out of her eyes. â€Å"You can just cross sweet monkey love right off your list,† Jody said. â€Å"Jeez, what a bitch,† said William. â€Å"Her time of the month?† Tommy quickly wrapped his arms around Jody, lifted her off her feet, and carried her a few steps around the corner, even as she squirmed. â€Å"Let me go, I'm not going to hurt him.† â€Å"Good.† â€Å"Much.† â€Å"That's what I thought,† Tommy said, still holding her tight. â€Å"Why don't you head over to the Walgreens and I'll finish up with the huge cat guy?† A family of Christmas shoppers smiled as they passed them, thinking they were young lovers indulging in a public display of affection. The father whispered â€Å"Get a room† under his breath to his wife, which a normal person wouldn't have heard. â€Å"Count your lucky stars, buddy, we almost did it in the Santa's Workshop window. Hot, sweaty elf sex – in front of the kids. The kids would have liked that, huh?† The father hurried his family on down the street. â€Å"Nice,† Jody said. â€Å"Way to stay under the radar.† â€Å"Well, you know, I like to stay sharp,† Tommy said. Because he was nineteen and had only started having sex regularly since he met Jody, he still thought he had some sort of secret knowledge that was unavailable to other people. How can they possibly be thinking about anything else? he thought in the private part of his mind. â€Å"I'll bet it smells like peppermint,† Tommy said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Elf sex.† â€Å"Would you please put me down.† â€Å"Okay, but don't hurt the huge cat guy.† â€Å"I'm fine. I'll meet you at the drugstore in five minutes. This had better work.† â€Å"Five minutes,† Tommy said. â€Å"Cinnamon. Maybe it smells like cinnamon.† The pale couple stalked the aisles of the Walgreens, having a great time dismissing the crass accoutrements of bourgeois American life, and generally scoffing at all the conventions of traditional culture. They were elite, after all. Special. Chosen – if you will – if only by the nature of their heightened sensitivities and superior sensibilities. They both claimed the ability to look past the faà §ade put on by most people, and see the very depths of the human soul. Strange, then, that they didn't see it coming when the skinny guy in a flannel shirt popped around the corner in front of them. â€Å"Let's ask these guys,† Flannel said. â€Å"They look like heroin addicts.† Jared White Wolf and Abby Normal backpedaled from the eyeliner display where they'd been looking for something hypoallergenic. Abby's eyes had been watering all night, causing her makeup to run and giving her more of a sad-clown-of-life look than she was going for. Jared hid behind Abby, just a little, which was awkward, since he was nearly a foot taller than she. The guy in flannel was joined by a beautiful, pale redhead, carrying an armload of toiletries. What amazing hair, Abby thought, looking at the long red tresses. I'd give anything for hair like that. â€Å"Tommy, leave these poor people alone,† said the redhead. â€Å"No, wait.† Flannel turned to Abby and smiled. â€Å"Do you guys know where they keep the syringes?† Abby looked at Jared, who looked at the guy in flannel. â€Å"Well, you can't just buy them,† Jared said. He was fiddling with the leather straps on his bondage pants, looking coy. Abby slapped his hand. â€Å"You need a prescription to buy syringes,† Abby said. â€Å"Do you really think I look like a heroin addict?† Jared threw his bangs out of his face dramatically. His head was shaved except for his bangs, which reached to his chin, specifically so he could throw them out of his face dramatically. â€Å"I was, like, thinking that maybe I should bulk up. You know, eat and stuff, but – â€Å" â€Å"Well, thanks,† said Flannel Shirt. The redhead moved off down the aisle. â€Å"I was going to try some heroin, but if you can't buy needles, well, there you go. See you guys. Nice shirt, by the way.† Abby looked down at her T-shirt, black, of course, with the image of a poet taken from a nineteenth-century etching. â€Å"Like you even know who it is.† † ‘She walks in beauty, like the night, † quoted the flannel-shirt guy. He winked at her, then grinned. â€Å"Byron's a hero of mine. See ya.† He turned and started to walk away. Abby reached out and snagged his sleeve. â€Å"Hey, there are needle exchange programs all over town. They're listed in the Bay Guardian.† â€Å"Thanks,† said flannel. He turned and Abby grabbed him again. â€Å"We're going to be at the Glas Kat. There's a Goth club tonight. Five-hundred block of Fourth Street. I know a dealer there. You know, for your heroin.† The flannel-shirt guy nodded, and looked at Byron's picture on her shirt again, then at her face. Fucksocks. He's so looking at my streaking eye makeup. â€Å"Thanks, milady,† said Flannel Shirt. And he was gone, off over the dark moors of the tampon aisle. â€Å"What was that about?† whined Jared. â€Å"He's so, so Happy Days.† Jared White Wolf spent a lot of time watching Nick at Nite when he wasn't brooding or fussing with his appearance. Abby walked into the flap of Jared's black duster and pounded his slight chest with her palms. â€Å"Didn't you see. Didn't you see?† â€Å"What, you acting like a complete ho?† â€Å"He had fangs,† Abby said. â€Å"Well, so do I,† Jared said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pair of perfect, dentistry-quality vampire fangs. â€Å"Duh, everybody does.† â€Å"Yeah, but his grew! I saw them. Let's go,† Abby said, pulling Jared White Wolf by his great bat-wing lapels. â€Å"I have to change into something hot before we go to the club.† â€Å"Wait, I want to get some Halls. My throat is raw from all the cloves we smoked last night.† â€Å"Hurry.† The buckles of Abby's black platform boots jangled as she dragged her friend past the lipsticks and hair products before he could get interested. â€Å"Okay,† said Jared, â€Å"but if I don't meet a cute guy tonight, you have to stay up all night and hold me while I cry.† â€Å"You should try black lipstick sometime,† Tommy said to Jody as they approached their building, their arms loaded with packages. He was still thinking about the kids at the drugstore. It was the first time since tenth grade that he'd used his knowledge of Romantic poetry. For a while he'd tried molding himself into the tragic Romantic hero, brooding and staring clench-jawed off into space as he composed dark verse in his head. But it turned out that trying to appear tragic in Incontinence, Indiana, was redundant, and his mother kept shouting at him and making him forget his rhymes. â€Å"Tommy, if you keep grinding your teeth like that, they'll wear away and you'll have to have dentures like Aunt Ester.† Tommy only wished his beard was as heavy as Aunt Ester's – then he could stare out over the moors while he stroked it pensively. â€Å"Yeah,† Jody said, â€Å"because I need to make it more obvious that I'm an undead creature that feeds on the blood of the living.† â€Å"You make it sound so sordid.† â€Å"No, I meant it in a nice way.† â€Å"Oh.† â€Å"Because it's not like people wouldn't understand if they found out we were vampires, because we slipped up and, oh, I don't know, UNSHEATHED OUR FANGS IN THE FUCKING DRUGSTORE!† Tommy almost dropped his packages. She hadn't said a word about that all night. He'd hoped she hadn't noticed. â€Å"It was an accident.† â€Å"You called that girl ‘milady. â€Å" â€Å"She was impressed with my Byron.† â€Å"Yeah, well, your Byron was probably sticking out a little, too, wasn't he?† â€Å"It wasn't like that.† â€Å"You drooled.† Jody paused at their security door and dug into her jacket for her key. Tommy stepped around her. â€Å"I'm still new at this. I think I'm doing pretty well. My ghastly pallor obviously impressed the lady at the needle exchange.† He reached into his bag and fanned out a handful of sterile-wrapped and capped syringes. â€Å"Congratulations, you can now pass as an HIV-positive heroin addict.† â€Å"Trs chic.† He grinned like he imagined a sexy Italian man-whore might. â€Å"Who drools in public,† Jody said. Damn, she's immune to my sexy Italian man-whore grin, Tommy thought. He said, â€Å"Be nice, I'm new. My lips don't fit together right when my fangs are out.† She turned the key and swung the door open. There, passed out on the landing, was William the huge cat guy and sleeping on his chest, Chet the huge cat. â€Å"I told you it would work,† Tommy said. Jody stepped into the stairwell and closed the door behind her. â€Å"You go first.† Fifteen minutes later, as he placed five syringes full of blood in their refrigerator, Tommy said, â€Å"This vampire thing is going to be great.† He'd had a moment when he'd bitten William – not just getting over the idea of being that close someone who smelled that nasty, but also being close to another man period. But after cleaning William's neck with an alcohol swab they'd gotten from the drugstore, and consoling himself that most literary vampires seemed sexually ambivalent anyway, the blood hunger pushed him through. He was feeling more relaxed, now that they had the food problem solved – for a while, anyway. If his friends didn't kill them in the next couple of days, he might even enjoy life as a vampire. Then he turned to Jody and frowned. â€Å"But I can't help but think that it may be wrong, taking advantage of a homeless alcoholic.† â€Å"We could just hunt and kill people,† Jody said cheerfully. She had a little crust of William's blood in the corner of her mouth. Tommy licked his thumb and wiped it away. â€Å"We did give him a nice sweater for his huge shaved cat,† Tommy said. â€Å"I loved that sweater,† Jody said. â€Å"And we are giving him a warm landing to sleep on,† she added, diving onto Tommy's rationalization dog pile. â€Å"And if we only take a little bit each day, he'll actually feel better. I know I did.† â€Å"And we won't become alcoholics ourselves.† â€Å"How are you feeling, by the way?† Tommy said. â€Å"Better. Hair of the dog. You?† â€Å"Two-beer buzz, max. I'll be fine. You want to try the experiment?† Jody checked her watch. â€Å"No time. We'll do it tomorrow night.† â€Å"Right. So, on to the list. Looks like hot monkey love.† â€Å"Tommy, we need to find a daytime person to help us. We have to move out of this place.† â€Å"I've been thinking about Alaska.† â€Å"Okay, good for you, but we still need to find a place to live where the Animals and Inspector Rivera can't find us.† â€Å"No, I'm thinking we should move to Alaska. For one thing, in the winter, it's dark for like twenty hours a day, so we'd have plenty of time. And I read somewhere that Eskimos put their old people out on the ice when they are ready to die. It would be like people were leaving snacks out for us.† â€Å"You're kidding.† â€Å"Eskimo Pies?† He grinned. Jody put her hand on her hip and looked at him, her mouth hanging open a little, as if she was waiting for something more. When it didn't come, she said, â€Å"Okay then, I'm going to change.† â€Å"Into a wolf?† â€Å"Clothes, cadaver breath.† â€Å"I didn't know. I thought maybe you'd learned.† Tommy thought Alaska was a great idea. Just because she was a few years older, she always acted like his ideas were stupid. â€Å"The thing with William worked,† he said defensively as he put away the supplies they'd bought at the drugstore. â€Å"That was a good idea,† Jody said from inside the closet. Now what? â€Å"Well, Alaska isn't a bad idea.† â€Å"Tommy, there's like nine people in all of Alaska. We'll stand out, don't you think?† â€Å"No, everyone is pale there. They don't have sun for most of the year.† She came out of the closet wearing her little black cocktail dress and her strappy come-fuck-me pumps. â€Å"I'm ready,† she said. â€Å"Wow,† Tommy said. He'd forgotten what they were talking about. â€Å"You think the Ferrari-red lipstick would be too much?† â€Å"No, I love the Ferrari-red lipstick on you.† Hot, sweet monkey love, he thought. This was exactly why he loved her. In the midst of all of the pressure, the danger, really – she still took time to think of his feelings. She lifted her breasts until they threatened to spill out of the plunging neckline of the dress. â€Å"Too much?† â€Å"Perfect,† Tommy said, walking toward her with his hands out. â€Å"Gimme.† She breezed past him into the bathroom. â€Å"Not for you. I need to get going.† â€Å"No, no, no,† Tommy said. â€Å"Hot monkey love.† While Tommy watched from the doorway, Jody applied the Ferrari-red lipstick, checked it, then frowned and wiped it off, then grabbed a different tube off the vanity. â€Å"When I get back.† â€Å"Where?† Tommy said. Sexual frustration had reduced him to single syllables. She turned to him with the new coat of maroon lipstick. â€Å"To get your minion.† â€Å"Not like that, you're not,† Tommy said. â€Å"This is how it works, Tommy. This is how I got you.† â€Å"Nuh-uh, you weren't wearing that when I met you.† â€Å"No, but the reason you pursued me is because you were interested in me sexually, wasn't it?† â€Å"Well, that's how it started, but it's more than that now.† And it was more, but that was no reason to leave him here all aroused and stuff. She walked over to him and put her arms around him. He let his hands slip inside the low back of her dress. His pants were getting tight and he could feel the pressure of his fangs coming out. â€Å"When I get back,† she said. â€Å"I promise. You're my guy, Tommy. I picked you as my guy, forever. I'm going to find someone to help us move and do things for us in the daytime.† â€Å"They're just going to want to bone you, and when you don't do them, they'll turn on you.† â€Å"Not necessarily.† â€Å"Of course they will. Look at you.† â€Å"I'll figure it out, okay. I don't know how else to go about it.† â€Å"We could put an ad on Craig's List.† (Craig's List was a classified Web site that had started in the Bay Area and was now the first place people checked for jobs, apartments, or nearly everything.) â€Å"We're not putting an ad on Craig's List. Look, Tommy, we have more things to do than we have time. You can clean the loft and go get the laundry done and I'll get us an onion.† â€Å"Minion,† he corrected. â€Å"Whatever. I love you,† she said. Bitch! He was vanquished. Unfair. â€Å"I love you, too.† â€Å"I'll take one of the disposable cell phones you bought. You can call me anytime.† â€Å"They're not even activated yet.† â€Å"Well, get on that, buddy. The sooner I get out there and find someone, the sooner I can get back here for some hot monkey love.† She has absolutely no sense of ethics, he thought. She's a monster. And yet, there she is, only a few dress straps from being naked. â€Å"Okay,† he said. â€Å"Don't step on the huge cat on the way out.† Jody had only been gone twenty minutes before Tommy decided that cleaning and laundry sucked and that he could find a minion as well as she could, even if he didn't look as hot in a little black dress. He was careful not to wake Chet and William on his way out.

IDENTIFY the challenges faced by HRD professionals in meeting the Essay

IDENTIFY the challenges faced by HRD professionals in meeting the needs of an intergenerational workforce (read full quesation attch on folder) - Essay Example acing the field of HDR include stiff competition in the global market, increased workforce diversity, the need to eliminate the skill gap associated with globalization, ethical issues and intergenerational issues in the workplace (Werner & DeSimone 2011). Intergenerational issues are perhaps some of the greatest challenges experienced by HRD professionals as organizations compete to recruit young innovative brains from the global job market. As business organizations increasingly compete in the global economy, many are introducing new technologies that require significant training and development of workers. Technological revolution has had significant implications on the attempts by HRD professionals to manage intergenerational needs in organizations. In order to emerge successful in the increasingly sophisticated market, companies have been compelled to hire highly qualified employees as well as providing knowledge and additional skills to match the changing market demands (McDonald 2008). Workforce diversity challenges require organizations to go beyond skill improvement to empowerment of employees to accommodate intergenerational differences in the workforce. HRD professionals in companies operating in developing countries from the developed countries face the challenge of dealing with skill gap associated with such nations. Workforce diversity has had significant implications for the HRD professionals including the need to address racial, ethnic, as well as cultural insensitivity and language differences (Reid, Barrington & Brown 2004). Buttressing the primary purpose of this study is the imminent workforce heterogeneity challenges facing HRD professionals amidst the increasing changes in the global environment. This essay entails identification of the various workforce intergenerational challenges facing HRD professional in different organizations. Age diversity in the workplace poses one of the greatest intergenerational challenges facing HRD

Discussion questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion questions - Essay Example I believe sources are reliable when the author is qualified to write it. Either he is educated in that field or has relevant experience. For example, Dr. Howard Gardner is qualified to write a book on Psychology because he is a psychologist by training and education. He also contributed big time to the field of Psychology. Consider also that the late Dr. Maxwell Maltz was a plastic surgeon, but he wrote books on the psychology of a person’s self-image since it is as aspect touched in his work. Whenever he performs plastic surgery, either his client’s self-image improves or remains the same. Sources can be deemed credible if the information contained there make sense. Perhaps, the proper use of jargon and technical words indicates thorough knowledge of the subject. It is necessary for an expert to be precise so that terms are well stipulated and avoid misunderstanding. So, the researcher should be wary of the level of language used in a particular source. That would be indicative whether one is reliable or not. In general, blogs are unreliable sources. Any person can write anything in a blog without necessarily having the qualification to state his or her opinion about a topic in an entry. Exceptions to this rule of thumb would be experts who want to publish an opinion immediately with going to the process of peer review or editorial review. For this particular blog, this is fairly acceptable and reliable. The author has relevant experience in politics as a journalist. Although, I will try to find his opinion elsewhere in more reliable sources such as books or journal articles before using this. In a similar argument with blogs, Wiki sites should not be used as sources. Wiki sites, however, can be useful in the start of the research by priming the researcher into the basics of an issue. If there are sources footnoted, the researcher could look into them and cite those instead. They are probably more reliable than

Language and communication research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Language and communication - Research Paper Example Their definition of engagement describes perceptions, academic and leisure reading, as well as the number and type(s) of text that are read and how many hours are typically spent reading. The facts and results presented by this study are realistic and place a cruel indictment of failure upon American schools with the promise that addressing the problem of American students’ general lack of engagement in reading would make much progress in the overall level of reading competency. It is dry but provides an invaluable peek at the international perspective. The information is easily verified by internet search, accurately represents a balanced international perspective, and was published by a credible journal. Cassidy, J., Valadez, C., Garrett, S., & Barrera, I. (2010). Adolescent and Adult Literacy: Whats Hot, Whats Not. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(6), 448-456. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database. Although hardly an objective title or study, the material provides some interesting figures and a history of public opinion on issues of educational attainment. The research is brief but stark in its use of shock value. It assumes that the respondents were familiar with terms such as â€Å"striving readers†. The practical applications of this essay and its usefulness to an understanding of the generalized perspectives of instructors and parents in the last ten years are demonstrable. Even the â€Å"What’s Not† [hot] items were telling indicators of current public opinion and theories of education. There are a multitude of facts in a disjointed presentation, and some excellent points were buried in a large wall of text rather than broken up to emphasize their poignancy. The citation of facts was dull and lacking, and, as a result, gave the impression that the information should be taken with a grain of salt. Du Boulay, D. (1999). Argument in Reading: what does it involve and how can

Is Andrew obliged to supply a 1,500 computer to Betty, Colin and Edith Coursework

Is Andrew obliged to supply a 1,500 computer to Betty, Colin and Edith - Coursework Example Offers can be general or specific. General offers are meant for general public and anyone who can fulfill the conditions of the offer can accept it. Specific offers are made to specific parties and can be accepted only by them. An offer can be revoked at any time before it is accepted. In the given case, Andrew circulated a flyer to local businesses which means that he made a general offer to all of them. Andrew made his offer in the beginning of the month of January. His advertisement stated that â€Å"any orders notified by the end of January will be met at the special discount price of  £1,500†. Andrew found this offer to be too generous and decided to revoke it. He posted a letter of revocation to the same businesses on 20th of January. However, a revocation cannot be effective unless the offeree knows of it. In Dickenson v Dodds1, the defendant offered to sell property to the plaintiff. Before the plaintiff could reply, the defendant sold the property to a third party. A friend of the plaintiff told him that the house was sold. It was held that the offer was effectively revoked and was no longer open for acceptance because the plaintiff’s friend’s intimation was adequate notice and a reasonable person would have easily deemed the offer to have been revoked. In the given case, it is important to consider whether the acceptance was completed before the offer was revoked. Andrew communicated his revocation of offer through post on the 20th of January as against himself but the letter was not delivered before the 2nd of February. In Adams v Lindsell2, a famous rule called â€Å"Postal Rule† was established according to which the acceptance of an offer is complete when a letter of acceptance has been posted. However, this rule is not applicable on the communication of revocation of offer by post. In Stevenson, Jacques & Co v McLean3, the plaintiff was an iron merchant who purchased iron and sold it to third

First Draft about crepe restaurant in Japan Essay

First Draft about crepe restaurant in Japan - Essay Example Japan has been confronted with a fiscal dilemma in its budgeting; therefore an increase in taxation in order to meet the government expenses will be inevitable. On the other hand, establishing a business in Japan is accompanied by diverse legal requirements, some of which are difficult to obtain. The licenses are not only expensive but also a rigorous process is involved in their acquisition. Another politically motivated aspect is the continued deflation, which could cause the bank of Japan to engage in purchase of more government bonds, which could present crises. Political instability including mass protests and strikes can cause the closure of restaurants hence causing a reduction in the amount of profit that could have been obtained. Another risk is competitiveness with companies that have political backing. In so doing, such companies are able to source raw materials at a friendly price and ends up reducing the cost of their foods and drinks. This is a form of unfairness in com petition. If there is lack of political goodwill, the restaurant can fail to stand irrespective of the high level of investment. However, the Japanese government is very stable hence, political risk is minimized. The political risk of doing business in Japan is relatively low compared to other regions (Sigurdson 469). Therefore, Crepe will stand the torrents of time to emerge a successful restaurant in Japan if unprecedented political activities do not occur. The government encourages businesses in Japan in order to steer economic growth in the country. The Japanese are more inclined to existing in groups. This is founded on the emphasis on what the Japanese call amae. This is a concept relating to the social being as well as individual beliefs. It entails looking at others as a way of being socially interdependent. As young children grow, the concept of working and living together is instilled (Kepler, P., Royse & Kepler, J. 170). Therefore, a group forms the core of

Athletes and their Impacts on Endorsement of Sportswear Literature review

Athletes and their Impacts on Endorsement of Sportswear - Literature review Example Others include prominent businessmen and politicians. Apart from their careers and appearances in events, celebrities act as spokesmen for different brands in their promotion (Kambitsis et al. 2002, p. 160). This paper will analyze the effect of celebrity (athlete) endorsements in sportswear marketing on the consumer's perception of the product and overall purchasing decision. â€Å"A celebrity endorser is a person who is known by the public for his or her achievements in areas other than that of the product class he or she is endorsing† (Friedman & Friedman 1979, p. 63). This is one of the forms of celebrities that are use by companies in order to promote their products. The reason for use of celebrities is engrained in the influence that they command be it on a national or international stage. Sportsmen and women in particular have been utilized for promotion of a wide range of products most of which include sportswear and energy drinks. Athletes compared to ordinary people have a higher chance of commanding attention. Solomon (2002, p. 50) asserts that the perception that consumers get from brands being endorsed by celebrities is that they are interesting. This is also accompanied by a feeling of connection and positivity with the brands. There is a guarantee that the use of celebrities in promotional ventures will elicit a positive attitude towards the brands and in turn will affect the intentions to purchase. The main reason why people advertise is to persuade customers to buy their products. The whole purpose is pegged on the capability of the producers to alter the attitudes of the consumers. As persuasion is the pillar of this process, credibility in advertisements must be projected for the brand to receive the necessary attention. Athletes especially project trustworthiness, persuasiveness, expertise and objectiveness when used in advertisements (Till & Shimp 1998, p. 72). The customers are also attracted to the brands due to the attractiveness of the personality who is its spokesperson. The attractiveness is classified according to the person?s physical appearance, the relation that can be drawn with the consumer, likeability and the personality. Although the use of athletes is reliant on their skills, some of them are utilized because of their physical appearance that is not so much on the physical attractiveness but on the physique. Ohanian (1991, p. 52) asserts that the use of attractive celebrities as spokespeople is more effective than the use of others who are not as attractive. A halo effect is assumed where the excellence of a person in one direction is associated with excellence in another. An example is that the physical attractiveness of a person being related to coolness or happiness. There is an interaction between the brand and the spokesperson endorsing it. Friedman and Friedman (1979, p. 60) assert that â€Å"a famous relative to a ‘normal’ spokesperson is more effective for products high in psychological or social risk, involving such elements as good taste, self-image, and opinion of others.† There are numerous studies that have been done with the aim of examining the effectiveness that celebrities have as brand spokespeople. Martin (1996, p. 32) conducted such a study that there are those endorsements that performed exemplarily whereas others miserably failed. Michael Jordan’

The most Dangerous Game The hunter becomes the Hunted Research Paper

The most Dangerous Game The hunter becomes the Hunted - Research Paper Example For instance, the story revolves under learning and experience. Moreover, it talks of the how the hunter ends up hunted. The story elaborates how moralities are tested and how an individual eventually learns the hard way. Richard Connell uses irony in the short story to portray his message of learning and experience. The main irony portrayed in the story is the fact that Rainsford who is the hunter, becomes hunted. Rainsford believes in the world of hunting where he regards hunting as the best sport that ever existed in the world (Connell Richard, 8). In the beginning of the story, Rainsford views the world as a place with only two classes that include the hunters and the hunted. As a hunter he travels with his colleges on sport hunting where on their way, they are met by misfortune and fall off their yacht and Rainsford swims to an assumed safety on Ship-Trap Island (Connell Richard, Connell Richard, 11). Indeed it is depicted as trap Island since whoever finds himself/herself in the Island, never comes out of the Island alive. At the Island, he meets General Zaroff who turns merciful and treats him with the utmost respect (Connell Richard, 16). Zaroff later discloses his personality to Rainsford. It is ironical for Rainsford who is the hunter eventually becomes the next target to be hunted. As a hunter, Rainsford treats his prey with no mercy yet as the prey, he is treated with the utmost respect. It is ironical for Rainsford to fall in the trap and become the prey yet he believes himself as the hunter. The second irony portrayed in the short story is the Rainsford’s view of how the prey feels when being hunted. According to Rainsford, the prey understands not even a little bit, of what is happening. Therefore, it is of no importance to care about the feelings of the prey. His friend Whitney tells him that the prey is ever subjected to fear as it meets its death. Ironically, Rainsford only laughs at the comment but

Business Systems Analysis and Design Coursework - 2

Business Systems Analysis and Design - Coursework Example These people are supposed to carry out an analysis of the different data on workers. After the analysis they will give an appraisal report. 4. Employees receive their appraisal report. This report will show whether an employee has been attending to duties in the correct manner stipulated by the company. CATWOE checklist from HR manager The appraisal system owned by the human resource office is to provide the senior managers with attendance information. The hr department clerks collect data on an employee’s clock in and out time. The data on the staff attendance is transformed to give an appraisal report for each and every employee. The appraisal is carried out by the human resource manager using the system to provide data on promotion. The system will produce quick reports which will be up to date. The system reduces the time the human resource department takes to do an appraisal. Employees The appraisal system owned by the Human resource department of Buckie cooperative socie ty is to monitor our working progress. Different workers will be required to feed their personal data into the system. The system will transform the data and give a final report on production of workers. The system will make the working environment to be unfriendly due to the monitoring process. The human resource department will use the system to retain or fire employees according to the monitoring report. MD of the Buckie Cooperative Society The staff appraisal system as owned by the Buckie cooperative society. The human resource department is to collect data on workers from the different departments and feed into the system. The system will analyze the data and give data on the best performing department. The system will ensure good performance in the different departments of the company. The world view is that the system will improve on the decision making of managers. Line managers The appraisal system as owned by Buckie cooperative society. The line managers will be necessitat ed to provide data on the working progress of their employees. The system will analyze the data and give a report on the productive line and the unproductive line. The system will be used to identify the line of productions that will be shut and which to be maintained by senior managers. The world view of the system is that it will ensure profitability of the company by eliminating unproductive lines. Conceptual models of the system Line Managers Employees HR manager MD of the Buckie Cooperative Society Problems that will be encountered Resistance of system by the workforce The company employees will see this system as a way to curtail their freedom. This will make them resist the adoption of the system by either refusing to use it. These employees refusal to use the system will make it useless to the society. This problem will be addressed by educating the staff on the need of this system. They will be needed to be shown the positive part of the implementation of the system. Some o f the positive things will be, there will no favoritism in promoting workers because the system will always give correct data. Support of the top management is also important. This will come in place because they are the one who will see into it the system is used. The top leadership is mostly made up of decision makers who will be required to appreciate the help of the system in things like making promotion decision. Lack of necessary Infrastructure for Implementation The system might be developed but cannot be deployed on a

Jury Nullification Paper Essay Example for Free

Jury Nullification Paper Essay In this paper I am going to explain whether ethnicity influences courtroom proceedings and judicial practices, and give some examples of ethnicity-based jury nullification, a sanctioned doctrine of trial proceedings wherein members of a jury disregard either the evidence presented of the instructions of the judge in order to reach a verdict based upon their own consciences. It espouses the concept that jurors should be the judges of both law and fact. Ethnicity in court is an important factor depending were your venue of court is located, and the jurors selected to the court. If in a court room there are jurors that are all white and are jurors for a case involving a white man that killed a African American man, may cause the jurors to listen to the white man case rather than the African American individual. In some cases if the white man story is little probable to happen the jurors will then have to take more time and listen closer to both of the stories. Jurors are told when in court that they have to judge by the facts and not by preferences in ethnic groups or color of skin, some do listen some do not take any facts they just prefer to select the person who is less guilty or if they see a similarities in themselves with an offender. One example of a preferred jury was a case that took place on the night of February 26, 2012, in Stanford, Florida, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old African American high school student. George Zimmerman, a 28 year old Hispanic, was the neighborhood watch coordinator for the gated community where martin was temporarily staying and where the shooting took place. Martin and Zimmerman where in a confrontation while martin was walking thru the gated community while on the ground Zimmerman shot Martin killing him. When officers arrived on scene they took Zimmerman into custody and attended his injuries, then questioned for five hours. Under the state law of Florida it is legal to defend yourself while being under attack and you are able to use lethal force. Zimmerman stated that martin was reaching toward Zimmerman’s gun but no evidence was found. The jury decided that Zimmerman was not guilty, there was controversy in this case because martin was a young black kid who dressed different and was judged by that. The jury I believe looked at Martin as a bigger threat than Zimmerman. In this case a young black male was judged incorrectly by people who saw him as kid that was not going on the correct path, and on the other side they see a person who was keeping a watch on his community and keep them safe. Some people just see a Hispanic male getting away with murder and a African American kid who was killed harshly. For this case 5 of the 6 jurors were considered white and 1 mixed race, in this county were the case took place in Florida only 10 percent of the population are African American. Even though when selecting a jury there is people who make sure there are no bias selection of jurors, sometimes jurors when in court change their minds because they relate to the case or because some similar situations have happen to that juror or a close relative. When jurors relate to cases it starts to become a bias situation, for example if a case of a women that was beaten by a husband because of infidelity, some jurors if women will take the women side and will maybe go against the husband. Otherwise if the jurors are mostly men the men will tend to reduce sentence or even find a reason to liberate the husband accused of beating his wife due to infidelity. When facing a court case such as the famous case of Rodney King the jurors gave a harsh punishment to the police officers not because they were bias, but because the footage of the people who are there to serve and protect were acting like animals and very unprofessional. In this situation the jury were mainly concerned that these officers that were in duty to serve and protect the community can act so savagely, in this case there was a clear bias situation the jurors were not looking at the officers as heroes because they took down a man that was drugged up, the jurors saw the police beating  a man that was defense less and without any help. There will always be all sorts of bias and sometimes racism inside of the court room, jurors are chosen the best as possible but sometimes it just is not enough to sentence a case correctly. Jurors have the responsibility to give the case to the innocent person and to help the judge make the correct decision, but sometimes jurors make mistakes and are guided by their emotions and not the facts, when that happens the case becomes a bias case and usually in favor of the person the jurors think is innocent. In my opinion jurors should be taught and learn on how to use the facts to see all the details of the case, jurors should also be taught different types of classes on looking at all the evidence in favor and not in favor, the jurors should also take in mind that the person being sentenced also have families and deserve a fair opportunity on their criminal case. The diversity on the juror stand should be always permitted I believe there should not be more Whites or Blacks or Hispanic jurors there should be a fair amount of jurors for all ethnicities this will bring a balance and a fair judgment of all the cases in court. This will bring more fairness and belief to the court system and will help the judges job easier and trust the people of the juror stand. To conclude, jurors should be a very great help for criminal cases but they always have to judge with intelligence and with fairness.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors 1.0 Introduction Wikipedia (2009) defined subcontractor as â€Å"an individual or in many cases a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another’s contract†. Other authors, Gerald N. Hill Kathleen T. Hill (2005) defined subcontractor as â€Å"a person or business which has a contract with a contractor to provide some portion of the work or services on a project which the contractor has agreed to perform†. Generally, a subcontractor performs his work under a contract with a main contractor who is hired by the employer. In building construction, a main contractor usually hires a subcontractor to perform a specific task such as roofing, plumbing, electrical, cement work and plastering, as part of the overall project. Hence, if the main contractor does not pay for the subcontractor, then the subcontractor has the right to enforce a â€Å"mechanic’s lien† on the real property upon which the work was done to collect. There are three types of subcontractor that is: Nominated subcontractor (Specialist subcontractor) Domestic subcontractor Named subcontractor Nominated subcontractor is essentially selected or appointed by the employer for some specific works. If the employer wants to nominate a subcontractor for an element of work, then he will instruct the main contractor to use the nominated subcontractor through the architect. The element of work usually is the engineering package such as piling, structural frame or some ME services works. In this kind of subcontract, there is a direct contractual relationship between the employer and the subcontractor. On the other hand, domestic subcontractor is selected and appointed by the main contractor who is hired by the employer. The domestic subcontractor doesn’t have the direct contractual relationship with the employer but he contract with the main contractor. Domestic subcontractors usually execute the part of work from the main contract and supply or fix the materials and goods. The employer will not involve in the election of this kind of subcontractor and the main contractor take the responsibility of the subcontractor. The Named subcontractor is contractually same as the domestic subcontractor. However, the different between them is the employer states that which contractor is acceptable without take responsibility for their final selection and appointment. Chapter 2: Forms of Contract 2.0 Forms of Contract 2.1 Review the method of appointing specialist subcontractor JCT 98 The JCT 1998 is the pre JCT Form which was used when selecting and choosing the subcontractor. There are two types of subcontractor in this form of Building Contract which are Nominated subcontractor and Domestic subcontractor. In the JCT Form, except the Employer, the Architect has the highest authority in making decision. Nominated subcontractor is essentially appointed by the Architect or the Employer when they need the subcontractor in some specific works. Daniel Atkinson (1999) defined nomination as â€Å"sub-letting sections of the work allowing the Employer full involvement in choosing the company early and using the subcontractor’s expertise for design or coordination†. There are some reasons that the Employer nominated a subcontractor (Daniel Atkinson, 1999): The Employer can select any company that he likes to be his subcontractor without based on the price. The subcontractor’s design expertise and his knowledge can be utilized due to he can be involved early. Since the specialist subcontractor involves, the Contractor will not waste his time on some particular work which the Contractor does not expert in it. The Employer can understand his responsibilities clearly since the clear contractual liability is established. Delay in time can be prevented by the direct links and involvements are established. According to the Jennie Price (1994), the procedure of nominating a subcontractor under the Standard Form of JCT 1998, Clause 35.4: The Architect sends the both of invitation to tender in part 1 of the standard form of tender, NSC/T, and the relevant section of the employer/ nominated subcontractor agreement, NSC/W, together with the drawings/specification/bill of quantities which describe the work, to those companies the employer wishes to invite to tender. Then the tenderers complete the standard form of tender (part 2 of NSC/T) and the relevant sections of the warranty, NSC/W, and return both documents to the Architect. The Architect chooses the subcontractor, and arranges for the Employer to sign the selected subcontractor’s tender to confirm his approval of it, and to execute the warranty, NSC/W. The Architect nominates the subcontractor to the main contractor using the standard nomination instruction, NSC/N. He also sends the main contractor a copy of the invitation to tender and the successful subcontractor’s tender, the drawings/specification/bills of quantities on which the tender was based, and the executed warranty. After received those documents, the main contractor has the right of reasonable objection to the selected tenderer within 7 days. If he does not object, he must reach agreement with the selected tenderer on the ‘Particular Conditions’ set out in Part 3 of NSC/T. These include the subcontract period, insurance details and the identity of the adjudicator and trustee stakeholder. When agreement on the Particular Conditions has been reached, the main contractor and subcontractor sign Part 3 of NSC/T, and execute the subcontract articles of agreement, NSC/A, which incorporate by reference the subcontract conditions NSC/C. The main contractor sends a copy of the signed NSC/T Part 3 and the executed NSC/A to the Architect for his records. 2.2 Review the method of appointing specialist subcontractor JCT 05 JCT 2005 Form of Building Contract (with quantities) has been updated, amended, merged and retired most of its important contracts. This form was set out in clear, understandable, and well-ordered for the user and it had simplified on wording such as change the word â€Å"Determination† to â€Å"Termination†. There is a little deviation between JCT 1998 and JCT 2005 regarding to the subcontracting. In this form of Building Contract, the nomination of subcontractor has been omitted. According to the Chappell D. (2007), there are a lot of problems arise between the main and subcontractor since a project is not ready for the subcontractor to start his work on the anticipated date. Due to the delay of the commence work, the subcontractor may argue and claims for more money. On the other hand, Ndekugri I. and Rycroft M. (2009) stated that JCT 1998 had extensive provisions on nominated subcontracting but due to the bad experience from the inherent pitfall of nomination of subcontracting and its complexity, the provision has been omitted in JCT 2005. There are three principles of appointing a subcontractor under the JCT 2005 Form of Building Contract: Consent to sub-contracting (Clause 3.7) According to this clause, main contractor cannot appoint or subcontract whole or any part of works to anybody without the Architect’s or the Contract Administrator’s consent. However, the Architect also cannot withhold or delay his consent unreasonably. If the Contractor insists to sub-letting his works to anyone without consent, then the employer entitles to terminate the Contractor’s contract under clause 8.4.1.4. Besides that, under the clause 3.7.2, the contractor cannot subcontract the design portion to anyone without the Employer’s consent. Lists in Contract Bills (Clause 3.8) Under this clause, annexations of lists of subcontractor to work packages which are defined in the Contract Bills are required. Clause 3.8.2 has stated that the list of subcontractor must not less than three persons. Then the Architect has to choose among the three persons to be the subcontractor. It is similar as pervious clause that the Architect cannot withhold or delay his consent unreasonably. If the Contractor submitted the list which less than three persons, then either: The Employer and the Contractor shall by agreement add the names of other persons to make sure the list comprises not less than three persons; or The Contractor carries out the works by himself. Conditions of sub-contracting (Clause 3.9) The subcontract shall state the condition that upon the termination of the Contractor with any reason, then the employment of the subcontractor will be automatically terminated too under the Clause 3.9.1. Besides that, the subcontract shall provide that subcontractor cannot remove the site materials which have been delivered to the works without the Contractor’s written consent except for use on the works. If the materials or goods have been paid by the Contractor, then they will become the Employer’s property and the subcontractor cannot deny it. On the other hand, if the Contractor has paid the subcontractor for any site materials before their value is included in the Interim Certificate, then the materials will become the Contractor’s property. Under the Clause 3.9.4, if the Contractor fails to make the payment to the subcontractor, then the Contractor shall pay simple interest to the subcontractor until the payment is made. Then according to the Clause 3.9.5, the Contractor could get the warranty from the subcontractor for his execution of works within 14 days of receipt of a written request by the Contractor. If the subcontract comply the three principles above, then the Architect could select and choose among the three persons in the list to be the domestic subcontractor. 2.3 Review the method of appointing specialist subcontractor NEC 3 ECC 05 The NEC 3 ECC 2005 is essentially used by Government for public works such as road, bridge etc. In JCT Form, the Architect has the highest authority while the Project Manager has the highest authority in this NEC 3. He plays an important role in this Form of Building Contract especially in subcontracting. The Project Manager is the person who approves the appointment of the subcontractor by the Contractor. In other words, the Project Manager dominates in the selection of subcontractor. Under the Clause 26.1, the Contractor still takes the responsibility to the works even though he had subcontracted the works to the Domestic subcontractor. Therefore, the Contractor must select the subcontractor carefully in case of the omission of the subcontractor. However under the Clause 26.2, the subcontractor who has been proposed by the Contractor must be accepted by the Project Manager. If the Project Manager does not accept the subcontractor, then the Contractor cannot appoint such subcontractor. Under the Clause 26.3, the Contractor has to submit the proposed conditions of contract for every subcontract to the Project Manager for his acceptance and approval unless an NEC Contract is proposed. Besides that, if the Project Manager agreed that no submission is required then the Contractor is not need to submit it. This clause also stated that the reasons that the Project Manager does not accept the subcontractor who is proposed by the Contractor are: The subcontractor will not allow the Contractor to provide the works. The subcontractor does not include a statement that the parties to the subcontract shall act in a spirit of mutual trust and cooperation. Chapter 3: Reasons of why Nomination has been stopped 3.0 Reasons of why Nomination has been stopped In the opinion of Jennie Price (1999), the disadvantages toward the main contractor are some of the reasons that the nomination has been stopped. The Main Contractor will lose his right to choose his favorite subcontractor to carry out the part of works. He would hard to communicate with the subcontractor who is nominated by the Employer thus cannot cooperate well. Since the Main Contractor is forced to employ the subcontractor so he is unable to impose his own terms and conditions which are more commercially advantageous to him. Other than that, the Nominated Contractor is normally difficult to be managed and controlled since their direct link with the professional team and the Employer. They will not easily listen to the Main Contractor on the design works due to the works are their expertise. Since some of employer will repeat the business with the nominated subcontractor, then the said nominated subcontractor will monopoly in this industry. Other subcontractors will not have chance to receive the job and make them suffer in their incomes. On the other hand, quality of the works might be dropped due to some nominated subcontractors handle few projects in the same period. They cannot concentrate on a single project and make the quality of every works will be dropped. 3.1 Advantages and Disadvantages toward the Employer Jennie Price (1999) agreed that Nomination provides some advantages and disadvantages toward the Employer which are shown as below: Advantages to the Employer: The Employer is able to select the person whom he wishes to carry out the subcontract works. Through the warranty NSC/W, the Employer has the direct contractual link with the subcontractor. It can covers matters such as design or materials selection by the subcontractor. Disadvantages to the Employer: The Employer has to take the risks and bear the responsibilities on the Nominated subcontractor due to his omission of works. If any defaults have been found, then the Employer should bear the extra costs. There are no rights against the main contractor in the event of defective design by the Nominated subcontractor. The Main Contractor entitles to claim Extension of Time if the progress of the main contract works is delayed by the Nominated subcontractor. Besides that, he could also claim for the Loss and Expenses due to the delay of works which is caused by the subcontractor. Since the Main Contractor does not take any responsibility on the Nominated subcontractor, there may be lack of management of the progress of the works on site of the subcontractor. 3.2 Opinion for the new appointment procedure of subcontractor In my opinion, the new specialist subcontractor/supplier appointment procedures are more complex to render the duties of the Architect / Project Manager / Quantity Surveyor. This is because the design teams have not direct contact with the subcontractor. All the instructions which are given by the design teams are passed through the Main Contractor. That might be appeared some mistake in the communication. By the way, the design team also cannot directly manage the subcontractor since the subcontractor only contract with the Main contractor. Chapter 4: Conclusion 4.0 Conclusion After the research, we will know that the procedure of nomination in JCT Form 98 and the reasons for nomination under this Form. Then we know that no more nomination under JCT Form 05. We also get the three methods that appoint a specialist subcontractor in JCT Form 05. NEC 3 ECC 2005 is only for the government works and the Project Manager has the highest authority in this Form. As a conclusion, nomination provides some disadvantages to the Main contractor such as difficult to cooperate between them and the main contractor cannot impose his own terms and conditions to the subcontract. Besides that, the main contractor is usually hard to manage the nominated subcontractor because he has the direct link with the professional design team. Other than that, nomination will make the monopolies arise in the construction industry due to the repeat business between the nominated subcontractor and the Employer. Quality of the works is low since the subcontractor cannot concentrate on single project. The Employer needs to bear the risks and take the responsibilities on the nominated subcontractor. Hence, nomination has been stopped. Finally, in my opinion, there are a lot of benefits that nomination has been stopped since there were a lot of disadvantages. Chapter 5: References Atkinson D. (2009), Sub-Contracting. [Online]. Last accessed on 24th July 2009 available at http://www.atkinsonlaw.com/cases/CasesArticles/Articles/SubContracting.htm CHAPPELL, David (2007). Understanding JCT Standard Building Contracts Eight Edition, Abingdon, Taylor Francis. Gerald N. Hill Kathleen T. Hill (2005), Subcontractor [Online]. Last accessed on 24th July 2009 available at http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Subcontractor NDEKUGRI I. and RYCROFT M. (2009). The JCT 05 Standard Building Contract Law and Administration Second Edition, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann. PRICE, Jennie (1999). Sub-contracting under the JCT Standard Forms of Building Contract, London, Macmillan Press LTD Wikipedia (2009), Types of Subcontractor [Online]. Last accessed on 24th July 2009 available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subcontractor#Types_of_subcontractor Bibliography Barnes P. and Davies M (2008). Sub-contracting under The JCT 2005 Forms First Edition, Oxford, Blackwell. GERRARD, Robert (2005). NEC2 and NEC3 Compared. Great Britain, Bell Bain. ME Contractor Magazine (2005), what sort of subbie are you. [Online]. Available at http://www.eca.co.uk/IndustryGuidance/CCandL/Download/WhatSortOfSubbieRU.pdf

Head Count System Using Artificial Intelligence Method Information Technology Essay

Head Count System Using Artificial Intelligence Method Information Technology Essay Abstract This report is developing the project called Head Count System using Artificial Intelligence Method. This report compresses the introduction, literature review, methodology, project design, result and discussion, project management and conclusion of the project. For the starting of this report, there will shows more on the products (head count system) description, background, aims and objective. Next, this report will discuss more on the products component such as hardware and software. There will research or survey on the hardware and software those can be suit on designing the product. After the research or survey, this report will include details more into the specification of this project. Some discussion will also be done on the systems programming code, dimension of the hardware, and the linking tool and cable that are chosen to use. The key point of this project is on the artificial intelligence. Fuzzy logic, neural network, neurofuzzy, induction algorithms and genetic algorithms are the type of the artificial intelligence engine. This report will discuss on the structure, method and application behind the entire artificial intelligence engine in literature review. Furthermore, the detail discussion on neural network programming such as Hopfield network and support vector machine will carry out in the methodology. Some of the image processing programming will explained in that chapter too. After all the basic theory and methodology, the real work on designing this project will proceed in project design. There got three main programming those are image acquisition, network and counting system will elaborate in flow chart and figure. All the experiment result and discussion on this project will state in the following chapter too. Finally, the conclusion will conclude all the processes on research, design and building for this project in the end of the report. In the conclusion, the achievement, distribution and weakness of this project will stated out too. With the recommendation as the ending of this report, this project is hoping can be improved in future development. Introduction Head count system is using in everywhere and any time in the reality life. Counting the amount of head counts is a must since the world started no matter in which occasion such as lecture halls, parties, ballrooms and so on. Nowadays, there is still use a traditional ways to get the total amount of the head count. The ways are using such like count one by one manually by a person assigned; tick attendance using paper to record down and so on. Otherwise, some advance ways to get the head count such as using smart card to get the head count through a manually scanning device; manually check in through a control server and so on. Following the trend of the technology grown, a lot of automation products have been created or designed. These kinds of products are now available in the market to reduce the waste of time and energy on unnecessary purposes. If the head count system also can detect or check the amount of head count automatically, there will be increase the efficiency of work and prevent the resource is wasted. [1] Background of the project Head Count System using Artificial Intelligence Method is designed and developed head count system that is able to intelligently check the total number of head counts entering or exiting an enclosed location. This system can automatically determine the number of head count by using sensors and combination with artificial intelligence engine. So, this project will be built based on software and hardware too. Some more the interfacing device is needed for this project to link up the hardware direct to computer. This is because the artificial intelligence programming will write in software in computer and the input of sensor will direct get through the interfacing device. Methodology After the literature review on the project is done, the specification of the project is decided. This project will be use MATLAB as the programmer to write the code of Neural Network which is one of the AI engine, as the software part. Besides that, USB cable is chosen as the interfacing device to link the software and hardware. The hardware of this project is built by thermal imaging camera [13] Thermal Imaging Camera All materials, which are above 0 degrees Kelvin (-273 degrees C), emit infrared energy. The infrared energy emitted from the measured object is converted into an electrical signal by the imaging sensor (microbolometer) in the camera and displayed on a monitor as a color or monochrome thermal image. [23] Infrared is a form of electromagnetic radiation, radio waves, microwaves, ultraviolet, visible light, X-rays and gamma rays the same. All of these forms together constitute the electromagnetic spectrum, are similar, the speed of light they emit energy in the form of electromagnetic waves moving. Each other band in the spectrum of the main difference is their wavelength, and the related amount of wave energy to carry. For example, while gamma ray wavelengths than visible light millions of times smaller, the wavelength of radio waves over a billion times is visible. [23] With the technical explanations above, there show that thermal imaging camera is not affect by any light level and it is better than a normal camera by this point. Using thermal imaging camera in this project will reduce the faulty cause by light level to minimum. MATLAB MATLAB is a high-level language of technical computing. MATLAB can apply to wide application, including image processing, sound processing, financial analysis, control design, and data communications. In image processing, both 2-D and 3-D graphical image is able to function. Using MATLAB, technical computing problems can be solved faster than using traditional programming languages, such as C and C++. Besides that, inside MATLAB software contains a lot of useful toolbox. All the toolbox can be link up and function together. While programming in MATLAB, if any function command that not familiar can be get more information on that command by typing help followed with the command. With entire advantages shown above, MATLAB is chosen as the software platform for this project. [21] MATLAB is the platform using to test on all the sample method programming shown above. From the result on testing neural network sample programming, single-layer perceptron and multi-layer perceptron are good in use on data pattern classification. Hopfield network is suitable in image restore application. Then support vector machines and kernel function are used in pattern analysis especially in face detection system. For image processing sample programming, Kirsch edge detection and canny edge detection are good edge detecting solution. Shape recognition can be use Houdorff-based image comparison to implement. Gabor function can be applied with support vector machines for face detection. Lastly, one-dimensional Gaussion function is used in signal processing, but in image processing where two-dimensional Gaussian can be apply to it. After some preliminary work on so many programming, the Support Vector Machines has been chosen as the design programming on this project. The programming shown above is just the major of the programming linking with this project. The main reason chosen Support Vector Machines is this network combine both neural network and image processing method. Result and Discussion In this project result and discussion, the three main parts will be discussed in detail on the result. The three main parts are image acquisition able to get the input from sensor, train the network with support vector machines completely with no error and headcount system able count correctly. Figure 9: show the result on image acquisition For the image acquisition programming, it can test with PC camera. PC camera is set as the input in the programming. Right-hand side image on figure 9 at above shows the view point of the camera after the program is started. If there got any motion occurred in the view point of the camera, the image will be captured. Left-hand side image on figure 9 at above shows the result of captured image after motion occurred. The discussion above state all the basic function on this program and the result will show as figure in the real project. Figure 10: show the result on main program on creating network Figure 10 at above show the result after run the programming of support vector machines. The right-hand side of the figure 10 at above shows a prompt menu for the user chooses the step to perform on this program. If Generate Database is pressed, the program will load the image database to the workspace and there will shows Loading HeadCount and Loading non-HeadCount as shown at left-hand side, first two lines on figure 10. If the button Create SVM is pressed, the support vector machines network will be created. Some information of the network will be show out as shown at left-hand side, after first two lines on figure 10. To test the network is just press the Test on Photos button. After the button is pressed, another menu will prompt out is let the user to select the sample image for testing. After the sample is selected, the program will run automatically until the result come out. The program will circle all the headcount based on the network. If there got error, the program can l et the user to retrain it regarding to same sample. In the experiment on this project, one sample that contains some possibly of the combination and eight different orientation of headcount is created to use as the testing sample. Lastly, the menu will close if the Exit is pressed. Figure 11: show the result on GUI output for counting system For the counting system, GUI is created to show the result of the number of headcount as shown at right-hand side in figure 11 and the input image have been captured as shown at left-hand side in figure 11. The result is counted based on these theories: If the objects of first image touch the upper line then the objects of the following image touch the lower line, this mean the objects are moving in. If the objects of first image touch the lower line then the objects of the following image touch the upper line, this mean the objects are moving out. Conclusion This report shows the complete process on designing this project. After complete the literature review, this can help on choosing the hardware, software or interfacing device to use. Methodology of this project shows majority method or solution to do this project in both building hardware and the software programming. More testing and simulations are done to get better solution. The complete steps or procedures of this project are show in the project design with the flow chart. Practical testing is also done and the result has been show and discuss clearly. This project fully achieves the entire objective stated above. For the main objective on researching type of artificial intelligence engine has fully achieved. The definition, architecture, algorithm of all type of artificial intelligence such as fuzzy logic, neural network, neurofuzzy, induction algorithm and genetic algorithm have been explained and stated in the literature review. Summary in literature review support the point of achieve the main objective and prove the objective of determine the type of interfacing device to use for connecting hardware and software is achieved. By comparing the two types of the interfacing devices such as USB cable and RS232, USB cable has a better speed than RS232 cable. So USB cable is chosen. The investigating and testing the sample programming on both neural network and image processing in methodology is to achieve one of the objectives. That objective is investigated on the programming language for the artificial intelligence engine. There i s not only achieve the objective and some additional investigating on image processing is adding on. Design software and GUI which able to simulate the system model, and implement the prototype hardware to get the inputs are achieved objectives too. PC camera is used to get input with the worked programming and GUI indicate the number of headcount prove that these objective is achieved. The result is show and discussion clearly on above. The contributions and benefits of this project is save the life from emergency is happen, reduce the waste of time and energy on unnecessary purposes, increase the efficiency of work, and this project is ease to use head count system with fully automatically function. The weaknesses and disadvantages of this project is limit in light level on PC camera, time consuming and memory consuming on operate the system is high. Reference and Bibliography http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20090271240.pdf (Accessed: 30 October 2010) http://www.headcountsystems.com/counting_technology.html (Accessed: 9 October 2010) http://www.911headcount.com/solutions.html (Accessed: 9 October 2010) http://pragmatick.com/ (Accessed: 10 October 2010) http://www.sensourceinc.com/ (Accessed: 16 October 2010) http://www.countwise.com/products_overview.php (Accessed: 16 October 2010) http://www.infodev.ca/buildings.html (Accessed: 17 October 2010) http://www.trafsys.com/people-counters.aspx (Accessed: 17 October 2010) http://en.wikipedia.org (Accessed: 6 November 2010) http://www.wtec.org/loyola/kb/c1_s1.htm (Accessed: 6 November 2010) http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/A-Bud/Artificial-Intelligence.html (Accessed: 23 October 2010) http://www.zaptron.com/literature/neurofuzzy.htm (Accessed: 24 October 2010) http://www.mathworks.com/products/daq/supportedio14005.html (Accessed: 30 October 2010) http://www.automationdirect.com/static/specs/pe18mmfaled.pdf (Accessed: 31 October 2010) http://www.roboticsconnection.com/p-23-sharp-gp2d120-ir-sensor.aspx (Accessed: 31 October 2010) http://www.interfacebus.com/usb-cable-diagram-30.html (Accessed: 31 October 2010) http://faculty.olin.edu/bstorey/Notes/Card.pdf (Accessed: 30 October 2010) http://www.dataq.com/support/documentation/pdf/misc/MatlabAdaptor.pdf (Accessed: 30 October 2010) http://www.neuralwiki.org/index.php?title=Programming_the_USB-6008_with_Matlab (Accessed: 31 October 2010) http://en.wikipedia.org (Accessed: 31 October 2010) http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/description1.html (Accessed: 14 November 2010) http://www.developers.net/intelisdshowcase/view/47 (Accessed: 21 November 2010) http://www.inmes.hr/pdf/thermography.pdf (Accessed: 28 November 2010) http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/shl9/roel2a/smits2a.htm (Accessed: 5 December 2010) http://www.dtreg.com/mlfn.htm (Accessed: 12 December 2010) http://www.learnartificialneuralnetworks.com/hopfield.html (Accessed: 19 December 2010) http://www.dtreg.com/svm.htm (Accessed: 26 December 2010) http://crsouza.blogspot.com/2010/03/kernel-functions-for-machine-learning.html (Accessed: 26 December 2010) http://www.mathworks.com/products/image/ (Accessed: 2 January 2011) http://www.cvmt.dk/education/teaching/f09/VGIS8/AIP/canny_09gr820.pdf (Accessed: 2 January 2011) http://mathworld.wolfram.com/GaussianFunction.html (Accessed: 9 January 2011) http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~weg22/can_tut.html (Accessed: 16 January 2011) https://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~ece327/old/2007t1/proj/doc/proj.pdf (Accessed: 23 January 2011) http://www.cs.cornell.edu/~dph/hausdorff/hausdorff1.html (Accessed: 30 January 2011) http://www.cs.cornell.edu/vision/hausdorff/hausmatch.html (Accessed: 13 February 2011) http://www.cnbc.cmu.edu/~tai/papers/pami.pdf (Accessed: 20 February 2011)

Nationalism Essay -- Patriotism Pride Essays

Nationalism I'm sure everyone remembers the Gulf War a few years ago. This war lasted for several months and drew everyone to the television and to newspapers to find out what was happening now to all the Americans over seas. Many people found their loved ones leaving. They were in the military and were called to defend their country. This is a sign of nationalism in itself, however, something that was closer to home for me was a tiny yellow ribbon. These yellow ribbons were seen everywhere. They were placed on tree trunks, on peoples front doors, pinned on to peoples clothing, and displayed on peoples cars. These yellow ribbons were a sign to let those people in the Gulf know they were loved and missed and that we were praying for their safe return. This is nationalism. We had all those people over in the Gulf in our thoughts even those we did not know. Nationalism or patriotism can be defined as a sense of belonging or a sense of pride to one's nation among a group of people. Nationalism includes feeling of loyalty to their nation, pride and a desire for independence. Nationalism can be experienced under a state which is a political unit that has essential elements such as people, land, government or independence or among a nation which is people sharing a common identity such as the Palestinians and the old Soviet Union. Nationalism has many different aspects to it, common bonds, and different symbols to represent it. Nationalism has not always existed. Years ago loyalty was to a tribe or ruler. Since then, the idea of loyalty has switched and the focus is now on a broader picture. There are four common bonds to nationalism. The first common bond is common territory. You tend to feel a close bond with people fr... ...and Ghana. The British went into India, the gem of Asia, and dominated their markets. The British took from the Indians and sold their goods for more money. The last consequence of nationalism are Wars of National Liberation. These wars have gone on for many years, and have caused many people to loose their lives for their country. The bonds of nationalism may, in fact, "bond" us together as a nation. The symbols of nationalism may allow us to occasionally think of nationalism. We may be able to think of the consequences, but we may not feel that these consequences are very important or ever occur. The fact is that all of these consequences, symbols, and bonds, reflect who we are as people. People die to defend other people of their nation. They fight to keep us safe and united. We need to keep things such as yellow ribbons and think about what we are all about.