The Da Vinci Code Chapter 30-32

CHAPTER 30 Security warden Claude Grouard simmered with rage as he stood over his prostrate captive in front of the Mona Lisa.This bastard killed Jacques Sauniere! Sauniere had been like a well-loved father to Grouard and his security team. Grouard wanted nothing more than to pull the trigger and bury a bullet in Robert Langdon's back. As senior warden, Grouard was one of the few guards who actually carried a loaded weapon. He reminded himself, however, that killing Langdon would be a generous fate compared to the misery about to be communicated by Bezu Fache and the French prison system. Grouard yanked his walkie-talkie off his belt and attempted to radio for backup. All he heard was static. The additional electronic security in this chamber always wrought havoc with the guards' communications. I have to move to the doorway.Still aiming his weapon at Langdon, Grouard began backing slowly toward the entrance. On his third step, he spied something that made him stop short. What the hell is that! An inexplicable mirage was materializing near the center of the room. A silhouette. There was someone else in the room? A woman was moving through the darkness, walking briskly toward the far left wall. In front of her, a purplish beam of light swung back and forth across the floor, as if she were searching for something with a colored flashlight. â€Å"Qui est la?† Grouard demanded, feeling his adrenaline spike for a second time in the last thirty seconds. He suddenly didn't know where to aim his gun or what direction to move. â€Å"PTS,† the woman replied calmly, still scanning the floor with her light. Police Technique et Scientifique.Grouard was sweating now. I thought all the agents were gone!He now recognized the purple light as ultraviolet, consistent with a PTS team, and yet he could not understand why DCPJ would be looking for evidence in here. â€Å"Votre nom!† Grouard yelled, instinct telling him something was amiss. â€Å"Repondez!† â€Å"C'est mot,† the voice responded in calm French. â€Å"Sophie Neveu.† Somewhere in the distant recesses of Grouard's mind, the name registered. Sophie Neveu? Thatwas the name of Sauniere's granddaughter, wasn't it? She used to come in here as a little kid, but that was years ago. This couldn't possibly be her! And even if it were Sophie Neveu, that was hardly a reason to trust her; Grouard had heard the rumors of the painful falling-out between Sauniere and his granddaughter. â€Å"You know me,† the woman called. â€Å"And Robert Langdon did not kill my grandfather. Believe me.† Warden Grouard was not about to take that on faith. I need backup! Trying his walkie-talkie again, he got only static. The entrance was still a good twenty yards behind him, and Grouard began backing up slowly, choosing to leave his gun trained on the man on the floor. As Grouard inched backward, he could see the woman across the room raising her UV light and scrutinizing a large painting that hung on the far side of the Salle des Etats, directly opposite the Mona Lisa. Grouard gasped, realizing which painting it was. What in the name of God is she doing? Across the room, Sophie Neveu felt a cold sweat breaking across her forehead. Langdon was still spread-eagle on the floor. Hold on, Robert.Almost there.Knowing the guard would never actually shoot either of them, Sophie now turned her attention back to the matter at hand, scanning the entire area around one masterpiece in particular – another Da Vinci. But the UV light revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Not on the floor, on the walls, or even on the canvas itself. There must be something here! Sophie felt totally certain she had deciphered her grandfather's intentions correctly. What else could he possibly intend? The masterpiece she was examining was a five-foot-tall canvas. The bizarre scene Da Vinci had painted included an awkwardly posed Virgin Mary sitting with Baby Jesus, John the Baptist, and the Angel Uriel on a perilous outcropping of rocks. When Sophie was a little girl, no trip to the Mona Lisa had been complete without her grandfather dragging her across the room to see this second painting. Grand-pere, I'm here! But I don't see it! Behind her, Sophie could hear the guard trying to radio again for help. Think! She pictured the message scrawled on the protective glass of the Mona Lisa.So dark the con of man.The painting before her had no protective glass on which to write a message, and Sophie knew her grandfather would never have defaced this masterpiece by writing on the painting itself. She paused. At least not on the front.Her eyes shot upward, climbing the long cables that dangled from the ceiling to support the canvas. Could that be it? Grabbing the left side of the carved wood frame, she pulled it toward her. The painting was large and the backing flexed as she swung it away from the wall. Sophie slipped her head and shoulders in behind the painting and raised the black light to inspect the back. It took only seconds to realize her instinct had been wrong. The back of the painting was pale and blank. There was no purple text here, only the mottled brown backside of aging canvas and – Wait. Sophie's eyes locked on an incongruous glint of lustrous metal lodged near the bottom edge of the frame's wooden armature. The object was small, partially wedged in the slit where the canvas met the frame. A shimmering gold chain dangled off it. To Sophie's utter amazement, the chain was affixed to a familiar gold key. The broad, sculpted head was in the shape of a cross and bore an engraved seal she had not seen since she was nine years old. A fleur-de-lis with the initials P. S. In that instant, Sophie felt the ghost of her grandfather whispering in her ear. When the time comes, the key will be yours.A tightness gripped her throat as she realized that her grandfather, even in death, had kept his promise. This key opens a box, his voice was saying, where I keep many secrets. Sophie now realized that the entire purpose of tonight's word game had been this key. Her grandfather had it with him when he was killed. Not wanting it to fall into the hands of the police, he hid it behind this painting. Then he devised an ingenious treasure hunt to ensure only Sophie would find it. â€Å"Au secours!† the guard's voice yelled. Sophie snatched the key from behind the painting and slipped it deep in her pocket along with the UV penlight. Peering out from behind the canvas, she could see the guard was still trying desperately to raise someone on the walkie-talkie. He was backing toward the entrance, still aiming the gun firmly at Langdon. â€Å"Au secours!† he shouted again into his radio. Static. He can't transmit, Sophie realized, recalling that tourists with cell phones often got frustrated in here when they tried to call home to brag about seeing the Mona Lisa.The extra surveillance wiring in the walls made it virtually impossible to get a carrier unless you stepped out into the hall. The guard was backing quickly toward the exit now, and Sophie knew she had to act immediately. Gazing up at the large painting behind which she was partially ensconced, Sophie realized that Leonardo Da Vinci, for the second time tonight, was there to help. Another few meters, Grouard told himself, keeping his gun leveled. â€Å"Arretez! Ou je la detruis!† the woman's voice echoed across the room. Grouard glanced over and stopped in his tracks. â€Å"Mon dieu, non!† Through the reddish haze, he could see that the woman had actually lifted the large painting off its cables and propped it on the floor in front of her. At five feet tall, the canvas almost entirely hid her body. Grouard's first thought was to wonder why the painting's trip wires hadn't set off alarms, but of course the artwork cable sensors had yet to be reset tonight. What is she doing! When he saw it, his blood went cold. The canvas started to bulge in the middle, the fragile outlines of the Virgin Mary, Baby Jesus, and John the Baptist beginning to distort. â€Å"Non!† Grouard screamed, frozen in horror as he watched the priceless Da Vinci stretching. The woman was pushing her knee into the center of the canvas from behind!† NON!† Grouard wheeled and aimed his gun at her but instantly realized it was an empty threat. The canvas was only fabric, but it was utterly impenetrable – a six-million-dollar piece of body armor. I can't put a bullet through a Da Vinci! â€Å"Set down your gun and radio,† the woman said in calm French,† or I'll put my knee through this painting. I think you know how my grandfather would feel about that.† Grouard felt dizzy. â€Å"Please†¦ no. That's Madonna of the Rocks!† He dropped his gun and radio, raising his hands over his head. â€Å"Thank you,† the woman said. â€Å"Now do exactly as I tell you, and everything will work out fine.† Moments later, Langdon's pulse was still thundering as he ran beside Sophie down the emergency stairwell toward the ground level. Neither of them had said a word since leaving the trembling Louvre guard lying in the Salle des Etats. The guard's pistol was now clutched tightly in Langdon's hands, and he couldn't wait to get rid of it. The weapon felt heavy and dangerously foreign. Taking the stairs two at a time, Langdon wondered if Sophie had any idea how valuable a painting she had almost ruined. Her choice in art seemed eerily pertinent to tonight's adventure. The Da Vinci she had grabbed, much like the Mona Lisa, was notorious among art historians for its plethora of hidden pagan symbolism. â€Å"You chose a valuable hostage,† he said as they ran. â€Å"Madonna of the Rocks,†she replied. â€Å"But I didn't choose it, my grandfather did. He left me a little something behind the painting.† Langdon shot her a startled look. â€Å"What!? But how did you know which painting? Why Madonnaof the Rocks?† â€Å"So dark the con of man.† She flashed a triumphant smile. â€Å"I missed the first two anagrams, Robert. I wasn't about to miss the third.† CHAPTER 31 â€Å"They're dead!† Sister Sandrine stammered into the telephone in her Saint-Sulpice residence. She was leaving a message on an answering machine. â€Å"Please pick up! They're all dead!† The first three phone numbers on the list had produced terrifying results – a hysterical widow, a detective working late at a murder scene, and a somber priest consoling a bereaved family. All three contacts were dead. And now, as she called the fourth and final number – the number she was not supposed to call unless the first three could not be reached – she got an answering machine. The outgoing message offered no name but simply asked the caller to leave a message.† The floor panel has been broken!† she pleaded as she left the message. â€Å"The other three are dead!† Sister Sandrine did not know the identities of the four men she protected, but the private phonenumbers stashed beneath her bed were for use on only one condition. If that floor panel is ever broken, the faceless messenger had told her, it means the upper echelon has been breached. One of us has been mortally threatened and been forced to tell a desperate lie. Call the numbers. Warn the others. Do not fail us in this. It was a silent alarm. Foolproof in its simplicity. The plan had amazed her when she first heard it. If the identity of one brother was compromised, he could tell a lie that would start in motion a mechanism to warn the others. Tonight, however, it seemed that more than one had been compromised. â€Å"Please answer,† she whispered in fear. â€Å"Where are you?† â€Å"Hang up the phone,† a deep voice said from the doorway. Turning in terror, she saw the massive monk. He was clutching the heavy iron candle stand. Shaking, she set the phone back in the cradle. â€Å"They are dead,† the monk said. â€Å"All four of them. And they have played me for a fool. Tell me where the keystone is.† â€Å"I don't know!† Sister Sandrine said truthfully. â€Å"That secret is guarded by others.† Others who are dead! The man advanced, his white fists gripping the iron stand. â€Å"You are a sister of the Church, and yet you serve them?† â€Å"Jesus had but one true message,† Sister Sandrine said defiantly. â€Å"I cannot see that message in Opus Dei.† A sudden explosion of rage erupted behind the monk's eyes. He lunged, lashing out with the candle stand like a club. As Sister Sandrine fell, her last feeling was an overwhelming sense of foreboding. All four are dead. The precious truth is lost forever. CHAPTER 32 The security alarm on the west end of the Denon Wing sent the pigeons in the nearby Tuileries Gardens scattering as Langdon and Sophie dashed out of the bulkhead into the Paris night. As they ran across the plaza to Sophie's car, Langdon could hear police sirens wailing in the distance. â€Å"That's it there,† Sophie called, pointing to a red snub-nosed two-seater parked on the plaza. She's kidding, right? The vehicle was easily the smallest car Langdon had ever seen.† SmartCar,† she said. â€Å"A hundred kilometers to the liter.† Langdon had barely thrown himself into the passenger seat before Sophie gunned the SmartCar up and over a curb onto a gravel divider. He gripped the dash as the car shot out across a sidewalk and bounced back down over into the small rotary at Carrousel du Louvre. For an instant, Sophie seemed to consider taking the shortcut across the rotary by plowing straight ahead, through the median's perimeter hedge, and bisecting the large circle of grass in the center. â€Å"No!† Langdon shouted, knowing the hedges around Carrousel du Louvre were there to hide the perilous chasm in the center – La Pyramide Inversee – the upside-down pyramid skylight he had seen earlier from inside the museum. It was large enough to swallow their Smart-Car in a single gulp. Fortunately, Sophie decided on the more conventional route, jamming the wheel hard to the right, circling properly until she exited, cut left, and swung into the northbound lane, accelerating toward Rue de Rivoli. The two-tone police sirens blared louder behind them, and Langdon could see the lights now in his side view mirror. The SmartCar engine whined in protest as Sophie urged it faster away from the Louvre. Fifty yards ahead, the traffic light at Rivoli turned red. Sophie cursed under her breath and kept racing toward it. Langdon felt his muscles tighten. â€Å"Sophie?† Slowing only slightly as they reached the intersection, Sophie flicked her headlights and stole a quick glance both ways before flooring the accelerator again and carving a sharp left turn through the empty intersection onto Rivoli. Accelerating west for a quarter of a mile, Sophie banked to the right around a wide rotary. Soon they were shooting out the other side onto the wide avenue of Champs-Elysees. As they straightened out, Langdon turned in his seat, craning his neck to look out the rear window toward the Louvre. The police did not seem to be chasing them. The sea of blue lights was assembling at the museum. His heartbeat finally slowing, Langdon turned back around. â€Å"That was interesting.† Sophie didn't seem to hear. Her eyes remained fixed ahead down the long thoroughfare of Champs-Elysees, the two-mile stretch of posh storefronts that was often called the Fifth Avenue of Paris. The embassy was only about a mile away, and Langdon settled into his seat. So dark the con of man.Sophie's quick thinking had been impressive. Madonna of the Rocks. Sophie had said her grandfather left her something behind the painting. A final message? Langdon could not help but marvel over Sauniere's brilliant hiding place; Madonna of the Rocks was yet another fitting link in the evening's chain of interconnected symbolism. Sauniere, it seemed, at every turn, was reinforcing his fondness for the dark and mischievous side of Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci's original commission for Madonna of the Rocks had come from an organization known as the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, which needed a painting for the centerpiece of an altar triptych in their church of San Francesco in Milan. The nuns gave Leonardo specific dimensions, and the desired theme for the painting – the Virgin Mary, baby John the Baptist, Uriel, and Baby Jesus sheltering in a cave. Although Da Vinci did as they requested, when he delivered the work, the group reacted with horror. He had filled the painting with explosive and disturbing details. The painting showed a blue-robed Virgin Mary sitting with her arm around an infant child, presumably Baby Jesus. Opposite Mary sat Uriel, also with an infant, presumably baby John the Baptist. Oddly, though, rather than the usual Jesus-blessing-John scenario, it was baby John who was blessing Jesus†¦ and Jesus was submitting to his authority! More troubling still, Mary was holding one hand high above the head of infant John and making a decidedly threatening gesture – her fingers looking like eagle's talons, gripping an invisible head. Finally, the most obvious and frightening image: Just below Mary's curled fingers, Uriel was making a cutting gesture with his hand – as if slicing the neck of the invisible head gripped by Mary's claw-like hand. Langdon's students were always amused to learn that Da Vinci eventually mollified the confraternity by painting them a second,† watered-down† version of Madonna of the Rocks in which everyone was arranged in a more orthodox manner. The second version now hung in London's National Gallery under the name Virgin of the Rocks, although Langdon still preferred the Louvre's more intriguing original. As Sophie gunned the car up Champs-Elysees, Langdon said,† The painting. What was behind it?† Her eyes remained on the road. â€Å"I'll show you once we're safely inside the embassy.† â€Å"You'll show it to me?† Langdon was surprised. â€Å"He left you a physical object?† Sophie gave a curt nod. â€Å"Embossed with a fleur-de-lis and the initials P. S.† Langdon couldn't believe his ears. We're going to make it, Sophie thought as she swung the SmartCar's wheel to the right, cutting sharply past the luxurious Hà ´tel de Crillon into Paris's tree-lined diplomatic neighborhood. The embassy was less than a mile away now. She was finally feeling like she could breathe normally again. Even as she drove, Sophie's mind remained locked on the key in her pocket, her memories of seeing it many years ago, the gold head shaped as an equal-armed cross, the triangular shaft, the indentations, the embossed flowery seal, and the letters P. S. Although the key barely had entered Sophie's thoughts through the years, her work in the intelligence community had taught her plenty about security, and now the key's peculiar tooling no longer looked so mystifying. A laser-tooled varying matrix.Impossible to duplicate.Rather than teeth that moved tumblers, this key's complex series of laser-burned pockmarks was examined by an electric eye. If the eye determined that the hexagonal pockmarks were correctly spaced, arranged, and rotated, then the lock would open. Sophie could not begin to imagine what a key like this opened, but she sensed Robert would be able to tell her. After all, he had described the key's embossed seal without ever seeing it. The cruciform on top implied the key belonged to some kind of Christian organization, and yet Sophie knew of no churches that used laser-tooled varying matrix keys. Besides, my grandfather was no Christian†¦ . Sophie had witnessed proof of that ten years ago. Ironically, it had been another key – a far more normal one – that had revealed his true nature to her. The afternoon had been warm when she landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport and hailed a taxi home. Grand-pere will be so surprised to see me, she thought. Returning from graduate school in Britain for spring break a few days early, Sophie couldn't wait to see him and tell him all about the encryption methods she was studying. When she arrived at their Paris home, however, her grandfather was not there. Disappointed, she knew he had not been expecting her and was probably working at the Louvre. But it's Saturday afternoon, she realized. He seldom worked on weekends. On weekends, he usually – Grinning, Sophie ran out to the garage. Sure enough, his car was gone. It was the weekend. Jacques Sauniere despised city driving and owned a car for one destination only – his vacation chateau in Normandy, north of Paris. Sophie, after months in the congestion of London, was eager for the smells of nature and to start her vacation right away. It was still early evening, and she decided to leave immediately and surprise him. Borrowing a friend's car, Sophie drove north, winding into the deserted moon-swept hills near Creully. She arrived just after ten o'clock, turning down the long private driveway toward her grandfather's retreat. The access road was over a mile long, and she was halfway down it before she could start to see the house through the trees – a mammoth, old stone chateau nestled in the woods on the side of a hill. Sophie had half expected to find her grandfather asleep at this hour and was excited to see the house twinkling with lights. Her delight turned to surprise, however, when she arrived to find the driveway filled with parked cars – Mercedeses, BMWs, Audis, and a Rolls-Royce. Sophie stared a moment and then burst out laughing. My grand-pere, the famous recluse! Jacques Sauniere, it seemed, was far less reclusive than he liked to pretend. Clearly he was hosting a party while Sophie was away at school, and from the looks of the automobiles, some of Paris's most influential people were in attendance. Eager to surprise him, she hurried to the front door. When she got there, though, she found it locked. She knocked. Nobody answered. Puzzled, she walked around and tried the back door. It too was locked. No answer. Confused, she stood a moment and listened. The only sound she heard was the cool Normandy air letting out a low moan as it swirled through the valley. No music. No voices. Nothing. In the silence of the woods, Sophie hurried to the side of the house and clambered up on a woodpile, pressing her face to the living room window. What she saw inside made no sense at all. â€Å"Nobody's here!† The entire first floor looked deserted. Where are all the people? Heart racing, Sophie ran to the woodshed and got the spare key her grandfather kept hidden under the kindling box. She ran to the front door and let herself in. As she stepped into the deserted foyer, the control panel for the security system started blinking red – a warning that the entrant had ten seconds to type the proper code before the security alarms went off. He has the alarm on during a party? Sophie quickly typed the code and deactivated the system. Entering, she found the entire house uninhabited. Upstairs too. As she descended again to the deserted living room, she stood a moment in the silence, wondering what could possibly be happening. It was then that Sophie heard it. Muffled voices. And they seemed to be coming from underneath her. Sophie could not imagine. Crouching, she put her ear to the floor and listened. Yes, the sound was definitely coming from below. The voices seemed to be singing, or†¦ chanting? She was frightened. Almost more eerie than the sound itself was the realization that this house did not even have a basement. At least none I've ever seen. Turning now and scanning the living room, Sophie's eyes fell to the only object in the entire house that seemed out of place – her grandfather's favorite antique, a sprawling Aubusson tapestry. It usually hung on the east wall beside the fireplace, but tonight it had been pulled aside on its brass rod, exposing the wall behind it. Walking toward the bare wooden wall, Sophie sensed the chanting getting louder. Hesitant, she leaned her ear against the wood. The voices were clearer now. People were definitely chanting†¦ intoning words Sophie could not discern. The space behind this wall is hollow! Feeling around the edge of the panels, Sophie found a recessed finger hold. It was discreetly crafted. A sliding door.Heart pounding, she placed her finger in the slot and pulled it. With noiseless precision, the heavy wall slid sideways. From out of the darkness beyond, the voices echoed up. Sophie slipped through the door and found herself on a rough-hewn stone staircase that spiraled downward. She'd been coming to this house since she was a child and yet had no idea this staircase even existed! As she descended, the air grew cooler. The voices clearer. She heard men and women now. Her line of sight was limited by the spiral of the staircase, but the last step was now rounding into view. Beyond it, she could see a small patch of the basement floor – stone, illuminated by the flickering orange blaze of firelight. Holding her breath, Sophie inched down another few steps and crouched down to look. It took her several seconds to process what she was seeing. The room was a grotto – a coarse chamber that appeared to have been hollowed from the granite of the hillside. The only light came from torches on the walls. In the glow of the flames, thirty or so people stood in a circle in the center of the room. I'm dreaming, Sophie told herself. A dream. What else could this be? Everyone in the room was wearing a mask. The women were dressed in white gossamer gowns and golden shoes. Their masks were white, and in their hands they carried golden orbs. The men wore long black tunics, and their masks were black. They looked like pieces in a giant chess set. Everyone in the circle rocked back and forth and chanted in reverence to something on the floor before them†¦ something Sophie could not see. The chanting grew steady again. Accelerating. Thundering now. Faster. The participants took a step inward and knelt. In that instant, Sophie could finally see what they all were witnessing. Even as she staggered back in horror, she felt the image searing itself into her memory forever. Overtaken by nausea, Sophie spun, clutching at the stone walls as she clambered back up the stairs. Pulling the door closed, she fled the deserted house, and drove in a tearful stupor back to Paris. That night, with her life shattered by disillusionment and betrayal, she packed her belongings and left her home. On the dining room table, she left a note. I WAS THERE. DON'T TRY TO FIND ME. Beside the note, she laid the old spare key from the chateau's woodshed. â€Å"Sophie! Langdon's voice intruded. â€Å"Stop! Stop!† Emerging from the memory, Sophie slammed on the brakes, skidding to a halt. â€Å"What? What happened?!† Langdon pointed down the long street before them. When she saw it, Sophie's blood went cold. A hundred yards ahead, the intersection was blocked by a couple of DCPJ police cars, parked askew, their purpose obvious. They've sealed off AvenueGabriel! Langdon gave a grim sigh. â€Å"I take it the embassy is off-limits this evening?† Down the street, the two DCPJ officers who stood beside their cars were now staring in their direction, apparently curious about the headlights that had halted so abruptly up the street from them. Okay, Sophie, turn around very slowly. Putting the SmartCar in reverse, she performed a composed three-point turn and reversed her direction. As she drove away, she heard the sound of squealing tires behind them. Sirens blared to life. Cursing, Sophie slammed down the accelerator.

My words of Wisdom

My Words of Wisdom We are all human beings who need to live together on the same earth, but different environments have different characteristics that can help us achieve goals. Some of us like to stay in the safe zone and enjoy the tranquil moments; some of us like to conquer the Nonverbal of our imagination and enjoy exciting moments; some of us with creative spirits enjoy taking extraordinary journeys. No matter which type of life we choose or which type characteristics we have, challenge always acts as a naughty kid, who hides in he corner and makes us either scream and run away or smile and embrace him as a friend.Lee Perry said, â€Å"You can do what you think you can do, so think you can do it, and do it. † The image math gave to me is a weirdo model consisting of a digital compiled body covered by parabola hair send out flashing radical signals once in a while. The model's circular face is embedded with lonely points for eyes and a logical expression that IS dry and wi thout tedious emotions. When we draw close to it, we feel like we are lost in a barren dessert. There we step into a sea of sand, dazed by the mirages of different types of questions which make us flounder hopelessly to find our direction.Although our survival desire is strong, we are too often too lethargic to stand up and confront our delusions of grandeur. Every time when I attended math class, I was scared to step into the classroom. Why? Not all Asians are geniuses at math; at least I am the one who is not. The math terminology spoken out from the math teacher was an alien language that blew through my ears and left a breeze in my brain but no knowledge manned. The problem or test I got from the math class was like a blank puzzle, but had no idea how to solve it.I finally find the way to solve this problem. I realized that there was no way that I could solve this problem or test; so I quit. Coming to the U. S. Gave me a second chance to retake the math, and I appreciate this ch ance. With a speeding heartbeat, I walked into my first math class (MAT 120) at MAC. In my mind, felt a bunch of questions swirling like a whirlwind around in my brain. I imagined that I heard a devil's choice shouting out with a contemptuous laugh, â€Å"You think you will understand the math in English?There's no way! † In my deepest mind, a voice burst out like a volcano, and the energy flowed into every cell of my body: â€Å"In the future, do not look back and view your life with regret; do the best you can now so that you can look forward to a promising future. † â€Å"Challenge accepted! † I told myself. Every class when I listen to the lesson, my ears start to translate the instructor's words, and save information into my memory area. I do not skip the difficult problems.I read the book to understand the examples, ask friends, teachers, and tutors questions about what I do not fully understand to help me boost my knowledge. Spend whole afternoons working with tutors and studying in the math center to finish my homework. Gradually, the way American instructors teach me becomes like a sparkling rope that guides me in the right direction as take the long, dark journey to conquer math. The method that tutors taught me like a sword of wisdom to help me eliminate the math enemies. I realize that I enjoy the moment when my pen writes out the right answers to problems.I enjoy seeing those numbers dance with cheerful rhythm to celebrate their lively show in the realistic world. In that moment, I know that I have learned how to treat math as a part of my life, not a weirdo model that I am scared to touch. When I received the highest score after finishing my first math class at MAC, I was crying and laughing. The complex emotions I felt were like a salad mixed with different ingredients, full of sweet, sour, spicy, and bitter tastes. Challenges are monsters if people are too scared to confront them and convert them onto allies.Challenges are only fortunate if people embrace them as they are, accept the responsibility to grow to deserve them, and dedicate themselves to making them a vibrant part of their lives. Then, in old age, people can look back upon their lives and see how the path that they have taken has led them upward to a mountain top. From this summit, they can view the distant valleys and say to themselves, â€Å"l have followed a good path, have kept the Way, and I have achieved my goals. I have lived a good life. Now, look forward to my next challenge. †

Management report about the organisation. Case of Pentangelli Essay

Management report about the organisation. Case of Pentangelli - Essay Example In this report, an analyses of the case of Pentangelli, a restaurant, has been presented. The report presents and criticise the reward strategies followed by the management of restaurant to manage the overall performance of the employees. At the same time, the reports also presents different recommendations for formulating effective and efficient reward and development strategy, which can be used by the management of Pentangelli. In this last, the report presents different challenges which have to be faced by the management of Pentangelli while formulating new reward and development strategy. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 INTRODUCTION 3 PRACTICES OF REWARD AND DEVELOPMENT AND ITS IMPORTANCE 3 REWARD AND DEVELOPMENT PRTACTICES FOLLOWED BY PENTANGELLI 4 APPRECIATION AND RECOGNITION 4 REPUTATION MANAGEMENT 5 PROMOTIONS 5 CHALLENGING WORK 5 OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 6 PRACTICES OF REWARDS AND DEVELOPMENT WHICH CAN BE ADOPTED BY PENTANGELLI 6 SHARING OF PROFIT 6 EMPOWERING THE EMPLOYEES AND DECENTRALIZED DECISION MAKING 7 PAID LEAVES 7 MEDICAL BENEFITS AND INCENTIVES 8 CHALLENGES FACED BY THE PENTANGELLI WHILE DEVISING A STRATEY FOR REWARD AND DEVELOPMENT 8 CHALLENGES IN PROFIT SHARING 8 CHALLENGES FACED IN PROVIDING PAID LEAVES 9 CHALLENGES RELATED TO CENTRALIZED DECISOIN MAKING 9 ... This report aims to analyze the organizational structure of Pentangelli and the rewards system that can boost up the performance of its employees. Pentangelli is a chain of restaurants. The analysis of the structure will find out that how the organizational structure of this restaurant has impacted on the performance of its managers. The role of rewards and benefits is also analyzed to see their impact on the employees’ motivation and job satisfaction. The analysis of organizational structure will help to make appropriate changes in the structure to get the desirable outcomes. The reward system will be designed after analyzing that what benefits and compensations will attract the most to the employees of the restaurants. The rewards will be designed in such a way that will boost up the performance of employees in the organization. The impact of performance management techniques will also be analyzed for making the recommendations for proper performance management system in a c omplete chain. PRACTICES OF REWARD AND DEVELOPMENT AND ITS IMPORTANCE It has been identified in several researches that reward and compensation system has a highly considerable impact on the performance of employees (CIPD, n.d.). The rewarding system leads to the motivation of employees and employee motivation is the basic driver of job satisfaction (Hutchinson, July 2013). A good reward system is also used to improve the relationship of employer and employees in the organization. There are two types of reward system that are financial and non financial. It has been determined in several researches that Non financial rewards comparatively have two or three times greater impact on the employees’ motivation, Maritz (2007). REWARD AND DEVELOPMENT PRTACTICES

Snow White Movie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Snow White Movie - Essay Example There are differences, in that the heroine in this effort is passive, a bit stupid and disloyal. This is in contrast to later heroines, in particular Belle from Beauty and the Beast. These are just a few of the similarities and differences between the early efforts put forth by Disney and the later ones. This paper will examine these similarities and differences, as well as many more. Discussion The imagery surrounding Snow White is considerably different than the imagery surrounding princesses in later Disney incarnations. The first, considerable difference between this animated feature and later features, such as The Little Mermaid is that the animals are less anthromorphized in this feature than in later ones, and the inanimate objects do not come to life, as they do in later features. For instance, in this feature, the animals do not talk. Thus, there is no talking, singing crab like in The Little Mermaid, and the dishes do not come to life and sing, such as in Beauty and the Beast. This aspect gave the movie a bit less of a fantasy quality than later movies, and lent a slightly more believable air to the proceedings. The story could have possibly happened in real life, except that the animals would not be as accommodating as they were in the feature, and, of course, the magic pr acticed by the Evil Queen would not be possible. But, since the animals and inanimate objects stay mute, the cartoon is not as much in the realm of the fantastic as the later Disney efforts. Because the animals did not talk, nor did the inanimate objects, the feature also seemed to be missing much of the humor which marked the later efforts. Some of the funnier characters in Disney films were the different animals that populate the worlds – such as the crows in Dumbo and Thomas O’Malley Scat Cat friends in The Aristocats. Another aspect to these characters, specifically the crows in Dumbo and O’Malley’s friends in The Aristocats is that these characters were unmistakably based upon African-Americans. The crab in The Little Mermaid was unmistakably Hispanic. In this way, the later features were able to subtly introduce characters of color, even though the main characters were white, or, as in the case of The Aristocats and Dumbo, animals who are based upon Caucasians. Snow White did not have any characters whom were indisputably based upon different ethnicities, as could have been the case had the animators decided to inject a few animal characters into the story, therefore the story is considerably less multi-cultural then later efforts by the studio. Another curious aspect of the story was the way that the dwarfs were introduced and handled. When the dwarfs were first seen in the diamond mine, and in their trek to their home, they were indistinguishable from one another, for the most part. The exceptions to this were Doc, who was set apart by the fact that he wore glasses; Dopey, who was set apart because he was bald and had no facial hair; and Grumpy, who was well-defined from the beginning as a grump, therefore he stood out. The others did not embody their respective names – Happy, Sneezy, Bashful and Sleepy. It would have been more effective if the viewer could have more of an introduction to these dwarfs to show exactly why and how they got their name. For instance, if Sneezy would have been sneezing in the mine and on the way home, he would have been more easily distinguished from the others. If Happy would have been seen doing a â€Å"happy dance,† then he would have been better defined. If Bashful would have been turning red early on, the viewer would have known who he was. And, if Sleepy would have been

489 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

489 - Assignment Example kills was but the only choice available for me not only to add value to my career as an accountant, but to be able to meet the modern error challenges head-on. I went back to class to be able to unravel what I was not able to do, and so exploit my potential to the bream, for nothing is degrading as using borrowed skills again and again, yet it is within reach. Uncle Sam: Well, I am an accountant, and it would not make sense to deviate that much at stage of my career. I am taking advanced accounting mathematics applications using modern computing technology. It is rigorous, serious, and more importantly, transformative to what I have. I simply love it. Uncle Sam: Adult Education is but a discipline in its own right, and that its methodology is perfectly befitting for adult learners only. I am a professional with unique set of skills, and so whatever information received is but an add-on to those in stock. It is different and unique because unlike a child, I know for sure that my learning must to be meaningful, and complementary to the numerous experiences I have had so far. To reiterate, my learning is well informed with a transitory need to perform certain, specific tasks in furtherance to the information already in stock. The skills passed on to us are basically tailored on solving problems, and real problems for that matter, and not necessarily on content per se. It is also important to note that unlike it was in childhood, I am intrinsically motivated to learn, and that my participation in learning activities are basically voluntary. No one pushes me to go to school. I get it from my inner self, and so largely self-directed. I have a specific mission to achieve, with past experiences coming in handy at certain crucial times. Accordingly, there is always that capacity to think critically and/or transform ideas into workable solutions. A child basically copies what adults do, and so are my children as I was then. Their personalities hinges on mine and/or any

Consumer Law Coursework Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Consumer Law Coursework - Case Study Example The driver who was an expert could detect the bad condition of the car but after the purchase and payment. The sales man also did not wash the car before delivery contrary to his promise. His liability arises for having sold a defective car fraudulently, for the damages arising out of the accident occurred after delivery and for not having valeted the car before delivery. Second hand goods including cars came under the purview of Consumer Protection Act 1987 through amendment by General Protection Act 2004. Hence second hand cars are subject to the same terms as they apply to new cars. Martha as a consumer can expect the quality to be satisfactory as per prescribed standards applicable to that good under section 14 of Sales of Goods Act 1979 as substituted by section 1 of Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994.and also section 3 of Sale and Supply of Good to Consumers Regulations 2002. Accordingly, the car bought by Martha should be fit for the purpose, safe enough and durable as claimed by the seller at the time of sale. Martha can claim full refund of the value paid and she make an immediate complaint. No time should be lost since the seller can not say that the car might have been mishandled by the buyer after the purchase. But the witness of the driver who drove the car for delivery to Martha can always testify the condition at the time of delivery. I f Martha returns the car within a maximum allowed period of six months, she need not prove that car was faulty at the time of sale. If the seller is not wiling to take back, the burden is on him to prove that it was not defective at the time of sale. Martha should make sure to initiate legal proceedings immediately in case of the seller's refusal, though a claim can be lodged within six years. If the seller agrees for the repair and the repair still does not set right the defects, Martha can claim full refund though Martha can stick to demanding full refund since the seller has sold a rogue car fraudulently. In case of seller's non-cooperation, she can seek advice from local Citizens' Advice Bureau for legal action in small claims court and for further recovery action after the claim is allowed by the court. She can also approach Retail Motor Industry Federation, The Vehicle Builders and Repairers Federation or MVRA Ltd as 'A1' condition for the car may be a standard prescribed by t he trade for immaculate condition. Besides, section 14 of Trade Descriptions Act 1968 makes it an offence if false statement is made for the condition of the goods sold by the dealer. The local authority of trading standards department should also be approached for lodging her criminal complaint against the seller/dealer of the car. There is provision under section 75 of the Road Traffic Offences Act 1988 for making a complaint against the seller for selling an unsafe car.1 In Bartlett v Sidney Marcus (1952)2, Lord Denning had stated that in case of second hand cars, the buyer should be aware of the prospect of encountering defects any time after the purchase and hence should not buy without an express warranty as otherwise the buyer can not have any remedy in law. The consumer must apply the usability test by ensuring that car should be fit for the purpose that is to ride along the road. Earlier usability test to establish merchantable quality was being applied for second cars for their road worthiness rather than being wholly perfect for their use. In the

Warren Buffet & His Organization Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Warren Buffet & His Organization - Assignment Example This encourages the employees to be loyal to the company. Loyal employees usually devote all their energy to the work in order to ensure that the aims and objectives of the company are met. It is through this leadership and Warren is able to work closely with the employees. On the other hand, Warren understands the needs of the employees and is usually on the forefront in ensuring that the needs of the employees are met. The democratic nature of the leadership of Warren has enabled the employees to be willing to do their best in order to ensure that the organization is successful. Warren was aware of the importance of diversity in the workforce. This is considering that his organization has employees from different groups. According to the contingency theory, the nature in which the organization must relate plays an important role and the leaders should consider it. Warren always intend on promoting a good relationship between the members of the diverse groups. Teamwork is common in his organization and this promotes good relations between the members of diverse groups. Diversity at the organization is considered as a source of strength as each member has something unique to offer. On the other hand, he is good during the decision making process. Warren is usually flexible and this has been useful in ensuring that any situation can be dealt with within a short period of time. The approach used by Warren during the decision-making process is quite professional. The professionalism is useful in ensuring that a good relationship is developed with the stakeholders including the employees. The development of the right attitudes towards the other people is an important aspect that is utilized by Warren. This has been useful in terms of inspiring the employees and the members of staff at the organization. Warren cares about the lives of the people that he leads.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of independence in Education Essay

What are the advantages and disadvantages of independence in Education - Essay Example On the other hand, the study of Raban (2001, 34) showed that â€Å"along with the cognitive growth, social opportunities influence learning; indeed, learners of all ages are more motivated when they can see the usefulness of what they are learning and when they can use that information to do something that has an impact on others†. It should be noticed however that the personal development of children (or adults) participating in a specific educational site is not an easy task. In fact there are many issues that need to be considered both by the legislators and the schools’ administrators regarding the presentation of appropriate patterns to children and adults that participate in specific educational programs. An issue that usually arises in this context is the role of ‘independence’ in education and its possible influence in the cognitive development of children and adults. Current paper examines the issue of ‘independence’ (especially its ad vantages and disadvantages) as it can be observed in educational sites around the world referring indicatively in certain forms or types of ‘independence’ as they have been identified and evaluated by academic researchers in the particular sector. Relevant results of empirical researches made in this area – whenever their retrieval was possible – are also going to be presented in order to support the credibility of the assumptions made on the particular issue. In order to examine the issue of independence in education we should primarily refer to the role of participants in educational sites regarding the delivery of the curriculum and the cognitive approaches developed in these sites in general. The involvement of personal attitudes and of the human factor has been found to be crucial for the formulation of an appropriate strategy by the school administrators when communicating with learners. Regarding this issue, it is noticed by Skrtic et al. (1991)

The Gathering Essay Example for Free

The Gathering Essay This essay is an analysis of the novel ‘The Gathering’ by Isobelle Carmody. The novel is about good and evil, inner struggle, human nature, conformity and individuality, friendship and cooperation. The main group character is Nathanial and he is in a teenager group, called ‘The Chain’. The people in the group are Nathanial, Nissa, Lallie, Seth, Danny and Indian. Nathanial is a new boy to the school because he and his mother have been moving frequently since his parents were divorced. Their house is in the seaside town of Cheshunt, but Nathanial doesn’t like it because it sits in the town’s bitter wind and abattoir stench, as the primary reasons. This essay will discuss how Isobelle Carcomdy successfully constructs Nathanial to represent a marginalised teenager who the reader feels sympathy for. Nathanial is 15 years old. He and his mother move to Cheshunt and he goes to the Three North School, where it is the most evil things were has taken place. He likes ‘The Chain’ member Nissa. He is trying to find the idea of fighting the darkness and ‘The Circle’ are praising witchcraft however he feels so isolated and lonely in the new school he is happy to join. Nissa, she is hardened and guarded wild orphan girl because her heart broken as a young girl of her desirable mother’s many boyfriends, she become claim to be in love with her and then rejected and humiliate her, on page 182 she said ‘ I made a vow to myself then, that I’d never love anyone again. Not like that. From then on, I relied on nobody and took care of myself. She get viciously and emotionally damaged and never let anybody remotely attached to her. In the story she is the sword of the strength. Frank, his name is Indian, he is a young man with a pony tail, page 158 he said ‘I don’t fight back because I deserve to be hurt. It is because of Jenny. That’s my punishment. ’ Before he bears over the brain damage his younger sister many years ago, so he is the bowl of healing. Seth, he is the least central member of the Chain he is a hopeless alcoholic and emotionally weak in chapter 18 he is unrequitedly in love with Nissa, he is attempts to commit suicide, he is the eye seeks. Seth’s father is the head of the Cheshunt Police Division and reports to Mr. Karle. Seth is not the same side and the power with his father and join the Dark but at the last minute redeems himself and forgiveness of the chain. To conclude, this essay has discussed Isobelle Carmody is a person who wrote the reality war, it set the time and place are real in the novel it discussed what is good and evil, like Nathanial he make this character successful because it brings out when he moved to another new place and have a good start with evil versus good but he never give up and try to learn many things with other people.

Ethics in Nursing Essay Example for Free

Ethics in Nursing Essay Nurses are to provide compassionate, competent, and ethical care, and follow the moral principles and guidelines set out by the College of Nurses and the Canadian Nurse’s Association’s code of ethics. The nursing profession is a self-sacrificing one, and nurses take on the Nightingale Pledge, to elevate the standard of their practice and dedicate themselves to those committed in their care (Keatings Smith, 2010, p. 64) However unfavourable working conditions, inadequate patient to nurse ratios, and intensive job-related stress can lead to poor performance of daily routines, and adversely patient safety (Ozata et al. , 2013). In the situation regarding Mr. Gurt who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, it is vital for the nurse to weigh him at the beginning of each month. This is her obligation under her employing institution’s standards of care, as well under the autonomy of her practise in which any deviation from this could result in exposure to liability (Austin 2006, p. 62). In order for the nurse to properly care for Mr. Gurt, assessing his accurate weight is essential in providing a care plan that will focus on his overall wellness and healing. Because Mr. Gurt is frail, and has stage one pressure ulcers on both heels and his coccyx, it is imperative that he has every opportunity to build up his skin integrity and prevent future disruption of his skin surface. Complications that may arise because of the nurse’s neglect in failing to weigh him, may contribute to other underlying problems. General health concerns Mr. Gurt would be facing on top of his current co- morbidities would include a decline his general appearance, gastrointestinal, neurologic, integumentary, and musculoskeletal systems (Holloway, 2004, p. 80). By recording a weight of 70kg with a height of 170cm, the nurse calculated Mr. Gurt’s Body Mass Index (BMI) at 24.2 which is borderline overweight, when in fact it was 14.5, with 18.5 being the baseline for being underweight ( http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/ obesity/ BMI/bmicalc.htm., n.d.). According to this value, it would be likely that Mr. Gurt would suffer from imbalanced nutrition, less than his body requirements leading to other complications and failing to thrive. Nanda defines failure to thrive as the progressive functional deterioration of a physical and cognitive nature. The individual’s ability to live with multisystem diseases, cope with  ensuing problems, and manage his care are remarkably diminished (Ackley Ladwig, 2011, p. 350). To add on to potential problems, drug doses are given based on factors such as age, gender, and the weight of a patient (Raman-Wilms, 2013). Since Mr. Gurt is elderly and suffering from the effects of Parkinson’s with an imbalance of neurotransmitter activity between dopamine and acetylcholine, there may be fewer receptors and a decrease in neurotransmitters to take up his drugs (Raman-Wilms, 2013). Levadopa a dopaminergic medication which treats the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease should be reviewed with b ody weight changes (Raman-Wilms, 2013). A study looking into the factors of weight loss in Parkinson’s looked at the effects of dopaminergic treatment which suggested that the drug had a lipolytic effect and body mass fat was decreased with the advancement of Parkinson’s symptoms (Lorefalt, 2004, p.186). The potential magnitude and likelihood of harm occurring in this case is significant as drug tolerances, adverse effects, and toxic effects are high, making the liver and kidneys susceptible to disease (Urquhart, 2014), as Mr. Gurt’s body mass index indicates he is underweight and a higher risk for drug overdoses. Effectiveness of this drug will diminish over time in which the adverse effects may become severe and may include palpitations, abdominal movement, dizziness, and confusion (Raman-Wilms, 2013, p. 331). Incorrect doses of his medication could lead to physical and psychological issues based on the nurses documented weight and his actual weight. Failing to weigh Mr. Gurt will have a great impact on his nutritional needs, but will also affect his ability to heal his pressure ulcers on his heels and coccyx. Mr. Gurt is emaciated which may be in part to dysphasia, tremors, still muscles, and slow movements among other symptoms of Parkinson’s (Wilk Newmaster, 2013, p. 288). As well, Mr. Gurt’s weight is evidence that he is not receiving the nutritional intake his body’s immune system requires to create the proteins and blood cells (macrophages the body’s first line of defence), needed to attack and repair his wounds, and prevent the risk for infection (Raman-Wilms, 2013). The nurse’s blatant disregard to weigh Mr. Gurt puts him at greater risk for infection and is a form of negligence. Negligence in nursing can be unintentional, however it is important to understand the effects this has on health professionals practicing in Ontario. A registered nurse is responsible to follow the standard of care when performing nursing  acts under autonomy within their scope of practise (College of Nurses, 2004) (CNO, 2004). Standard of Care is the legal benchmark against which a person’s conduct is measured to determine whether a person has been negligent and whether the person’s conduct or actions in a given situation have met those expected of a competent health care professional (Keatings Smith, 2010). The College of Nurses is the governing body for registered nurses that protect the public through regulating the nursing profession (CNO, 2014). A practising nurse is obliged to follow the standards of care and ethical guidelines set out by this governing body (CNO, 2014). The College of Nurses lists seven ethical values which are all important, but recognizes that client well-being is a primary value (CNO, 2014). The College of Nurses connotation of client well-being is to promote the patients health, while preventing or removing harm (CNO, 2014). In the case regarding Mr. Gurt, where the nurse is required to weigh him monthly and record the data, she is morally responsible for the patient’s well-being and for any adverse outcomes regarding his health for failing to provide safe care. The nurse’s complacency in failing to weigh Mr. Gurt, a simple act, would be of concern in investigating her moral responsibility in providing ethical care in her work environment. The nurses ethical duty is to advocate for her patients and provide safe, effective, and ethical care (CNO, 2014). Possible outcomes that could arise for the nurse in failing to provide ethical care include: her co-worker filing a complaint to the College of Nurses, a discipline hearing with the College of nurses, and possibly a lawsuit (CNO, 2014). Potter Perry note the criteria nurses can be found liable for negligenc e as summarized; the nurse owed the duty to the patient; to whom that duty was not carried out; and the patient was injured for failing to carry out that duty (Potter Perry 2013, p. 96). A common negligent act is failing to monitor a patient’s condition adequately (Potter et al., 2013, p. 97). For a nurse to be sued, and in the case with Mr. Gurt, the nurse had carelessly not performed a duty which was vital to his ongoing care. While the ability to predict harm is evaluated is this case, the nurse had committed a wrong doing to Mr. Gurt and could be tried as an unintentional tort. (Potter et al., 2013, p. 97-98). According to the Criminal Code, 1985, if Mr. Gurt was to pass away as a result of improper care or toxic levels of medication being given due  to the nurse failing to weigh him, the nurse could also face criminal liability if the nurse was proven to have a reckless disregard for her patient (Potter et al., 2013, p. 99-100). The best way for nurses to avoid being negligent is to follow the standards of care; be self aware and to reflect on their nursing practise; to follow the ethical framework established by the College of Nurses; and to continuall y educate themselves on best practices, assessments, and evaluations within their nursing abilities (Potter et al., 2013, p.98). With that in mind, one final thing I would suggest is to have professional liability and legal assistance protection insurance coverage. References BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 4105 Ackley, J. A., Ladwig, G. B. (2011). Nursing Diagnosis Handbook (9th ed.). St. Louis: Mosby/Elsevier Canada. Austin, S. (2006). Ladies gentlemen of the jury, I present the nursing documentation. Nursing, 56-64 Calculate Your Body Mass Index. (n.d.).Calculate Your BMI. Retrieved June 4, 2014, from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm.(n.d.). College of Nurses of Ontario/Ordre des Infirmià ¨res et Infirmiers de lOntario. (2014). College of Nurses of Ontario. Retrieved June 15, 2014, from http://www.cno.org/ Holloway, N. (1999). Medical-Surgical Care Planning. Orinda: Springhouse Corporation. Keatings, M. (2010). Ethical Legal Issues in Canadian Nursing (3rd ed.). Toronto:Mosby/Elsevier Canada. Lorefalt, B., Ganowiak, W., Palhagen, S., Toss, G., Unosson, M., Granerus, A.K,.(2004). Factors of Importance for Weight Loss in Elderly Patients with Parkinsons disease. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, 180-187. Ozata, O., Ozturk, Y.E., Cihangiroglu, N., Altunkan, H. (2013). The Development of a Scale of Malpractice Trend in Nursing and Validity and Reliabilty Analysis. International Journal of Academic Research, 57-65. Potter, P. A., Perry, A. G., Kerr, J. C., Wood, M. J. (2009). Canadian Fundamentals of Nursing (4th ed.). Toronto: Mosby/Elsevier Canada. Raman-Wilms, L. (2013). Guide to Drugs in Canada (4th ed.). Toronto: Dorling Kindersley. Urquhart, B. (2014). Exploring how kidney failure impacts the bodys systems. Western News. Wilk, M. J., Newmaster, R. (2013). Canadian Textbook for the Support Worker.Toronto: Mosby/ Elsevier Canada.

Assessing Of The Internally Displaced Persons Sociology Essay

Assessing Of The Internally Displaced Persons Sociology Essay Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are those who are forcibly uprooted within the boundaries of their own countries as a result of violent conflicts; tend to be among the most desperate populations (Egeland, 2004; OCHA, 1999). According to Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) 2010, the number of internally displaced persons uprooted from their homes by armed conflicts, generalized violence and human rights abuses across the world stood at 27.1 million people by 2009. The most affected region with 11.6 million internally displaced persons was Africa, where Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Somalia along with Iraq and Colombia stood among those countries which comprised over half of the worlds internally displaced persons. South and Southeast Asia was the region with largest relative increase in number of IDPs in 2009 where some 4.3 million people were estimated to be internally displaced mainly as a result of existing conflicts that escalated and majority of them were trapped in situations of protracted displacement. These figures are 23 per cent year-on-year increase from 3.5 million to 4.3 million. These estimations merely reflect the severity of the issue that in fact is much bigger in its extent. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) therefore pose an enormous challenge to the international community, national governments and humanitarian organizations as internal displacement has a devastating impact on not only the IDPs own families but also on the entire society (IDMC/NRC, 2009; Holmes, 2008; Women Refugee Commission, 1998). Displaced women and children constitute an overwhelming majority of the refugee population (Ni Aolain, 2009; Ganguly-Scrase Vogl, 2008; UN-ESCWA, 2006; UNHCR, 2008; Kaapanda Fenn, 2006), yet there is little recognition that forced displacement is a gendered phenomenon (Behera, 2006). Majority of these women flee within their State territories and thus do not receive the similar protection and assistance that is provided to the refugees who cross international borders (Al Gasseer et al., 2004). Displacement has a differential impact on both women and men, which can differ at various stages of crisis (El Jack, 2003). These differences prevail on account of women being at the subordinate position, socio-cultural norms, unequal power relations and womens role as the primary caretaker of the household and family (Ni Aolain, 2009). IDP women take care of their families and uphold cultural norms, even when they are abandoned by their husbands and thus excluded from the traditional protection, left homeless and without any valuable assets or economically productive work, and without any family or community support (Ganguly-Scrase Vogl, 2008). Internally displaced persons are not a homogeneous category of people (IDMC/NRC, 2009; Kaapanda Fenn, 2006). They have specific needs, vulnerabilities, and coping strategies based, among other things, on their age, sex, ethnicity and membership of a social group (IDMC, 2009). Even displacement does not affect all women the same way, for example women belonging to ethnic minorities in Sudan were marginalized due to their minority status, which constituted an overwhelming number of casualties among them due to war and its consequences (El Jack, 2002). Displacement affects women in multi-faceted ways, it results in serious security risks, losing close family members, psychological atrocities, sexual violence, deterioration of social safety net and reduction in the already limited economic opportunities (Women and Forced Migration, 2006; El Jack, 2002). In the course of displacement, the experience of leaving their homes and villages, loss of social capital and living in an unfamiliar and stressful environment, surrounded by complete strangers, causes extreme hardships to women (Women and Forced Migration, 2006). Displacement also results in food scarcity due to removal from sources of income and livelihood. Furthermore, inequalities in aid distribution place women and girls more susceptible to malnutrition (UN-ESCWA, 2006). The reduced access to resources and limited opportunities for employment makes it extremely difficult for women to cope with household responsibilities (El-Bushra, 2003; El Jack, 2002). It is also evident that w omen often take the back seat in terms of relief and rehabilitation. In the first instance, national policies on relief and resettlement do not acknowledge the specific needs and vulnerabilities of women (Women and Forced Migration, 2006). In the second instance, humanitarian organizations often disenfranchise women by relegating them to the status of victim: this is further reinforced by giving them little say in decision making with regard to aid distribution and rehabilitation (Banerjee in Ganguly-Scrase Vogl, 2008). Women also lack access to essential reproductive health services due to rigid socio-cultural norms, restrictions on their mobility, lack of health care infrastructure and insecurity (Women and Forced Migration, 2006). 1.2 Conflict Induced Internal Displacement in Balochistan Balochistan comprises almost 44 per cent of Pakistans geographical territory with 770 km long coastline alone with the Arabian Sea (Andley, 2006; ADB, 2005) and straddles Iran and Afghanistan (Grare, 2006). The enormity of its size, contrasts strikingly with its sparse population of 7.1 million people, constituting only 5.1 per cent of the total (ADB, 2004). Balochistan holds substantial portion of Pakistans energy and mineral resources; accounting for 36 per cent of its total gas production. It is also resourced with huge reserves of copper, gold, platinum, silver, aluminum, uranium, coal and is a potential transit zone for a pipeline transporting natural gas from Iran and Turkmenistan to India. Balochistan coast provides Pakistan with an exclusive economic zone potentially rich in oil, gas, and minerals spread over approximately 180,000 square kilometers giving Balochistan considerable strategic importance (Grare, 2006). Despite being the richest province in terms of energy and mineral resources, Balochistan remains underdeveloped and economically destitute among other provinces (AITPN, 2007). The incidence of poverty is pronounced in the province, characterized by inadequacy of income, low quality of life, denial of opportunities and choices. Among others, lack of access to basic services such as health, education, safe drinking water , sanitation and poor quality of roads and transportation also account for some of the critical issues. Similarly, literacy rates especially for rural women are very low. Additionally, widespread leakages in the governance system, lack of accountability of public institutions, inability of governments to deliver social and economic goods further marginalized the destitute sections of life (ADB, 2004).    Since the partition of India in 1947, Balochistan has been the centre of ethno-nationalist struggle resulting in violent revolts between separatists and the federal government due to its forcible annexation with the current Pakistan (IDMC/NRC, 2009; Zambelis, 2009). Baloch militants have staged several insurgencies against the State for greater political control over their administrative affairs and larger dividend from local development projects and the exploitation of natural resources (IDMC/NRC, 2009). These resentments persist even today because of the central governments suppression of nationalistic aspirations; the absence of economic and social development in Balochistan and the exclusion of the provincial authorities and local population from decisions on major regional projects (Grare, 2006). On the other hand, the federal government views the violence in Balochistan as the work of miscreants led by few militant tribal leaders who do not represent the Baloch majority and who se efforts are aimed at maintaining their hold over tribes and tribal system from where they garner support, power and wealth and undermining the development efforts led by the government (Dunne, 2006). Balochistan enmeshed in a rash of violence in continuum with the decades-old conflict that has flared up once again over the issue of the rape of a medical doctor associated with Pakistan Petroleum Limited apparently by an army officer in Sui tehsil of the Dera Bugti district in January 2005 (AITPN, 2007). The rape of a doctor in a secure hospital precinct provoked riots in Balochistan and a large scale tribal uprising. However, the Balochistan crisis intensified after Pakistani government launched full-scale military operation against the Baloch nationalists in the region following the firing of eight rockets at a paramilitary base on the outskirts of the town of Kohlu, during the visit of then President General Pervez Musharraf  (IDMC/NRC, 2009; AITPN, 2007). The current wave of violence is an offshoot of the decades of suppression of the Baloch people by the federal government (Dunne, 2006). Though the dispute in Balochistan is essentially political, the Pakistani military and t he Baloch tribal militants have always sought a military solution for their disagreements (Human Rights Watch, 2008). Hundreds of thousands of people fled to safer places as a result of military operation and aerial bombardment in Marri and Bugti tribal areas (AHRC, 2006). Over 200,000 people about 90 per cent of population of Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts (majority with women and children) were forcibly driven out of their homes following the outbreak of hostilities between the warring tribesmen and the law-enforcement agencies in the early summer of 2005 (IDMC, 2009). According to International Crisis Group (ICG), at least 84,000 people have been displaced by the conflict in Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts since December 2005 when military operations began. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has estimated that in all, 100,000 people were displaced in the Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts and among those nearly 40,000 have returned to their homes in 2009, while more than 40,000 are still displaced. According to government of Balochistan there were 1200 households who were displaced from Tehsil Dera Bugti, 800 from Tehsil Sui and 1300 from Tehsil Phalawagh. It makes total of 3300 households who were displaced from Dera Bugti district alone. However, these estimations vary and it is unclear how many Marri and Bugti have actually been displaced after the conflict has escalated in their areas. Despite adverse state of affairs, there is no single officially recognized IDP camp in the entire province of Balochistan. The displaced population is scattered on the outskirts of either Naseerabad, Jaffarabad, Sibi, Bolan and Quetta districts of Balochistan or displaced to the Sindh and Punjab provinces (IDMC/NRC, 2009; AHRC, 2006). They have been living in deplorable conditions in temporary settlements and are deprived of adequate shelter, safe drinking water, sanitation, food, schooling, health care and other basic necessities (AITPN, 2009). The governments response to IDPs in Balochistan has remained halfhearted. Moreover, the absence of national policy or institutional arrangements to cater the needs of internally displaced persons in conflicted zones of Balochistan is the main obstacle in recovery and rehabilitation of the IDPs. International and national humanitarian agencies including UN have denied access by government to grapple with the IDP crisis in Balochistan due to se curity reasons (IDMC/NRC, 2009). In a speech to the parliament in December 2009, although the Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani acknowledged the difficult situation of displaced persons and announced $12 million for their return and rehabilitation as part of the Balochistan Support Package. However the package was rejected by the Baloch nationalists arguing that it is too little and too late. Indeed, no practical steps have been taken further to reconcile aggrieved groups and bring them in the mainstream political landscape (IDMC, 2010). 1.3 Problem Statement Conflict displacement exposes families and communities to intense suffering and traumatic experiences of enormous loss of life, loss of social fabric, gross impoverishment through the loss of livestock and land, erosion of cultural values, beliefs and practices, sexual violence and psycho-social distress (El-Bushra, 2003). On the other hand, it has a long term social impact whereby the prolonged suffering and appalling conditions force women to take steps and responsibilities in the public domain that traditionally did not form part of their role (Rivero, 2006). Simultaneously, it comes with an opportunity to renegotiate gendered power structures, patriarchal norms and notions of masculinity and femininity (El-Bushra, 2003; Moser Clark, 2001). Ni Aolain (2009) suggests that conflict may have hidden opportunity to empower women and trigger the structural and social transformations in face with the new set of social, economic and political realities of the post conflict arena. Women and men experience the uprooting, displacement and reconstruction of life in entirely different manners (Moser Clark, 2001). Although women are disproportionately disadvantaged and the initial impact of displacement is more severe for women than men; women tend to adapt more quickly to their new environment and search for new spaces through informal support mechanisms in order to meet their family needs. Men because of inaccessibility to economic resources, limited opportunities for employment and their huge dependence on formal institutional support networks, adapt the new situation at much slower pace (Moser Clark, 2001, El-Bushra, 2003). It often results in working women; bearing the main financial burden of providing for the family and dependent men taking up the responsibility for children and domestic chores. Conflict undoubtedly provides greater responsibilities to women and with that the possibility to exert greater leverage in the decision-making processes (El-Bushra , 2003). While Rivero (2006) argues that the public role of women places great pressure on women because it is socially unacceptable and women run the risk of being stigmatized and marginalized by their families and communities. Womens taking up greater financial responsibilities, entering occupations which were previously the preserve of men and involving in the decision making process at the household and community level may no bring long-term changes in gender ideologies rather reinforce gender value systems (El-Bushra, 2003). Research studies carried out by El-Bushra (2003) highlight that gender role reversal during conflict and displacement may not combine with an ideological shift, women status outside the household may remain subordinate in relation to men. As men have lost access to resources, assets and with that their conventional role of breadwinner or provider; men may feel more difficulty to adjust with the new roles and mens inability to meet gendered expectations may result into frustration, humiliation and sense of failure. Patriarchal norms which establish ideological basis are at the heart of the issue. This research is significantly relevant to explore whether conflict displacement has changed accepted notions of masculinity and femininity among internally displaced persons of the Bugti tribe of the Balochistan province? Whether changes in gender roles brought about by displacement provide opportunities for changes in ideological basis? If yes than how? if no than why? There is a knowledge gap in the current scholarship on gender dimension of displacement with regard to Bugti tribe of Balochistan. The current study attempts to fill this gap while raising following research questions: 1.4 Research Questions How this conflict forced people to move? What is the pattern of conflict induced internal displacement? What are the changes in survival strategies of both women and men after displacement? Whether changes in survival strategies account for changes in gender roles? If yes then how? 1.5 Objectives of the Study 1.5.1 General Objective The core objective of this research study is to explore the impact of conflict induced internal displacement on survival strategies and how changes in survival strategies account for changes in gender roles among displaced persons of the Bugti tribe in district Jaffarabad of the Balochistan province. 1.5.2 Specific Objectives In order to attain the general objective of this research study, several specific objectives have been developed. The specific objectives include: To analyze the migration pattern of conflict displacement; To study the changes in survival strategies of both women and men after displacement; To examine how changes in survival strategies account for changes in gender roles. 1.6 Rationale of the Study Women and children with their numerical dominance constitute 80 per cent of the worlds refugee population; their overwhelming dominance alone justifies a critical interrogation (Kaapanda Fenn, 2006). Despite that, where the term gender appears, its usage often implies that women and girls are predominantly victims, while men are depicted as perpetrators. The term should not be used in such a limited fashion; it should allow researchers to see women and men as actors who function in a variety of roles and examine how shifts into non-traditional roles affect power balances in the course of displacement (UNDP, 2002). Though, there is growing scholarship on the plight of the displaced; more attention needs to be paid to womens experiences. The recognition that forced displacement is a gendered phenomenon is fairly a recent understanding. Womens experiences as internally displaced persons are lesser known, particularly in the context of South Asia. There are only few scholars who have dealt at length on this problem and investigated the impact of conflict displacement on gender roles in the context of South-Asia and there is hardly any monograph available that has focused on this issue particularly in the context of Pakistan. The subject explicitly deserves in-depth investigation, which this research study would try to stimulate and attempt to traverse this gap in the literature. 1.7 Scope of the study This research study aims to describe the experiences of women and men in course of conflict displacement. It seeks to identify the possible link between changes in survival strategies and gender roles, given that the nature of the subject under investigation is highly sensitive, deeply personal and politically risky. The significance of this study is also highlighted by the fact that it incorporates gender analysis in social and cultural setting and employs gender as an analytical tool in order to comprehend the wider social relations. Gender as a unit of analysis would help to view the lives of women and men within the context of displacement. It illustrates that how women experience displacement (Kaapanda Fenn, 2006). 1.8 Limitations of the study The study was carried out only in one district, due to time, human resource, and financial constraints. The findings may be non-representative and only illustrative of the target segments of the study areas visited and therefore cannot be generalized for the entire district or province. It was often problematic to identify internally displaced persons because there were no officially recognized IDP camps in the study area, while the displaced persons were scattered into makeshift camps. When this study was conducted, it was harvesting season in most parts of the district and IDPs were mobile due to their engagement in agricultural labor. Their access was difficult due to their continuous mobility, sensitive nature of the issue, tribal system, socio-cultural norms, governments security restrictions and emerging hostilities towards alien others stemming from changes in the political climate in recent years. On the other hand, socially depressed IDPs were reluctant to talk to outsiders due to apprehension of the torture either from tribal head or governments security agencies. Furthermore, there were many surveys carried out but nothing has been changed in their life realities; gaining their trust was critical in such a situation. It was also challenging to have direct access to women and collect information from them due to rigid socio-cultural norms and customs. In order to tackle this problem the researcher got the help of his younger sister to have access to women. 1.9 Roadmap This research study is organized into six chapters. Chapter one presents an introduction to this study. Chapter two provides a synthesis of the relevant literature. Chapter three describes research design and methods. Chapter four sketches the historic roots of crisis in Balochistan. Chapter five unfolds results of this study and presents a debate over the findings. Chapter six summarizes the whole discussion and concludes with recommendations for further research.

Im Not Alone :: Personal Narrative Writing

I'm Not Alone The path to solitude at Charlie's Corner Bar. Along the way, I pass the party store where I'll find the beer and cigarettes I've been instructed to purchase. It can wait. As I approach the bar, blaring neon beer slogans light up the darkened windows. A couple leaves the bar, and through the open door seeps the sound of laughter meant to impress. As I walk into the bar I see the laughter stems from the mass of hairy chests, tight dresses and bleached hair surrounding the jukebox in the corner. I make my way to a seat at the end of the bar and raise my hand slightly to get Charlie's attention. "What'll it be tonight?" I lay my money down, "Ah, the usual Charlie" -- double Vodka on the rocks (harder to trace on the breath). Taking a sip, I briefly scan for an interesting life among a room scattered with rhinestone diamond earrings, quaffed brunette curls over Mayboline eyes, and fermented grain vapors pushed past lipstick and chapstick. I have an almost psychotic habit of staring at strangers and wondering if they could be anything like me. Occasionally, I spot what I think could be a kindred spirit and find some comfort in the fact I'm not alone. I skim over the tight dresses in the corner, "Nothing like me," and catch sight of an interesting specimen, partially hidden by shadows, sitting adjacent to the pool table in the back of the room -- "Huh, he's new." There's an obviously intoxicated man playing pool, and while aiming for a phantom ball on the table, a swift and drunken move of his cue stick causes his beer, sitting on the table behind him, to fall in to the lap of the stranger. The debouchered fool attempts an apology as the man slowly rises from his seat. "Looks like the beginnings of a brawl," I tell Charlie, pointing towards the table. "Huh, brawl. I always wanted to say that at a bar, but I never actually wanted to witness one." The stranger blots himself dry with the towel Charlie has brought to him, and he turns to the drunk in an effort to accept the apology. Other than minor frustration, the man seems unaffected by the act. I wonder if his dry-cleaning bill will be received with the same response. His composure intrigues me. Most of the men I've known would have pounded the drunk for his carelessness, but the expensive suit he adorns is my first clue that this guy is definitely not like most men I've known.

Snowcrash :: Technology Electronics Cyberspace Essays

Snowcrash The day was finally here, the day to pick our novels to read for the semester. Being Nick I hadnt even looked at the reading list and the time was here to pick my novel. My friend in the class Maygan let me look at the reading list for a brief second. I skimmed through the list looking for an interesting book title and maybe a title that I could relate something in my life to. I picked the novel SnowCrash, by Neal Stephenson. SnowCrash, sounded like a fun snowboarding novel or winter novel that would be fun to read. Maybe something about a snow mobile crash. This book has no snow at all in it. . I was way off. This book has a more optimistic look on our future, and the outcome of our present technology. The book turns out to have a typical underdog vs. the world theme, but the plot is so intriguing that this should not dissuade you of the quality. One of the most distinctive features of cyberpunk is the technological aspect. Traditional science fiction dealt with things that were pos sible, but not probable. Cyberpunk not only deals possible, not just the probable, but technology that man already has. This is not to say that cyberpunks do not have there fair share of far flung imaginative human interface hookups and so forth, but they are talking about technology that if it were to be developed, it would be within the writers life time or so. The other difference in the technology that is described in cyberpunk is how it is used. Almost every person in the stories has access to the technology. More importantly, the technology involved normally allows for extreme human inter-action with it. The writer will make computers and humans connect, and allow the computer to alter the mind, human social behaviors, and/or society itself. Cyberpunk futures make computers not only become a part of everyday life, but a integral element for survival and prosperity. This aspect is the main plot in Gibson's novel. His main character, Chase, needs to find a way to reverse the damage in a chip in his head for him to do the type of work he wanted to do. Before cyberpunk, humans had control over their technology, and it was a separate entity, but now the distinction over how much a person is human and how much of them are machine is not so clear.

The land of Palestine

The land of Palestine is considered holy for the Muslims and the Jews, the Jews consider it as the promised homeland from god. The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians dates back to the time of the Ottoman Empire in the 1880s. At that time, the Muslim Arabs predominantly inhabited the land of Palestine where as the Arab Christians and the Jews were present in smaller groups. It was the idea of the Promised Land, which inspired the Jews to come and settle in the land of Palestine.It was in Europe where the early Zionist movement started which promoted the idea of Jews having a â€Å"state of their own† which should be in the Land of Israel (Palestine). In 1897 the World Zionist Organization was founded by Herlz â€Å"declared that the aim of Zionism was to establish ‘a national home for the Jewish people secured by public law'†¦ this idea began more pronounced among Jews and got immense support from the West because of the riots against Jews which prov ed murderous for the Jews .The mass killings of the Jews by the Nazis during World War II in which about six millions Jews were cruelly murdered under the rule of Hitler calling it the Final Solution of the Jewish Question. These killing by the Nazis intensified the international support for the creation of a homeland for the Jews. The Zionist movement overlooked a major factor before promoting the idea of a state in Palestine, which was that another people, the Muslim Arabs, already occupied it.More interestingly, the West and Europe also ignored this crucial problem this was due to the fact that idea of a Jewish state attracted the British for religious as well as practical purposes. It was 1917 in which the British army took control of Palestine from the Ottoman Empire and in the same year Balfour, declaration was passed which was seen as a promise made by Britain to the Jews for further increasing its efforts for a Jewish national home in Palestine. A point that is to be noted h ere is that after the second world war Jews made a 33% of the total population in Palestine where as in 1922 they were a mere 11%.They saw the increasing number of Jews in their homeland as a conspiracy against them and their homeland the Jews were looked upon as outsiders. They also became greatly influenced by the European anti-Semitism and adopted many ideas and claims of Holocaust deniers as well as the anti-Zionist ideology of radical Jewish intellectuals. The newly created UN suggested dividing the country into two one for the Arabs and the other part for the Jews, and Jerusalem was to be assigned as a corpus separatum meaning an international city.The Jewish community accepted the plan as they had nothing to lose, in fact they were at last achieving what they have always wanted, and the Palestinians on the other hand saw it as a division of their homeland. Shortly after this suggested UN plan, a war between the Palestinians and the Jews started in the beginning of the Decembe r of 1947. The condition worsened in January when the Arab Liberation Army and help from Egypt came in, in the form of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni who intervened with several hundred of his men of the Jaysh al-Jihad al-Muqaddas.The Jewish authorities were funded by sympathizers in US and greatly assisted by Stalin. This war also marks the massacre of the Arabs by the Jewish army and the expulsion of about 250000 Palestinians to leave their country and take refuge in the neighboring countries. More successful Jewish offensives created a united front around Jerusalem. The Jews declared the state of Israel on 14 May 1948 exactly a day before the British Mandate of Palestine was to be expired, furthermore its immediate acceptance by the Soviet Union, the United States, and other Western countries, enraged the Arab States greatly.`Therefore over the next few days the newly created state was attacked by the combine forces of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Egypt, the state which has taken the right of the Arab homeland and in way this proves to be right too because it was the Jews who were the immigrants. This action was declared as an illegal aggression by the US and the Soviet Union whereas China backed the Arab cause. Volunteers from both the United States and Canada supported the Israeli army. The outcome of the war was a disaster for the Arab States and the Israeli forces not only managed to protect their territory but also expanded their holdings.In 1949 Israel signed peace treaties with the Arab states and the new borders now was 50% more than what the UN partition plan proposed. Egypt controlled the hold of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank was under the control of Tran Jordan. War resulted in the displacement of around 711,000 Palestinians from their homes, a proposed figure by the UN. Although a UN resolution was passed which allowed the refugees to return home but somehow the resolution was completely ignored which created the major Palestinian Refugee Crisis and the West too failed too respond.At last the dream of Zionism was achieved even though it marked a historic change in the state of the Jews i. e. the former â€Å"oppressed were now the oppressors† and as in the future the further killing and massacre of the Palestinians, including women and children will confirm the authenticity of the statement. Literature Review: Avi Shalaim wrote in his book, The politics of partition, 1921-1951: King Abdullah, the Zionists, and Palestine, â€Å"The clash between Arabs and Jews in Palestine is one of the deepest, gravest, and most protracted international conflicts of modern times.It is difficult to imagine more bitter enmity than that between the Arabs and Jews during the decades leading up to and following the emergence of the State of Israel. Indeed, the Arab-Israeli conflict has sometimes been described as a ‘pure' conflict, that is to say one in which the interests of the two prot- agonists are completely and irreconcilably oppose d. † For years now countless tragedies have been encountered on both sides, the majority of which the Palestinians have encountered which includes the ruthless killing of even children by the Israeli forces and the demolition of the Palestinian houses.The Palestinians on the other hand reply to this kind of Israeli atrocities by any available means this may include rocket attacks on Jewish settlements or suicide bombings. Palestinians are constantly trying to get this territory back by any means possible, and then come the issue of the Palestinian refugees who despite having their own homeland are being forced to live in neighboring countries because Israel refuses to acknowledge them. The international community and the UN have criticized Israel countless times on target killings and human rights violation but Israel seems adamant.The only way through this conflict as the international community or the West saw was to provide the Palestinian with a homeland and to persuade Is rael to leave the Arab territories. There had been treaties and accords for this purpose over the past many years, the first prominent among them were Camp David Accords which was initiated by the President of US Jimmy Carter. The accord was agreed between the President of Egypt and the prime minister of Israel Menachem Begin. Two agreements were signed between Egypt and Israel the framework consisted of three parts.The first part outlined to establish a self governing authority in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and to implement the UN resolution 242, which called for â€Å"the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East† to be achieved by â€Å"the application of both the following principles:†. â€Å"Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict† and: â€Å"Termination of all claims or states of belligerency†. The second part of the agreement was concerned about the relations between Israel and Eg ypt.The third part defined to principles upon which Israel was supposed to improve its relations with neighboring Arab countries. Egyptian sovereignty was to be exercised on the internationally recognized border between Egypt and the mandated Palestine. The withdrawal of Israeli forces from Sinai and the use of airfields by Israel al-Arish, Rafah, Ras en-Naqb, and Sharm el-Sheikh for civilian purposes only. The right of free passage by ships of Israel through the Gulf of Suez and the Suez Canal based on the Constantinople Convention of 1888 applying to all nations.The Strait of Tiran and Gulf of Aqaba are international waterways to be open to all nations for unimpeded and non suspend able freedom of navigation and over flight. The construction of a highway between the Sinai and Jordan near Eilat with guaranteed free and peaceful passage by Egypt and Jordan; and the stationing of military forces were also agreed upon in the accord. The signing of this agreement triggered enough hatre d for Sadat in the Arab world that he was assassinated as he was seen as a traitor to the Palestinian cause.Israel greatly benefited from this accord as compared to Egypt because peace on the border meant that the Israeli forces could now lower their alert level. The peace agreement was also seen as an agreement between the Israelis and the President of Egypt only because his people or the rest of the Arab world, which his assassination confirmed, did not share his views. Perhaps the most notable step in the peace process was the Oslo process in 1993, in which a framework for the future relations between the Israelis and the Palestinians were worked out.A US president, Bill Clinton this time, PLO’s Chairman Yasser Arafat representing Palestine and Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin representing the Israelis, again initiated this. This accord provided the creation of a Palestinian authority, which was to be responsible for the administration of territory assigned und er its control. This accord also called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from some parts of Gaza and the West Bank. Both sides accepted territorial compromise as the basis for the settlement of their long and better conflict.The Oslo accord was a great breakthrough for Israel, a number of Arab states thought about establishing diplomatic relations with Israel after PLO’s recognition of Israel. The Arab League too debated upon lifting of economic sanctions from Israel, which have been in place since the creation of Israel. Every thing changed for Israel and its neighboring Arab countries after the Oslo accord. Still after the Oslo process, the expansions of settlements continued and hence further disturbing the already worsening economic conditions.There fore creating doubts, frustration, and thereby causing a drop in the support for the Oslo agreement. The agreement has five chapters, which consist of thirty-one articles, seven annexes, and nine attached maps. The most im portant part of this agreement was the recognition of Palestinian Interim Self- Government Authority. The agreement also provided a safe passage of transport and person between the Gaza strip and the West Bank, it refrained each sides from any kind of hostile propaganda against each other.Palestinian Police was given the authority to be established and operate in coalition with the Israeli forces. The agreement also outlined the plan for the transfer of power from Israel to the Palestinian authorities. The agreement divided the territory into three areas Area A which was supposed to be under the control of Palestinian authority, Area B comprised both of the Palestinian and the Israeli authorities, the Palestinian was to control civilian authority while Israel continued to be in charge of security, Area C was to be under exclusive control of Israel.This process saw a downfall with the assassination of Rabin and the Likud party coming into power, which came as a serious blow to the pe ace process. The Likud party destroyed homes of the Arabs, confiscated their lands, started building new Jewish settlements, and opened an archeologist tunnel near Muslim Holy places in Old Jerusalem. Avi Shlaim wrote in his book International Relations of the Middle East, â€Å"That the basic reason for the failure of Oslo to resolve the conflict is that Israel, under the leadership of the Likud, reneged on its side of the deal.By resorting to violence, the Palestinians contributed to the breakdown of trust without which no political progress is possible. But the more fundamental cause behind the loss of trust and the loss of momentum was the Israeli policy of expanding settlements on the West Bank which carried on under Labour as well as Likud. This policy precluded the emergence of a viable Palestinian state without which there can be no end to the conflict. † In May 1999, the Likud party was overthrown and the Labor party came into power by a landslide victory.Ehud Barak was elected as the prime minister but Barak lacked Rabin’s vision and his style was arrogant and authoritarian and he approached diplomacy as the extension of war by other means. Under Barak’s regime the expansion of Jewish settlement which was seen as a barrier to the peace process. There fore one more agreement with this new government was needed and quite necessary because a deadlock had been created between the Israelis and the Palestinians. On July5, 2000 Bill Clinton invited Arafat and Barak to negotiate the peace process.Barak appeared believing that America would help impose his agenda in the final settlement. Barak suggested an independent Palestinian state, which would consist of the whole Gaza Strip and most of the West Bank, he also agreed for the return of the refugees that would involve 500 people a year. He agreed on partitioning of the city of Jerusalem, but the Palestinian authority refused this point because they wanted exclusive sovereignty over all Arab suburbs and over Temple Mount.The Palestinian authority was divided on the proposal some saw it as a historical breakthrough others saw it as a compromise with their national right. Further more the delegation came under pressure from Egypt and Saudi Arabia not to compromise the holy places of the Muslims. Therefore, Arafat rejected most of the proposals, the summit ended in failure, and very easily, Barak and Clinton put the whole blame of the failure on the shoulders of Arafat. The Palestinians accused Bill Clinton of siding with Barak, therefore Arafat returned home once again empty handed.According to Ken Booth and Tim Dunne, in their book, Worlds in Collision: Terror and the Future of World Order â€Å"the policy of using US moral, material, and military support to give Israel the confidence to go forward in the peace process, has not achieved the desired results. The best proof is Bill Clinton. He was, in the words of one Israeli newspaper, the last Zionist. Yet, even he could not sweet talk Israel into a final settlement. If Clinton could not do it, nobody can. That leaves only one possible path to progress: an externally-imposed solution. † [1] The failure of the Summit at Camp David started an outbreak of violence began.The violence was further sparked by the visit of Israel’s opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount, the site of Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. There fore the second intifada, an Arabic word for uprising, started. The Palestinians saw the Israeli-American proposal at Camp David a complete surrender to Israel’s demand, they knew that they have been malevolently duped with not even a minimal solution to the issues which constitute the Palestine question. It is against this background and Sharon’s provocative visit to Al ‘Aqsa that the Second Intifada erupted.The uprising resulted in a new wave of brutal killings from the Israeli side to stop the rebellion which included the killing of a 12 ye ar old, the Palestinian responded by suicide bombings attack on Israeli civilians. An article in Australian for Palestine stated that â€Å"Since the Al ‘Aqsa Intifada, Israel defines the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories as â€Å"a situation of hostility† rather than a â€Å"belligerent occupation† and therefore it contends that the Hague Regulations which protect civilians under military occupation no longer apply.Furthermore, it contends that it is not responsible for compensating the Palestinians for any damage caused or any property taken. † This incident also increased the international involvement; according to a report, Israel annually receives $1. 2 billion in economic aid and $1. 8 billion in military aid from the United States, excluding loan guarantees, besides that many humanitarian groups also responded greatly after this incident. the incident also provided a significant shift in U.S policy. The Palestenian leader was now not welcomed in Washington by the new Bush adminstration, furthermore Bush called on to the Palestinians â€Å"to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror†, hence clearly indicating the shift of policy towards the Palestinian leader. To maintained peace he also outlined detailed steps prominent among them were the Palestinian rejection of terrorism (suicide bombing) and an end to Israel’s settlement expansion.Haig Khatchadourian in his book, The Quest for Peace between Israel ad Palestinians, said, â€Å"Consequently, its brilliant military victories over the Arab states are bound to remain very incomplete victories so long as it clings to the land that Palestinians rightfully call their own. Only when the heavy chains binding occupier and occupied are broken, and Palestinians become their own masters, can real peace and stability in the region become more than a wistful hope. For then not just sulh but salaam should become the order of the day between the ma jority of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians, and Israel.† In April 2003, these detailed steps took the form of the â€Å"road map to peace. † The Palestinian elected a new leader, Mahmoud Abbas, which made both the US and Israel happy because they saw him more liberal and more importantly not as a â€Å"terrorist† as in case of Arafat. These new developments made the way for a major summit of Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian leaders, and US but the summit proved a failure. The road map to peace aims in creating an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.Israel on the other hand would accept the state and end its settlements; the Palestinian on the other hand would have to stop their attacks on Israel. The road map’s process consists of three-phase development; phase1 of the project requires the Palestinian to stop any kind of violence against Israel, which is seen as an act of terrorism by both Israel and the U. S. it urges the Palestini an to make political reforms and hold fair elections. Israel on the other hand would have to withdraw and freeze on settlement expansions.The phase2 consisted of a revival of the destroyed Palestinian economy by means of an International Conference, which will support the recovery of the Palestinian economy, which would ultimately lead to the establishment of a Palestinian homeland. This part of the plan will also concentrate upon issues like water resources, arms control, economic development etc. it would also urge the Arab states to revive links with Israel, which were before the intifada period. The third phase was the confirmation stage, a second calling of an international conference and the final status and agreement of the borders.This phase was the permanent end to the conflict. The issue of the city of Jerusalem and the refugee problem also falls in the third phase of this project. Both the sides i. e. the Palestinian and the Israel have concerns over this road map. The in ternational community has become very much involved for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on this road map project. A group known as the Quartet formed which consisted of representatives from the Russia, the United Nation, and the European Union, which began shaping up the international policy necessary for a peace accord.Case Study: Many amendments and revisions has been taken place to the statement which was issued by the Quartet regarding the roadmap for peace on September 17, 2002, therefore the program’s outline is changing with time seeing the international events that has taken place. As stated earlier both the Palestinian and the Israeli authorities have reservations upon the project’s various versions, which they have reported, but still some experts say based on evidence that the Palestinians are opening up and beginning to comply with what the roadmap has to offer.On the other hand, the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon only made empty promi ses and there is no evidence whatsoever that Israel would go ahead with the plan. In the October of the same year, the American President Bush amended and issued his version of the roadmap, which was more detailed than the previous version and was based on the input, which he received from the Israeli and Palestinian authorities. The key reservations from the side of the Israeli government is the issue of terrorism i. e.how will the Palestinian authorities act if the terrorist activities continue and would the Palestinian government be able to handle the terrorism. The Israelis feel that this roadmap for peace may fail due to the same reasons which were responsible for the failure of the Oslo process i. e. many agreements were made but nothing were done to implement them effectively. The Palestinian authority on the other hand has accepted the plan but has not implemented the key requirement of the plan, which was to put an end to terrorist activities.Likewise, the Israeli governmen t later agreed with the plan but made fourteen reservations on the plan and like the Palestinian authority has not implemented the crucial step of the first phase, which was to freeze all the activities relating to the settlement activity and the removal of illegal check posts from the Palestinian territories. The effect that the Iraq war has on the roadmap for peace or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general is immense. Due to the failure of the Bush policies in Iraq and the loss of thousands of innocent lives has made President Bush’s policies regarding Iraq a target for much criticism.Furthermore, these policies have created a feeling of great hatred among the Muslims of the world against these policies and the West in general, because of which terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda take advantage and recruit and brainwash these already angry Muslims. Therefore, to redeem his position in the eyes of the world and especially among the Muslim world peace in the Middle Eas t seems the best option available. Therefore, the Bush administration has to come up with options that will be acceptable to both the sides and if proposed properly Israel may accept the roadmap as being under pressured from the Quartet.Israel has faced a lot of criticism from the international community when it comes to human right violation, which has left Israel vulnerable so the Quartet could impose a roadmap on it. In 2004, Bush presented the roadmap with two significant changes as a part of the new American policy for the roadmap, and expected a final outcome of the conflict. The Israeli leader Ariel Sharon readily accepted the newer version of the plan as the two changes that Bush made seemed favored Israel a lot. The first change was on the issue of borders, which Bush suggested that it would be unwise for Israel to go back to the borders as in 1949.The second issue was of the Palestinian refugees, for which Bush stated that: â€Å"It seems clear that an agreed, just, fair and realistic framework for a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue as part of any final status agreement will need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state and the settling of Palestinian refugees there rather than Israel. † So no final agreement was reached. The same year saw the demise of Arafat which the US saw as a significant moment in Palestinian history.Abbass was elected in january 2005 and was invited to the white house hoping for a breakthrough atlast in the conflict after Arafat’s death who was regarded as a terrorist by the American authority. The summer another wave of voilence erupted between Palestinian and the Israelis and faded the hope for a peaceful outcome. The same year in August the world saw the withdrawl of Israeli forces and settlers from the Gaza strip and the West Bank, the withdrawl was initiated by the Israeli prime minister ariel sharon, who also left the Likud party joined a more moderate one.The withdrawl was heav ily appreciated all around the world and the international for once saw a ray of hope amidst the darkness of the bloody conflict. In January 2006 Sharon got a massive heart stroke and retreated from the party , the same month saw the Palestinian ruling party Fatah got defeated by Hamas, a group which the USA had labeled as a terrorist organisation long ago. Hamas has always held the views for the destrution of Israel.Therefore immediately after the Hamas’s victory USA and Israel called for the financial and the diplomatic isolation of the new Palestinian government and this also put an end to any more peace talks with the Palestinian government because both Israel and USA refused to recgnise Hamas in the government. Ehud Olmert succeded Sharon in the elections of May 2006 as the prime minister of Israel, who promised the completion of the withdrawl of Israeli forces from most of the parts of the West Bank by 2010. in the same year fresh clashes started between Hamas and the i sraeli forces in the Gaza strip.In the same year Israel clashed with Hezbollah in Lebanon and suffered casualities and upon admitting defeat withdrew its forces from Lebanon. This conflict had an important impact on the road map and many interpreted these clashes as an end to the roadmap peace process. In the October of the same year an Israeli news paper revealed that the government was still developing new settlements in the West Bank, even though Olmert promised the withdrawl and the removal of the settlements. Many of these settlements were being made on Palestinian property that even the Israeli government recognise as being theirs.For a fear of a political crisis with the USA and for the fear of being criticised by the international community , the report was kept a secret. The situation of the Middle East was worsened by civil clashes between the two major Palestenian groups Hamas and Fatah. Whether or not the Roadmap for Peace succeded or achieved its desired results or outc omes is really hadrd to tell because the success or the failure of the project solely depends on how sincerely both the parties work for the restoration of peace making sure that their ideologica differences do not interfere with the peace plan.The international community have countless times tried to maintain peace between the two sides by proposing a solution which would be acceptable to both the parties, but every time due to some reason or the other the peace process seems to end with completion possibly because the terms and the conditions of the proposed agreements were not suitable for one of the party or during the peace process a deadlock creates due to clashes or hostilities e. g. the second intifada.The Roadmap for peace plan guaranteed the creation of an independant Palestinian state wxisting side by side with Israel in peace, it also promises the Palestinians that Israel will withdraw its troops and freeze the building of its settlements on Palestinian territories. So f ar nothing of this sort has happened so baically the roadmap as I see it has failed because it failed to provide what it promised to the Palestinians and the Israelis. The Palestinians still have to live under a constant threat of being attacked or even killed by the Israeli forces anytime, not even the children are safe.The Israelis have to face the Palestinian revenge when some loved one of theirs die in a suicide attack. Both sides have endured countless casualties mostly civilians and the innocent people. Further more the building of the wall around the Palestinians have complicated issues even further and has restricted the Palestinians to a limited area of land only, there are only two openings and travelling to the world outside the wall is not possible air, sea or land. It is seen as another illegal attempt tocapture Palestinian land.The international community have proposed many proposals inaddition to the ones mentioned above but all of them have not proved any useful. USA has been playing the role of an initiator of peace talks between the two authorities for many years now, but as USA is a close ally of Israel and have political advantages to reap from Israel, the muslim world in general see the sfforts being made by the American government as inefficient or being biased and always in the favor of Israel.They feel that it is in the power of the American government to force Israel out of Palestenian areas and to make Israel stop the killings of the innocent but still America is reluctant to do such a thing and make peace in the region. The United Nations too has passed many declaration agaisnt the violations of human rights, which includes the killings and the destruction of homes of the Palestinian, by the Israeli government but Israel has never taken any heed.The united nations has also passed a number of resolutions against the barrier and the International Court of Justice has also issued an order which describes the barrier as illegal an orders to be stripped down . Israel on the other hand has ruled out the decision of the International Court saying that it did not considered the court’s jurisdication. In a 2004 report Amnesty International wrote that â€Å"The fence/wall, in its present configuration, violates Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.† The world council of churches has also condemned the barrier saying that it is a serious violation of human rights and humanitarian consequences owing to the construction of the barrier. Some international governments do support the Israeli actions but still oppose the barrier as it is built outside the 1949 armistice lines. Conclusion: The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians have been going around for decades it has not only sabotage peace in that particular region but has also effected the neighboring countries as well.The conflict has created many problems and many enemies for the state of Israel. Many people think I srael as an illegal state which donot have the right to exist, where as there are a group of people which agree the right of Israel to exist as a nation, as a state but not at the cost of the annexation of Palestinian land and not by the killing of the Palestinian. The Roadmap for Peace, even though has been accepted by all the sides but still has done little to promote peace in the region because no sincere efforts have been made to implement the plan.However over years of negotiations the RoadMap remains the only alternative that leaders from both the sides have agreed upon , whereas agreements like the Geneva initiative still has a long way to go before it is officially accepted by the leaderships of the two parties. Many experts view the geneva accord as a better means of promoting peace among israelis and the palestinians because the accord provides many realistic solutions to problems which have been evaded in the past agreements. An article in the Israeli news paper commented thatTel Aviv Ma’ariv (Israeli, Hebrew-language, centrist), April 22: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict today isn't just a conflict between leaders and worldviews, it is a conflict between two peoples filled with bitterness and hatred, between parents and children who have lost many of their relatives and their belief in peace. They will not place their destiny in airy promises of a new Middle East. There is not, and there cannot be, an agreement for mutual trust between the two peoples in this manner. Perhaps in the next generation†¦. [U. S.President George] Bush's road map is a positive step but nothing more. Even if both sides agreed to accept it exactly as it is written, without changes or comments (and there is no possibility of that happening), there is nothing in the road map or in Bush’s vision that will allow the spanning of a bridge across the deep abyss between the two peoples and which would bring an end to the dispute. —Dan Shilon As far as I am concerned and I see it the palestinian are the opressed here, because as I see it the Jews were the one who were the outsiders, the immigrants, it was the courtesy a