The Life Of A Knight Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Life Of A Knight - Essay Example many aspects of the knight’s life including their history, how one became a knight, who they worked for, the benefits associated with the honor and their day-to-day existence including tournaments, the most important activity for the Knight when not engaged in combat. Knights were proficient mercenaries. Many traveled looking for employment doing combat. They were steeped in a chivalrous tradition, bore the noblest arms and rode the finest horses. â€Å"The incessant private warfare that characterized medieval times brought about a permanent military class and by the tenth century the institution of knighthood was well established† (Duby, 2004). The successful Norman invasion in 1066 necessitated the nobility of England to create Knights. They provided an effective force in an effort to protect lands. By the eleventh century, these professional soldiers were approaching nobility themselves. â€Å"The number of knights declined from the thirteenth century onwards. The true knight disappeared in the sixteenth century in France and much earlier in other countries† (Hull, 2003). Knighthood was bestowed on those found worthy by a light touch on the shoulder with the flat of a sword in the hand of someone of nobility. The dubbing of a knight would normally occur with much public fanfare accompanied by music and celebration. Knights could also be created in the field of battle in a quieter ceremony. Typically, when the son of a knight reached age six, he was sent to a nearby castle where he was educated in knighthood. The Page, the first step in becoming a knight, attended training schools usually run by a knight to learn all there is to know about becoming one. â€Å"This started with religious and moral training such as trust in God, to be humble, be generous, be a defender of the poor and widows, respect others, eat well but do not get drunk, avoid evil men, and do not lie† (Gautier, 1957). The Page was taught the Bible usually through the use of

Abstract Emerging Technologies Essay Example for Free

Abstract Emerging Technologies Essay Emerging Technologies and the use of Wireless technology in them is a growing demand and a reason for concerned for any IT department.Who ever pioneers this concept must be ready to evolve making fast and quick decisions both at lower and upper management.Allocating resources for equipment that will help meet the demand and also strategizing how the company will go forward.One thing that I have seen especially with the company that I work for which is a leading telecommunications company in the world is that there are still rules and procedures that were implemented during the end of the 2G era to the start of the 3G era. These were very successful during that time but currently they are absolute and they need to be replaced based on the current technology and current situations on the ground now. The importance of such procedures being investigated will help to focus the organisation on success and how to meet them.Since this is a competitive market how you move the company to respond to the growing market will help us maintain our market share and also grow our market share.Wireless technology is now a part of many households and am not referring to their cell phones.From Blue Ray players, TVs tablets ,cameras,refrigerators, rice cookers and the new cars are just a typical example of one household and all what they have and more that depends on wireless technology.How do we support all these devices making sure they have throughput and very little latency The objective is to bring the support and implementation part of these technology by asking the correct questions.How can we effectively deploy these technologies and the same time support them and provide the best customer service for our customers.We have to take a lot things into consideration when talking about the implementations. At what rates is the deployment going to take how much data will be allocated to customers based on need. Another important part also is are we going to be supporting some of these device like OnStar on Ford or we just provides the wireless and the end user does the support eg a PC.These are very important as there are contracts that have to be drawn to clearly specify where and when our responsibility starts and ends.

Political History of Global Warming Essay -- Global Warming Climate Ch

Political History of Global Warming There is a lot of ambiguity surrounding the theory of 'global warming' and the proper political response to it. At the very center of the scientific debate on the variability of global climate is to what extent human activities influence climate change. Another unforeseeable is whether the potential impacts of climate change will be harmful or beneficial for humans, managed agriculture, and natural ecosystems. Some question the authority with which current scientific data has been given in international negotiations on the regulation of greenhouse gases. Others are convinced that immediate actions must be taken to limit the potential effects of excess greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial era. It would be difficult to credit a single event that encouraged the U.S. Government to begin a major program to investigate global climate change; instead it would best be explained as a long series of events, mostly in response to the international attention given it. The idea that excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could trap heat in Earth's atmosphere was first put forward in 1898 by Swedish physicist Svante Arrhenius. But it wasn't until the late 50s that scientists within U.S. federal agencies started to participate in scientific workshops, international conferences, and international scientific research that explored the nature of Earth?s climate system and the role of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases believed to modify it. In 1965 the President?s Science Advisory Committee issued a report, Restoring the Quality of Our Environment, that identified climate change and CO2 buildup as deserving expanded monitoring and study. The... ...nal Climate Program Act, P.L. 95-367, 15 USC Â §2901 et seq., Revkin, Andrew C., and Katharine Q. Seelye, ?Report by the E.P.A. Leaves Out Data on Climate Change,? New York Times, 6/19/2003, Vol. 152 Issue 52519, pA1, 0p. Rowe, Richard, and Larry Jeffus. The Essential Welder: Gas Metal Arc elding Classroom Manual. Albany:Delmar, 2000. Suraje, Dessai, and Nuno S. Lacasta, Katharine Vincent. International Political History of the Kyoto Protocol: from The Hague to Marrakech and Beyond, International Review for Environmental Strategies Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 183 ? 205, 2003 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 2006. United Nations. April 2nd, 2006. U.S. Global Change Research Information Office. 2002. Department of State: Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. April 2, 2006.

07.03 Immigration

Graphic Organizer: Immigrant Journals| Lee Chew| Mary Antin| What is the main idea expressed in the author’s journal? | Â  Mistreatment of the Chinese| Â  The equality and freedom in America| Is the author happy or unhappy with his/her experience in America? | Â  Unhappy| Â  Happy| Explain one experience the author had that reflects his/her view of America. | Â  He talks about how he is unable to bring his wife to America over from China or marry an American woman, but how the Irish, Germans, Englishmen, and Italians are treated much nicer than the Chinese. She talks about how she was able to go to school without fees, examinations, machinations, rulings, and no questions asked. She was able to get education for free. | List at least three words from the journal entries that reflect the author’s point of view toward America. | Â  Mean, Misfortune, and Ignorant| Â  Hope, Delight, and Treasure | Two of the writers, Emma and Mary, thought of America as a place of fr eedom and hope, while the third writer, Lee saw that America as an injustice place to live.Mary’s journal excerpt was her experience of coming at living in America for the first time. Her story was a story of hope and happiness, of a little Russian girl able to receive free education with no tests, papers, or anything really in return. Emma’s poem was also very hopeful and happy. Instead of writing about her story of coming to America, she wrote about the symbolism that the Statue of Liberty held.She saw the Statue of Liberty as a place Americas welcoming to the homeless, jobless, and the poor. Were all those people could have a second chance of life and a first chance of freedom, but Lee’s point of view differs with these two writers. He believes that America is an unfair to his race and culture, while other immigrants get treated better. He feels discriminated and that nobody will do or does anything to help him and the rest of his Chinese culture.In my opinio n, I believe our attitudes, as Americans, toward immigrants are very different from the sentiments stated on the Statue of Liberty. Most Americans would not want to welcome the homeless and poor. Also many Americans feel that immigrants are taking jobs away from American citizens; especially now in that we are in a recession. So most Americans would probably have a ver changed opinion from the sentiments of the Statue of Liberty.

The History Of Malignant Melanoma Health And Social Care Essay

The tegument is the largest organ of the human organic structure. It protects us from heat, sunshine, hurt to the internal organic structure and infections. There are 3 types of tegument malignant neoplastic diseases ; there is Basal cell, Squamous cell and Malignant Melanoma. Malignant melanoma is a malignant tumour, the deadliest type of skin malignant neoplastic disease. Malignant melanoma starts to organize from melanocytes and so starts a growing formation on the tegument. On rare juncture Cam melanomas occur in the eyes, meninxs, and the mucous membrane in different locations. All melanomas normally are strong pigmented and have an early consequence to distribute to your variety meats and castanetss. Malignant melanoma is found and both me and adult females. In work forces melanomas are found between shoulders and the hips caput and cervix, and in adult females melanomas are found on weaponries and legs Over the past three decades the incidence of malignant melanoma has increased and is one of the fastest turning malignant neoplastic diseases than any other. Malignant melanoma is more popular now than of all time and can no longer be classified as rare. Melanoma is now one of the more common tumours of any malignant tumour. In 1980 there were 1 in 250 people whom would go affected with melanoma presently 1 in 87 people are at hazard and the twelvemonth 2000 1 in 75 people will develop malignant melanoma. Malignant melanoma is usually found among the white population. Worldwide the incidence of melanoma are increasing particularly in lighter skin people chiefly because lighter skinned people lack melanin in their tegument, and their exposure to sun light makes it worse on the tegument. The incidence in Central Europe reported 10 to 15 instances to 100,000 caput population a twelvemonth. And in the United States 15 to 25 instances. Australia has the highest incidence rates at 50 to 60 instances per 100,000 per twelvemonth. With Asiatic and Africans with pigmented tegument melanomas are rare in that portion of the universe although ; if there were any instances or are any instances melanomas will ever be located at the mucous membrane, on the thenar of the custodies or the colloidal suspensions of the pess. ( Garbe, Terheyden, Keiholz, Hauschild and Keiholz 2008 ) Although malignant melanoma is non that common with kids and stripling less than 20 old ages of age, there have been an addition in incidence at least 2 % of instances was reported. At least 76 % of stripling and kids of the United States aging in groups 15 to 19 old ages of age. It said that Australia have the highest in instances 10 million of stripling and kids runing in 0 to 14 old ages of age group than anyplace in the universe that have melanoma. There are predisposing facts on malignant melanoma ; nevertheless the chief causes of malignant melanoma are non certain. The states that have the most sun exposure are the states that have the highest incidence. It has been reported in the past that two major fact that people come into contact with melanoma is because of excessively much exposure and base on your tegument type. But fact is the people who are less open and spends more clip within indoor environments are more at hazard every bit good, people with different tegument types. There are two skin types, tegument type 1 are people who ever burn and ne'er sunburn and at hazards of tan and at hazards for developing skin malignant neoplastic disease, and skin type 2 are people who frequently burn and sometimes sunburns are at hazard as they continue on tanning. Anyone can hold melanoma including dark skinned certain people are at higher hazard. Patient who are transplant patients and who have an immunodeficiency syndrome are at higher hazard besides. Most of these people are bluish eyed and blue-eyed with lentigos. Peoples who are exposed to UV visible radiation such as indoor Sun tanning are the people who show important marks of melanoma. Melanoma besides can run in the household. Having untypical moles can increase your hazard of malignant melanoma. ( Wheeler 2009 ) ( Coomer 2005 ) Signs and symptoms of malignant melanoma are a alteration in a mole or other skin growings, such as a birth grade. Any mole or clamber growing or nevus that changes colourss, form and size can be ruled out to be melanoma. Malignant melanoma can turn around in a mole or birth grade that is already lasting on the organic structure, and can besides turn on unmarked tegument, melanomas can look anyplace on the organic structure. Most common topographic point melanomas grow is the upper back in work forces and in adult females besides on the legs of adult females. Most melanomas are irregular shaped, normally about 6mm or larger with a lumpy or rounded lodger that may go crusty, seeping or shed blooding which will do the melanoma stick to vesture and besides itching. ( webMD ) Most physicians diagnosed malignant melanoma by skin scrutiny and tegument biopsy. The physicians or nurses will carry on a full organic structure analyze seeking all possible country including moles, nevuss and other pigmented country besides looking for unnatural colour, size, form or texture utilizing the ABCDE Lesion appraisal system, A-Geometrical Asymmetry in two axes, B- Irregular broader, C- more than two different colourss appears in the lesion, D- Maximum Diameter of more than 6mm and E- Elevation of the lesion, besides by utilizing the Glasgow seven point cheque list. This is separated by major characteristics and minor characteristics. With major characteristics change in size of lesion, irregular pigmentation and irregular boundary line, and the minor characteristics will dwell of redness itching, lesion that are greater than 6mm and the seeping crusting of the lesion. Performing a biopsy, done by a diagnostician, is so they can analyze tissue specimen for malignant neop lastic disease cells under microscopic position. If tissue consequences are malignant so farther notice of proving will be done, depending on what phase of melanoma is present forecast will be told. ( Hodgett 2011 ) There are different phases of malignant melanoma ; phase I, II, III, IV and the forecasts are different in each phase. The procedure of melanoma spread quickly to other parts of the organic structure, go forthing the forecast hard to find. Melanoma starts with phase 0, in this phase melanoma is in situ which means that the melanoma is in the cuticle and hasn & A ; acirc ; ˆâ„ ¢t spread to the dermis country yet, this phase can besides be called the Clark degree. In phase 0 a biopsy will be performed, to take the affected country. If melanoma is found before in this phase the forecast rate in phase 0 melanoma is 99.9 % , with some medicine. ( Cancer.gov ) In article diary Cancer Nursing Practice, 2011 graph box 3 Melanoma presenting provinces that ; Stage I invasive melanoma less than 2mm non-ulcerated tumours. Patients with phase I tumours have a great forecast. Stage II of melanoma which is called high hazard melanoma is when the melanomas are more than 2mm in thickness and has ulcerations ; the forecast at this point is 5 old ages survival with 45 to 78 per centum. Phase III Regional Metastasis, at this phase melanomas have spread to the lymph node and affected the environing country, with no distant spreading. The forecast gets worse at this phase go forthing the people whom have a five twelvemonth endurance rate to 70 per centum. At phase IV distant metastasis, melanomas have so spread throughout the organic structure impacting the lungs, encephalon and liver the forecast rate is really hapless at this phase there is a 6-9 per centum of endurance. Melanoma can be cured, if person catches the melanoma in early phase and is treated right off when melanomas are at the cuticle and has non invaded any environing tissues, castanetss and variety meats. If melanoma is caught tardily in the procedure there are interventions that can depend on life span. The intervention of malignant melanoma in some instances will take up to a surgical remotion of the affected tegument. There are four types of processs, that includes local deletion a remotion of the full melanoma along with the broader, broad local deletion is a surgery that removes more of the tissues that is environing the existent melanoma and some lymph nodes, A lymph node dissection is a surgery that removes lymph nodes to see if malignant neoplastic disease cell are present or if the lymph node have malignant neoplastic disease, and Sentinel lymph node biopsy is a surgery that removes the lymph nodes that malignant neoplastic disease have spread to from the tumour. Treatment is besides based on phases of melanoma, if in advanced phases of melanoma the clinical rating will include chemotherapy, radiation therapy for castanetss, spinal cord and encephalon, and immunotherapy. Depending on age and wellness issues some of the side effects can take up to sickness and purging particu larly with chemotherapy ( webMD ) . After happening out you have been diagnosed with melanoma can take a toll on your life and the lives of other who will be taking attention of you for the remaining of life. The life styles and environments factors alterations after diagnosings. Harmonizing to care sheet Evidence-Based Care Sheet: Melanoma: Appraisal for Psychological Adjustment for inside informations on the benefits of timely appraisal for psychological accommodation it states that in every phase of malignant melanoma an person will necessitate or be in psychological emphasis and more attending will be needed for those who have advanced melanoma. It can besides diminish your energy, affected physical visual aspect and sex life, and decreased your outlook, increases hurting. The idea of an person with melanoma deceasing can take person to be angry, disquieted, self-destructive, and anxiousness. But there are healthy lifestyle picks that can come into life longer by ; eating healthier nutrients, fruits and veggies, no smoke, no imbibing intoxicant, exerting on a regular footing. In decision melanoma can impact anyone, and the forecast of malignant melanoma is really hapless, and the incidence of this malignant neoplastic disease is lifting we need to be more educated on this disease and how we can protect the tegument that & amp ; acirc ; ˆâ„ ¢s protecting us. Be more careful with tanning cause it may take up to melanoma.

King Edward II essays

King Edward II essays The life of King Edward II began on the year of 1284. As a young man, Edward was very outgoing and extravagant. He usually kept unsavory friends. People think today that Edward was probably homosocial, which means he probably only had social relationships between people of his own sex. Before taking the throne Edward was the first Prince of Wales. He was prince until the Welsh were defeated, after their defeat they wanted a prince who could speak Welsh. Edward I guaranteed them that he would get one who could speak no other who which would be Edward II which was Edward I son. Edward II was to young to even speak. This event is still between England and the Welsh even today.(Midgley p.1 of 6 lines 6 Edward II took the throne in 1308. As soon as Edward became king people considered him to be weak. They considered this because Edward liked athletic sports, rowing, knitting, theatricals, and manual crafts. He was crowned on February 28th as a result of his perceived unsavory life style, the Lords Ordainers, a committee of twenty one men led by Henry Plantagenet, Earl of Lincoln, was established and drew up forty one articles known as the ordinances of 1311 to try to control the king. (Midgley p. 1 of 6 lines 10-13) The parliament had gotten together and made Edward to agree to their wishes on April 1308. While on the throne Edward II became best friends with Gaveston. Gaveston was a ward of Roger Mortimer, who had great influence on Edward. In 1310 the aristocracy revolted against Edward and he became very unpopular. In 1314 Edward place England under baronial control because he was defeated by Robert de Bruce at Later Edward had a love come into his life. Her name was Isabella and she was 17 years of age. She was originally from France. After the mur ...

US Supreme Court Procedures and Decisions

US Supreme Court Procedures and Decisions From the day the U.S. Supreme Court votes to hear a case to the day some nine months when we learn its decision, lots of high-level law happens. What are the daily procedures of the Supreme Court? While the U.S. has a classic dual court system, the Supreme Court stands as the highest and only federal court created by the Constitution. All of the lower federal courts have been created over the years in one of the five â€Å"other† methods of changing the Constitution. Without vacancies, the Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, all appointed by the President of the United States with the approval of the Senate. The Supreme Courts Term or Calendar The annual term of the Supreme Court runs begins on the first Monday in October and continues until late June or early July. During the term, the Court’s calendar is divided between â€Å"sittings,† during which the Justices hear oral arguments on cases and release decisions and â€Å"recesses,† when the Justices deal with other business before the Court and write their opinions to be attached to the Court’s decisions. The Court typically alternates between sittings and recesses about every two weeks throughout the term. During the brief recess periods, the Justices review the arguments, consider upcoming cases, and work on their opinions. During every week of the term, the Justices also review more than 130 petitions asking the Court to review recent decisions of the state and lower federal courts to determine which, if any, should be granted full Supreme Court review with oral arguments by lawyers. During sittings, public sessions start at 10 a.m. sharp and end at 3 p.m., with a one-hour recess for lunch starting at noon. Public sessions are held on Monday through Wednesday only. On Fridays of weeks during which oral arguments were heard, the Justices discuss the cases and vote on requests or â€Å"petitions for writ of certiorari† to hear new cases. Before hearing oral arguments are made, the Court takes care of some procedural business. On Monday mornings, for example, the Court releases its Order List, a public report of all actions taken by the Court including a list of cases accepted and rejected for future consideration, and a list of lawyers newly approved to argue cases before the Court or â€Å"admitted to the Court Bar.† The much-anticipated decisions and opinions of the Court are announced in public sessions held on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and on third Mondays during May and June. No arguments are heard when the Court sits to announced decisions. While the Court begins its three-month recess in late June, the work of justice continues. During the summer recess, the Justices consider new petitions for Court review, consider and rule on hundreds of motions submitted by lawyers, and prepare for oral arguments scheduled for October. Oral Arguments Before the Supreme Court At precisely 10 a.m. on days the Supreme Court is in session, all present stand as the Marshal of the Court announces the entrance of the justices into the courtroom with the traditional chant: â€Å"The Honorable, the Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the Honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the Court is now sitting. God save the United States and this Honorable Court.† â€Å"Oyez† is a Middle English word meaning â€Å"hear ye.† After having submitted countless legal briefs, oral arguments give lawyers representing clients in cases before the Supreme Court a chance to present their cases directly to the justices. While many lawyers dream of arguing a case before the Supreme Court and wait years for a chance to do so, when the time finally comes, they are allowed only 30 minutes to present their case. The half-hour time limit is strictly enforced and answering questions asked by the justices does not extend the time limit. As a result, the lawyers, for whom brevity does not come naturally, work for months to hone their presentations to be concise and to anticipate questions. While oral arguments are open to the public and the press, they are not televised. The Supreme Court has never allowed TV cameras in the courtroom during sessions. However, the Court does make audiotapes of oral arguments and opinions available to the public. Prior to oral arguments, parties interested in, but not directly involved in the case will have submitted â€Å"amicus curiae† or friend-of-the-court briefs supporting their views. Supreme Court Opinions and Decisions Once oral arguments to a case have been completed, the justices retire to closed session to formulate their individual opinions to be attached to the Court’s final decision. These discussions are closed to the public and press and are never recorded. Since the opinions are typically lengthy, heavily footnoted, and require extensive legal research, the justices are assisted in writing them by highly-qualified Supreme Court law clerks. The Types of Supreme Court Opinions There are four main types of Supreme Court opinions: Majority Opinions: Forming the Court’s final decision, the majority opinion represents the opinions of the majority of the justices who heard the case. The majority opinion requires at least five justices unless one or more justices have chosen to recuse themselves (not take part) in the decision. The majority opinion is vital as it sets a legal precedent which must be followed by all future courts hearing similar cases.Concurring Opinions:   Justices may also attach concurring opinions to the Court’s majority opinion. As the name implies, concurring opinions agree with the majority opinion. However, concurring opinions may focus on different points of law or agree with the majority for a totally different reason.Dissenting Opinions: Justices who disagree with the majority typically write dissenting opinions explaining the basis for their vote. Not only do dissenting opinions help to explain the Court’s reasoning in its decision, they are often used in majority opinions in similar future cases. Confusingly, justices will write mixed opinions that agree with parts of the majority opinion but disagree with others. Per Curiam Decisions: In rare cases, the Court will issue a â€Å"per curium† opinion. â€Å"Per Curiam  is a Latin phrase meaning â€Å"by the court.† Per curiam opinions are majority opinions are delivered by the Court as a whole, rather than authored by an individual justice. Should the Supreme Court fail to reach a majority opinion arrive at a tie vote the decisions reached by the lower federal courts or state supreme courts are allowed to remain in effect as if the Supreme Court had never even considered the case. However, the rulings of the lower courts will have no precedent setting value, meaning they will not apply in other states as with majority Supreme Court decisions.

Words for Clothes in Spanish

Words for Clothes in Spanish Talking about clothing in Spanish is one of the practical ways you can put your knowledge of Spanish to use. Whether youre going shopping in an area where Spanish is spoken, making a packing list for a Spanish-speaking person, or preparing a laundry list for your hotel, youll find these words useful. Names for Clothing in Spanish Here are some of the most common names for articles of clothing. Although some regions have their own names for some types of clothing, these words should be understood nearly everywhere Spanish is spoken. bathrobe: el albornozbelt: el cinturà ³n (leather belt: cinturà ³n de cuero)bikini: el bikini, el biquini (feminine in Argentina)blouse: la blusaboots: las botasboxers: los bà ³xersbra: el sostà ©n, el sujetador, el brasiercap: la gorra, el gorrocoat: el abrigodress: el vestidogloves: los guantesgown (formal dress): el traje, el vestido, el vestido de noche, el vestido de bailehalter: halter, tophat: el sombrero (any kind of hat, not just a type of Mexican hat)jacket: la chaquetajeans: los jeans, los vaqueros, los bluyines, los tejanosleggings: las mallas (can refer to any type of tight-fitting elastic clothing), los leggingsminiskirt: la minifaldamittens: los mitonespajamas: la pijamapants, trousers: los pantalonespocket: el bolsillopurse: el bolsoraincoat: el impermeablesandal: la sandaliashirt: la camisashoe: el zapatoshoelaces, shoestrings:  cordones, agujetas (primarily in Mexico)shorts: los pantalones cortos, el short, las bermudas, el culote (especially for cycling short s)skirt: la falda slipper: la zapatillasock: el calcetà ­nstocking: la mediasuit: el trajesweater: el suà ©ter, el jersey, la chompasweatshirt: la sudadera, el pulà ³ver (with hood, con capucha)sweatsuit: el traje de entrenamiento (literally, training clothes)swimsuit: el baà ±ador, el traje de baà ±otank top: camiseta sin mangas (literally, sleeveless T-shirt)tennis shoe, sneaker: el zapato de tenis, el zapato de lonatie: la corbatatop (womens clothing article): topT-shirt: la camiseta, la playera articleestuxedo: el esmoquin, el smokingunderwear: la ropa interiorvest: el chalecowatch, wristwatch: el reloj, el reloj de pulsera The general word for clothing is la ropa. It can refer to clothing in general or to an article of clothing. General types of clothing include ropa deportiva or ropa sport (sportswear), ropa informal (casual clothing), ropa formal (formalwear), ropa  de negocios (businesswear), and ropa casual de negocios (business casual clothing). Using Definite Articles With Spanish Clothing When referring to a persons article of clothing, it is usual to use a definite article rather than a possessive pronoun, much as is done with body parts. In other words,  someone would refer to your shirt as la camisa (the shirt) rather than tu camisa (your shirt) if the meaning is still clear. For example: Durante la cena, yo llevaba los jeans verdes.During the dinner, I wore my green jeans. The meaning is clear without specifying that the jeans were mine.Mis zapatos son ms nuevos que los tuyos.My shoes are newer than yours. Possessive adjectives are used here for emphasis and clarity. Verbs Related to Clothes in Spanish Llevar is the verb most often used to refer to wearing clothing: Paulina llevà ³ la blusa rota a la tienda.Pauline wore the torn dress to the store. You can usually use ponerse to refer to putting on of clothing: Se puso la camisa sin abotonar.He put on the shirt without buttoning it. Sacar and quitar are usually used when referring to the removal of clothes: Los adolescentes entraban en una iglesia y no se quitaban el sombrero.The adolescents would enter a church and not take off their hats.No hay problema si sacas los zapatos.Theres no problem if you take off your shoes. Cambiarse is the verb of choice for changing possessions including clothing: Cuando te vas a cambiar de ropa,  ¿sigues alguna rutina?When you change clothes, do you follow some routine? Planchar is the verb for to iron. An iron is una plancha. Es difà ­cil planchar una camisa sin arrugas.It is difficult to iron a shirt without creases. The usual verb for laundering clothes is lavar, the same verb used for cleaning all sorts of items. Lavar and launder come from the same Latin verb, lavare. No es necesario que laves los jeans con la misma regularidad que las dems prendas de vestir.It isnt necessary that you wash jeans as consistently as with other articles of clothing.

Constellation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Constellation - Assignment Example This constellation is best visible at night during the month of November (Sasaki 94). Astrologists have established that the Sun moves through the Pieces region from March 15th to April 14th (Sasaki 94). Only faint stars that appear as small circlets connected together by a string are observed in the area occupied by Pisces. The brightest star in this Pisces constellation is eta Piscium. It is a giant star accompanied by other faint stars. Its luminosity is 316 times that of the sun (Sasaki 96). It is then followed by the following stars in sequence: gamma Piscium, alpha Piscium or Alrescha, omega Piscium, iota Piscium, and beta Piscium (Sasaki 96). The other interesting stars found in this constellation include Van Maanen’s Star and Messier 74 (NGC 628). Pisces constellation was first identified by Greek astronomer, Ptolemy, in the 2nd Century. Pisces is a Latin word for â€Å"fish† (plural) (Sasaki 94). In the sky, it appears as two fishes swimming in opposite directions and connected at the tails by a piece of string. In Greek mythology, Pisces is likened to the fish into which goddess Aphrodite and her son Eros, transformed into while escaping from the monster Typhon (Sasaki 94). Typhon was born from Tartarus and Gaia (Mother Earth). It was Gaia’s youngest offspring and the most mortal and largest monster ever. It was so fearsome that even other gods such as Olympus, who flee to Egypt, were afraid to fight it in battles. Eros and Aphrodite transformed into fishes, and swam up the Nile while fleeing from Typhon and Zeus transformed into a ram while escaping from Typhon (Sasaki 96). Typhon captured Zeus, who was later released by Pan and Hermes. Zeus then took a war to Typhon and chased him to Sicily. In Sicily, Zeus threw Mount Aetna at Typhon, finally subduing it (Sasaki 96). It was eventually defeated. Aphrodite and Eros were given fish-like images in the heavens to commemorate the period Typhon nearly overthrew Olympus. There are a number of

Womens Involvement in British Imperialism Essay

Womens Involvement in British Imperialism - Essay Example Consequently. This school of thought was much against the political freedom and equality for women. However, another band of feminists advocated for political equality, though they firmly believed in the superiority of the white race. This school of thought believed that whites were on a civilizing mission in the world through their imperialistic conquests. Despite support to racism and imperialism, they struggled for their political liberty. The third category of influential women was the suffragettes who discarded the principles of imperialism and considered it as a hurdle in the attainment of complete liberty and equality, in terms of race and gender. Campaigners for the same cause had very different perspectives, notions and tactics. (Imperialism and Gender, http://www.leedstrinity.ac.uk/histcourse/womwn/hannam/hancore.htm#part 3) Suffrage and imperialism had a very ambivalent relationship - many feminists were arch-imperialists and racists, partly because they felt that the raci al hierarchy might outweigh the sexual one, but some saw discrimination against women and the fundamental racism of colonial society as two sides of the same coin. As Du Bois and Karl Marx emphasized, capitalism has been an international system from its very beginning. The methods of operation start from identifying cheap labour, exploiting natural resources and finding the right band of consumers to sell these products. This exploitation took the form of colonization way back, a sophisticated version of slavery and plunder. Imperialism is not a stage, not even the highest stage of capitalism, it is inherent in capitalism. Imperialism is the systematic appropriation of cheap labour, resources and markets of less developed regions and countries to satiate the profit-making tendencies of the ruling regions, mostly the developed countries. Historically speaking, imperialism has racial overtones. There are various instances of racial and cultural discrimination by imperial powers. As imperialism ramified and reached a stage further, it did something that can be called one of the biggest problems that humankind has been confronted with - the overwh elming polarization of the world that has made only a small portion of the entire world population as the real beneficiaries of the utilities and facilities. Colonialism was not a phenomenon that emerged overnight as a conscious policy of Britain. As J.R. Seely, the famous historian remarked, " It happened in a fit of absence of mind." Sometimes the flag followed the trade and sometimes the trade followed the flag, but the flag ended up just about everywhere. What began as an economic quest, became a political ambition and finally an imperialist realization. The British regime was one of the most powerful imperial power till the mid 1900s. In fact, it ruled the seas! There was a time when imperial history lacked a perspective on its various dimensions. With more research and academic insights into the subjects, several complicated and convoluted observations and analyses have been made. The former perspective was very congenial to the promoters of the empire. However, it came under radical attack by liberalists like Hobson and was seen as the cause and consequence of several events and phenomena. The British hegemony was not limited to political and economic expansions, but also had a cultural dimension to it. The spectrum of cultural diversity started fading and a focus on cultural imperialism found representation.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - Essay Example Jurgis is young and energetic; hence it does not take long for him to get a job, just like do Marija, Jonas and Teta, who are their close relatives. The family agrees to purchase a house, but this does not materialize since the deal is simply a swindle; there are too many hidden aspects of the agreement, and the house is poorly maintained and shoddy. Later, we learn that the family’s expenses are enhanced, which forces even Ona to seek employment. It is really difficult to land a job in Packingtown because the working conditions are very hard and unsafe. Besides, there is no disregard for workers’ safety in this region. Moreover, the immigrant community in Packingtown is exposed to corruption and crime, which extremely complicates life in the area. We are informed that Dede Antanas, the father of Jurgis, lands a job, but, this he achieves through corrupt means. Late, the old man succumbs to death since the job he got was too difficult for him (Bloom 25). Winter accordin g to the author is the most dangerous period in Packington, and this even translates into the working conditions. For example, we are informed that the place that Jurgis works in brings risks into his life each time he goes for work. There are too many hardships as evidenced by various events in the novel. For example, Marija and Tamoszius are never able to marry due to financial difficulties. Later, Marija’s financial woes worsen since her factory closes down and she later loses her job. Jurgis is very stressed about these living conditions of his family members, which prompts him to join a union. It is at this union that Jurgis starts to get enlightened concerning corruption, fraud and bribery, three vices that make sure that Packingtown is able to conduct its affairs. Jurgis wants to improve his family woes very much to the point of starting to learn English. At Packingtown, it was easier to adjust to life if one was conversant with English since it was the language that w as used by most people (Bloom 37). From the tale, we learn that, Jurgis’ family members face extreme hardships as they try to settle in Packingtown permanently. We learn that Marija is fired from her job even after regaining it later, Ona gets pregnant and as a result, her job becomes an extremely difficult affair. Later, Ona gives birth to a boy who is named Antanas, in memory of Jurgis’s late father. Her bosses do not even sympathize with her situation since they compel her to resume working after just seven days of leave. Many mishaps in this region have ensured that families are easily ruined. For example, when Jurgis is injured, he is bedridden for a period of three months, unable to perform any work. His accident had been caused by poor working conditions at the factory, but, the factory does not consider this. Instead, they scrap him off from the pay list. Jonas is unable to put up with this misery, hence he runs away from the family without ever informing anyon e of his actions. The family’s problems are compounded because the youngest child of Teta passes on from poisoning. Jurgis does not give up at this point; and instead he takes a very long time trying to look for a job. He is so frustrated that he decides to take up a job in a fertilizer plant that is close to his home. He is forced to do this since he feels

History of the Vietnam Wars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History of the Vietnam Wars - Essay Example eneva, in which Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam received their independence and Vietnam was temporarily divided between an anti-Communist South and a Communist North. In 1956, South Vietnam, with American backing, refused to hold the unification elections† (Learn about the Vietnam War, 2010). It is difficult to understand what the French and the Americans tried to achieve. If they felt they could impose their might through superior military prowess, they had difficult time proving it in the marshy soil of tropical Vietnam. In the first place, the military preparation was nothing short of disaster. The huge pile of weapons stocked by the French and the Americans was of little avail to the Vietnamese. The weapons only served to aggravate or spoil things for the French and the Americans by adverse reactions from their own homelands. Nothing much is known about adverse public reaction to the Indo-China war in France. The protests were largely muted and it was left to the politicians to take action as they deemed fit. The French defeat in Dien Bien Phu was a substantial eye-opener to the French government and they did not waste time in tactfully concluding the war with a peace conference in Geneva. The Americans were, however, more noisy. In the United States, opposition to the war was vociferous. As the years progressed, the media was pregnant with news of public protests and atrocities committed on American soldiers. Politically, both President Johnson and President Nixon faced angry crowds swearing by anti-war statements. The American Presidents were sensitive to adverse political decisions and had no idea the chaotic situation at home might cause in the present or in the future. In the latter years of President Nixon, he was too caught up with the Watergate scandal to think clearly on issues with regard to Vietnam. His frustrations compounded issues and the failure of the Americans in the Vietnam was the result of political wrangles that only added to the

Legalization Of Prostitution Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Legalization Of Prostitution - Research Paper Example Nothing in the form of research on prostitution had been done before the nineteenth century, when a flurry of studies, the most famous of which by Dr. William Sanger, were published. Sanger was mainly concerned with who the average prostitute was and why she had chosen or was driven to the lifestyle. The profile showed a woman in her late teens or early twenties, usually illiterate, poor and/or from broken families (Bullough 243). Pre-dating Women’s Liberation, women of the day did not have very many options between being supported by a husband or family, or life on the streets. If one fell into poverty and had little or no education, prospects were bleak. Should a woman fall into social disgrace it seemed little difference if she took to prostitution or not; her reputation was destroyed anyway. â€Å"In his novel, Tess of the DUrbervilles, Hardy paints a different picture of a ruined maid where Tess, seduced and betrayed by an aristocratic libertine, is inevitably driven tow ards her ultimate destruction† (Bartley 1). Many families on the lower economic strata saw nothing wrong with forcing a daughter into prostitution, and many domestics, immigrants, with no money or seduced and abandoned by their rich lovers, saw no other option. (Bullough 243). On the question of should prostitution be legal, and despite Sanger’s rather dire findings, he remained a pro-legalization advocate. â€Å"...if history proves that prostitution can not be suppressed, it also demonstrates that it can be regulated, and directed into channels where its most injurious results can be encountered, and its dangerous tendencies either entirely arrested or materially weakened† (Sanger quoted on ProCon.org, para 2). To legalize or not to legalize continues to be a question that perplexes society. And those who would abolish it, as well as those

History of the Vietnam Wars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History of the Vietnam Wars - Essay Example eneva, in which Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam received their independence and Vietnam was temporarily divided between an anti-Communist South and a Communist North. In 1956, South Vietnam, with American backing, refused to hold the unification elections† (Learn about the Vietnam War, 2010). It is difficult to understand what the French and the Americans tried to achieve. If they felt they could impose their might through superior military prowess, they had difficult time proving it in the marshy soil of tropical Vietnam. In the first place, the military preparation was nothing short of disaster. The huge pile of weapons stocked by the French and the Americans was of little avail to the Vietnamese. The weapons only served to aggravate or spoil things for the French and the Americans by adverse reactions from their own homelands. Nothing much is known about adverse public reaction to the Indo-China war in France. The protests were largely muted and it was left to the politicians to take action as they deemed fit. The French defeat in Dien Bien Phu was a substantial eye-opener to the French government and they did not waste time in tactfully concluding the war with a peace conference in Geneva. The Americans were, however, more noisy. In the United States, opposition to the war was vociferous. As the years progressed, the media was pregnant with news of public protests and atrocities committed on American soldiers. Politically, both President Johnson and President Nixon faced angry crowds swearing by anti-war statements. The American Presidents were sensitive to adverse political decisions and had no idea the chaotic situation at home might cause in the present or in the future. In the latter years of President Nixon, he was too caught up with the Watergate scandal to think clearly on issues with regard to Vietnam. His frustrations compounded issues and the failure of the Americans in the Vietnam was the result of political wrangles that only added to the

How much IT involved in Auditing to (reduce Duration, Cost and Dissertation

How much IT involved in Auditing to (reduce Duration, Cost and increase Efficiency and Effectiveness), compare and contrast stud - Dissertation Example To analyse the actual scenario, this research work has adopted qualitative survey method for collecting data about the research scenario. Data have been collected from twelve different organisations that have implemented IT based auditing tools. The data collected were interpreted properly and subjected to Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis to obtain the results of the research. It has been found that IT based auditing tools reduce the time of analysis and data retrieval. They provide good availability of data. They are more accurate, efficient and effective in conducting audit procedures. The cost involved in implementing and maintain them is considerably more. Comparing United Kingdom and Kurdistan, United Kingdom is more extensively using IT based audit tools than Kurdistan. Table of contents Chapter 1 - Research Introduction 1.1. Introduction 1.2. Research Scenario 1.3. Statement of the research Problem 1.4. Aim of the Research 1.5. Main Research Ques tion and Hypotheses 1.6. Scope and Significance of this Research 1.7. Methodology of Research 1.8. Qualitative survey method 1.9. Data collecting instrument 1.10. ... Chapter Summary Chapter 3 –Research Methodology 3.1. Research Methods 3.2. Qualitative survey method 3.3. Qualitative Sampling 3.4. Qualitative Data Collection 3.5. The Qualitative Questionnaire 3.6. Validity and Limitations of the data 3.7. Chapter Summary Chapter 4 - Research Data Analysis 4.1. Qualitative Data representation 4.2. General Qualitative Data Analysis 4.3. SWOT analysis 4.4. SWOT analysis of qualitative data 4.5. SWOT analysis of Research data 4.6. Chapter summary Chapter 5 – Discussion of Results 5.1. Discussion of Results 5.2. Hypotheses testing with SWOT factors 5.3. Recommendations Chapter 6 – Research Conclusion References List of tables Table4.1. SWOT factors in table form List of figures Figure. 2.1. IT in different stages of auditing Fig.4.1. The SWOT matrix representation of the factors. Chapter 1 - Research Introduction 1.1. Introduction: This chapter provides an introduction about this research work with the research problem statement, a im of the research, main research question and the methodology of research to be adopted. 1.2. Research Scenario: The methods of auditing have changed significantly in the recent past due to the advancements in IT. Notable standards for the effectiveness in auditing have evolved. The quality of auditing is critical for financial reporting and auditing (FRC, 2008). Auditing involves the presentation and discussion of financial statements of an organisation. The discussion may be among the audit team and the top level management. Auditing is considered to be critical activity in view of the overall capital assets and market confidence. Present auditing practices are quite adequate but their data authenticity is less. This may be detrimental to an organisation as they suffer from

Crops and vegetables Essay Example for Free

Crops and vegetables Essay Contribution of Crops in 1995-96 was 15. 03, in 1997-98 was 14. 59, in 1999-00 was 14. 59, in 2001-02 was 13. 75, in 2003-04 was 13. 23, in 2005-06 was 12. 19. Contribution of crops and vegetables is decreasing year by year. Though production of crops has increased our land has decreased, so our total production has decreased and thus contribution of crops on economy is decreasing. Contribution of Crops and Vegetables in total agriculture in 1995-96 was 58. 53%, in 1997-98 was 57. 58%, in 1999-00 was 57. 04%, in 2001-02 was 57. 32%, in 2003-04 was 57. 32%, in 2005-06 was 55. 99%. From these percentage amounts we can easily say that among the total agriculture sector, contribution of crops and vegetables is most and it is more than 5o% in each year. If we can not increase our crops production then it will have no contribution on GDP. Livestock Contribution of Livestock in 1995-96 was 3. 36, in 1997-98 was 3. 19, in 1999-00 was 3. 02, in 2001-02 was 2. 96, in 2003-04 was 2. 91, in 2005-06 was 2. 93. Though many firms are being established day by day livestock is not contributing enough on GDP. Contribution of Livestock in total agriculture in 1995-96 was 13. 08%, in 1997-98 was 12. 59%, in 1999-00 was 11. 81%, in 2001-02 was 12. 34%, in 2003-04 was 12. 61%, in 2005-06 was 13. 46%. From these above percentage amounts we can say that though our livestock production is not increasing. But contribution of livestock on total agriculture is increasing in recent years. Forestry As we are cutting down more trees to meet our daily need our forestry is gradually decreasing day by day and thus contribution of forestry on GDP is also decreasing. Contribution of Forestry in 1995-96 was 1. 90, in 1997-98 was 1. 89, in 1999-00 was 1. 88, in 2001-02 was 1. 88, in 2003-04 was 1. 83, in 2005-06 was 1. 79. Contribution of Forestry in total agriculture in 1995-96 was 7. 52%, in 1997-98 was 7. 46%, in 1999-00 was 7. 35%, in 2001-02 was 7. 84%, in 2003-04 was 7. 93%, in 2005-06 was 8. 22%. As other sub-sector is decreasing more than forestry, contribution of forestry on total agriculture has increased in recent years. Agriculture and forestry Fisheries Contribution of Fisheries in 1995-96 was 5. 36, in 1997-98 was 5. 67, in 1999-00 was 6. 09, in 2001-02 was 5. 40, in 2003-04 was 5. 11, in 2005-06 was 4. 86. We see that contribution of fisheries on GDP was increasing from 1995-96 to 1999-2000, but after that it has been decreasing. Though the contribution of fisheries is not much on GDP of Bangladesh, this sub-sector has become an important and major source of agriculture. Contribution of Fisheries in total agriculture sector, in 1995-96 was 20. 87%, in 1997-98 was 22. 38%, in 1999-00 was 23. 81%, in 2001-02 was 22. 51%, in 2003-04 was 22. 14%, in 2005-06 was 22. 32%. Which is more than livestock and forestry. Sector/ Sub sector 95-96 96-97 97-98 98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 Crops 15. 03 15. 21 14. 59 14. 33 14. 59 14. 7 13. 75 13. 43 13. 23 12. 51 12. 19 In ( % ) 58. 53 58. 80 57. 57 56. 68 57. 03 58. 72 57. 31 57. 22 57. 32 56. 14 55. 99 Livestock 3. 36 3. 27 3. 19 3. 12 3. 02 2. 95 2. 96 2. 93 2. 91 2. 95 2. 93 In ( % ) 13. 08 12. 64 12. 58 12. 34 11. 80 11. 78 12. 33 12. 48 12. 60 13. 24 13. 45 Forestry 1. 93 1. 91 1. 89 1. 9 1. 88 1. 87 1. 88 1. 86 1. 83 1. 82 1. 79 In ( % ) 7. 51 7. 38 7. 45 7. 51 7. 34 7. 47 7. 83 7. 92 7. 92 8. 16 8. 22 Fisheries 5. 36 5. 48 5. 67 5. 93 6. 09 5. 51 5. 4 5. 25 5. 11 5 4. 86 In ( % ) 20. 87 21. 18 22. 37 23. 45 23. 80 22. 01 22. 50 22. 36 22. 14 22. 44 22. 32 Total 25. 68 25. 87 25. 34 25. 28 25. 58 25. 03 23. 99 23. 47 23. 08 22. 28 21. 77 Contribution of Agriculture in Employment The linkage between the agricultural sector and the economy in general is in terms of employment generation. This is especially important because agriculture is by far the largest employer of poor people, and therefore has a key role in poverty alleviation. According to the 1981 census, total employment was approximately 24 million people (Table 2. 7). Of these, more than 60 per cent were employed in the agricultural sector, representing 14. 5 million people. This figure represents those directly working in agriculture and does not include employment in agricultural-related manufacturing industries. According to the 1991 census, the number of employed in agriculture increased to 16. 3 million. While this figure shows that the share of agriculture in total employment declined over the 10-year period, agriculture still provided employment for well over half the total workforce (again excluding employment in agriculture related industries). Statistics of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) in 1989 and again in 1991 show a similar pattern, although they indicate a more significant role for agriculture in employment generation. The main difference between the two surveys is that the LFS includes household-based economic activity, and therefore perhaps provides a better picture of actual employment patterns and trends. According to the 1989 LFS, almost three-quarters of the all employment were derived directly from the agricultural sector, with 34 million employed. The 1991 survey showed that agriculture continued to provide a livelihood for the vast majority of Bangladeshis, although its share dropped slightly in comparison to non-farm employment. According to the last census which is took place in 2002-2003 the labor force working in agriculture is 51. 7% of the total labor force of the country. Women participation in Agriculture In the socio-economic context of Bangladesh, involvement of women in agriculture is very important. It would be easier to control rural-urban migration by engaging women in agricultural activities to a greater extent. Considering women. s involvement in agriculture, the following programmes will be taken up for enhancing their role under the scope of the National Agriculture Policy: Agriculture related activities like post harvest operations, seed preservation, nursery business, jute stripping, vegetable cultivation, homestead gardening, floriculture, production of horticultural seeds, establishment and management of cottage industries based on locally produced agricultural commodities, etc are very suitable for women. Extensive training programmes will be conducted and capital support will be provided to encourage women’s interest and improve their skill in such activities. the women are always a major employment force of agriculture. A large majority of the households in Bangladesh depend upon agriculture and related activities like livestock rearing, fisheries and forestry. In 1992-93, crops accounted for 77. 7% of the total agricultural production, fisheries 7. 8%, livestock 7. 7% and forestry 6. 7%. The agricultural sector accounted for nearly 36% of Gross Domestic Product . Despite their routine domestic work, women are very actively involved in agricultural production in Bangladesh. Women in rural Bangladesh are in general responsible for most of the agricultural work in the homestead. They traditionally undertake home gardening. Farm activities in the homesteads, ranging from selection of seed to harvesting and storing of crops, are predominantly managed by women. Despite womens important role in agriculture, the traditional social norms and customary laws combined with the purdah system deprive Bangladeshi women of equitable economic opportunities and access to resources.

Fast Fashion Target Market

Fast Fashion Target Market There are quite large amount of literatures show the supply chain and the market strategy of the fast fashion firms. However, establishing new fast fashion firms in China also need to know the local information such as the Chinese customers buying behavior, the preferred location, the marketing tools they used, etc. The fast fashion model is suitable for the Chinese Market is the main hypothesis. In order to better understand the meaning from the collected data, some sub-hypothesizes were proposed and then be verified through data analysis and conduction. Thus, the income or the cost on clothes per month has the direct link with the buying behavior. The target customer for fast fashion brand prefer to be more fashionable, however, the budget is always limited. They did not quite prefer famous brands and foreign brands. That matches our hypothesis (The income will influence customers buying behavior.). We use Zara as an example to analyze the consumers attitude to a fast fashion brand and their buying behavior. The satisfaction reasons for Zara, the kinds of clothes customers prefer to buy in Zara, the reasons for them to buy and the place they get the fashion information. We get the data as below. We classify those 132 of 228 people who have shopped or visited Zara stores for the following analysis. We list seven main factors or namely the advantages for buying Zara. As analysis shows above that the Store Location is the most important factor which has an average score of 6.9 in 10. The speed of fashion update and the fashionable are following which both have an average mark of 6.6. Furthermore, the shopping environment and the design of clothes are also two influential factors. Actual need is the main reason for consumers to buy new clothes.However, there are also quite a large amount also choose spontaneous shopping, special discount and fashion followers. That means besides the actual need, consumers buying behavior is also affect by the spontaneous, speicial discount, fashion trend and etc. As the question Where do you get the fashion information? shows, magazines and Internet rank the first and second. More than half of the respondents choose these two as the major tool they get the information. Following with the store window decoration, the percentage of this tool is also very high which means it is also a factor cant be ignore. Thus, the fast fashion firms need to put more emphasis on their marketing through magazines, Internet and the store window decoration. According to feedback we get from the questionnaires, 95.50% consumers of Zara buy daily casual clothes, which means the demands for daily casual are the largest part. Meanwhile, actual need and special discount rank high in the reasons to buy clothes. Moving forward to the income per month part, it shows that the major consumers of Zara are the middle classes. This group of customers is purposefully and efficiently and they are more knowledge about what they want, where they can buy them and when they will buy (Levy S. J. Rook D. W., 1999). They have more own opinion for choosing the clothes. Fashionable but in best price (HM Annual Report 2009, 2010) this slogan of fast fashion might be suitable for this group of consumers. This group of people prefers to get the fashion information from magazine, Internet and store window decoration. Fast fashion firms always have opposite views for the marketing communication. Zara tends to use store window decoration to show its brand image it only has some marketing performance in the beginning of a new store (Ghemawat Nueno, 2003). However, other fast fashion firms such as HM invest more on marketing communications in order to enhance its brand image (HM Website, 2010). Furthermore, based on an analysis for the Frequency Tendency analysis of consumer behavior in Shanghai (He, 2006), we can summarize the characteristics of consumer behavior as the following points: They consider not only the price, but also the taste of fashion. Consumers in Shanghai are generally more rational, price-comparison shopping. They will do more comparison with the products which have the similar feature and select the one with reasonable price. This means they seek the high quality and style. Brand loyalty. Most consumers know their favorite brands. Some of them will not replace the daily use of the brand. Great room for online consumption. Higher education, younger consumers with more online shopping experience, and they are more willing to accept this mode of consumption. Combine our survey with the Frequency Tendency analysis of consumer behavior in Shanghai (He, 2006), we get the result that Zara is successful because of its ability to catch customers needs. They know the suitable store location in a city, the kind of clothes consumers buy most and also the right communication tool for a fast fashion brand. As fast fashion is quite unique and the business model is different from traditional fashion brand, knowing their customers buying behavior seems to be very important. Thus, our hypothesis seems to be right in fast fashion brands. The store location should be in the shopping center so that customers could easily see their store and get the latest fashion information from the window decoration. Meanwhile, the major kind of clothes customer prefers is daily casual as it is the mostly actual need. Furthermore, as quick response is the vital advantage of fast fashion brand, the communication way is also need to be considered carefully. The magazine and the internet are the top two communication ways that the customers get the fashion information. Their rapid responses agree with the quick response spirit of fast fashion. Thus, the fast fashion industry has a positive develop environment in the east of China, because most of fashion manufactories are located in Chinas eastern regions. As the China Textile Exhibition Report (2008/2009) shows, Chinas textile industry is mainly concentrated in coastal areas and almost over 80% of Large-scale manufactories are centralize in Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, Guangdong Province, Shanghai and Shandong Province. The locations for manufactories are significant for fast fashion firms as they are famous by its rapid response. New firms which intend to open the Chinese market need to put emphasis on the east market not only for its leadership but also for the easy transport location. From all these analysis and findings for questionnaires, we offered five recommendations. As our main aim for this dissertation is to find out whether the fast fashion model is suitable for Chinese market. Therefore it will be quite useful to give some recommendations to help the firms that want to use this kind of business model. Zara is different in the organization and design stage with most of the clothing company. It gets the inspirations from the customer needs and quickly responds to them. Zara always keep pace with fashion, not to predict 6-9 months later or even longer needs as other traditional companies. The team of Zara is built up by the designers, marketers, buyers and cross-functional members. Their functions are to ensure rapid transfer of information, the executable program, and easy to implement. Sourcing and Manufacturing In the stage of purchasing and producing, Zara is different with most of the clothes companies. The major manufactories of Zara are in Europe, and many are based in Spain, around a small range. While other fast fashion firms such as Benetton, Gap, H M are basically as a mode of the first worlds brand, the third worlds production.(Ghemawat Nueno, 2003) The biggest advantage is low cost, while the disadvantage is slow response speed. Inditex in Spain has a capital-intensive manufacturing plant, and it is a vertically integrated organization, it has a dyeing, designing, tailoring and garment processing and delay manufacturing strategy(Inditex website, 2010). Inditex bought white cloth in advance, standardized semi-finished products significantly and shorten the production cycle. By maintaining control of dyeing and processing field, it makes Inditex have on-demand ability to produce new models for providing the necessary cloth. However, the majority of the Chinese fashion companies we re not used to store the fabric and the quantity of every collection was quite large. Zara has the advantage of production speed because it contracts with some small factories. Thus, they could change easily according to the market. Distribution Zara puts more emphasis on speed, and even grab at all costs some time. Because there is no loss of time is the concept of fashion. While other fashion firm pay more attention to the cost. Zaras distribution center is in the fast, efficient operation. In fact, it works just as a clothing center and its main function is turnover, not storage. But many domestic garment enterprises distribution centers are larger and more built inside the mountain of storage product. Basically, all the stores of Zara from distribution centers are with direct distribution model, while most domestic garment enterprises are built of local branches and warehouses. They have links at all levels and a large backlog of finished goods inventory. However, Zara is high frequency, fast, with a small storage; variety of replenishment strategy also ensures a rich store of the kind. Retailing Zara is totally broken the traditional clothing brand practice mode of operation and take a completely different destructive innovation road. The most fundamental factor is its efficient operation as the core operating system for collaborative supply chain. Zara is success of its collaborative supply chain operation. This could be learned by some domestic enterprises. It could be concluded as follows: taking consumer as the center; shortening the prepare time and all supply chains in order to squeeze time and eliminate possible problem; reducing or eliminating those which cannot bring value-added component; being more variety to create in order to enhance brand value and competitiveness. 2. Marketing strategies Comparing with the traditional fashion firms, Zaras marketing strategies is quite unique. It spent quite small amount of money in advertising only in the start of a new store open. (Ghemawat Nueno, 2003) They put emphasis on the rapid consumer information feedback by the store sales people and the decoration for the own store and the window. Through these ways, Zara builds its brand image. In comparison, HM use celebrity effect to attract the consumers. The advantages and disadvantages of Zaras marketing strategy will be explored. A store as a show platform One of the most important reasons of Zaras success is that the company takes every store as its show platform. At the beginning of the new store launched, the location selection is the premier crucial thing for the company to inject fund. Usually, the most prosperous shopping center will be targeted and a large amount of money will be spent on renting the store. Meanwhile, expense will not be saved on window decorations and store settings. The staffs of the stores are asked to wear the uniform and communication skills will be trained as well. Celebrity effect Zara is now participating more in social performance in order to enhance its brand awareness. However, HM represents much wiser than Zara on this point. To illustrate, in terms of brand value, HMs brand value is $12,131 million while Zaras is $8,966 million. (Millward Brown: Top 100 Most valuable global brands 2010, 2010) According to the market value, HM equals to $50,587 million which is 10,468 million more than Zara (about $40,119 million) (HM Annual Report 2009,2010; Inditex Annual Report 2009,2010) . In addition, the brand value of HM takes 24% of the total market value. In comparison, the percentage of Zaras brand value in total market value is 22%. However, the situation above does not means that Zara do not think highly of building brand image. Through the management of every store, namely, the decoration, service, turnover speed and so on, Zara demonstrates its advantages to the customers and passes-by vividly. This is also a good way to build the corporations image and prom ote itself. Methods for consumption stimulation Pricing strategy is also another important factor for Zaras success. The accurate position for target customer, the control of cost and the reasonable price setting plays equal significant role and cannot leave anyone. Because of Zara mainly targets on the young generation, the price element seems to be quite important. Most of the young generations are students in the universities or senior schools. Since they have no job and the parents are their only economy source, they can not afford too expensive clothing or they may hold the conception of saving money. When talking about the young people who are in careers, as they are the trainees or the new arrival staffs, they may have the big pressure of renting house and solving living problems, and have no extra money to buy expensive clothes. Therefore, the young customers might be the price-hunting shopper. They may be hesitating when they decide to buy one new item. Zaras fast update rate solves the problem as it promotes people to bu y the products quickly. Furthermore, discount is absolutely a wise approach to stimulate consumption. To sum up, although Zara still have some disadvantages such as its branding and communication, we can learn quite a lot of experience especially in its unique supply chain. However, the domestic firms can not directly copy Zaras mode because of the business environments, the local markets and the corporations target are distinct from each other. Recommendations First, if the Chinese company want to build international fast fashion brand, effectively collecting the fashion information partly from the customers is quite significant,(à ¦Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ªREFERENCEà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’à ¨Ã‚ ¿Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¦Ã‚  Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ Ãƒ ¦Ã…“†°Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ¡Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¦) the store managers and employees have a serious responsibility of this task. Basically, the company should interview and employ the staff who is sensitive at fashion and capable to collect, conclude and express the element of fashion trends. In addition, the staff could adopt the method of questionnaires to investigate the preferences and suggestions of the consumer. Copies of questionnaire could also be sent to the university students in the big city, like Shanghai, Peking, Hangzhou and so on. In order to catch the fashion trends, the company could send the specific investigator to different fashion zones to travel, observe and get the fashion trend, for instance, Nanjin g Street of Shanghai, Wangfujing Street of Beijing, and etc. Second, China mainly plays a role of an export country rather than an import country. The material in China is relatively sufficient and ready to use.(à ¨Ã‚ ¿Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ªÃƒ §Ã‚ ®-Recommendationà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã… ¸) Like Zara, the vertically integrated structure of the organization could be found, forming design, manufacturing and delivery as a vertical line. Therefore, both the time and the money will be saved. From the domestic country, the rough material is relatively cheaper than that from other countries and there will be no tax on the freight. Furthermore, the shipping expense will be saved as well. In addition, discount is a good way to sell as well if the cost price is low. Third, in China, most of the companies still hold the perspective of saving cost rather than saving time. Absolutely, saving time needs money. However, saving time could gain more time, more chance, and more profit which could cover the costs. It benefits the companys image and strengthens the competitive power.(à ¦Ã…“â‚ ¬Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¥Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¥Ã…  Ã‚  Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã…  ref) Aiming at the time element, the inventory or distribution center should pay more attention on turnover rather than storage. The direct distribution model and variety of replenishment strategy could be adopted in the company to ensure the high speed of goods turnover and storage supplement. On one part, it will build good image of the company at the operational level. On another part, fast-changing goods in stores could stimulate the consumption. It gives pressure on the consumers and reduces the time on considering whether to buy or not. Fourth, the company in China often is divided into several parts and each manager only take note of his own department.(Referenceà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã… ¸) However, it will be better if the departments of the whole supply chain can work coherently and communicate with each other in time. For example, the time to replenish the goods should be supervised orderly and strictly. The daily sales, inventory and after-sale information should be counted and reported to the company. For instance, which are the best and the worst selling, how many items have been sold, and so on. In addition, the unsold clothing could be sent back to the company for the re-manufacture. Fifth, building the brand image through display of stores rather than celebrity effect is a new way for Chinese companies. The new open store should be decorated attractively, especially the display window. The staff in stores could wear the new arrival clothing instead of the uniform to have a show and to attract the consumers. In addition, it is still a good way for Chinese company to invite a film or singing star as a brand image standing for the company because the celebrity effect is relatively strong in China.

Parris Island :: essays research papers

PARRIS ISLAND â€Å"GET OFF MY BUS. YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS TO GET YOUR THINGS, GET OFF MY BUS, AND GET ON THE FOOTPRINTS OUTSIDE.† It was the middle of the night, we had just arrived by bus from the airport and we were scared to death. Welcome to Marine Corps Recruiting Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. This is a brief overview of Parris Island as seen through the eyes of Recruit Smith, Platoon 1040, B Company. Marine Corps boot camp is thirteen weeks of physical and mental anguish. There are three phases to the USMC boot camp each with it’s own challenges. If you can make it through and survive, you will have earned the title Marine. During the first two weeks you are with what is called an Initial Drill Instructor. His job is to get you used to life on Parris Island. The first two weeks is a whirlwind of activity where you receive everything you will need to guide you to graduation from boot camp. Your clothes, supplies, and rifle are issued to you. You learn the basic’s of group marching as one and yes, your hair is completely shaved off. After the first two weeks, it’s time to meet the Drill Instructors who will be with you morning, noon, and night for the next eleven weeks. We stood at attention on a solid yellow line in front of our bunks as our Drill Instructors were introduced to us. This was a very intimidating experience. They looked mean and angry and shouted degrading and demoralizing slurs at us. Phase I had officially begun. Phase I of boot camp focused on three main issues; Physical Training (PT), Drill, and Learning the History of the Marine Corps. This is the foundation for which the rest of boot camp is built on. Physical training is geared toward strength and conditioning. By the end of boot camp we will be able to run five miles without breaking a sweat. Drill is learning to perform as one. There are no individuals in the Marine Corps. It’s all about being a team. On the battlefield you need to perform as a cohesive unit in order to be successful. Learning the history of the Marine Corps is to let you know who came before you and Marine Corps values. You learn the famous battles the Marines fought in. They teach you to take pride in the uniform you wear and always uphold the reputation of a Marine.

Succubus on Top CHAPTER 12

â€Å"Thetis,† he said after several more moments of silence, â€Å"talk to me here.† I looked up sharply. â€Å"What do you want me to say? You already know the answer. They wouldn't lie. Well, actually, they lie all the time but not about something like that.† He nodded and set the bowl and spoon on the coffee table. Slouching back on the couch, he didn't look at me, instead staring off across the room in thought. I could guess what was going through his mind. He knew what I was and what I did. But it was one thing to have a superficial knowledge of it and another to suddenly know there was tangible evidence each time I had sex. He would recognize the glow now and know that I had just come from someone else's bed, that not so long ago I'd been in someone else's arms doing the most intimate things two people could do. Things I couldn't do with him. â€Å"I'm sorry,† I said, not knowing what else I could say. â€Å"For what?† â€Å"For†¦this. For doing what I do.† â€Å"Why? It is what you do. It's what you have to do, right? There's no need to apologize for your own†¦uh, nature.† â€Å"So†¦what? You're okay with that? Knowing what I'm doing with other guys? Or rather, when I'm doing it?† â€Å"‘Okay' is a funny word, but yeah, I guess. What I'm not okay with is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He paused, as always considering his words before speaking. â€Å"What I'm not okay with is you being afraid to tell me about this. You must have seen how†¦entranced†¦I was. But you never brought it up or explained it to me.† â€Å"What was I supposed to say? ‘Thanks for noticing how pretty I am. It's because I just went down on some stranger in a sleazy club.'† Seth flinched, and I immediately regretted my example. â€Å"Maybe†¦maybe it could be phrased a bit more, uh, tactfully than that, but yeah. I guess essentially that's what you could tell me.† I poked at the melted remains of my ice cream. â€Å"It's not that easy, and you know it. It's got to be hard enough for you to accept that I'm sleeping around on you, so to speak, without real evidence to confirm each time it happens.† â€Å"Why don't you let me decide what I can or can't accept.† He didn't sound angry exactly, but I'd never heard him so sharp and assertive. The arrogant part of me didn't like being spoken to like that, but I knew he was justified in the comment. And, I had to admit, that confidence was kind of a turn-on. Alpha males. Yum. â€Å"I know what you are,† he continued, â€Å"and I know what you do. I had to acknowledge that from the beginning of the relationship. It bothers me, yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't go on with the knowledge.† He laid his hand over mine, his fingertips absentmindedly stroking my skin. â€Å"But you can't be afraid to tell me the truth. Not ever. Even if it's ugly. What we have isn't about sex – like that wasn't already perfectly obvious. But if we don't have honesty either, then there's nothing left.† I forced my eyes up to him and smiled. â€Å"How can you be so young and so wise at the same time?† â€Å"I'm not that wise,† he said, pulling me to him so I leaned against his shoulder. He didn't challenge the â€Å"young† comment. Looking at our ages objectively, one could practically accuse me of cradle robbing. I sighed and snuggled into him. â€Å"It means nothing, you know. All that stuff I do. I don't even remember their names.† â€Å"I know. You've told me. Although†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"What?† â€Å"Sometimes that's not exactly comforting. Sex isn't supposed to be about ‘nothing.' I don't really like the idea of you being with guys you don't want to be with. Even if you're technically my girlfriend†¦I'd rather you at least liked what was going on. â€Å" â€Å"Well†¦in the ultimate heat of it, I sort of do like it. The energy I get from sex†¦well, you can't really understand it. But it†¦it's literally what I live for. So even if I don't want to be with someone before and after the deed, there's still that one moment, no matter how brief, when I want them.† I tried to give him a reassuring smile. â€Å"Besides, don't feel too bad for me. Things are a lot better than they used to be. I have more of a choice about who I'm with now, which makes a big difference. It's not like I just take whoever comes along.† â€Å"What do you mean you have a choice now} Haven't you always?† I laughed uneasily. â€Å"Oh, come on, Seth. You know women didn't start getting any real rights until about a century ago. Men haven't always been kind or considerate in their relations with the fair sex – especially those in the lower classes.† He stared at me, shocked, and pulled back a little. I loved how expressive those eyes were, even if their current emotion wasn't exactly positive. â€Å"You're talking about†¦it†¦it sounds an awful lot like rape.† I shrugged, immediately realizing we needed to steer out of these waters. â€Å"It's hard to rape a succubus. In the ultimate climax, the succubus is the conqueror – especially if the guy ends up blacking out.† â€Å"You aren't really answering my question.† â€Å"And you aren't really asking it.† We lapsed into silence. A moment later Seth took me back into a tight embrace, burying his face in my shoulder this time. â€Å"Hey, now. Don't let it bother you. Don't judge the past by the standards of today. It won't work. They're incompatible.† â€Å"I don't like the idea of you doing things you don't want to do,† he said gruffly. â€Å"I wish I could do something†¦wish I could, I don't know, protect you.† â€Å"You can't,† I whispered, kissing the crown of his head. â€Å"You can't, and you have to accept that.† We went to bed together after that, the first time since the kissing incident. Seth held me tightly all night, even in his sleep, clinging as though I might slip away if he let go. Again, I marveled at his understanding. And again, I questioned whether I was in love yet. How would I know? What was love anyway? I ticked off a list as my hands held tightly to his back. Affection. Connection. Understanding. Acceptance. All these things he gave me. Those were parts of love. All these things he offered freely, no matter how terrible each new discovery about me was. I wondered whether I returned as much as I received. Did I have any right to be in this relationship? Somehow I doubted it, yet it made me want him all the more. When we drove to the bookstore the next morning, he held my hand with a thrilling possessiveness. He didn't let go until we actually cleared the bookstore's door. â€Å"Did Doug come in today?† I asked Beth after I'd made a sweep of the store. â€Å"Yeah. He was here earlier. I think he's in your office.† I walked to the back. The office was dark. When I turned on the light, I found him hunched in a corner, his body curled up in a tight ball. I immediately dropped down beside him. â€Å"What's wrong?† After several seconds, he lifted his eyes up to mine. They were dark and troubled. â€Å"Nothing.† To contradict him seemed both obvious and pointless. â€Å"What can I do to help?† He laughed bitterly, a terrible sound. â€Å"Don't you get it, Kincaid? Nothing helps, that's the problem. There's no point to any of this. You know that as well as I do.† â€Å"Do I?† He gave me a cynical smile. â€Å"You're one of the most depressed people I know. Even when you're smiling and flirting and all of that. I know you hate this life. This world. I know you think it's all stupid. â€Å" â€Å"Not true. There's good in the bad. There's always hope. What's gotten into you?† â€Å"Just reality, that's all. Just woke up and realized how stupid it all is. Dunno why I even bother.† I touched his arm. â€Å"Hey, you're kind of freaking me out here. Did you get any sleep? Do you need something to eat?† He leaned back against the wall, face still bleak and full of snide humor. â€Å"Kincaid, I need so many fucking things, it's not even funny. But you know what? We don't get them. That's how it is. What's that saying? Life is brutish and short?† â€Å"Er†¦close enough.† I sat there with him for a long time, listening to him go on. His words were an outpouring of bitter anger and black despair. A frightening combination. I'd never heard him like this. Not upbeat Doug, always ready with a joke. Doug, the guy who never took anything seriously. His bleak face reminded me of Casey's when I'd found her in the caf? ¦, but she hadn't been this down. As the clock ticked, I wondered what I should do. He certainly couldn't work today, yet I feared sending him home. Who knew what he might do in this mood? Previously, I would never have worried about him hurting himself, but all bets seemed to be off now. â€Å"I want you to stay here,† I finally said, standing up and straightening the kinks out of my legs. â€Å"I've got to get back out there, but I'm going to check on you later, okay? Promise you'll find me if you need me. We'll eat lunch later on. I'll get us some falafels from that place you like.† He only gave me a twisted half-smile, face stormy and mocking. I left, taking the letter opener with me. His mood didn't change as the day wore on; even the falafels did no good. Once more, I wondered desperately what I should do. He had no family in the city I could call. I knew the hospitals had psych emergency services; should I contact one of them? Shortly after lunch, Alec showed up. He avoided Casey's pleading eyes and gave me a smile that tried too hard. â€Å"Hey Georgina, is Doug around?† I hesitated. I didn't like Alec, but he was sort of Doug's friend. Maybe that would help. I led the drummer to the back. When Doug saw him, he leapt up with an astounding burst of energy, his face both desperate and rapt. â€Å"Jesus Christ, man! Where have you been?† â€Å"Sorry,† said Alec. â€Å"I got held up.† They huddled together, then looked uneasily over at me. Sensing I was unwanted, I backed out of the office but not before I saw Alec reaching into his coat and Doug looking very eager. It was Alec, I realized. Alec was feeding Doug whatever drug he was addicted to. The realization made me want to go in there and throttle him, wipe that stupid grin off his face. Yet, when the two emerged a half hour later, the change in Doug was so marked that I couldn't bring myself to act. A swagger had returned to his step, the normal cheery grin back on his face. Janice passed by, and he made some playful remark that caused her to laugh. Seeing me, he pranced up and saluted. â€Å"Ready for duty, boss. What do you have for me?† â€Å"I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I stared stupidly, which only made him smile more. â€Å"Rein it in, Kincaid,† he said with mock severity. â€Å"I know that as a good groupie, you're ready to take me anytime, anywhere. But, as literary professionals, we've got to control our passion until after hours.† I was still staring. â€Å"Um†¦why don't you, uh, grab a register?† He saluted again and clicked his heels together, military style. â€Å"Can do.† He turned to Alec. â€Å"I'll see you at the rehearsal tonight?† â€Å"Yup.† Doug flashed both of us a grin, then sauntered off. I stood there alone with Alec. He waited expectantly, like I was supposed to say something. The words â€Å"fuck off† seemed appropriate, but I changed my mind. I smiled at him. It was a slow, sweeping smile that started with my lips and then shone in my eyes, the kind of smile that said I'd just noticed something I'd never seen before. Something I suddenly liked – and wanted. Alec's own smile faltered. I think hitting on me had become so automatic, he didn't expect a response anymore. He swallowed and then turned his own grin back on. â€Å"A rehearsal, huh?† I said. â€Å"You guys got another show coming up?† â€Å"Next weekend. You going to come?† â€Å"I'll try. Are you going to have another party after?† â€Å"Probably. Wyatt's having one tomorrow if you wanna go to that.† â€Å"Are you going to be there?† I asked silkily, catching his eye meaningfully. â€Å"You bet.† â€Å"Then I'll be there.† I turned to go, still giving him the hypnotic smile. â€Å"See you then.† As soon I was out of his sight, my smile lapsed into a grimace. Ack. I hadn't thought it was possible to loathe that guy anymore, but I'd been proven wrong once again. Still, flirting with him, I'd realized, might be the best way to figure out what was going on with Doug. I felt pretty sure Alec had tried to push whatever he had on Casey. If I appeared to fall prey to his so-called charm too, he might let me share in the goods. Doug, as I soon discovered, certainly wasn't going to provide any help in the matter. â€Å"You've got something,† I teased later when he and I ran into each other in the fantasy books. I gave him the lethal smile. He returned it. â€Å"Magnetism? Sex appeal? Intelligence? Babe, I've got it all.† I stepped forward and pulled playfully on his shirt, looking up into his face. â€Å"That's not what I mean. You've got something good, something you aren't sharing.† He stayed close to me and tugged on a lock of my hair in return. â€Å"Don't know what you're talking about.† â€Å"The hell you don't. Do you know how many hours I've been working for you and Paige lately? Good lord. It's driving me crazy. Grey Goose only goes so far. If you've got some stash, you need to spread the love.† â€Å"Hey, I'll spread as much love as you want. Name the time and place.† â€Å"I thought we were friends.† I pushed lightly on his chest and stepped back with a pout. â€Å"You're holding out on me. No way could you have perked up so quickly. Not after how you were this morning. You took something. â€Å" â€Å"Bah, mood swing. You're a woman; you understand. Just woke up grumpy, that's all. A little falafel and some Kincaid charm, and now I'm good to go. Great even.† He took a step back toward me, apparently hoping I'd renew the flirtation. Heat burned in his eyes, something a little darker and more intense than our typical bantering called for. â€Å"In fact, I'm downright unstoppable now. A god, babe. Come on back to the office, and I'll show you.† I walked away, giving him a taunting look over my shoulder, still playing it light. â€Å"Not my religion, babe.† He laughed as I left him. We'd been flirting for years, and I knew he'd probably take no offense at my teasing or baiting. I, on the other hand, was pissed. Bad enough this shit of Alec's could push Doug into over-the-top exuberance and inappropriate behavior at work. Dragging him into the pits of despair, however, was an entirely different matter. I was going to find out what was going on and put an end to it – even if it meant cozying up to that sleaze, Alec. Remembering one of the other complications in my life right now, I called Bastien later that night for a status check. â€Å"Don't even ask, Fleur .The clouds of failure are gathering.† â€Å"What the hell is it with you depressed guys today? Why do I have to be everyone's goddamned cheering-up committee?† I ordered him to drive to Queen Anne immediately. When he arrived, he was still whining. â€Å"Dana's being really nice to me,† he conceded, â€Å"but nothing intimate. She can't ever come over alone either. She's always got Jody with her or some other CPFV freak. My odds are probably better at getting her sidekicks into bed as a group than ever nailing her. They're all trying to get me to join their cult. I suppose making the gesture can't hurt, but I think I'll see more of her if I pretend to be a hesitant convert. You know, she also asks about you a lot.† â€Å"Like what?† â€Å"Random stuff. Last time she wanted to know how the clothes you bought were working out. What's that about?† â€Å"Not a clue,† I lied. It was ironic, really, because just then Bastien noticed the Victoria's Secret bag still sitting on my counter. My privacy apparently not a concern, he emptied it out and looked through the lingerie with approval. â€Å"You want to try something on?† I asked wryly, noting his scrutiny. â€Å"You always did have good taste.† He held up the black mesh bra and peered at me through it, as though imagining how it would look on. â€Å"Although I still don't know why you buy this stuff. Just shape-shift it.† â€Å"I have a respect for ‘intellectual property.' Whoever designed this deserves their pay.† â€Å"Even if it was constructed by third-world labor?† I made a face. â€Å"Come on, let's get out of here.† â€Å"Where to?† â€Å"A piano bar.† Surprise put his malaise on hold. â€Å"Are those still around?† â€Å"Yup. There's actually a couple of them in Seattle.† In fact, one was even nearby, less than a fifteen-minute walk away. As we went, however, Bastien wouldn't stop worrying about the Dana thing. It drove me crazy. I hated her too, believe me, but I couldn't figure out what was making this such a maniacal obsession for him. Fortunately, the piano bar was just wacky enough to distract him – as I'd hoped it would be. We ate yummy bar food and drank froofy drinks like Midori martinis and Sex on the Beach. Meanwhile, dueling pianists sang everything from Eminem to Barry Manilow. As the evening passed, getting a request played cost more and more money. However, the patrons grew drunker and drunker, so they didn't mind putting the cash down. Knowing this in advance, I had brought a stack of bills, and Bastien and I took great amusement in seeing just how well the piano players could keep up with our increasingly older and more obscure requests. Bastien and I sang along beautifully. Shape-shifting, in addition to so many other benefits, could modify one's voice and vocal cords. The piano players had an astounding knowledge of our requests, and we were so impressed – and drunk – by the end of the night that we gave them a hefty tip. Before we could leave, however, Bastien made me wait to hear one more request. â€Å"I slapped a fifty down with it,† he said. â€Å"They've got to play it soon. I picked it just for you.† â€Å"If it's ‘Superfreak,' I walk,† I warned. He laughed. â€Å"You'll know it when you hear it. It reminded me of you and your writer. â€Å" Sure enough, I immediately knew which song his silly sense of humor had led him to. The smile cracking his face was sort of a giveaway too. Pulling half of me onto his lap, he sang along loudly with Fiona Apple's lyrics: â€Å"I've been a bad, bad girl I've been careless With a delicate man And it's a sad, sad world When a girl will break a boy Just because she can. â€Å" â€Å"You're truly a creature of hell,† I told him, trying to wiggle away. â€Å"You know that, don't you?† â€Å"I just tell it like it is.† He held onto me and kept singing. â€Å"Heaven help me For the way I am Save me from These evil deeds Before I get them done†¦Ã¢â‚¬  When we finally left the bar, both of us laughing and humming, we passed a group of girls even more drunk than us. A few of them gave Bastien open looks of invitation, and I glanced at him expectantly. He shook his head. â€Å"Too easy. Besides, I'd rather go home with you. So to speak.† He walked me back toward my apartment, holding my arm as he had once done when social mores dictated it for anyone of good breeding. The pavement was slick from earlier rain, and a moist chill hung in the air. Not far away, the Space Needle gleamed watchfully above the nearby buildings; it would have Christmas lights on it soon. Bastien tightened his hold on my arm and turned his gaze absentmindedly toward the cloudy sky for a while before looking over at me. † Fleur ,do you want to know why I'm so gung-ho about this Dana business?† I willed myself to sober up, suspecting something big was about to come. â€Å"You mean other than your righteous fury at her?† He smiled gently and looked down at the pavement, watching our feet. â€Å"I'm in trouble. Big trouble.† He sighed. â€Å"You ever heard of a demon named Barton?† â€Å"No. Should I have?† â€Å"Maybe. He works in Chicago. Very high up. Very powerful. He's one of those who expects ‘favors' from his staff.† I nodded in understanding. It was one of the occupational hazards succubi and incubi faced, and probably something else Seth would be happier not knowing about. As workers in the sex industry, so to speak, our demonic supervisors often thought we wouldn't mind one more â€Å"customer.† Many saw it as our duty. Whatever his other failings, Jerome at least had never demanded anything of that nature from me. â€Å"So†¦anyway, Barton has this succubus named Alessandra. Relatively new. You know, a century or so. Beautiful. She has as good an eye for exquisite physical detail as you. And she's bright. Wicked sense of humor. Outgoing.† I stared at him in astonishment. â€Å"Are you in love, Bastien?† â€Å"No, but I was – am – very attracted to her. Hard not to be. We got to know each other, and well, one thing sort of led to another†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"As it often does with you.† â€Å"Yes,† he admitted ruefully. â€Å"But let me tell you, it was amazing. That woman†¦wow.† â€Å"So how are you in trouble?† â€Å"Well, the thing is, Barton's kind of possessive about his people. He expected Alessandra's body to be exclusively for his use – mortal business aside, of course.† â€Å"And he found out?† â€Å"Yes. He turned unbelievably jealous.† Contempt filled Bastien's voice. â€Å"Stupid emotion for our kind. Of course, demon or no, I suppose he might have had reason to feel insecure knowing his girlfriend had been with a sex-master like myself. I mean, once you go Bastien†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Keep telling the story, ego-master. What happened?† â€Å"Well†¦to say he was pissed off would be an understatement. Honestly, I don't think I'd be enjoying your lovely company today if Janelle hadn't done some serious intervening.† Janelle was Bastien's archdemoness in Detroit. â€Å"But mostly she just protected me from physical torture. Everything else is a mess. My career is in shambles. Barton has powerful friends, and Janelle's made it clear she's not going to cover my ass anymore.† We had reached my building and stood outside it now. He ran a hand through his dark curls, face suddenly weary. â€Å"I'm on everyone's shit list all of a sudden. Plans are already in motion to transfer me somewhere else, and I know it's going to be horrific. Like Guam. Or Omaha. That's why I need this Dana thing. A big hit like this – a public humiliation for the other side. It'll put me on top again. They won't be able to punish me, not if I've got a takedown like that on my record.† I started to understand his obsession with the radio host. â€Å"But the takedown isn't exactly taking.† â€Å"I don't know what else to do. I've tried all the old tricks, all the textbook moves plus a few exclusive Bastien moves. None of it's working.† I reached out to him. â€Å"You might have to accept that she's got a strong will,Bas.It happens.† â€Å"I know.† He sounded so miserable, it broke my heart. â€Å"Hey, come on. Don't give up the fight yet. I taught you everything you know, remember? We'll find a way out of this. We'll get that wench wet yet.† He laughed and brushed a finger against my cheek. â€Å"You always make me feel better when I'm around you, you know that? It's one of the wonderful things about you. That and – if the rumors are true – your mouth. â€Å" â€Å"The rumors are true, and I'm going to help you with this, you'll see. Besides, nothing else works on her, there's always hard liquor, right?† â€Å"Ah yes, the old standby.† He hugged me tightly and kissed each cheek. â€Å"Good night, my sweet. Thanks for a lovely evening.† I kissed him back. â€Å"Anytime.† I had my hand on the door handle when I thought of something. â€Å"Hey, Bastien?† He turned from where he'd been walking away down the sidewalk. â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"Why'd you do it?† â€Å"Do what?† â€Å"Alessandra. You must have known how Barton felt about her, right?† â€Å"I did.† â€Å"So why risk it?† He looked at me like he could scarcely believe I had to ask. â€Å"Because I could. Because she was beautiful and wonderful and I wanted her.† I knew better than to argue with that. It was textbook incubus logic. Smiling, I went inside.