La Noche Boca Arriba Translation

L A NOCHE BOCA ARRIBA Halfway down the long hotel vestibule, he thought that probably hewas going to be late, and hurried on into the street to get out hismotorcycle from the corner where the next-door superintendent let himkeep it. On the jewelry store at the corner he read that it was ten to nine;he had time to spare. The sun filtered through the tall downtown buildings,and he–because for himself, for just going along thinking, he did not havea name-he swung onto the machine, savoring the idea of the ride. Themotor whirred between his legs, and a cool wind whipped his pantslegs.He let the ministries zip past (the pink, the white), and a series of stores on the main street, their windows flash ing. Now he was beginning the most pleasant part of the run, the real ride: a long street bordered withtrees, very little traffic, with spacious villas whose gardens rambled all theway down to the sidewalks, which were barely indi cated by low hedges. Abit inattentive perhaps, but tooli ng along on the right side of the street, heallowed himself to be carried away by the freshness, by the weightlesscontraction of this hardly begun day. This involuntary relaxa tion, possibly,kept him from preventing the accident.When he saw that the womanstanding on the corner had rushed into the crosswalk while he still had thegreen light, it was already somewhat too late for a simple solu tion. Hebraked hard with foot and hand, wrenching him self to the left; he heard thewoman scream, and at the collision his vision went. It was like falling asleep all at once. He came to abruptly. Four or five young men were get ting him out from under the cycle. He felt the taste of salt and blood, oneknee hurt, and when they hoisted him up he yelped, he couldn't bear the presssure on his right arm.Voices which did not seem to belong to thefaces hanging above him encouraged him cheerfully with jokes and assurances. His single solace was to hear someone else confirm that thelights indeed had been in his favor. He asked about the woman, trying tokeep down the nausea which was edging up into his throat. While they carried him face up to a nearby pharmacy, he learned that the cause of theaccident had gotten only a few scrapes on the legs. â€Å"Nah, you barely got her at all, but when ya hit, the impact made the machine jump and flop on its side . . . Opinions, recollections of other smashups, take it easy, work him in shoulders first, there, that's fine, and someone in a dust coat giving him a swallow of something soothing in the shadowy interior of the small local pharmacy. Within five minutes the police ambulance arrived, and they lifted himonto a cushioned stretcher. It was a relief for him to be able to lie out flat. Completely lucid, but real izing that he was suffering the effects of aterrible shock, he gave his information to the officer riding in the ambulance with him. The arm almost didn't hurt; blood dripped down from acut over the eyebrow all over his face.He lic ked his lips once or twice todrink it. He felt pretty good, it had been an accident, tough luck; stay quiet a few weeks, nothing worse. The guard said that the motorcycle didn't seem badly racked up. â€Å"Why should it,† he replied. â€Å"It all landed on top of me. † They both laughed, and when they got to the hospital, the guard shook his hand and wished him luck. Now the nausea was coming back little by little; meanwhile they were pushing him on a wheeled stretcher toward a pavilion further back, rolling along under trees full of birds, heshut his eyes and wished he were asleep or chloroformed.But they kept him for a good while in a room with that hospital smell, filling out a form,getting his clothes off, and dressing him in a stiff, greyish smock. They moved his arm carefully, it didn't hurt him. The nurses were constantly making wise cracks, and if it hadn't been for the stomach contractions hewould have felt fine, almost happy. They got him over to X-ray, and t wenty minutes later, with the still-damp negative lying on his chest like a black tombstone, they pushed himinto surgery. Someone tall and thin in white came over and began to look at the X rays.A woman's hands were arranging his head, he felt that they were moving him from one stretcher to another. The man in white cameover to him again, smiling, some thing gleamed in his right hand. He patted his cheek and made a sign to someone stationed behind. It was unusual as a dream because it was full of smells, and henever dreamt smells. First a marshy smell, there to the left of the trail theswamps began already, the quaking bogs from which no one ever returned. But the reek lifted, and instead there came a dark, freshcomposite fragrance, like the night under which he moved, in flight fromthe Aztecs.And it was all so natural, he had to run from the Aztecs who had set out on their manhunt, and his sole chance was to find a place tohide in the deepest part of the forest, taking care not to lose the narrow trail which only they, the Motecas, knew. What tormented him the most was the odor, as though,notwithstanding the absolute acceptance of the dream, there wassomething which resisted that which was not habitual, which until that point had not participated in the game. â€Å"It smells of war,† he thought, his hand going instinctively to the stone knife which was tucked at an angle into hisgirdle of woven wool.An unexpected sound made him crouch suddenly stock-still and shaking. To be afraid was nothing strange, there was plenty of fear in his dreams. He waited, covered by the branches of a shrub and the starless night. Far off, probably on the other side of the big lake, they'd be lighting the bivouac fires; that part of the sky had a reddish glare. Thesound was not repeated. It had been like a broken limb. Maybe an animal that, like himself, was escaping from the smell of war. He stood erect slowly, sniffing the air.Not a sound could be heard, but the fear was still following, as was the smell, that cloying incense of the war of the blossom. He had to press forward, to stay out of the bogs and get to the heart of theforest. Groping uncertainly through the dark, stoop ing every other moment to touch the packed earth of the trail, he took a few steps. He would haveliked to have broken into a run, but the gurgling fens lapped on either sideof him. On the path and in darkness, he took his bear ings. Then he caught a horrible blast of that foul smell he was most afraid of, and leaped forward desperately. You're going to fall off the bed,† said the patient next to him. â€Å"Stopbouncing around, old buddy. † He opened his eyes and it was afternoon,the sun al ready low in the oversized windows of the long ward. Whiletrying to smile at his neighbor, he detached himself almost physically fromthe final scene of the nightmare. His arm, in a plaster cast, hung suspended from an appa ratus with weights and pulleys. He felt thirsty, asthou gh he'd been running for miles, but they didn't want to give him muchwater, barely enough to moisten his lips and make a mouthful.The fever was winning slowly and he would have been able to sleep again, but hewas enjoying the pleasure of keeping awake, eyes half-closed, listening tothe other patients' conversation, answering a question from time to time. He saw a little white pushcart come up beside the bed, a blond nurserubbed the front of his thigh with alcohol and stuck him with a fat needleconnected to a tube which ran up to a bottle filled with a milky, opales cent liquid. A young intern arrived with some metal and leather apparatus whichhe adjusted to fit onto the good arm to check something or other.Night fell,and the fever went along dragging him down softly to a state in whichthings seemed embossed as through opera glasses, they were real and soft and, at the same time, vaguely distaste ful; like sitting in a boring movie and thinking that, well, still, it'd be worse out in the street, and staying. A cup of a marvelous golden broth came, smelling of leeks, celery and parsley. A small hunk of bread, more precious than a whole banquet,found itself crumbling lit tle by little. His arm hardly hurt him at all, and only in the eyebrow where they'd taken stitches a quick, hot pain siz zled occasionally.When the big windows across the way turned to smudges of dark blue, he thought it would not be difficult for him to sleep. Still on hisback so a little un comfortable, running his tongue out over his hot, too-dry lips, he tasted the broth still, and with a sigh of bliss, he let himself drift off. First there was a confusion, as of one drawing all his sensations, for that moment blunted or muddled, into himself. He realized that he wasrunning in pitch dark ness, although, above, the sky criss-crossed withtreetops was less black than the rest. The trail,† he thought, â€Å"I've gotten off the trail. † His feet sank into a bed of leaves and mud, and then he couldn't take a step that the branches of shrubs did not whiplash against his ribsand legs. Out of breath, knowing despite the darkness and silence that hewas surrounded, he crouched down to listen. Maybe the trail was very near, with the first daylight he would be able to see it again. Nothing now could help him to find it. The hand that had unconsciously gripped the haft of the dagger climbed like a fen scorpion up to his neck where the protecting amulet hung.Barely moving his lips, he mumbled thesupplication of the corn which brings about the beneficent moons, and the prayer to Her Very High ness, to the distributor of all Motecan possessions. At the same time he felt his ankles sinking deeper into the mud, and thewaiting in the darkness of the obscure grove of live oak grew intolerable tohim. The war of the blossom had started at the beginning of the moon and had been going on for three days and three nights now. If he man aged tohide in the depths of the forest, getting off the trail further up past the marsh country, perhaps the warriors wouldn't follow his track.He thought of the many prison ers they'd already taken. But the number didn't count,only the consecrated period. The hunt would continue until the priests gave the sign to return. Everything had its number and its limit, and it was within the sacred period, and he on the other side from the hunters. He heard the cries and leaped up, knife in hand. As if the sky wereaflame on the horizon, he saw torches mov ing among the branches, very near him. The smell of war was unbearable, and when the first enemy jumped him, leaped at his throat, he felt an almost-pleasure in sinking thestone blade flat to the haft into his chest.The lights were already around him, the happy cries. He managed to cut the air once or twice, then a ropesnared him from behind. â€Å"It's the fever,† the man in the next bed said. â€Å"The same thing happened to me when they operated on my duode num. Take some wa ter,you'll see, you'll sleep all right. † Laid next to the night from which he came back, the tepid shadow of the ward seemed delicious to him. A vio let lamp kept watch high on the far wall like a guardian eye. You could hear coughing, deep breathing, once ina while a conversation in whispers.Everything was pleas ant and secure,without the chase, no . . . But he didn't want to go on thinking about thenightmare. There were lots of things to amuse himself with. He began tolook at the cast on his arm, and the pulleys that held it so com fortably inthe air. They'd left a bottle of mineral water on the night table beside him. He put the neck of the bottle to his mouth and drank it like a preciousliqueur. He could now make out the different shapes in the ward, the thirty beds, the closets with glass doors. He guessed that his fever was down,his face felt cool.The cut over the eye brow barely hurt at all, like arecollection. He saw himself leaving the hotel again, wheeling out thecy cle. Who'd have thought that it would end like this? He tried to fix themoment of the accident exactly, and it got him very angry to notice that there was a void there, an emptiness he could not manage to fill. Betweenthe impact and the mo ment that they picked him up off the pavement, the pass ing out or what went on, there was nothing he could see. And at thesame time he had the feeling that this void, this nothingness, had lasted aneternity.No, not even time, more as if, in this void, he had passed acrosssome thing, or had run back immense distances. The shock, the brutal dashing against the pavement. Anyway, he had felt an immense relief incoming out of the black pit while the people were lifting him off the ground. With pain in the broken arm, blood from the split eyebrow, contusion on theknee; with all that, a relief in returning to daylight, to the day, and to feel sustained and attended. That was weird. Someday he'd ask the doctor at the office about that.Now sleep began to take over again, to pull himslowly down. The pillow was so soft, and the coolness of the mineral water in his fevered throat. The violet light of the lamp up there was beginning toget dimmer and dim mer. As he was sleeping on his back, the position in which he came to did not surprise him, but on the other hand the damp smell, the smell of oozing rock, blocked his throat and forced him to understand. Open the eyes and look in all directions, hopeless. He was surrounded by an absolutedarkness. Tried to get up and felt ropes pinning his wrists and ankles.Hewas staked to the ground on a floor of dank, icy stone slabs. The cold bit into his naked back, his legs. Dully, he tried to touch the amulet with hischin and found they had stripped him of it. Now he was lost, no prayer could save him from the final . . . From afar off, as though filtering throughthe rock of the dungeon, he heard the great kettledrums of the feast. They had carried him to the temple, he was in the underground cells of Teo calli itself, awaiting his turn. He heard a yell, a hoarse yell that rocked off the walls. Another yell,ending in a moan.It was he who was screaming in the darkness, he wasscreaming because he was alive, his whole body with that cry fended off what was coming, the inevitable end. He thought of his friends filling up theother dungeons, and of those already walk ing up the stairs of the sacrifice. He uttered another choked cry, he could barely open his mouth, his jawswere twisted back as if with a rope and a stick, and once in a while they would open slowly with an endless exertion, as if they were made of rubber. The creaking of the wooden latches jolted him like a whip. Rent,writhing, he fought to rid himself of the cords sinking into his flesh.His right arm, the strongest, strained until the pain became unbear able and he had to give up. He watched the double door open, and the smell of the torchesreached him before the light did. Barely girdled by the ceremonial loincloths , the priests' acolytes moved in his direction, looking at him withcontempt. Lights reflected off the sweaty torsos and off the black hair dressed with feathers. The cords went slack, and in their place thegrappling of hot hands, hard as bronze; he felt himself lifted, still face up,and jerked along by the four acolytes who carried him down the passageway.The torchbearers went ahead, indistinctly light ing up the corridor with its dripping walls and a ceiling so low that the acolytes had to duck their heads. Now they were taking him out, taking him out, it was the end. Face up, under a mile of living rock which, for a succession of moments,was lit up by a glimmer of torchlight. When the stars came out up thereinstead of the roof and the great terraced steps rose before him, on firewith cries and dances, it would be the end.The passage was never going to end, but now it was beginning to end, he would see sud denly the opensky full of stars, but not yet, they trundled him along endles sly in thereddish shadow, hauling him roughly along and he did not want that, but how to stop it if they had torn off the amulet, his real heart, the life center. In a single jump he came out into the hospital night, to the high,gentle, bare ceiling, to the soft shadow wrapping him round. He thought hemust have cried out, but his neighbors were peacefully snoring.The water in the bottle on the night table was somewhat bubbly, a translucent shapeagainst the dark azure shadow of the windows. He panted, looking for some relief for his lungs, oblivion for those images still glued to his eyelids. Each time he shut his eyes he saw them take shape instantly, and he sat up, completely wrung out, but savoring at the same time the surety that now he was awake, that the night nurse would answer if he rang, that soonit would be daybreak, with the good, deep sleep he usually had at that hour, no im ages, no nothing . . . It was difficult to keep his eyes open, thedrowsiness was more powerful tha n he.He made one last effort, hesketched a gesture toward the bottle of water with his good hand and did not manage to reach it, his fingers closed again on a black emptiness, and the passageway went on endlessly, rock after rock, with momentary ruddy flares, and face up he choked out a dull moan because the roof was about to end, it rose, was opening like a mouth of shadow, and the acolytesstraightened up, and from on high a waning moon fell on a face whoseeyes wanted not to see it, were closing and opening desperately, trying to pass to the other side, to find again the bare, protecting ceiling of the ward.And every time they opened, it was night and the moon, while they climbed the great terraced steps, his head hanging down backward now, and up at he top were the bonfires, red columns of perfumed smoke, and suddenly he saw the red stone, shiny with the blood dripping off it, and the spinning arcs cut by the feet of the victim whom they pulled off to throw him rolling down the no rth steps.With a last hope he shut his lids tightly, moaning towake up. For a second he thought he had gotten there, because oncemore he was immobile in the bed, except that his head was hanging downoff it, swinging. But he smelled death, and when he opened his eyes hesaw the blood-soaked fig ure of the executioner-priest coming toward himwith the stone knife in his hand.He managed to close his eyelids again,although he knew now he was not going to wake up, that he was awake,that the marvelous dream had been the other, absurd as all dreams are-adream in which he was going through the strange avenues of anastonishing city, with green and red lights that burned without fire or smoke, on an enormous metal insect that whirred away between his legs. In the infinite he of the dream, they had also picked him up off the ground,some one had approached him also with a knife in his hand, approached him who was lying face up, face up with his eyes closed between thebonfires on the steps.

Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 3

3. The Samurai of Jackson Street TOMMY When he first arrived in San Francisco, Tommy Flood had shared a closet-size room with five Chinese men named Wong, all of whom had wanted to marry him. â€Å"It's horrible-like being packed into a take-out box of Kung Pao chicken,† Tommy had said, and although it wasn't like that at all, and Tommy was just trying to use colorful language which he felt was his duty as a writer, it was very crowded and smelled strongly of garlic and sweaty Chinese guys. â€Å"I think they want to pack my fudge,† Tommy had said. â€Å"I'm from Indiana, we don't go for that kind of stuff.† As it turned out, the Chinese guys didn't go for that kind of stuff either, but were, in fact, very much interested in getting green cards. Fortunately, only a week later, in the parking lot of the Marina Safeway where he worked nights, Tommy met a gorgeous redhead named Jody Stroud, who rescued him from his confinement with the Chinese guys, by giving him her love, a nice loft apartment, and immortality. Unfortunately, little more than a month after that, their minion, Abby, had them bronzed while they slept, and Tommy awoke one night to find that despite his great vampire strength, he couldn't move a muscle. â€Å"I'd rather be trapped in a take-out box of Kung Pao chicken,† Tommy would have said if he could have said anything, which he couldn't. Meanwhile, right next to him, sharing the same bronze shell, his beloved Jody drifted in a dream-state, a side effect of being able to turn herself to mist, a trick she had learned from Elijah Ben Sapir, her vampire sire. Between the dead sleep of daylight, and the floating in a dream-world, she could endure decades inside the statue. Tommy, however, had never learned how to turn to mist. There had never been time to teach him. So come sundown, his vampire senses came on like neon, and he experienced every second of his confinement with an electric intensity that nearly had him vibrating in his shell-an alpha predator pacing the cage of his mind and shredding his reason. Of course, he did the only thing he could do: he went barking at the moon mad. CHET He'd have to lick about a mile of kitty-butt to get the taste of meter maid out of his mouth, but Chet was up for it. He raked a couple of hind-leg kicks through the dust that was the meter maid's remains, and headed across the street and into the alley, where he curled up in the dark and set about blunting the human taste. It was only a little over a month since the old vampire had turned Chet, but already he was losing all sense of his former self. Time was, that he spent his days on Market Street, napping next to William, the homeless man who made his living with a paper cup and a sign that said, I AM HOMELESS AND MY CAT IS HUGE. Chet was indeed very large, and while much of his volume had been fur, he had achieved a weight of thirty-five pounds on a diet of semi-used hamburgers and French fries donated by passersby outside of McDonald's. Now Chet hunted the night, taking down nearly any warm-blooded creature he encountered: rats, birds, squirrels, cats, dogs, and even the occasional human. At first it had only been drunks and other homeless, and the first time he had drained one, his old friend William, who turned to dust in front of him, Chet yowled, ran, and hid under a Dumpster for the rest of the night and all of the next day. There was no regret, simply hunger and elation of the blood rush. It was beyond the satisfaction of the kill, it was positively sexual, something Chet had never known as a normal cat, as he'd been neutered by the animal shelter when still a kitten. But along with speed, strength, and senses far more sensitive than even a human-based vampire, Chet, like his human counterparts, found that he was physically restored to perfection. In other words, his junk was working. He found that soon after the kill he desperately needed to hump something, and the more squirmy and wailing, the better. Above the smells of bus fumes, cooking food, and urine-bathed curbs that pervaded the City, he caught the scent of a female in heat. She might be a mile away, but given his newly heightened senses, he'd find her. A wave of excitement undulated under the fur of his spine, fur that had mostly grown back since the humans had shaved him, mated in front of him, and drank his blood, which served to traumatize his little kitty consciousness before he was turned vampire, and motivated a whole new feeling he'd grown into as a vampire cat: vengeance. For since his metamorphosis, it wasn't just his senses that had expanded. His brain, which before had run a loop of â€Å"eat-nap-crap, repeat,† was now growing into a whole new awareness, getting bigger, even as Chet grew. He was a good sixty pounds now, and roughly as smart as a dog, where before he'd only been a little brighter than a brick. Dog. The hated. There was dog on the air. Coming closer. He could smell it-them-two of them. And now he could hear them. He arose from his butt bath and screeched like an electrified lynx. In response, the neighborhood echoed with a chorus of yowls from a dozen other vampire cats. THE EMPEROR â€Å"Steady, fellows,† said the Emperor. He laid his hand across the neck of the golden retriever and scratched under the chin of the Boston terrier, who squirmed in the great pocket of the Emperor's overcoat, looking like a frantic, black-and-white, bug-eyed kangaroo mutant. â€Å"Cat! Cat! Cat! Cat! Cat!† barked Bummer, with a spray of doggie slobber across the Emperor's palm. â€Å"Cat! Murder, pain, fire, evil, cat! Can't you smell them? Everywhere! Must chase, chase, chase, bite, bite, bite, let me go you insane, oblivious old man, I'm trying to save you, for the love of God, CAT! CAT! CAT!† Unfortunately, Bummer only spoke dog, and while the Emperor could tell that the Boston terrier was upset, he had no idea why. (Anyone who translates dog knows that only about a third of what Bummer said actually meant anything. The rest was just noise he needed to make. Human speech is about the same.) Lazarus, the golden retriever, having battled vampires on and off for the last two months, and being steady by nature, was much calmer about the whole thing, but despite Bummer's tendency to overreact, he had to admit, the smell of cat was tall in the air, and what was more disturbing, it wasn't just cat, it was dead cat. Dead cat walking. Wait, what was that? Not cat-cats. Oh, this was not good. â€Å"He's right about the cat,† Lazarus ruffed, nudging the Emperor's leg. â€Å"We should get out of this neighborhood, maybe go over to North Beach and see if anyone dropped a beef jerky or something. I could sure use a beef jerky. Or we can stay and die. Whatever. I'm good with it.† â€Å"Easy, men,† said the Emperor, alert now that something was amiss. He knelt down, his knees creaking like rusted hinges, and as he looked around, kneaded the spot between Bummer's ears as if he were readying to make doggy-brain biscuits. He was a great, woolly, thunderstorm of a man-broad shouldered and gray bearded, fine witted and fiercely loyal to the people of his city. He had lived on the streets of San Francisco as long as anyone could remember, and while tourists saw him as a raggedy, homeless wretch, the locals viewed him as a fixture, a rolling landmark, a spirit, and a conscience, and for the most part, treated him with the deference they might pay royalty, despite the fact that he was a raving loon. The street was deserted, but a half a block away the Emperor saw the three-wheeled cart of an S.F.P.D. parking enforcement officer, stopped behind an illegally parked Audi. The cart's rotating yellow caution lights chased themselves around the surrounding buildings like drunken, jaundiced Tinkerbells, but there was no officer in sight. â€Å"Strange. It's long past time when a meter maid should be working. Perhaps we should investigate, gents.† But before he could stand, Bummer leapt out of the Emperor's pocket and made a beeline for the cart, trumpeting himself into the charge with a staccato barking fit. Lazarus took off after the black-and-white fur-rocket, and the old man ambled along behind, as fast as his great, arthritic legs would carry him. They found Bummer on the far side of the Audi, snorting and snuffling inside an empty police uniform, and covered with a fine gray powder. The Emperor's eyes went wide. He backed across the sidewalk and stood against the fire door of one of the industrial lofts that lined the street. He had seen this before. He knew the signs. But when he had seen the old vampire and his companions board an enormous yacht in the Bay over a month ago, he thought his city rid of the bloodsucking fiends. What now? There was a crackling static noise from the police cart: a radio. Call it in. Alert his people to the danger. He rolled to the cart, fumbled with the door catch, and reached for the microphone. â€Å"Hello,† he said into the microphone. â€Å"This is the Emperor of San Francisco, Emperor of San Francisco, protector of Alcatraz, Sausalito, and Treasure Island, and I'd like to report a vampire.† The radio continued to crackle and distant voices ghosted through the ether, uninterrupted. Lazarus padded to the old man's side and barked furiously, â€Å"You have to push the button. You have to push the button.† Unfortunately, while the noble retriever understood English, he only spoke dog, and the Emperor did not get the instruction. â€Å"Button! Button! Button! Button!† Bummer barked, springing up and down in front of the police cart. He scurried around to the door and jumped in on the Emperor's lap to show him. â€Å"Yeah, that helps,† growled Lazarus sarcastically. Golden retrievers are not a very sarcastic breed, and he felt a little ashamed and, well, catlike, using that tone of voice. â€Å"Okay. Button! Button! Button! Uh-oh.† â€Å"Button! Button! Button! Uh-oh, what?† barked Bummer. A short ruff from the retriever: â€Å"Cat.† Lazarus boiled out a low growl and laid his ears back against his head. The Emperor saw two of them: cats, coming down the sidewalk toward them. But they didn't look quite natural. The light from the police cart was reflecting back from the cats' eyes like red coals. A screech, there were two more coming across the street. Lazarus turned to face them, snarling now. A chorus of hisses from behind. The Emperor looked in the rearview mirror to see three more cats stalking from behind. â€Å"Quick, Lazarus, in the cart. Up, boy, in the cart.† Lazarus was spinning now, trying to watch all of the cats at once, warning them off with bared teeth and bristled hair. But the cats came on, baring their own teeth. â€Å"Come now,† said the Emperor into the microphone. Something landed hard on the roof of the cart and Bummer yelped. Another thump and the Emperor looked back to see a large cat in the bed of the cart, coming up on two legs and trying to claw around the back window. The old man pulled the door shut. â€Å"Run, Lazarus, run!† Lazarus caught the first cat in his jaws and was shaking it furiously when the rest fell upon him. STEVE â€Å"There's nefarious shit afoot, Foo,† said Abby. â€Å"Bring portable sun and fry these nosferatu kitties before they nom everyone in the ‘hood.† Steven â€Å"Foo Dog† Wong had no idea what his girlfriend, Abby, was talking about, and it wasn't the first time. In fact, much of the time he had no idea what she was talking about, but he had learned if he was patient, and listened, and more important, agreed with her, she would mercilessly sex him up, which he liked quite a bit, and occasionally he got the message. He used the same strategy with his maternal grandmother (without the sexing-up part), who spoke an obscure, country dialect of Cantonese, that sounded to the uninitiated like someone beating a chicken to death with a banjo. Just wait, and all would become clear. This time, however, Abby, whose tone ran from tragically romantic to passionately dismissive, was sounding much more urgent, and the patience gambit wasn't going to work. Her voice in his Bluetooth headset was like having a malevolent fairy bite his ear. â€Å"I'm in the middle of something, Abby. I'll be home as soon as I finish up here.† â€Å"Now, Foo. There's a herd, or flock, or a-what do you call a bunch of kitties?† â€Å"A box?† Foo offered. â€Å"Fucktard!† â€Å"A fucktard of kitties? Okay, sure, that could be it. A pride of lions, a murder of crows†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No. You fucktard! There's a bunch of vampire kitties about to eat that crazy Emperor guy and his dogs right outside on the street. You need to come save them.† â€Å"A bunch?† Steve was having a hard time getting his head around the idea. He'd only recently gotten his head around the idea of one vampire cat, but a bunch, well, that was more. He was just a couple of months away from having his master's in biochem at age twenty-one-he wasn't a fucktard. â€Å"Define a bunch,† he said. â€Å"Many. I can't count them because they're stalking the golden retriever.† â€Å"And how do you know they're vampire kitties?† â€Å"Oh, because I drew blood samples from them, ran it in that centrifuge thingy of yours, prepared some slides, and looked at the blood cell structure under a microscope, duh?† â€Å"No, really,† he said. She was flunking high school biology, there's no way she prepared blood slides. And besides- â€Å"Of course not, you douche nozzle, I know they're vampires because they're stalking a golden retriever and a homeless fuck who's hiding in the vaporized meter maid's cart. That's not standard kitty behavior.† â€Å"Vaporized meter maid?† â€Å"The one Chet ate-sucked her to dust. Come now, Foo, turn your sunbeam full-on and get your luscious ninja ass over here.† Steve had rigged the hatchback of his tricked-out Honda Civic with high intensity UV floodlights, which he'd used to flash fry a number of vampires, thus saving Abby and, for the first time in his life, having a girlfriend and someone who thought he was cool. â€Å"I can't come right away, Abby. The sun lights aren't in the car.† â€Å"Oh my fucking God, there's some little old guy with a cane coming out of the alley. Well, he's toast. Fuck!† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Fuck!† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Oh fuck!† â€Å"What? What? What?† â€Å"Oh-my-fucking-god-ponies-on-a-stick!† â€Å"Abby, you need to be more specific.† â€Å"It's not a cane, Foo, it's a sword.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Come now, Foo. Bring the sun.† â€Å"I can't, Abby. My car is full of rats.† THE EMPEROR The Emperor watched in horror as the cats leapt onto the back of his noble captain, Lazarus. The golden retriever shook himself violently, dislodging two of the fiends, but they were replaced by two more, and three more leapt on top of them, nearly bringing Lazarus to the ground. But they weren't pack hunters, and as each maneuvered for the throat, another attacker was pushed off, his claws shredding both predator and prey as he fell. Blood splattered the windscreen of the police cart. Bummer bounced around inside the tiny cabin, barking and snorting, and throwing himself against the glass, covering everything with angry dog slobber. â€Å"Run, Lazarus, run!† The Emperor pounded on the glass, then pushed his forehead against it as he tried to squint back tears of anguish and frustration. â€Å"No!† He would not do it. He would not watch his companion slaughtered. Outrage filled the ancient, boiler-tank of a man and condensed to courage. He was fighting the door latch when half a cat hit the side window and slid down trailing gore. The door handle snapped off in his hand and he threw it to the floor of the cart. Bummer immediately attacked it and broke a tooth on the metal. Through the haze of blood spray, the Emperor could see another figure in the street. A boy-no, a man, but a small man, Asian-wearing a fluorescent orange porkpie hat and socks, tight plaid trousers that looked as if they'd been teleported out of the 1960s, and a gray cardigan sweater. The little man was brandishing a samurai sword, bringing it down again and again on Lazarus in quick snapping motions, but before he could cry out, the Emperor saw that the sword wasn't even grazing the retriever's coat. With each stroke one of the cats fell away, beheaded or cut in half, both halves squirming on the pavement. There was no spinning, no wind-up or flourish to the swordsman's movements, just grim efficiency, like a chef chopping vegetables. As his targets moved, he pivoted and stepped just enough to deliver the cut, then snapped the blade back and sent it to its next destination. The weight and fury removed from his back, Lazarus looked around and whimpered, which translated to: â€Å"Whaaa-?† The swordsman was relentless, step, cut, step, cut. Two cats came at him from under a Volvo and he quickly retreated and swung the sword in a quick, low arc that approximated a golf stroke and sent their heads back over the car to bounce off a metal garage door. â€Å"Behind!† the Emperor warned. But it was too late. The low attack had thrown the swordsman off-a heavy-bodied Siamese cat launched itself from the roof of a van across the street and landed on the little man's back. The long sword was useless at such close range. The swordsman arched in pain, even as the Siamese clawed its way up his back. He spun, then threw his feet out before him and fell hard on his back, but the Siamese took the impact and dug its fangs into the swordsman's shoulder. A half-dozen vampire cats came scurrying out from under cars toward the struggling swordsman. Lazarus, his fur matted with blood, caught one of the cats by the haunch and bit to the bone. The cat screamed and squirmed in the retriever's jaws, trying to claw his eyes. The others fell on the swordsman with fang and claw. The Emperor threw his shoulder against the Plexiglas door of the police cart, but there was no room to move, to gain momentum, and while the entire cart rocked and went up on two wheels under his weight, the door latch would not give. He watched in horror as the swordsman writhed under his attackers. The Emperor heard a steel fire door hitting brick and light spilled across the sidewalk and into the street. Out of the doorway ran a thin, impossibly pale girl with lavender pigtails wearing pink motocross boots, pink fishnet stockings, a green plastic skirt, wraparound sunglasses, and a black leather jacket that looked studded with glass. Before he could warn her, the girl ran into the street and shouted, â€Å"You motherfucking kitties need to step the fuck off!† The vampire cats attacking the swordsman looked up and hissed, which translated from vampire cat, meant: â€Å"Whaaa-?† She ran right at the swordsman, waving her arms as if shooing birds or trying to dry some particularly stubborn nail polish and screaming like a madwoman. The cats turned their attention to her, and were crouching, readying to leap, when her jacket lit up like the sun. There was a collective screech of agony from the vampire cats as all around the street, cats and cat parts smoked, then ignited. Burning cats made for the alley across the street or tried to hide under cars, but the thin girl ran after them, darting here and there, until each ignited, then burned and reduced itself first to a bubbling puddle of fur and goo, and finally, a pile of fine ash. In less than a minute, the street was quiet again. The lights on the girl's jacket went dark. The swordsman climbed to his feet and fitted his orange porkpie hat back on his head. He was bleeding from spots on his back and arms, and there was blood on his plaid pants and orange socks, but whether it was his or the cats' was impossible to tell. He stood before the thin girl and bowed deeply. â€Å"Domo arigato,† he said, keeping his eyes at her feet. â€Å"Dozo,† said the girl. â€Å"Your kitty-slaying skills are, if I may say so, the shit.† The swordsman bowed again, short and shallow, then turned and trotted across the street, down the alley, and out of sight. Lazarus was digging at the Plexiglas door of the police cart with the pads of his paws, as if he might polish his way through to release his master. Abby scratched his nose, nearly the only part of him not covered in blood, and opened the door. â€Å"Hey,† she said. â€Å"Hey,† said the Emperor. He stepped out of the cart and looked around. The street was painted with blood for half a block, punctuated by piles of ash and the occasional charred flea collar. Parked cars were sprayed in red mist, even the security lights above several fire doors were speckled with gore. Acrid smoke from burning cats hung low in the air, and on the sidewalk greasy gray ash spilled out of the sleeves and collar of the parking officer's uniform. â€Å"Well, you don't see that every day,† said the Emperor, as a police cruiser rounded the corner, the red and blue lights raking the building. The cruiser stopped and doors flew open. The driver stood behind his door, his hand on his gun. â€Å"What's going on here?† he said, trying to keep his eyes on the Emperor and not look at the carnage that surrounded them. â€Å"Nothing,† Abby said.

What is the meaning of the Ninth Commandment to a college student?

The basic premise behind the ninth commandment is truth, whether it is truth in deed, truthful speech or honest thoughts.   If we take the meaning of the commandment further and interpret the words to mean that a person should not lie, then we can understand better how this commandment might impact our daily life, especially in today’s modern environment where deception, and white lies appear to be condoned by our western society. The ninth commandment requires for each individual to be honest in his or her dealings with others, but analysis of the term â€Å"lying† reveals that there is more to being truthful than accurate reporting.The Oxford Modern English Dictionary (1996) defines â€Å"truth† as being â€Å"the quality or state of being true or truthful† (p. 1114) and â€Å"truthful† as â€Å"habitually telling the truth† (p.1114).   By comparison the definition of the term â€Å"lying† in the same dictionary is listed as â₠¬Å"part of a lie†¦deceitful, false† (p.595) where â€Å"Lie† is described as â€Å"an intentionally false statement† (p. 573).   From these interpretations it is easy to reach the conclusion that the definition of both truth and lying is steeped more in the intention of the individual rather than individual acts or words spoken.Brevard Childs (1974) believed that the original idea behind the ninth commandment was a legal one, rather than an ethical one, in that he translated the original text to mean that a person should not tell lies in a court of law (Childs, 1974), however the more modern viewpoint on the meaning of the commandment appears to be related to individual accountability and a desire to live a life of truth (St. John in the Wilderness, 2001, [online]).There are many different ways a person can lie including withholding the truth, slandering another person or action, or telling white lies and despite ethical discussions to the contrary all of these actions are considered untruthful from a biblical perspective.   For example in Leviticus 19:11, we are told, â€Å"you shall not steal, you shall not deal falsely, and you will not lie to one another† (NRSV).   Later in the same chapter we are again told, â€Å"you shall not go around as a slanderer among your people†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Leviticus 19:16). These are just two of the copious number of biblical references that can be found that encourage each individual to be a truthful person, but how relevant is this truth in modern society?Terence Fretheim (1991) interpreted the ninth commandment to convey a foundation for community and social living.   He wrote, â€Å"unless there is an arena in which there is public confidence that social reality will be reliably described and reported† (Fretheim, p.848), the concept of community could not exist.  Ã‚   Blatnik (2004) corroborates that idea and goes on to say, â€Å"there is no community on the face of public lies† (p.3).   Blatnik (2004) also mentions verses in Ephesians that point towards the idea that â€Å"we are bound to each other in a way that a lie in one place, a lie at one level, a lie by one person, is like a ripple in a pond – the whole pond is ultimately affected† (p.3).Walter Brueggemann (1994) wrote in his book that the ninth commandment is â€Å"a recognition that community life is not possible unless there is an arena in which there is public confidence that social reality will be reliably described and reported† (p.26).   He believed that not only was truth an important part of a just and fair legal system, but that truth should be evident in all forms of public interaction.   For example the modern idea that skewing the truth in the advertisement of products in mass media forums is an accepted part of society, but essentially if public truth cannot reflect public reality then an important part of society is undermined and we as members of this society tend, over time, to distrust the messages we get from mass media sources.In his book Commandments of Compassion, Keenan (1999) suggest that as a society we need to â€Å"create a space where truth can be told† (p.4). He believes that truth should be evident in personal relationships, family relationships and public dealings we have with other members of our community.   Unfortunately this level of truth can only be created if all members of society were totally honest with each other and as it is not possible for us as human beings, to read the thoughts of another person, it is often difficult to tell if a person we are dealing with has the same commitment towards living a truthful life as we ourselves would like to have.John Timmerman (1997) also wrote about how to be truthful in all of our relationships, both personal and public. He emphasized the different ways we as individuals could achieve this level of truthfulness and suggested that if we were caref ul in the words we spoke so that we did not give another person the wrong impression, and combined this with attentive listening to another person, then these actions could increase our own individual ability to be truthful at all times.   Timmerman also noted that the idea of promises were almost a sacred act, in that as we believe in the promises from God, so we should ensure that we only make promises we can keep (Timmerman, 1997).According to John Ritenbaugh (1997) lying is rife in our communities.   His article mentions surveys that show that students lie to their parents about 50% of the time, that people in personal relationships lie about 30 percent of the time to their partner, while 12% of four million Americans in the job market had lost their jobs because they had misleading information on their resumes (Ritenbaugh, 1997).   He suggested that the reason lying was so prevalent in our society was because we tend to use other terms for lying, such as â€Å"exaggerati ng† or â€Å"inaccuracy† to describe the untruths.We seem as a society to accept that politicians are up to no good, that a salesman is probably â€Å"putting us on† and that big corporations must be doing something illegal because they make so much money.   The fact that these beliefs have permeated our social fabric to such a degree that these thoughts are commonplace shows just how little truth we expect from others in our daily lives.   This fact alone would suggest that because we do not expect others to tell us the truth, we might be less likely to be truthful ourselves.   It would seem that much of society is based on the idea that ‘everyone else is doing it† so therefore we can absolve ourselves of being accountable and honest in our own dealings with others.The Bible gives us countless examples of what it means to be truthful.   Deuteronomy 32:4 says â€Å"He is the rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of tr uth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He† (NSRV). The teachings from Jesus also contain ideas on how to be truthful, especially in terms of the role model he became for other people.   Jesus was an example of a person who lived by his words on a daily basis, and it is through his example that we can see what changes we might need to put in place in our own lives, to be a better and more truthful person.A Christian student goes to a Christian college with the expectation that the people who share the campus with them are going to live by the same standards as themselves.   One of these expectation is that the other students, the tutors and even the administration staff of the college will all want to abide by the ten commandments and sometimes it can be bit of a shock to us to find that not only are there countless people in general society that fail to live by the commandments on a daily basis, but that some of the people in the college are also failing to li ve by the high standards set by Jesus Christ.However, it is my personal opinion that when it comes to attendance at a Christian educational institution that rather than condemn or alienate those students who might lie to us, or fail the commandments in some way or another, that we need to be forgiving and use the positive Christian influence of the college to help understand why some people find it difficult to be truthful in voice and deed and encourage these people back onto a Christian path in life.   We need to heed the words by Keenan (1999) mentioned earlier that we need to create the space where a person can feel comfortable enough to tell the truth.One of the main reasons people lie to others is based on their own fear of being judged by another person.   Most of us feel the need to make a good impression on others, so we feel we are not doing any harm by just omitting a few pertinent facts, or telling a few white lies to make ourselves appear better in a public light. A lthough the intention behind these actions may not be malicious, any form of untruth is a lie, and the only way we can be truthful people, and keep the ninth commandment is to be totally honest in all our dealings, both personal and professional.As students we are all well aware of how easy it is to be tempted to appear â€Å"better† in the way we behave, especially among our peers (Christian and non-Christian), but as Christians we are also aware of how important it is for us to live by higher standards than other non-Christian people might be prepared to live.   We need to remember that we are all sinners in some way or another, which is why I think that it is so important, when we do become aware that one of our Christian classmates is having problems being honest in their dealings, that we help rather than condemn him.   For example one of our classmates might be telling â€Å"white lies† to his parents because his grades are not as high as they should be.Even though we all learn the importance of being truthful in all of our thoughts, words and actions, it is not our place to ignore or shun that failing student – it is not our place to judge him.   Rather we should help him in spiritual ways by studying scriptures that are appropriate for the situation, and in practical ways by offering to help him study harder so that he is able to get a grade he can be proud of.   Blatnik (2004) told us that just one lie by one individual in a community can affect the whole community, but if we as Christian individuals hold fast to our own truths then through the power of prayer and understanding we can help our fellow students stay true to the teachings of Jesus Christ.The ninth commandment tells us we should not bear false witness against our neighbour – what it is asking us to do is to make truth the foundation for our lives here on earth.   Only when we are completely truthful in all of our dealings with other people around us c an we have an honest relationship with God, and that fact applies to all of us, not only as Christians, not only as college students, but also as members of the human race. ReferencesBlatnik, D.J., (2004).   The Ninth Commandment. Second Presbyterian Church Sermons, accessed online at http://www.2prelex.org/S040418.htm October 2, 2005Brueggemann, W., (1994).   The Book of Exodus, in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 1.   Nashville:   Abingdon PressChilds, B.S., (1974).   The book of Exodus: A critical, theological commentary.   Louisville: Westminster Press.Fretheim, T.E., (1991).   Exodus: Interpretation, a Bible commentary for teaching and preaching, Louisville: John Knox Press.Keenan, J.F., (1999).   Commandments of Compassion.   Franklin, WI: S.J. Sheed & WardOxford Modern Dictionary (Second Edition), (1996), New York: Oxford University Press.Ritenbaugh, J.W., (December 1997).   The Ninth Commandment, Forerunner, Personal. Charlotte, NC:   Church of the Great GodSt. John in the Wilderness [online] (2001).   The Ten Commandments: 9. You shall not answer against your neighbor as a false witness.   Accessed at http://www.stjohnadulted.org October 2 2005.Timmerman, J.H., (1997).   Do we still need the Ten Commandments? A fresh look at God’s Laws of Love.   Minneapolis: Augsburg

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The Individual with a Strong Will - Essay Example I am an individual with a strong will, and this is depicted through the various challenges I have faced, and the manner in which I was able to overcome these challenges. For instance, in one given time, I was very sick, diagnosed by Pneumonia. The doctors gave me some prescriptions, and initially I was reluctant to take these medicines. This is because of the phobia that I had, in regard to the use of medicine. However, because of my will to get well, I forced myself to take the medications, without guidance from the nurse, or even my parents. This was a great surprise to my parents, who were expecting a fight, when it came to convincing me, to take the medication.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   My strong will and exceptional optimism are also seen in my desire to achieve the highest degree in business and become an influential business personality. For example, my passion for business began after studying the successes of Warren Buffet, one of the richest and successful business personalities in the world. I learned that to succeed, an individual has to take some risks in life. Therefore, I saved some money and decided to invest in the stock market. Due to my inexperience, I invested the money in the shares of Noble Energy. Because of my inexperience, I thought that because the company operates in the energy industry, then its shares will be on an increase. However, this was not the case, and this is because of the falling prices of oil (Yetiv, 56). This has made the share price of the company to fall. This is from 50 dollars a share, to approximately 48 dollars per share. However, it should be noted that the share prices of the company used to sell at 70 dollars share, as of the year 2014 (Yetiv, 14). Because I am an optimistic person, and I believe that in the long run, the prices of oil will stabilize, and the share prices of Noble Energy will begin to rise. Therefore, I am still holding on my shares, and I do not have an intention of selling them.

Case study assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case study assignment - Essay Example The Tokyo management concept could not be successful because the French population was not as open to the American ideas as was the Japanese audiences, very exited to see the American Disneyland experience no matter what it cost. Financial losses compelled management to charge high rates of rooms rent and food served. The management found flaws in the European perspective of market financing while comparing it with the US market financing. Later, management revised the marketing plan for Disney by implementing strategic and tactic changes at the right time. Changes were made to adapt to the French culture by allowing wine andentry of pets in the Disneyland. The French characters like Zorro, Mary Poppins, and Alladin were casted in advertisements along with celebration of Donald Duck’s birthday to position EuroDisney on the top of the European destinations for short time visits. The new French CEO changed marketing tactics by capturing local markets based on different touristsà ¢â‚¬â„¢ habits. Advertisements and packages were structured according to the city marketing trends. Park admission rates were reduced by 20% and room rents by 30% with special promotions for the winter season. The name of the park was changed to Disneyland Paris (Case Study). Taking a lesson from its experiences of Tokyo Disney management, the Hong Kong Disneyland marketing strategy was made keeping mainly the Asian audiences in view. Local cultural traditions were particularly taken care not to antagonize the feelings of public as it happened in the case of Tokyo Disneyland. The American experience matched only in the matter of admission fee, which was marginally more affordable and similar to the Disney’s US parks in California and Florida than to the fees in Tokyo and Paris (Asia Times 2005). According to Roy Tan Hardy, vice president of marketing and sales of Hong Kong Disneyland, regarding park’s attractions â€Å"We carried out extensive, in-depth consumer insight

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Topic Development of an Integrated Marketing Communication Mix Strategy - Essay Example This report mainly deals how HP would implement its Integrated Marketing Communication mix strategy in Russia and achieve success. HP is well known for its innovation thus applying its innovation strategy HP can lead the Russian IT industry. The report starts with an introduction on IMC, carried on by market and literature review. The research methodology used for this report is primary research; the technique is described broadly in research methodology. The next part is an analysis and discussion on the marketing strategies specifically the IMC strategies that HP should take up in order to build a stand in Russia. The last section of the report states recommendation for HP which would be beneficial for the company when it enters the Russian market. Briefly the report highlights the IMC plan for HP to help it enter the competitive market of Russia. Introduction Integrated marketing communication is an essential tool for the marketers to communicate with their target audience. A mark eting strategy can be defined as a set of conscious decision made by a marketer in order to determine which segment of the society is being offered a particular product, generally the target market and how to penetrate to the chosen target market. The target market can be the existing or the potential customers which the marketer aims to satisfy with its particular product or services (Koekemoer & Bird, 2004, p.1). IMC helps customers in the various stage of buying process as IMC wraps communications around customers which helps it to nurture and develop a good bonding with its customers, a bound of loyalty which protects the marketer from the intense competition. The company chosen for the report is HP an IT giant based in USA. HP is a technology company which has its operation based in 170 countries across the globe. HP has been known for its technology and services and explores on how these technologies can serve customer better and improve ways of addressing its problems and cha llenges so that the company is able to realize their aspiration, possibilities and dreams (HP, 2011). This project aims to develop an effective integrated marketing communication strategy for the company, which is planning to enter the market of Russia. The Russian technologies have grown from simple nothing to a billion dollar industry in less than a two decade (SRAS, 2006). This phenomenal growth has attracted many IT giants and HP one of the leading IT player plans to enter the Russian IT market. Market and Literature Review The concept of IMC has received a considerable coverage, but even though many of its ardent supporters have noted problems in actually translating the concept into reality. According to many survey it has been revealed that a strong commitment exits by both the marketers and advertising agencies (Eagle & Kitchen, n.d). This study will relay on the research information which is mainly gathered from primary and secondary sources which are based on communication theories, integrated marketing communication theory. Introduction IMC is defined as a strategic approach to corporate communication which coordinates the communication made by the companies to present a consistent message to its consumers and public. To address the issue that communication

Report on the possibility and possible problems of doing business in Essay

Report on the possibility and possible problems of doing business in China - Essay Example They would also be capable of using the connections that they have made with influential partners. Within this report, we examine the macro-environmental factors that have played a role and influenced the success of Visage. The factors at play here are political, technological, economic, and sociocultural. While the political aspects of it can affect the running of the business, it can also help to establish good business relations, which is the key to the business having support and success. Concerns can also be found within the stability of the economy, despite recent rapid growth. It is something that Visage should stay wary about. Fortunately, one of the benefits that Visage could see if they moved their manufacturing company is that resources can be bought at a lower price. Should Visage choose to have investment in China, they would also need to create a greater research scale into the economy to avoid the aforementioned problems. Entering into a joint venture with an already local Chinese company is the best way to go about doing appropriate business in China. If this should be the case, then heavy research must be done to assure that they are getting the best partner, one who already has strong connections with government officials and has already established a trusted company. Should Visage choose to do their trade in China, they would need to consider targeting the middle class, as they have the purchasing power and the will to spend money on quality items. A UK clothes wholesaler, Visage, is interested in expanding its business prospects by moving to China. Deciding to follow the footsteps of their competitors, Visage, which currently domestically manufactures their goods, has decided to look into the possibility of outsourcing in China. As China has become one of the greatest economic powers, it would be a perfect place for Visage to consider investing. In this report, the possible

What is the difference between 'old' and 'new' social movements Essay

What is the difference between 'old' and 'new' social movements illustrate your answer with reference to specific movements - Essay Example Social movements are created through a course of action, starting with disorder or campaigns as a response to a social problem, then organization of involved parties. People mobilize, leadership develops, duties are assigned, the public is notified, and guidelines or strategies begin to form, resulting finally in the establishment of the movement (Polletta & Jasper, 2001, 283). The course of action is not easy and there could be a decline phase in the group when it either disintegrates or is restored in a changed form. Social movements could be either reactive, involving opposition to change, or enthusiastic, with an aim for social change (Rootes, 1990, 10). Proactive social movements that aspire to reform a particular feature of human conduct, like the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement, are transformative (Polletta & Jasper, 2001, 283); those aspiring for an absolute transformation of individual conduct, like religious fundamentalist groups, are liberating (p. 283). The emphasis of the other two kinds is societal transformation: movements with goals of altering a particular feature of society, as represented by labor groups, are alterative, and organizations trying to transform the whole social order are revolutionary (Rootes, 1990, 12). The objective of this essay is to discuss the distinctions between ‘old’ and ‘new’ social movements. Theorists of new social movement observe a greatly reformed social structure behind these new social movements, diversely referred to as ‘postindustrial’, ‘network’, or ‘information society (Pichardo, 1997, 411). In the theory of Melucci (1994, 105), ‘modernization’ has obliged that individuals be able to process or understand the informational or network components on which present-day societies rely on, but heightened individualism has been escorted by great demands toward standardized conformity. On the other hand, the theory of

The Impacts of Black Death in Europe Research Paper

The Impacts of Black Death in Europe - Research Paper Example Capitals, were the toughest hit by the epidemic, suffering a great loss of cultural institutions such as churches and schools. Universities and grade schools were closed and at most abandoned. This was because the institutions did not have enough students to go to class or because teachers were not enough to teach the classes. For instance, Cambridge University alone lost sixteen out of forty lecturers to the plague. Churches lost priests and many people worried that there would be not a single soul left to share testimonies or lead sermons. Bishops and their successors were not spared either. People started to question their values. The atmosphere changed from one of cooperation to an individualism idea. Self-indulgence and self-satisfaction became popular as the whole society started to question what to expect the following day, so people started living each day to the fullest (Gottfried 164). The people became hopeless with the Roman Church and its power, as a result, the churches ’ influence and power declined. They started to question the Roman Catholic beliefs and faith, and God too. The priests had always taught the human race was chosen by God, but at that particular time, they wondered why God was not saving them.Education and religion systems had been brought to a standstill. An aspect of the community that was not as significantly affected by the plague as a culture was politics. The plague did not highly affect the course of politics, but it still had its share.

Recommendation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Recommendation - Essay Example Moreover, the availability of the loans could lead to high prices for the autos hence putting the consumer at a disadvantage. The paper presents the following recommendations to solve the issues presented in the case. The first recommendation is for the banks to reduce the period of repayment of the loan. The longer the period, the higher the risk because the political or economic environment may change over time. Another option on the same is to charge high interest rates on longer years of repayment and low interest rates on few years. By so doing, the consumers will be prompted to go for the fewer years and be sensitive to borrowing that will reduce their borrowing rate. The banks, on the other hand will also be able to get profits within a short period of time and be less vulnerable for offering the loans on a short term basis. Another recommendation is for the banks to base their lending on the payment history of the customers if they had previously borrowed the loans. However, for the new customers, the banks should relate lending to the income and payment abilities of consumers. Considering such elements will lead balance between the banks and their clients. The customers will not be strained to pay the loans while the banks will have a higher surety that the loans will be paid. Another recommendation to solve the problem is based on the root cause of high lending rates. The banks are said to be lending largely due recovery from to a recession period where many of them made big loses. Therefore, this paper recommends that such situation can be solved by government involvement. Government involvement, either through direct involvement or subsidies, could offer financial support to the banks or do away with the need for them to largely lend in order to increase the number of sales. It will also reduce the amount of borrowing from the public. Finally, instead of high lending rates, car scrapping

Financial Systems and audits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Financial Systems and audits - Essay Example An income statement is composed of several items, including sales, costs, increase and decrease in intangible value, taxes, and outstanding shares. Another key accounting record is the balance sheet. A balance sheet categorizes a company’s resources such as assets, liabilities and owner’s equity. According to Pandey (2002), the components of a balance sheet are divided into current and long-term categories. Pandey (2002) further observes that these components are listed in order of liquidity. Besides a balance sheet and income of statement, a statement of cash flows is also very important in a business. A statement of cash flow provides one with information about a company’s cash receipts and cash payments during a period. According to Khan and Jain (2003), a statement of cash flow has several objectives. Firstly, it is effective in predicting the amounts timing and ascertaining of future cash flows. Secondly, it indicates how cash is used and generated. For thes e reasons, it also helps the creditors, stockholders and customers to determine the flow of cash in a business. Thirdly, it helps an entrepreneur to understand the differences between net income and net cash flow from operating activities. Finally, it helps an entrepreneur to examine a company’s investing activities and financing transactions. 2. Importance of accounting concepts It is important for an entrepreneur to understand different accounting concepts the common of which are business entity, matching concept, money measurement, going concern, accounting period, cost concept, realization concept and accrual concept. To understand the importance of each of these concepts it is instructive to examine their roles. To start with, the business entity treats business and owner as two different entities. In other words, a business entity is the very basis of accounting concepts, conventions and principles. The money measurement concept allows an entrepreneur to distinguish bet ween transactions that can be expressed in terms of money and those that cannot. The going-concern concept assumes a business entity can carry out its activities for an indefinite period of time. This concept is important as it facilitates the preparation of financial statements. The accounting period concept is important in calculating tax, predicting future prospects of a business and helping an entrepreneur to procure credit from financial institutions. The accounting cost concept requires all assets to be recorded in the books of account at their purchase price. This requirement is helpful in the sense that it allows an entrepreneur to calculate depreciation of fixed assets. Another key concept is the dual aspect concept which allows an entrepreneur to detect errors. Another key concept is the realization concept which makes accounting information more objective. Equally important is the accrual concept which helps an entrepreneur to know the actual expenses and income during a particular period of time. In addition, using this concept an entrepreneur should be able to calculate the net profit of his or her business. Finally, there is the matching concept which states that revenue and expenses should be recorded in the same accounting period. This concept should help an entrepreneur to ascertain the exact amount of profit or loss of the business. 3. Factors influencing the structure of accounting systems In order to effectively business it is also important for an

Demonstrating Sulphuric acid is Dibasic Essay Example for Free

Demonstrating Sulphuric acid is Dibasic Essay Chemistry Practical Plan Aim The aim of my experiment is to demonstrate that sulphuric acid, H2SO4, is dibasic. Dibasic means that one mole of sulphuric acid can release two moles of hydrogen ions, H+ when it reacts in an aqueous solution. To demonstrate the dibasic nature of sulphuric acid, I shall do two experiments, one involving a titration, the other a gas collection. Predication In my titration, I shall neutralise an acid with a base. Firstly, I will titrate Hydrochloric Acid against Sodium Hydroxide. The balanced chemical equation for this reaction is as follows. HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq)→ NaCl(aq) + H20(l) Hydrochloric Acid, HCl, is a monoprotic acid, meaning that it will release one Hydrogen ion, H+ when reacted in an aqueous solution. The molar ratio in this reaction is 1:1, and therefore 1 mole of Hydrogen ions, H+, will be needed to react with 1 mole of Hydroxide ions, OH-, to form 1 mole of Water, H20. Therefore, I predict that this will mean that an equal number of moles of Hydrochloric Acid will be needed to neutralise the Sodium Hydroxide. I shall then titrate Sulphuric Acid against Sodium Hydroxide, in comparison to Hydrochloric Acid. HCl is monoprotic, whereas H2SO4 is diprotic, and will therefore release double the amount of Hydrogen ions, H+. The reaction is as follows: H2SO4 (aq)+2 NaOH(aq)→ Na2SO4(aq) +2H2O(l) To demonstrate that Sulphuric Acid is dibasic, and that it will release two Hydrogen ions, H+, I predict that only half the number of moles of H2SO4 will be needed to neutralise one mole of NaOH. The molar ratio of acid to alkali is now 1:2, so for every Hydroxide ion released from the Sodium Hydroxide, two Hydrogen ions will be released from the sulphuric Acid, and so only 0.5 mole H2SO4 will be needed to neutralise 1 mole NaOH. For the gas collection experiment, I shall again react firstly a monoprotic acid, then a diprotic acid and compare the amounts of gas collected. My first reaction will be between Hydrochloric Acid (monoprotic) with Magnesium Carbonate. 2HCl(aq) + MgCO3(s) → MgCl2(aq) + H2O(l) + CO2(g) My second reaction will be between Sulphuric Acid (diprotic), and Magnesium Carbonate. H2SO4(aq) + MgCO3(s) → MgSO4(aq) + H2O(l) + CO2(g) For both reactions I shall collect the gas in a gas syringe, and compare the amounts of gas released. When metal reacts with acid, carbon dioxide is released. I will use acids of equal molarity, and the same mass of magnesium carbonate. I predict that the H2SO4 will produce twice the volume of gas in comparison to HCl, as this will demonstrate the dibasity of Sulphuric Acid. Safety Sulphuric Acid is corrosive and therefore goggles must we worn at all times. If spillages occur, these should be washed liberally with cold water. Sulphuric Acid can burn skin and eyes, so lab coats and gloves should be worn. In case of contact with eyes, immediately flush eyes with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes. If swallowed drink plenty of water and seek medical help. Also follow standard laboratory safety such as removing lose clothing and tying hair away from face. Fair Test Titration – to ensure a fair test in my titration, I will use the same amounts of acid the same in each titration, and measure the variation in alkali needed to neutralise the acid. I will use a pipette and burette because they are the most accurate equipment available, being accurate to +/- 0.05cm3. Before filling the burette and pipette I shall rinse them first with distilled water and then with the chemical to be used. This will allow me to take more accurate readings from the equipment and reduce the possible error margin. I shall rinse the burette and pipette also with the solution to be used to ensure no dilutions in my experiment, which could lead to inaccuracy. Gas Collection – to ensure a fair test in the gas collection, I shall use equal masses of Magnesium Carbonate in both collections, and measure the varying amount of Carbon Dioxide released. I will use a gas syringe to collect the carbon dioxide because I think that this I more accurate than upwards delivery – carbon dioxide is soluble in water and this could affect my results. For both experiments, I shall also use the largest values possible as this will reduce the percentage error in my practical to give me more reliable results. Titration Method Apparatus: Sodium Hydroxide (1.0 molar), Sulphuric Acid (1.0 molar), Hydrochloric Acid (1.0 molar), 50 cm 3 pipette, burette, phenolphthalein indicator, white tile, clamp stand, boss, distilled water dispensers, pipette filler, 4 Ãâ€" 100cm3 beakers, 2 Ãâ€" 100cm3 conical flasks, plastic filter funnel. Perform pre-tests to determine the colour change of the indicator at the end point of the titration and the colour of phenolphthalein in acids and alkalis. Prepare the equipment as follows: Burette – rinse with distilled water followed by the solution to be used, NaOH as not to dilute the solution with water. Run solution through and invert the burette to ensure no air bubbles. Fill the burette with NaOH using a filter funnel, and remove the funnel. Record the volume of solution within the burette to 0.05 ml. Pipette – rinse the pipette several times by sucking and releasing the solution to be used, HCl or H2SO4, using a pipette filler, (suck up solution to above the measured mark) Using pipette filler, fill pipette with until the meniscus is slightly above the mark. Take the pipette out of the solution to ensure no atmospheric pressure and allow the liquid to run out slowly until the meniscus is level with the mark. Touch the side of the flask with the tip of the pipette but allow any residue to remain in the pipette. Add 3-4 drops of the indicator phenolphthalein to the solution in the conical flask (no more as indicators are weak acids and so can have an effect on the titration) Use a white tile to help identify the colour change at the end point. Run the solution from the burette whilst swirling, stop as soon as the indicator colour changes. Record the volume of the rough titration. Repeat the titration carefully and drop wise until the colour is about to change, then add half a drop at a time. When the faintest detectable colour change can be noted, record the final volume to within 0.05 ml. Repeat the titration to get three accurate titrations within 0.1 ml of each other. Gas Collection Apparatus: Hydrochloric Acid (1 molar), Sulphuric Acid (1 molar), Magnesium Carbonate, 6 conical flasks, gas valves and bungs, gas syringe with delivery tube, Clamp stand and boss. Set up the experiment as shown. React 0.34g MgCO3 with 100ml HCl for at least 10 minutes or until the reaction is complete. Record the volume of CO2 produced. Repeat three times, ensuring that the gas syringe is always set at zero before the experiment is set. Repeat with H2SO4to allow the comparison of results. Quantities Titration From my research I know that the maximum volume of Sodium Hydroxide will be needed in the titration with Hydrochloric Acid. The burette I will be using can measure accurately up to 50cm3. I from my calculations, this amount will be used to neutralise 50cm3 of acid. For the reaction with Sulphuric Acid, twice the volume of NaOH shall be needed to neutralise the acid. Therefore, I shall use only 25cm3 acid for both titrations, as I know that 50cm3 NaOH is the maximum volume I will need. The advantage of using the largest volumes possible is that the percentage error is reduced, and my experiments will therefore me more accurate. Gas Collection H2SO4(aq) + MgCO3(s) → MgSO4(aq) + H2O(l) + CO2(g) This is the reaction that I predicted would release the most carbon dioxide. I therefore had to work out what the maximum amount of product I could use within the practical limits of my apparatus. Max volume gas released – 100cm3 No. moles = actual volume à · 24 = (100à ·1000) à · 24 = 0.004 moles CO2 Molar ratio MgCO3: CO2 =1:1 Therefore 0.004 moles MgCO3 Mr MgCO3 = 24+12+ (16 x 3) =84 Actual Mass = number of moles x mass 1 mole = 0.004 x 84 0.34g Magnesium Carbonate to be used. The Sulphuric Acid must also be present in excess to ensure the reaction goes to completion, and so I will therefore use 0.1 mole H2SO4. Volume = number of moles à · concentration = 0.01 à ·1 = 0.01 dm-3, or 100 cm-3 2HCl(aq) + MgCO3(s) → MgCl2(aq) + H2O(l) + CO2(g) For my second reaction, I shall use the same mass of Magnesium Carbonate, and provided the acid is still in excess, the same volume of Hydrochloric Acid, to ensure a fair test. Mass MgCO3 to be used = 0.34g Molar ratio HCl: CO2 = 2:1 Therefore 0.004 x 2 moles HCl to be used. To allow the acid to be present in excess, I shall use 0.01 mole of Hydrochloric Acid. Therefore, volume = number of moles x concentration =0.01 Ãâ€" 1 =100cm3 Specimen Calculations Titration using Sodium Hydroxide and Hydrochloric Acid HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq)→ NaCl(aq) + H20(l) Volume HCl used: 25 ml or 0.025 dm-3 Number of moles HCl = concentration (mol dm-3) Ãâ€" volume (dm-3) = 1mÃâ€" 0.025 dm-3 = 0.025 moles HCl Molar ratio NaOH: HCl = 1: 1 Therefore 0.025Ãâ€"1= 0.025 moles NaOH Volume NaOH = number of moles Ãâ€" concentration (mol dm-3) = 0.025 Ãâ€" 1 =0.025 dm-3 This shows that an equal volume of Sodium Hydroxide is needed to neutralise the Hydrochloric acid, indicating that for every OH- ion in the NaOH, one H+ ion was released from the Hydrochloric Acid to form H2O, a neutral molecule. This shows that Hydrochloric Acid is monoprotic, as it releases one Hydrogen ion when it is reacted in an aqueous solution. Titration using Sodium Hydroxide and Sulphuric Acid H2SO4 (aq)+2 NaOH(aq)→ Na2SO4(aq) +2H2O(l) Volume H2SO4 used: 25 ml or 0.025 dm-3 Number of moles H2SO4 = concentration (mol dm-3) Ãâ€" volume (dm-3) = 1mÃâ€" 0.025 dm-3 = 0.025 moles H2SO4 Molar ration NaOH: H2SO4 = 2: 1 Therefore 0.025à ·2 = 0.0125 moles NaOH Volume NaOH = number of moles Ãâ€" concentration (mol dm-3) =0.0125Ãâ€" 1 = 0.0125 dm-3 This shows that only half the volume of Sodium Hydroxide was needed to neutralise the Sulphuric Acid, indicating that for every OH- ion in the NaOH, two H+ were released from the Sulphuric Acid, demonstrating its dibasity, as for every mole of Sulphuric Acid reacting in solution; two moles of Hydrogen ions were released. Gas Collection 2HCl(aq) + MgCO3(s) → MgCl2(aq) + H2O(l) + CO2(g) Number of moles MgCO3 = actual mass à · mass 1 mole Mr MgCO3 = 84 = 0.34 à · 84 = 0.004 moles Molar ration HCl: CO2 = 2: 1 Therefore 0.004 à · 2 = 0.002 moles CO2 Volume = number of moles x 24 = 0.002 Ãâ€" 24 = 0.048 dm-3 or 48cm3 H2SO4(aq) + MgCO3(s) → MgSO4(aq) + H2O(l) + CO2(g) Number of moles MgCO3 = actual mass à · mass 1 mole Mr MgCO3 = 84 = 0.34 à · 84 = 0.004 moles Molar ratio H2SO4: CO2 = 1: 1 Therefore 0.004 moles CO2 Volume = number of moles Ãâ€" 24 = 0.004 Ãâ€" 24 =0.096 dm-3 or 96cm3 When a metal carbonate reacts with acid, carbon dioxide is released. These results show that when Magnesium Carbonate reacts with Sulphuric Acid, twice the volume of Carbon Dioxide is produced in comparison to its reaction with Hydrochloric Acid. This shows that, as we know HCl to be a monobasic acid, Sulphuric Acid is dibasic, as it produced double the volume of gas as a result of its two Hyrdogen ions that are released. Bibliography ‘Chemistry’ – Chris Conoley and Phil Hills (p. 332) Collins Educational 1998 Steven Doherty – Atoms, Molecules and Stoichiometry www.catalogue.fisher.co.uk/scripts Cambridge University Press 2000 ‘Chemistry’ Brian Ratcliff

Relationship Between Information Rich in Information Poor

Relationship Between Information Rich in Information Poor 1. Introduction In order to discuss Feathers chapter 5 â€Å"information rich and information poor† conclusion of his book â€Å"The information Society, a study of continuity and change†, we need to understand what actually is information rich and information poor in relation to information society. We need to analyze what the political dilemma is; is it only a political dimension related issue within the information society? Is it a choice? And if there is, which way should be chosen and consider as politically correct? And finally we need to find what other real opportunities or options are given to us. This certainly is a discussion full of perplexity on which I will argue that despite the geo-political discrepancies between developing countries and developed countries the â€Å"digital divide† is not sine qua non to socio-economic political decisions anymore but has evolved in the past years into an Auto-Democratisation and Liberalisation and should be bridged by a more eff icient and targeted educational plan, internationally applied beyond any economical barriers. 2. Defining what information society is The Internet is the only mass medium that is newly created in the second half of last century and as Mehra (2004) says, the internet has tremendous potential to achieve greater social equity and empowerment and improve everyday life for those on the margins of society. The acceleration of development in information and communication technology over the last decade has a major impact on social, political, cultural or economical issues. What is the role being played by the Internet in the information society? The Internet is nowadays seen as the pivotal point of view of the â€Å"information society† and can be regarded as a reflection of our daily reality with its multiple opportunities and danger. The â€Å"information society† produces a â€Å"class division†, a clash between people who havent access to the majority of knowledge and those who are â€Å"information rich†, contributing to the economic wealth. This gap between â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have-nots†, between â€Å"information rich† and â€Å"information poor† keeps increasing and has radical effects of changing or at least substantially affecting our society. A more critical definition of â€Å"information society† given at BusinessDictionary.com combines both: Post-industrial society in which information technology (IT) is transforming every aspect of cultural, political, and social life and which is based on the production and distribution of information. It is characterized by the pervasive influence of IT on home, work, and recreational aspects of the individuals daily routine, stratification into new classes those who are information-rich and those who are information-poor It is generally referred to as the â€Å"digital divide† terminology: â€Å"the gap between those people who have Internet access and those who do not† Collins English Dictionary (2003). With a slightly differentiation Mehra (2004) uses adjectives and add the technical aspect of computers to this definition. Looking at the multiple and almost identical definitions of â€Å"information society† and its inextricable â€Å"digital divide† we can conclude that by â€Å"digital divide† it is meant the splitting of those who use or not use Internet resources. the â€Å"have-nots† cannot access computers and Internet resources and therefore are disadvantaged, falling into a an unequal position compared to the †haves†, the one who gains access to information throughout new technologies and therefore participate actively to the social, political, cultural and economical life. This concept comes from â€Å"information society† theorists, which predicts an exceptional social impact on the product society, Webster (2006). Herbert Schillers corporate capitalism (p. 128), Jà ¼rgen Habermass public sphere (p. 163), Anthony Giddenss surveillance and reflexive modernisation (p.206), post-modernist Jean Baudrillards signs signification (p. 244) or Zygmunt Baumans liquid life (p. 260), not to forget Daniel Bells post-industrial society, techniques and technologies of production, change from Primary Industries such as agriculture and industrialism to post-industrialism, are the basis for evidence that technology is central for the productivity increase and resulting economic wealth, referred as Technological determinism. (p. 120). Manuel Castells on the other hand with his network society is focusing on social plurality; leaving the old working class concepts and stratification structures behind, bringing to it new Parameters like flexibility and adaptabilit y and herewith become informational Labour, referred as informational Capitalism. (p. 100) 3. Are â€Å"Haves† and â€Å"Have-nots† always â€Å"information-rich† and â€Å"information poor†? Looking at the given definitions it would almost imply that people having a computer and Internet access would automatically be seen as haves, but sometimes in developing countries and certainly in developed countries were consumers widely have access to these technologies we meet situations where they are not considered as information rich. We should look at a different approach and formalise the differentiation within our daily reality. The â€Å"Information poor† are consumers who use traditional mass media information such as television, DVDs, radios and magazines. They possess a wide range of electronic devices, MP3 players, PDAs, game consoles and other computing machines. They are considered as passive consumers of information and nowadays as passive users of new technologies, downloading digital e-books, listening to their favourite music, playing computer games, reading the last international news. But they do not interact nor create any of this provided Information and are certainly not involved in decision taking. On the opposite â€Å"information rich† stands for a new elite within the information society. They are involved into acquiring and processing information, using web 2.0 online applications, producing personalised journals on community platforms, elaborating group discussions in forums with a certain level of knowledgeable competence. They are acting at manager levels thanks to their acquired knowledge and overall literacy. They are the protagonists of this ever-growing information and technology society who possesses the knowhow of Selective processing, generating and distributing information. This selective process of evaluating provided information is determined by the consumers rather than the producers. Consumers pull out the information that fits their needs to increase the value of the already acquired information. They allocates their own criteria of values to the chosen information, they can absorb in its totality, the Values could also reach a certain level of accumulation where the effective processing of it becomes then ineffective, considered as â€Å"information overload†, but the average â€Å"information rich† does know how to handle this, as I will deepen later. Do it now â€Å"The limit is the sky† would be a perfect slogan on planet Utopia where every active user would have become â€Å"information rich†, information access would have been made unlimited, where the knowledge boundaries would be bridged on an information rainbow but on planet Earth our economical reality becomes a barrier where the consumers are blocked by the depth of that availability made in the acquisition of the needed information. Some are available for free supplied by institutions and governmental authorities, some are partially available for publicity purposes (book retailers, information providers) and others specifically recognised to be accessible only with subscriptions or tuition fees. This brings us to the undeniable fact that information consumers are forced to accept the concept of economical value attributed to information by its producer or provider and herewith underline the political dilemma the â€Å"information society† is confronted with. Information itself contributes to extend the already existing gap between developing countries and developed ones. We could not agree more on Feathers statementthat the comparative success of the information-rich economies, and the relative weakness of those that are comparatively information poor, is in itself an argument for the importance of information. The attributed values to information are considered by information society theorists to be one aspect of the evolution of social economic societies; social, political and cultural wealth have always been mirrors of strong economic powers where it could flourish and participate to its economical success. Following Feathers analysis on developing countries, development and exploitation of information technology has become indispensable and value of information fundamental, as shown with Japan, Singapore and Korea, were scientific and economic information are largely accessible and beneficially contribute to primordial economic changes. But unlike these three economically successful Asian countries, major differentiation could also be seen within industrialized countries; between the northern highly agriculturized countries and the Southern ones, accessibility ofinformation resources on comparative basis, the consumer gains from information evaluation but also could suffer in detriment of its productivity. To what extent information becomes one of the tools and enhances already existing knowledge to improve long used agricultural and industrial processes. Information does not become the centre of its economical wealth while contributes to it. The awareness based on analysis of acquired information and its resulting decisions to an enhancement or changes in primer sectors economy corroborates the views information helps â€Å"economic societies† but does not evolve to an â€Å"information society† as such. 4. The digital divide as political dimension The question if Internet opens emancipatory possibilities or whether further enlarges the gap that already exists between the â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have-nots† remains controversial. You will not achieve equality by providing each Third World villagers, ethnic minorities or other â€Å"have-nots† with a computer and Internet access. Access to information communication technology cannot be seen as a standalone solution. The origins of this disparity are far deepening within their educational, socio-cultural and socio-economical problems as Berude (2005) explains. Early Finding by the Orbicom initiative, Sciadas (2003) in collaboration with the Canadian International Development Agency, the InfoDev Programme of the World Bank and UNESCO, shows definitively the enormity of digital divide, separating the â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have-nots† countries by many decades of development, mainly concentrated in Africa but some of them also in the Asian area. Desp ite the fact that the digital divide is generally speaking closing, this report shows that the progress made between the poorest and the â€Å"in-between† countries was not sufficient to close this disparity, while â€Å"upper-middle† countries made distinctive progress to the top and herewith widen the overall gap between the very rich and very poor, and this regardless of the acquisition of ICT and installing new fibreglass high debit telephone lines. There is an undeniable necessity to acquire research skills, literacy skills or generally related computer skills before a user can be called an internaut, a protagonist: The use of Internet requires a much higher literacy skill than traditional media like television, radio or magazines in order to find analyse and process the requested information. There is no title page with table of contents (publications) and no fixed schedule (television, radio) on the Internet. The Internet is basically a â€Å"pull medium† where targeting specific information, articles, research strategies and selective thinking are necessary. Media literacy can therefore be considered as a barrier to Internet access, and this in any type of consumer groups, not only in developing countries but also in our Western countries. Unless there are strong political wills were ICT is recognized by governments as a development tool, were significant efforts are made in education, introduction to ICT in schools, were teaching programs are developed, these countries will not have any significant economical growth. In developed countries the Internet was mainly of layers with higher incomes and educational levels. ENLARGE VIEW while the population in many developing countries are totally excluded from access to the Internet. ENLARGE VIEW 5. Other opportunities and options The danger of such a gap within the society cannot be minimized that easily and solutions offered by public institutions like â€Å"Internet access for all† in public libraries, set up of information communication technologies within public schools or private funded projects like Microsoft founder Bill Gates â€Å"one computer for each children†, were the first stones set to cross the gap between information rich and information poor. But it unfortunately is not taking all citizens and generation groups into account. ENUMERE It is necessary to illuminate the different social perspectives which would integrate this socio-economical as well at it socio-cultural aspects in order to create an awareness of the complicity of this dilemma. Bourdieu already suggested and identified this perspective as overall capital. DESCRIBE According to Bourdieu (1993), the overall capital of different fractions of the social classes is composed of differing proportions of the various kinds of capital. It is mainly in relation to the middle and upper classes that Bourdieu elaborates this variation in volume and composition of the four types of capital These differences are a consequence of complex relationships between individual and class trajectories. Moreover, the values attached to the different forms of capital are stakes in the struggle between different class fractions Meritocratic teaching Particular attention should be thrown on the field of media education. The Internet, as an above medium influenced the perception of the users, the Media literacy is seen against the background of Info-Poor-/Info-Rich-effects. Thus, an Internet literacy can lead because of lack of cultural assimilation, for example when many senior citizens to information-poor effects. But even in children and adolescents in turn, the media education challenged when it comes to issues such as the ability, credibility with the media, particularly via the Internet to assess common information. 6. Conclusion By redefining socio-economic gaps between â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have-nots† and whether it is part of the political dilemma, the information society is on its way to become a powerful tool that could eradicate worlds poverty. Yet it the remaining problems are not only to be seen as a sociological struggle, but rather are perceived as a pedagogical challenge. 7. References Beasley-Murray, J. (2000, June 15). Value and Capital in Bourdieu and Marx. InI one-stop shopping for the real news. Retrieved December 30, 2009, from http://www.williambowles.info/sa/cultural_capital.html Berude, L. (2006). The Digital Divide, or Who Gets to Be Part of the Information Society? Multimedia Information and Technology Digital, 32(3), 26-33. Families, cultural resources and the digital divide: ICTs and educational advantage. (2003, April 1). Australian Journal of Education, 47, 18-39. Retrieved December 30, 2009, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6475/is_1_47/ai_n29004669 Feather, J. (2008). The Information Society: A Study of Continuity and Change (5 ed.). London: Facet Publishing. Sciadas, G. (2003). Monitoring the Digital Divideand Beyond. Montreal, Canada: Orbicom. Webster, F. (2006). Theories of the Information Society: Third Edition (International Library of Sociology). New York: Routledge. information society definition. (n.d.). BusinessDictionary.com Online Business Dictionary. Retrieved January 2, 2010, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/information-society.html