Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Nine

He said, â€Å"Hi.† And she said, â€Å"Ho.† God. GOD. Could she just say one normal thing? Thanks Crazy Mouth. He cocked an eyebrow at her. â€Å"I didn't know you were coming to prom.† â€Å"I-changed my mind at the last minute.† â€Å"You look nice.† â€Å"You too.† Which was an understatement. He looked like a double stack of cinnamon apple pancakes with a side order of bacon and hash browns (extra crispy). Like the best thing Miranda had ever laid eyes on. She felt herself staring at him, then looked away, blushing. There was a moment of silence. Another one. Don't let it go beyond four seconds, she reminded herself. It had to have been one second already; that left three, now two, say something! Say- â€Å"Are you wearing space pants?† Miranda asked him. â€Å"What?† How did it end? Oh, right. She said, â€Å"Because your butt is fine.† He gazed at her in that way he had like he was measuring her for a straitjacket. â€Å"I think-† he started, then stopped and seemed to be having trouble talking. Cleared his throat three times before finally saying, â€Å"I think the line is ‘because your butt is out of this world. â€Å" â€Å"Oh. That makes a lot more sense. I can see that. See, I read it in this book about how to get guys to like you and they said it was a line that never failed but I got interrupted in the middle and the line before it was about china-not the country, the kind you eat off of-and that is where the fine part was but I must have gotten them confused.† He just kept staring at her. She remembered the other advice from the book, â€Å"when in doubt, make an offer,† reached out, grabbed the first thing she could put her hand on, held it up to his chin, and said, â€Å"Nuts?† He looked like he was about to choke. He cleared his throat a few times, took the nuts from her, put the bowl back on the table, stepped toward her so that their noses were almost touching, and said, â€Å"You read a book about this?† Miranda couldn't even hear his heartbeat over the sound of her own. â€Å"Yes, I did. Because clearly I wasn't doing it right. I mean, if you kiss a guy and he pulls away from you and looks at you like your skin just turned to purple slime, clearly you need to spend some time at the self-help section of-â€Å" â€Å"You talk more when you're nervous,† he said, still standing close to her. â€Å"No I don't. That's absurd. I'm just trying to explain to you-â€Å" â€Å"Do I make you nervous?† â€Å"No. I'm not nervous.† â€Å"You're trembling.† â€Å"I'm cold. I'm wearing practically zero clothes.† His glance went to her lips, then back to her eyes. â€Å"I noticed.† Miranda gulped. â€Å"Look, I should-â€Å" He caught her wrist before she could take off. â€Å"That kiss you gave me was the hottest kiss I've ever had. I pulled away because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stop myself from ripping off your clothes. And that didn't seem like the right way to end a first date. I didn't want you to think that was all I was interested in.† She stared at him. There was silence again, but this time she didn't worry about how long it went on. â€Å"Why didn't you tell me?† she said finally. â€Å"I tried to, but every time I saw you afterward you disappeared. I got the feeling you were avoiding me.† â€Å"I didn't want things to be awkward.† â€Å"Yeah, there was nothing awkward about you hiding behind a plant when I came into the dining hall at lunch on Wednesday.† â€Å"I wasn't hiding. I was, um, breathing. You know, oxygen. From the plant. Very oxygenated, that air is.† Insert head in oven now. â€Å"Of course. I should have thought of that.† â€Å"It's a health thing. Not many people know about it.† Leave until no longer HALF BAKED. â€Å"No, I'm sure they-â€Å" Miranda blurted. â€Å"Did you really mean that? About liking it when I kissed you?† â€Å"I really did. A lot.† Her hands were shaking. She reached up and pulled him toward her. Just as the music went off, the emergency-exit lighting went on and a tinny voice announced over a loudspeaker, â€Å"Please make your way to the nearest exit and leave the building immediately.† She and Will were pushed in different directions by the crowd surging to the door, being guided by four men in full body armor. The message kept repeating, but Miranda wasn't hearing it or Ariel West screaming that someone was going to PAY for RUINING her NIGHT or the person saying that dude, this was the sweetest way to end a prom ever, man, he was so high. She was hearing again the one-two-three cha-cha heartbeat of Deputy Reynolds, slightly muffled by body armor. This was no drill. â€Å"It's us, isn't it?† Sibby said, rushing over to stand next to Miranda. â€Å"That's why those storm-trooper guys are here. For us.† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"You were right. I should have stayed hidden. This is my fault. I don't want anyone to get hurt. I'll just turn myself over to these people, and they'll have to let-â€Å" Miranda interrupted her. â€Å"After all that? With only three hours left to go? And you, blend-it-like-butter girl? No way. It's not over. We can totally get out of this.† She tried to sound confident, but she was terrified. Just what do you think you're doing? U-Suck channel demanded. I have no idea. Sibby looked at her, eyes blazing with hope. â€Å"Do you mean it? You have a way out?† Miranda swallowed, took a deep breath, and said to Sibby, â€Å"Follow me.† To herself: Please don't fail.

Lab Researching Networking Standards Essay

Part 1: Research Networking Standards Organizations Gather information about the major networking standards organizations by going on a web surfing treasure hunt. Identify important characteristics of some of the organizations. Part 2: Reflect on Internet and Computer Networking Experiences Reflect on how the various networking standards organizations enhance our experience of the Internet and computer networking. Background / Scenario Using web search engines like Google, research the non-profit organizations that are responsible for establishing international standards for the Internet and the development of Internet technologies. Required Resources Device with Internet access Part 1: Research Networking Standards Organizations In Part 1, you will identify some of the major standards organizations and important characteristics, such as the number of years in existence, the size of their membership, the important historical figures, some of the responsibilities and duties, organizational oversight role, and the location of the organization’s headquarters. Use a web browser or websites for various organizations to research information about the following organizations and the people who have been instrumental in maintaining them. You can find answers to the questions below by searching the following organizational acronyms and terms: ISO, ITU, ICANN, IANA, IEEE, EIA, TIA, ISOC, IAB, IETF, W3C, RFC, and Wi-Fi Alliance. 1. Who is Jonathan B. Postel and what is he known for?

Components of American Economic Growth between 1820-1860 Essay

Despite the thrust of the Jeffersonians towards agrarian reliance and its expansion, by 1820 however, the American economy was moving more towards industry and technology. American economic growth was â€Å"linked to and influenced by events elsewhere in the world particularly in Great Britain which was the home of the Industrial Revolution. † The advance of industrialization fueled economic growth. There were the technological innovations that allowed for the increase in production. With the factory system, we see for the first time that goods were produced faster than the population could grow. It was fortunate that the United States has abundant supply of natural resources or raw materials necessary for the production of goods. Moreover, with increasing European migration to the Americas, the demand for additional workers necessary for economic expansion was met. There were other factors that contributed to this continued development. Improved transportation played a key role. There was a time that the Federalists and anti-Federalists were arguing against the viability and management of a continued expansion. This has now been rendered moot as canal-building projects in the 1820’s and 1830’s and the construction of the railroads which dramatically transformed this situation. Moreover, it was also instrumental in bringing about economic and geographic expansion. â€Å"Canals and railroads provided farmers, merchants and manufacturers with cheap and reliable access to markets and goods and encouraged Americans to settle the frontier and cultivate virgin lands. † Before the canals, the freight rates were prohibitive and it was not financially viable to produce more that the local market. Then, seeing Britain’s success with the steam-powered railways, the U. S. followed suit with the construction of its railroads which does not freeze over unlike canals. With railroad expansion, the U. S. experiences faster economic growth. â€Å"Goods, people, commercial information flowed even more predictably, rapidly and cheaply. † As well, improved transportation â€Å"stimulated agricultural expansion and regional specialization. † Rather than produce diverse products for local consumption, they can just import staples from other regions and focus instead on producing products that are high yield and suitable to their soil and climate. Hence, by the late 1830’s â€Å"the old Northwest had become the country’s granary while New England farmers turned to dairy products. † Then there was the infusion of capital from foreign investors and from the fast-growing merchant class. There were new investments and the rise of new enterprise. While cities had the major share of factory concentration which led to urbanization, there were one or two factories as well which located in the smaller towns. Local and state governments did their share in encouraging entrepreneurship by passing laws of incorporation, granting tax breaks or monopolistic control, underwriting bonds for improvement projects and provision of loans. Judicial decisions also created ownership and concept of property rights and the binding nature of contracts. There was also the rapid spread of education that fostered innovation, productivity, discipline and skills development. Then, there were the intangible factors. The Americans in this era were simply thinking differently. The entrepreneurial outlook was present and there was a constant drive for change and improvement. Work Cited â€Å"Economic Transformations in the Northeast and the Old Northwest. † Name of Book. XXX ed. Year Published.

Legal issues in cloud computing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Legal issues in cloud computing - Essay Example Such clauses usually require the customer or a supplier to test the equipment according to specified testing procedures. The supplier is also required to rectify any defects on the equipment or allow the customer to reject the equipment and get a refund (Salido 21). There is always the risk of accidental or deliberate, but unauthorized destruction or modification of data by rogue employees of the provider. Such events compromise the quality of correctness, accuracy, completeness and the integrity of the data. In its contract, the customer should consider which party is best placed to handle those risks and, therefore, whether the arrangement with the provider should require the supplier to be accountable for the losses (Salido 22). A client may have statutory obligations to keep certain information confidential. Therefore, it is necessary that these obligations are also transmitted to the provider in situations where the provider is accessing or storing the customer’s data. Normally, the customer will want the provider to meet a minimum level of discretion for the customer’s information. In cases involving sensitive information, the degree of protection will need to be stronger. All systems of protection stated in this paper may potentially be insignificant unless the customer can approve that the required information security requirements are being satisfied. Audit of providers is one way of ensuring conformity. Audit of such arrangements is, however, likely to be complicated by location of the data- which may be mysterious to the client and could be located in foreign countries (Salido 23). Data ownership is the possession of and accountability of information. It denotes power as well as management of data. The supplier may own all of the property rights in the software or the supplier may be licensed to grant the license to the customer. It is essential that the supplier give the customer a permit that it has all the entitlements to

A descriptive account of the identification and utilisation of a Essay

A descriptive account of the identification and utilisation of a learning opportunity from practice - Essay Example This paper would roughly follow Gibb’s model of reflective cycle since this was supposedly more useful to the less experienced practitioner. Lynn Basford and Oliver Slevin described the five stages of the Gibbs model in reappraising the care given and in analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of a particular care in their book called Theory and Practice of Nursing. (2003, p. 55) I will, therefore, be discussing my personal learning experience in the context of these stages. My responsibilities in the four-week nursing placement program include the assistance in conducting activities, exercises as well as therapies that would improve the patients’ mental health conditions. The placement care team which I belong to is assigned a roster of clients. With the supervision of our tutors, we divided and allocated tasks regarding activities and exercises. I would like to cite my experience with a particular patient, whom for purposes of confidentiality; I would refer to as Barbara. She is one of the wards assigned to our team and hers became one of my interesting learning interactions. I believe we had a bad start due to her mental condition. Firstly, she is 31 years old, almost ten years my senior. Her dossier revealed a Prader-Willi syndrome and a challenging behavior. This posed a considerable problem for us because she is capable both of verbal and physical aggression. Naturally, most in my group are reluctant to have anything to do with her – administering in exercises and therapy sessions, preferring older but docile patients. With this in mind, I sat down and thought: If I volunteer to assist in her case, there is a remarkable risk, possibly even of violence (unlike those with extreme mental condition, she is unpredictable but not totally restrained.). But there is also a tremendous learning opportunity, so the idea tha t maybe I would be involving myself with

Nelson Mandela Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Nelson Mandela - Essay Example This essay would further revolve around these contributions done by Nelson Mandela (Guiloineau 2002) In 1961 a letter from Nelson Mandela stated â€Å"I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days† (Mandela 1990). This clearly showed that Nelson Mandela believed in freedom from his early life. He received a life imprisonment for the Rivonia trial in 1964 and was released in 1990. His contribution to his native country can be related back to his early life when he received education in times when most of the people in South Africa were uneducated. It was there in his college that he learned much about the political problems that South Africa was facing in those times. He then joined Congress and formed the Youth league along with his acquaintainces in 1944. The injustices against the black were increasing in South Africa as witnessed by Mandela in those times as the Whites were gaining more access to the country afterWorld War II. All these conditions made Mandela persuade the committee he formed to go on strikes and civil disobediences against the government for the betterment of the blacks. His struggles then continued which bore some fruit in those times but he was arrested in 1962 after he was found by police (Mandela 1990; Boehmer 2008). Mandela was detained for twenty seven years in prison and is known to be one of the longest imprisoned freedom activist in the history of the world. After his release from jail one could clearly see his growing influence on the people of South Africa when thousands of people came to greet him outside the jail. After being released from the jail he started his freedom movement again for the blacks of South Africa. He was the made the president of African National Congress again in 1991. It was after the death of a member of ANC that presidential elections were held again.The African National Congress won the presidential elections and Mandela was

Service Recovery Effects on Customer Satisfaction Essay

Service Recovery Effects on Customer Satisfaction - Essay Example Further, the research results showed that their was a correlation between service recovery and customer loyalty. 1. Introduction The concept of service recovery is both a business function and a critical focus point from the marketing perspective. The hotel industry is majorly based on offering intangible services and this makes service recovery an important business strategy. Essentially, service recovery entails the measures that an organization puts in place to respond to failures in service delivery. The hotel industry is prone to several variables that make it necessary to put in place service recovery strategies. Therefore, the effect of service recovery on customer satisfaction and loyalty becomes an important topic of research. To gain insight into this topic, the researcher used questionnaires to collect data which was used to analyze the impact of service delivery on customer loyalty and satisfaction in the hotel industry. 1.1 Research Aim This report aims to examine the im pacts of service recovery on customer satisfaction and loyalty in the hotel industry. ... 2. Literature Review 2.1 Service Recovery According to Keith (2008), service recovery is the well thought out process solving the issues of aggrieved customer and returning the customer to a state of satisfaction with the product or company. Service delivery can also be thought of as the set of actions a firm takes as a response to poor service quality (Andreasson, 2000). Therefore, service recovery can be considered as the response of a firm to its clients after a product or service failure with the intention of appeasing the aggrieved client and maintain their business value. The ultimate goal of service recovery is to ensure that clients maintain their business relationships with the firm that caused them the initial problem. In every organization, things occur that may have undesired effect on the customer. Hence, a company needs to have systems in place to implement corrective measures whe n things go wrong. The ultimate test of a company’s commitment to quality service is how it handles issues concerning instances of provision of below per services (Craig. 1999). He further argues that organizations need to put in place effective recovery strategies to win back a customers trust after instances problems in service delivery. Service recovery strategies are necessary to ensure that the service failures do not fit into a pattern of failure which might have devastating effects on the business enterprise (Berry 1995). Some studies indicate that excellent initial service is much better than relying on service recovery. However, other studies point out that service recovery has a greater impact on the customer than even the initial service.

Cell Structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cell Structure - Essay Example Plant and animal cells each have a true nucleus because they are both eukaryotic organisms. This central membrane-bound compartment is the site of storage for most of the cell's genetic material. Within the nucleus there is a nucleolus which produces ribosomes. Likewise, both plant and animal cells have corresponding organelle structures with identical functions. This includes: rough endoplasmic reticulum, smooth endoplasmic reticulum, peroxisomes, lysosomes, Golgi bodies, secretory vesicles, mitochondria, microtubules and microfilaments, cell membrane, cytosol, and a centrosome. Both plant cells and animal cells have an organelle known as the vacuole, but there are major functional differences between an animal vacuole and a plant vacuole (Cell Models, 2006). In animal cells the vacuole generally has a small size. It is used for storing waste products and serves as an area for digestion. In plant cells the vacuole makes up a much larger percentage of the internal volume. Besides the functions of waste storage and digestion, the plant vacuole has other important roles. Plant vacuoles hold nutrients and water. They help the plant cells to expand during the cellular growth process.

The Poverty of Women and the Inequality of the Welfare System Essay

The Poverty of Women and the Inequality of the Welfare System - Essay Example She states that the welfare system is not designed for women on women's terms, rather, she considers that it shows, This clarifies the concepts of the dualism of the welfare structure, and how it may be broken down into two subsystems, male and female. Diana Pearce points out that older women choose to receive social security benefit as wives rather than as individuals, due to the higher income of their husbands. If they divorced during their husband's retirement, they were more likely to receive: A United Nations study, released in 1985, found that women do 75 percent of the world's work but only earn 10 percent of the world's wealth (Kirk and Okazawa 318). After 20 years, the situation has changed. Today, more women work for an income than ever before. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women's participation in the labor force has dramatically increased from 54 percent in 1950, with a projected increase to more than 70 percent in 2010. In spite of the growing number of women in the workforce, women's wages are usually lower than men's. The question as to why, may be answered by the fact that a patriarchal system exists which gives a false picture of the workforce. Fraser's essay informs us that these patriarchal norms have influenced our welfare system too. In our welfare system, men are considered as "rights-bearing beneficiaries" whereas women are considered as "dependent clients" (Fraser, 561). Diana Pearce states that the rate of poor, women-maintained households has increased, especially if they have children. Despite the greater needs of women-maintained households, there is not enough support given from either private or public transfer. In public transfer, based on Fraser's characterization of the U.S. welfare system, there are two totally different characteristics of welfare. One is unemployment and social security welfare transfer (cash), that is designed to provide benefits for "right-bearers", of which women receive 38 percent of these programs. Yet more than 80 percent of those receiving Aid for Dependent Children (AFDC) are children of women-maintained households. Women also receive 60 percent of food stamps. Fraser assumes that receiving unemployment and social security compensation denotes more equality than receiving food stamps and Medicaid. This is because the latter welfare programs are: "considered to be family failures, generally the absence of a male breadwinner" (Fraser, 563). Diana Pearce addresses the seriousness of women's poverty, and how it has been steadily increasing, while Fraser argues how the welfare system is unfair to women. In order to reduce the "feminization of poverty", the government needs create more jobs for women and women-maintained

Should the Government Subsidize Higher Education Essay

Should the Government Subsidize Higher Education - Essay Example This paper approve that people who have higher education are able to distribute their time and resources more rationally, thus the effectiveness of their labor is increased. It is also that they are taught to use the variety of methods for solving this or that problem instead of concentrating on one method. Higher education gives its recipients the basic knowledge in different spheres of social and cultural science, thus presenting them a massive of additional information that is often helpful in their future job. It is also that government subsidizing of higher education gives opportunities to obtain financial and social status to those who wouldn't have managed to earn it otherwise. It's a proven fact that people with a degree earn more than those who don't have it, thus higher education is the only way to wealthy life for most of the American citizens. This esay makes a conclusion that the system of subsidizing of the higher education in the U.S should be changed for to open the access to education to those who are really unable to finance by themselves, instead of lowering the college expenditures for those who can already allow paying for it. The amount of merit-based aid should be decreased for to increase the expenditures for the need-based aid. It is also that the financial aid should be rather given in the form of grants instead of making students take the loans they later have great difficulties repaying.

Human Resource Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Resource Paper - Assignment Example A health care organization must have objectives that guide them in their line of duty. Some of these objectives are strategic and have implications on the human resource management. These objectives are; to promote health and impart health education, to immerse in disease inspection and analysis and to collaborate with governments and administrations around the world to promote health promotional programs. These three objectives have implications on human resource management. Human resource management is concerned with the safety and compensation of manpower among other things. When the objectives of a health care regarding promoting of health and imparting, disease inspection and analysis have been attained, then the expenses incurred by the human resource management to make sure that the staff members are safe are cut down and therefore there will be no expenses on compensation brought about by poor health care. This is because with good health and proper health education then case s of disease and infections are cut down. Health problems cost an organization a lot. Disease inspection and analysis will help in the understanding of the causes and the possible treatments that are to be administered to various diseases and infections. The time and money wasted in trying to cater for the treatment of a worker will be reduced if the diseases they have are known unlike when a company uses its funding to facilitate the treatment of an unknown ailment. The above strategic objectives can only be attained if actions and systems are put in place. Health Systems Executives play a big role in the attainment of set objectives. It comprises of health experts who have come together to offer their advice regarding the various issues that affect the health care organization. The experts are in the various fields that have a co-relation with health matters. It might consist of medical doctors, IT specialists, trainers, sales and marketing experts among other professionals. For i nstance, a Health Systems Organization can have an IT specialist who is an expert in issues dealing with technology. One of the objectives of a health care organization was to inspect and analyze diseases. With the proper technology, this objective can be attained. An effective Health System Executive body will ensure that new technologies are introduced in a health care organization; the work force is enlightened through training and the implementation process starts immediately. With introduction of hi-tech machinery, the organization will be in a position to inspect and analyze diseases and new infections. The objective, to promote health and impart health education can be achieved when the Health System Executive consisting of training personnel who educates the masses concerning matters of health. Those who have been trained will then train others and the cycle continues. This will ensure that people become aware of the health issues and how to handle them. The third objective, to collaborate with governments and administrations to promote health promotional programs can be achieved by the Health

To what extent is Frankenstein Essay Example for Free

To what extent is Frankenstein Essay The monster is indirectly referred to as Satan as they are both related to evil and death; however by performing galvanism, Frankenstein is compared to god due to creating life. God and Satan is the perfect example of good versus evil, making the monster and Frankenstein equally good and evil. Mary Shelley uses emotive language throughout the novel; she chose adjectives and adverbs to intensify the characters feelings. In numerous occasions, Frankenstein says Alas! making certain things seem more dramatic, He also uses exaggerated phrases such as ardently desired and frantic impulse. Frankenstein cannot always express his feelings verbally but Mary Shelley finds a clever way of fitting it in through a dream, in which he thought he saw Elizabeth and so he embraced her and kissed her on the lips. Shelley reintroduces the gothic atmosphere writing but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death. This element is quite disturbing as Elizabeth changes into his mothers corpse. There are several instances of life and death occurring during the novel. The first is when the monster is brought to life. The characters that die, or are killed during the film are Frankenstein, William, Clerval, Elizabeth, Justine and Frankensteins parents. At the end of the novel we are left to presume that the monster is died as he is left standing, surrounded by fire in the middle of the water. An example of gothic literature is I wandered like an evil spirit shows that it is almost like Frankenstein is living death. Heaven and hell are obliquely referred to during the novel; there are references to Genesis which ties into the theory of God and Satan, mentioned previously. The monster, not only compared with Satan but Shelley also made a contrast between the monster and Adam from the Genesis as he was the first man created by Frankenstein (the monsters god). One major setting is the sublime surroundings of the Alps. This could have been influenced by Shelleys husband as he was a romantic poet and as most poets of this category inured to write about beautiful scenery rather than actual love stories. In the late 18th century, Gothicism was a segment of the Romantic Movement and although Frankenstein is presumed primarily Gothic, it has significant links with the Romantic Movement. These poets also wrote about the idealisation of nature, which was experienced by Robert Walton, who was isolated to an extent because he was situated in the middle of the Alps where anything could happen. Shelley very cleverly used the pathetic fallacy in many scenes; for example when the monster comes to life, the weather is typically stormy, dull and dreary and when Frankenstein is anxious and scared, there is another bad storm. This is another typically gothic thing to find in and Shelley has used it to her advantage. There are various points in the novel which build up suspense for the reader. Storms typically represent quite a ghastly, daunting and gothic atmosphere which Shelley has introduced storms to create a sense of foreboding and chaos; for example when Frankenstein is at Williams grave and evidently when the monster is brought to life. The monster threatens Frankenstein that he will be at his wedding, It is well. I go; but remember, I shall be with you on your wedding-night, this echoes in the readers mind as they feel scared as Shelley has portrayed a sense of mystery and it shows the build up of suspense. There is no closure at the end of the story, He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in distance and darkness, which is a typically gothic ending as it ends in darkness with a cliff-hanger leaving the reader to fear the monsters return. Frankenstein is clearly typical of gothic literature due to the isolation of the characters, the differences between life and death, the emotive language, the weather and the setting as well as the general gothic, frightening atmosphere. Throughout the novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley was exploring her own background by using some of her mothers ideas as well as the style of her fathers novels. She created a typically gothic atmosphere which helps the reader to experience the depth of the story. In my opinion, Frankenstein creates a gothic genre which illustrates the importance of life and death as well as teaching the reader to take responsibility in their actions and to not leave anyone in isolation. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Mary Shelley section.

Benefits of Postnatal Debriefing

Benefits of Postnatal Debriefing 215133 POSTNATAL DEBRIEFING STILL VALUED BY WOMEN Introduction Providing debriefing for women in the postnatal period is believed by many midwives to help women to adjust to their childbirth experiences, and to help reduce postnatal psychological morbidity. The evidence base is equivocal in relation to the efficacy of these kinds of interventions, which are typically delivered by midwives in clinical practice. This essay will review several pieces of research relating to postnatal debriefing associated with the psychological distress and potential post traumatic stress disorder associated with childbirth. It will look at the quality of evidence available and discuss some of the parameters of the arguments surrounding the provision of postnatal debriefing, listening and counselling services. It will also make recommendations for practice in relation to this kind of provision, and in relation to future research. Discussion Lavender and Walkinshaw (1998) carried out a randomised trial of a postnatal ‘debriefing’ service provided by midwives, to see what effect it had on psychological morbidity after childbirth. The authors comprise one midwife and one obstetrician, and the midwife has a postgraduate degree, suggestive that they have the skills to carry out and report on such a study. Using a randomised trial design is aimed at filling an apparent gap in the research at the time of the study, in relation to this area of practice (Lavender and Walkinshaw, 1998). This study was carried out â€Å"in a regional teaching hospital in northwest England, and used a sample of â€Å"one hundred and twenty postnatal primigravidas†, who were â€Å"allocated by sealed envelopes to receive the debriefing intervention (n 4 56) or not (n 4 58).† (Lavender and Walkinshaw, 1998 p 215). The study involved the collection of baseline intrapartum and demographic information in order to assess a wid e variety of variables in the study (Lavender and Walkinshaw, 1998). The intervention is described as follows: â€Å" Women randomised to the intervention participated in an interactive interview in which they spent as much time as necessary discussing their labour, asking questions, and exploring their feelings. One research midwife, who had received no formal training in counselling, conducted the interviews, which lasted between 30 and 120 minutes, the duration being guided by the needs of the respondent. Hospital notes were available throughout the interview so that direct questions could be answered. No interview schedule was defined, since the interviews were respondent led.† (Lavender and Walkinshaw, 1998) This approach raises several points. To being with, it is positive that there is such transparency in explaining the intervention, even if the intervention is brief, because it allows the reader to understand the nature, it aids replication, and it demonstrates the lack of specialist knowledge required to perform the intervention. Secondly, it shows that a research midwife, who was not a counsellor, was carrying out the intervention. And thirdly, it demonstrates a woman-focused, midwifery-oriented approach, in that the interviews were respondent led and the length was not limited. Such an approach reflects midwifery philosophies which makes the article useful for midwifery practice. Lavender and Walkinshaw (1998) used an established data collection instrument, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale, which was administered by postal questionnaire 3 weeks after delivery. Using an established data collection instrument adds strength to the study, but there is a small amount of unreliability about postal questionnaires, because there is never any guarantee that they are filled out by the person they are sent to. Using the pre-tested scale allowed the authors to compare the proportion of women in each group with anxiety and depression scores of more than 10 points, using odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals, both of which are acceptable statistical applications for these data. The 95% response rate ensured a good sample size (Lavender and Walkinsahw, 1998), although the study would have had even more statistical significance if it could have been carried out across more than one site. The benefits of this intervention were established by the study, but the authors raise some concerns, including concern at the high levels of morbidity detected, and question whether using the chosen scale was appropriate for measu ring psychological morbidity after childbirth (normal or abnormal) (Lavender and Walkinshaw, 1998). This study is limited now by its age, and by being superceded by more recent studies. Kershaw et al (2005) carried out a prospective randomised controlled trail with two arms, which compared debriefing methods after birth which were aimed at reducing fear of future childbirth. As can be seen, this studied a more specific intervention, in relation to a very specific outcome, rather than measuring psychological morbidity per se. This would make it more applicable to specific aspects of practice. This study was also carried out in one site, and the authors provide details of the hospital site, which this author would question due to the issue of confidentiality. Kershaw et al (2005) focused on mothers whose first birth was an operative delivery, and gained ethical approval. More details about the ethics of this study would have enhanced its quality. Kershaw et al (2005) provide their inclusion and exclusion criteria, but do not discuss controlling for other variables. They also use a pre-established measurement tool to assess the fear of childbirth experienced by the stu dy participants (Kershaw et al, 2005). They do subsequently present demographic information, and they use a range of suitable statistical tests, explaining the significance of these, which makes it easier for the novice reader to begin to assess the quality of the data analysis. This again was a debriefing intervention carried out by midwives in the postnatal period (Kershaw et al, 2005). However, unlike the previous study, this one differed because the debriefing was held on two separate occasions, and sessions were held at home (Kershaw et al, 2005). Another significant element of this study was that the midwives involved received training in critical incident stress debriefing (Kershaw et al, 2005). The authors justify their study as follows: â€Å" In this study fear of childbirth and post-traumatic stress were measured rather than maternal depression and general health. It was decided not to measure maternal depression as research has suggested this is frequently associated with factors not related to childbirth. Women were allowed sufficient time to debrief, sessions lasted up to an hour and a half.† (Kershaw et al, 1508). This shows some strengths, including a focus on specific psychological features, rather than on general health and depression, which can be difficult to assess. Although the authors state women were allowed sufficient time for the session, this study does not reflect the kind of midwifery philosophy that the Lavender and Walkinshaw (1998) study did. The findings from this study do not support the use of this particular intervention in this particular population. â€Å"The findings of this study demonstrated in the short term no significant difference in the WDEQ fear of childbirth scores and IES emotional distress scores. These findings show community-led debriefing is not proven to be of any value in reducing women’s fear of childbirth following an operative delivery.† (Kershaw et al, 2005 p 1508). However, this study may not be the last word on this kind of intervention, and there are limitations, including the focus only on women who had operative deliveries, focusing on one site, and in the intervention itself. Maybe the nature of the intervention, and the training provided for midwives, was limited. The authors agree that a longer-term evaluation might show different results (Kershaw et al, 2005). It might be that the data collection tool was inappropriate, as with the previous study. However, this study, as with the previous one, does establish the usefulness and facility of midwives providing postnatal support of this kind. Kershaw et al (2005) show that midwives identified those women who would be needing debriefing, but this author would argue that midwives are not experts in mental health, and limiting debriefing to those identified by midwives as at higher risk might miss important cases. Reading between the lines of this study seems to imply that this intervention is valued by midwives and by patients, despite the findings of the statistical analysis. Small et al (2000) carried out a randomised controlled trial of midwife led debriefing to reduce maternal depression after operative childbirth, again, focusing on women who are viewed as potentially at higher risk of mental health morbidity postnatally. This study was carried out in a large maternity teaching hospital in Melbourne, Australia, unlike the previous two studies, which were carried out in the UK. Small et al (2000) had a sample of 1041 women who had given birth by either caesarean section (n = 624) , by assisted vaginal delivery using forceps (n = 353) or vacuum extraction (n = 64), and these women were randomised to the intervention group or the control group (Small et al, 2000). The sample size was statistically calculated for significance, which is a strength of the study. The methodology is clear and the randomisation process described. The intervention â€Å"provided women with an opportunity to discuss their labour, birth, and post ­delivery events and expe riences† (Small et al, 2000 p 1044). Although there is a woman-centred focus in this study, only 1 hour maximum was allowed for the discussion, which this author would suggest is a severe limitation of this intervention in relation to woman-centred debriefing. The midwives were not trained but described as experienced and skilled. The main outcome measures were â€Å"maternal depression (score >13 on the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale) and overall health status (comparison of mean scores on SF ­36 subscales) measured by postal questionnaire at six months postpartum† (Small et al, 2000 p 1044). Again, established scales are being used to lend strength to the study. Small et al (2000) found that â€Å"more women allocated to debriefing scored as depressed six months after birth than women allocated to usual postpartum care (81 (17%) v 65 (14%)), although this difference was not significant (odds ratio = 1.24, 95% confidence interval 0.87 to 1.77)† and â€Å"they were also more likely to report that depression had been a problem for them since the birth, but the difference was not significant (123 (28%) v 94 (22%); odds ratio = 1.37, 1.00 to 1.86).† (p 1043). According to this study, the authors demonstrated that midwife led debriefing following operative births was not only not effective in reducing maternal morbidity (in particular, psychological morbidity), at the six month point after delivery, but that it may have been a contributing factor to emotional health issues for certain women (Small et al, 2000). This author would suggest that it might be the nature of the intervention that is the issue here, because it was provided in hospital, soon after birth, and may not have been particularly woman-centred. Cultural differences between Australian women and UK women cannot be ruled out; neither can cultural differences in models of care and practice. Priest et al (2003) carried out a randomised single-blind controlled trial, stratified for parity and delivery mode, to test whether critical incident stress debriefing after childbirth reduces the incidence of postnatal psychological disorders, also in Australia, in two maternity hospitals. They had a large enough sample size, consisting of 1745 women who delivered healthy term infants between a specificed time period, with 75 allocated to the intervention group and 870 to control group (Priest et al, 2003). Again, the study design is transparent, and the randomisation process clear. As with the previous study by Small et al (2000), the intervention was carried out soon after delivery, but this intervention consisted of an individual, standardised debriefing session based on the principles of critical incident stress debriefing. The intervention is described briefly, and it is stated that the midwives were trained in the intervention (Priest et al, 2003). However, the intervention i tself and the training is not really described in great detail, which affects replication of the study. The intervention is based on theories which are not specifically developed for childbirth trauma, but that have been adapted, and this may be a weakness. As with the other studies, recognised outcome measures are used. Priest et al (2003) found that â€Å"there were no significant differences between control and intervention groups in scores on Impact of Events or Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scales at 2, 6 or 12 months postpartum, or in proportions of women who met diagnostic criteria for a stress disorder (intervention, 0.6% v control, 0.8%; P = 0.58) or major or minor depression (intervention, 17.8% v control, 18.2%; relative risk [95% CI], 0.99 [0.87–1.11]) during the postpartum year. Nor were there differences in median time to onset of depression (intervention, 6 [interquartile range, 4–9] weeks v control, 4 [3–8] weeks; P = 0.84), or duration of depression (intervention, 24 [12–46] weeks v control, 22 [10–52] weeks; P=0.98).† (p 544). This leads to the conclusion that this single session of midwife led, specific debriefing was ineffective as a means of prevention of postnatal psychological disorders (Priest et al, 2003). While the authors conclude that the intervention had no ill effects (Priest et al, 2003), this author finds these findings significant in their lack of support for the intervention, and would suggest, again, that it may be the nature of the intervention that is leading to these kinds of results. Gamble et al (2005) carried out a randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of a counselling intervention after a traumatic childbirth, based on a midwife-led brief counselling intervention for women deemed at risk of developing symptoms of psychological symptoms postnatally. This was a smaller study group, with only 50 in the intervention group and 53 in the control group, and the intervention was also provided as face to face counselling within 72 hours of birth, as with the previous study, but also had a telephone counselling session at between four and six weeks postnatally (Gamble et al, 2005). The allocation/randomisation process is described, but the midwife was not blind to the randomisation, which may represent a potential source of bias. Established data collection scales were used as with all the previous studies: â€Å"Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) , Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) , and Maternity Social Support Scale (MSSS)â €  (Gamble et al, 2005 p 13). Gamble et al (2005) measured the following outcome measures: posttraumatic stress symptoms, depression, self-blame, and confidence about a future pregnancy. Gamble et al (2005) provide great detail about the underpinnings of the therapeutic intervention, and there is a midwifery/woman-centred focus to the intervention (and, by association, to the study). Gamble et al (2005) found their intervention to be effective in reducing symptoms of trauma, depression, stress, and feelings of self-blame. All of these studies fall within the scope of good standards of evidence for practice, but find marked differences between studies in relation to efficacy and non-efficacy of interventions. There may be a number of reasons for this. Only one study suggests potential negative effects of this kind of intervention, but this was not conclusive and warranted further investigation. However, the literature around this subject does seem to predominantly suggest that such interventions are useful for women following birth. Axe (2000) suggests that women can use such support to help them cope with the difference between their expectations and experiences of birth. Robinson (1999) argues for the increasing occurrence of post traumatic stress disorder following traumatic childbirth, and suggests that this is under-diagnosed and represents a significant maternal morbidity which needs addressing, a suggestion also found by Ayers and Pickering (2001). Creedy et al (2000) state that â€Å"posttraum atic stress disorder after childbirth is a poorly recognized phenomenon,† and that â€Å"women who experienced both a high level of obstetric intervention and dissatisfaction with their intrapartum care were more likely to develop trauma symptoms than women who received a high level of obstetric intervention or women who perceived their care to be inadequate† (p 104). Therefore, the focus on debriefing may not be the only way forward to improve psychological morbidity – there may be a need for research to explore ways of reducing the trauma that occurs in the first place. Czarnocka and Slade (2000) suggest that there may be opportunities for prevention of post traumatic stress and psychological morbidity after birth, through providing care in labour that enhances perceptions of control and support. One study demonstrates that negative experiences of interactions with maternity staff can contribute to psychological morbidity (Wijma et al, 1997). Kenardy (2000) suggests that it is the nature of the debriefing that may be ineffective in those studies that have found such results. Gamble et al (2002) also suggest that the kind and timing of the debriefing warrants further investigation. Hagan et al (1996) did not find any reduction in psychological morbidity following this kind of intervention. Alexander (1999) suggests that some of the problems may be linked to the lack of clarity and understanding that exists about these processes, which are neither necessarily formal psychological counselling nor a simple sharing session. Yet there does seem to be some indication that these kinds of supportive therapies are found to be useful by women and by midwives. Westley (1997) describes providing women with the opportunity to talk about their birth experiences, and have their questions answered, as useful, a finding supported by Smith et al (1996), Phillips (2003), Inglis (2002), Dennett (2003), Charles (1994), Charles and Curtis (1994), Baxter et al (2003), and Allott (1996). Certainly, a range of literature established post-traumatic stress disorder as a potential and/or real psychological morbidity for women having had a baby (Ayers and Pickering, 2001; Creedy et al, 2000; Laing, 2001; Menage, 1996; Robinson, 1999; Ballard et al, 1995; Crompton, 1996). Psychological debriefing interventions may be effective in preventing or managing post traumatic stress disorder in a range of situations (Rose et al, 2004), but there would seem to be some dangers inherent in some of the interventions found in the literature ( Kenardy, 2000; Madden, 2002). Conclusion It would appear from the randomised controlled trials analysed here that while some evidence supports postnatal debriefing as a means of reducing psychological morbidity, significant evidence shows no correlation between postnatal interventions of this kind and improved emotional health outcomes. However, anecdotal evidence and other literature suggests that midwives and women find some benefit from opportunities to talk about their childbirth experiences. Some of these simply allow women an opportunity to talk and to ask questions about what happened to them. This leads to the conclusion that such interventions require much more research, preferably research which includes detailed, qualitative evaluations of interventions, and interventions which are specifically designed for this client group. However, this author would also recommend that such interventions be provided, as they are not proven to do harm in the majority of studies, and represent a woman-centred approach to good mi dwifery care. References Alexander J (1998) Confusing debriefing and defusing postnatally: the need for clarity of terms, purpose and value. Midwifery 14: 122-124. Allott H (1996) Picking up the pieces: the post-delivery stress clinic. British Journal of Midwifery 4(10): 534-536. Axe S (2000) Labour debriefing is crucial for good psychological care. British Journal of Midwifery 8(10): 626-631. Ayers S, Pickering A D (2001) Do women get post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of childbirth? A prospective study of incidence. Birth 28(2): 111-118. Ballard C G, Stanley A K, Brockington I F (1995) Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth. The British Journal of Psychiatry 166: 525-528. Baxter J, McCrae A, Dorey-Irani A (2003) Talking with women after birth. British Journal of Midwifery 11(5): 304-309. Charles J L (1994) Birth afterthoughts: a listening and information service. British Journal of Midwifery 2(7): 331-334. Charles J, Curtis L (1994) Birth afterthoughts. Midwives Chronicle 107(1278): 266-268. Creedy D K, Shochet I M, Horsfall J (2000) Childbirth and the development of acute trauma symptoms: incidence and contributing factors. Birth 27(2): 104-111. Crompton J (1996) Post-traumatic stress disorder and childbirth. British Journal of Midwifery 4(6): 290-294. Czarnocka J, Slade P (2000) Prevalence and predictors of post-traumatic stress symptoms following childbirth. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 39: 35-51. Dennett S (2003) Talking about the birth with a midwife. British Journal of Midwifery 11(1): 24-27. Gamble J A, Creedy D K, Webster J, Moyle (2002) A review of the literature on debriefing or non-directive counselling to prevent postpartum emotional distress. Midwifery 18: 72-79. Inglis S (2002) Accessing a debriefing service following birth. British Journal of Midwifery 10(6): 368-371. Kenardy J (2000) The current status of psychological debriefing. It may do more harm than good. British Medical Journal 321:1032-1033. Laing K G (2001) Post-traumatic stress disorder: myth or reality? British Journal of Midwifery 9(7): 447-451. Lavender T, Walkinshaw S A (1998) Can midwives reduce postpartum psychological morbidity? A randomized trial. Birth 25(4): Dec 215-219. Madden I (2002) Midwifery debriefing – in whose best interest? British Journal of Midwifery 10(10): 631-634. Menage J (1993) Post-traumatic stress disorder in women who have undergone obstetric and/ or gynaecological procedures. A consecutive study of 30 cases of PTSD. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology 11: 221-228. Menage J (1996) Post-traumatic stress disorder following obstetric/ gynaecological procedures. British Journal of Midwifery 4(10): 532-533. Page L (1996) Positive care in childbirth. British Journal of Midwifery 4(10): 530-531. Phillips S (2003) Debriefing following traumatic childbirth. British Journal of Midwifery 11(12): 725-730. Robinson J (1999) When delivery is torture – postnatal PTSD. British Journal of Midwifery 7(11): 684. Robinson J (1998) Dangers of debriefing. British Journal of Midwifery 6(4): 251. Rose S, Bisson J, Wessely S (2004) Psychological debriefing for preventing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 1. Chichester: John Wiley Sons. Small R, Lumley J, Donohue L, Potter A, Waldenstrà ¶m U (2000) Randomised controlled trial of midwife led debriefing to reduce maternal depression after operative childbirth. British Medical Journal 321:1043-1047. Smith J A, Mitchell S (1996) Debriefing after childbirth: a tool for effective risk management. British Journal of Midwifery 4(11): 581-586. Wessely S, Rose S, Bisson J (1999) A systematic review of brief psychological interventions (â€Å"debriefing†) for the treatment of immediate trauma-related symptoms and the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder. In: Cochrane Collaboration. Cochrane library. Issue 4. Oxford: Update Software. Westley W (1997) ‘Time to talk’ listening service. Midwives 110(1309): 30-31. Wijma K, Soderquist M A, Wijma B (1997) Post traumatic stress disorder after childbirth: a cross-sectional study. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 11: 587-597.

The Labour Force And Unemployment Economics Essay

The Labour Force And Unemployment Economics Essay Every market has buyers and sellers, and the labour market is no exception: the buyers are employers, and the sellers are workers. Some of this participant may not be active at any given moment in the sense of seeking new employees or new jobs, but on any given day, thousands of firms and workers will be in the market trying to transact. The Labour Force and Unemployment The term labour force refers to all those over 16 years of age who are either employed, actively seeking work, or expecting recall from a layoff. Those in the labour force who are not employed for pay are the unemployed.  [1]   People who are not employed and are neither looking for work nor waiting to be recalled from layoff by their employers are not counted as part of the labour force. The total labour force thus consists of the employed and the unemployed. The number and identities of people in each labour market category are always changing; the flows of people from one category to another are considerable. There are four major flows between labour market states: employed workers become unemployed by quitting voluntarily or being laid off (being involuntarily separated from the firm, either temporarily or permanently), unemployed workers obtain employment by being newly hired or being recalled to a job from which they were temporarily laid off, those in the labour force, whether employed or unemployed, can leave the labour force by retiring or otherwise deciding against taking or seeking work for pay (dropping out), those who have never worked or looked for a job expand the labour force by entering it, while those who have dropped out do so by re-entering the labour force. The ratio of those unemployed to those in the labour force is the unemployment rate. While this rate is crude and has several imperfections, it is the most widely cited measure of labour market conditions. The relation among unemployment, employment, and labour force Analytically, to access the unemployment rate we can use the following equality: where , , and designate respectively the working-age population, the level of employment, the number of unemployed, and the participation rate at period t. Defining the unemployment as , we have Using this equation in logarithm terms at time t and t-1, we get: Assuming that u is a small number, this relation allows us to express the variation of unemployment rate as a function of the growth rates of working-age population, employment, and participation: This decomposition shows that the variation in the rate of unemployment come from variations in the employment rate, the size of the working-age population, and participation rate. Chapter 2 Some facts The different unemployment experience During the last 20 years, the industrialized countries have evolved in very different direction with respect to unemployment. In contradiction to Japan, or the United States, most of European countries showed a high proportion of unemployment. Table 1.1 Rates of unemployment, participation, and employment in 20 OECD countries in 2011 Country Unemployment Rate Participation Rate Employment Rate Australia 5,10 78,8 72,70 Austria 4,14 75,79 72,13 Belgium 7,14 68,88 61,93 Canada 7,45 80,25 71,98 Denmark 7,57 83,19 73,15 Finland 7,77 75,43 69,03 France 9,26 69,34 63,80 Germany 5,92 81,04 72,53 Greece 17,66 68,57 55,55 Ireland 14,39 70,96 59,20 Italy 8,40 63,01 56,98 Japan 4,57 80,61 71,20 Luxembourg 4,90 70,57 64,63 Netherlands 4,44 80,13 74,88 Norway 3,21 80,22 75,30 Portugal 12,74 77,42 64,20 Spain 21,64 75,28 57,68 Sweden 7,54 31,00 74,10 Switzerland 4,04 86,60 79,35 United Kingdom 8,01 76,75 69,48 United States 8,95 64,21 66,65 Euro area (17 countries) 10,07 26,20 64,25 EU (27 countries) 9,59 64,30 OECD Total 7,92 27,80 64,85 Source: OECD Data Table 1.1 summarises the unemployment, participation and employment rates in 20 OECD countries for 2011. We see that unemployment is a phenomenon that touches all the countries, but in different proportions. There are some countries such as Austria, Japan, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland, have an unemployment rate below 5 per cent. But other countries, such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain, have an unemployment rate higher than 10 per cent. For the European Union as a whole (27 countries), the average unemployment rate is the neighbourhood of 10 per cent, 2 points greater than the overall OECD unemployment rate. The third column reports the employment rate, i.e. the ratio of the number of persons employed to the number of person in the population (working-age from 15 to 64 years old). This indicator is very important for the analysis since it can be used as a complement to the data of unemployment, given that the definition of unemployment is necessarily objective. As we can see from table 1.1 countries with high employment rate are also the ones who have low rates of unemployment. So there is a negative relationship among them. The second column also shows that participation rates are highly dispersed, since they vary from 63.01 per cent in Italy to 86.60 per cent in Switzerland. Moreover, countries that face high unemployment rate generally have relatively a weak participation rate. This rapid overview of the rates of unemployment, participation, and employment in different OECD countries suggest that certain countries face a relatively high unemployment rate because of insufficient job creation. Examination of changes over time since the beginning of 1950s in unemployment and employment rate in the United States and selected OECD countries will throw further lights on the origins of unemployment. The US unemployment experience in comparative perspective Table 1.2 summarises the unemployment experience of the United States, selected other countries, and the OECD as a whole from 1950 to 2011. The OECD unemployment rate averaged about 3 per cent during the 1950s and 1960s unemployment throughout the OECD increased sharply in the aftermath of the oil shocks of the 1970s and continued rising the worldwide recession of the early 1980s. The overall OECD unemployment rate more than doubled from 2.8 per cent in the 1960s to 7.0 per cent in the 1980s, and has remained at an even higher rate in the 1990s. Last year the overall OECD unemployment rate was 8.2 per cent. Table 1.2 Unemployment rates in selected OECD countries Country 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2011 Australia 1,50 2,00 3,90 7,50 9,10 6,28 5,20 Canada 3,80 4,70 6,60 9,30 9,90 6,82 7,50 France 1,50 1,70 3,80 9,00 11,10 9,4 9,30 Germany 4,90 0,60 1,90 5,70 6,50 7,76 6,00 Italy 7,20 3,80 4,70 7,50 10,20 10,59 8,50 Japan 2,10 1,30 1,70 2,50 2.7 4,72 4,80 Netherlands 1,50 0,90 4,00 9,60 6,90 2,95 4,40 Norway 1,70 1,70 1,60 2,80 5,30 3,33 3,30 New Zeland 0,90 0,90 1,50 4,10 8,10 9,00 6,70 Portugal 2,20 2,40 1,60 7,30 5,80 4,04 13,40 Spain 2,10 2,30 4,20 17,50 20,30 13,92 21,80 Sweden 1,70 1,50 1,80 2,20 7,00 5,4 7,60 United Kingdom 1,70 2,00 4,40 10,10 8,70 5,58 8,00 United States 4,40 4,70 6,10 7,20 6,00 4,00 9,10 OECD 3,50 2,80 4,30 7,00 7,30 6,1   8,2 Source: OECD Data Table 1.2 indicates that major OECD nations shared a pattern of rising unemployment from the 1960s to the 1970s to the 1980s, but the magnitude of the increases vary widely across countries, with the largest increase in Spain. In the 1990s the unemployment experience diverge somewhat, with continued increases from the 1980s in most European countries and Australia, but decline in the United States, United Kingdom, and Portugal. In the 2000s there is a general decrease of unemployment rate among all the countries, except in Italy and Japan. From 2000 to 2011 unemployment is a phenomenon that touches all the countries but in different proportion, with the largest increase in Spain and Portugal. The table highlights the distinctive aspects of the evolution of US unemployment. The United States has moved from having a consistently higher unemployment rate than the OECD as a whole in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s to having a much lower rate in the 1990s and 2000s, but again a higher unemployment in 2011. The United States is the only major OECD economy with a lower average unemployment rate in 2000s than in 1980s: 4.0 per cent in the 2000s versus 7.2 per cent in 1980s. But the current US unemployment rate of 9.1 per cent is the highest experienced since 1980. The composition of US unemployment also differs substantially from many other OECD nations. The United States has much larger month-to-month flows into and out of employment than most of OECD economies and a much lower incidence of long-term unemployment than any advanced OECD economy. Long-term unemployment (six months and less than one year) as a percentage of total unemployment in 2011 stood at 12.43 per cent in the United States as compared with 9.8 per cent in Canada, 13.48 per cent in Australia, 18.65 per cent in France, 14.71 in Germany, 15.03 in Italy, 17.68 in Greece and 18.66 in Spain. US unemployment rates for the working-age population are particularly low (and employment/population ratios are particularly high) for young workers (those aged to 15 to 24), women and older workers (those aged 55 to 64). Overall, the US labour market does a relatively good job of moving new entrants and women into employment. European labour market institutions (especially employment protect ion laws) seem geared to keeping married males in work, but appear to make it tougher for new entrants to gain steady employment. Cyclical versus Structural unemployment The analytical discussion of unemployment since Friedman (1968) and Phelps (1968) start with the hypothesis that at any given time, a national economy is characterized by a natural rate of unemployment. Aggregate demand expansions can (at least temporarily) push the economy below this rate of unemployment, but at the cost of accelerating inflation. Similarly, shocks that raise unemployment above the natural rate lead to deceleration inflation. As long as the policy-maker avoids explosive inflation or deflation, the economy cannot remain persistently above or below the natural rate of unemployment, but it may fluctuate around it. This hypothesis suggests separating changes in unemployment into cyclical fluctuation around the natural rate and structural movement in the natural rate itself. Figure 1 Unemployment in the US, Australia, Europe and OECD Figure 1 illustrates the time patterns of the unemployment rates for the United States, Australia, Europe, and OECD countries from 1970 to 2011. The figure suggests cyclical unemployment fluctuation around a relatively stable natural rate in the United States until 2008, and a possible upward drift in the natural rate in Europe and Australia. The acceleration in inflation in most European economies in late 1980s, despite much higher unemployment rate than in the 1960s and 1970s, indicates a large rise in natural rate of unemployment. The deceleration of inflation in the 1990s and early 2000s suggests that some cyclical component has played a role in recent high European unemployment. 2 Data and Descriptive statistics I next explore in a more depth, the extent to which a relatively stable natural rate of unemployment since 1970 or so is consistent with the experience of the flexible US labour market. The data for this analysis are taken from Bureau of Labour Statistics from 1970 to 2012 (monthly data). 3 Empirical Methodology and Results For estimating the natural rate of unemployment (un) I am going to use the expectations-augmented (or accelerationist) Phillips Curve (EAPC) in which the rate of growth of price inflation (or more generally the difference between current inflation and expected inflation) depends on the deviation of the unemployment rate from the natural rate: where p is the log of the price level, u is the unemployment rate, is a positive coefficient, equals, and is an error term. Expected inflation is assumed to equal the lagged inflation rate (). A regression of the change in the inflation rate on the unemployment rate yields estimates of the natural rate of unemployment ( = -. The basic idea behind this equation is that price inflation increases when unemployment is below the natural rate and decreases when it is above. Table 2.1 Price inflation and unemployment in the United States, Europe and OECD countries United States Europe OECD (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Constant 0.397562 0.519119 0.142052 11.87027 12.00131 [6.163198] [8.568430] [1.910330] [7.503319] [5.137325] D80 -0.348037 [0.929960] D90 -0.355382 [0.950040] D00 -0.369512 [0.986341] Unemployment rate (u) -0.006995 -0.026207 0.032498 -0.596646 -0.906432 [0.669781] [2.835975] [2.918381] [3.129660] [2.544017] Observations (n) 511 511 511 41 41 Durbin-Watson Statistic 0.798394 0.828986 0.833514 0.233627 0.304103 R2 0.006191 0.015555 0.016457 0.200734 0.142330 Notes: The US regressions cover 1970 to 2012. The dependent variable in all regressions is the inflation rate (Dp).The numbers in parenthesis are standard errors. p=100*log(CPI), using the Consumer Price Index for the United States and Europe; u is the unemployment rate measured in percentage, D80=1 for the 1980- and 0 otherwise; D90=1 for the 1990- and 0 otherwise; D00=1 for the 2000- and 0 otherwise. Estimation for US unemployment Dependent Variable: P Method: Least Squares Date: 10/04/12 Time: 17:04 Sample (adjusted): 1970M02 2012M08 Included observations: 511 after adjustments Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.  Ã‚   C 0.397562 0.064506 6.163198 0.0000 UNEMP -0.006995 0.010444 -0.669781 0.5033 D80 -0.348037 0.374250 -0.929960 0.3528 D90 -0.355382 0.374071 -0.950040 0.3425 D00 -0.369512 0.374629 -0.986341 0.3244 R-squared 0.006191   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mean dependent var 0.353720 Adjusted R-squared -0.001665   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.D. dependent var 0.373392 S.E. of regression 0.373702   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Akaike info criterion 0.879023 Sum squared resid 70.66469   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schwarz criterion 0.920475 Log likelihood -219.5904   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  F-statistic 0.788056 Durbin-Watson stat 0.798394   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob(F-statistic) 0.533265 Estimation for US male unemployment Dependent Variable: P Method: Least Squares Date: 10/04/12 Time: 17:05 Sample (adjusted): 1970M02 2012M08 Included observations: 511 after adjustments Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.  Ã‚   C 0.519119 0.060585 8.568430 0.0000 UNEMPMALE -0.026207 0.009241 -2.835975 0.0048 R-squared 0.015555   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mean dependent var 0.353720 Adjusted R-squared 0.013621   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.D. dependent var 0.373392 S.E. of regression 0.370840   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Akaike info criterion 0.857814 Sum squared resid 69.99885   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schwarz criterion 0.874395 Log likelihood -217.1715   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  F-statistic 8.042753 Durbin-Watson stat 0.828986   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob(F-statistic) 0.004751 Estimation for US female unemployment Dependent Variable: P Method: Least Squares Date: 10/04/12 Time: 17:07 Sample (adjusted): 1970M02 2012M08 Included observations: 511 after adjustments Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.  Ã‚   C 0.142052 0.074360 1.910330 0.0567 UNEMPFEMALE 0.032498 0.011136 2.918381 0.0037 R-squared 0.016457   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mean dependent var 0.353720 Adjusted R-squared 0.014525   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.D. dependent var 0.373392 S.E. of regression 0.370670   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Akaike info criterion 0.856897 Sum squared resid 69.93471   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schwarz criterion 0.873478 Log likelihood -216.9373   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  F-statistic 8.516946 Durbin-Watson stat 0.833514   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob(F-statistic) 0.003674 Estimation for Europe unemployment Dependent Variable: P2 Method: Least Squares Date: 10/04/12 Time: 17:08 Sample (adjusted): 1970M02 1973M06 Included observations: 41 after adjustments Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.  Ã‚   C 11.87027 1.582002 7.503319 0.0000 UNEMPEURO -0.596646 0.190642 -3.129660 0.0033 R-squared 0.200734   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mean dependent var 7.164938 Adjusted R-squared 0.180240   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.D. dependent var 3.481375 S.E. of regression 3.152057   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Akaike info criterion 5.181538 Sum squared resid 387.4831   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schwarz criterion 5.265127 Log likelihood -104.2215   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  F-statistic 9.794774 Durbin-Watson stat 0.233627   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob(F-statistic) 0.003308 Estimation for Europe unemployment Dependent Variable: P3 Method: Least Squares Date: 10/04/12 Time: 17:09 Sample (adjusted): 1970M02 1973M06 Included observations: 41 after adjustments Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.  Ã‚   C 12.00131 2.336102 5.137325 0.0000 UNEMPOECD -0.906432 0.356299 -2.544017 0.0150 R-squared 0.142330   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mean dependent var 6.186970 Adjusted R-squared 0.120338   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.D. dependent var 3.301618 S.E. of regression 3.096597   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Akaike info criterion 5.146035 Sum squared resid 373.9676   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schwarz criterion 5.229624 Log likelihood -103.4937   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  F-statistic 6.472025 Durbin-Watson stat 0.304103   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob(F-statistic) 0.015033 Conclusion References Literature Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Robert S. Smith Modern Labour Economics. Theory and Public Policy Pearson International Edition, 2009, Tenth Edition Internet Sources http://www.tradingeconomics.com http://www.indexmundi.com/ http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/120907/dq120907a-eng.htm Eurostat Website: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat I have a problem with the regression of this model: I have monthly data. But when I estimate it on Eviews, the results I get are not that expected: R-squared is very small (near to zero), the standard errors are all smaller than 1. In order to estimate the model first I have done this: P=100*log(CPI), but Im not sure if is right or not. I can send the data after if this description is not enough.

A Comparison of Primate and Dolphin Intelligence Essay -- Biology Essa

A Comparison of Primate and Dolphin Intelligence as a Metaphor for the Validity of Comparative Studies of Intelligence Primates and cetacean have been considered by some to be extremely intelligent creatures, second only to humans. Their exalted status in the animal kingdom has lead to their involvement in many experiments which hope to gain a better understanding of the basis of human intelligence. These experiments coupled with analysis of primate and cetaceans brain structure has lead to many theories as to the development of intelligence as a trait. Although these theories seem to be sound, there is some controversy over the degree to which non-human studies can be used to infer about the structure of human intelligence. By many of the physical methods of comparing intelligence, such as measuring the brain size to body size ratio, cetacean surpass non-human primates and even rival human beings. For example dolphins have a cerebral cortex which is about 40% larger a human being's. Their cortex is also stratified in much the same way as a humans(1). The frontal lobe of dolphins is also developed to a level comparable to humans. In addition the parietal lobe of dolphins which "makes sense of the senses" is larger than the human parietal and frontal lobes combined (1). The similarities do not end there, most cetaceans have large and well developed temporal lobes which contain sections equivalent to Broca's and Wernicke's areas in humans (1). Another major difference between primate and cetacean brains is that the primate brain favors the motor cortex, while "the cetaceans greatly favor the sensory region (and are not very balanced at all between the two)" (1). In the final measure of brain complexity, neural density ... ...hat the have a similar brain structure; behavior is way to species specific to be studied without the common thread of the brain. The study of non-human primates and dolphins has lead to many profound questions as to the nature of intelligence. And thought the answers provided to date have been disputed, the questions are not any less worth of being asked. But in order to get beyond the disputes, researchers must be willing to shed there antrocentric view of intelligence and accept that it is an trait which can evolve like any other trait. When this is done it may be finally possible to recognize the remarkable abilities that some many people seem to find in animals as evidence of animal intelligence not lesser human intelligence. Internet Sources: http://hcs.harvard.edu/~husn/BRAIN/vol2/Primate.html http://www.pigeon.psy.tufts.edu/psych26/history.htm A Comparison of Primate and Dolphin Intelligence Essay -- Biology Essa A Comparison of Primate and Dolphin Intelligence as a Metaphor for the Validity of Comparative Studies of Intelligence Primates and cetacean have been considered by some to be extremely intelligent creatures, second only to humans. Their exalted status in the animal kingdom has lead to their involvement in many experiments which hope to gain a better understanding of the basis of human intelligence. These experiments coupled with analysis of primate and cetaceans brain structure has lead to many theories as to the development of intelligence as a trait. Although these theories seem to be sound, there is some controversy over the degree to which non-human studies can be used to infer about the structure of human intelligence. By many of the physical methods of comparing intelligence, such as measuring the brain size to body size ratio, cetacean surpass non-human primates and even rival human beings. For example dolphins have a cerebral cortex which is about 40% larger a human being's. Their cortex is also stratified in much the same way as a humans(1). The frontal lobe of dolphins is also developed to a level comparable to humans. In addition the parietal lobe of dolphins which "makes sense of the senses" is larger than the human parietal and frontal lobes combined (1). The similarities do not end there, most cetaceans have large and well developed temporal lobes which contain sections equivalent to Broca's and Wernicke's areas in humans (1). Another major difference between primate and cetacean brains is that the primate brain favors the motor cortex, while "the cetaceans greatly favor the sensory region (and are not very balanced at all between the two)" (1). In the final measure of brain complexity, neural density ... ...hat the have a similar brain structure; behavior is way to species specific to be studied without the common thread of the brain. The study of non-human primates and dolphins has lead to many profound questions as to the nature of intelligence. And thought the answers provided to date have been disputed, the questions are not any less worth of being asked. But in order to get beyond the disputes, researchers must be willing to shed there antrocentric view of intelligence and accept that it is an trait which can evolve like any other trait. When this is done it may be finally possible to recognize the remarkable abilities that some many people seem to find in animals as evidence of animal intelligence not lesser human intelligence. Internet Sources: http://hcs.harvard.edu/~husn/BRAIN/vol2/Primate.html http://www.pigeon.psy.tufts.edu/psych26/history.htm

Child Labor and Sweatshops are a Current Problem in the Fashion Industr

Child Labor and Sweatshops are a Current Problem in the Fashion Industry   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many societies face the much overlooked problem of child labor and sweatshops in the fashion industry. Recently, Americans were stunned to learn that their apple pie sweetheart, Kathie Lee Gifford was associated with the exploitation of underage workers in Honduras. Gifford's story began the resurgence of knowledge of the growing problem of sweatshops in today's society. Contrary to popular belief, sweatshops still exist across the world in both third world countries and super powers such as America. Sweatshops incorporate the inhumane exploitation of workers, many of whom are underage, by providing extremely low wages as well as expecting unrealistic time commitments. In addition, the workers lack benefits and very few sweatshops abide by the required health codes. Sweatshops are obviously a growing problem that will not disappear with out change. Although the United States government has begun to take steps to alleviate the problem, there must be an increase in both awareness and legislation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The belief that the archaic-like prisons known as sweatshops have been abolished, has been proven false. They do, in fact, exist in not only foreign countries but also in America. The abuse of human rights is demonstrated as more than half the 22, 000 garment contractors in the United States don't pay workers minimum wage, according to the Labor Department, and working conditions are deplorable...Americans were horrified to learn last August of 72 Thai laborers imprisoned in El Monte, Near Los Angeles, who were forced to work up to 22 hours a day, seven days a week at $1.60 an hour" (Yeh).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   More evidence is uprooted daily which... ...stry and Codes of Conduct. Online. HTML. Internet. 25 April 1997. Johnson, Paul. American Government. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. Knoebel, Edgar. The Modern World. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988. Nifong, Christina. 'No Sweat' Pact to Cut Garment Worker Abuse. The Christian Science Monitor Online. HTML. Internet. 14 April 1997. Reuter. Clinton Unveils Clothing Sweatshop Pact. Online. HTML. Internet. 16 April 1997. Wendel, Melissa. Fashion Majors, Don't Sweat It. Online. HTML. Internet. 14 April 1997. Wilson, David. Apparel Task Force Fiasco. Online. HTML. Internet. 25 April 1997. Wilson, David. Fashion Industry Forum. Online. HTML. Internet. 25 April 1997. Yeh, Emerald and McMurray, Christine. Sweatshop Bargains: A Shopper's Dilemma. Online. HTML. Internet. 14 April 1997. 1 Labor Alerts is a service campaign for labor rights.

Medieval Castle Research Paper

As time went on castles became more and more advanced. Castles were first created in the 10th century in Normandy. The first types we re emote and bailey castles; these castles were surrounded by ditches often filled with water, moats, to defend the mounds. There often was a drawbridge to go over the moat and w alls around the castle itself. These walls were thick; some of them were up to 2030 feet thick, which helped defend the castle.The reason castles were built was that the people needed more space for the court of justice, the storehouse refuge, entertainment held there, their king a ND of course, a home. War was a big part of life in the Medieval Era, so castles were built in a ay to be hard to attack; however, most castles had the same tactic so they knew how to attack one another. There were three main ways to attack: starvation tactic, mining, and treachery.The s titration tactic was surround the castle they were attacking so that the people inside would e eventually have to 2 come out and fight or starve to death because there was no way out since the y were surrounded; the mining tactic was when the attacker would tunnel under the walls and set the ground on fire making the ground unstable and allowing the walls to fall, this was prevented by the moats most f the time; the last tactic, treachery, was basically a surprise attack on a bull arable area, a place that was not guarded so they had an easy attack.There were many ways to d fend a castle however, and the architecture was a huge way. The location was on a hill with wet ground caused from the moat, which also gave them easy escape; another architecture oral defense mechanism was the shape of the castle, they were mainly circular to avoid core nurse for the miners and they had many thick walls that were difficult to get through. Also they were e on a slope so if boulders were dropped they would fall down the hill. Sometimes they would I re attackers to a restricted area where they then controlled and killed them.Richard the Lionhearted had started one of the most formidable castles for his b rather Chateau Gaillardia, who did not even get to enjoy the castle due to death. It was then given to their other brother John who lost it in a siege. Richard the Lionhearted did not build al I of the popular castles though. Some of the most popular castles in this time were Babylon, Mycenae, and Troy. Babylon was believed to have 23 feet thick walls according to the writing on s mom of the fallen walls, Mycenae was a strong massive masonry which was prompted on a big hill, and Troy was lilt on top of nine cities making this castle one of the most historical ones.Life inside of a castle was very different than life is now; everything in the me devil era was different, however, the way they lived their lives compared to how people live their life now is very different It has definitely changed for the better. Children were treat d as useless until they were an adult. Normally, they were not even raised by their parents, they got shipped off to 3 somebody else to get raised.If a child was born into a poor family, they were often sold for one of two reasons: either the family needed money so they sold their child or the did not have enough money to afford their child's living expenses so they sold their kid. No matter if a child lived inside or outside of a castle, they were treated poorly and had little to no rights. Another similarity all children shared was getting baptized; in the medieval era, all chill drew got baptized because baptism apparently got rid of sin and evil from the child. Everybody g to baptized as a baby because they had to before death since this era was very catholic.Food and drink were two very important essentials in this time, as they are no w. Wine was the most valued drink. Back in the 1 10th 1 lath century people did not belie eve in aging the wine so the taste varied much from today's wine. Ale was probably the next p popular drink with Made following close behind. Made was made by fermenting honey and WA term which gave it a very sweet taste. Cider was made from apples and sometimes it was blended with pears, it has not changed very much, meaning it is similar to the cider many people drink n owe in 2014.There were different types bowfin and Claret was one of them; it was sweetened WI the honey and spices and when it was sweetened further it was called â€Å"Manley. † Punches, the last of the popular rinks, was rumored to help tooth decay, but has never been proved a valid p mint. Food was also very important, not only for surviving but also impressing. Inter jestingly, the most common food among everybody was bread. Of course the more MO nee one has the better his/ her product is. The best bread was made out of properly ground whole wheat and was served to the lord of the castle, it was so different it got its own special name † Munched. The most common bread, served to commoners, was made from rye; the poor pee pole or people who lived outside of the castle go bread that was made from peas or beans. Bread was so important to people that they also used it as a plate and called it a â€Å"trencher. † The normal meat they had was either cattle or sheep which were both â€Å"hunted† from their livestock. Along WI the the lack of real plates they also did not have forks; they had knives and spoons and used thee r hands for the rest. This meant that they not only had to wash their hands before their meal but a Iso after because they would be filthy from eating with them.Many people had their own gardens in which they grew fruits, vegetables, fool were, and herbs for two reasons: medical needs and food. They grew parsley, sage, chip SE, dill, marjoram, ND cumin all to cook with. Many of these herbs are still used to cook. They al so grew betony and chamomile and anise and chamomile to help or prevent medical issues. Be Tony and chamomile helped get rid of headaches and anise and chamomile helped flat lance. They grew leeks, cabbages, carrots, peas, turnips, onions, and parsnips which are all Vega eatables in their gardens.Some fruit trees and bushes that they grew included apple trees, plug m trees, pear trees, cherry trees, mulberry bushes, gooseberry bushes, strawberry bushes, and gar ape vines. Flowers were also used for cooking and medical purposes. Violets, primrose, and NASA radium were all used for cooking; whereas, honeysuckle, used as an nondiscriminatory, and chi restatement, used for colds and fevers, were used for medical purpose. In the 1 1 the century the castles were simple with the emote and bailey. They h ad timber frames and palisades evolved into substantial concentric castles by the 14th c entry.Major changes occurred with developing completely new castle designs. Locations, Concentric Castles Abroad, Access, and Defensive Architecture was the key points in the medieval I castles during the 14th century. A big component when d esigning the castle was the location of it within itself. In many 5 instances the site itself would determine and even limit the castle plans. The c castle called Bamberger Castle on the Northumberland coast was built on a very high group ND overlooking dunes and the North Sea. Due to the design and fortifications were built roar ND the pros and cons of the location.With the pros and cons of building on a very high hill is that the eye are usually not evenly topped off so sometimes they would be built very high up on one end with Others just reinforced. An example of how castles were denied building construction was if they were rocky topped or any chance of any sliding. The castle in North Wales where the plan s were restricted by the rocky outcrop it was built on and led to a design which has been com eared to an hour class where if would eventually just drop and run out of support. With that bee Eng said the castle buildings were very difficult to construct.The concentric castles were a type of defense which was seen during the crud dads in Spain and of course Cornerstone in France. The earliest Of this type was said t o probably be the Land Wall in Constantinople which was built around the 5th century. The con enteric castle had three distinct walls each one becoming progressively larger. The biggest door on the castle was the entrances usually a drawbridge for MO SST. Even though it was the biggest it had its cons. They go back to the very early age buy t recognized as their weakest spot.With that being said they had to encompass surrounding buildings and allow for space to accept refugees from neigh pouring towns that created the need f or concentric castles with walls getting progressively smaller. One thing that you would expect from Castles would be the size and with size comes defense. A big building usually has a lot of options of weapons for attacking a ND playing the offensive part in a battle. Well the defensive architecture covers drawbridges, s piral staircases, 6 killing grounds, machinations and loopholes or nurseries to name but a fee w.The defensive objects were enabling people to work with them and advance them in many ways into the 1 5th century and were largely common wherever the castle was built. In the medieval times people made their own entertainment. They had to beck cause back then they didn't have anything like we do today. The entertainment we use to daddy take for granted and simply had not been invented back then. † In medieval times that is the four entities from William the Conqueror through to the age of the printing pres s entertainment was a very popular and necessary part of people's lives.We take a look at me devil entertainment in the 14th century the era most commonly associated in Poe plea's minds with the word ‘medieval' as it was the time of knights, jousts, chivalry and the crusades ( Medieval Entertainment Medieval Games, Gambling, Recreation†¦ ) In total there are eight mai n Crusades and a number of smaller ones. By the e ND of the 1 lath century political conditions were stable across Europe. Pilgrimages to Jeer Salem were fairly moon and the Catholic Church had responsibility for maintaining the holy places.At the end of the 1 lath century, Alexis Comments instigated the first Crusade in response e to local chieftains with in the middle east fighting amongst themselves and endangering the pill rims in the process. Crusades rarely ever achieved their military objectives but the impact that the y had on medieval society was profound. 350 years they stimulated trade. With all the Crusades that had happened out of the 5 not including the later o ones the third crusade was probably the most efficient. After the fall Of Acre the crusaders marched along the coast to Gaff the coast Richard still fail to capture Jerusalem.The Crusade end De with a threaten truce with Salad's. The first significant military success was when they took the town 7 of Acre. This military action was driven by Richard the lion heart. One of his gar tastes success was that Philip Augustus sailed back to France where he plotted with John, Rice hardy's brother. The direct outcome was the building of Chateau Gaillardia. Response to Salad's ‘s capture of Jerusalem the two other notable leaders were Philip Augustus of France and redbrick Barbarous who enjoy the title of King of Germany as well as that of the holy Roman Emperor.Medieval history including medieval life and medieval castles can sometimes be better understood if we know the rulers in power at the time. The Norman ruled of r almost 1 00 years but the Pleasantness that followed were in power for almost 250 years. With everything about Medieval Castles there is so much more that couldn't b e talked about but with a little research you can find out just as much. The crusaders g o into depth within after the 1 lath century along with the 14th century. The advancement of weep ions during the time would be unthinkable during that era and goes along to say with the defensive tactic.The construction of the buildings are still used today in some cases of houses. If y oh take the era of the medieval castle and compare to modern day some things we adopted fro m the centuries or those. The weapons they used along with the building techniques are very ad Vance for their time period. The history goes way back even before they had the thought of build Eng up castles for a way of life to contain their people it's amazing from before that time when so none owned property how easy it was to overpower them and take their village as to be in the 1 lath century having a army to protect your goods.The legendary heroes are something the medieval times took very serious including Robin Hood who was a character but before that was al so a very popular name during the 13th century. It was said to be Robin Hood was portrayed as living during the time when King Richard I was away on 3rd Crusade. The Ro bin Hood was some none like modern 8 day super heroes the people depended on Robin Hood when the King was go en because there was no one in rule to stop some of the crime going on during the time. People were getting away with stealing and the higher power were involved with it. The education of Or bin Hood has it's own background.

Deals with the Devil Essay

The Devil is portrayed in many ways and throughout many different types of literature, movies, and music. The most iconic image of the devil is a red beast with horns, a pointed tail, and a pitchfork in his hand. This famous image depicts an evil monster that is in the depths of hell where he rules over the other evil beings of the world. This is only one image of many that you can find in a vast amount of literature and media both past and present. In The Devil and Tom Walker, the devil is described as a black woodsman, human in form but with red eyes. Similarly in The Devil and Daniel Webster, the Devil is described as a â€Å"dark-dressed stranger,† who is soft spoken but has an evil smile. In these descriptions you still get a sense of evil from the Devil but he is in human form. So what or who is the Devil? From early stories in Christianity, Lucifer commonly known as Satan or the Devil is originally an archangel created in the image of God. He is the highest form of an angel, but challenges God and is cast down to rule the pits of hell. Can someone created in the image of God as Christianity suggests be a dark stranger or a red beast? The Devil can be depicted in many ways, but what the Devil really represents is the existence greed and moral corruptness in society. Regardless of the imagery, the Devil plays a similar role throughout literature and media both past and present. One of the earliest stories of a man making a pact with the Devil is a character named Faust, from an old German legend. Faust was a brilliant scholar but always wanted more knowledge. The Devil comes to him one night and promises him infinite wisdom for a certain amount of time after which Faust’s soul would be owned by the Devil. Faust readily agrees and signs a contract with the Devil. Faust lives with his infinite knowledge until the year comes when the Devil comes to collect his soul. Faust is then taken by the Devil and spends the rest of eternity in hell. This story maybe one of the original stories of the Devil making a deal with a man for his soul. The Devil knows and uses the man’s greatest desire to lure him into signing a contract to get his soul. Man is easily corruptible when promised his deepest desire and choses instant gratification without fully understanding or thinking of the repercussions. In Anne Rice’s novel Memnoch the Devil, the Devil begins to stalk Lestate until one evening he appears to him and takes him on a voyage. Lestate is a very old and powerful Vampire, known to only look out himself and his own needs. The Devil takes Lestate to Heaven and Hell where he tells Lestate the story of the beginning of time when God created the world and human beings. Memnoch, or the Devil, spent a lot of time on Earth admiring God’s creation, but begins to notice the suffering and pain of human beings and the souls of deceased that are stuck in between Heaven and Earth. He describes God as uncaring of the evil in the world he created and begs God to do something to help the humans that are suffering on Earth and Sheol, which is the afterlife. Memnoch claims that he is not evil in fact he was an archangel created in God’s image, but because he questioned God several times about why he is letting humans suffer God gets angry. God casts him out of Heaven to find all the lost souls on earth and Sheol that he thinks deserves to be in the Kingdom of Heaven, before Memnoch can return. This turns out to be a daunting task and he enlists Lestate to be his partner and adversary of God. This journey throws Lestate to question everything he has ever known about God and the Devil, sfor he has lived centuries and had dismissed such notion that Heaven and Hell exist. Lestate ends up running from the Devil and when he returns to Earth he steals a biblical artifact, Veronica’s Veil, he reveals the artifact to the world. In the end it is revealed that the Devil was only using Lestate by allowing him to return with an artifact that would renew faith in God and therefore limit the amount of souls sent to Hell. In this story the Devil is manipulative and cunning though he claims he is not evil. Although Lestate never made a deal with the Devil, the Devil won by using Lestate’s narcissism for his own purposes. In the Phantom of the Opera, a popular Broadway show, one can view the Devil as the representation of the masked phantom in the opera house. The young understudy Christine hears a beautiful voice calling to her when she arrives at the opera house. She had heard stories of an â€Å"Angel of Music† who could give her a more powerful and beautiful voice and readily begins to sing with the Devil. A series of mysterious accidents forces the lead singer to lose her voice therefore losing the star role in the opera. Christine is the given then given the lead role after her voice improves drastically while practicing with the Devil. â€Å"The Angel of Music† takes Christine to the depths of the opera house tunnels against her will. Christine is in love with another man, who searches for her in the tunnels of the opera house. The Devil captures Christine’s love and tells her he will kill him if she doesn’t stay with him. This story is similar to the short stories of The Devil and Tom Walker and The Devil and Daniel Webster, in that the characters make a deal with the Devil to improve some aspect of their lives but when the Devil wants to collect on their deal none of the characters want to go willingly. One noticeable difference between the stories is that in the end of The Phantom of the Opera Christine shows kindness to the â€Å"Angel of Music† and he lets her go and he disappears forever leaving only his mask behind. Overall mankind has shown a pattern of making deals with the devil for their desires to their own detriment. From the short stories of, The Devil and Daniel Webster and The Devil and Tom Walker, to the legend of Faust, and the Phantom of the Opera musical you can see similarities in all the characters desiring something unattainable. The Devil then comes to them and promises to deliver their wishes for a small price, merely their souls for the rest of eternity. The Devil feeds on the lack of moral integrity and uses this to gain power over these characters souls. On the other hand, in Memnoch the Devil, Anne Rice changes the â€Å"deal with the devil† theme because Lestate never actually bargains with the devil, none the less the Devil gets what he desires. As you can see, literature and other mediums have adapted the story of making a pact with the Devil in many ways. Works Cited Faust. (n.d.). Retrieved 10 8, 2012, from Wikipeadia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faust Rice, A. (1995). Memnoch the Devil. Knopf. The Phantom of the Opera. (n.d.). Retrieved 10 8, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera