Causes and Consequences of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu

Causes and consequences of the battle of Dien Bien Phu Examine the causes and consequences and consequences of the battle of Dien Bien Phu, 1954, which affected the lives of the Vietnamese until the 1960's. Dien Bien Phu, 1954, was the final battle of the first Indo-China war. Lasting 55 days, the battle had French troops attempt to hold an armed camp against the Viet Minh, who greatly out-numbered them. Dien Bien Phu was situated in a valley in Northern Vietnam, surrounded by mountains.The French believed this strategic setting would give them an advantage, but the Viet Minh were clever. They tunnelled their way into the the French camp and after seven weeks of brutal, intense fighting the French commander; Henri Navarre, ordered a ceasefire. The causes of this event are; the division of Vietnam, 1946 and the first Indo-China war, 1946-54. The battle of Dien Bien Phu also had important consequences that affected the lives of the Vietnamese. These are; the Geneva conference, 1954 and the appointing of Ngo Dinh Diem as Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam.The first cause of the battle of Dien Bien Phu was the division of Vietnam in 1946. After thousands of years of occupation, Vietnam and it's people had developed a strong sense of nationalism. During World War II, it was once again occupied, this time by the Japanese. When Japan surrendered in 1945, Vietnam was free for the first time. Ho Chi Minh and his fighting force; The Viet Minh, took control of the country. On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. However, their happy independence did not last long.The Allies of WWII agreed that Indo-China should be occupied by the Chinese nationalists, who were fighting the communists at the time, with the South being controlled by the British. When the British arrived, their general, Gracey, began to organise the return of the French. With the Chinese nationalists busy fighting a civil war at home in China, Ho Chi Minh's democr atic republic was allowed to continue, however, in February 1946, the Chinese nationalists handed northern Vietnam back to the French. Things were once again how they had been before the Japanese occupation in WWII.This lead to the battle of Dien Bien Phu, as the Viet Minh were angered that their newly gained independence had been stripped away. The French were back in control of the entire country of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh's forces were prepared to fight to regain the independence they had yearned for for centuries. The second cause of the battle of Dien Bien Phu was the first Indo-China war, 1946-54. With the French back in control of Vietnam, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was crushed. Neither the French nor the Viet Minh like the others' presence in Vietnam.Tensions were high and war was coming. Finally on 23 November, 1946, the French planes and ships bombed the Vietnamese section of the Haiphong Port. This attack killed approximately 6,000 people. For a few weeks there we re acts of revenge from the Vietnamese, and counter-revenge by the French, until war began on 19 December. The Viet Minh's tactic was guerrilla warfare, while the French tried to proceed with a more traditional style of fighting. The French decided to put the former emperor; Bao Dai, back on the throne, to placate to Vietnamese people.This lead to two opposing groups of Vietnamese fighters. By 1949, Mao Zedong won the civil war in China, meaning Ho Chi Minh now had an ally on the northern border. With Mao's influence, the Viet Minh's tactic changed from guerilla warfare to mobile warfare, meaning they now launched larger, deadlier offensive attacks. Chinese materials supported their assault, while the US sent materials to the French. When China became involved in the Korean War in 1950, materials ceased to flow into Vietnam, although the Viet Minh were persistant and despite their lack of resources, they continued to fight back.By this point, war had been on for a duration of six ye ars. The French began to recruit Vietnamese soldiers, although they distrusted them greatly. Even so, it became apparent that the Viet Minh vastly outnumbered them. By 1953, the French knew the war had to end, fast. General Navarre devised a plan to trap the Viet Minh into attacking the village of Dien Bien Phu. The first Indo-China war was a cause of the battle of Dien Bien Phu, as it was set up by the French as a way to end the war, although this didn't exactly go to plan.The first consequence of the battle of Dien Bien Phu was the Geneva conference. In February 1954, Britain, France, the USSR and the United States planned a conference to decide the fate of Korea and Indo-China. On April 26, 1954 the conference opened. Korea was the main focus of the conference until the day after the battle of Dien Bien Phu, at which point the focus changed to Vietnam. Besides the four main powers, others attending the conference included; China, Cambodia, Laos, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the State of Vietnam.The US was strongly opposed to the idea of a united, communist Vietnam, due to plans such as the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. It was decide that Vietnam would be split at the seventeenth parallel, with Ho Chi Minh controlling the communist North and Bao Dai in charge of the capitalist South. The people of Vietnam had 200 days to choose which side of the border to move to and the Viet Minh had 300 days to move back to the North. The idea was that a general election would be held in July 1956, at which point the people of Vietnam would vote to decide its fate.This declaration was never signed, but was simply a verbal agreement, which was opposed by both the US and the State of Vietnam. This conference was a consequence of the battle of Dien Bien Phu, as it signalled the end of French control in Indo-China. A second consequence of the battle of Dien Bien Phu was the appointing of Nga Dinh Diem as Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam. Due to the com munist control in the North, Vietnam had gained the express attention of the United States.Due to their strong anti-communist stance, the US decided to back to back Ngo Dinh Diem as Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam. This was due to the fact that Diem was a devout Catholic and ardent anti-Communist. Diem took office on 1 July 1954, he had heavy financial support from the US to help fix Vietnam, much of which has been destroyed in the war. His immediate task was to crush his rivals; this included two religious sects; the Cao Dai and Hoa Hao, which he destroyed with military offensives and bribes. Also his firing line was emperor Bao Dai, who he got rid of by rigging a referendum.Diem promoted members of his family into high government positions, which lead to more of a mess than an organised government. In 1956, Diem felt strong enough to refuse the planned elections to untie Vietnam. He had gained many enemies, and decided to isolate himself, relying on his family for informati on. In response to the hatred of Diem, a South-Vietnamese communist movement was organised, they were named the Viet Cong. They gathered support from the people of South-Vietnam by using brain-washing techniques; they also launched a guerrilla attack against the enemy.As the Viet Cong's powers grew, so did the American support. But Diem became even less popular, and his number of enemies grew. In October 1963, the American government cut off some of its aid to Diem’s government. On 1 November Diem and his brother fled the presidential palace, but were captured and shot by their own generals. This was the end of Diem. His appointment was a consequence of the battle of Dien Bien Phu, as it is was a solution to the strong communist presence in the country that resulted from the success of the Viet Minh in the battle.The battle of Dien Bien Phu was a monumental event in Vietnam which decided the fate of Vietnam for the next 50 years. The causes of which were the division of Vietn am in 1946, and the first Indo-China war, 1946-54. There were also consequences that affected the people of Vietnam, such as; the Geneva conference, 1954 and the appointment of Ngo Dinh Diem as Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam. These consequences are not directly linked to the battle, but they are consequences of it nonetheless. Without the battle of Dien Bien Phu, who knows how Vietnam would have turned out.

José Rizal Essay

Jose left Calamba for Binan to study under the instruction of Maestro Justaniano Aquino Cruz. His days in school were full of memories and It is where he develop his skills in painting and the arts of wrestling. He was also the best student in their school. Jose surpassed all the Binan boys. It contributed for the love of independence in Jose. At that tender age, he was able to control himself. Although he was struck by homesickness but diverted the feeling of nostalgia in developing talents and focused more in his academic studies. I remember when I was in my elementary years. Sometimes, I was left alone by my parents. I just use my time by coloring books and playing with my friends. This activity helps me in identifying colors and building harmonious relationship with others. December 1871 Jose went to Calamba, his home town, where he was welcomed home by his parents, brothers, and sisters. He also spent his Christmas in Calamba. He was given a chance to celebrate with his family the Christmas on 1871. He even shared his experience in Binan. Christmas and other holidays would be merrier when we spend it with our family especially when we exchanges jokes and stories. January 1872  The Cavity Mutiny flared up, followed by the execution of Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora on February 17th. Paciano was deeply affected with the execution of his friend. As a sympathy and protest against the injustice of Spanish authorities, he quit studies and went back to Calamba. This was the period when Jose’s determination to consecrate his life to combat the evil forces of his times despite of his tender age. As a Filipino, I too, is greatly affected by this event because it shows injustice and racial discrimination because Filipino priest were considered inferior and given limited assignments. They were not allowed to hold parishes. June 1872 The hero’s mother was accused and arrested on malicious charge that she aided her brother, Jose Alberto, in trying to poison Alberto’s wife. She was forced to walk on foot from Calamba to Santa Cruz. Jose Rizal experienced the injustice of the Spanish authorities. This event in his life was inculcated in his mind and opened his eyes to reality and dreamed to have equality between Filipinos and Spaniards before the law. This event shows how Spaniards manipulate justice for their own benefit. This will also leave a message to the reader not to trust anyone be June 1872 to 1873 Jose entered Ateneo Municipal. He was at first put at the tail of the class, but he was soon promoted and kept on being promoted so that at the end of one month he had attained to the rank of Emperor. At the end of the term he obtained marks of excellent in all the subjects and in the examinations. . He had reason to feel proud of his advancement; and so when he went home on vacation that year, he ran alone to see his mother in the prison and tell her the happy news. Jose shows that he can do better even when he is Second year in Ateneo (1873 to 1874) The second year, Jose had the same professor as in the previous year; but instead of lodging outside the City, he resided at No. 6 Calle Magallanes. At the end of the term he obtained a medal, and upon returning to his town, he again visited his mother in jail alone. This was three months before her release. Third year in Ateneo (1874-1875) Rizal family was happy because Dona Teodora was released from prison however, Rizal returned dissatisfied to his hometown because he only won one medal. He failed to win a medal in Spanish because his spoken Spanish was not that fluent. A Spaniard who delivered Spanish with fluency and right accentuation defeated him. He studied harder this year and regained his leadership composure and became an emperor again. Fourth Year in Ateneo (1875-1876) Rizal obtained five medals, which pleased him immensely because with them I could repay my father somewhat for his sacrifices. Last Year in Ateneo (1876-1877) Rizal was considered as â€Å"the pride of the Jesuits† because he was the most brilliant Atenean of his times.

Analysing Homelessness In Australia

Analysing Homelessness In Australia Over the past few decades, mechanisms of social exclusion and social control have made it increasingly hard for Australia’s homeless. Many texts discuss the issue of defining homelessness and it is now widely accepted there are several different kinds. Here, I will be talking primarily about Primary homelessness, which is also known as ‘sleeping rough’, where people sleep in cars, parks or other public spaces (Which Way Home? 2008: 18). On average around 105,000 people are homeless in Australia each night and around 15% of these are rough sleeper (The Road Home 2008: 3). The majority of homeless people list financial difficulty, domestic violence, family breakdown or substance abuse as the main causes of their homeless status (Which Way Home? 2008: 20). Homelessness remains a particular problem among Australia’s Indigenous people, who are over represented in their use of homeless services in all states and territories (Which Way Home? 2008: 20). While home lessness itself is not illegal in Australia, many acts committed by the homeless are, such as public urination, public drunkenness and the possession of illegal drugs. Criminalization of the homeless occurs because these people lack the private space in which to engage in these behaviours. Governments assume that by removing the homeless from public spaces that they are reducing crime and creating safe streets for the law abiding public. However, as illustrated above, the crimes the homeless commit do not generally hurt others or damage property. They are breaking specific laws that have been created by the government which are enforced to exclude certain groups of society from specific public spaces, notably the spaces that the wealthy inhabit. Criminalizing the homeless for behavior that is unavoidable in their situation is not simply poor public policy; it also places unnecessary stress on the criminal justice system. Criminalizing the homeless also leaves the law enforcement off icials to deal with related issues, such as issues such as mental illness and alcoholism (citation). Alcoholism is an issue that is common among the homeless population and it is a condition that often intensifies as a result of being homeless. Criminalizing the homeless for being drunk on the streets does not treat the problem, nor does it assist the police in ‘cleaning up the streets’. It is often found is that homeless alcoholics use rehabilitation centre’s as shelter services, but have little intention of treating their addiction (Wilhite 1992: 190). This indicates that the provision of suitable housing is a prerequisite to treating alcoholism. Once suitably housed, alcoholics have an increased chance of using alcohol rehabilitation services effectively. However, as suitable housing becomes increasingly scarce, the homeless are released from the justice system and back on to the street, where the cycle is then repeated. Homelessness has also increased signifi cantly among the mentally ill in recent decades. This has been attributed to discontinuity in mental health services where individuals are transferred from an institutional to community living (Conover et al. 1997: 256). This burden of care has shifted from mental hospitals to the community; however, development of housing and community services has not kept up with the demand (Greenblatt 1992: 49). The outcome here is that many of Australia’s mentally ill have ended up are end up on the streets and are criminalized for behaviour’s that are symptoms of their illness. Once again, nobody benefits from the existing system. Our mentally ill are left untreated and our criminal justice system gets increasingly clogged with cases of minor offences that have harmed no one.

Conflict at Disney Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Conflict at Disney - Case Study Example Three stages of conflict are perceived, felt, and manifest conflict. Dysfunctional conflicts – Michael Eisner Conflicts in organizations are detrimental to the productivity of a company. During the tenured of Michael Eisner as CEO of Walt Disney Company his management style and personality clashed with a lot of key internal and external stakeholders. People skills are a critical success factor for managers today. The interpersonal conflicts he trigged became so distractive that it led to his demise as CEO of the company. Effective communications and managerial communication skills positively influence effective organizational behavior (Kondrat, 2009). Mr. Eisner created problems and conflicts with a lot of key and powerful players in Disney’s power hierarchy. I would categorize the conflicts Eisner had with the Weinstein brothers, the two board members, and Steve Jobs as dysfunctional. Dysfunctional conflict is an undesirable business practice because it hurts the moral e of the company and it lowers the productivity of the employees. It also disrupts the corporate culture of an enterprise. Some of the reasons dysfunctional conflict arises is associated with organization’s structure, policies, and processes (Landau, 2004). This type of conflict can be instigated by a person that does not listen to what others have to say and impose his belief system on others. The disruptive leader at Disney was its former CEO, Michael Eisner. Harvey and Bob Weinstein were key business partners of the company. They were the founders of Miramax which was a company of interest to Disney because the company negotiated the purchase of copyrights from them valued at over $2 billion. Michael Eisner made a mess of the negotiations and ended up causing a conflict over the financial details of the deal that had the potential of leading to a lawsuit. Lawsuits are an undesirable business outcome because it hurts the public image of a company. Eisner’s blunder wi th the Weinstein brother was not his only incident of dysfunctional conflict. During his tenured as CEO he was often confrontational and fought with two members of the board of directors, Roy Disney and Stanley Gold. These two board members often publicly criticized Eisner and on many occasions called for his resignation. The actions of Eisner were undesirable because the executive management team is supposed to work in alliance with the board of directors to accomplish the mission and goals of a corporation. A third dysfunctional conflict that Eisner instigated was with Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was the CEO of the animated producer Pixar. Michael Eisner publicly disrespected Steve Jobs and his company in front of Congress. After that incident the feud escalated and Jobs wanted to cut his relationship with Disney. In the end Michael Eisner was fired from his position at Disney due to his inability to build positive relationships with important customers and other power figures at Disne y. His actions led to the manifestation of several dysfunctional conflicts. Dysfunctional conflicts are risky due to the fact that they can escalate and lead to bigger problems for a company (Businessknowledgesource, 2010). Conflict with Steve Jobs – conflict stage Michael Eisner did a terrible job in his relationship with Steve Jobs. Steve was a very powerful player both in the computer and film industry. He had several disputes and conflicts with Steve in regards to their business

Googles Organisation Culture, Power and Control Essay

Googles Organisation Culture, Power and Control - Essay Example According to the report  Google Inc. is a US based company headquartered at Mountain View, California. It was founded in the year 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They were students at Stanford University then. Google is specialised in online advertising and internet searching. It became a public company in 2004. The mission statement of Google is: â€Å"Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful†.From this discussion it is clear that  Google is well known for its unconventional, informal, and distinct organisational culture. Organisational culture can actually be thought of or analysed at three different levels, namely Artefacts, Espoused Values, and Beliefs and the Basic Assumptions. The main belief of Google is that its organisational structure and its associated values are the representatives of spirits, assumptions, beliefs, performances, and attitudes followed by the employees of the company. Integrity of the values of the Google’s employees, which include commitment and loyalty, is an important aspect of the Google’s culture. This results in Google trying to create an organisational culture which is innovative in nature so as to provide motivational incentives for its employees to achieve the goals and objectives of the company.  For Google’s employees, money is not as important as their passion to work for the company. Everyone enjoys and feels happy about working for Google.  

PESTEL analysis Courier and Delivery market UK Essay

PESTEL analysis Courier and Delivery market UK - Essay Example The economic factors in the United Kingdom courier industry constitute a substantial reason for the general outlook to same (MSI 2000). To expound on this, the courier industry in the United Kingdom operates in different places around the globe. There are many companies from the United Kingdom which command global influence (Campbell 2001). This has necessitated the companies to look for choices that facilitate smooth interactions between their choices (Monaghan 1998). The courier industries in the United Kingdom have an unusually high demand, and this had caused the economic landscape of the United Kingdom courier industry to keep changing. This has caused the airline industry in the United Kingdom to have an economic boom. In the delivery of documents and packages, speed is vital (Crew & Kleindorfer 1999). The environmental factors in the United Kingdom courier industry cover the governmental legislation and regulation. This is because the policies of the government in United Kingdom have created a favourable business environment for the rise of the industry or vice versa. Some government believes in subsidizing local industries with an aim of increasing their effectiveness and global influence (Luff 2009). When the government policies and legislation proposes heavy taxation of local courier industry in the United Kingdom, then the business environment of the industry is altered, and the companies begin to strain (Campbell 2001). According to Campbell, the environmental factors include the population gross domestic product, GDP. This affects the competitiveness of the industry. When ordinary citizens have a string purchasing power, then they are likely to hire the services of the courier industry in the United Kingdom which raises their turnover (Luff 2009). The competition of the cour ier industry in the United Kingdom is exceptionally high (MSI 2000). The recent spread of recession of the economy that was spread from the United States of America affected the courier industry in the United Kingdom (Monaghan 1998). This indicates that the health of ht economy is extremely crucial for the growth of the industry in the United Kingdom (Crew & Kleindorfer 1999). The rise of oil prices caused many airline industries t cut down the size of their fleet, which affected many courier industries in the United Kingdom. In extreme cases, this led to the closure of some courier companies which could not meet the demands of the industry. Therefore, the company could not be operational (Monaghan 1998). Many others were forced to downsize their workforce, and this affected their capability. This has forced managers to take appropriate actions to make sure their industries maintain a competitive edge over their competitors. Many courier industries in the United Kingdom operate in o ver 200 countries around the globe. Each country has a different business atmosphere with because of the territorial difference in terms of regulations and rules. Each and every country has different barriers when it comes to new entrants (MSI 2000). For instance, china has extraordinarily high barriers to new entrants compared to countries like Kuwait and Sri-lanka which have low barriers. When it comes to foreign direct investments, many countries have different

Visa Inc Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Visa Inc - Research Paper Example Visa Inc. (2011) is a company that was founded from the simple idea of digital currency, but had managed to connect millions of businesses, consumers, financial institutions, and even governments to each other in the short while that it has been operating. It allows its customers, in over 200 countries (Visa Inc, 2011) and areas to replace their cash and check transactions to digital transactions. It has a separate network named VisaNet (Visa Inc, 2011) for financial institution clients. VisaNet is a central and modular payments network that offers three important services of â€Å"risk management services, information services and transaction processing services† (Visa Inc, 2011) all together in one package. Furthermore, VisaNet (Visa Inc, 2011) is constantly working on ways to improve their service, so that people can utilize the method of electronic payments for several more purposes and in more places, because of the network size and payment expertise. This enterprise also provides financial institutions with recognized payment products, which they use to provide â€Å"cash-access, prepaid, debit and credit programs to customers of all types† (Visa Inc, 2011), people as well as state owned and private businesses. This company is the owner of the Visa brand, with their customers crossing several millions and with 1.8 million ATMs distributed worldwide amongst several countries and regions (Visa Inc, 2011). This company remains a frontrunner amongst all electronic transaction companies since the start of its operations. It initialized with credit cards and moved on to offer mobile payments and neural networks, being one of the first companies worldwide to offer such services, thus always remaining updated and developed in an already rapidly changing industry. Considering the large contribution of Visa’s payment platforms to global commerce, its support to all its customers seems invaluable. Visa Inc. (2011) itself does not deal directly with customers in terms of issuing cards or

How to create resilient supply chains Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

How to create resilient supply chains - Essay Example The process is also critical in planning of the production and supply process, improvement of relationships with suppliers, event management, international trade logistics, and transportation management (Fawcett, Ellram & Ogden 2007). This management is necessary for any enterprise that aspires to improve efficiency. The outcome of a well-managed is the difference between the success and the failure of the enterprise. Creation of a resilient chain is, therefore, an important part in the success of a business entity. Objectives of a supply chain management system An example of a supply chain is a manufacturing chain, which involves the procurement of raw materials, transformation of these raw materials into finished goods, and then transportation to distribution centers, and eventually to consumers. According to Beckmann (2003) the primary objective of the process is to maximize the general value generated. This value is the difference between effort expended in satisfying the custome r’s request and the final products worth to the consumer. These chains are strongly connected with the profitability, which is the margin between the proceeds generated from the consumer and the general cost across the chain. This system is, therefore, aimed at reducing costs related to customer satisfaction (Mentzer et al. 2001). Effective management of the process can results can also reduce the risks associated with breakdowns in the chain. Management also ensures that resources are used elsewhere. Through the reduction in costs, it is possible to transfer the resources that are saved to other productive activities. The management is also influential in the enhancement of management operations (Tan 2001). A steady chain implies more efficient operations which improves the overall productivity and profitability of the business. A properly managed chain also facilitates delivery of quality products over a smaller period (Cohen & Roussel 2005). Issues that affect the supply c hain process A major issue that affects the supply chain is strategy alignment. It is crucial that the business strategy must be in line with the supply strategy in order to attain its desired results (Chen & Paulraj 2004). However, where these strategies are not aligned, there is a higher risk of breakdown in the chain. If the strategy does not work in synchrony with the business strategy, it becomes difficult to properly coordinate the entire process (Arend & Wisner 2005). A poor strategy can also undermine the effectiveness of the supply process. A good strategy must focus on both customer satisfaction and effectiveness, and where these objectives are not met the supply process cannot be effective (Gunasekaran & Ngai 2005). Strategic alliances are particularly essential for the flow of materials, information or money in the supply chain and it needs to be even. This can be achieved through proper communication with strategic alliances (Storey et al 2006). Supply chain risks Busin ess risks can be externally driven such as customers, competitors, regulations or internally driven risks that include processing and operations. Risks can also be decision-driven such as erroneous or insufficient decision support (Stadtler 2008). In assessing risks, that affect supply chains, it is imperative to categorize these risks according to risk sources,

Geckos as Pets Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Geckos as Pets - Assignment Example In making the decision to purchase any kind of pet, whether it be a mammal or reptile, the main considerations are personal lifestyle options, purpose for getting the pet, time that must be spent on care, money for care, habitat requirements, and longevity of the pet (Humane Society, 1-3). For active individuals or those with extended work hours, finding the time to properly care for and train a puppy would be extremely trying, for instance. Both cats and dogs require a minimum of an annual visit to the vet along with vaccinations and preventive maintenance, all of which take time and money. In planning for the purchase of a dog, availability of an area to play and take care of bodily functions is a necessary consideration - a large breed of dog such as a Labrador Retriever cannot be kept confined in a small apartment without it being considered cruel. Longevity of the chosen pet is also a factor in choosing a pet; some birds can live up to one hundred years old! All of these aspects of pet ownership must be considered before making a decision that will be life-impacting. Geckos, conversely, require a minimal amount of care. Leopard geckos, or Eublepharis macularius, in particular, are one of the most popular reptiles kept as pets. ... The Crested gecko, or Rhacodactylus ciliatus, hails from New Caledonia. The Crested gecko was previously thought to be extinct but a number of them were found on the island in the 1980s. Today they are raised in captivity for the purpose of selling as pets. The Crested gecko comes in a variety of beautiful and extreme color combinations. They are a bit smaller and just a few years shorter-lived than their Leopard variety cousins as well being omnivorous as opposed to insectivorous. The Crested gecko is arboreal and enjoys being housed in a tall cage with plants, real or artificial. Crested males must be kept separate from each other as their natural instinct is to fight each other to the death (LaFerriere). Proper care for geckos includes providing the right habitat and environment. A 15 - 20 gallon glass tank is large for several geckos, but males should be kept separate from females unless the owner is prepared to deal with offspring. Some sort of soft substrate, such as paper or a piece of outdoor carpet, is sufficient while providing a hiding place, such as a half piece of bark, will allow them a place for privacy. Unlike other reptiles, geckos do not require a UV light but a small, dim bulb above the tank can be installed for the purpose of basking. A shallow dish of water and a diet of insects will keep the gecko happy and healthy (McLeod). Crickets or mealworms can be given once a day for young geckos and once every other day for adults. These foods are easily and inexpensively purchased at most pet supply stores. Owning a gecko can be a very positive and rewarding experience for a young child. The housing tank can easily be kept in a child's bedroom, where they can

Art of the americas before 1300 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Art of the americas before 1300 - Research Paper Example Another theory states that some of the original Americans used boats to cross into the Americas. The theories placed the crossings to between 30,000 B.C. to 10,000 B.C (Kleiner 511). By the 8,000 B.C. to 2,000 B.C., the Stone Age hunters changed their ways from travelling to settling down in communities. The hunter age was characterized as individuals moving in the path of their prey. The hunters had to move from one place to another in order to catch their animal food objects. If the hunters stayed in one place permanently, the hunters may die from hunger. The wandering animal food sources would soon disappear. By changing their ways to a community life, the hunters decided to engage in agriculture. With agriculture, the people were able to grow their own food. The harvested plants and fruits became the food source of the settled communities. Likewise, some of the hunters decided to establish animal farms. The animals were grown on farms. When the animals were of eating age, the ind ividuals cooked the slaughtered animals (Kleiner 511). Further, the people decided to engage in fishing. Living near the seashores, the settled communities of the Americas used different hunting tools to catch fish. Some caught small fish. Other more experienced individuals were able to catch bigger and stronger fish types (Kleiner 511). As the communities settled down for many years, the communities established better community cooperation. The communities were characterized as having high levels of social complexities. Likewise, the communities improved their technological skills. The South Americans started to use Llamas as a means of better transportation. The Llamas were used to carry humans, food, and other materials (Kleiner 511). In terms of engineering and infrastructure, the Americas during this time period build complex roads. The people also built bridges to connect two nearby communities. The communities’ complexities contributed to their becoming complicated net works of cities. The early engineers were instrumental in the establishment of irrigation systems. The irrigation systems enhanced the drainage systems (Kleiner 511). After the above complexities of the Americas prior to the 1300s flourished, the people turned art to entertain themselves. The art forms included carved towering monumental stone statues. Other types of art forms included the reliefs. A third form of art form was the painted extensive murals. Additionally, the people turned to weaving to cover their bodies. The people also engaged in pottery. Other members of society were busy doing metal works (Kleiner 511). The Americas are divided into three groups. First, the Mesoamerica region included several current day nations. One nation is Mexico. Another nation is Guatemala. A third nation is the Belize. A fourth nation is the Honduras. Another country is El Salvador. The Aztec empire flourished during the 1485 – 1547 B.C. time period. When the Spanish invading army o f Hernan Cortes attacked and conquered the Aztec kingdom, the people decided to vacate the place. Consequently, the works of art were left at the mercy of nature. The Spanish invaders decided to destroy the Aztec kingdom in order to eliminate the pagan religions. With the elimination, the Spanish conquerors imposed the Roman Catholic religion on the people. Consequently, t

The horror of war in Dulce et Decorum est Essay Example for Free

The horror of war in Dulce et Decorum est Essay How does Wilfred Owen portray the horror of war in Dulce et Decorem est? Owens Dulce et Decorem est is a painful, poignant and blunt depiction of the squalid conditions and distressing experiences which had a permanent effect on the soldiers of the 1st world war. He addresses the subject with absolute honesty and frankness as a soldier himself, which brings out the stark contrast of the reality of war to the propaganda which enticed young soldiers to fight to begin with; Owens use of language here shows his deep loathing towards war and misleading propaganda. Firstly I will address the idea in the poem that war is irreconcilable and contradictory to the notions displayed by propaganda posters of courage, bravery, honour, glory and patriotism. The first stanza of the poem is heavy with negative connotations- the men are beggars, weak, destitute and dejected, lacking in hope; they are coughing like hags due to living in the trenches- rife with illness, disease, gas attacks and dead bodies. The use of words like haunting, distant, asleep, lame and drunk create a feeling of inevitable doom; knock-kneed, coughing, limped, blood-shod and dropped indicate ill health and disease. The theme of loss is also significant here; many had lost their boots, all blind, deaf even, connoting the loss of sense organs as well as property, the small comfort of simply having boots. Through the sludge the men curse those who were the cause of their suffering, the Germans, war, propaganda. Nevertheless there is still the theme of duty, and/or a small light of hope amongst the disheartened men- Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots// But limped on, blood-shod. Even in shoes full of blood, the men march on, partly because they have to and they have been ordered to, partly because they have to protect themselves, but mainly towards that distant rest. This portrayal of dedication (to family, cause, life) is in contrast to the positive connotations of bravery or glory. There is nothing positive about the mens desire to push on, only desperation. This is heightened by the fact that this poem was written in 1917, 3 years after they were promised the war would end by Christmas 1914. The second stanza could be likened to wakening from a dream- the men are drunk with fatigue when a small but urgent voice calls Gas! then more urgently, as the danger is fully understood- GAS! following on from this is an avalanche of awkward words like fumbling, clumsy and stumbling which adds to the urgent, staccato feeling of the stanza structure. This feeling of awkwardness augments itself, then becomes relief (just in time) then turns into pity and excruciating empathy for the someone who is drowning under a green sea, as he is yelling out and floundring like a fish, wrenching at the emotions of the reader; and, it seems, of Owen himself. In the 3rd and shortest stanza, Owen seems to be saying to the reader that the things he had seen were so horrific that he wished he were blind himself. He does this by saying that his sight is helpless, that in his dreams, (one would imagine a sanctuary) even in his dreams he is haunted by the man he saw die as he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. The end of this stanza is so abrupt as to have a painful effect on the reader, as if this description is a flashback of Owens that he cannot stop his helpless subconscious mind from re-enacting in his dreams. The last stanza is really Owen addressing the reader directly, having described to them the graphic things he had encountered. How there were so many dead that they flung them in the wagon, how his dreams were so terrifying that they smothered him and how horribly he had to watch his friends die, gargling blood. He informs the reader that if they had seen what he had seen, they would not tell with such high zest// To children ardent for some desperate glory,// The old Lie; Dulce et Decorem est//Pro patria mori. That you, My friend, the reader, would not dream of speaking of the war with ardour, if to create a utopian fantasy for ones children; if at all. The fact that Owen capitalises the L in Lie along with the ending of the poem with the religiously indicative Latin phrase shows his sarcastic bitterness clearly- he wants the reader to empathise and feel as he feels when he thinks of how he was lied to about a place worse than hell, and even worse, how it was glorified. In conclusion, Owen portrays the horror of war, with an incredibly graphic nature, as at complete odds with popular considerations. He fills the poem with themes of loss, blindness, illness, fatigue, death, blood, uncleanliness and deafness and likens war to a place worse than hell, worse than the reader could even imagine. He displays war as rife with sickening and squalid substance, and the effects it has on the soldiers who survive as incurable, corrupted, horrific, destructive and vile.

A Self Reflection Paper Analysis Social Work Essay

A Self Reflection Paper Analysis Social Work Essay Critically comment upon experiences in terms of my own counselling experience and experience working within the organisation. My practicum was undertaken at Lifeline Community Care Queensland, Fraser District in telephone counsellor role. To be eligible for a placement within the telephone counselling area, a Lifeline Telephone Counselling training course must first be completed. I was fortunate that I had completed the training a little over two years ago. Not only did I have the basic training, but I was also a current volunteer in other roles within the telephone counselling area. I benefited from being familiar with the organisation, the relevant policies and procedures, and a number of staff members. I did not have to go through new person difficulties. I believe I have a good working relationship with my supervisors. New learning activities included undertaking computer supervision, sit-in supervision and support, and providing administrative support. Continuous reading, self a ssessment and reflection, along with the keeping of journal notes proved invaluable to my learning and skills development. Discuss in light of relevant theoretical concepts and research Without it being stated Lifeline telephone counselling uses a client directed outcome informed approach (Duncan, Miller Sparks, 2004). In training we are educated in the principles of the callers story and of the need to explore with the caller their options, past coping and/or solutions to address their issue. The telephone counselling training details the Carl Rogers concept of unconditional positive regard (Lifeline Training Manual, 2009), without which it may be impossible to build the rapport needed to establish a counselling relationship. There is no measure of the service provided or feedback requested from callers to the 13 11 14 crisis line service. The Outcome Rating Scale and Session Rating Scale (Duncan, Miller Sparks, 2004) are perhaps not entirely suitable for this purpose, but might be adapted in order to provide a feedback mechanism. Some callers leave you with very clear indication of how they believe the call went and what was achieved. However in other cases I am left wondering about client satisfaction. As the service is a crisis line, there is no opportunity to follow through with a client. Scott Miller (1997), in his audio CD, Working with mandated clients, identifies three types of clients: the Customer, 15% of clients, the Browser, 65% of clients and the Visitor, 20% of clients. In telephone counselling terms I relate the customer callers to those who are in the preparation stage of change and ring to gain clarity, for support and/or someone to listen and guide them in their planned action. The browser callers can describe the problem in detail, but appear to be stuck, this category would include the yes, but callers. The last group, the visitor caller, does not identify as having any problem themselves, everyone has a problem with them. Some of the callers I have spoken to, for example, some callers with mental illness concerns, perpetrators of domestic violence, and callers who report their drug and alcohol issues, I would place in this group. Reflect on own experience and learning in light of research and theory. As the role of telephone counselling was known to me, I was in a position to begin extra reading from the commencement of the practicum placement. I chose material that I thought would provide relevant information to the provision of the 13 11 14 crisis telephone service and to improve my general knowledge. My supervisor suggested that as many as 85% of callers had a mental illness, not that all callers with an identified mental illness disclosed that as their reason for calling. In light of this high number I began my reading list with The everything health guide to adult bipolar disorder (Bloch, 2006); and A family intervention guide to mental illness (Morey Muser, 2007). These two books coupled with the Clinicians Thesaurus (Zuckerman, 2005) provided valuable information which helped to guide my questions to callers, in order to better understand their issues and expectations of their call. Callers at risk of suicide require a very high level of attention, these calls are stressful and can be challenging. My initial training in dealing with suicide was comprehensive. I later completed the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (LivingWorks, 2004). Ongoing reading into the issues of suicide, loss and grief have improved my knowledge and in turn helped me to gain a greater understanding of the pain and suffering experienced by the person at risk and their families. The need for empathic listening is clearly outlined in McKissock McKissock (1995) Coping with Grief and Appleby (1992) Surviving the Pain after Suicide, both are small easy to read, and relevant books. Reflect/examine journal entries as a whole. Go back over your supervision journal noting the main themes and patterns of thought as well and incidents and insights. Reference material, for example, Becoming a Helper (Corey Corey, 2009) and the Clinicians Thesaurus (Zuckerman, 2005) outline informed consent, detailing what a client may expect regarding confidentiality, of their rights within the counselling relationship and the decision making process. Clients are also informed of the limitations of confidentially. This is not the case in telephone counselling, where confidentially is implied. In cases where police or medical interventions are required, this can present an ethical and/or moral dilemma. If the caller has disclosed such issues that it goes against the morals of the telephone counsellor, the supervisor on call, and/or society, would it be better not to report the suicide in progress? In telephone counselling there is no opportunity to pick your calls, you cannot be a specialist in any one area. It is necessary to have the skills to work with callers on a wide range of issues. The concept of unconditional positive regard is question ed when I am faced with a caller who is drunk, abusive or is clearly sex caller (a caller who discloses unwanted explicit detail). In some cases there is a clear breach of client confidentiality, such as the case when the telephone counsellor on shift, promised the caller that she would not contact the police (journal entry 17 October 2010), even after his disclosed that he had already taken a higher than recommended dose of medication and had a history of mental illness. After contacting Poisons Information it was clear that the callers life was at risk and intervention was required. Perhaps this could be viewed as the telephone counsellor, not calling the Police, but as the action of contracting the police was undertaken by another. The clients confidentiality was technically breached several times, in the TC providing me with details, in my providing the Police with the callers information and in consultation with the supervisor. Two books which have proved very valuable as resources are the Clinicians thesaurus (Zuckerman, 2005) as quick reference including treatment for specific disorders and concerns and a Listing of common psychiatric and psychoactive drugs. The other reference is People in Crisis (Hoskinson, 2000), which has proven to be extremely helpful. I use the book to ground me, when I am seeking reassurance that I am on track, when I am faced with a challenging issue or when I am exposed to issues where I am little or no experience. Analyse your experiences and record any modifications of your views. Overall I enjoyed the roles and activities undertaken in the practicum with Lifeline and I believe that the experience was a very valuable learning experience. Additional reading undertaken improved my general knowledge of many of the issues raised by callers. Although, only one counselling approach is used in telephone counselling, strengths based approach, this is similar to the solution focused approach that I believe will become my favoured counselling approach. This belief is based on my limited experience to date and on the feedback from callers when they find their own solutions. It is gratifying to hear the light bulb moment when callers realise what they have or can achieve. Ongoing training and development, such as at the Wide Bay Womens Centre, which provides DVD viewing and networking opportunities, the Lifeline In Service Training and the GOSS nights are relevant and beneficial, as they present information that is generally immediately applicable in my role as a telephone counsellor. The Huntingtons Disease National Conference in September highlighted the art of listening. Of the problems associated with not listening with full attention, jumping ahead and interrupting the speaker and of the importance of asking the right questions and of avoiding complex questions. The National Lifeline National Conference in November provided a greater insight into suicide prevention strategies. It was inspiring to hear from some great speakers such as Professor Brian Mishara, who spoke about suicide prevention and help lines. The Lifeline Suicide Prevention Strategy was launched and a copy of the new booklet was supplied. The motivational speaker, Maggie Mackellar , the author of When it rains, spoke about her experiences. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to speak privately with her and to purchase a signed copy of her book. Review your experiences in light of any relevant research and theory that relates to the themes you have observed and highlight the implications and learning for your personal development. In a client directed, outcome informed approach to counselling there is a focuses on the relationship with the client and the clients additional therapeutic factors (Duncan, Miller Sparks, 2004). Corey Corey (2009) suggest that when we engage with a client we are not consciously thinking about what theory we are using. Rather we adjust to fit the client taking into account their willingness to engage and the trust we establish together. In telephone counselling this is referred to as building rapport and exploring caller options (Lifeline Training Manual, 2009), the telephone counsellor works with the client to understand the problem from the clients point of view, and to explore with the client what they wish to achieve and to discuss the ways they can achieve their goal. Boylan Scott (2009) describe brief therapies a descriptive summary which could also be applied to define the functions of telephone counselling provided by the 13 11 14, Lifeline Crisis Line. The service provides short term, crisis support. There is not follow up contact or counselling and no client measurable feedback. Essay should demonstrate learning that is based on both experience and theory/research. In this placement with Lifeline, telephone counselling, I was able to tie together past life and work experiences, Lifeline training, academic study and general reading. In a crisis line telephone counselling service, you never know what the next call will bring, however the extra reading has provided a greater knowledge and understanding of the some topics, but it is only is in the practice of asking of better questions of the caller that any real benefit is gained. In applying a client directed outcome informed approach (Duncan, Miller Sparks, 2004), the caller is recognised as the expert on their problem. A relationship (rapport) with the caller cannot be established without first listening and seeking to understand the callers issues from perspective, while valuing and respecting their position. Change is driven by the caller and it is important that their ideas about options, management and change are explored. The need for empathy and caring and the ability to reduce the callers stress while providing an opportunity the caller to speak openly regarding their problems is paramount. I have long been aware of the need of self reflection and self care, the importance of which has been reinforced during this placement, along with the essential requirement to keep reading, questioning and learning. I was very fortunate in having good support from my supervisors, I was able to debrief, question and discuss any topic or issue as it arose. My conclusion at the competition of CDS3000 practicum is that I remain a work in progress. I believe that I am a competent telephone counsellor, but I wonder if this will translate to face-to-face counselling.

Case Study of clinical decision making in practice

Case Study of clinical decision making in practice This assignment was written by a Community Matron working in a Primary Care setting for a local GP surgery. Using a case study approach, it aims to illustrate a clear, logical account of clinical decision making in the practice environment, whereby the patient was fully assessed, differential diagnosis reached, and effectively treated, furthermore, through a collaborative model of consultation (Rudisill et al 2006) and working, professionals pooled knowledge and resources and carers were educated to reduce further incidences of the problem illustrating the benefits of proactive care from the Community Matron ( Boaden, Dusheiko and Gravelle 2005). The patient was chosen for this study as this was the third incidence of the presenting condition in as many months, making it obvious to the practitioner that whilst the problem had been treated on previous occasions, further investigation of the condition and a constructive, concerted approach was needed to prevent future recurrences and to maintain patient comfort. In accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Councils Code of Conduct (NMC 2009), consent was granted by the patient prior to undertaking the study and names changed to protect identity and maintain confidentiality, for this reason the patient will be referred to as Jack Lowe and his wife as Linda. Multiple complex pathologies and socioeconomic conditions influenced the development of the patients skin condition, due to the constraints of word allowance it was not possible to elaborate on all the contributing factors; for the purpose of this assignment, the practitioner aimed to give a brief overview of pathologies and to concentrate on consultation and clinical decision making from a primary and secondary prevention perspective Jack had been registered with the Community Matron for eighteen months; he had a history of coronary heart disease having experienced a cerebrovascular accident resulting in right sided hemi paresis with reduced mobility ten years ago, and a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes two years ago. Following a history of poor diabetic control, Jack was referred to the Community Matron by his Gp in June 2008 to provide ongoing education and support for Jack and Linda in order to more effectively manage Jacks condition and minimise complications of diabetes (DoH 2001). Information, education and psychological support is the cornerstone of diabetic care (DoH 2001); the Diabetic Specialist Nurse proved an invaluable resource to the Community Matron who was subsequently able to provide dietary advice to Jack and Linda both verbally and written using a patient handbook (NICE 2002a). This approach proved successful and diabetic control improved, consequently Community Matron visits were reduced to a mont hly support and monitoring regime. However, carers recently noticed a skin problem during morning visit (see Appendix 2) and referred Jack to the Community Matron for reassessment. Systematic and sensitive assessment has been a key government policy in primary health and community care (RCN 2004); accurate medical history taking is vital as this is arguably the most important aspect of consultation (Crumbie and Walsh 2006) with 80% of diagnoses formulated on the interview alone (Epstein, Perkin, Cookson and Bono 2003). Skin problems constitute 15% of GP consultations; essential management requires a history of the complaint as well as background information, including general health and concurrent treatment (Parker 2009). Following a full explanation, reassessment (appendix 1), took into consideration the personal areas involved and the possibility that the condition was sexually transmitted; sensitive questioning of sexual history was undertaken and noted. Information was gained using a variety of methods, including open questioning of Jack, wife Linda, medical notes, hospital discharge letters and Care Agency daily records. Whilst interviewing Jack it became apparent that he was feeling depressed, further questioning confirmed that Jack had been feeling depressed for some time (Patient Health Questionaire-PHQ 9 completed and filed in Jacks notes with a copy to GP), Linda had been ill with a cold earlier in the year and had snapped at Jack, he said that he felt that he was a burden and refused to be persuaded otherwise becoming very tearful during the consultation. After further discussion, Linda agreed that she had been finding it difficult to cope and agreed to accept more help during the day; referrals were made to social services and to crossroads to provide day sitting service to allow Linda time to herself. Antidepressants were discussed for short-term relief of symptoms but both Jack and Linda felt that with extra support they would both improve. Assessment tools to aid memory and ensure relevant information is identified include mnemonics whereby an easily remembered acronym associates with list items (mnemonic). Mnemonics have been used since the second century BC (Nager and Heinrichs 2009), whilst SOCRATES is generally used by medical professionals as a pain assessment tool to gain insight into patients condition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates-(pain assessment), the practitioner could find no validation of this tool, although Clayton et al (2000) use this acronym in their study, they too fail to highlight the origins of the acronym and provide no validation or references. A plethora of mnemonics can be found to assist in consultation and assessment http://www.medicalmnemonics.com/), acronyms considered, included SWIPE (starts, worse, improves, pain, episode), LOSTWAR (location, onset, severity, worsening, alleviating and radiating), nevertheless, the practitioner found SOCRATES easy to remember and relevant to Jacks condition, pertinently, she found this particular tool an invaluable resource when gaining a concise history of the presenting problem(See appendix 2). Recent blood test results reviewed (appendix 3), vital signs of blood pressure, pulse, and temperature recorded, and shown to be within normal limits, no pyrexia was noted which precluded infection, weight, BMI, waist measurements and random capillary blood glucose levels were taken and compared to previous results. Whilst there appeared little change in general observations, Jack had gained 5kg in weight with a proportional 7cm increase in girth measurements, Hba1c levels had increased from 6.3% in June 2009 to 7.8% in January 2009; also his eGFR had decreased from 49ml/min in June 2009 to 44ml/min in January 2010. Medication (appendix 1) was reviewed to assess if this may have contributed to the condition and whilst Aspirin, Bisoprolol and Xismox all have itching and rash listed as a side effect, this is indicative of an allergic reaction which occurs suddenly (BNF 2009), over the counter medication and herbal remedies were also explored and Jack confirmed that he only used prescription medication, and therefore it was perceived medication could not have initiated the problem. Jack has no documented allergies to medication which could possibly have caused a rash, and has not been receiving antibiotic therapy which may have predisposed him to fungal infections (Hilson 2002). Jacks wife confirmed that no new topical agents or laundry powders have been used recently which may have triggered a skin reaction (Parker 2009). Following history taking and full explanation, consent for examination was obtained. Whilst Jack was well known to the practitioner and a confident, professional relationship established, sensitivity was shown to the fact that he would be partially undressed during the procedure, examination was then conducted in the privacy of the bedroom with the curtains and windows closed, pertinently, a clean sheet was used to cover areas not under scrutiny to ensure only the relevant areas of Jacks body remained uncovered at one time during the procedure to maintain dignity, Linda was present throughout the examination at Jacks request. Physical examination was then undertaken using the skills of inspection and palpation, the senses of touch, listening and smell, physical findings from the examination were then integrated into the diagnostic process. According to Epstein, Perkin, Cookson and Bono (2003) there is a tendency to focus on the localised area of skin but as an organ in its own right skin should be fully examined to gain maximum information. A full examination in good light is essential to identify details necessary to formulate a differential diagnosis, these include, site, distribution, pattern, colour, heat, flat or raised surface and any ulceration (Chadha 2009 Bickley and Szilagyi). A careful inspection ruled out rash or dry skin problems elsewhere on the body, however, the skin between the groins extending onto the scrotum was intensely reddened, cracked in skin folds, covered in a moist rash with a creamy curd discharge, well defined borders and scaling on the edges, small satellite lesions outside the scaly borders and a yeast like odour was present. On palpation, the skin felt damp, heat radiated from the skin and the area was sore when touched. Nevertheless palpation of the inguinal area revealed no pain, or l ymph node enlargement, Jack was apyrexial and said that he felt well apart from the skin problem indicating no outward signs systemic infection. Clinical decision making is often fraught with uncertainties, however, expert diagnosticians maintain a degree of suspicion throughout the assessment process, consider a range of potential explanations, then generate and narrow their differential diagnosis, based on own experience, familiarity with the evidence related to various diagnoses, and understanding of their individual patient. Ultimately, diagnosis is confirmed or ruled out by combining findings from physical examination and history and comparing them to findings from diagnostic studies which closely match presentation of the problem (Goolsby and Grubbs 2006). A plethora of skin conditions exist which were initially considered including eczema (or dermatitis), the commonest inflammatory condition accounting for 30-40% of dermatology consultations (Forslind and Lindberg 2003), flexural psoriasis had some features and associated factors i.e. affecting skin folds but as no lesions elsewhere on the body and no history of psoriasis this was only fleetingly considered, whilst distribution, symptoms and appearance of incontinence dermatitis was almost identical to Jacks condition, he had in situ a fully functioning urethral catheter and no faecal or urine leakage problems which could have initiated the condition. Following reassessment, consideration of medical, social history, physical findings and clinical manifestations of the disease, only five conditions were included in the diagnostic process (appendix 4). Differential diagnosis of Intertrigo was initially included but discounted as the area had signs of skin infection not associated with Intertrigo which is an inflammatory condition and not an infection (Parker 2009), Erythrasma, and Bacterial Intertrigo were considered as the localisation, namely skin folds fit the inclusion criteria and then discarded as images of Erythrasma and Bacterial Intertrigo were too dissimilar to Jacks rash, coupled with the fact that the yeasty smell and white areas on the skin appeared more consistent with fungal rather than bacterial infection. Tinea Cruris is commonly caused by the fungus Trichophyton rubrum and looked remarkably similar; however, this diagnosis was discounted as there was fungal rash to scrotum which was inconsistent with Tinea Cruris and no Tinea Pedis (maceration of interdigital web folds) consistent with the condition (Brannon 2009). Whilst a KOH test, performed by examining skin scrapings under a microscope, would have given an absolute diagnosis, the practitioner felt confident that as the description of Candidal Intertrigo (Brannon 2004) most closely matched the physical manifestations and characteristic distribution of Jacks skin condition, coupled with the fact that Intertrigo Candida had been previously diagnosed and treated if not eradicated, this appeared the most likely diagnosis. In order to effectively treat the skin problems one must first consider the underlying pathology of the condition. The skin is the largest organ of the body and forms a barrier between the internal organ and the external environment as people age, less efficient micro-circulation results in reduced blood flow, skin becomes drier, less elastic and more permeable, making it more susceptible to damage (Ousey 2005). Elderly people, therefore like Jack who are obese and less mobile, have increased prolonged occlusion in areas such as groins, resulting in more moisture and warmth in skin. Intertrigo occurs when two occluded, moist surfaces of skin rub together with the resulting friction setting up the inflammatory process (Parker 2009). Following activation by cells present in tissues, macrophages, dendritic cells, histiocytes, Kuppfer cells and mastocytes inflammatory mediators are released and vasodilation increases blood flow, causing itching, redness and heat, the blood vessels become more permeable resulting in oedema and the release of bradykinin increases sensitivity to pain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflammation). This cycle continues due to the constant chafing stimulus provided by the two skin surfaces leading to chronic inflammation and a moist warm environment where Candida can thrive (Gullo 2009). Key aims of the health professional in treating Candidal infections are identifying and encouraging the management of underlying predisposing risks as this will improve symptoms and minimise recurrence(Parker 2009). Candidal (yeast infections) are commonly caused by Candida Abicans, which is normally present on body surfaces, colonisation with the fungus (Mims et al 2001) has an increased incidence in obese, the immunosuppressed, and diabetic patients with increased prevalence in the elderly and in those with poor personal hygiene (Weller et al 2008, Parker 2009), antibiotic therapy is also known to predispose the patient to fungal infections (Hilson 2002). Interestingly, whilst it is generally accepted that diabetics are more prone to Candida Albicans infection, the practitioner could find only scant explanation for this, Hall and Hall (2009) and Laube and Farrell (2002) suggest that high blood glucose levels encourage proliferation of bacteria and attacks from microbials and fungal infections, Mims et al (2001) agree and also propose that skin sepsis is poorly controlled in diabetics probably due to defective chemotaxis and phagocytosis in polymorphs which show impaired energy metabolism, they add that in vitro, the energy of polymorphs is rapidly restored by the addition of insulin. Following diagnosis and identification of multifactoral elements and risk factors, treatment was commenced, primarily to eradicate the Candida infection and secondly through a structured programme of health promotion, and collaborative working, risk factors were reduced to minimise recurrence. Treatment options considered included therapeutic and non therapeutic options. Therapeutic treatment is aimed at secondary prevention whereby therapy is commenced to treat the condition and prevent further complication. Whilst Candida Albicans is a common infection in the elderly (Hall and Hall 2009), invasive candiadasis (candidaemia) occurs when the pathogen become systemic and is associated with significant mortality and morbidity (Gullo2009, Candiadasis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candidiasis ). Guidelines show (BNF 2009) that therapeutic interventions of Candidal Intertrigo are confined to topical treatment with an Imidazole cream with an added steroid component where inflammation is present. The decision not to treat the skin inflammation with combined antifungal and steroid cream was based on the fact that steroid therapy is contraindicated in occluded groin areas where dermal uptake of the steroid may be systemically increased, signs of infection reduced, and itching made worse (Watkins 2004, Brannon 2004). As previous infection responded to a course of antifungal treatment but recurred, advice was sought from the local pharmacist who suggested that recurrence could be partly due to stopping the treatment once condition appeared resolved, he advised that treatment with antifungal creams should be used twice daily for a minimum of two weeks after symptoms cleared. As evidence suggest(BNF 2009) that no one Imidazole more effectively treats fungal infections than the others, the choice of which to prescribe was based on nothing more than the cost of the product, past experience and availability at the small local pharmacy, therefore Clotrimazole Cream 1% 20mg was prescribed by the practitioner (NPF 2009-2011). Whilst keeping the affected area clean and dry relieves symptoms of inflammation and improves healing (Parker 2009), the practitioner could find no non-therapeutic remedies to treat the fungal infection. Here, non therapeutic treatment relates to primary prevention of the disease process, namely prevention of the disease process occurring (Katz et al 2000). This included lifestyle management to control weight, improve mobility, reduce occlusion of skin in groins, improve blood glucose control, effective skin care, and prompt identification of intertrigo (Gullo 2009, Parker 2009, Hall and hall 2009) to limit the condition and reduce the risk of infection. Carers were responsible for all Jacks hygiene needs and played a key part in primary and secondary prevention, in order to ensure effective treatment with continuity of care, written and verbal instructions were needed, consequently a care plan was devised by the practitioner in conjunction with Linda and Jack to incorporate therapeutic and non therapeutic interventions. Whilst accurate research-based information was available on the internet (http://www.library.nhs.uk/skin/SearchResults.aspx?tabID=290catID=83420), neither Jack nor Linda had access to a computer, therefore downloaded information was printed out and given to Jack to reinforce information contained in care plan. Following consultation with the Care Agency manager, a copy was then placed in Jacks file and one at the Care Agency Office. The empowerment model of health advocated by Katz (2000) suggests that the aim of the health professional is to teach people the skills to take care of their own health. Consequently, Linda and Jack were encouraged to take an active role both in treating his skin condition and in improving general health and well being. Being assertive is advocated in this model, and as Linda reported that the carers were often in a hurry to complete hygiene within allocated time limits, she was encouraged to be more assertive and to ensure that Jack had sufficient time allowed by social services for his needs, the practitioner agreed to request a reassessment if Linda considered that carer time allotted to Jack insufficient for his needs. Scrupulous cleaning is essential, however, with ph of 5.5 skin is slightly acidic (Skewes 1996, Hampson 2006) and whilst soap cleans effectively it is alkaline (ph 10-12) and if not rinsed off thoroughly, can elevate the skins natural ph, reduce antibacterial property, and encourage fungal growth; lipids naturally present on skin surface are removed making skin drier and affecting barrier function (Warner and Boissey 1999) further increasing the risk of infection. Linda was advised not to buy perfumed soaps or bubble baths as these can cause allergic reactions and skin dryness (Lievre 1996), an emollient cream was prescribed, carers were advised through the care plan to rinse and dry skin thoroughly to reduce opportunistic fungal growth (Parker 2009). Jack agreed to inform the carers if he was not dry between the groins. A management plan was included in the care plan, as early treatment can often delay or reduce the impact of the condition, carers were therefore encouraged, to closely observe groins for the first signs of the condition, and to report to Linda so that effective treatment could be implemented. Jack was subsequently referred to the physiotherapist and commenced a weekly programme of physiotherapy, he was encouraged not to use the wheelchair in the home and very slowly his mobility increased, the diabetic nurse visited to advise on diet and Linda was encouraged to participate and try to eat more healthily. About three days into treatment with the antifungal cream, Jacks skin showed marked improvement, the cream was discontinued after three weeks. Unfortunately, four weeks later, Linda reported that the condition had recurred, examination of the area showed Jacks groins only mildly affected by intertrigo with skin folds slightly reddened, no infection was noted therefore a prescription was issued by the practitioner for Actisorb Silver which she advised carers to place between groins, this served to both separate the skin folds as suggested by Practice Nurse (2009) and reduce bacterial skin count (BNF. org 2009. Whilst the practitioner could find no research based evidence to support this decision, reflection upon practice based evidence illustrated that in the past, placing this dressing on reddened groins reduced redness and prevented further exacerbation. Fungal infections can be unsightly, chronically itchy and are increasingly being recognised as a threat in critically ill adults and can be life threatening in some adults (Gullo 2009), and whilst Jack had a further recurrence of intertrigo, prompt identification of the condition and treatment reduced severity and prevented the complication of a fungal infection, however with the multifactoral elements of the condition it may recur at a later date. Hopefully, an empowered team approach will minimise risk factors and ensure that these episodes are at least reduced if not prevented.

Jealousy in Shakespeares Othello Essay -- Othello essays

Jealousy in Othello Shakespeare is well for his ability to compose plays full of deceit, revenge, and jealousy. Othello, one of Shakespeare’s most recognized tragedies, was consistently evolving around the central theme of jealousy. As these lies are unraveled the central theme of his play became distinct, and clearly visible. Furthermore the theme of jealousy goes hand in hand with love, as often is the case in real life. Love consumes all those who take part in it, and in Othello's case his flaws lie in his loving Desdemona so blindly. It is for that single reason that Iago knows that such a naà ¯ve man as Othello, who loves his wife so blindly and unrealistically, can be corrupted. Just as Othello's flaws lie within his inability to see past his jealous feelings, so does many of the other characters, no matter what social ranking they are classified in. Even from the well-developed characters, such as Othello, to the lesser figures, such as Roderigo, envy and lust are feelings all of Shakespeare's characters are accountable for holding at one time or other in the play. Within each of the characters in Othello is a level of jealousy, which Iago creates by testing their pressure points for his benefit. In Act 1 scene 1, Shakespeare opens up to his audience a level of jealousy that goes hand in hand with feelings of greed. This is the moment in which Iago expresses his animosity for Othello. Iago is sub... ... Works Cited and Consulted Bradley, A. C.. Shakespearean Tragedy. New York: Penguin, 1991. Di Yanni, Robert. â€Å"Character Revealed Through Dialogue.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Literature. N. p.: Random House, 1986. Mack, Maynard. Everybody’s Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1993. Shakespeare. Othello. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Ed. Rossi. New York: Longman, 1999. 312-379. Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.

Gabon: An Example For All Of Africa :: essays research papers fc

Gabon: An Example For All of Africa   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The country of Gabon is praised as being one of the most successful countries in Africa. Gabon is a very diverse country in many ways. There are a variety of different tribes that call Gabon home. Also, the land differs through out the county.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gabon is one of the smaller countries of Africa with the area of 267,670 square miles. Comparatively, this is the almost the same size as Colorado. The terrain of this tiny country consists of narrow coastal plains; a hilly interior; and Savannah in the east and south. Much of the interior is rain forests and is not arable. Only 1% of the land is arable The remaining land is either meadows, permanent crops, or other land forms. (The World Fact Book 1995)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gabon is one of the most thinly populated countries in Africa. It has a population of approximately 1,155,000 (July 1995 est.) There are 11 people per square mile. The majority of the Gabonese are of ages 15-64 years. The average life expectancy is 55.14 years. Women live to be around 58, while men are usually around 52 when they die. This is why only 5% of the population is older than 65. The infant mortality is lower than many other African countries, 92.4 per 1,000 live births. (The World Fact Book 1995)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As in most African countries, there are many Bantu tribes make up the ethnicity of the country. There are four major tribal groups. The Fang, Eshira, Bapounou, and the Bateke. (The World Fact Book)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The largest of these tribes is the Fang. They live mainly in the northern area of Gabon. Many years ago they were considered the fiercest warriors of the area. Now, they dominate many of the countries governmental positions. (World Book Encyclopedia page )   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the earlier tribes that is since gone was the Omyene. They lived along the coast. The Omyene are important because they were the first of the natives to meet the European traders and missionaries. They played an important role of keeping peace with the Europeans. (World Book Encyclopedia, 1992 page 2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Along with there being so many different ethnic backgrounds, there are many religions as well. The major religion is Christian,75 % of the population. About 1% of the population is Muslim. The remaining 24% are animists. These include all of the tribal practices. (The World Fact Book)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the reasons why Gabon has been so successful is that it has a stable government. It is a republic and has multiple political parties. The capitol, Libreville ( aprox. Gabon: An Example For All Of Africa :: essays research papers fc Gabon: An Example For All of Africa   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The country of Gabon is praised as being one of the most successful countries in Africa. Gabon is a very diverse country in many ways. There are a variety of different tribes that call Gabon home. Also, the land differs through out the county.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gabon is one of the smaller countries of Africa with the area of 267,670 square miles. Comparatively, this is the almost the same size as Colorado. The terrain of this tiny country consists of narrow coastal plains; a hilly interior; and Savannah in the east and south. Much of the interior is rain forests and is not arable. Only 1% of the land is arable The remaining land is either meadows, permanent crops, or other land forms. (The World Fact Book 1995)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gabon is one of the most thinly populated countries in Africa. It has a population of approximately 1,155,000 (July 1995 est.) There are 11 people per square mile. The majority of the Gabonese are of ages 15-64 years. The average life expectancy is 55.14 years. Women live to be around 58, while men are usually around 52 when they die. This is why only 5% of the population is older than 65. The infant mortality is lower than many other African countries, 92.4 per 1,000 live births. (The World Fact Book 1995)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As in most African countries, there are many Bantu tribes make up the ethnicity of the country. There are four major tribal groups. The Fang, Eshira, Bapounou, and the Bateke. (The World Fact Book)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The largest of these tribes is the Fang. They live mainly in the northern area of Gabon. Many years ago they were considered the fiercest warriors of the area. Now, they dominate many of the countries governmental positions. (World Book Encyclopedia page )   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the earlier tribes that is since gone was the Omyene. They lived along the coast. The Omyene are important because they were the first of the natives to meet the European traders and missionaries. They played an important role of keeping peace with the Europeans. (World Book Encyclopedia, 1992 page 2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Along with there being so many different ethnic backgrounds, there are many religions as well. The major religion is Christian,75 % of the population. About 1% of the population is Muslim. The remaining 24% are animists. These include all of the tribal practices. (The World Fact Book)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the reasons why Gabon has been so successful is that it has a stable government. It is a republic and has multiple political parties. The capitol, Libreville ( aprox.

How to Purchase a video recorder? :: Digital Video Camera

How to Purchase a video recorder? A video camera can be a very useful tool in recording milestones in your family, or just something that you would like to see again. Unfortunately there are so many factors that can make purchasing a video camera a very difficult task. If you don’t do your research on the types and features of video camera you may have gotten yourself into some deep trouble. Looking for camera’s in the store before doing some research is extremely troublesome. The store has a number of features listed that aren’t extremely important, and others not listed that are very important. Also at a store with sales people, often time the salesman knows very little about the cameras and tries to convince you that the most expensive is the best for you. Reading this paragraph has shown that there are many factors included in making this decision. After reading this paper you will be better equipped to go out and to choose the camera that is best suited for you. The two most popular types of video cameras on the market right now are DVD camcorders and Mini-DV Camcorders. The average price of a DVD Camcorder is between â€Å"$550 and $600† (http://www.camcorderinfo.com/). The average price of a Mini-DV camcorder is â€Å"under $500, with many models under $300† (http://www.bestbuy.com). The main reason that the DVD camcorder is more expensive is because it is more convenient to the average user. The average camcorder user will not use his camcorder very often, and will not do much if any video editing. The DVD camcorder records all of the video directly onto a DVD that you placed in the camcorder. This enables you to be instantly able to watch the movie on a television using a DVD player, thus making it more convenient. Mini-DV camcorders are the mainstream camcorder for the novice to the more experienced user. This is because of their low price and large functionality. Mini-DV camcorders record movies onto a digita l tape rather than a DVD or an analog tape. If you are a video-editing enthusiast you may want to be much more selective about the camera you purchase. Video editing is the process in which you capture video using a camcorder, and then transfer the video from the camcorder to your pc.

Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 6~7

6. The Vampire Parrots of Telegraph Hill A flock of wild parrots lives in the city of San Francisco. They are South American cherry-headed conures-bright green with a red head, a little smaller than a typical pigeon. No one is quite sure how they came to the City. It's likely that they are the descendants of animals caught in the jungle, then released to the city skies when they proved too wild to be kept as pets. They fly over the northern waterfront of San Francisco, foraging for fruit, berries, and blossoms, from the Presidio at the entrance of the Golden Gate Bridge, over Pacific Heights, the Marina, Russian Hill, North Beach, and all the way to the Ferry Building near the Oakland Bay Bridge. They are social, squawky, silly birds that mate for life and advertise their presence with a cacophony of beeps and cheeps that inspire smiles from residents, bewilderment from tourists, and hunger in predators, mostly red-tailed hawks and peregrine falcons. The parrots spend their nights high in the trees of Telegraph Hill, beneath the great concrete phallus of Coit Tower, sheltered from attack from hawks by the evergreen canopy overhead, and from all but the most ambitious cats, by the sheer altitude. But still, they are sometimes attacked, and although gentle creatures, they will fight back, biting with their thick, built-for-seed-crushing beaks. Which is what happened. The next morning after he witnessed the cat attack in the SOMA, the Emperor of San Francisco was awakened from a nest he'd made in one of the little stair gardens on Telegraph Hill, to hear parrots squawking in the trees. The sun was just breaking the horizon behind the Bay Bridge, turning the water red-gold under a blue morning mist. The Emperor crawled out from under a pile of carpet padding, stood, and stretched, his great joints creaking in the cold like ancient church doors. The men, Bummer and Lazarus, poked their noses out of the gray cloak, snuffled the dawn, then, with the call of the parrots, resolved themselves to morning and emerged like urgent butterflies to search for the perfect spot for the first wee of the day. The three watched as fifty or so squawking parrots circled Coit Tower and headed out toward the Embarcadero, where, suddenly, they all stopped flying, burst into flames, and fell like a smoldering storm of dying comets into Levi's Plaza. â€Å"Well, you don't see that every day,† said the Emperor, scratching Lazarus's ears through the bandages. The retriever was a doggy version of The Mummy, wrapped ears to tail in bandages after his last encounter with the vampire cats. The vet in the Mission wanted to keep him overnight, but the retriever had never spent a night away from the Emperor since they had found each other, and the vet had no accommodations for a large and burly monarch, let alone a feisty Boston terrier, so the three had bunked together under the carpet pad. Bummer chuffed, which translated from dog to: â€Å"I don't like it.† As the famous frog sang, it's not easy being green. 7. The Fog Comes on Little Cat Feet and Whatnot FOO Stephen â€Å"Foo Dog† Wong's fully bombed Honda drift machine was full of rats. Not completely full, the passenger seat was filled by Jared Whitewolf, Abby's backup BFF. (BBFF, really.) â€Å"Did you have to get all white ones?† Jared asked. He was six foot two, very thin, and paler than Death shagging a snowman. The sides of his head were shaved and in the middle he sported an unlaquered Mohawk, which hung in his eyes unless he was lying on his back or looking up. In addition to a floor-length black PVC cenobite coat, he was currently wearing Abby's thigh-high red platform Skankenstein ® boots, which was completely within his rights, as her current BFF. What bothered Foo was not that Jared had on girl's boots, but that he had on the boots of a girl with distinctly small feet. â€Å"Don't those hurt?† Jared tossed his hair out of his eyes. â€Å"Well, it's like Morrissey said, ‘Life is suffering.'† â€Å"I think the Buddha said that.† â€Å"I'm pretty sure Morrissey said it first-like, back in the eighties.† â€Å"No, it was the Buddha.† â€Å"Have you ever even seen a picture of the Buddha with shoes on?† Jared asked. Foo couldn't believe he was having this argument. What's more, he couldn't believe he was losing this argument. â€Å"Well, I have some Nikes upstairs that might fit you if you need to change shoes. Let's get the rats unloaded. I have to get to work.† Jared already had four plastic cages with two white rats in each stacked on his lap, so he unfolded himself out of the Honda and wobbled on the red platforms to the fire door of the loft. â€Å"Don't try to paint them black,† Jared said, peering into the Plexiglas boxes as Foo opened the door for him. â€Å"I tried that with my first rat, Lucifer. It was tragic.† â€Å"Tragic?† said Foo. â€Å"I'd have never guessed. Put them on the floor in the living room. I'll borrow the truck from work tomorrow and pick up some folding tables to put them on.† In addition to pursuing his degree in molecular biology, and variously rescuing Abby, formulating vampire serum, and tricking out his Honda, Foo still worked part-time at Stereo City, where he specialized in telling people that they needed a bigger TV. â€Å"You still have that job?† Jared said as he stumbled up the stairs. â€Å"Abby said you guys have total fuck-you money.† Why did she tell him? She wasn't supposed to tell him. Did she tell him everything? Why did she have to have friends at all? She'd given Jared five thousand dollars of Jody and Tommy's money for Hanukkah-despite the fact that neither one of them was Jewish. â€Å"Because I will not let mainstream society make me into the Christmas bitch of the zombie baby-Jebus, that's why,† she'd said. â€Å"And because he helped me take care of the Countess and Lord Flood when they were in trouble.† â€Å"I need to keep my cover,† Foo said. â€Å"For tax purposes.† That was partially true. He did need to keep up his cover, because, like Abby, he hadn't actually told his parents that he'd moved out. They were so used to him being at school, in the lab, or at work, that they hadn't really noticed that he hadn't been sleeping at home. It helped that he had four younger brothers and sisters, who were all carrying insane work and course loads. His parents were all about toil. As long as you were toiling, you were okay. They could smell toil from miles away, or the lack of it. He might be able to get away with living in his own loft with his spooky-sexy girlfriend, and doing bizarre genetic experiments on the undead, but if he quit his job they'd sense it in a second. It took Foo and Jared twenty minutes to get all the rats up the steps and lined up around the living room. â€Å"We're not going to hurt them, are we?† said Jared, holding up one of the plastic cages so he was eye to eye with its occupants. â€Å"We're going to turn them into vampires.† â€Å"Oh, cool. Now?† â€Å"No, not now. For now, you're going to need to feed them and make sure there's a water bottle in each of their cages,† Foo said. â€Å"Then what?† Jared asked, tossing his hair out of his eyes. â€Å"Then you can go home,† said Foo. â€Å"You don't need to observe them full-time until the experiment starts.† â€Å"I can't go home. I told my parents I was staying over at Abby's.† Foo was suddenly horrified at the thought of having to spend the night in the loft with a hundred rats, two bronzed vampires, and Jared. Especially Jared. Maybe he'd go home and leave Jared to watch the rats-make an appearance at home for the parents, so as to throw them off the trail of his non-toiling, loft-living, Anglo-girlfriend lifestyle. â€Å"You can stay here, then,† Foo said. â€Å"I'll be back in the morning.† â€Å"What about them?† Jared nodded toward the bronzed figures of Jody and Tommy. â€Å"What about them?† â€Å"Can I talk to them? I didn't get to finish telling Jody my novel.† Jared had spent a very long night telling Jody the first part of the novel he was going to write, an erotic horror story that starred himself and his pet rat, Lucifer 2. â€Å"Okay,† said Foo. He didn't really like thinking about the two people, well, vampires, but they seemed a lot like people, that he'd helped imprison in a bronze shell. It sort of gave him the willies, and that was highly unscientific. â€Å"But no touching,† he added. Jared pouted and sat down on the futon, about the only spot in the entire living-room-kitchen area not covered with plastic rat cages. â€Å"Okay, but will you help me get these boots off before you go?† Foo shuddered. It had been less than an hour since the cops led Abby away and already he missed her like a severed limb. It was embarrassing. How could hormones and hydrostatic pressure make you feel like this? Love was very unscientific. â€Å"Sorry,† Foo said. â€Å"Gotta jet.† A true hero, the kind Abby accused him of being, he knew, would have helped Jared. JARED Abby Normal had once offered to pay for a tattoo for Jared that read: Danger. Do not administer caffeine without adult supervision. Jared asked, â€Å"Can it be in red? Does it have to be on the forehead? Maybe on the side so I can grow my hair over it if I don't like it. Am I being emo? Do you want to play Blood-feast on Xbox? They have green fur iPod cases at Urban Outfitters. I love white chocolate mochas. Marilyn Manson needs to be dragged to death behind a clown car. Oh fuck, I'm so allergic to this eyeliner I could cry.† Abby said, â€Å"Oh my God, you're like Obnoxious and Annoying had an ass baby!† â€Å"What are you trying to say?† asked Jared. What she had been trying to say, although she didn't know it at the time, was that under no circumstances should Jared be left alone in an apartment with an abundance of time and espresso, which is what Foo had just done. So after feeding, watering, and naming all the rats (most given French names from Abby's copy of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal), Jared began brewing espressos and was nine demitasse cups into the afternoon when he decided to act out the remainder of his unwritten vampire adventure novel, The Dark of Darkness, for a hundred rats caged in plastic and two vampires encased in bronze. â€Å"So the evil Blood Queen dons her chrome strap-on of death and goes after Lucifer 2. But Jared Whitewolf is on her like a fat kid on a cupcake, parrying her blows with his dagger of death, or Dee Dee, as it is known.† Jared pirouetted, a move he'd learned in ballet class at age six, and slashed the air, low and fast, with the double-edged dagger held backhand so as to sever his imaginary enemy's femoral artery, a move he'd learned in Soul Assassin Five on the Xbox (although it was harder to do while wearing platform boots than it was in the video game). The dagger was real enough, twelve inches of double-edged high-carbon stainless steel with a dragon hilt. Jared carried it because he thought it made him look badass when doormen took it away from him at clubs. â€Å"And he strikes her weapon in half!† he said, leaping and bringing the blade around a little too fast. He turned his ankle, lost his balance, and as he fell, the dagger put a deep nick in the bronze statue. â€Å"Ow!† He sat on the floor holding his ankle and rocking back and forth in the yoga position known as the â€Å"freaked-out half-lotus.† Then he noticed the gash he'd put in the bronze, directly over Jody's right clavicle. â€Å"I'm sorry, Countess,† Jared said, still a little breathless from his battle. â€Å"I didn't mean to hurt you. It's just that I had to save Lucifer 2. You'd do the same thing for Lord Flood if he was in the story.† Jared buffed at the bronze with his sleeve, but the gash was deep and wasn't going to go away with polishing. â€Å"Abby's going to kill me. I'll patch you, Countess. Just hang on. Toothpaste. We used it on the wall that time we drank Abby's mom's vodka and played cross-country darts in her living room. Hang on a minute.† Jared let the heavy dagger drop to the floor, climbed to his feet, winced, then limped off to the bathroom to look for toothpaste. He located a tube of all natural tartar control with baking soda just as the sun dropped under the horizon in the west. Out in the living room, a needle-thin stream of mist began leaking out of the gash he'd made in the bronze statue. Toothpaste probably wouldn't have fixed it. THE ANIMALS In the last two months, the Animals, the night stock crew at the Marina Safeway, had hunted an ancient vampire, blown up his yacht, stolen millions of dollars' worth of art, sold it for pennies on the dollar, spent the remaining hundreds of thousands on gambling and a blue hooker, got turned into vampires, were torn apart by zoo animals, then burned up by sunlamps when they attacked Abby Normal, then turned, by Foo, back into seven guys who stocked shelves at the Safeway and smoked a little too much weed. And as it often is with adventurers, after the adventure, they were feeling a little bored, and a little worried that nothing exciting would ever happen to them again. After you've battled the darkness, then become the darkness, then shagged the darkness, frozen turkey bowling and skiing behind the floor-scrubbing machine just doesn't hold the same thrill. After you've shared a blue prostitute with your buddies to the tune of a half a million dollars, only to have her kill and resurrect you before disappearing into the night, swapping stories of banging babes was a bit of an anticlimax. After all, they worked nights and the oldest of them, Clint, was only twenty-three, so most of their stories were gross exaggerations, wishful thinking, or outright lies anyway. Even crucifying Clint with zip ties on the potato chip rack every other Friday didn't seem fun anymore, and last week they had just left him hanging, thrashing in the Doritos, and went off to stock their aisles before he could even forgive them for knowing not what they did. Tragic, really, to be young, free, and mind-numbingly bored. So when the Emperor of San Francisco came screaming out of the parking lot and slammed, face-first, into the big Plexiglas front window, rattling the Tic Tacs on every register, each of them dropped what he was working on and headed to the front of the store, hoping in their hearts that something outstanding was coming down. The seven, the Animals, stood on one side of the big window, while the Emperor pounded on the other, the royal hounds leaping and barking at his side. â€Å"Maybe we should let him in,† said Clint, curly-haired, born-again, ex-heroin addict who worked cereal, coffee, and juices. â€Å"He seems troubled.† â€Å"S,† said Gustavo, the porter, leaning on his mop. â€Å"Troubled.† â€Å"Seems fucking freaked,† said Drew, the Ichabod-Crane-gaunt master of the frozen food aisle and chief medical officer. â€Å"Totally fucking freaked.† â€Å"What's wrong?† asked Lash, the lean black guy who had become their leader when Tommy was turned into a vampire, largely because he almost had an MBA, but also because he was a black guy and inherently cooler than everyone else. â€Å"Murder, destruction, ravenous creatures of the night, a storm of them,† shouted the Emperor. â€Å"Hurry, please.† â€Å"He always says that,† said Barry, the balding fireplug of a scuba diver who also stocked soap and dog food. â€Å"Well, every time he says it, it's kind of true,† said Jeff, the tall blond ex-power forward with the blown-out knee (baking supplies and international foods). â€Å"I say let him in.† â€Å"Look, the retriever is all bandaged up. Poor guy,† said Troy Lee, their resident martial arts expert who worked the glass aisle. â€Å"Let them in.† â€Å"You just want to roll the little one up in a burrito,† said Lash. â€Å"Yeah, that's right, Lash. Because I'm Chinese, I have a deep-seated need to nosh house pets. Now why don't you let him in before my inner Chinaman forces me to kung-fu your bitch ass.† Because he understood that he was the leader only so long as he told everyone to do what they wanted to do anyway, and because he had had his bitch ass kung-fued in the past and hadn't cared for it, Lash unlocked the door and let the Emperor in. The old man fell into the store when Lash opened the door. Bummer and Lazarus stopped barking and bolted by them, and on toward the back of the store. Jeff and Drew got the Emperor seated on one of the registers and Troy Lee handed him a bottle of water. â€Å"Chill, Your Majesty, we've done this before.† â€Å"Not like this. Not like this,† said the Emperor. â€Å"It's a storm of evil. Lock the door.† Lash rolled his eyes. They really had done this before, and the door being locked or unlocked wasn't going to make much difference if a vampire was following the old man. â€Å"We got your back, Highness,† Lash said. â€Å"Lock the door,† the Emperor moaned, pointing through the window. A fog bank was moving across the parking lot, with rather more intent than one usually expects from a fog bank. A high, yowling screech seemed to come out of the fog in a stream, as if it had been sampled, amplified, and duplicated a thousand times. The Animals moved to the glass. â€Å"Lock the door, Lash,† Clint said. Clint never gave orders. The edge of the fog bank was boiling with shapes, claws, ears, eyes, teeth, tails-cats formed of fog, rolling in a wave over one another, some materializing partially, only to evaporate and roll back into the cloud, their red eyes moving through the cloud like embers out of a firestorm. â€Å"Whoa,† said Drew. â€Å"Whoa,† repeated the others. â€Å"Okay, that is different,† said Troy Lee. â€Å"My friends all over the City are missing,† the Emperor said. â€Å"Street people. They're gone. Just their clothes and gray dust,† the Emperor said. â€Å"The cats are killing everything in their way.† â€Å"That is fucked up,† said Jeff. â€Å"Deeply, deeply fucked up,† said Barry, dragging one of the heavy wooden order dividers off the register and brandishing it like a club. â€Å"Lock the fucking door, Lash!† Clint screamed. â€Å"Jesus hates it when you use the f-word,† said Gustavo, the Mexican porter, who was Catholic and liked to remind Clint when his Jesus was slipping. The fog washed against the window and claw marks etched the Plexiglas instantly to frost, as if it had all been sanded. The noise was like, well, it was like a thousand vampire cats clawing on Plexiglas-it made their teeth hurt. â€Å"Did anyone bring weapons?† Troy Lee asked. â€Å"I brought some weed,† Drew said. A cat's claw of fog crept under the door and raked the toe of Lash's sneaker. He snapped the lock shut, pulled out the key, and backed away. â€Å"Okay, break time,† he said. â€Å"Crew meeting in the walk-in.† JARED Across town, in the bedroom of a fashionable loft, in the fashionable SOMA neighborhood, aspiring rat-shagger, Jared Whitewolf, looked up from rubbing his sore ankle to see a completely naked redhead walk into the room. Her hair hung to her waist in a great curling cape, framing her figure, which was perfect and as white as a marble statue. She held Jared's double-edged dagger in her right hand. Jared backed up onto the bed in a reverse crab walk. â€Å"I, I, I, it, it, it-Abby made me-â€Å" â€Å"Chill, Scissorhands,† Jody said. â€Å"You'd better find some of those blood bags of Steve's fast, unless you'd like to finish high school as a pile of greasy dust. Countess is thirsty.†