Money Cant Buy Health Essay

Ah, money. The grease that moves America. The love of which has perhaps caused more human anguish than perhaps any other object with the possible exception of abuse of the Bible, Torah or Koran by religious extremists. Money can’t buy health. All the money in the world can’t undo the damage caused by smoking, drug abuse, cancer, sex act, and a thousand other health problems which destroy one’s quality of life. Of course, if you are rich enough you can buy a new kidney or heart. But what is kind of life does one have fighting AIDS, cancer, a dead liver, destroyed lungs or a brain tumor caused by saturating yourself with pesticides, herbicides and other life-destroying chemicals? Money is an essential energy booster needed to see you through your life smoothly. It gives you a status symbol and you are placed in an elevation in the society. You are able to buy the best things available and your materialistic possessions give you a sense of elation. But is money the -be- all -in -life and is it enough if you have a big bank balance and many enviable things which only money can get you. No, nothing can be farther from truth. Money can get you many things in life which will give you a superficial happiness that gets sated very fast. There are many things in life money cannot buy. Can money buy you happiness? Of course it cannot. Happiness is a state of mind which has nothing to do with money. If money is needed to feel happy, then only rich people will be the happiest lot. In fact, it is the rich who feel a vacuum within them as money alienates them from the others. You might ask if money is not important. It is very much important to make you lead a life where your self esteem will not be affected by being dependent on others for your day to day survival. You should strike a correct balance between seeking money for your betterment and a mad rush towards it to keep in pace with other people’s wealth. If you start comparing you always feel lacking. Earn for yourself, not for competing with others. Give priority to your inner wealth, so that you can truly enjoy your materialistic wealth. Money can buy healthcare and medicine, but it cannot replace health once it’s lost. It’s far better to take preventative action such as watching what you eat, exercising, not smoking, and getting regular physicals than to rely on money to save you once your body has started to fail you. Money also can’t buy back your youth. No amount of money you make in the future will replace those days when your body could do anything easily and look good doing it. You can spend thousands on â€Å"treatments† to preserve your youth, but it’s an illusion. Once your youth is gone, no amount of money will get it back. If money could buy peace, I think we’d be there by now.

Causes of Variation

Variation is a result that leads to a difference or deviation (for example, structure, form, function) from the recognised norm or standard. It is a modification in structure, form or function in an organism, deviating from other organisms of the same species or group. There are two types of variation: interspecific variation and intraspecific variation. Interspecific variation is when one species differs from another like mammals differ from fish. These differences are explained through differing ancestries explained by the difference of genetics perhaps due to natural selection. However, intraspecific variation is when members of the same species differ from each other like how there are many different types of cats. This can be mainly explained through mutations.Variation is the result of two main factors: genetic differences and environmental influences. In most cases it is a combination of both factors. Additionally, in asexual reproduction, variety can only occur through mutati ons whereas off springs that have been produced sexually the variety will be more apparent due to the probabilities being higher due to more factors contributing to the cause of variation such as meiosis and fusion of gametes, as well as mutation.Genetic differences are due to the different genes that each individual organism possesses. The differences occur arise in living organisms and change from generation to generation. Genetic variation arises as a result of mutations, meiosis and fusion of gametes. Mutations are changes in DNA that result in the offspring containing different characteristics by the changing of quantity or structure of the DNA.The end result of the process of altering the DNA structure is a different amino acid sequence that leads to a formation of a different polypeptide, and hence a different protein, or no protein being produced at all. So, as proteins are responsible for the characteristics of an organism, it follows that changes to DNA are likely to alter an organisms characteristics. These sudden changes to genes and chromosomes may, or may not be passed onto the next generation.Genetic differences are also explained through meiosis. Meiosis is the process in which four daughter nuclei’s are produced, each with half the number of chromosomes as the parent cell. It allows the offspring to adapt and survive in the changing world by allowing genetic variation through the independent segregation of homologous chromosomes due to the homologous pairs of chromosomes arranging in a new, random order. Also, the recombination of homologous chromosomes crossing over causes variation. Overall, meiosis mixes up the genetic material before it is passed into the gametes, all of which are therefore different.Lastly, genetic differences are also explained through the fusion of gametes. In sexual reproduction the offspring inherit some characteristics of each parents and are therefore different from both of them. Which gamete fuses with at fe rtilisation is a completely random process that emphasises the variation occurring in the offspring.On the other hand, environmental influences also have a massive input in variation. The environment influences the way in which the genes are expressed. The genes allow certain things to happen whereas the environment determines where each characteristic is utilised. For example, a plant may contain genes that allow it to grow tall however, it is the environment that allow this stage to progress so if the seed germinates for example, the plant will not be able to utilise it’s beneficial characteristics to the highest extent. Examples of environmental influences are: climatic conditions (such as rainfall, temperature and sunlight), soil conditions, food availability and pH.Overall, variation is caused due to a combination of environmental influences and genetic differences. However, it is hard to distinguish between the effects of environmental and genetic so is difficult to dra w conclusions about the causes of variation.

McCarthy Witchhunts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

McCarthy Witchhunts - Essay Example He established a committee that acted as task force and court for all those suspected or accused of communism; people from all walks of life would, ultimately, find themselves in the â€Å"hot seat.† History Joseph McCarthy was born in 1908 in Wisconsin. He was raised in â€Å"proper† Catholic family, was a good student, and earned his degree from Marquette University in 1928. He was involved in an unsuccessful law practice and became an avid gambler on the side, before he finally decided on a career in politics. He joined the Democratic Party, but after being overlooked for the Democratic candidate for district attorney he switched political sides. Becoming a republican he began, what many historians describe as an example of the most unqualified and corrupt of politicians of all time. This perspective is personified by the â€Å"dirty† campaign he ran to earn an appointment as a circuit court judge. After a short time in the military he won the Senate seat for Wisconsin; his term was overall not impressive. It was at this time the United States was feeling the looming threat of â€Å"communist† sentiments, McCarthy â€Å"banked† on those fears and began a crusade to eliminate this threat and guarantee himself reelection (Oh, and Latham 1). Discussion McCarthy established the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), which was tasked with investigating anyone who was suspected of or associated with people involved in communism or were thought to be sympathetic to the communist party. These committee courts forced the accused to answer questions about their political ideologies and behaviors. They offered deals to those that would give the names of others who are, likely, to be communists. When one refused to give names of others they were â€Å"Blacklisted,† which prevented hundreds of those questioned to be able to find work in their respective fields, from politics to Hollywood. Arthur Miller, famous American writer, found himself in McCarthy’s court. He would certainly not confess to Communist ideologies and refused to help them in accusing others. In turn, Miller was Blacklisted (History Channel 1). It is the events, during the McCarthy era, that led Miller to write â€Å"The Crucible,† which details a version of the Salem witch trials in the 1600s.He framed the way the young girls freely accused citizens of Salem, Massachusetts of witchcraft within the current events of McCarthy’s witch hunt. The accused were guilty until proven innocent, and their innocence was impossible to prove because of the structure of the courts. Accused witches were given the opportunity to repent and avoid execution. However, for many of these innocent and highly devout people they could not morally confess to something they did not do, even to save their own lives. This would be a lie and lying is a sin against God. They would rather die free of sin than to live having lied. This was r eflective of McCarthy and his HUAC. In 1938, as television first became common in people’s households, Edward R. Murrow, well-respected and renowned new correspondents, began a show called â€Å"See It Now.† The majority of his stories concerned issues of the average American citizens (American Masters 1). It was a huge success for more than a decade. In March of 1954, Murrow brought McCarthy on his show as a guest. He allowed McCarthy to do most of the talking; in black and white it became very clear that McCarthy had

Compare and contrast The Story of an hour and the House on Mango Essay

Compare and contrast The Story of an hour and the House on Mango Street - Essay Example Mallard is the victim of her torturing husband, whereas in the other story the lead character is the victim of poverty and the so-called hypocritical values of the society and class discrimination. Both the lead characters, which seem to be weak initially emerge as strong characters towards the end of the stories. We can say that these stories have a strong theme and they speak about the "Quest for Identity" of the female lead characters. In "The Story of an Hour", the narrator of the story is probably the writer herself. Being a woman and a true feminist she has handled this story in a very tender manner. The female protagonist, Mrs. Mallard comes from an upper class family. This is quite apparent from the way her house is described by the writer. The words like comfortable roomy armchair, an open square in front of the house, staircase, tall trees, twittering of birds and blue skies indicate that she lived a very comfortable life. But despite of all these comforts, she seems to be extremely unhappy with her life. In "The House on Mango Street", the name of the narrator is Esperanza. In the first chapter of the story the names of the narrator and her parents are not revealed. We come to know of their names after reading the entire novel. Contrary to the "The Story of an hour ", the female protagonist in this story comes from a poor class family, which is also apparent from the way the writer has described her house. She describes her house in the following words - "It's small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath. Bricks are crumbling in places, and the front door is so swollen you have to push hard to get in. There is no front yard, only four little elms the city planted by the curb. Out back is a small garage for the car we don't own yet and a small yard that looks smaller between the two buildings on either side. There are stairs in our house, but they're ordinary hallway stairs, and the house has only one washroom. Everybody has to share a bedroom-Mama and Papa, Carlos and Kiki, me and Nenny." From these lines we can very well understand what the state of the house as well as the state of mind of the girl is. Thus "The House on Mango Street" is a depiction of the thoughts of a small girl who is growing up to the stage of adolescence and has started realizing slowly the prejudices in the society. In "The Story of an Hour" the mood is gloomy and full of suspense and tragedy. When the sister of Mrs. Mallard, Josephine and her husband's friend Richard break the news of her husband's death to her, she is shocked initially and weeps in her sister's arms. But when she retires to her room and relaxes in her cozy armchair, she starts thinking about her past life. She lived in a society which had specific and strict rules of conduct, and she being from an elite class had to abide by the rules or the dogmas laid down by the society. She was dominated by her husband and did not have the liberty to take her own decisions. It is only when she sits alone, relaxed in the armchair that she becomes aware of her surroundings and their beauty. It shows that she was so engrossed in her married life and had so many preoccupations that she was oblivious to the true world. She was only used to living in the hypocritical world where money and social status had great significance. It is while she is enjoying her rediscovered identity and freedom and feeling happy, that she sees her husband

What Makes a Good Leader (Organisational Behaviour) Essay

What Makes a Good Leader (Organisational Behaviour) - Essay Example In contemporary times, we tend to understand and relate to ‘leadership’ in relation to management of people for attaining specific goals. A comprehensive concept of leadership can be obtained by learning about Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. This report evaluates Lincoln’s leadership qualities, as explained in literature on politics, history and management, in comparison with conventional and contemporary leadership theories. Methods: Numerous concepts and theories of leadership exist in the management literature. Northouse (2009) has clubbed various leadership theories into understandable concepts, which include the trait, management, skills, style, situation, transformational, authentic leadership, psychodynamic theory etc. In this report, Lincoln’s leadership based on these theories and perspectives is evaluated in a concise manner. Results: From skills perspective, Tarbell (2008) points out that Lincoln’s efforts in spee ch making started during his childhood and used to attend court sessions to learn law. He had the ability to attract crowds by initiating story telling acts, which were highly appreciated by the crowds. Lincoln was greatly drawn towards gaining knowledge and understanding of politics, history, as well as great leadership of people such as Washington (Charnwood, 2008). According to Curtis (1902), ‘Abraham Lincoln's originality, fearlessness, and self- confidence, his unerring perceptions of right and wrong, made him a leader and gave him an influence which other men did not have† (p.371). Northouse (2009) highlights five types of power that leaders exercise namely, referent, expert, legitimate, reward and coercive power, all of which were exercised by Lincoln. From leadership traits theory perspective, Lincoln’s leadership can be compared with Stodgill’s postulation of leadership traits (see appendix 1). In fact, Northouse (2009) explains that trait theories of leadership are based on the innate qualities and characteristics possessed by great leaders of the past, of which Lincoln is also one. The skills perspective emphasizes three main competencies, problem-solving skills, social judgment skills and knowledge. Abraham Lincoln’s skills of communicating, inspiring, immense knowledge and the way he handled the civil war are exemplary of his unmatchable leadership skills. His strategic way of handling the civil war after he was elected as the President paved successful ending of the war (Wilson, 2008), especially when he did not have any experience of handling war. Moreover, his knowledge, people connect, and ability to influence and inspire helped in this situation. Lincoln’s leadership style is believed to be flexible and also firm, and it depended upon the situation. Phillips (2007) explains that Lincoln was remarkably consistent during his Presidency, which was replicated to his cabinet members’ actions and decis ions. Here, he was also directive and encouraging. He encouraged involvement from others in critical decision making processes, especially those related to the civil war. Phillips (2007) explains, ‘Lincoln was a leader who would not and did not limit himself† (p.78); this indicates his flexibility and commitment towards his responsibilities and ambition. These two skills are considered as essential skills for leaders. On the leadership grid, proposed by Blake and Mouton, Lincoln can be placed in Team management grid because of

International marketing and communication Essay

International marketing and communication - Essay Example Globalization has resulted in increased pressure on the firms to achieve global competitive advantage. Automotive industry has recently witnessed large scale consolidation of organization resulting in mergers and acquisitions to capitalize the strengths of each market and organization. Most of the organizations in the automobile industry are doing business offshore. Automobile manufacturing contributes to 10% of the world GDP. Canadian Automobile industry also contributes significantly in the regional GDP. With WTO policies of free trade there is no more legislation in Canada which supports the BIG three of the US automobile industry. Many non-American firms such as Japanese have already entered Canadian market. Peugeot already has its existence in the Canadian market with their motorbikes. With fluctuating oil prices, growing environmental concerns and the expected forecast of growth the time is ripe for Peugeot to enter Canadian market with its full range of products. Peugeot has a competitive edge in the Canadian market with already developed distribution system. A large population of Canada speaks French so a French company will get some favors from the consumers. Contents Introduction 4 Market Characteristics 5 Market Review 6 SLEPT Analysis 6 Social 7 Political 7 Economical 7 Technological 8 Legal 8 Industry Climate Significant New Trends 8 French Automobile Industry 9 Situational Analysis 9 Current products 10 Existing Segments 10 Current Pricing 11 Current Distribution 11 Current Media and Communications 12 Objectives 12 Objectives for the Organizations 13 Objectives for the product/services 14 Objectives for Target market 14 Implementation 14 Segmentation 14 Positioning 15 Standardization VS Adaptation 15 Communication 16 Future Research 16 Bibliography 18 Introduction The Canadian car manufacturing industry is very huge with total revenue of $ 18.1 billion in 2010. In the recent past the growth has been negative. The compound annual rate of change (CA RC) for the total revenue is -2.7% for the period 2006-2010. Total production along with the revenue has also declines in the same period and the CARC for the production volume of the industry is -2.8%. The total production volume in 2010 was 1,272,825 units. The picture is still not all that gloomy and that is the reason for my selection of this industry. The forecasts for the industry are encouraging. An upward trend is expected. For the next five years i.e. till 2015 the industry is expected to accelerate and grow. The forecast is a positive CARC although a little low at 0.4%. With this CARC the industry is expected to grow to a value of $18.4 billion by the end of 2015. 1(Data monitor, 2011) Peugeot has long history in France. Armond Peugeot launched the first quadricycle oil in 1890. Since then there has been no looking back for Peugeot. The second French manufacturer in early 1970’s developed partnership with Renault/Volvo, Fiat or BMW. This change in management led to the creation of Citroen PSA Peugeot-Citroen. Brand strengthened and the company has expanded globally. Peugeot has a distinctive history of providing elegant and unconventional designs. Peugeot 401 and 601 Eclipse shinned in 1934 with unconventional design of retractable rooftop designed by legendary Georges Paulin. It became such a success that it was preceded by a long queue of innovative and luxurious

The relationship between space and time in language Essay

The relationship between space and time in language - Essay Example We suggest that there is no direct interdependency between these terms, because they are defined by exact contextual environments and are clearly differentiated from one another in the natural environments. On the basis of modern studies and studies on temporal and spatial representations of previous years, we have examined linguistic basis to prove the fact of a co-existence of spatial and temporal relationships. Moreover, considerations from cognitive science, psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics are also relevant to further differentiation between spatial and temporal relationships. The spatial basis of temporal terms has been often supported by the majority of scientists and researchers (Cantor & Thomas, 2007; Clark, 1994; Levinson, 2003). This study opposes to the generally accepted methodological paradigm and it is claimed that there spatial/temporal terms chosen above are independent terms with complete semantics. Moreover, there is no need to investigate a temporal or spati al basis of these terms, because initially spatial domain is perceived as concrete and temporal domain is known as the abstract one. Therefore, we can suppose that â€Å"terms denoting space are concrete objects and the terms denoting time are abstract events† (Tenbrink, 2006). ... nt to investigate a possibility to identify definite limits between time and spatial relationships or it is relevant to talk about the existence and prevalence of spatiotemporal relationship. 2.0 Background Basing on the idea that human perception of time is related to space conceptualization is an unquestionable claim. It has been always underlined that time representation depends on space. In accordance with findings of psychological studies, it has been always claimed that it is natural of children to mix up spatial and temporal relationship (Clark, 1994). Clark (1994) was the first who claimed that â€Å"temporal language is based on spatial language and that English relational temporal prepositions are based on front and back† (Clark, 1994). Clark talked about â€Å"moving time† metaphor and â€Å"moving ego† metaphor and underlined that, for example, before is derived from in front of and after is derived from in back of, i.e. he correlates these two terms with â€Å"moving time† metaphor (Clark, 1994). Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that there is no one basic conceptual metaphor defining further metaphorical representations of a certain domain. A consistent basis of a metaphor has been often underlined by Lakoff and Johnson (1999). Therefore, it is necessary to underline that representations of concepts in metaphorical language is also possible outside this language, or in other words is possible in an independent manner. Still, there is a need to talk about the following peculiarities of metaphorical representations: metaphors are compatible with different domains though they do not have a scope covering different aspects of one domain and thus do not embrace the whole target concept. From another perspective, it is suggested by Habel & Eschenbach (1997)

Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Questions - Essay Example According to Goldman, the qualitative approaches to assessment needs is more clients involves and is based a lot more on the standardised or objective tests. a) Quantitative Approaches of Assessments: This form of assessment includes self – efficacy measurements. Here the individual’s judgement to judge the ability to perform a task at a level. â€Å"These self – efficacy cognitions mediate action with the result that individuals avoid tasks or activities they believe are beyond their capabilities and instead engage in those they judge themselves capable of performing†. b) Qualitative Approaches of Assessments: These assessments are based on two major philosophical positions, post modern and logical positivism. The major practical differences between each of the perspectives are mainly in the assessment area. The logical positivists have relied a lot on the traditional measurement devices. These include interest and personality inventories while the postmodern theories do not include the above mentioned factors. a) Quantitative Approaches of Assessments: These assessments include Scholastic Aptitude Tests and other similar tests that are progressed to through school. This is a relatively common and most common to all the readers. b) Qualitative Approaches of Assessments: These assessments include techniques like repertory grid, reptest. These are relatively very complex and require extensive training before they can be used in career counselling. The post modern assessments are easy to use and a few of the strategies and tests used here include Career – O – Gram, role play, card sorts, and genograms. Special needs are a term that is used to refer to clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who need assistance for disabilities that may include mental, psychological and medical assistance. Disability has been defined by WHO as, â€Å".. is any restriction or lack

Robin Hood Strategy Essay Example for Free

Robin Hood Strategy Essay Please find my summary for the pre-assignment tasks in this memo. The assignment was to read three chapters of Robert M. Grant’s â€Å"Contemporary strategy analysis, read two articles and answer the mentioned questions: Mini-case: Robin Hood. Does Robin Hood require a new strategy? What should Robin Hoods strategy be? Why? To start with, let’s give a bit of a background for Robin Hood and his band of Merrymen. The organizational structure of the Merrymen is a typical top-down management, with Robin Hood as the leader and a few lieutenants reporting to him working in intelligence, discipline, finances and provisioning. The growing organization and Robin Hood’s personal vendetta are the basis for many of the problems the Merrymen are facing. Merrymen’s strategy is simple: take from the rich and give to the poor, which differentiates the group from its major competition who does the opposite, making Robin Hood’s â€Å"customers† love the product they have to offer. Therefore one could say that Merrymen’s competitive approach is based on differentiation. What has made them successful so far? It has all started with Robin Hood’s unique leadership skills, Robin is a very strong and appealing leader. The organization would not have been born without him. What makes Merrymen succeed today is their vast resources (they have scale) and talent (unique expertise in robbing people). Another factor is quick knowledge transfer for the new recruits, transferring the robbing skills to newly joined members and getting them to be productive quickly after onboarding. Their image/brand is such an attractive one that they are not facing major challenges in recruiting new people. Word of mouth carries the message quickly and there are lots of potential new comers joining the Merrymen. The work force is low cost, all they pretty much need is food and shelter. One of the major weaknesses is Robin’s personal grudge with the sheriff. It is a key risk for the leader potentially not being able to see the big picture and focus on what is good for the whole organization. Even though this seemed to be the starting point for the organization to be formed the goals for the organization are now much bigger and the strategy must evolve accordingly. It is not uncommon that the strength of an organization is also their weakness. In order to build scale, Merrymen had to change their recruitment strategy. Merrymen used to be quite picky in selecting the candidates but now they are welcoming almost anyone to join. This has led to several challenges, one of them being that they are exceeding the resources for food that the nearby forest provides leading them to spend lots of time and energy in risky ventures looking for food and having to use their finances to purchase food. The second issue is the change in recruitment policy which has led to a decline in discipline and vigilance. Naturally the space is becoming an issue as well as the group expands continuously. The financials are hit also because of looting becoming more challenging. The merchants who previously traveled the woods are now avoiding them, keeping the Merrymen from looting their goods leading Robin Hood wondering what can their new funding strategy be, could it be taxation? Should they take a huge risk and try to free King Richard, risking the fact that they might go against not just one sheriff and his men but also Prince John and his army? Recommendations for the Merrymen I would not recommend Merrymen to do major changes to the current strategy, such as freeing King Richard or trying to kill the sheriff. Merrymen should continue building on their strengths and the focus should be in executing better and starting with changing their recruitment and training policies. They shouldn’t recruit just anyone but focus in acquiring talent. If food is an issue they should recruit skilled farmers and start building a self-sufficient ecosystem to the woods, as it used to be. Their organization has also grown rapidly and seems that a re-org would be needed. They will need more structure and better management to their org to bring back the discipline and to ensure successful execution. They should introduce more specialized teams with their own leaders (such as farmers, special ops, archers etc. ) and focus more on better training and knowledge sharing inside the more specialized teams. Their financials are going down and that has to be fixed by saving money (potentially letting some of the Merrymen go? ) and going where the money is i. e looting further away from the forests, creating new â€Å"sites† for the Merrymen in different woods might be a good idea to ensure continuous cash flow. To manage the external threats they must invest into spying what the sheriff is up to and where the next raids might be happening. To conclude: don’t change the strategy, keep calm and improve the execution. Case Study: Husky Injection Molding Systems. Why has Husky enjoyed greater profit margins than its competitors? Is Huskys profitability currently threatened? The primary reason for Husky’s success is the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) industry niche and focusing to it at the right time, exactly when soft drink makers started to use plastic bottles and here Husky had the first mover advantage. Husky was clearly a differentiator and innovator in this market. Husky provided its customers with the complete and comprehensive manufacturing solutions by producing both products and services. The products were innovative, long lasting and efficient. Husky also provided its customers a worldwide professional service to ensure the customers get the best out of the products. Husky managed to make competitors entry to the market very challenging for a long time because of their high performing products and excellent service. Now the challenges faced are the shortage of resin and new entries coming to compete in the market. The shortage of PET resin has led to decreasing demand for injection molding systems hurting Husky’s business. This is likely a temporary situation as resin makers are increasing their capacity. It’s also good to note that all companies in the same business are facing this same challenge. The main challenge is the new competitors trying to make an entry to the PET preform business. These are low-cost competitors who apparently are able to modify â€Å"mainstream machines to suit the preform application† as the article says. The competitors will be an attractive option for customers who focus more in lowering costs. The new competitors will threaten Husky’s profitability and it is clear that they need to react to it, perhaps by trying to produce different sorts of machines : both for the customers interested in low cost but at the same time keep producing the high performance machines. Producing high performance machines would be important to build the brand and would help selling the low costs machines as well, comparable situation to mobile phones business where many vendors produce high end devices to build the brand while they actually make the money from cheaper products that are sold in masses.

Opportunity to participate in SkillsUSA Essay Example for Free

Opportunity to participate in SkillsUSA Essay One of the benefits of attending a vocational high school is the opportunity to participate in SkillsUSA. Preparing for SkillsUSA was one of the most challenging and nerve racking experiences in my life. SkillsUSA is an organization of students and teachers working together to help its members become responsible, hard working, and dedicated young adults. At the beginning of my junior year in high school, my shop instructor approached me and told me about SkillsUSA, and also the events that pertained to information technology. It took me a few moments to realize that he was encouraging me to participate. I read through the information packet my teacher gave me and noticed that SkillsUSA was a lot bigger than I realized. SkillsUSA is not only about being skilled in the trade you are studying, it is about being an outstanding citizen, and giving back to your community in any way you can. The first thoughts that popped into my head were â€Å"Am I ready for this?† I chose to compete in the robotics and automation technology contest. I have always been interested in robots and how they work. Until then, I had no experience working with robots so I was really nervous, I did not have much confidence in myself. Not only did I have a few months to learn everything I can about robotics while keeping up with my schoolwork, and balancing my part-time job, but I also had to evaluate myself as a person. I was on the Internet and at the library every spare minute I had learning everything I could. I ordered kits off the Internet to practice working with robots so there were no surprises during the competition. It was hard work, but it paid off. Although I did not place at the competition, I did really well considering I started learning about robotics five months prior to the competition and I was competing against students who had years of experience on the robotics team at their high school. Becoming a SkillsUSA member means you must make a pledge to be prepared, to be diligent, to practice, work hard, to respect your trade, and have a good reputation with your peers, coworkers, parents, employers, and teachers. Making a pledge this important demonstrates how committed I am to become a better citizen. I made the pledge to myself, even though I did not become an official SkillsUSA member. I found I have more confidence and take pride in everything I do whether it is taking a test, completing homework, or even dealing with difficult customers at my job. Setting these standards for myself is important to me. When I look back on my accomplishments I realize that I did not have to set my mind to put forth my best effort because what I use to think of as my â€Å"best effort† is now second nature. In those five months I feel like I have grown as person more than any other period in my life.

Family Meals More Than Just at Home

Family Meals More Than Just at Home In todays society families are busier than ever before. Many families consist of both parents working outside the home to make ends meet, and increasingly, many children are being raised in a single-parent and blended or binuclear homes. Some statistics claim that 75% of all children will spend some time within a single-parent household. When something has to give to meet the demands of raising a family, one of the first things to go seems to be family meals. How many families continue to eat meals together on a regular daily basis? And, does not eating meals together as a family impact family relationship and to what extent? Research on this subject is overwhelming and seems to prove that the lack of family mealtime not only impacts the family, but society as well. During a recent family dinner, a young female acquaintance was amazed to find that there was no special occasion that brought the family to the dinner table, that it was a nightly affair. To the family it was just an ordinary meal of pot roast, nothing special, but to her, it was a feast. In questioning her as to her family traditions and meals, it was amazing to learn that her family never ate meals together. Their meals consisted of pre-packaged or frozen foods and they ate whenever they were hungry and wherever they happened to be. They ate in the living room while watching TV or in their bedroom, but generally they ate alone. That was the normal routine for her family. It is no wonder that families today are facing problems with obesity, eating disorders, drug abuse, students with low scholastic achievement, and battle depression. Statistics show that Children who frequently eat meals with their families tend to do better in school, consumed higher amounts of important nutrients such as calcium, fiber, iron, vitamins B6 and B12, C and E and consumed less overall fat, compared to families who never or only sometimes eat meals together (Meals Matter, 2008). Studies show that the more a family eats together the less likely the children are to drink, smoke, do drugs, have eating disorders, get depressed and have suicidal tendencies. Families who eat together regularly have children who do better in school, delay having sex, eat healthier, have better table manners, and a larger vocabulary. This confirms that it isnt just about eating food, but rather the interaction and caring between families. A ten year study at Columbia University by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) found that the older kids are, the more they need time together with their family, but they are less likely to get it. The study shows that 12-year-olds claimed they had dinner seven nights a week, but only a quarter of 17-year-olds did (Time). This same study found that the least educated parents ate meals together the most, while parents with diplomas or college degrees shared fewer meals together with their kids. Another interesting find was that more than half of Hispanic teens ate with a parent at least six times a week, in contrast to 40% of black teens and 39% of whites. Mealtime is where a family builds its culture and identity, family traditions and stories are passed down as well as humor being shared. Eating meals together encourages more communication within the family. Topics can be discussed, parents can see how their child interacts, what they are wearing, find out who their friends are and what they are interested in, as well as discuss current events and help qualm fears their child may have concerning school, friends, their future plans, and life in general. In other words, family interaction at mealtimes informs the parents as well as the kids what is happening within the family and the world that surrounds them. According to Science Daily, parents who have regular meals with their adolescent children might help lessen the chances they will start drinking or smoking later in their teen years. (ScienceDaily, 2008) The Division of Adolescent Health and Medicine at the University of Minnesota surveyed 806 Minnesota adolescents as to how often they ate meals with their family as well as their use of marijuana, cigarettes and alcohol and followed up with a second mail survey five years later. According to the follow-up survey, girls who ate regular family meals had significantly less substance abuse than girls who didnt have regular family meals. The surprising find in this survey was that boys showed no difference in substance abuse determined by the frequency or absence of family mealtime. In a study of 65 children that spanned 65 years, Harvard researchers looked at activities of children and how they contributed to healthy child development. They used things such as play, story time, family functions and other factors and the end result was that dinners were the most important attribute for better adjustment. (Marino Butkus, unknown) Researchers discovered a link between well-adjusted adolescents and the frequency of family meals, with no correlation to gender, age, or family type. A survey conducted in 1997 of 527 teens revealed that those who were best adjusted ate a meal with an adult family member at least 5 days a week, were less likely to do drugs or be depressed and were more motivated at school and had better relationships (Marino Butkus, unknown). Meanwhile, according to Child Trends Data Bank, in 2003, 42 percent of adolescents ate a meal with their family at least six days a week, while 27% ate a meal as a family four to five days a week, and 31% ate mea ls as a family less than three days a week. (Child Trends, 2007) In taking a survey of a sons friends (1 female, 5 males) the results revealed that a surprising number of them that did not eat regular family meals together (Zemke, Feb 10, 2010). One of these friends had a family dinner once a year, for Thanksgiving, while two ate together generally on Sundays. Two usually ate meals as a family each night, unless there was an outside activity that prevented it, such as the child working. There was only one student who ate meals together as a family daily. Each of these kids felt that their family mealtime was normal and those who did not eat together did not seem to mind, which a person can assume that is because it has become their normal routine and they know nothing different. This is an alarming trend considering the repercussions from families not spending quality time together, generally around the dinner table. But, there are solutions to this problem and ways to reverse this trend. Children model our behavior. If parents dont perceive something such as healthy eating and quality time with our children important, we shouldnt be surprised to find that it is not something that they will perceive as important. Family meals should be dynamic, nutritious, interesting, and a habit. There are many ways to ensure this: Keep meals simple Have everybody help with the cooking Sit down and slow down for mealtime Dont eat in the car Eat together as a family if going to a restaurant Avoid confrontations mealtimes shouldnt be the time to discipline your children Give praise and invite conversation with your children Tell family stories; build identity and culture within your family Dont answer the phone during mealtime Cook in bulk so you dont have to cook each day Ask children for meal suggestions to involve them Make time to eat together as a family Purchase ready-made sauces or marinade and add it to sautà ©ed chicken, beef or shrimp for a tasty main course. Order pizza and make a salad, then watch a movie or play games together as a family. The benefits of taking the time to gather the family for a meal will be a worthwhile investment in any family and enrich everyones lives. Another way to build a strong bond within a family if dinner isnt an option is to have breakfast together; this can give a good start to a childs day with a healthy breakfast. Research has proven that breakfast kick-starts your metabolism, helps you concentrate and perform better in school or at work. As stated earlier, todays families are busier than ever and this makes having quality time with your children even more important in todays society. There are multiple ways to maintain a healthy relationship with your children as well as your spouse. It makes no difference if dinner is with both parents or one, or even with extended family members, nor does it matter if it is dinner. The meal can be breakfast or lunch, whichever fits the families schedules the best. Having a family breakfast can be a wonderful start to a busy day. The main idea is to allot time for the family to communicate and form a strong bond. Eating together will improve childrens manners, provide intimacy as well as create a secure environment for teenagers. Eating meals together is important for a childs development and self-esteem outside of the home, gives the child confidence and teaches them how to behave with others. Eating together enables parents to see what their child is eating and if they finish their food, this may help ward off any upcoming eating disorders or other emotional problems the child may have. Families who eat together on a regular basis tend to eat healthier by eating more fruit, dark-green vegetables and drink less soft drinks. Children feel more positive about themselves and their family, they are less likely to smoke, use drugs or alcohol, or become depressed and more likely to do well in school and develop better relationships with their peers. Schools and community organizations should also be encouraged to make it easier for families to have shared mealtimes on a regular basis. Help organize events that would include the whole family being together. If meals are hard to pull together because of work, plan a family night for games, puzzles, read a story or watch a movie. Order pizza, or have a bowl of ice-cream, something that will bring the family together for even one-half hour will be beneficial. More importantly, remember that children mimic their parents, if the parents do not care enough to make time to be with their children for mealtime or any other time, then dont be surprised if the child seeks attention from someone or something else to fill that void in their life. A relaxed family meal is the perfect time to teach kids, not just about manners, but about personal and spiritual beliefs, values and lessons we want them to learn (Knight, 2002). It is a great time to give your child your undivided attention, which lets them know you care about how they feel, their concerns, passions, and who their friends are. Mealtimes can be a time to quell a childs fears about current events, make plans for family vacations, or what you plan on doing for the weekend. Lifestyles make it difficult but eating together as a family is important to begin from a young age and becomes particularly important for the physical and emotional health of teens. Even if you order pizza and eat off paper plates, the time spent together as a family will always be time well spent.

Personal Narrative - Athlete to Academia Essay -- Autobiography Essay,

Athlete to Academia Instead of feeling pressure to conform as a student at the University of Georgia, I have found that being in college has made me value the importance of a higher education more so than I ever had before. During high school, my primary goal was to play well enough to receive a football scholarship. At that time, my focus was not on academics. However, since I've arrived at the University of Georgia, my entire concept of the value of a college degree has slowly changed. Rather than seeing just football in my future, I can now picture myself as a football player with a college degree. Consequently, instead of having a negative impact on my personal growth, college has helped me broaden as a person. Contrary to popular opinion, athletes do have interests outside their sport. Since I enrolled at Georgia, I have found myself intrigued by the painters whose visions were presented in my art class, as well as by the empathy displayed in my social work class. I feel as if I've grown as a person while learning more about the world I live in. My scope of und...

Essay examples --

INTRODUCTION: In general, Password-based authentication protocols are enormously used for logging to servers located remote or local. They also provide authentication between the client and the server to assure both parties‟ legality†. However an attacker may find the passwords. Therefore a designer usually uses a scheme with password changing function. However other than schemes which are anonymous, all the others in the literature cannot satisfy the three important properties: (1) two passes to reduce the network traffic and increase system performance , (2) the anonymity, and (3) the ten security features proposed by Liao et al.. In the scheme, we let the secret keys of both the user and the server be x and y, respectively which are embedded in three properties. The biometric authentication system offers several advantages over other security methods. Password might be forgotten and thus smart card might be shared,lost,or stolen.In contrast ,personal biometric such as fingerprints has no such drawbacks.Remote authentication is form of e_authentcation in which user as proof of adenitis as admitted over a network connection. There are two problems in applying personal bio-metrics. (1) obtaining easily some bio-metric characteristics, so that the results can never changed, (2)the difficulty of checking whether the device is capable of verifying that a person is alive. Due to such problems the best way is to integrate bio-metrics with password and smart card to construct a three secure factor authentication scheme. Client server system scenario usually a password based authentication scheme is widely used in order to identify the remote user. But the simple passwords are always easy to break using simple di... ...nge Phase When U wants to change his password from following steps. Step 1: U inserts his smart card, and inputs his IDu, PWu, the new password PWu’, and pc. Step 2: The smart card computes u=h(IDu||PWu||x),h(IDu||IDs||y)=Râ™ pcâ™ u, and checks to see whether O=h(h(pc||u)||h(h(IDu||IDs||y)||u)) holds. If it holds, the smart card computes u’=h(IDu||PWu’||x),R’=pcâ™ h(IDu||IDs||y)â™ u’, O’=h(h(pc||u’)||h(h(IDu||IDs||y)||u’)),A’=Aâ™ h(IDu||PWu||x)â™ h(IDu||PWu’||x), and then updates R, O, A with R’, O’, A’, respectively. Conclusions We have proposed secure and efficient biometrics-based remote user authentication. The proposed scheme can effectively withstand the replay attack,the imper- sonating attack, and the man-in-the-middle attacks.The proposed scheme enhance the security, but furthermore, this result reduces the communication and computation costs. Essay examples -- INTRODUCTION: In general, Password-based authentication protocols are enormously used for logging to servers located remote or local. They also provide authentication between the client and the server to assure both parties‟ legality†. However an attacker may find the passwords. Therefore a designer usually uses a scheme with password changing function. However other than schemes which are anonymous, all the others in the literature cannot satisfy the three important properties: (1) two passes to reduce the network traffic and increase system performance , (2) the anonymity, and (3) the ten security features proposed by Liao et al.. In the scheme, we let the secret keys of both the user and the server be x and y, respectively which are embedded in three properties. The biometric authentication system offers several advantages over other security methods. Password might be forgotten and thus smart card might be shared,lost,or stolen.In contrast ,personal biometric such as fingerprints has no such drawbacks.Remote authentication is form of e_authentcation in which user as proof of adenitis as admitted over a network connection. There are two problems in applying personal bio-metrics. (1) obtaining easily some bio-metric characteristics, so that the results can never changed, (2)the difficulty of checking whether the device is capable of verifying that a person is alive. Due to such problems the best way is to integrate bio-metrics with password and smart card to construct a three secure factor authentication scheme. Client server system scenario usually a password based authentication scheme is widely used in order to identify the remote user. But the simple passwords are always easy to break using simple di... ...nge Phase When U wants to change his password from following steps. Step 1: U inserts his smart card, and inputs his IDu, PWu, the new password PWu’, and pc. Step 2: The smart card computes u=h(IDu||PWu||x),h(IDu||IDs||y)=Râ™ pcâ™ u, and checks to see whether O=h(h(pc||u)||h(h(IDu||IDs||y)||u)) holds. If it holds, the smart card computes u’=h(IDu||PWu’||x),R’=pcâ™ h(IDu||IDs||y)â™ u’, O’=h(h(pc||u’)||h(h(IDu||IDs||y)||u’)),A’=Aâ™ h(IDu||PWu||x)â™ h(IDu||PWu’||x), and then updates R, O, A with R’, O’, A’, respectively. Conclusions We have proposed secure and efficient biometrics-based remote user authentication. The proposed scheme can effectively withstand the replay attack,the imper- sonating attack, and the man-in-the-middle attacks.The proposed scheme enhance the security, but furthermore, this result reduces the communication and computation costs.

Filipino Philosophy Essay

Filipino Philosophy is the attitude, worldview, and notion of the natural citizens of the Philippines towards the day-to-day experiences in life, religion, communication, survival, interrelationship with people and intra-relationship with his sakop or to oneself – the â€Å"I,† and the uplifting of one’s soul – the Filipino being. Filipinos are used to be stereotyped as the bamboo grass for it always sway with the wind. The Filipino people has gone through tough and rough times, good and bounty years, and yet they always stand as firm as it was on the day our ancestors fought Magellan. Our own worldview explains why we stand all erect despite economic downfall, political crisis, natural calamities. One thing that is to be observed, everything revolves in relationships, in the sakop, in the upliftment of one’s soul. Justice for the Filipino people is the satisfaction of the needs of the self and his relations. These and more is the pattern of Filipinos which leads to the general behavior of the nation – the philosophy of the Filipinos. It is the critical examination of the grounds for the fundamental beliefs of Filipino being as an individual and as a universal; likewise it is an analysis of the basic concepts employed in the expression of their worldview. Included in this study is the study of Filipino worldview from different tribal groups to mainland people and to the new generation of the modern times. Since it is a study and the Filipinos have a diversity of life as it has a seven thousand one hundred islands, there should also be different branches of Filipino Philosophy of which I categorize as: (1) Ethnolinguistic-Tribal Philosophy where Bicolano, Cebuano, Tagalog, Ilocano Philosphies would fall under; (2) Filipino Philosophy of Religion; (4) Animism and Practices of Filipinos; and (5) other Filipino Phylosophies that Filipino scholars may add and institutionalize that is not or only partially influenced by the Western Philosophy and purely in the Filipino context. Ethnolinguistic-Tribal Philosophy will further explain and discuss the main ideas and the worldviews of the linguistic groups in the country. Particulars bring about the general. Each particular small group philosophies combines into one distinct philosophy which is the Filipino Philosophy. What unites it or what is common among the philosophies? The self or the â€Å"I,† or that individual characteristic – sakop orientedness. The Filipino is more others-centered than self-centered. Filipino basic personality is made up of Filipino beliefs and knowledge that are equated and related to various rituals and formal and informal education passed from generation to generation. The family contributes to and maintains the Filipino values and to the individual self most specially that the Family is part of the â€Å"self† being the â€Å"sakop.† Filipinos value family highly and rely on family relations in defining and seeking help for problems or disorders. The family name is valued more highly than that of the individual. These values bind the individual to the family, making him/her to consider how a decision will impact the family. The Filipino cannot be discussed on a person by person basis. Unlike western practices, a Filipino is not complete without his relationships A Filipino cannot be defined sans family †¦ these are his essential relationships — with one another, with family — and no Pinoy is truly Pinoy without them. This relationship-seeking attitude is most evident when introducing Filipinos in every corner of the country. The basic unit of the Philippine social organization is the family that includes the mother, father and children, and the bilateral extended family that embraces all relatives of the father and the mother. Of special importance is the sibling group, the unit formed by brothers and sisters. There are no clans or similar unilateral kinship groups in the Philippines. The elementary family and the sibling group form the primary bases of corporate action. The Philippine society is characterized as familial. This means that the influence of kinship, which centers on the family, is far-reaching. The Filipino family is the nuclear unit around which social activities are organized – it is the basic unit of corporate action. The interests of the individual in Philippine society are secondary to those of the family. Filipinos have a unique way of establishing kinship without actual blood relations. â€Å"Pakikiramdam† or known as Smooth Interpersonal Relationships is the core identity of the Filipino. It is a natural skill for all Filipinos to read between the lines. He has this internal language to sense the surrounding. Filipinos rarely get involved if they have no personal concern regarding the activity or the project. A Filipino will exert more effort when he/she is related to that specific given task or his name and the name of the â€Å"sakop† is involved. Along with this also arises the need for a personal touch. A simple personal invitation is a hundred times more regarded than any formal written invitation. Filipinos likes to be invited even if it is only a joke and even if it is an occasion within the clan or nearby neighborhood. A neglect of this personality leads to misunderstanding or â€Å"pagdaramdam.† Filipinos usually like to associate themselves with a higher power and, in return, submit to this higher person if the need arises. This is most likely true to the â€Å"Masa† and even to elite people of the Philippines. It becomes the source of their strength and the source of a wall to lean on in times of crisis and in job seeking opportunities. Filipinos value small-group centeredness which can be seen from the word ofkami. A Filipino has a â€Å"barkada† aside from his immediate family where he/she can pour out his/her angst and happy moments with. It is the ultimate manifestation of small-group centeredness because it is a tight bond among friends which dictate what the group would think, do or say. Amor propio, the stubborn pride that Filipinos possess and hold on to despite the situation is another distinct element of being a Filipino. The expression wala ka namang pakikisama easily coerces Filipinos to act in peculiar manners especially if the pakikisama is determined by the barkada. Pakikisama is very important in a group, in a workplace, and in areas where there is a social group. Another characteristic is that Filipinos seek to succeed and make himself a person in his own right. It may be a show of being bida and sikat all the time that is a manifestation of pasiklaban, the Filipino does this only to share his glory with his family. Therefore, the Filipino is not inconsistent with the established fact that Filipinos are others-centered because his pagsasarili is a result of his desire to uplift his family or his loved ones – others-centeredness-responsibility. Hiya is a Filipino social behavior regulator that prevents a Filipino from violating a norm, a family value, and a group goal. This is also the root of the Smooth Interpersonal Relationships that Filipinos highly prize. This is the golden rule among Filipinos in the sense that a Filipino makes it a point not to intentionally embarass a person just as he wouldn’t want to be embarassed by another. Euphemism is an important Filipino procedure for all relationships. This tactfulness mirrors the Smooth Interpersonal Relationship that Filipinos highly regard. In the interdependent Philippine society, reciprocity is an essential to all relationships. Utang-na-loob, a Filipino is indebted to another until such a favor is returned in kind. This utang na loob is very much rampant in 95 % of Filipinos specially those who are native of the Philippines and among Filipinos in other countries. Utang na loob may stem from Hiya or mainly from the uniqueness of the Filipino â€Å"self.† Many of the provinces of the Philippines are separated from each other by water because the Philippines is an archipelago. Large islands, Luzon and Mindanao have mountain ranges also separate different land areas. As a result of the physical isolation from each other, Filipinos have a rich, multi-cultural heritage and speak 150 different languages and dialects. It must be noted that even though Filipinos speak many languages, there are only eight major languages based on the number of speakers: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon/Ilonggo, Waray, Bikolano, Pangasinense, and Kapampangan. Of these, Filipino, which is based onTagalog and was formerly spelled as ‘Pilipino,’ is the official language along with English. Most textbooks, laws, signboards and mass media are either in English or Filipino. From this language barrier and indifferences come out regionalism which dates back from the the colonial past of the Philippines under Spain and the United States. Spaniards encouraged regionalism to dissipate any nationalist revolt against them. They practiced a â€Å"divide and rule† policy wherein they employed Filipino soldiers from one region to put down an uprising in another region. In addition, Spanish friars, in their desire to evangelize, studied the native tongues and incorporated Catholicism into Filipino social customs and religious observances. In doing so, the Spaniards preserved the native languages and dialects of the Filipinos. They also implanted Roman Catholicism in the Philippines, and influenced the Philippine legal system, social institutions, literature and arts. Meanwhile, the American colonial rule also unwittingly encouraged regionalism.[11]. Language differences and regionalism are just a few factors of the rich cultural herritage and behaviors of individual – tribes in context – that give color and blend of Filipino Philosophy. major factors influencing Filipino Philosophy are its Education, Language and Geography, Western and Eastern Philosophies, and most especially Religion. Education shapes the mind of individuals. It is the way of acquiring and disseminating knowledge. Through education, cultures, thoughts and ideas, concepts and theories are handed down from one generation to another. It is by education that we learn the Western thoughts and their civilization which we try to imitate and to live-out. It is by education that we inculcate to the next generation, the ideal self and the justified and unjustified, true and false beliefs. Language and Geography determine the type of the desires, the taste and the perceptions of the people. It is one of the major factors contributing to the indifferences of major cultures in the Philippines most especially that the country is separated by water. Culture takes part in the molding of history and of man. And the rest, together with culture and history runs in circle around the development and of the nature of Filipino Philosophy. Culture, like history, modifies the worldview of the Filipinos. For every ethno-linguistic community, society, province or region whatever you want to call it, every individual or the whole group has its own worldview on how to enrich, practice, and show his or her own culture. Despite the indifferences of cultural background and ancestral indifferences, the Filipino worldview in the context of the self has never changed. Culture is passed from generation to generation through time (history), through psychological time, but the self being that self, which is others-oriented-kin-related-self, remains the same as it is. In this regard, the Filipino self is unique and his worldview, which is to be in harmony with all that is around him or her, is true to every Filipino from age to age and from culture to culture. Filipino Philosophy is unique in itself and is a pride of the Filipino people. It doesn’t matter which general worldview it belongs. What matters is that the country that belongs to the eastern coast has a philosophy that is distinct and rich in itself. The choice is left to the people whether to take it as a material for its national pride and left to the critics, the Filipino philosophers and scholars if they push our philosophy to the limits and to the level of other philosophies or to drag it down. For it shapes the Philippine politics, economics, justice system, and the rest of that which revolves in the society of the country. A Filipino has two major ways of dealing with his society depending upon the basis of relatedness to the self. Individuals always value pakikitungo, pakikisalamuha, pakikisama to people whom he does not know; and likewise, he/she deals on how to be in harmony with the related individuals to his life – involvement and â€Å"pakikiisa† are two very important values to consider.

Silence: Silence: a Thirteenth-Century French Romance

The writer begins Silence by calling himself Master Heldris of Cornwall and saying his wish not to have his work spread among wealthy people who don’t know how to appreciate it. He refers to them as â€Å"the kind of people†, which clearly shows his negative attitude toward those who he describes as â€Å"prize money more than honor†, or â€Å"want to hear everything but do not care to make a man happy with some reward they might wish to give†.The phrase â€Å"at the beginning of the work†, or â€Å"before I begin to tell my story† are repeated three times throughout the opening: one at the start, one at the center, and one at the end right before the writer starts telling the story. This, together with strong words such as â€Å"command†, â€Å"request†, repeatedly reminds the readers of the writer’s demand to preserve his work and of his deep hatred toward greedy people. The writer’s strong feeling against avaric ious men is expressed clearly: â€Å"I feel tremendously compelled, stung, goaded [into talking about this]†, and â€Å"It bothers me terribly†.Several different negative words and phrases are also used to depict those people throughout the text: â€Å"greedy†, â€Å"nasty†, â€Å"petty†, â€Å"fools†, â€Å"intoxicated with Avarice†, â€Å"those hateful men†. He tells problems relating to those people from the perspective of a poet: â€Å"serve them well, as if they were your father: then you will be most welcome, judge a fine minstrel, well-received†, or â€Å"very bad cheer and a sour face, that’s what you’ll always get from them† when you ask for something. The bitterness in each sentence and the clear descriptions shows that the writer seems to have experienced those problems himself.He disgusts greedy people and views them as pathetic creatures that have a dreadful life as they try to â€Å"pi le up wealth† and â€Å"yet afraid of losing it†: â€Å"a man afraid is not at peace he is miserable and ill at ease. Wealth only makes a man mean-spirited and makes him toil without profit. All he does is soil himself† Greedy men â€Å"rob† world â€Å"of all pleasure†, and lost their trust in everyone, even their own wives: â€Å"he doesn’t want her spend any of it, â€Å"for one missing penny would mar the perfection of those thousands marks he lost sleep over†.The writer emphasizes that owning property does not make life easier nor brings one any â€Å"joy and festivity† if one do not know how to use and share it wisely: â€Å"lost sleep†, â€Å"ill†, â€Å"miserable†, â€Å"stingy†. Capitalizing Avarice, the writer refer to Avarice as a dangerous goddess who traps fools in her maze of wealth, let them honor her as â€Å"their sovereign lady and wet nurse†, but betrays them, leaves them â €Å"drunk† and â€Å"intoxicated† and â€Å"driven to disgrace themselves†. While hating those fools, the writer is seriously concerned and cry :†O greedy people, alas! las! †. He repeatedly refer to the â€Å"locked away† wealth as â€Å"disgrace†, â€Å"shame†, and even a dirty substance: â€Å"dung†. Comparing unused wealth and dung, he further devalues property: â€Å"at least dung enriches the soils†, while greedy men â€Å"abuse this earthy life† and â€Å"enclosed their courts with shame forever†. Dung is often referred to as dirty and worthless, yet it has a function that benefits the planet, while wealth, often related to luxuriousness and enjoyment, neither brings comfort to its owner nor influence the world positively at all.Several comparisons are also used near the end of the opening to address the same point: â€Å"assets are worth less than manure†: â€Å"just as wheat is worth m ore than weeds†, rose† more than daisy, goshawk more than falcon more than buzzard, good wine than stagnant water, bittern than magpie, and most of all â€Å" honest poverty is of greater worth than a thousand marks without joys and festivity†. The comparisons start from small plants to birds to the main subjects: honest poverty versus useless wealth.This proves that wealth and greed are inferior and shameful, while praises generosity as superior and honorable. At the end of the opening, after all the hatred has been expressed, the writer says he now can begin his story â€Å"without a lot of fuss and bother†. Since the overall theme of the story relate to property and the problems relating to the right to own it, it appears that the writer does not just simply tell us his feeling toward greed and wealth but his main goal is to prepare us with a basic background of the story.The transition from the opening to the story is thus smoother. The story begins wit h the description of King Evan as a wise king who â€Å"maintained peace in his land† and apply strict rules to control his people. What King Evan has is wealth, power and respect so obviously troubles are unavoidable. This obviously connects to the theme mentioned in the opening, therefore, readers can catch up with the story more easily.

Income Tax Contribution

Chapter – I – Introduction 1. 1-Focus of the Study This is the age of management information system (MIS) in the business world, which enables management to provide the appropriate information at optimal cost so manager can manage in private as well as government organizations. MIS can be defined as the system, which provides proper information that helps management to take management decisions in a timely fashion. Therefore the information served by management information system is very crucial for a proper management of a business organization. In a process of receiving information from various sectors, MIS use various sectors. As well as we can find the position of income tax in government revenue. Income tax is the main source of government revenue. If high sources of income tax in government revenue, government can make good development, economic planning for development of the nation. After knowing about the contribution of Income tax in government revenue of Nepal, we can find the strength and weakness of the government functions and method of raising the revenue. < There are various sources of government revenue. Income tax, VAT, custom duty, foreign aid, internal and external loan are the main sources. There are various users and interested person and sector of Income tax in government revenue. Government is the main interested and handles body of income tax. Government can make suitable policies, acts and rules for increasing the government revenue. In current situation, government must have sufficient revenue for developing the nation. At present government expenditures is gradually increasing but government revenue is not satisfactory. The trend of income tax in government revenue is not satisfactory up going, even it’s going down some years. Thinking of taxpayer towards the tax is not positive. The study of income tax shows the performance and contribution of taxpayers. Nepal has adopted mix economy. So there is equal contribution of private and public sector for economic development as well as government revenue. The overall performance of government and taxpayers reflected on contribution of collection of income tax in government revenue. Government and financial policymakers can make suitable policies and rules for collection of high income tax from organizations. Analysis of income tax in government revenue is the mean of financial and accounting interpretation. We can say that analysis of income tax in government revenue is meaningless until and unless it is properly analyzed, interpreted and taken any corrective actions to the best way. Therefore the analysis and interpretation part of government revenue is fulfilled by the analysis of income tax. The idea of introducing income tax in Nepal originated along with the first ‘Budget’ on 21st Magh 2008 B. S. (1952 AD). The first elected government finally introduced ‘Business profit and Remuneration Tax Act 2017’ to promise income tax on remuneration and business profit in Nepal. The ‘Business profit and Remuneration Tax Act 2017’ had very narrow coverage that income tax was imposed only on business profit and remuneration. Since this act could not cover all the sources of income, the ‘Nepal Income Tax Act 2019’ replaced it after two years to avoid such drawbacks. After a year, ‘Nepal Income Tax Rules 2020’ were enacted with the view of implementing the objectives of the income tax act. According to the changing condition this act was also incapable in fulfilling the needs of changing time, it was replaced by another, ‘Income tax Act 2031’. In the course of development and modernization of income tax system, the new ‘Income Tax Act 2058’ has been enacted. Similarly, the new ‘Income Tax Rules 2059’ have been enacted for the effective implementation of the objectives of the Act. The study will cover the analysis and interpretation of all activities related to income tax such as income tax from Business income, Investment income and Employment income. Main purpose of the study is to find out the relationship between income tax and other sources of government revenue, the trends of collection of income tax, contributing part of income tax in government revenue and to point out the reasons of low collection and imposed of income tax. 1. 2-Statement of the problem Income tax is the main source of government revenue. For the development of nation, every government needs high revenue. For higher the revenue, the main sources is income tax. The economy of a country flourishes with the flourish of government revenue and collection of income tax and it deteriorates with unsatisfactory performance of Government function in the country. Therefore periodical review and analysis of Income Tax in the country is very essential. Performance of Income Tax is very constructive for all stakeholders closely attached with the government revenue as well as for a prosperous economic future of the country. Generating income by any individual or institution is the main sources of income tax. If income is favourable then collection of income tax is also favourable. Lower contribution of income tax in government revenue negatively affects the country’s development. The variation of income tax contribution brings the variation of government revenue and government development function. Country’s economic development and government revenue are the closely related parts. For higher revenue, economic development is necessary and for better economic development of a country, high government revenue is necessary. Nepal is a landlocked country. The trend of collection of income tax is not satisfactory. As maintained above, sustainable economic development and good political environment is necessary for growth the income. Income is source of income tax. Currently, political situation of Nepal is not good. From one decade it’s being worse. Here is no good environment for income generating functions. Previously running organizations also can’t perform better. They are going downwards. Individual income is also not a good increasing trend. It affects directly income tax and government revenue as well as government activities. The data of income tax may suffer a lot in lack of proper view and analysis practice of it. Currently contribution of income tax in government revenue of Nepal may not sufficient for development of nation. At the analysis period of data income tax collection remained below the expected level due to various national and international level. Therefore, this research study is concentrated on trend of income tax collection to review and analysis the contribution in government revenue and to draw recommendation for coming period. 1. 3-Objective of the study 1. 3. 1 General Objective To analyze the contribution of Income tax in the government revenue of Nepal. 1. 3. 2 Specific objective To measure the ability of income tax to meet the government current requirement. †¢ To measure the ability of income tax to meet the government long term planning and policies. †¢ To measure the operating efficiency and ability to ensure for adequate government revenue. †¢ To analyze the problems of revenue collection from Income Tax. †¢ To suggest some measures for the improve ment of Income Tax collection. 1. 4 Signification of the study There are many institutions and individual that many contribute for government revenue by income tax. But their ability and willingness is not so good. The proportion of income tax in government revenue is not appropriate. The trend of income tax collection also is not sustainable and satisfactory. Much income tax acts and rules were implemented and many of are active at present. But they are not properly implemented. For many of these problem there is best alternative to analysis the trend and contribution of income tax in government revenue. 1. 5 Research Questions For the effective performance and result of the study and to state the findings in a core and precise form, the important research questions have been structured: 1. What is the state of income tax collection? 2. What is the proportion of income tax income for government revenue? 3. What is the trend of income tax collection? 4. What are the findings for coming days? 1. 6 A brief survey of the related literature The related theoretical and previous studies review will be made later on while writing the thesis. Main of these is: †¢ Budget speech of many fiscal years †¢ Performance Review of public and private Enterprises †¢ Economic survey of many fiscal years †¢ Statement of Income and Expenditure of many fiscal years †¢ Statement of Revenue of many fiscal years Different Acts, Rules and regulations, Ordinance and Circulars related to Income Tax †¢ Related Research, Thesis, Articles, Journals, Books, Web site etc. 1. 7 Limitations of the Study The study on â€Å"Contribution of income tax in the government Revenue of Nepal† is not free from the following limitations: i) This study is based on financial stateme nts, Economic surveys, Statement of revenue and Income and expenditure, which are subject to limitation of many National and International causes. ii) This study is based on past data’s which are provided by IRD or published. ii) The various methods and formulae are been taken as standard formula, which are worked out on the basis of different items and conditions. iv) Mostly secondary data are analyzed. v) The area of income tax is very wide, so all the part of it may not be covered. vi) Being a student, different types of resource constraint is another important factor, which has limited the scope of the study. Chapter-II-Research Methodology 2. 1 Research Design A research design refers to the conceptual structure within which the research is conducted. The research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance the research purpose within the economy and easy to procedure. This study is basically both in analytical and descriptive. 2. 2 Data collection procedure For the study, secondary data will be collected from IRD, Budget speech, Economic survey, Statement of Income, Income and Expenditure and from other related sources. The secondary data related to income tax and revenue are basically from last fifteen years. 2. 3 Tools for analysis To conduct the study, management and statistical tools such as ratio analysis, trend analysis, correlation regression analysis, variation, weights, diagram, graphs etc. will be used as required by the study. 2. 4 Methods for analysis and presentation Various results will be calculated by using various management and statistical tools, and formula, which are required for this study. Then the data will be presented on suitable tables, diagrams, graphs and formats with the help of different suitable computer software on the basis of which necessary interpretation and explanation will be drawn. 2. Plan of work The study will be carried out on sequential order, which will be five chapters. The first chapter will begin with the introduction of the study, followed by review of literature, research methodology, presentation and analysis of data and conclusion and recommendation in second, third, fourth and last fifth chapters respectively. 2. 6 Bibliography 1. Amatya, S. K. , Pokharel, B. B. and Dahal, R. K. (2004), Taxation in Nepal, M. K. Publisher and Distributors, Kathmandu, Nepal. 2. Budget speech of the Fiscal Year 2055/056 to 2060/061. 3. Economic Survey of the Fiscal Year 2055/056 to 2060/061. . Income Tax act, 2031(1974) and Income Tax act, 2058 (2002) 5. Income Tax Rules, 2059. 6. Income Tax, Circular Collection 2055/56 to 2060/61. 7. Statement of Income and Expenditure of the Fiscal Year 2055/056 to 2060/061. 8. Statement of Revenue from 2055/56 to 2060/61. 9. Wolf, H. K. , and Pant, P. R. ,(2002), SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH AND THESIS WRITING, Buddha Academic Publishers & Distributor Pvt. Ltd. , Kathmandu, Nepal. 10. Web sites : http://www. ird. gov. np/index1. php http://www. taxresources. com/ http://www. asosai. org/journal1993/revenue_auditing_in_nepal. htm

The Quiet Revolution

The Quiet Revolution The purpose of this paper is to analyze the aspects of The Quiet Revolution on Quebec, and how the changes implemented by Lesage made Quebec the province it is today. The Quiet Revolution was only quiet at name; it triggered many conflicts that appeared in Quebec. The province began to move away from Catholic Church with the help of nationalists, leaving Quebec reformed and quite different from how it was before the 1960’s. Before the Quiet Revolution, Quebec was majorly formed of rural population.They believed that rural was much better than urban, but due to large families and the lack of good land, it pushed most Quebeckers to move to the cities. By 1921, half of Quebec’s population was urbanized. Manufacture industries of textile and shoes located in Quebec, were attracting many Quebeckers to work. The schools of Quebec were owned by the Catholic Church, and were mostly run by priests, nuns and brothers. The Quiet Revolution was a period between 1960 and 1966; it was mainly a period of political, social and economic change (Winston Knoll Collegiate).The Union Nationale party was in power since 1944, it held conservative outdated values. The election of June 1960 was the beginning of revolutionary changes that were about to happened in Quebec. The election of June 22nd 1960, when the Liberal Party of Quebec ran by Jean Lesage finally won 51. 5% against Union Nationale. â€Å"The main issue of the election was indicated by the Liberal slogan, â€Å"It's time for a change†(The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2012)†. The government under Lesage began new era with open debates, changing the political electoral map so each urban area would be well represented.The government changed the voting age from 21 to 18. Lesage by increasing loans, made the budget grow from $745 million to $2. 1 billion in less than six years. The Baby Boom generation that had reached adolescence put a lot of pressure on Quebec’s poor educatio nal system; the role of Catholic Church was quite criticized and abolished pushing the government into creating a department of education, the Parent Report created a school system available to the entire population.One of the major accomplishments by the government in the economic sector was the nationalization of private electricity companies, an idea that was introduced by Rene Levesque, a minister of natural resources. The government of Jean Lesage encouraged industrialization, promoting investments and guaranteeing economic benefits through the buy-Quebec policy, all these objectives were met when Hydro-Quebec became the symbol of success and economic resources. The creation of â€Å"caisse de depot et placement du Quebec† triggered the creation of the Quebec pension plan, which immediately grew to billion dollars.Quebec’s favorite slogan that had huge improvements was the â€Å"maitres chez nous† (masters in our own house) which promoted and influenced fed eral-provincial relations. The demands that were imposed by Lesage were largely met. â€Å"Lesage forced the federal government to accept Quebec's withdrawal from several cost-sharing programs and to compensate Quebec fiscally (The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2012)†. Therefore Quebec was the only province that had the right to withdraw. Thus, the conflicts then rose between the English Canadians and the French Canadian. The federal Pearson Liberal government established the Royal Commission on bilingualism and biculturalism, which warned that Canada was passing through the greatest crisis in its history (The Quiet Revolution Changed Quebec Forver). Pearson liberal party to gain more strength and credibility hired three wise men; Jean Marchand, Gerard Pelletier and Pierre Eliott Trudeau. Quebec was gaining power and these changes made many different French Canadian nationalists for example; FLQ (Front de liberation du Quebec) believed that Quebec is a distinct society and worship s eparatism, which resulted in terrorism.In 1966, when Quebec faced elections they were confident of triumph, but the Union National had add changes to its image attracted more conservative voters and since the Quiet Revolution never really influenced the rural areas. On June 5th of 1966 the Union National won the elections against the Liberals. Although, the liberal party was elected in 1960 and defeated in 1966, Jean Lesage in 6 years of power had accomplished forceful changes; the French language took more place and importance in Canada, the welfare state; including the pension plan, Medicare and Hydro Quebec.The Quiet Revolution was an important point of reference in Quebec’s history; all governments elected in Quebec never omit to mention the importance and the positive consequences that it brought to Quebec. Words: 770 References 1. The Quiet Revolution changed Quebec Forever, http://www. llss. sd73. bc. ca/socials11/materials/chapter8/quiet_revn_changed_que_forever. pdf 2. October Crisis, The Quiet Revolution, http://www. historyofrights. com/flq1. html 3. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2012 http://www. thecanadianencyclopedia. com/articles/quiet-revolution

Angels Demons Chapter 6263

Suddenly someone grabbed him from behind. It was Vittoria. She was breathless and tugging at his arm. From the look of terror on her face, Langdon could only imagine one thing. She found a body. He felt an upswelling of dread. â€Å"Ah, your wife!† the docent exclaimed, clearly thrilled to have another guest. He motioned to her short pants and hiking boots. â€Å"Now you I can tell are American!† Vittoria’s eyes narrowed. â€Å"I’m Italian.† The guide’s smile dimmed. â€Å"Oh, dear.† â€Å"Robert,† Vittoria whispered, trying to turn her back on the guide. â€Å"Galileo’s Diagramma. I need to see it.† â€Å"Diagramma?† the docent said, wheedling back in. â€Å"My! You two certainly know your history! Unfortunately that document is not viewable. It is under secret preservation in the Vatican Arc – â€Å" â€Å"Could you excuse us?† Langdon said. He was confused by Vittoria’s panic. He took her aside and reached in his pocket, carefully extracting the Diagramma folio. â€Å"What’s going on?† â€Å"What’s the date on this thing?† Vittoria demanded, scanning the sheet. The docent was on them again, staring at the folio, mouth agape. â€Å"That’s not†¦ really†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Tourist reproduction,† Langdon quipped. â€Å"Thank you for your help. Please, my wife and I would like a moment alone.† The docent backed off, eyes never leaving the paper. â€Å"Date,† Vittoria repeated to Langdon. â€Å"When did Galileo publish†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Langdon pointed to the Roman numeral in the lower liner. â€Å"That’s the pub date. What’s going on?† Vittoria deciphered the number. â€Å"1639?† â€Å"Yes. What’s wrong?† Vittoria’s eyes filled with foreboding. â€Å"We’re in trouble, Robert. Big trouble. The dates don’t match.† â€Å"What dates don’t match?† â€Å"Raphael’s tomb. He wasn’t buried here until 1759. A century after Diagramma was published.† Langdon stared at her, trying to make sense of the words. â€Å"No,† he replied. â€Å"Raphael died in 1520, long before Diagramma.† â€Å"Yes, but he wasn’t buried here until much later.† Langdon was lost. â€Å"What are you talking about?† â€Å"I just read it. Raphael’s body was relocated to the Pantheon in 1758. It was part of some historic tribute to eminent Italians.† As the words settled in, Langdon felt like a rug had just been yanked out from under him. â€Å"When that poem was written,† Vittoria declared, â€Å"Raphael’s tomb was somewhere else. Back then, the Pantheon had nothing at all to do with Raphael!† Langdon could not breathe. â€Å"But that†¦ means†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yes! It means we’re in the wrong place!† Langdon felt himself sway. Impossible†¦ I was certain†¦ Vittoria ran over and grabbed the docent, pulling him back. â€Å"Signore, excuse us. Where was Raphael’s body in the 1600s?† â€Å"Urb†¦ Urbino,† he stammered, now looking bewildered. â€Å"His birthplace.† â€Å"Impossible!† Langdon cursed to himself. â€Å"The Illuminati altars of science were here in Rome. I’m certain of it!† â€Å"Illuminati?† The docent gasped, looking again at the document in Langdon’s hand. â€Å"Who are you people?† Vittoria took charge. â€Å"We’re looking for something called Santi’s earthly tomb. In Rome. Can you tell us what that might be?† The docent looked unsettled. â€Å"This was Raphael’s only tomb in Rome.† Langdon tried to think, but his mind refused to engage. If Raphael’s tomb wasn’t in Rome in 1655, then what was the poem referring to? Santi’s earthly tomb with demon’s hole? What the hell is it? Think! â€Å"Was there another artist called Santi?† Vittoria asked. The docent shrugged. â€Å"Not that I know of.† â€Å"How about anyone famous at all? Maybe a scientist or a poet or an astronomer named Santi?† The docent now looked like he wanted to leave. â€Å"No, ma’am. The only Santi I’ve ever heard of is Raphael the architect.† â€Å"Architect?† Vittoria said. â€Å"I thought he was a painter!† â€Å"He was both, of course. They all were. Michelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael.† Langdon didn’t know whether it was the docent’s words or the ornate tombs around them that brought the revelation to mind, but it didn’t matter. The thought occurred. Santi was an architect. From there the progression of thoughts fell like dominoes. Renaissance architects lived for only two reasons – to glorify God with big churches, and to glorify dignitaries with lavish tombs. Santi’s tomb. Could it be? The images came faster now†¦ da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Monet’s Water Lilies. Michelangelo’s David. Santi’s earthly tomb†¦ â€Å"Santi designed the tomb,† Langdon said. Vittoria turned. â€Å"What?† â€Å"It’s not a reference to where Raphael is buried, it’s referring to a tomb he designed.† â€Å"What are you talking about?† â€Å"I misunderstood the clue. It’s not Raphael’s burial site we’re looking for, it’s a tomb Raphael designed for someone else. I can’t believe I missed it. Half of the sculpting done in Renaissance and Baroque Rome was for the funeraries.† Langdon smiled with the revelation. â€Å"Raphael must have designed hundreds of tombs!† Vittoria did not look happy. â€Å"Hundreds?† Langdon’s smile faded. â€Å"Oh.† â€Å"Any of them earthly, professor?† Langdon felt suddenly inadequate. He knew embarrassingly little about Raphael’s work. Michelangelo he could have helped with, but Raphael’s work had never captivated him. Langdon could only name a couple of Raphael’s more famous tombs, but he wasn’t sure what they looked like. Apparently sensing Langdon’s stymie, Vittoria turned to the docent, who was now inching away. She grabbed his arm and reeled him in. â€Å"I need a tomb. Designed by Raphael. A tomb that could be considered earthly.† The docent now looked distressed. â€Å"A tomb of Raphael’s? I don’t know. He designed so many. And you probably would mean a chapel by Raphael, not a tomb. Architects always designed the chapels in conjunction with the tomb.† Langdon realized the man was right. â€Å"Are any of Raphael’s tombs or chapels considered earthly?† The man shrugged. â€Å"I’m sorry. I don’t know what you mean. Earthly really doesn’t describe anything I know of. I should be going.† Vittoria held his arm and read from the top line of the folio. â€Å"From Santi’s earthly tomb with demon’s hole. Does that mean anything to you?† â€Å"Not a thing.† Langdon looked up suddenly. He had momentarily forgotten the second part of the line. Demon’s hole? â€Å"Yes!† he said to the docent. â€Å"That’s it! Do any of Raphael’s chapels have an oculus in them?† The docent shook his head. â€Å"To my knowledge the Pantheon is unique.† He paused. â€Å"But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"But what!† Vittoria and Langdon said in unison. Now the docent cocked his head, stepping toward them again. â€Å"A demon’s hole?† He muttered to himself and picked at his teeth. â€Å"Demon’s hole†¦ that is†¦ buco divolo?† Vittoria nodded. â€Å"Literally, yes.† The docent smiled faintly. â€Å"Now there’s a term I have not heard in a while. If I’m not mistaken, a buco divolo refers to an undercroft.† â€Å"An undercroft?† Langdon asked. â€Å"As in a crypt?† â€Å"Yes, but a specific kind of crypt. I believe a demon’s hole is an ancient term for a massive burial cavity located in a chapel†¦ underneath another tomb.† â€Å"An ossuary annex?† Langdon demanded, immediately recognizing what the man was describing. The docent looked impressed. â€Å"Yes! That is the term I was looking for!† Langdon considered it. Ossuary annexes were a cheap ecclesiastic fix to an awkward dilemma. When churches honored their most distinguished members with ornate tombs inside the sanctuary, surviving family members often demanded the family be buried together†¦ thus ensuring they too would have a coveted burial spot inside the church. However, if the church did not have space or funds to create tombs for an entire family, they sometimes dug an ossuary annex – a hole in the floor near the tomb where they buried the less worthy family members. The hole was then covered with the Renaissance equivalent of a manhole cover. Although convenient, the ossuary annex went out of style quickly because of the stench that often wafted up into the cathedral. Demon’s hole, Langdon thought. He had never heard the term. It seemed eerily fitting. Langdon’s heart was now pounding fiercely. From Santi’s earthly tomb with demon’s hole. There seemed to be only one question left to ask. â€Å"Did Raphael design any tombs that had one of these demon’s holes?† The docent scratched his head. â€Å"Actually. I’m sorry†¦ I can only think of one.† Only one? Langdon could not have dreamed of a better response. â€Å"Where!† Vittoria almost shouted. The docent eyed them strangely. â€Å"It’s called the Chigi Chapel. Tomb of Agostino Chigi and his brother, wealthy patrons of the arts and sciences.† â€Å"Sciences?† Langdon said, exchanging looks with Vittoria. â€Å"Where?† Vittoria asked again. The docent ignored the question, seeming enthusiastic again to be of service. â€Å"As for whether or not the tomb is earthly, I don’t know, but certainly it is†¦ shall we say differente.† â€Å"Different?† Langdon said. â€Å"How?† â€Å"Incoherent with the architecture. Raphael was only the architect. Some other sculptor did the interior adornments. I can’t remember who.† Langdon was now all ears. The anonymous Illuminati master, perhaps? â€Å"Whoever did the interior monuments lacked taste,† the docent said. â€Å"Dio mio! Atrocits! Who would want to be buried beneath piramides?† Langdon could scarcely believe his ears. â€Å"Pyramids? The chapel contains pyramids?† â€Å"I know,† the docent scoffed. â€Å"Terrible, isn’t it?† Vittoria grabbed the docent’s arm. â€Å"Signore, where is this Chigi Chapel?† â€Å"About a mile north. In the church of Santa Maria del Popolo.† Vittoria exhaled. â€Å"Thank you. Let’s – â€Å" â€Å"Hey,† the docent said, â€Å"I just thought of something. What a fool I am.† Vittoria stopped short. â€Å"Please don’t tell me you made a mistake.† He shook his head. â€Å"No, but it should have dawned on me earlier. The Chigi Chapel was not always known as the Chigi. It used to be called Capella della Terra.† â€Å"Chapel of the Land?† Langdon asked. â€Å"No,† Vittoria said, heading for the door. â€Å"Chapel of the Earth.† Vittoria Vetra whipped out her cell phone as she dashed into Piazza della Rotunda. â€Å"Commander Olivetti,† she said. â€Å"This is the wrong place!† Olivetti sounded bewildered. â€Å"Wrong? What do you mean?† â€Å"The first altar of science is at the Chigi Chapel!† â€Å"Where?† Now Olivetti sounded angry. â€Å"But Mr. Langdon said – â€Å" â€Å"Santa Maria del Popolo! One mile north. Get your men over there now! We’ve got four minutes!† â€Å"But my men are in position here! I can’t possibly – â€Å" â€Å"Move!† Vittoria snapped the phone shut. Behind her, Langdon emerged from the Pantheon, dazed. She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the queue of seemingly driverless taxis waiting by the curb. She pounded on the hood of the first car in line. The sleeping driver bolted upright with a startled yelp. Vittoria yanked open the rear door and pushed Langdon inside. Then she jumped in behind him. â€Å"Santa Maria del Popolo,† she ordered. â€Å"Presto!† Looking delirious and half terrified, the driver hit the accelerator, peeling out down the street. 63 Gunther Glick had assumed control of the computer from Chinita Macri, who now stood hunched in the back of the cramped BBC van staring in confusion over Glick’s shoulder. â€Å"I told you,† Glick said, typing some more keys. â€Å"The British Tattler isn’t the only paper that runs stories on these guys.† Macri peered closer. Glick was right. The BBC database showed their distinguished network as having picked up and run six stories in the past ten years on the brotherhood called the Illuminati. Well, paint me purple, she thought. â€Å"Who are the journalists who ran the stories,† Macri asked. â€Å"Schlock jocks?† â€Å"BBC doesn’t hire schlock jocks.† â€Å"They hired you.† Glick scowled. â€Å"I don’t know why you’re such a skeptic. The Illuminati are well documented throughout history.† â€Å"So are witches, UFOs, and the Loch Ness Monster.† Glick read the list of stories. â€Å"You ever heard of a guy called Winston Churchill?† â€Å"Rings a bell.† â€Å"BBC did a historical a while back on Churchill’s life. Staunch Catholic by the way. Did you know that in 1920 Churchill published a statement condemning the Illuminati and warning Brits of a worldwide conspiracy against morality?† Macri was dubious. â€Å"Where did it run? In the British Tattler?† Glick smiled. â€Å"London Herald. February 8, 1920.† â€Å"No way.† â€Å"Feast your eyes.† Macri looked closer at the clip. London Herald. Feb. 8, 1920. I had no idea. â€Å"Well, Churchill was a paranoid.† â€Å"He wasn’t alone,† Glick said, reading further. â€Å"Looks like Woodrow Wilson gave three radio broadcasts in 1921 warning of growing Illuminati control over the U.S. banking system. You want a direct quote from the radio transcript?† â€Å"Not really.† Glick gave her one anyway. â€Å"He said, ‘There is a power so organized, so subtle, so complete, so pervasive, that none had better speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.’ â€Å" â€Å"I’ve never heard anything about this.† â€Å"Maybe because in 1921 you were just a kid.† â€Å"Charming.† Macri took the jab in stride. She knew her years were showing. At forty-three, her bushy black curls were streaked with gray. She was too proud for dye. Her mom, a Southern Baptist, had taught Chinita contentedness and self-respect. When you’re a black woman, her mother said, ain’t no hiding what you are. Day you try, is the day you die. Stand tall, smile bright, and let ’em wonder what secret’s making you laugh. â€Å"Ever heard of Cecil Rhodes?† Glick asked. Macri looked up. â€Å"The British financier?† â€Å"Yeah. Founded the Rhodes Scholarships.† â€Å"Don’t tell me – â€Å" â€Å"Illuminatus.† â€Å"BS.† â€Å"BBC, actually. November 16, 1984.† â€Å"We wrote that Cecil Rhodes was Illuminati?† â€Å"Sure did. And according to our network, the Rhodes Scholarships were funds set up centuries ago to recruit the world’s brightest young minds into the Illuminati.† â€Å"That’s ridiculous! My uncle was a Rhodes Scholar!† Glick winked. â€Å"So was Bill Clinton.† Macri was getting mad now. She had never had tolerance for shoddy, alarmist reporting. Still, she knew enough about the BBC to know that every story they ran was carefully researched and confirmed. â€Å"Here’s one you’ll remember,† Glick said. â€Å"BBC, March 5, 1998. Parliament Committee Chair, Chris Mullin, required all members of British Parliament who were Masons to declare their affiliation.† Macri remembered it. The decree had eventually extended to include policemen and judges as well. â€Å"Why was it again?† Glick read. â€Å"†¦ concern that secret factions within the Masons exerted considerable control over political and financial systems.† â€Å"That’s right.† â€Å"Caused quite a bustle. The Masons in parliament were furious. Had a right to be. The vast majority turned out to be innocent men who joined the Masons for networking and charity work. They had no clue about the brotherhood’s past affiliations.† â€Å"Alleged affiliations.† â€Å"Whatever.† Glick scanned the articles. â€Å"Look at this stuff. Accounts tracing the Illuminati back to Galileo, the Guerenets of France, the Alumbrados of Spain. Even Karl Marx and the Russian Revolution.† â€Å"History has a way of rewriting itself.† â€Å"Fine, you want something current? Have a look at this. Here’s an Illuminati reference from a recent Wall Street Journal.† This caught Macri’s ear. â€Å"The Journal?† â€Å"Guess what the most popular Internet computer game in America is right now?† â€Å"Pin the tail on Pamela Anderson.† â€Å"Close. It’s called, Illuminati: New World Order.† Macri looked over his shoulder at the blurb. â€Å"Steve Jackson Games has a runaway hit†¦ a quasi-historical adventure in which an ancient satanic brotherhood from Bavaria sets out to take over the world. You can find them on-line at†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Macri looked up, feeling ill. â€Å"What do these Illuminati guys have against Christianity?† â€Å"Not just Christianity,† Glick said. â€Å"Religion in general.† Glick cocked his head and grinned. â€Å"Although from the phone call we just got, it appears they do have a special spot in their hearts for the Vatican.† â€Å"Oh, come on. You don’t really think that guy who called is who he claims to be, do you?† â€Å"A messenger of the Illuminati? Preparing to kill four cardinals?† Glick smiled. â€Å"I sure hope so.† Angels Demons Chapter 6263 Suddenly someone grabbed him from behind. It was Vittoria. She was breathless and tugging at his arm. From the look of terror on her face, Langdon could only imagine one thing. She found a body. He felt an upswelling of dread. â€Å"Ah, your wife!† the docent exclaimed, clearly thrilled to have another guest. He motioned to her short pants and hiking boots. â€Å"Now you I can tell are American!† Vittoria’s eyes narrowed. â€Å"I’m Italian.† The guide’s smile dimmed. â€Å"Oh, dear.† â€Å"Robert,† Vittoria whispered, trying to turn her back on the guide. â€Å"Galileo’s Diagramma. I need to see it.† â€Å"Diagramma?† the docent said, wheedling back in. â€Å"My! You two certainly know your history! Unfortunately that document is not viewable. It is under secret preservation in the Vatican Arc – â€Å" â€Å"Could you excuse us?† Langdon said. He was confused by Vittoria’s panic. He took her aside and reached in his pocket, carefully extracting the Diagramma folio. â€Å"What’s going on?† â€Å"What’s the date on this thing?† Vittoria demanded, scanning the sheet. The docent was on them again, staring at the folio, mouth agape. â€Å"That’s not†¦ really†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Tourist reproduction,† Langdon quipped. â€Å"Thank you for your help. Please, my wife and I would like a moment alone.† The docent backed off, eyes never leaving the paper. â€Å"Date,† Vittoria repeated to Langdon. â€Å"When did Galileo publish†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Langdon pointed to the Roman numeral in the lower liner. â€Å"That’s the pub date. What’s going on?† Vittoria deciphered the number. â€Å"1639?† â€Å"Yes. What’s wrong?† Vittoria’s eyes filled with foreboding. â€Å"We’re in trouble, Robert. Big trouble. The dates don’t match.† â€Å"What dates don’t match?† â€Å"Raphael’s tomb. He wasn’t buried here until 1759. A century after Diagramma was published.† Langdon stared at her, trying to make sense of the words. â€Å"No,† he replied. â€Å"Raphael died in 1520, long before Diagramma.† â€Å"Yes, but he wasn’t buried here until much later.† Langdon was lost. â€Å"What are you talking about?† â€Å"I just read it. Raphael’s body was relocated to the Pantheon in 1758. It was part of some historic tribute to eminent Italians.† As the words settled in, Langdon felt like a rug had just been yanked out from under him. â€Å"When that poem was written,† Vittoria declared, â€Å"Raphael’s tomb was somewhere else. Back then, the Pantheon had nothing at all to do with Raphael!† Langdon could not breathe. â€Å"But that†¦ means†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yes! It means we’re in the wrong place!† Langdon felt himself sway. Impossible†¦ I was certain†¦ Vittoria ran over and grabbed the docent, pulling him back. â€Å"Signore, excuse us. Where was Raphael’s body in the 1600s?† â€Å"Urb†¦ Urbino,† he stammered, now looking bewildered. â€Å"His birthplace.† â€Å"Impossible!† Langdon cursed to himself. â€Å"The Illuminati altars of science were here in Rome. I’m certain of it!† â€Å"Illuminati?† The docent gasped, looking again at the document in Langdon’s hand. â€Å"Who are you people?† Vittoria took charge. â€Å"We’re looking for something called Santi’s earthly tomb. In Rome. Can you tell us what that might be?† The docent looked unsettled. â€Å"This was Raphael’s only tomb in Rome.† Langdon tried to think, but his mind refused to engage. If Raphael’s tomb wasn’t in Rome in 1655, then what was the poem referring to? Santi’s earthly tomb with demon’s hole? What the hell is it? Think! â€Å"Was there another artist called Santi?† Vittoria asked. The docent shrugged. â€Å"Not that I know of.† â€Å"How about anyone famous at all? Maybe a scientist or a poet or an astronomer named Santi?† The docent now looked like he wanted to leave. â€Å"No, ma’am. The only Santi I’ve ever heard of is Raphael the architect.† â€Å"Architect?† Vittoria said. â€Å"I thought he was a painter!† â€Å"He was both, of course. They all were. Michelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael.† Langdon didn’t know whether it was the docent’s words or the ornate tombs around them that brought the revelation to mind, but it didn’t matter. The thought occurred. Santi was an architect. From there the progression of thoughts fell like dominoes. Renaissance architects lived for only two reasons – to glorify God with big churches, and to glorify dignitaries with lavish tombs. Santi’s tomb. Could it be? The images came faster now†¦ da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Monet’s Water Lilies. Michelangelo’s David. Santi’s earthly tomb†¦ â€Å"Santi designed the tomb,† Langdon said. Vittoria turned. â€Å"What?† â€Å"It’s not a reference to where Raphael is buried, it’s referring to a tomb he designed.† â€Å"What are you talking about?† â€Å"I misunderstood the clue. It’s not Raphael’s burial site we’re looking for, it’s a tomb Raphael designed for someone else. I can’t believe I missed it. Half of the sculpting done in Renaissance and Baroque Rome was for the funeraries.† Langdon smiled with the revelation. â€Å"Raphael must have designed hundreds of tombs!† Vittoria did not look happy. â€Å"Hundreds?† Langdon’s smile faded. â€Å"Oh.† â€Å"Any of them earthly, professor?† Langdon felt suddenly inadequate. He knew embarrassingly little about Raphael’s work. Michelangelo he could have helped with, but Raphael’s work had never captivated him. Langdon could only name a couple of Raphael’s more famous tombs, but he wasn’t sure what they looked like. Apparently sensing Langdon’s stymie, Vittoria turned to the docent, who was now inching away. She grabbed his arm and reeled him in. â€Å"I need a tomb. Designed by Raphael. A tomb that could be considered earthly.† The docent now looked distressed. â€Å"A tomb of Raphael’s? I don’t know. He designed so many. And you probably would mean a chapel by Raphael, not a tomb. Architects always designed the chapels in conjunction with the tomb.† Langdon realized the man was right. â€Å"Are any of Raphael’s tombs or chapels considered earthly?† The man shrugged. â€Å"I’m sorry. I don’t know what you mean. Earthly really doesn’t describe anything I know of. I should be going.† Vittoria held his arm and read from the top line of the folio. â€Å"From Santi’s earthly tomb with demon’s hole. Does that mean anything to you?† â€Å"Not a thing.† Langdon looked up suddenly. He had momentarily forgotten the second part of the line. Demon’s hole? â€Å"Yes!† he said to the docent. â€Å"That’s it! Do any of Raphael’s chapels have an oculus in them?† The docent shook his head. â€Å"To my knowledge the Pantheon is unique.† He paused. â€Å"But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"But what!† Vittoria and Langdon said in unison. Now the docent cocked his head, stepping toward them again. â€Å"A demon’s hole?† He muttered to himself and picked at his teeth. â€Å"Demon’s hole†¦ that is†¦ buco divolo?† Vittoria nodded. â€Å"Literally, yes.† The docent smiled faintly. â€Å"Now there’s a term I have not heard in a while. If I’m not mistaken, a buco divolo refers to an undercroft.† â€Å"An undercroft?† Langdon asked. â€Å"As in a crypt?† â€Å"Yes, but a specific kind of crypt. I believe a demon’s hole is an ancient term for a massive burial cavity located in a chapel†¦ underneath another tomb.† â€Å"An ossuary annex?† Langdon demanded, immediately recognizing what the man was describing. The docent looked impressed. â€Å"Yes! That is the term I was looking for!† Langdon considered it. Ossuary annexes were a cheap ecclesiastic fix to an awkward dilemma. When churches honored their most distinguished members with ornate tombs inside the sanctuary, surviving family members often demanded the family be buried together†¦ thus ensuring they too would have a coveted burial spot inside the church. However, if the church did not have space or funds to create tombs for an entire family, they sometimes dug an ossuary annex – a hole in the floor near the tomb where they buried the less worthy family members. The hole was then covered with the Renaissance equivalent of a manhole cover. Although convenient, the ossuary annex went out of style quickly because of the stench that often wafted up into the cathedral. Demon’s hole, Langdon thought. He had never heard the term. It seemed eerily fitting. Langdon’s heart was now pounding fiercely. From Santi’s earthly tomb with demon’s hole. There seemed to be only one question left to ask. â€Å"Did Raphael design any tombs that had one of these demon’s holes?† The docent scratched his head. â€Å"Actually. I’m sorry†¦ I can only think of one.† Only one? Langdon could not have dreamed of a better response. â€Å"Where!† Vittoria almost shouted. The docent eyed them strangely. â€Å"It’s called the Chigi Chapel. Tomb of Agostino Chigi and his brother, wealthy patrons of the arts and sciences.† â€Å"Sciences?† Langdon said, exchanging looks with Vittoria. â€Å"Where?† Vittoria asked again. The docent ignored the question, seeming enthusiastic again to be of service. â€Å"As for whether or not the tomb is earthly, I don’t know, but certainly it is†¦ shall we say differente.† â€Å"Different?† Langdon said. â€Å"How?† â€Å"Incoherent with the architecture. Raphael was only the architect. Some other sculptor did the interior adornments. I can’t remember who.† Langdon was now all ears. The anonymous Illuminati master, perhaps? â€Å"Whoever did the interior monuments lacked taste,† the docent said. â€Å"Dio mio! Atrocits! Who would want to be buried beneath piramides?† Langdon could scarcely believe his ears. â€Å"Pyramids? The chapel contains pyramids?† â€Å"I know,† the docent scoffed. â€Å"Terrible, isn’t it?† Vittoria grabbed the docent’s arm. â€Å"Signore, where is this Chigi Chapel?† â€Å"About a mile north. In the church of Santa Maria del Popolo.† Vittoria exhaled. â€Å"Thank you. Let’s – â€Å" â€Å"Hey,† the docent said, â€Å"I just thought of something. What a fool I am.† Vittoria stopped short. â€Å"Please don’t tell me you made a mistake.† He shook his head. â€Å"No, but it should have dawned on me earlier. The Chigi Chapel was not always known as the Chigi. It used to be called Capella della Terra.† â€Å"Chapel of the Land?† Langdon asked. â€Å"No,† Vittoria said, heading for the door. â€Å"Chapel of the Earth.† Vittoria Vetra whipped out her cell phone as she dashed into Piazza della Rotunda. â€Å"Commander Olivetti,† she said. â€Å"This is the wrong place!† Olivetti sounded bewildered. â€Å"Wrong? What do you mean?† â€Å"The first altar of science is at the Chigi Chapel!† â€Å"Where?† Now Olivetti sounded angry. â€Å"But Mr. Langdon said – â€Å" â€Å"Santa Maria del Popolo! One mile north. Get your men over there now! We’ve got four minutes!† â€Å"But my men are in position here! I can’t possibly – â€Å" â€Å"Move!† Vittoria snapped the phone shut. Behind her, Langdon emerged from the Pantheon, dazed. She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the queue of seemingly driverless taxis waiting by the curb. She pounded on the hood of the first car in line. The sleeping driver bolted upright with a startled yelp. Vittoria yanked open the rear door and pushed Langdon inside. Then she jumped in behind him. â€Å"Santa Maria del Popolo,† she ordered. â€Å"Presto!† Looking delirious and half terrified, the driver hit the accelerator, peeling out down the street. 63 Gunther Glick had assumed control of the computer from Chinita Macri, who now stood hunched in the back of the cramped BBC van staring in confusion over Glick’s shoulder. â€Å"I told you,† Glick said, typing some more keys. â€Å"The British Tattler isn’t the only paper that runs stories on these guys.† Macri peered closer. Glick was right. The BBC database showed their distinguished network as having picked up and run six stories in the past ten years on the brotherhood called the Illuminati. Well, paint me purple, she thought. â€Å"Who are the journalists who ran the stories,† Macri asked. â€Å"Schlock jocks?† â€Å"BBC doesn’t hire schlock jocks.† â€Å"They hired you.† Glick scowled. â€Å"I don’t know why you’re such a skeptic. The Illuminati are well documented throughout history.† â€Å"So are witches, UFOs, and the Loch Ness Monster.† Glick read the list of stories. â€Å"You ever heard of a guy called Winston Churchill?† â€Å"Rings a bell.† â€Å"BBC did a historical a while back on Churchill’s life. Staunch Catholic by the way. Did you know that in 1920 Churchill published a statement condemning the Illuminati and warning Brits of a worldwide conspiracy against morality?† Macri was dubious. â€Å"Where did it run? In the British Tattler?† Glick smiled. â€Å"London Herald. February 8, 1920.† â€Å"No way.† â€Å"Feast your eyes.† Macri looked closer at the clip. London Herald. Feb. 8, 1920. I had no idea. â€Å"Well, Churchill was a paranoid.† â€Å"He wasn’t alone,† Glick said, reading further. â€Å"Looks like Woodrow Wilson gave three radio broadcasts in 1921 warning of growing Illuminati control over the U.S. banking system. You want a direct quote from the radio transcript?† â€Å"Not really.† Glick gave her one anyway. â€Å"He said, ‘There is a power so organized, so subtle, so complete, so pervasive, that none had better speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.’ â€Å" â€Å"I’ve never heard anything about this.† â€Å"Maybe because in 1921 you were just a kid.† â€Å"Charming.† Macri took the jab in stride. She knew her years were showing. At forty-three, her bushy black curls were streaked with gray. She was too proud for dye. Her mom, a Southern Baptist, had taught Chinita contentedness and self-respect. When you’re a black woman, her mother said, ain’t no hiding what you are. Day you try, is the day you die. Stand tall, smile bright, and let ’em wonder what secret’s making you laugh. â€Å"Ever heard of Cecil Rhodes?† Glick asked. Macri looked up. â€Å"The British financier?† â€Å"Yeah. Founded the Rhodes Scholarships.† â€Å"Don’t tell me – â€Å" â€Å"Illuminatus.† â€Å"BS.† â€Å"BBC, actually. November 16, 1984.† â€Å"We wrote that Cecil Rhodes was Illuminati?† â€Å"Sure did. And according to our network, the Rhodes Scholarships were funds set up centuries ago to recruit the world’s brightest young minds into the Illuminati.† â€Å"That’s ridiculous! My uncle was a Rhodes Scholar!† Glick winked. â€Å"So was Bill Clinton.† Macri was getting mad now. She had never had tolerance for shoddy, alarmist reporting. Still, she knew enough about the BBC to know that every story they ran was carefully researched and confirmed. â€Å"Here’s one you’ll remember,† Glick said. â€Å"BBC, March 5, 1998. Parliament Committee Chair, Chris Mullin, required all members of British Parliament who were Masons to declare their affiliation.† Macri remembered it. The decree had eventually extended to include policemen and judges as well. â€Å"Why was it again?† Glick read. â€Å"†¦ concern that secret factions within the Masons exerted considerable control over political and financial systems.† â€Å"That’s right.† â€Å"Caused quite a bustle. The Masons in parliament were furious. Had a right to be. The vast majority turned out to be innocent men who joined the Masons for networking and charity work. They had no clue about the brotherhood’s past affiliations.† â€Å"Alleged affiliations.† â€Å"Whatever.† Glick scanned the articles. â€Å"Look at this stuff. Accounts tracing the Illuminati back to Galileo, the Guerenets of France, the Alumbrados of Spain. Even Karl Marx and the Russian Revolution.† â€Å"History has a way of rewriting itself.† â€Å"Fine, you want something current? Have a look at this. Here’s an Illuminati reference from a recent Wall Street Journal.† This caught Macri’s ear. â€Å"The Journal?† â€Å"Guess what the most popular Internet computer game in America is right now?† â€Å"Pin the tail on Pamela Anderson.† â€Å"Close. It’s called, Illuminati: New World Order.† Macri looked over his shoulder at the blurb. â€Å"Steve Jackson Games has a runaway hit†¦ a quasi-historical adventure in which an ancient satanic brotherhood from Bavaria sets out to take over the world. You can find them on-line at†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Macri looked up, feeling ill. â€Å"What do these Illuminati guys have against Christianity?† â€Å"Not just Christianity,† Glick said. â€Å"Religion in general.† Glick cocked his head and grinned. â€Å"Although from the phone call we just got, it appears they do have a special spot in their hearts for the Vatican.† â€Å"Oh, come on. You don’t really think that guy who called is who he claims to be, do you?† â€Å"A messenger of the Illuminati? Preparing to kill four cardinals?† Glick smiled. â€Å"I sure hope so.†