Back in Shakespeare Essay

Back in Shakespeare’s days courtly love was a fashionable tradition. What happened was the men saw the women as Goddesses but their love was more often unrequited. But the men would send them love letters in the form of sonnets in order to win the woman’s love, however it usually failed leaving the man feeling melancholic. This is the position Romeo found himself in as he was in love with a girl called Rosaline. Montague and Benvolio notice a change in Romeo’s behaviour due to this and Montague explains how he â€Å"shuts up his windows† and â€Å"locks fair daylight out† this shows that Romeo attempts to isolate himself from the outside world and really is depressed. As Romeo enters the scene the audience can see for themselves his state of mind during his conversation with Benvolio. His replies to Benvolio’s comments are short and subdued and he explains, â€Å"sad hours seem long†. We can work out from this that Romeo is not having a good time so our sympathy wins him over and we hope for his luck to change. As we move onto scene 2, we meet Paris, who is a man hoping to marry Juliet and is trying to convince Capulet to allow him to, however Capulet seems to think Juliet is too young for marriage as â€Å"She hath not seen the change of fourteen years†. The possible marriage between Paris and Juliet is exciting for the audience yet it is an obstacle between the forthcoming relationship between Romeo and Juliet. The scene then cuts back to Romeo and his problems with courtly love. Benvolio who is aware of Romeo’s problem tries to be a useful friend by giving him advice. His advice is â€Å"one fire burns out another’s burning†, this is a metaphorical way of putting; you should find someone else and forget about Rosaline. Then as ‘Clown’ from the Capulet family is struggling to read a party invitation he asks Romeo and Benvolio to read the list out for him. Romeo notices that Rosalie’s name is on this list and the pair therefore decide to find a way of going to the ‘masqued ball’ to give Romeo a chance of fore filling his dream of meeting Rosaline. The fact it’s a masqued ball means they can get in whilst in disguise and probably get away with it and this thought enters Benvolio’s head. In scene 3 we meet the Nurse. A nurse is the Elizabethan equivalent to a child minder, however in these days they were hired out commonly by wealthy upper class families and were pretty much part of the family, they would raise the children and even breast feed them when they are babies. This particular Nurse raised Juliet and the two of them are very close. She is a bubbly character who often tells sexual jokes or sexual innuendo’s and tells Juliet stories about when she was younger usually embarrassing her. From seeing the play myself I remember the nurse being an entertaining character and was an audience favourite which was most noticeable by the applause she got at the end. Her sexual humour is shown where she says, â€Å"dost thou fall upon thy face? Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit, wilt thou not, Jule?† This is a crude joke of falling onto her back for sex and most fourteen year olds would find an adult talking to them like this terribly embarrassing yet the audience find it comical and entertaining. Soon after; Juliet discovers Paris’s desire to marry her and to the nurses delight Juliet replies â€Å"It is an honour that I dream not of†. Again the audience are excited by what is now a probable marriage yet it also questions the possibility of Romeo and Juliet getting together. Whilst on their way to the Capulet masqued ball Romeo predicts the future when saying â€Å"for my mind misgreaves some consequence, yet hanging in the stars†, similarly to what it says in the prologue; Romeo is saying he fears an unfortunate accident. The audience therefore semi-expect this to ironically happen. This is meant to create tension especially when he says about an â€Å"untimely death†, which along with the prologue suggests young death. Scene 5 is set in the Capulet household as it is the location of their ‘masqued ball’. A ‘masqued ball’ was a fashionable party to have in Elizabethan times where everyone went disguised in a mask. It was the equivalent to what a fancy dress party is today and this is why the Montague’s were able to get in with little suspicion from the Capulet’s. Party’s are always a popularity and so Shakespeare made this scene a key one in the play for the entertainment of the audience. From what the audience have seen so far, Romeo is a melodramatic isolated character. He has won over our sympathy and as he is one of the main characters we all want to see things turn around for him. The reason Shakespeare presents him as a melancholic lover is to emphasise the artificial nature of his love for Rosaline in comparison to the genuine emotion he feels for Juliet. We witness the two types of love juxtaposed and recognise that his love for Juliet is positive, energising and less of a ‘pose’. But by presenting him in love with someone else initially, it creates romantic suspense for the audience. When Romeo first sees Juliet, it is described as ‘love at first sight’, this really helps to emphasise how he feels about her. From the audiences point of view, Romeo appears to be shocked by how much Juliet stands out by the way he says â€Å"O she doth teach torches to burn bright†, the reason he says ‘O’ at the start of his speech is purely to emphasise his emotion. The speech as a whole is a type of light imagery and explains how her beauty stands out so much to Romeo. He then goes on to say â€Å"†¦she hangs upon the cheek of night / As a rich jewel in an Ethiops ear†, this is a metaphorical way of saying that she is beautiful, precious and rare to him as is â€Å"Beauty too rich for use†. These are both examples of wealth imagery. The majority of his speech in this part of the scene is imagery and metaphorical to help stress his feelings for Juliet, he also claims she â€Å"Shows a snowy dove trooping with crows†. This is in the category of bird and colour imagery and helps to stand out the point that she really does stand out from the crowd. As explained by courtly love, it was a common thing for men to respect women like they are goddesses, and Romeo uses this kind of ‘holy imagery’ when he says â€Å"†¦touching hers, make blessed my rude hand†. Overall the speech shows strong romantic inte rest due to how Romeo is so intense, passionate and genuine. This is one of the most loving parts of the story; however it is interrupted as the fiery character of Tybalt notices that a Montague is present. He clearly shows his anger by referring Romeo as a â€Å"slave†, which is saying that Romeo is like his inferior. As Capulet enters the scene; Tybalt threatens to â€Å"strike him dead†, however, Capulet bears in mind what the Prince said, in that any more fighting would mean their â€Å"lives would pay the forfeit† and as he wants no violence at the party, he aggressively prevents Tybalt from making any wrong moves. The hatred is then interrupted by the love of Romeo and Juliet as they meet and talk for the first time. Their conversation is set out in the style of a sonnet as of course; these were popular in the Elizabethan and Medieval times. It is very poetic, passionate and filled with religious imagery. The language is intense, memorable and uses rhyming couplets at the end of every other line to help it to sound better and stand out. Juliet is very responsive to Romeo’s requests and appears to want Romeo to kiss her, which was a rarity in the courtly love tradition. Romeo flirtatiously refers to Juliet as a ‘Pilgrim’; this shows how he respects her like a Goddess and this is the start of a large amount of religious imagery. In addition to that, Juliet answers back with her own religious metaphors like â€Å"And palm to palm is holy palmers kiss† this also contains some alliteration due to the repetitive use of words containing ‘palm’. The speech overall is a pattern of Romeo flirting to Juliet and Juliet flirting back, this keeps the flow of the conversation going and on a couple of occasions we witness a kiss. All this comes to a sudden end as the Nurse enters the scene and they discover each others identity. The nurse calls Juliet to go to her mother and when she is gone explains to Romeo â€Å"Her mother is the lady of the house† and of course Romeo realises this is the Capulet house. Benvolio calls Romeo away from the scene explaining â€Å"The sport is at the best† which informs that he knows the best part of the night is over and their identity has been discovered. This means that the Montague’s have to make a swift exit effectively making Romeo and Juliet’s ‘moment’ short with a sudden end. This leaves the nurse and Juliet alone together. Juliet finds out from the Nurse that Romeo is in fact a Montague and is clearly devastated by this when she says â€Å"My grave is like to be my wedding bed† and â€Å"My only love sprung from my only hate. All the way throughout this scene; Shakespeare juxtaposes love and hate. The first sight of love is at Romeo’s first glimpse of Juliet and the whole ‘love at first sight’ event, this is interrupted by Tybalt noticing Romeo and wanting to cause a violent act but he is stopped by Capulet. This allows Romeo and Juliet to have their first speech in the form of the love sonnet although when the two realise each other’s identity, the hate between the two families takes over leaving the audience wondering if the power of their love is strong enough to overcome the hate. In conclusion to the opening act of the play; Shakespeare creates many ‘untied’ ends to the story. This makes the audience want to carry on watching to get an answer to their questions; questions such as will Tybalt fore fill his threat towards Romeo? Are Romeo and Juliet going to die and if so how? Will Paris marry Juliet? And will there be any more fighting? The only possible way for the audience to find an answer to these questions is to carry on watching the play. This was Shakespeare’s objective for the opening act and he has therefore successfully completed it.

Virtual War Video Games

Video games are the most popular forms of entertainment among children, adolescents, and young adults. Many video games are extremely violent and expose the Young to violence on a constant basis. In particular, young men are a preferred target of advertisement from game manufacturers for war theme games. These games are either first person shooters or third person play. In a first person shooter game, the player is holding the gun whereas in third person games, the player is represented by a character within the game play.These games, especially first person shooters, are designed to give a rush to the players by stimulating their primal reactions and with more reasonable games, a need to prove their ‘manhood’. In addition, extreme exposure to video game and TV violence has a tendency to desensitize people, especially immature minds who may not be able to connect to what is really happening in front of them on the TV screen and, at the same time, clearly distinguish virt ual fiction from reality.  (King, Krzywinska, 124)The scope of this paper is to explore the idea that young men may join the Army for other reasons than to go to college. In essence, they join the Army with the idea that they will ‘kick butts’, just like in their favorite war video games without realizing that they have signed up to be in the middle of the nightmarish realities of war: suffering and death. Since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the news media have been showing images of war: explosions, soldiers running down what used to be streets while dodging bullets, showing these images to saturation.The saturation seems to come from a fascination with death and how cameras can immortalize the image. (Sontag, 59) The audience is curious to know what it is like to be there, perhaps, there is a clear morbidity in the obsession of watching violence and ‘how war works. ’ Besides, the Iraq war is ambivalent because most soldiers who are sent do not und erstand why they are really there. Back during the Vietnam War, young soldiers seemed to have been better conscious, in the sense of understanding, of the cause they were fighting for.After listening to Vietnam veterans, people may somewhat realize how traumatic their experience was but until people are in the nightmare of war, they will not fully grasp the horror because if you were in it once, you never forget for the rest of your life. Still, people get the idea that war is gruesome but they do not live it. Besides, wars are never simple even though it is portrayed that way by politicians whose primary interests may have nothing to do with the interests of the people and the soldiers, dying for their cause!Einstein his 1932 letter to Freud states: â€Å"Political leaders or governments owe their power either to the use of force or to their election by the masses. They cannot be regarded as representative of the superior moral or intellectual elements in a nation. In our time, th e intellectual elite do not exercise any direct influence on the history of the world. † Vietnam veterans will tell you the pain and the level of panic, stress, disgust, and dread there was to be there, in the middle of insanity!Grossman in his book On Killing, talks about the psychological impact of combat and how devastating it is because the soldier is forced to be in an unnatural situation in which he or she must kill the enemy and survive at the same time. (Grossman, 36) Yet, war is still portrayed as glorious and as a beautiful sacrifice of life for one’s country. This picture is probably true for a well-informed mature person who can sign up with the Army, making a conscious decision that he or she will be severely tested and that he or she may very well kill others and be killed themselves.However, nowadays with the Iraq war dragging as well as many soldiers dying, recruitment efforts have increased, particularly in poor neighborhoods. After speaking with a tota l of 15 African-American young men from different areas, it is obvious that all of them they felt especially targeted by Army recruiters. Five of them actually said that the recruiters claimed that as recruits, they could do whatever they wanted like joining their corps music band if they were inclined to play music.Two particular African-American men confirmed these statements and said that in their case, the recruiters told them how famous Black basket ball players had joined the Army. Another young man â€Å"Mike† described how two Marine recruiters tried to get him by using the fact that he was good at playing video games: â€Å"No problem, man. It’s like in the video games†¦Hey, you played ‘Call of Duty’, ‘SOCOM 3’? †¦ How about ‘Doom’? Awesome†¦ Hey, you’d be right there with the rest of us. † The remainder of the group said that they had at least one family member in the Army and that they did n ot want to join because they knew what the Army was all about.In order to enlist young men, the reality of war has been more and more hidden from the recruits to get them to sign up to go fighting in Iraq. Moreover, the Army has made a significant effort to blend reality with fiction to get young men to sign up using TV advertisements that are aired: it is a brilliant use of the psychological impact of TV and advertising; the reality is completely absent and replaced with proud looking and competent looking young people in charge of complicated ‘stuff’ coupled with computer animation worthy of â€Å"Apocalypse Now† and strangely resembling the look, style, and feel of war video games.In addition, it is not a coincidence that these ads air at the same time than popular TV action shows. For example, the Air Force has made use of the science-fiction show â€Å"Stargate-SG-1† to promote joining their corps. The main characters of the series are Air Force offic ers who have wonderful, exciting adventures on exotic planets, far, far away on the other side of the galaxy. Obviously, the basic goal is to offer young men an opportunity for 30 seconds to imagine themselves as proud competent young people playing with ‘stuff’, looking good, being well-educated and well-paid.Little do they realize what they are in for once they sign up because they just cannot walk away and say ‘I don’t want to do this anymore’ whereas in a video game, they push the off button and everything goes away. So, the psychological appeal is double. The message from these televised ads says: ‘you will be successful in the Army (‘Be All That You Can Be in the Army’) and you will if you join. Plus, the Army is about adventure and action just like the video games you like to play. ’ Video games have a very tight grip on young people, especially teenagers and young adults: you can see that clearly when you visit video games arcades.Many video games particularly target young men, especially the violent ones. Young women who play video games may prefer pure adventure or funny games. Violent games are prevalent and popular. The more violent and gory, the better is the motto. King & Krzywinska mention that the extent of obstacles to which a player is confronted to save his character from dying is correlated to the extent of violence to do so. (King, Krzywinska, 162) The resulting intensity is addictive while the violence seems to be connected to the idea of prompt retaliation for actions perceived as threatening by the character/player.Prompt retaliation is often displayed by people who have not attained an emotional maturity such as adolescents and young males. The action intensity of some games is so high that the players surrender to â€Å"frenetic paroxysm elements. †(King, Krzywinska, 162) Interestingly, assaults in the real world tend to result in a total state of primitive adrenaline-d riven fight or flight in the violent offenders, bypassing the cerebral rationality area of the brain. Grossman specifies that in a combat situation, the soldier will display â€Å"tunnel vision† meaning that the enemy soldier looks closer and more dangerous.(Grossman, 97) In addition, killing may cause an exulting effect on the combatant. The reason is that killing in war is the initiation of the power of sparing lives and killing others weaker than him. In fact, certain veterans confided that holding a gun or a machine gun was â€Å"a magic sword or even Excalibur. † (Bourke, 4) Bourke quotes the part of a letter from a soldier telling his family how he enjoys fighting exercises (Bourke, 58): â€Å"Today we had our first bayonet class – it is quite a weapon – we all left the field thirstier than hell – all of us had the same idea, likea child with a new toy, to try it. That is the way we were all growing to feel about combat in general – w e want a taste of it. † It is disturbing to realize after reading these words that the man in question is so excited by the idea of using a weapon, like a new toy. In a strange way, it parallels what war video games have become for adolescents and young men today. They can play war safely at home, enjoying the excitement that seems to exist in combat. In addition, video games can transform the player into a ‘real’ hero just like on TV or in a film.One real hero of the Vietnam War was Sgt. Benavidez who had distinguished himself jumping from a helicopter running quickly, dodging bullets until he got hit in his right leg, face, and head. Despite his injuries, he continued his mission, which was to rescue a few other comrades of arms. He carried  ½ of the team on his back to the aircraft while again dodging bullets. Since the team was involved in a secret mission, the documents had to be retrieved. Benavidez rushed back, still gravely injured, to pick up the dead b ody of the team leader and retrieve the classified documents.As he reached the body, he got hit again, this time by a bullet in his abdomen and shrapnel from a grenade in the back. Unfortunately, the pilot of the helicopter had been hit and died on the spot as the helicopter crashed to the ground. Benavidez took the documents, went crawling back to the aircraft, helped the wounded out of the wreckage, and organized them into a defense perimeter. Then, he proceeded to distribute rations and water, still under enemy fire while injured! As if that was not enough, he called and directed air strikes to dampen enemy fire and call for another rescue.Incredibly, he received another bullet in the thigh while he was administering first aid to a wounded member of his team. A second helicopter landed and Sgt. Benavidez again transported his wounded team members to the aircraft. During a second trip, an enemy soldier ran after him and clubbed him on the head. Hand to hand combat ensued with Bena videz killing the enemy after having received more wounds to the head and arms. That was not the end. Two enemy soldiers ran, approaching the aircraft from an angle that the gunner could not reach.Benavidez killed these two men as well, subsequently returning to the perimeter to make sure all the documents had been taken and to get the last wounded men out. After the war, Sgt. Benavidez received numerous medals for his bravery, which was qualified as being of the highest traditions of the military service. (Leonard, 67-69) This account is truly extraordinary and is worthy of the greatest war legends passed down in many cultures, including our own. This is the story of all the heroes in Hollywood movies that make young men dream that they could be like that, not only admired for their bravery but famous and legendary as well.In effect, Sgt. Benavidez is a bona fide model of courage and altruism. Still, are these concepts familiar to these young men involved in their video game world? Bernard et al. mentions the idea of human motivation; the motivation of sacrifice for an ideal. (Bernard, Mills, Swenson, Walsh, 40) Sacrifice for an ideal belongs to the real world, not video games; many of these young players would never be able to do what Benavidez did in the real world because of their lack of understanding of what sacrifice and altruism are.Still, they can pretend to be sacrificing and altruistic in any war video game; not only do they get a high score for their bravery in the virtual world that looks so real but they get to live another day without worrying about their health or the effects of these virtual bullets on their body. At the end of the challenge, they just swallow a few ‘magic pills’ and they are good as new! They can either continue the carnage or turn the game off and watch TV some more. Did they really experiment the reality of war?The video game only gives the player the enjoyment and excitement that soldiers may feel, the proverb ial rush that soldiers tell about when going to combat. Yet, war is more than that. For example, can they really kill another man if they were fighting as soldiers? Can they empathize with the plight of the victims, innocent men, women, and children? Could these young men stand killing innocent women and children or sustain their looks of misery? How about peer pressure about torturing and killing prisoners?How about hand-to-hand combat with someone they do not know, realizing that this is the part when the enemy is killed right there by their own hands, not by a machine gun far away? Where is the video game for that part of the war? Young men are being enlisted not knowing what is in store for them. All they know is that it will be awesome, exciting and fun to go to war and kill people. These tendencies have been especially exemplified by the Iraq war. This war comes at a time when virtual reality is so prevalent among adolescents and young men and women.The Washington Post publish ed a story back in February 2006 about video games and how they are used by the military to train soldiers. The military uses these training techniques all the time according to the article. It even has helped design video games: â€Å"Full Spectrum Warrior is one of them. The weapons used in video games are exact replicas of existing weapons. One of the interviewed soldiers in the article relates that when he had to kill a human enemy for the first time, â€Å"it did not even faze me† he said. â€Å"It felt like I was in a big video game† he added. Playstations and Xboxes were found everywhere in the soldiers’ barracks.The comments of the Pentagon computer simulation officer in charge were that video games have revolutionized the way soldiers are trained. Adding on the experience of the soldier who was mentioned above, he stated that when it came time to fire his weapon, he was ready for it, he did not hesitate in fact because he had done it so many times befo re in the video games. In addition, a high ranking officer confirmed that the soldiers are not as inhibited to kill as previous generations who did not have video games. The officer asserted that video games provide â€Å"a better foundation to work with† in order to teach killing other human beings.In fact, the U. S. Army set up a game online â€Å"America’s Army† that is used as a recruiting tool. (Vargas, 1) The young men who were interviewed in the Washington Post did not seem psychologically affected by what they did. In fact, they gave the impression that they are completely detached from the situations they encountered when they had to kill. Still, some soldiers cannot live with the fact that they killed a human being. The realization or the enormity of the act may come quickly or later, depending on the person. In previous wars, it had a tendency to come quickly.Siegried Sasson in Pat Barker’s Regeneration, was a well-known decorated war hero in B ritain. In 1917, he decided to refuse returning to the battlefield because he felt strongly that the war was a useless slaughter. His conscience was strongly affected by the war and the cruelty displayed while defending the trenches. As a result, he was so misunderstood that he was thought to be mentally ill. His ‘diagnosis’ was determined to be shell shock. The reasoning was that everyone should want to go to war and kill enemies. So, if someone did not want to, there had to be something wrong with them.Consequently, he was sent to a mental hospital where he was taken care of by Dr. Rivers whose goal was to send him back to combat. Siegfried was a poet, not a soldier. He was not ‘equipped’ emotionally to deal with killing human beings. Yet, there was so much peer pressure to conform that it took strength and resolve to stand up and refuse to go back to the field. Tragically, he was looked upon as a threat to the morale of the troops. (Barker, 4) In fact, t his is what happens to conscientious objectors who are jailed for refusing to fight.Shell shock was a very serious psychological problem for soldiers coming back from the trenches during WWI. The psychological traumatic experiences gave these men hallucinations and nightmares while causing several physical symptoms: vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, and headaches. Other symptoms were materialized as muteness, inability to walk, and other strange effects. Trauma in war is also seen today and it is as shocking as before. The situation, however, is different. Before the age of the video games, soldiers had to acclimate without having ever been in the situation of killing another man.Ironically, today this is no longer the case. As admitted in the Washington Post article, the games teach to kill. Curiously, there are still young men who cannot kill, even after having done it hundreds of time in the virtual world. This was particularly evident when the young soldiers in Iraq commented on the h orror they saw: people dead, children dead, and blood everywhere. These men realized that they were forced to kill innocent men, women, children that were not mere characters of videogames. Grossman commented in his book On Killing that the Army teaches killing but does not teach their soldiers to deal with killing a man.(Grossman, 97) Killing is real and the trauma resulting from this act will haunt many soldiers after they return to their homes. Shell shock is equivalent to what is called PTSD today (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). In July 2004, it was reported that the number of suicides had clearly gone up among soldiers in Iraq as well as severe psychiatric disorders. The Army had not addressed this problem early enough and discovered it then. Back in 2004, seventeen percent of soldiers were assessed to be suffering traumatic stress, depression or anxiety and were deemed to be â€Å"functionally impaired.† Of that group, about three-quarters said they had received no he lp at any time in Iraq from a mental health professional, a doctor or a chaplain. (Holloway, 36) Iraq has been the latest examples of prisoner abuses and indiscriminate attacks during bombardments. Unfortunately, soldiers assaulted men and women while their houses were searched for traces of insurgents. These events clearly violated the Geneva Conventions on Human Rights during conflicts. (Protocol I, Art. 77, sec. 1; Protocol I, Art. 75; Protocol I, Art. 51, sec. 5a & 5 b; Protocol I, Art.48) It is foolish to think that soldiers in combat, with their brain stuck in primal instinct modes and having no rationality capacities left, can reflect on the fact that they should follow the Geneva Protocols of Human Rights. Only after they are done with fighting can they reflect on what they have done: there is no video game in the world that will be able to erase the committed deeds of the soldier who is ordered to kill. In the end, one can ponder over the U. S. Army and the morality of its commanders that allows the comfortable idea to use video games and entertainment as ways to teach killing.The disillusion of the soldiers after combat is that they must kill others, they must see suffering, and they cannot turn it off. The virtual reality used to portray war is false; the only grounds of these games are the weapons, uniforms, and environments as replicas of reality. However, this is just superficial whereas pain is real. Conclusion The reality of war is death and suffering. The role of video games has been hijacked to promote war, violence, and easy killing ‘skills’ promoted by the U. S. Army’s use of these games and clever ad campaigns to get recruits.Even though there may always be the ‘tough guys’ who are not bothered by killing, it is still disturbing to see that many young men are not bothered by killing based on the fact that they seem unable to make the difference between the real world and virtual reality. However, the Ã¢â‚¬Ë œsensitive types’ will always exist too. They are the ones who suffer the most since their world of illusion created by the video games is destroyed when they realize the reality of war, which is killing and destroying while causing pain and misery to innocent people. Their illusions of patriotic glory and excitement are shattered forever.

Night World : Huntress Chapter 6

Me? Hugh nodded. â€Å"I'm supposed to stop the end of the world? How?† â€Å"First, I ought to tell you that it's not just me that believes all this about the millennium. It's not even Circle Daybreak that believes it. It's the Night World Council, Jez.† â€Å"The joint Council? Witches and vampires?† Hugh nodded again. â€Å"They had a big meeting about it this summer. And they dug up some old prophecies about what's going to happen this time.† â€Å"Like?† Hugh looked slightly self-conscious. â€Å"Here's one. It used to rhyme in the original, I think, but this is the translation.† He took a breath and quoted slowly: ‘In blue fire, the final darkness is banished. In blood, the final price is paid.† Great, Jez thought. Whose blood? But Hugh was going on. â€Å"Four to stand between the light and the shadow, Four of blue fire, power in their blood. Born in the year of the blind Maiden's vision; Four less one and darkness triumphs.† Jez blinked slowly. â€Å"What's blue fire?† â€Å"Nobody knows.† â€Å"‘Four to stand between the light and the shadow†¦' Meaning to hold off the end of the world?† â€Å"That's what the Council thinks. They think it means that four people have been born, four Wild Powers who're going to be instrumental in whatever's coming, whatever battle or disaster that's going to destroy us. Those four can stop the end of the world-but only if all of them fight together.† â€Å"‘Four less one and darkness triumphs,† Jez said. â€Å"Right. And that's where you come in.† â€Å"Sorry, I don't think I'm one of them.† Hugh smiled. â€Å"That's not what I meant. The fact is, somebody around here has already reported finding a Wild Power. Circle Daybreak intercepted a message from him to the Council saying that hell hand the Wild Power over to them if they make it worth his while. Otherwise hell just sit tight until they're desperate enough to agree to his terms.† Jez had a sinking feeling. She said one word. â€Å"Who?† Hugh's expression was knowing and regretful. It's one of your old gang, Jez. Morgead Blackthorn.† Jez shut her eyes. Yeah, that sounded like Morgead, trying to shake down the Night World Council. Only he was crazy and nervy enough to do that. He was stubborn, too-perfectly capable of letting disaster come if he didn't get his way. But of all the people in the world, why did it have to be him? And how had he found a Wild Power, anyway? Hugh was speaking again softly. â€Å"You can see why we need you. Somebody has to get to him and find out who the Wild Power is-and you're the only one who stands a chance of doing that.† Jez pushed hair off her face and breathed slowly, trying to think. â€Å"I don't need to tell you how dangerous it is,† Hugh said, looking into the distance again. â€Å"And I don't want to ask you to do it. In fact, if you're smart, you'll tell me to get lost right now.† Jez couldn't tell him to get lost â€Å"What I don't understand is why we can't just let the Council take care of it. They'll want the Wild Powers bad, and they have a lot more resources.† Hugh glanced back at her, startled. His gray eyes were wide with an expression that Jez had never seen before. Then he smiled, and it was an incredibly sad smile. â€Å"That's just what we can't do. You're right, the Council wants the Wild Powers. But not so they can fight the end of the world. Jez†¦ they only want them so they can kill them.† That was when Jez realized what his expression was. It was gentle regret for innocence-her innocence. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been. â€Å"Oh, Goddess,† she said slowly. Hugh nodded. â€Å"They want it to happen. At least the vampires do. If the human world ends-well, that's their chance, isn't it? For thousands of years the Night People have had to hide, to live in the shadows while the humans spread all over the world. But the Council wants that to change.† The reason Jez had been so slow was that it was hard for her to imagine anybody actually wanting to bring on the Apocalypse. But of course it made sense. â€Å"They're willing to risk being destroyed themselves,† she whispered. â€Å"They figure that whatever happens, it'll be worse on the humans, since the humans don't know it's coming. Hell, some of the Night People think they're what's coming. Hunter Redfern is saying that vampires are going to wipe out and enslave the humans and that after that the Night World is going to reign.† Jez felt a new chill. Hunter Redfern. Her ancestor, who was over five hundred years old but looked about thirty. He was bad, and he practically ran the Council. â€Å"Great,† she muttered. â€Å"So my family's going to destroy the world.† Hugh gave her a bleak smile. â€Å"Hunter says the Old Powers are rising to make vampires stronger so they can take over. And the scary thing is, he's right. Like I said before, the Night People are getting stronger, developing more powers. Nobody knows why. But most of the vampires on the Council seem to believe Hunter.† â€Å"So we don't have much time,† Jez said. â€Å"We have to get the Wild Power before Morgead makes a deal with the Night World.† â€Å"Right. Circle Daybreak is fixing up a safe place to keep the Wild Powers until we get all four. And the Council knows we're doing it-that's probably why that ghoul was following me. They're watching us. I'm just sorry I led it here,† he added absently, with a worried look around the room. â€Å"Doesn't matter. He's not telling anybody anything.† â€Å"No. Thanks to you. But we'll meet someplace different next time. I can't endanger your family.† He looked back at her. â€Å"Jez, if the Night World manages to kill even one of the Wild Powers-well, if you believe the prophecy, it's all over.† Jez understood now. She still had questions, but they could wait. One thing was clear in her mind. â€Å"I'll do it. I have to.† Hugh said very quietly, â€Å"Are you sure?† â€Å"Well, somebody has to. And you were right; I'm the only one who can handle Morgead.† The truth was that she thought nobody could handle Morgead-but she certainly had a better chance than any Circle Daybreaker. Of course, she wouldn't survive the assignment Even if she managed to steal the Wild Power out from under Morgead's nose, he'd hunt her down and kill her for it That was irrelevant â€Å"He hates me, and I hate him, but at least I know him,† she said out loud. There was a silence and she realized that Hugh was looking at her oddly. â€Å"You think he hates you?† â€Å"Of course. All we ever did was fight† Hugh smiled very faintly-an Old Soul look. I see.† â€Å"What's that supposed to mean?† ‘It means-I don't think he hates you, Jez. Maybe he has strong emotions for you, but from what I've heard I don't think hate is one of them.† Jez shook her head. â€Å"You don't understand. He was always gunning for me. And if he found out I'm half human-well, that would be the end. He hates humans worse than anything. But I think I can fool him for as long as it takes to get the Wild Power.† Hugh nodded, but he didn't look happy. His eyes were bruised and tired. If you can pull it off, you'll save a lot of lives.† He knows, too, Jez thought. That I'll die doing this. It was some comfort that he cared-and more comfort that he didn't understand why she was doing it. Sure, she wanted to save lives. But there was something else. The Council had tried to mess with Hugh. They'd sent a stinking ghoul after him. They would probably send something different tomorrow-certainly, they'd keep trying to kill him. And for that, Jez was going to wipe the floor with them. Hugh wasn't any kind of fighter. He couldn't defend himself. He shouldn't be a target. She realized that Hugh was still looking at her, with pain in his eyes. She smiled to show him that she wasn't afraid of dying. â€Å"It's a family affair,† she told him-and that was true, too. â€Å"Hunter's my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. It's only right that I stop him. And if anything happens to me-well, one Redfern less is probably a blessing to the world.† And that was the last part of the truth. She came from a tainted family. No matter what she did, who she saved, or how hard she tried, there would always be vampire blood running in her veins. She was a potential danger to humanity by her very existence. But Hugh was looking horrified. â€Å"Don't you ever say that† He stared at her for another moment and then took her by the shoulders, squeezing. â€Å"Jez, you're one of the best people I know. What you did before last year is-â€Å" â€Å"Is part of me,† Jez said. She was trying not to feel his warm grip through her T-shirt, trying not to show that his little squeeze sent a shock through her entire body. â€Å"And nothing can change that. I know what I am.† Hugh shook her slightly. â€Å"Jez-â€Å" â€Å"And right now, I have to get rid of that ghoul. And you'd better be getting home.† For a moment she thought he was going to shake her again; then he slowly let go of her. ‘You're officially accepting the assignment?† The way he said it sounded as if he were giving her one last chance not to. â€Å"Yes.† He nodded. He didn't ask how she planned on getting back into a gang that she'd abandoned, or getting information from Morgead, who hated her. Jez knew why. He simply trusted that she could do it â€Å"When you know something, call this number.† He dug in a different pocket and handed her a square of paper like a business card. â€Å"I'll give you a location where I can meet you-someplace away from here. We shouldn't talk about anything on the phone.† Jez took the card. â€Å"Thanks.† â€Å"Please be careful, Jez.† â€Å"Yes. Can I keep the articles?† He snorted. â€Å"Sure.† Then he gave her one of those sad Old-Soul smiles. â€Å"You probably don't need them, though. Just look around. Watch the news. You can see it all happening out there.† â€Å"We're going to stop it,† Jez said. She reconsidered. â€Å"We're going to try.† Jez had a problem the next morning. The problem was Claire. They were supposed to drive to school together, to ensure that Jez didn't cut school. But Jez had to cut school to go find Morgead. She didn't want to imagine the kind of trouble that was going to get her in with Uncle Jim and Aunt Nanami-but it was crucial to get to Morgead as soon as possible. She couldn't afford to waste time. At the first major stoplight-and there weren't a lot of them in Clayton-she smacked her forehead with her palm. â€Å"I forgot my chemistry book!† She unfastened her seat belt and slid out of the Audi just as the light turned green. â€Å"You go ahead!† she shouted to Claire, slamming the door and leaning in the open window. â€Å"Ill catch up to you.† Claire's expression showed her temperature was reaching the boiling point. â€Å"Are you crazy? Get in; I'll drive back† â€Å"You'll be late. Go on without me.† She made a little fluttery encouraging motion with her fingers. One of the three cars behind Claire honked. Claire opened her mouth and shut it again. Her eyes were shooting sparks. â€Å"You did this on purpose! I know you're up to something, Jez, and I'm going to find out-â€Å" Honk. Honk. Jez stepped back and waved goodbye. And Claire drove off, as Jez had known she would. Claire couldn't stand the peer pressure of cars telling her to get moving. Jez turned and began to jog for home, in a smooth, steady, ground-eating lope. When she got there, she wasn't even breathing hard. She opened the garage and picked up a long, slim bundle that had been concealed in a corner. Then she turned to her bike. Besides Hugh, it was the love of her life. A Harley. An 883 Sportster hugger. Just twenty-seven inches tall and eighty-seven inches long, a lean, light, mean machine. She loved its classic simplicity, its cold clean lines, its spare body. She thought of it as her steel and chrome thoroughbred. Now she strapped the long bundle diagonally on her back, where it balanced nicely despite its odd size. She put on a dark full-face helmet and swung a leg over the motorcycle. A moment later she was roaring away, heading out of Clayton toward San Francisco. She enjoyed the ride, even though she knew it might be her last one. Maybe because of that. It was a dazzling end-of-summer day, with a sky of September blue and a pure-white sun. The air that parted for Jez was warm. How can people ride in cages? she thought, twisting the throttle to shoot past a station wagon. What good are cars? You're completely isolated from your surroundings. You can't hear or smell anything outside; you can't feel wind or Power or a slight change in the temperature. You can't jump out to fight at an instant's notice. You certainly can't stake somebody at high speed while leaning out of a car window. You could do it from a bike, though. If you were fast enough, you could skewer somebody as you roared by, like a knight with a lance. She and Morgead had fought that way once. And maybe will again, she thought, and flashed a grim smile into the wind. The sky remained blue as she continued west, instead of clouding up as she approached the ocean. It was so clear that from Oakland she could see the entire bay and the skyline of San Francisco. The tall buildings looked startlingly close. She was leaving her own world and entering Morgead's. It was something she didn't do often. San Francisco was an hour and fifteen minutes away from Clayton-assuming there was no traffic. It might as well have been in another state. Clayton was a tiny rural town, mostly cows, with a few decent houses and one pumpkin farm. As far as Jez knew, the Night World didn't know it existed. It wasn't the kind of place Night People cared about. Which was why she'd managed to hide there for so long. But now she was heading straight for the heart of the fire. As she crossed the Bay Bridge and reached the city, she was acutely aware of how vulnerable she was. A year ago Jez had broken the laws of the gang by disappearing. If any gang member saw her, they had the right to kill her. Idiot. Nobody can recognize you. That's why you wear the full-face helmet. That's why you keep your hair up. That's why you don't custom-paint the bike. She was still hyper-alert as she cruised the streets heading for one of the city's most unsavory districts. There. She felt a jolt at the sight of a familiar building. Tan, blocky, and unlovely, it rose to three stories plus an irregular roof. Jez squinted up at the roof without taking off her helmet. Then she went and stood casually against the rough concrete wall, near the rusty metal intercom. She waited until a couple of girls dressed like artists came up and got buzzed in by one of the tenants. Then she detached herself from the wall and calmly followed them. She couldn't let Morgead know she was coming. He'd kill her without waiting to ask questions if he got the jump on her. Her only chance was to jump him first, and then make him listen. The building was even uglier inside than it was outside, with empty echoing stairwells and faceless industrial-sized hallways. But Jez found her heart beating faster and something like longing twisting in her chest. This place might be hideous, but it was also freedom. Each one of the giant rooms behind the metal doors was rented by somebody who didn't care about carpets and windows, but wanted a big empty space where they could be alone and do exactly what they wanted. It was mostly starving artists here, people who needed large studios. Some of the doors were painted in gemlike colors and rough textures. Most had industrial-sized locks on them. I don't miss it, Jez told herself. But every corner brought a shock of memory. Morgead had lived here for years, ever since his mother ran off with some vampire from Europe. And Jez had practically lived here, too, because it had been gang headquarters. We had some good times†¦. No. She shook her head slightly to break off the thought and continued on her way, slipping silently through the corridors, going deeper and deeper into the building. At last she got to a place where there was no sound except the humming of the naked fluorescent lights on the ceiling. The walls were closer together here. There was a sense of isolation, of being far from the rest of the world. And one narrow staircase going up. Jez paused, listened a moment, then, keeping her eyes on the staircase, removed the long bundle from her back. She unwrapped it carefully, revealing a stick that was a work of art. It was just over four feet long and an inch in diameter. The wood was deep glossy red with irregular black markings that looked a little like tiger stripes or hieroglyphics. Snakewood. One of the hardest woods in the world, dense and strong, but with just the right amount of resilience for a fighting stick. It made a striking and individual weapon. There was one other unusual thing about it. Fighting sticks were usually blunt at either end, to allow the person holding it to get a grip. This one had one blunt end and one that tapered to an angled, narrow tip. Like a spear. The point was hard as iron and extremely sharp. It could punch right through clothing to penetrate a vampire heart. Jez held the stick in both hands for a moment, looking down at it. Then she straightened, and, holding it in a light grip ready for action, she began up the stairs. â€Å"Ready or not, Morgead, here I come.†

Solve a Problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Solve a Problem - Essay Example Although the entire job of banking has been carried out manually, the customers’ satisfaction has been the prime object of Vangi. A few years before, the operations were computerized in their main office and it did not lay any impact on the rural branches. Core Banking Solution (CBS) recently introduced by the Government among the Nationalized Banks currently covers Vangi also in its threshold. Vangi now faces the problem of meeting the challenges in connection with its sudden push into a national network of CBS. Entirely new and systematic conversion into the new system of CBS has put Vangi to cope with enormous pressure from all corners. The main problem faced by the Vangi is to hone the rural branches that were hitherto doing their jobs in a very limited sphere of their areas incorporating their accounts with Vangi. Although a specific time frame is allowed, Vangi considers the permitted time frame is not sufficient to actually plunge into the CBS network. When trying to untie the knots of problems encountered, a generalized thesis surfaces. Problems can be distinguished on any number of meaningful dimensions and the mental steps and solution processes we engage in may widely differ for different types of problems. (Frensch and Funke, ) All the above steps comprise two different ways to handle namely, convergent and divergent approaches. While the divergent approach covers all the possible and feasible findings in the course, the convergent approach facilitates fixing the hotspots thereby nearing the crux of any problem easy. The divergent thinking processes commonly lead to creative thinking. The process usually begins at a single point or with a single question but extend the search in many different directions generating a wide variety of new possibilities. (J. Treffinger et al, 2005) In the first step of Objective Finding, I come across some seven factors that are nearly related to the goal

The History and Social Responsibility Initiatives of Harley Davidson Research Paper

The History and Social Responsibility Initiatives of Harley Davidson - Research Paper Example The paper tells that many of today’s large multinational brands were once established as a small upstart or lucrative business form, but their entrepreneurs transformed the same to Fortune 500 or world’s first class brand by continuously developing better business ideas, discovering further new business opportunities and seizing the same. The history of Harley-Davidson is similar to that of a fascinating tale as it involves the vision of two young engineers who started their own business. Its history goes back to 1903 when young entrepreneurs- William Harley and Arthur Davidson- discovered the business opportunity for basic transportation and developed a bicycle frame with French-designed single cylinder gasoline engine to provide a vehicle for the customers to meet the basic transportation need. Neither William Harley nor Arthur Davidson had any big dream of a manufacturing company, but they, in fact, we're thinking to produce an outboard motor for their own purpose to reach their favorite fishing spots easily. In 1903, they built the first production of Harley-Davidson with the help of a more powerful motor. William Harley began in the bicycle business and Arthur Davidson trained as a pattern maker with help of another draftsman, they worked together and brought the premier machine that was basically a bicycle frame fitted with a single-cylinder four-stroke machine. Harley-Davidson’s first machine production was complete by the summer of 1903. It was not a just loop-frame bike, but a more primitive vehicle with the quite smaller engine attached to the pedal bicycle frame. The second machine was more advanced than its first one, because, its loop-frame model was a natural trap for the unwary and careless people. Within three years after the first motor is produced, Harley Davidson Company became known in its way to prosperity as it increased production of motors to around 50 motorcycles. Until 1906, the company had only a backyard shed for production processes, but Harley and Davidson expanded the manufacturing plant to nearly 2400 square feet of plant space. Before 1910, the brand attained wider popularity for efficient construction, user-friendly motorcycle, durability and so on. As Holmstrom noted, after 1908, Harley Davidson began to veer from the facts for marketing purposes. Though there were two different machines in design and outlook, their identities turned to make them the single machine. The company grew to achieve several recognitions of excellence in business and marketing landscape. In 1942, Arthur Davidson recalled the growth of the company- Harley Davidson grew just like Topsy with luck, but it was not just that luck because management strategies and effective decision making helped the company stay stronger for years. Harley Davidson redesigned its engineering by changing the front frame down-tube to straight from its previous styles and designs. The 1911 single model was made with the increased cap acity of using gasoline by enlarging the tank capacity to store around 2 gallons of gasoline.

Technology Implementation Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Technology Implementation Paper - Essay Example It includes all marketable or transferable product, process, service, standard, know-how, methodology, software, network, experience, etc. The new instrument based on innovative technology always comes with a manual of instructions that aims to make it efficient and user-friendly. As thus it can simplify the working and make it easier and faster to handle. That finally increases the productivity of instruments or machines. Today, the market is competitive, and companies adopt new technology to survive in such conditions. The consumer demands the best, and the new technology meets the expectations of the users. The good implementation method poses a healthy competition, and consumer gets its benefit. The absence of new evolution would wipe out the service provider companies and products from the market. So the companies invest substantial sum wisely in new technologies. In certain cases it becomes an issue of live and die importance. Hence the investment in new technology at appropria te time and place is paramount. A fit technology company can displace the misfit companies. The example of mobile phones is before us that slowly and steadily being displaced by internet phone. Vodafone, a mobile phone services provider, losing 17% of its profits in 2006 due to the rise of the company Tesco an internet phone provider (Foroohar, 2006). In fact, the internet based phone service is cheaper and faster than the mobile phone. It is the necessity of modern market trend to remain abreast with contemporary updated technology. This paper will discuss how Trudy & Solingen Ltd. implements or introduces VC technology system in all of its offices, mobile and site units. It further presents proposals and ideas needed to be shared by management, technical, and non-technical staffs on following information: Project plan Implementation plan Training plan Support strategy Project Plan: The remedy to settle various problems and improve the condition is based on the planning. In the wak e of growing branch and site offices the company records huge increase and complexity of density of the data center. Therefore the management of Trudy & Solingen introduces the Virtual Connect (VC) technology in all of its offices and centers by the end of April 2011. This system takes the existing LAN and SAN management interface. Again, it adds an abstraction or virtualization layer, between the edge of server and network. Consequently, the external networks connect to a shared resource pool of servers. The system modules use VC management tools to create connection profile for each server, and server profiles contain information about server addresses, connections, and boot parameters. The project plan is to simplify system interconnections to boost the efficiency and productivity of data center server, storage, and network administration. All concerned employees and staffs of the company have been directed to be involved in the program to ensure its success. As a consequence of the implementation of VC technology that virtualizes the connections between server and network infrastructure, the networks can communicate with pools of servers. Despite of days or weeks now the changing of servers is a deal of minutes. There are several profitable and less time consuming feature of this plan. The company strives to implement this plan to increase the revenue and offer better services to

As below in the instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

As below in the instruction - Essay Example iour the Effectiveness, the article describes cultural and universal leadership aspects, how different key cultures from different countries influence leadership are also discussed. Not only does these suggestions aim at helping global executives predict and understand challenges of leadership that he or she might encounter while operating outside America, but also help them to come up with coping strategies while faced with such challenges. Different cultures from China, Egypt, Brazil and France have been used for this research since they represent various cultures and are from different cultures. According to Javidan, Dorfman, De Luque, & House (2006, p. 69), common cultural dimensions that would help a global manager to understand and be open minded about other countries cultures, and be able to make a comparison between their own cultures and those of the host country are such attributes like performance orientation. Performance orientation involves giving culturally appropriate rewards and encouragement for better performance. How people relate with each other is also important. Some of the countries are less assertive while others are highly assertive. Some countries also have practices that are highly future-oriented while others are not. Some countries rank high in human orientation while others rank low. Other attributes are in-group collectivism, power distance, gender egalitarians, and uncertainty avoidance (Javidan et al. 2006). The variation in leadership from different cultures is determined by cultural leadership beliefs held by members of different countries. The research further argues that the content and structure of these systems of beliefs can be shared in common cultures among individuals. Therefore, they came up with culturally endorsed implicit leadership theory that helped them to identify different leadership qualities among different nations. These qualities are team oriented, charismatic, Participative, human oriented,

Statistics Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Statistics - Coursework Example A marketing manager of a well-known bookstore in the UK conducted a survey measuring customers’ loyalty. Customers’ Loyalty was measured with one question on an ordinal scale from 1 to 10, with lower values indicating less strength and higher values greater strength. The manager also took details on their gender. The manager performed a t-test to examine whether there was an association between the variables loyalty and gender. The results are shown below. The difference between the means is evidently significantly low at 0.86. However, from the test results, the p value 0.0002 is less compared to the significance level of 0.05. For this reason, we reject the null hypothesis. We may thus conclude that loyalty may be associated with gender. It means that the difference between the mean loyalty level of males and the mean loyalty level of the females is 0.86. That is mean of male group minus mean of female group is -0.86. The negative sign shows that the mean of the female group is higher than the mean of the male

Point cloud- technical report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Point cloud- technical report - Essay Example enabling the point clouds to be used for a number of uses, which include the creation of the 3D CAD models, which are used in the manufacture of various parts. In addition, the point clouds are beneficial in animation, mass customization functionality (MCEACHRON, 2010). Despite the fact the point clouds can be expressly submitted and inspected, they are not expressly usable in majority of the 3D applications. In this cases, the point clouds are first converted into the either the polygon or triangle mesh before use. Such applications include the industrial computed tomography. This essay seeks to highlight the fundamental aspects of the Trimble GS 200 and how it is used in focusing and identifying targets. In addition, the essay will illustrate the method attributed to target identification. This is a type of terrestrial scanner, which helps in acquiring intense and precise 3D data of a scene. The instrument works well to achieve quality data in a milieu free of systematic distortions. The instrument is apt in capturing coordinates and surface data. This is possible through the leading-edge technology. In addition, the Trimble GS series provides an extreme versatility to meet the ever-trending challenges in the market. Use of the Trimble’s 3D data-editing software assures data sets, which are advanced in terms of the final deliverables. On a similar note, the GS series scanners offer both the indoor and outdoor examination through 360 degrees (HeÃŒ no, & Chandelier 2014). The Trimble scanner has a maximized performance of 200 m. the instrument’s Over Scan technology is attributed to the ability of capturing data up to 350 m. other attributes of this instruments include the real time true color, high resolution and panoramic snapshot among many others. It is imperative to note that all these factors work together to offer increase productivity and functionality of the Trimble GS series scanner. The calibration of the GS200 was done twice independently in a

The US and Thailand Free

The US and Thailand Free Essay The US and Thailand Free commenced negotiations in respect of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on June 28, 2004. Approximately six rounds of talks between the two countries have been conducted pursuant to the FTA negotiations as of 2006. US Chamber of Commerce: Trade Policy) The overall intent is to liberalize â€Å"trade in goods, agriculture, and investment† and harmonization of intellectual property rights (Ahearn and Morrison, 2004) Ever since the founding of the World Trade Organization (WTO and its General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATT) developed nation member states, such as the US have adhered to the WTO’s policy to help developing and less developed member states such as Thailand improve their economic growth by entering into bilateral trade agreements with them. (Fbiosa et ales, 2005) Thailand has over the years demonstrated a keener willingness to open its markets to liberalized trade than many of the other Asian nations. This particularly so in the area of agriculture. Relations between Thailand and the US commenced as early as 1833 with the Trade and Amity and Commerce Agreement. (US Chamber of Commerce: Trade Policy) By 1966 the Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations was successfully negotiated between the two countries with each country granting the other equal trade treatment. (US Chamber of Commerce: Trade Policy) The 1966 Treaty came to an end in 2004, although extended by mutual agreement to December 2006, the FTA is intended to take its place. (US Chamber of Commerce: Trade Policy) Aside from the economic benefits to both countries, the US hoped to strengthen US-Thailand relations for the purpose of combating terrorism. This fact together with cultural differences, a political crisis in 2006, health concerns and Thailand’s relationship with other Asian nations have proven problematic for both countries in reaching a mutual agreement. (US Chamber of Commerce: Trade Policy) This paper examines the US-Thailand FTA Agreement, its history and its future track with reference to the difficulties that impede bringing the negotiations to a final conclusion. History and Background Thailand has long since been regarded as an ally of the US, a position that was only fortified during the Cold War period and strengthened even further following the terror attacks on the US on September 11, 2001. (Chanlett-Avery, 2006) The relationship between the US and Thailand has always been characterized by mutual trade and economic interests. (Chanlett-Avery, 2006) Following the 2001 terrorist attacks in the US the relationship took on a new dimension when it became obvious that Thailand shared, at least in part the US desire to fight terrorism in the Southeast Asian region. (Chanlett-Avery, 2006) These facts and circumstances together with Thailand’s strong economic and political ties to China puts Thailand in a position to have some influence in the Far East. (Chanlett-Avery, 2006) Recognizing the strategic economic and political position of Thailand in the Asia-Pacific area and its close ties with the US, President George Bush â€Å"designated† Thailand â€Å"as a major non-NATO ally in 2003. † (Chanlett-Avery, 2006) This designation is partly due to Thailand’s history of support to the US during the Cold War and partly due to its position with respect to the US counter terrorism initiatives. (Chanlett-Avery, 2006) Aside from sending troops to aide the US in its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Thailand authorities arrested a â€Å"high-profile† Islamic rebel in a â€Å"joint Thai-US operation† in 2003. (Chanlett-Avery, 2006) Co-existing with these diplomatic and amicable relations was the Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations between the US and Thailand which was signed in Bangkok on May 29th 1966. (US-Thai Treaty of Amity, 1966) The 1966 Treaty permits US citizens and companies incorporated in Thailand or in the US to hold all the shares in a business situated in Thailand and to conduct business in Thailand in the same manner as Thai citizens. There were certain restrictions on American investments including land holding, fiduciary services, communications, transportation, domestic agricultural trade and damaging natural resources. (US-Thai Treaty of Amity, 1966) The Treaty also provided favourable treatment to Thai businessmen upon application for entry visas into the US for business purposes. Moreover, there were no restrictions on repatriating funds to Thai by Thai business concerns in the US. (US-Thai Treaty of Amity, 1966) The Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations should have expired in September 2006 but was extended to a further period of 90 days bringing it to an end in December of 2006 instead. (US Chamber of Commerce: Trade Policy) In anticipation of the expiration of the Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations and the economic success of trade relations between the US and Thai, President Bush and Thai Prime Minister Thaskin announced on 19 October, 2003 plans to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement between the two countries. (Ahearn et ales, 2004) In March 2004, both countries announced that negotiations would commence in June of 2004. (Ahearn et ales, 2004) The first two rounds of negotiations took place in Thailand in 2004 with a third round taking place there in 2005. (Ahearn and Morrison, 2006) Fourth and Fifth rounds of negotiations were conducted in Montano on September 26-30, 2005 in Hawaii and earlier in the year at Montana on July 15. (Ahearn and Morrison, 2006) A sixth round was conducted in Thailand which ended all talks as a result of political unrests in Thailand. (Ahearn and Morrison, 2006) While some progress was made at the fifth round of talks in Hawaii, the remaining talks were for the most part unsuccessful. Essentially what was agreed to at the fifth round of talks was the removal of barriers to trade with the emphasis on tariffs with respect to goods crossing US borders to Thailand and vice versa. (Thailand’s Legal News Update, October, 2005) Both the United States and Thailand also agreed that Internet Service Providers should be included in all talks relative to intellectual property rights protection. (Thailand’s Legal News Update, October, 2005) Further agreement was made by the US to permit Thailand patent protection with respect to its rice and silk products. (Allison, 2006) The details of these agreements are discussed in much greater detail later on. The World Trade Review reported that the fourth round of negotiations held in Montana did not yield particulars of any specific agreements. However, the talks went well enough to ensure that both parties were likely to come to an arrangement at the fifth round of talks in Hawaii, (World Trade Review, 2005) which as previously noted did yield a consensus on tariffs and patent protection on rice and silk. In Montana, both US and Thai negotiating teams met with business representatives of Montana and were equally impressed with the importance of agricultural trade in the US. The negotiators also met with business officials within the telecommunications, financial, automobile, energy and additional service factions of the community. (World Trade Review, 2005) The World Trade Review believes that the results of this meeting and round of talks helped to pave the way for some agreement in the next round of talks. (World Trade Review, 2005) Be that as it may, relations between the US and Thailand were not without some difficulties. James A. Kelly, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs touched on a number of issues that were problematic for the US in his address to the Asia Foundation in Washington, D. C. on March 13, 2002. Noting that both countries shared a mutual interest in the concepts and benefits of security, liberty democracy and maintaining free and open trade markets Kelly also noted that there was a growing perception in Thailand that the US was either acting in bad faith or trying to take advantage of Thailand. (Kelly, 2002) Other problems were highlighted at the Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002) The Bilateral Conference took place in Washington D. C. on March 11-13 under the auspices of 10 senior Thai government officials who met with American trade and government officials for the express purpose of debating the important isses within the context of a bilateral trade agreement. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002) There was evidence of a strain in US-Thai relations following the US war with Vietnam from a Thai perspective. Many Thais felt that the US had neglected Thailand and felt even more disenchanted with the US following the Asian financial crisis of 1997 especially with respect tot he US’s the unduly strenuous conditions placed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with respect to Thailand’s aid relief. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002) By the end of the 90s both political and economic relations between the two countries was quite often tense. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002) The waning relationship was complicated by a failure on the US’s part to offer a viable loans system by way of financial relief via the IMF. Further complications arose out of the US’s failure to back-up the Thai Minister of Commerce and the Thai Deputy Prime Minister’s nominations to hold the post of World Trade Organization Secretary General in 1999. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002) From the US’s perspective the Thai support of the US at the United Nations was weak if at all. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002) Moreover, Thailand was reluctant to support the US position with respect to its EP-3 reconnaissance plane episode which involved China. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002) The US also had concerns about Thailand’s position with respect to censorship in the media. Although following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US Thailand once again closed the gap between US and Thailand with its support. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002) In the global context, Thailand’s difficulty arises out of a desire to balance its relationship with China with that of the US. The problem for the US is in diminishing China’s stronghold on the Asian region and Thailand found itself having to balance its priorities with respect to negotiating its relationships with both China and the United States. The difficulty for Thailand was maintaining some sort of neutrality in its relationships with both super powers. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002) Thailand’s political and economical policies reflect a desire to regularize relations within its immediate region. Of particular interest to Thailand is the strengthening of its commercial ties to regions close to its borders. Its relationship with Burma which is characterized by a trend toward conciliatory approaches is largely problematic for the US. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002) The US would prefer it if Thailand took an isolationist approach to Burma. The problem was summarized at the Bilateral Conference. Thailand maintained what it referred to as a â€Å"constructive interaction† with its neighbour Burma and this caused some tension with the United States who would have preferred that Thailand adapted an isolationist stance with Burma. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002) The US was also suspicious that the Thai government was lending support to regions like Malaysia and Indonesia which the US regarded as unstable and supportive of terrorist factions. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002) The US felt that the anti-American sentiments in Indonesia and Malaysia were at risk of spilling over into Thailand. Notably Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin had been elected into office after running an â€Å"anti-American platform† and there was a concern that Thailand was faltering in its support of the United States on its anti-terrorism policies. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002) Be that as it may, the US and Thailand had similar economic and political goals. The best approach was therefore thought to be a bilateral trade agreement. (Bilateral Conference on United States-Thailand Relations in the 21st Century, 2002)

Disempowered Individuals With Learning Disabilities Social Work Essay

Disempowered Individuals With Learning Disabilities Social Work Essay Being in the institution was bad. I got tied up and locked up. I didnt have any clothes of my own, and no privacy. We got beat up at times but that wasnt the worst. The real pain came from being a group. I was never a person. I was part of a group to eat, sleep and everything it was sad. (As cited on Mencap.org) Historically people with learning disabilities have suffered disempowerment by being excluded from mainstream society through segregation in large institutions. ( Wolfensberger, 1972) people were dismpowered by having little control over how they lived their lives. Although the Community Care Act 1990 has resulted in the closure and the resettlement of people with learning disabilities, people are still suffering disempowerment through exclusion by not being able to choose how to live their lives (Ramcharan,et al 1997). Empowerment is: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦concerned with how people may gain collective control over their lives, so as to achieve their interests as a group, and a method by which social workers [and other care providers] seek to enhance the power of people who lack it (Thomas and Pierson 1996, p.134). The Same As You? review is the Scottish Governments strategy for learning disability services in Scotland.   The review sets out the Scottish Governments wider policies of social inclusion, equality and fairness to enable changes to happen for the better in the lives of people with learning disabilities. A key area identified within The Same As You? is Person Centred Planning. Person-centred planning means starting with the individual and putting the supports around them that will enable them to have the life that they want. Person centred planning is a tool that can be used to plan with a person. This can be to help the person think about what is important in their life now and also to think about what what they would like in the future. Planning should include the persons circle of support and involve all the people who are important in the persons life. (Stalker and Campbell, 1998). The idea behind person central planning was to respond to problems of social exclusion, disempowerment and de-evalution. Person centred planning was developed in the 1980s by a small number of people including John O Brian and Michael Smull. As a way of enabling people with learning disabilities to move out segregated institutions and back into the main community. Person-centred planning is designed specifically to empower people, to directly support their social inclusion, and to directly challenge devaluation. By looking at what support is needed to allow the person included and involved in the community. (Magito-Mclaughlin et al., 2002). Person centred approaches offer a different alternative to the traditional model of planning used for service provision. The traditional methods of service provision operated around the individual receiving the service, with health and social care professionals making all the decisions on the type of support the individual received. The traditional model was disempowering to people with learning disabilities as it focused on the persons medical problems, ignoring the qualities of the person as human being. (Sanderson, 2003) Person centered planning places the individual at the center of the decision making process, allowing family members to become involved in the planning as Joynab, Mohammeds mother states: Person-centred planning has given us hope and a vision for a better future for Mohammed. We feel now we can have a say in how and what service support he receives. We no longer believe that only professionals know best for our son. Mohammeds faith and cultural needs are recognised and responded to.(DoH, 2010) Person centred planning looks at the persons qualities and is a way of listening to what is important in the persons life. People can direct their own services and supports, in a personalised way rather than attempting to fit within pre-existing service systems. An area where person planning has helped the person by listening to what they want enabling them to direct their services and support is through training and employment. People with learning disabilities have been marginalised from gaining employement, through the employers lack of understanding about learning disabilities and stereotypical beliefs that they are incapable of working. As a mother states I have a son who has Down syndrome..I go to the supermarkets and ask if they could try my son outà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I explain that he has Down syndrome, then they change the subject and say they will give me an application form.I explain my son cannot write, and they tell me he cannot get an interview without an application form.Is this a way of eliminating the disabled? (Anonymous contribution as cited by Williams,2009) People with learning disabilities benefit from working as it helps them to gain fiancial independence and security, increases their self confidence and skills and allows them to socialise. Todd (2002) demonstrates this in his report planning a new future where an agency worked with a young man with autism whose goal in life was to be an airline pilot, even though this goal was unrealistic. The support worker involved in his person-centered plan, suggested and arranged a visit to Heathrow airport once a week. The idea was to find out what interested the young man about being a pilot, was it the flying, planes or uniform? After visiting the airport for a couple of months it became apparent that the baggage carousels captivated him. The young man was then supported to get a part time job as a baggage handler. (Todd, 2002) enabling the person to become part of the community. In a way that values their human rights, gives them independence and choice. Person centred planning has a particular approach that can be used for different individuals in different situations. The four main tools that can implemented include: McGill Action Planning System (MAPS), this process is a useful tool for gathering information in the early stages of planning, helping to identify the person talents and needs. ELP (Essential Lifestyle Planning) is more commonly used to plan for people who are moving out of instititionalised care. Personal Futures Planning is less service based, tending to be used for building relationships with family, friends and fitting into the wider community. PATHS (Planning Alternative Tomorrows and Hope) is used to develop an action plan for the individual. (Stalker and Campbell, 1998, Sanderson, 2000) People with learning disabilities can have communication problems and should not be disregarded from having person centred planning for that reason. There are various techniques that can be used allow a person with a learning disability to communicate in their ideas for the plan, such as Makaton, talking mats, sign language and picture banks. (Grove, 2005) the plan can be done any format that is accessible to the person such as a written document, a drawing or mind map with images or an oral plan recorded on to a compact disc. Plans are the updated when the person wishes to make a change or when they have achieved their goal. Person centred planning is for eveyone, not just for people who can communicate. As it can engage participants personally by allowing them to hear of deeply felt hopes and dreams and fears, even if the person feels they are silly. As the planning process allows the person to break free from the misconceptions and conventions that can harness their future. Some examples of peoples dreams were a young man wanted a trip to Mexico as part of his vision. Another is taking guitar lessons as a way to achieve his goal of being a country and western singer. An older woman, in her plan, decided to retire. Another is taking art classes and learning to paint watercolours. Starting a business, going to college or university, buying a house, these are all things that are possible through person centered planning. (ne-pdd.org) Person centered planning has helped people achieve empowerment is their choice to form relationships, get married or have children. People with learning disabilities have the same need for love and relationships as do all human beings. However this need is not being met for people with a learning disability. Literature on the subject provides information about sexuality in regards to learning disabilities, however it seems to focus on disability and sexuality from the perspective of it being a problem. (Parritt, 2005.) This negative view of people with learning disabilities and sexuality stems from the historical perspective of learning disabilities, where people with disabilities were placed in institutions and segregated (Potts and Fido,1991) This level of control can still be seen today with professionals and families trying to discourage intimacy and relationships, viewing the person with a disability as vulnerable, seen as the eternal child (McCarthy, 1999) Mrs Susan Hurst and Mr Frank Hurst tell their story of Our Wedding, Our Dream where person centred planning enabled them to get married. Mrs Hurst states, some people felt there wasnt a need for us to get married but we wanted what every one else hadà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Getting married had always been our dreamà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. (csrpcp.net) Mr. and Mrs. Hurst describe how the tools of person centered planning enabled them to identify both their hopes, goals and dreams for the future this enabled them both too make all the decisions in planning for their wedding. Mr and Mrs Hurst explain that they even planned their honeymoon and travelled to their honeymoon destination without the aide of support workers, as person centered planning had enabled them to plan ahead of the difficulties that might occur and how the couple would resolve them when on holiday. Without Person centered planning Mr and Mrs Hurst would never have been able to get married or go on honeymoon. Mr and Mrs Hurst felt that person centered planning helped them to achieve their goals enabling them to feel in control of their lives, allowing them to choose their human right to get married and respect for private and family life. (csrpcp.net) There is legislation that supports the rights of people with learning disabilities to have fulfilling relationships and sex lives if that is their choice. (Article 8) states that every human being has a right to respect for private and family life. The Disability Discrimination Act (1995) gives people the right to access family planning clinics and advice centers. People with learning disabilities should be accepted as people who have the same capacity for loving as others in society.(Lesselliers, 1999) Loneliness and isolation may occur through the lack of opportunity to have loving relationships. Therefore person centred planning can enable people with learning disabilities to be empowered by allowing them to make these decisions and choosing how they want to live their lives. person centred planning improves the person quality of life. Increasing the persons right to empowerment through the right to work where they want, where they would like to live and increasing their social network by letting them choose how they would to socialise. (Whitney-Thomas et al., 1998). Relationships improve for the person at the centre of the planning, as they became more motivated and goal oriented. As the participation process allows friends and family to join in the planning and help the person achieve their goals. Parents also reported that person centred planning had such an impact on their familys lives, that they choose to become involved in training other families in the importance of person centered planning. As person centred planning is designed to focus on one person at a time, it increases the potential to broaden opportunities for people with learning disabilities in gaining the life they choose. As Person centred planning allows the person to choose how, when and where they want support or services delivered rather than the standard one size fits all approach. (OBrien Lovett, 1993). However there are limitations to person centered planning for people with learning disabilities. Insufficient funding and resources can hinder the planning process persons and their opportunity to achieve their goals, leaving people disillusioned with the process. Person centered planning requires trained and well equipped staff who are knowledgeable about inclusion, rights of people with learning disabilities and how to help empower people by directing them. As people can lose trust in centered planning if these values are not upheld. (Kinsella 2000), Person centered planning can take time to achieve targets, it is not suitable for people who require emergency planning where action needs to take place in a few days. The process is not a quick fix (OBrien Lovett, 1993). In conclusion people with learning disabilities have suffered from disempowerment in the past as a result of institutionalised care. However person centered planning has enabled people with disabilities to become empowered by allowing them to make their own choices and be fully supported about how they would like to live their life. By allowing people with learning disabilities to choose their right to employment through what job they would like to work, this in turn empowers them by gaining fiancial independence and increased self confidence, as well as learning skills and getting to meet new people. Person centred planning has allowed people to gain their right to family life and marriage, by allowing people to plan their own wedding and honeymoon giving them independence to start married life. Therefore person centered planning creates positive effects that go beyond effective planning. In that it allows people to be listened to and what is important to them. However this is only effective if what is recorded on the plan is acted on, as people will lose faith in person centered planning if no action comes from their choices.

Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) History and

Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) History and PART 2 EFFICIENCY MARKET HYPOTHESIS Introduction In order to better understand the origin and the idea behind the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), an overview of the EMH, The Random Walk Model, different degrees of information efficiency and the implications of efficient markets for investors are studied in the paper. Efficient Market Hypothesis The efficiency concept is one of the most essential concepts for investment management and analysis. Market efficiency basically revolves around three related assumptions on proper- allocation efficiency, informational efficiency and operational efficiency. Efficiency in allocation is a vital characteristic of a strong market wherein the allocation of capital is done in a proper way so that it benefits all the participants and helps in promotion of economic growth and status. Efficiency in operation is another crucial parameter which is used commonly by economists to determine and analyzes how resources are utilized in the market to benefit operational activities in the market and industry. Efficiency in information helps to determine the actual market value of shares based on its intrinsic value. The Information efficiency signifies that reflection on all available information pertaining to the security’s price must be used to determine the security’s observed market price. (Hossain,Rahman, 2006) The introduction to the idea of market efficiency was given by Bachelier (1900) and later it was termed as efficient market by Fama (1965) Fama (1970) further went on to state the vital conditions/ assumptions for maintaining efficiency: Provision of no transactional costs during the trading of securities; All information is freely available to all the participants in the market, and Agreement of all of them on the implications of the information relating to the current price and future distribution of prices of each security He identified three forms of informational efficiency, which are the weak form(underdeveloped), the semi-strong form(developing) and the strong form efficiency(developed). Forms of Market Efficiency Weak-Form Efficiency Weak form efficiency market implies that it is an efficient market which reflects all its market information accurately and does not provide profit for the investor based on past records or rates. This past records stands invalid for the market. Fama (1970) stipulates in his theory that no investor can avail greater returns when the market is weak-form efficient. Example African economy has a weak efficiency market wherein the means to attain gains on investment is narrow based on past investment experience. Example trading test, auto correlation test and run test. Semi-Strong Form Efficiency Semi Strong Form Efficiency market indicates that market is efficient and it reflects all public information. It says that the stocks are absorbant of all new information and incorporates it by adjusting to it. It is partly like the weak form efficiency market wherein the stocks rate are based upon new information that is released after the stocks are bought. So making it difficult for the market to be predictable. Fama (1970) explains the semi-strong form efficient market as the one where share price not only reflect on all information regarding its past and historic prices, but also includes additional public information which is later on integrated with the shared price and adjusted to reveal the true share value. This also implies that an investor will not be able to use the public information for the generation of gains in the evolving stock market. Event tests and time series/ regression tests are some examples. Strong Form Efficiency The Strong form efficient market relies on both public as well as private information wherein the stock prices are based and reflected upon. So an average investor cannot make much profit more than others also when he is given the new information. It incorporates both the weak form and semi strong form of market efficiency. Private information concerns the information that is not yet published or known only to the security analysts/ fund managers. The new public and private information is then incorporated into the share price to represent its true share value. This makes it even more difficult for the investor to assess share values. Examples are insiders, exchange specialists, institutional money managers and analysts who have access to new information. Fundamental analysis and technical analysis This analysis makes use of analysing and evaluating the financial statements, health of the business, efficiency of the management and their competitive advantages, while also examining the competition in the market. When applied on forex and futures market it uses production, interest rates, earnings, GDP, employment, manufacturing, housing and management analysis. While technical analysis predicts the future of market based on past prices, volume and market information. This is useful for behaviour economics and quantitative analysis. Both these methods of analysis contradict the premise and study made on efficiency market theory which states that study of market with accuracy cannot be determined by any method. Implications of EMH Market efficiency has some prominent implications concerned with both authorities and investors, which are mentioned below: When a market is efficient they must 1. Not worry about analysis on their investments, but concentrate rather on developing a diversified portfolio to get rewarded for their investments. 2. Adopt to the policy of buy and hold after establishing their portfolios as making frequent changing by shifting from one securities group to another would raise for them unwarranted transaction costs. Other implications are based on the fact that changes in price are random and cannot be predicted, investors are smart enough to not get fooled by the financial reports circulated and lastly the timing of security issues are not crucial. Investors must pay more attention to construct and hold diversified and efficient portfolios rather than taking to fundamental and technical analysis. This approach will definitely benefit them in the long run. Empirical Evidences for anomalies The empirical evidence lists some of the significant ‘anomalies which contradict the efficient market theory as listed below: The January Effect It is often noticed that the stock returns raise high abnormally in the first week of January which is defined as the January effect wherein most of the investors opt to sell some of the stocks befor the year end and later claim for a capital loss to evade tax and then go on to make their reinvestments later on. (Rozeff and Kinney, 1976) Size Effect The Size Effect is the small firm’s tendency, which holds a small capital market, to outweigh and surpass the market of larger companies and rise as an underdog over the long term. (Banz, 1981) and (Reinganum, 1981) Weekend Effect This is a notable phenomenon wherein the stock returns are observed to be comparatively lower on Mondays as against those on the preceding Fridays. ( French, 1890).. Value Effect The value effect related to the nature of stocks that hold low cost, earnings ratio to outdo other alternative portfolios of stocks which have higher cost, earnings ratio. Empirical Evidences from Developing Countries Despite huge empirical studies conducted in order to test and validate the Efficient Market Hypothesis in developed countries which witness a flourishing financial market, the pertinent studies on weak efficiency markets are limited in countries like Africa. Most developing and underdeveloped countries suffer a setback due to the problem of thin trading (Mlambo and Biekpe, 2005). Fisher (1966) who first identified this bias due to thin trading on his observation on correlation of return index, stated that the security’s price that are recorded are not similar to their respective underlying values based on theory as when a share trade fails, the recorded price remains the closing price as per the last share trade. It is also stressed that reasons like transactional costs, delay in operations and illiquidity of the market are crucial in determining a concrete statistical evaluation of the study. Bibliography Cohen, W. W., 1996. Learning trees and rules with set valued features. s.l.:s.n.vol1. Fama, E., 1970. Efficient Capital markets: A review of theory and empirical work. 1ed. s.l,American Economic Review. Fisher, R. A., 1966. The design of experiments. 8ed. New York: Hafner publishing. Mikhail, M. W. R., 2004. Do security analysts exhibit persistent Differences in Stock picking ability. s.l.Journal of financial economics. Reiter, S. W. P. F., n.d. Scientific conversations in financial economics. Burlington: Ashgate publishing company.