The Variations in Little Red Riding Hood Essay -- Fairy Tales Literatu

The Variations in Little Red Riding Hood Fairy tales are under attack in the United States from both right- and left-oriented pressure groups. (Ravitch, 62-96) From the left, the charges include sexism, stereotyping, distortion, and anti-humanism. (Ravitch, 84) From the right, the charges include immorality and objections to the portrayal of violence, death, and the supernatural. In addition, some critics claim that the tales terrify their children. (Ravitch, 76). In The Language Police, Diane Ravitch claims that both groups understand the importance of putting pressure on state textbook adoption committees, and that, as a result of such pressure, most major publishers are simply dropping the tales from the textbooks they sell to schools. (77-78) Thus parents who assume, or would prefer that, their children are reading traditional fairy tales in school may find themselves mistaken. The seriousness of the question is itself a matter of debate, but the biggest problem with the current debate is that a fairy tale is assumed to be a fairy tale in the sense that Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities is A Tale of Two Cities. Editors do make some changes in Dickens's text, but essentially what Dickens wrote is what he wrote. This is not the case, however, with fairy tales. There are several, perhaps dozens, of different versions of most of the best-know tales. To argue that tale "A" is good or bad, moral or immoral, for children to read is thus comparable to building a house out of straw. One of the central tales in the debate is "Little Red Riding Hood," and Little Red Riding Hood" is assumed to be Little Red Riding Hood. It isn't. There are apparently dozens of versions of this tale, but the best known are those by Charles Perra... .... 28, 2002. ProQuest Direct. Penn. Coll. Lib., Williamsport. 22 August 2004. <http://www.proquest.umi.com/pdqweb>. Ravitch, Diane. The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn. N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003. Tatar, Maria. Off with their Heads! Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992. Weldon-Lasiter, Cynthia. Review of Little Red Riding Hood: A Newfangled Fairy Tale. Book Links. 11:4 (Feb/Mar, 2002):11. . ProQuest Direct. Penn. Coll. Kib., Williamsport. 22 August 2004. <http://www.proquest.umi.com/pdqweb>. Ziolkowski, Jan. M. "A Fairy Tale from before Fairy Tales: Egbert of Liege's 'De puella a lupellis seruata' and the Medieval Background of 'Little Red Riding Hood'." Speculum 67:3 (July 1992): 549-575. JSTOR. Penn. Coll. Kib., Williamsport. 23 July 2004. <http://www.jstor.org>.

Evolution vs.Creationism Essay -- essays research papers

Evolution Vs Creationism People have always wondered how life originated and how so many different kinds of plants and animals arose. Stories of a supernatural creation of life developed among many peoples. The Bible, for example, tells of God's creation of humans and other higher animals over several days. Many people also believed that insects, worms, and other lower creatures spontaneously generated from mud and decay. Long after these stories became rooted in tradition, scientists began to question them. Albert Einstein said, "The scientist's religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection." (Creation 9). The first serious attack on the idea of spontaneous generation of life was made in 1668 by Francesco Redi, an Italian physician, who proved that maggots did not arise spontaneously in decaying matter, as commonly believed, but from eggs deposited there by flies. Proof that microorganisms are not generated spontaneously came in the 1860s, when Louis Pasteur, a French scientist, showed that they, too, develop from preexisting life. Evolution can be defined in many ways. One of the most respected evolutionary biologists has defined biological evolution as follows: "In the broadest sense, evolution is merely change, and so is all-pervasive; galaxies, languages, and political systems all evolve. Biological evolution ... is change in the properties of populations of organisms that transcend the lifetime of a single individual. The ontogeny of an individual is not considered evolution; individual organisms do not evolve. The changes in populations that are considered evolutionary are those that are inheritable via the genetic material from one generation to the next. Biological evolution may be slight or substantial; it embraces everything from slight changes in the proportion of different alleles within a population (such as those determining blood types) to the successive alterations that led from the earliest protoorganism to snails, bees, giraffes, and dandelions." (Futuyma, 11) Exactly how evolution occurs is still debated but it is a scientific fact that it does occur. Most biologists believe that... ...nism vs. Evolution rages in the American popular culture. The tension between how people interpret the Bible and what people believe that they have learned through science has been with us for a long time. The fact is science and the Bible is both needed to find the truth. This complex topic presents many issues such as faith, scientific reasoning, and personal beliefs. This generation would probably be more inclined to believe in evolution rather than creationism, merely because today's educational system does not teach creationism as much as evolution. We are taught that science answers everything. Personally after researching the theory of evolution it is more real and not so fictional and fairy-tale like as creationism. Work Cited (Britannica) McHenry, Robert ed. The New Encyclopedia Britannica. Delusion-Frenssen. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1992. (Creation 9.) No Answers In Genesis. http://www.onthenet.com.au/~stear/. Darwin, Charles The Origin Of Species (Darwin) McHenry, Robert ed. The New Encyclopedia Britannica. Ceara-Deluc. 15th Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1992. (Douglas J. Futuyma.) The World As I See It. New York: Watts & Co, 1975

Gender And Relationship Of Children :: essays research papers

Gender and Relationship of Children Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The topic of sex differences in the play preschoolers has been explored by many researchers in the past. Studies have been conducted on basic sex differences such as what toys and gender of playmates do young boys and girls prefer. The size of children's play networks, as well as if these networks change in the size during the preschool years have been explored. Also, differences in styles of play and the occurrence of positive and negative interactions have been examined. The effect that parents have on their sons and daughters, as well as preschool classrooms and teachers have been examined as possible causes of sex differences during play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The aim of this paper is to critically review the recent literature in this field and determine whether or not sex differences occur in play. If sex differences occur, the possible reasons for this occurrence will also be examined. Review of the Research Section   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Maccoby (1990) summarized a number of studies to support her hypothesis that suggests different social situations may either heighten or suppress sex differences in behaviour.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One study was that of social interaction between pairs of young children (Jacklin & Maccoby, 1978). Pairs of 33-month old children were brought together in the same-sex or mixed-sex in a laboratory playroom, and the amount and kind of social behaviour directed more social behaviour, both positive and negative, to same sex playmates that opposite sex ones. Girls paired with boys were more likely to stand watching their partners, or withdraw towards an adult, than boys in any pairing or girls playing with girls. The point brought up in this study is that interactive behaviour is not just situationly specific, it also depends on the gender of participants.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some of the reasons given by Maccoby (1990) for attraction to same sex partners and avoidance of other sex partners in childhood are the rough play style of boys and their orientation towards competition and dominance. Another reason is that girls find it difficult to influence boys. An example of such reasoning is supported by a study done by Poulishta (1987). Preschool aged boy- girl pairs were observed competing for an object. The children were given a chance to use a movie-viewer that could only be used by one child at a time. It seemed while pairs were alone in the playroom the boys dominated the movie- viewer. When an adult was present, however, this did not occur, The adult's presence seemed to inhibit the boy's more power assertive techniques resulting in equal access. This supports the reason why the attraction to same sex

Ethical Issues in India Essay

For Subject Business Ethics & Corporate Governance 2G Spectrum Scam We have had a number of scams in India; but none bigger than the scam involving the process of allocating unified access service licenses. †¢It is Rs.1.76-lakh crore worth of scam. The amount is approximately 2% of national GDP or 1/3 of current tax revenue of India. It is also equals to annual income of telecom service sector. †¢The former Telecom minister A Raja who according to the CAG, has evaded norms at every level as he carried out the dubious 2G license awards in 2008 at a throw-away price which were pegged at 2001 prices. Beneficiaries: Reliance Communication allegedly had stake 10.7% of in swan telecom.But according to rule a telecom operator cannot own more than 10% stake in another telecom operator company operating  in  same  area. Unitech had no experience in telecom sector but according to rule the license should be given to those who have experience in telecom sector. They got license for throw away price of Rs. 1661 crore. It sold its 60% stake to Telenor at Rs. 6200 crore. Swan Telecom got license for Rs. 1500 Crore.it sold 45% stake to UAE based Etisalat at Rs. 9800  crore. Swan  Telecom  had  no  experience  in  telecom  sector. Other beneficiaries include Datcom solution, Loop Telecom, Tata teleservice, STel ltd, Idea cellular & spice communication. Ethical issues: With outbreak of 2G scam following ethical issues on the part of Government, Regulatory bodies, Media & industry came into forefront. Governance: Spirit of collective responsibility not conserved.  Seemed like throwback to the license raj era. Regulation: Toothless with only advisory powers. Insufficient manpower worsens the situation  Appointment process aid conflict of interests  Proper decentralization of powers & implementation of existing rules may have prevented this scam. Media should understand its responsibility towards people of India. Adequate power & resources should make available to regulatory bodies. Common Wealth Games Fraud The Delhi Common Wealth Games (CWG) investigations by Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) revealed irregularities and fraudulent practices adopted by the organization committee members.  The estimated figure for misappropriation of funds is Rs 8000 crore (Rs 80,000 million). The investigations have recently commenced and the problems reported are as follows. †¢ Purchase contracts signed with varying rates for the same product †¢Prices over-inflated in some contracts †¢Contracts given to relatives and friends †¢Sub-standard products purchased †¢Vendor payments made without confirming quality and delivery †¢Payments made to non-existent vendors The organization committee members ignored the Prevention of Corruption Act and government procedures for contracts and tenders. Ethical issues: From the perspective of purchasing process, the following ethical issues are apparent: †¢ Improper and inadequate vendor selection and evaluation procedures were followed. †¢Conflict of interest was not disclosed while signing contracts with related parties. †¢Tenders were not given to bidders quoting lowest price of the product. †¢Vendors did not deliver the contracted quality and quantity as per the delivery schedule. †¢Vendors were not penalized for sub-standard quality or late delivery. †¢Vendor payments were not linked to delivery of products or completion of deliverables. †¢There was no segregation of duties. The same officials authorized the contract and approved payments. An independent evaluation of contracts by risk managers may have prevented misappropriation of funds. A periodic audit by government agencies could have highlighted these issues at an earlier stage. As Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) group is required to conduct periodic audits of all government expenses, it is surprising that these issues were not discovered earlier. This clearly indicates miss-utilization of public funds. Adarsh Scam A tall building is built in Colaba area of mumbai just adjacent to lands of Indian navy, now as per navy this building is security threat for its assets and as per law it is illegal to build such structures near defence land. Now another issue is that the land on which the Adarasha society ( building) has been built is allocated for relocation of families of Kargil war Martyrs. but thing happened is that the society was granted permission under name of Kargil war heroes and most of the flats were allocated to relatives of maharashtra ministers Now from looking to a facts it gives impression that biggest culprits in this scam are ministers of maharashtra who sanctioned the permission, bureaucrats who had sufficient money to purchase flats in the society on the name of their relatives, So overall looking scam is result of joint Venture of bureaucracy and politicians of Maharashtra. Ethical issues: †¢Why objection is taken after completion of building and not during the building was being built? †¢Power to give land at discounted rate should be more transparent. Government should bring more transparency in process of giving land at discounted rate. They should monitor whether housing societies or organizations are following rule applicable to them. ‘Adarsh scam’ in Pune Details of another land scam have surfaced from Pune in which high ranking army, police, civil, transport and urban land department officials had joined to grab houses in what was meant to be a defense society. Documents in possession of TIMES NOW prove that Defense Personnel Housing Society (DPCHS), which was supposed to house Kargil war widows, has illegally been sold off to bureaucrats. The list of allottees in this society also includes the personal secretaries of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Narayan Rane. The DPCHS, which was formed by defense personnel, had applied to the district collector for allotment of land for a housing society in 2003. In response, the government had allotted 1.86 hectares in Lohegaon. In 2003 the society was alloted the land which was meant for Kargil war widows. However, in 2010 the society filed a fresh list of allottees 100 of which included bureaucrats. The Pune collector has cracked down on the society and ordered an inquiry into the irregularities. Ethical issues: †¢The DPCHS was fromed for defense personnel. At present it has 200 members. Nearly 50 per cent of the members are employees at various government departments. †¢Power to give land at discounted rate should be more transparent. Government should bring more transparency in process of giving land at discounted rate. They should monitor whether housing societies or organizations are following rule applicable to them. The loan scam The economic offences wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation on unearthed a major fake housing loan racket and arrested eight officials from various banks on graft charges. CBI arrested CEO of LIC Housing Finance Ramachandran Nair and seven others senior bankers in connection with a housing finance racket. Apart from Nair, those arrested are Naresh K Chopra, Secretary (Investment), LIC, R N Tayal, General Manager of Bank of India (Delhi), Maninder Singh Johar, Director (Chartered Accountant) of Central Bank of India, Venkoba Gujjal and Dy General Manager of Punjab National Bank (Delhi). Rajesh Sharma, CMD of Mumbai based firm Money Matters Ltd and two of its employees Suresh Gattani and Sanjay Sharma were among those arrested. The bank officials allegedly colluded with the firm to sanction large scale corporate loans, overriding mandatory conditions for such approvals along with other irregularities. The Finance Ministry said it would explore the possibility of instituting a departmental inquiry into the housing finance racket that led to arrest of senior officials of the LIC Housing Finance and public sector banks. The CBI has alleged that Naresh Chopra, secretary (investment) LIC, had assured Rajesh Sharma of Money Matters that he would â€Å"disfavour the proposal of DB Realty, which had approached it for a loan through some other agent.† Subsequently , DB Realty approached Money Matters and got a loan worth Rs 200 crore sanctioned and disbursed within four months. Ethical issues: †¢Role of intermediaries such as money matters is suspicious in entire scam. †¢Too much power in the hands of a very few. There should be greater transparency in giving loan by financial institutes. there is need to destroy such rackets in financial institutes & banks. Air India charged double fare to rescue Indians in Egypt. The 320 Indians who were evacuated on the special Air India (AI) flight had to pay more than double the cost of a single ticket from Cairo to Mumbai. A one-way ticket in this sector averages at Rs 17,000-20,000, but stranded travelers said they had to pay Rs 45,000 before they were assured of a seat on the AI 160 flight to Mumbai. For a few people, the fare was as high as Rs 55,000. Tourists and honeymooners, many of whom were on a budget and did not have access to immediate funds, were the worst hit. Many fliers complained that they had to pay cash on the spot to be able to procure a flight ticket. AI flight was a boon because our earlier flight had been cancelled. But they had to pay double money on the spot to get on the plane. At the end of a holiday, most people do not have so much cash in hand. Ethical issues: †¢AI took undue advantage of Emergency situation. †¢Air India should understand the responsibility towards Indians. There should be transparency in fare of airlines especially during time of emergency. Rs.300 Crore Citibank Fraud Mr. Shivraj Puri, an employee of Gurgoan branch had siphoned of money from 40 high networth investors (HNI) amounting to Rs 400 crore. Mr. Shivraj Puri is a Senior Relationship Manager in Citibank Gurgoan branch. He used a forged notification of Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) stating that few select clients would earn higher returns (18% to 20%) if they invested in his suggested schemes. He invested the money obtained from HNI in the stock market in his personal capacity over a period of few months. He invested money in share market through brokage firms Religare and Bonanza the main client affected by the fraud is Hero Honda group and the amount diverted is to the tune of Rs 200 crore (USD 44.67 million).  Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Assistant Vice President in the accounts office of Hero Corporate Services have formed two finance companies BG Finance and G2S Consultancy and diverted Hero group promoter funds in these two companies. These funds were then fraudulently invested by Mr. Shivraj Puri of Citibank. Mr. Sanjay Gupta has allegedly taken Rs 20 crore (USD 4.46 million) as commission from Mr. Shivraj Puri for diverting these funds. It is suspected that Mr. Sanjay Gupta was aware of the forged SEBI letter but recommended the investment to a number of people. Ethical issues: †¢Lack of control and supervision on the activities of the Relationship Manager. †¢Religare and Bonanza should have questioned the source of funds of Mr. Puri as he is a salaried employee. †¢The fraud department was alerted by the customer complaints. This raises questions on fraud detection and monitoring procedures implemented at the bank. Banks & financial institutes should monitor suspicious transactions with special emphasis on HNI accounts. There should be adequate control over relationship managers activities. India’s latest rice scam involves Rs 200,000 crore The latest of the scam series in India, the UP rice scam could be the biggest of them all, even outdistancing the so called 2G Spectrum scam. According to reports, a huge stock of food grain meant for distribution under the Antyodaya, Annapurna and Mid-Day Meal schemes was smuggled outside the state and even the country to Bangladesh, Nepal and other nations. It is believed that top officials of the state as well as the central government colluded to divert the food grain between 2001 and 2007. The scam involves goofing up of rice worth Rs 200,000 crore. It was a scam that stretched to almost 7 years and 300 FIRs. The scam was reported in Uttar Pradesh in the period when Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadev was the chief minister of the UP. This food grain was for poor people either free or at highly subsidies rate. Ethical issues: Food grains meant for poor had been smuggled into the open market and also into the neighboring countries and none of that could have happened without the involvement of higher authorities. Transportation by goods trains to far off corners of the country indicated that smuggling happened in collusion with different authorities. No action was taken in last 10 years. Distribution system of food grain for poor people should be more transparent. it should be more accountable. It is necessary to break such rackets in public distribution system to avoid national loss. Proper use of technology such as GPS tracker, RFID tag can make distribution more efficient. There is need for frequent checks.

International Organization Based on the Assumption of Liberalism and Realism

Different theories explain why international organizations are createdWhich are basically a response to problems of incomplete information, transaction costs, and other barriers to efficiency and welfare improvement for their members. But different questions like; do international organizations really do what their creators intend them to do?Do they really support member states in achieving their basic interests mutually? These critical questions and others of their likes can be analyzed to some extent by several theories proposed by different scholars in the field of international relations.Such theories are liberal, realism and constructivism but the concern of this work is on realism and liberal theory. International organization is a union or association of States, or of enterprises or of other national entities set up across national boundaries.Examples are Of States, are the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) of enterprises: Transnational Corporations (TNCs); inclu de The Coca-Cola Company, Sony, McDonalds, Toyota, etc. Of other national entities; are like Amnesty International; International Olympic Committee, World Organization of the Scout Movement, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.Around 30000 such organizations are active in about 300 countries and territory over the world. International organizations progressed after the Second World War, the gulf between the international politics and formal organizational arrangement which began to open in ways that were not easy to reconcile. This organization seemed to strengthen in dealing with rising problems such as the extension of property right, environment protection and formal supernatural authority. The international organization was the answer on solving collective problems.Public interestRefers to the net benefits derived for, and procedural rigor employed on behalf of, all society in relation to any action, decision or policy. Public may include the widest possible scope o f society, example of individuals and groups sharing a market place for goods and services (included those provided by government), as those seeking sustainable living standard and environment quality for themselves and future generations. Interests are all things valued by individual and society such as economic freedom, political power access to government property right.Those things we seek to acquire and control are interest like ideas we aspire to and protections that are harmful. Realism theory views that world politics is driven by competitive self-interest; they believe that decisive dynamic among countries is a struggle for power in an effort by each to preserve or, preferably, improve its military security and economic welfare in competition with other countries.As an approach to international politics, realism can be traced to such ancient practitioners and thinkers as Sun Tzu (544-496 B. C) the Chinese general and the author of The Art of War; Thucydides (460-399 B.C), a Greek historian and author of The History of the Peloponnesian War, and more recently statesmen such as Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) the Iron Chancellor who engineered the unification of Germany under Prussian control. (Rourke 2012b; p20)Liberal theoryStates are not simply ‘black boxes’ seeking to survive and prosper in an anarchic system. They are configurations of individual and group interests who then project interests into the international system through a particular kind of government. Survival may very well remain a key goal. But commercial interests or ideological beliefs may also be important.The conventional wisdom is that states create and delegate to IOs because they provide essential functions. They provide public goods, collect information, establish credible commitments, monitor agreements, and generally help states overcome problems associated with collective action and enhance individual and collective welfare.Notable philosopher advocating liberalis m including Thomas Hill Green, John Rawls, John Lock, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill. Emanuel Kant, Jean Jacque Rousseau and the former USA presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt.It is true saying that international organizations based on the assumption that ‘’government aims at public interest’’, this is because international organizations sees that the government at a large extent is the best solution for solving public problems and a representation of public interest at the same time. This connotation can be analyzed through the use of liberal and realism theories as follows. Realism theory as the first theory of international organization is used to prove right the above quotation as they assume that, survival is the principal goal of every State. Realists hold states to be the main actors.It means that state control each and everything. Even if domestic interests, strategic culture, or commitment to a set of national ideals would dictate more benevolent or co-operative international goals, the anarchy of the international system requires that States constantly ensure that all states posses some military capacity, and they have sufficient power to defend themselves and advance their material interests necessary for survival. Survival of the state is important for every individual for example United States normally employs military power for the survival and to defend her national interests (Gulf war and Iraq war).  (Wolfrum,2011)Realists believe in the anarchic structure of the international system as the most important determinant of state behavior. Realists believe that the international system exists in a state of anarchy a term that implies not chaos or absence of structure and rules, but rather the lack of a central government that can enforce rules. Therefore order for the state to maintain public interest, a state makes use of the economic prosperity and military might to make decisions that are of much importanc e to the public.States will also act as best as they can in order to maximize their likelihood of the public and continuing to exist. (Ibid) Realists hold states to be rational actors. This means that given the goal of survival, States will act as best they can in order to maximize their likelihood of continuing to exist. Thus States may create international law and international institutions, and may enforce the rules they codify. However, it is not the rules themselves that determine why a State acts a particular way, but instead the underlying material interests and power relations.A country’s foreign policy may reflect broad national objectives and the strategies governments use to guide their actions in the international arena. Also a government extends the domestic interests to the international environment through the use of foreign policy that will guide the interaction of the state with other international actors like the international organizations. For example the foreign policy of Tanzania is aimed at developing the country through economic diplomacy, regional cooperation and multilateral relations.(ibid)Realism assume that all state posses military capacity and no any other state knows about neighbor intend precisely, thus the world is uncertain and dangerous, the only purpose of state is to defend the interest of the state, enable state to survive while promoting public interest against foreign invasion and occupation. Through government organs like judiciary, legislature and executive enforce laws to ensure achievement of public interest, where people have surrender their authority to the government to protect their liberty, life and property.People may ensure their safety through government from internal and external invasion or threats. (ibid) Liberal theory on the other hand is another theory of international relation which tries to explain the truth of international organization on the assumption that government aims at public interes t. This theory analyzes how government aims at providing public interest in several ways using its key assumptions as follows. Liberalism believes on democratic stability theory which rests on the observation that no two democratic states have ever gone to war with one another, and that democratic states rarely strike first.Liberals argue that democracies identify with one another because of their shared norms and values like the United States doesn’t want to take Canada partly because each country believes that citizens have the right to choose their own government and consequently believe that conquering another country and enslaving its citizen is wrong. Moreover democracies are not dominated by the military and lie in the hands of an individual or a small group; leaders are accountable to their people, who are often reluctant to see their children go to war.A variety of issues can dominate the international agenda. Unlike realist, liberals believe that national security d oes not always have to be of paramount importance economic, environmental issues, and human rights can all become the most important goal of a nation. Also in liberalism the ideas was international and they depend each other to solve certain problems for example the problems of hunger is not to Africa only but it is global while they provide deferent aids to African.Also the problem of economic crises is the western countries problems but shacked till African due to lose aids and loans. The state acts in the liberal of law, and not acts outside the law. Liberals contend that people and the countries that represent them are capable of finding mutual interests and cooperation to achieve them at least in part by working through International organizations and according to International law. On the other hand liberals do not dismiss power as a factor, but they add morality, ideology, emotions (such as the friendship and mutual identity) and habit of cooperation.Jean Jacques Rousseau (17 12-1718), he argued that in social contract (1762), that human had to join together in civil societies because they found it easier to improve their existence through cooperation than competitive self reliance. So in contemporary liberals in where each government aims at public interests they apply this notion to global society and argue that people and their countries can better their existence by joining together to build a cooperation and peaceful global society.In policy prescriptions liberals urges on creating norms of justice and peace, promoting and strengthening International Organizations in achieving people’s interests. Both classical and neo Liberals like Jean Jacques Rousseau and Wilson Woodrow on nature of politics, principles and cooperation as standards of international standards argue that people are not inherently political predators and are capable of achieving less conflictive relations either through current government structures or new models of governmen t.And on principle emphasis is on states to formulate their foreign policy according to cooperative and ethical standards to improve social, economic and political needs of each member country; they are not forced into organizations but according to their willingness and global challenges they face in providing public’s social, political and economic needs, thus different states join organizations like UN, AU and EU which enables member states in achieving such interests.  (Rourke 2005a, pp 17-22)Liberal international relation theory believes that government represents some segments of domestic society, whose interest are reflected in state policy. Consistent with the view that society, understood as an aggregate of autonomous individual and voluntary groups, is prior to the state. Liberal theories of politics accord a central place to the domestic institution that link state and society. Liberals analyze such institutions primarily as mechanisms for the representation of s ocial interests.The state is assumed to be representative to some set of social groups, although not all governments represents the entire population. For liberals, the principal agent relationship between the population and the state is thus a central issue. (Moravcsik,2010)In recommending the quotation that international organization based on the assumption that government aims at public interests; in realism point of view states act as main actor on the insurance of public interest within international system, still on its loneliness seem to fail on defending public interest fulfillment a hundred  percent due to series of challenges, threats or obstacles that fade upon state survive on maintaining public interest.Example hunger, issue of security, outbreak of diseases, as well as economic recession problem that is common to third world countries. Therefore state regardless of its potentiality role on public interest it must cooperate with non state actor be it international org anization like UN or be it regional organization like NGOs, civil society for maximum public interest achievement.Under liberal perspective state seems to be with great role in public interest since it cooperate with another actors on making the availability of conducive environment for public interest attainment within their respective boundary. Although most of this cooperation is not two way traffic in such a way that only one which is powerful side benefit from this cooperation either bilateral or multilateral.Example north-south, Therefore cooperation is inevitable for proper prosperity of public but should be win-win or two way traffic cooperation. Therefore principal actors of the world politics remains nation-states, though they are not the only actors. The international system consists of nation-states, international organizations, and private actors, thousands of international organizations were established during the post-World War II era.The increasing number of internat ional organizations is parallel to the increasing levels of economic, political, social and cultural transactions between individuals, societies and states in today’s world which are significant in their respective fields reflecting preferences of states albeit non-state actors challenges and even weakens weaker states favor preferences of stronger states.

My Vision Of The Future

My vision of the future in education is one where the learning commons, inhabited by forward-thinking, ever-learning teacher-librarians, is the centre of the universe in a school: the go-to for students, teachers, and parents as they navigate an increasingly tech-heavy world where â€Å"21st century† and â€Å"personalized† learning increasingly replace outmoded forms of schooling. I personally do not have a particular attachment to â€Å"traditional† education for a variety of reasons.One reason is that our education system is not really all that traditional. Why? Because in the whole scheme of things, the modern education system has been a short-term experiment (a mere blip of human time at around 150 years or less) based on the latter days of a historical era known as the Industrial Age. For eons before this, humans tended to rely on watching, doing, apprenticeships, and interactions with a variety of members of the community.With modern digital tools, we can go back to learning in these ways, but vastly improving upon them by expanding the definition of community to include people, places, and information far beyond our physical reach, and to allow for greater individualization, creativity, and collaboration than ever before possible. Others, however, might feel rather attached to education as it currently is.If this is because the thought of doing otherwise is overwhelming, this resource is for you: it is a basic primer on how teacher-librarians and learning commons can assist teachers in modernizing the classroom. Please either hover over the â€Å"My Vision of the Future† tab and select to read and view sections of this presentation, or simply follow the link at the bottom of each page, such as this one: As technology advances, its educational applications have evolved as well.

The Golden Lily Chapter 16

I WASTED NO TIME in getting the group together. This was big. I still didn't know the level of danger we were facing, but I refused to take any chances. I chose Clarence's house as a meeting spot, seeing as the hunters didn't know about it yet. It still made me nervous. I would've been nervous even if we'd been meeting in an Alchemist bunker. And apparently, â€Å"hunters† wasn't even the right term. According to their low-quality pamphlet, they called themselves â€Å"The Warriors of Light.† I wasn't sure they deserved that fancy title, especially since in their mission statement, they spelled â€Å"abyss† as â€Å"abiss.† The pamphlet was really very sparse, simply stating that there was an evil walking among humanity and that the Warriors were the force there to destroy it. They urged their fellow humans to be ready and stay pure. None of the vampires were mentioned by name, for which I was glad. The pamphlet also didn't mention much about any of the shared history they claimed to have with the Alchemists. Before we went to Clarence's, Eddie scoured Latte for any sort of tracking device. The very idea creeped me out, the same way being watched at Adrian's did. There was a feeling of violation to it all. It was only my lack of faith in their technology that made me feel somewhat better. â€Å"It seems unlikely they'd be that advanced,† I told Eddie, as he wiggled under the car. â€Å"I mean, that pamphlet looked like it had been made on a 1980s copy machine. I don't know if that's because they've had the pamphlets sitting around that long or if that's the actual machine they still use†¦ but regardless, they don't scream high tech to me.† â€Å"Maybe,† he agreed, voice slightly muffled. â€Å"But we can't take any chances. We don't know what they're capable of. And for all we know, they're trying to hook up with the Alchemists to score technology.† Chills ran through me. It was an outrageous thought: that the Alchemists and this violent fringe group could be related. It had been crazy when Adrian and I had speculated about it and was hard to accept even in the face of mounting evidence. At least now I had enough information to take to my superiors without being ridiculed. Even though I'd never heard of hunters like this, it seemed plausible that somewhere, at some point, they'd tried to connect with my organization. Hopefully someone in the Alchemists could help. Eddie scooted out from under Latte. â€Å"You're clean. Let's head out.† Jill and Angeline were waiting nearby, both tense and anxious. Jill gave Eddie an admiring smile. â€Å"I didn't know you knew how to do any of this. I never would have even thought about it.† He wiped sweat off his forehead. â€Å"You thought guardian training was all about hitting and kicking?† She flushed. â€Å"Pretty much, yeah.† â€Å"Can you tell me about some of this stuff sometime?† asked Angeline. â€Å"Seems like I should know it.† â€Å"Sure,† said Eddie, sounding like he meant it. She beamed. He'd been much easier around her ever since her attitude had become more serious and restrained. I think some of that good behavior had played a role in me getting permission for her to join us tonight. She was still technically on suspension, but I'd managed to get a special exemption on the grounds of our family's so-called religion. I'd used a similar excuse when Jill had been suspended last month, in order to take her to feedings. Even still, we were on very strict orders with Angeline tonight. She couldn't be out for more than two hours, and the price was adding an extra day of suspension to her sentence. We took an abnormal route to Clarence's, and Eddie watched behind us carefully, looking for any signs of pursuit. He tried to explain some of the things I needed to watch for when I was on my own. I was so nervous, I hardly heard. After a tense ride, we made it safely to Clarence's. There, we found Adrian already waiting for us. Dimitri had apparently been downtown earlier and picked Adrian up – no doubt taking all the same precautions Eddie had for travel. I'd given Eddie and Dimitri some of the info on the hunters, but everyone else required a more thorough explanation. We gathered in our usual spot, the formal living room, and Dimitri paced around the room, bracing for an attack at any moment. Clarence looked on from his chair with that typical distracted gaze. When I held up the pamphlet, however, he came to life. â€Å"That's them!† he cried. I thought he might actually spring up from the chair and rip the pamphlet from my hands. â€Å"Those are their symbols!† Most of the same alchemical symbols that had been on the sword were strewn across the pamphlet's front. â€Å"That circle. I remember that circle.† â€Å"The gold symbol,† I confirmed. â€Å"Or, I guess in their case, the sun symbol since they're so obsessed with light and dark.† Clarence looked around frantically. â€Å"They're back! We have to get out of here. I came to this city to escape them, but they've found me. We have no time. Where's Dorothy? Where's Lee? I must pack!† â€Å"Mr. Donahue,† I said, in as a gentle a tone as I could manage, â€Å"they don't know you're here. You're safe.† I didn't know if I believed that and hoped I was convincing. â€Å"She's right,† said Dimitri. â€Å"And even if they did, you know I wouldn't let them hurt you.† There was such confidence and strength in the way Dimitri spoke that I had a feeling that we'd believe him even if a group of Strigoi were invading, and he said, â€Å"It's fine, you're safe.† â€Å"If what you're saying is true,† said Sonya, â€Å"I'm the one that's in danger.† She seemed much calmer than I would be in that situation. â€Å"They're not going to hurt you either,† said Dimitri sharply. â€Å"Especially if you don't leave this house.† â€Å"The research – † she began. † – is nothing compared to your safety,† he finished. There was a look in his eyes that said he would tolerate no arguments. â€Å"You need to get back to Court. You were planning on it anyway. Just make the trip early.† Sonya didn't look happy about that. â€Å"So I leave the rest of you in danger?† â€Å"Maybe we aren't,† said Eddie, though the tension in his body said otherwise. â€Å"From what Sydney said – and their mini-manifesto – their focus seems to be Strigoi, not Moroi.† He glanced over at Jill. â€Å"Not that we can let our guard down. If they've mistaken Sonya for a Strigoi, who knows what other craziness they might do? Don't worry. I won't let them near you.† Jill looked ready to swoon. â€Å"That's a good idea,† I said. â€Å"They still think the Moroi are a threat but not as much as the Strigoi.† â€Å"Kind of like the Alchemists,† said Adrian. He was sitting in a corner armchair and had been quiet this whole time. I hadn't seen him since the night of the dance or had any communication with him, which was odd. Even when he wasn't sending me pathetic e-mails about the experiments, he almost always had some witty quip to pass along. â€Å"True,† I admitted, with a smile. â€Å"But we're not trying to kill any of you. Not even Strigoi.† â€Å"And there's the problem,† said Dimitri. â€Å"These warriors are convinced Sonya used to be a Strigoi and is using some trick to disguise herself.† â€Å"Maybe they have some tracking or inventory system,† Sonya mused. â€Å"They keep tabs on various Strigoi in the country and then try to hunt them down.† â€Å"And yet they didn't know about you,† I pointed out to Dimitri. His face stayed neutral, but I knew it was hard for him to be reminded of his Strigoi days. â€Å"And from what I know†¦ you were much more of a, um, notable figure than Sonya.† He'd essentially been a Strigoi mobster. â€Å"So, if you're off their radar, they probably don't have an international presence – or at least not a Russian one.† Angeline leaned forward, hands clasped, and regarded Clarence with a smile sweet enough to justify her name. â€Å"How do you know about them? How did you first run into them?† At first, he looked too terrified to answer, but I think her kindly attitude soothed him. â€Å"Well, they killed my niece, of course.† We all knew Lee had killed Clarence's niece, but the old man didn't believe this any more than he believed Lee was dead. â€Å"Did you see them when they did it?† asked Angeline. â€Å"Did you ever see them at all?† â€Å"Not when Tamara died, no,† he admitted. His eyes got a faraway look, as though he were staring straight into the past. â€Å"But I knew what signs to look for. I'd run into them before that, you see. Back when I was living in Santa Cruz. They like California, you know. And the Southwest. Goes back to their sun fixation.† â€Å"What happened in Santa Cruz?† asked Dimitri. â€Å"A group of their young ones began stalking me. Trying to kill me.† The rest of us exchanged glances. â€Å"So they do go after Moroi,† said Eddie. He actually moved closer to Jill. Clarence shook his head. â€Å"Not usually. From what Marcus told me, they prefer Strigoi. These were young, undisciplined members of their order going off on their own, without the knowledge of their superiors. I assume it was the same type who killed Tamara.† â€Å"Who's Marcus?† I asked. â€Å"Marcus Finch. He saved me from them a few years ago. Fended them off during an attack and later got in touch with their order to keep those ruffians away from me.† Clarence shivered at the memory. â€Å"Not that I stayed around after that. I took Lee and left. That was when we moved to Los Angeles for a while.† â€Å"This Marcus,† I said. â€Å"Was he a guardian?† â€Å"A human. He was about your age then. He knew all about the hunters.† â€Å"I suppose he would if he got in touch with them,† Dimitri speculated. â€Å"But he must be friendly to Moroi if he helped you?† â€Å"Oh, yes,† said Clarence. â€Å"Very much so.† Dimitri looked over at me. â€Å"Do you think – â€Å" â€Å"Yes,† I said, guessing his question. â€Å"I'll see if we can find this Marcus guy. It'd be nice to get a source of info that's not one of these crazy warriors. I'm also going to report on all of this, actually.† â€Å"Me too,† said Dimitri. Although Clarence wasn't the expert on the hunters that this mysterious Marcus was, the old Moroi still had a surprising amount of info to share – info none of us had wanted to hear before. He verified what we'd already deduced, about the hunters' â€Å"devotion to the light.† The group's focus was Strigoi (for now), and all of their hunts were carefully planned and organized. They had a ritualized set of behaviors, particularly in regard to their younger members – which was why the rogue group harassing Clarence had been stopped. From what Clarence had gathered, the group was quite tough on their new recruits, emphasizing discipline and excellence. With the clock ticking down on Angeline's reprieve, we needed to wrap things up shortly thereafter. I was also in charge of taking Adrian home, since we figured it'd be best to eliminate any chance of Dimitri being followed back to Clarence's. Besides, I could tell Dimitri was anxious to begin putting certain things in motion. He wanted to finalize Sonya's departure and also confer with the guardians – in case Jill needed to be removed. Her face reflected what I felt about that possible outcome. We'd both become attached to Amberwood. While he was giving some last-minute instructions to Eddie, I pulled Sonya aside for a quiet word. â€Å"I†¦ I've been thinking about something,† I told her. She studied me carefully, probably reading my aura and other body language. â€Å"What is it?† she asked. â€Å"If you want†¦ if you really want it, you can have some of my blood.† It was a huge, huge admission. Was it something I wanted to do? No. Absolutely not. I still had the same instinctive fears about giving my blood to Moroi, even for scientific purposes. And yet, yesterday's events – and even the alley attack – had begun making me re-analyze my worldview. Vampires weren't the only monsters out there. They were hardly monsters at all, especially next to these vampire hunters. How could I judge the enemy on race? I was being reminded more and more that humans were just as capable as vampires of evil – and that vampires were capable of good. It was actions that mattered, and Sonya and Dimitri's were noble ones. They were fighting to destroy the ultimate evil of all, and as squeamish as I felt about giving my blood, I knew the right thing was to help them. Sonya knew what a sacrifice this was for me. Her face stayed calm – no whoops of joy – and she nodded solemnly. â€Å"I have my collection kit here. I can take a sample before you leave, if you're sure.† So soon? Well, why not. It was best to get it over with – especially if Sonya would be leaving town soon anyway. We did it in the kitchen, which seemed slightly more sanitary than the living room. Sonya was no doctor, but whatever training she'd had, it was right in line with what I'd observed when getting physicals. Antiseptic, gloves, a new syringe. All the right procedures were followed, and after a quick poke of the needle, she had my blood sample. â€Å"Thank you, Sydney,† she said, handing me a plastic bandage. â€Å"I know how difficult this must have been for you. Believe me, this could really help us.† â€Å"I want to help,† I told her. â€Å"I really do.† She smiled. â€Å"I know. And we need all the help we can get. After being one of them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her smile faded. â€Å"Well, I believe more than ever that their evil needs to be stopped. You might be the key.† For one second, her words inspired me – that I might somehow play a greater role in the fight against evil and possibly even stop it. Immediately, that thought was replaced by my old panic. No. No. I wasn't special. I didn't want to be. I would make a good faith effort to help, but surely nothing would come of it. I returned to fetch the others. Adrian and Jill were having some earnest conversation in the corner. Eddie and Angeline were also talking, and I overheard her say, â€Å"I'll stay with Jill more at school, just to be safe. We can't have her be part of some accident or mistaken identity.† Eddie nodded and looked impressed that she'd suggested it. â€Å"Agreed.† Amazing, I thought. I left soon with my carpool and swung by downtown to drop Adrian off. As I pulled up in front of his building, I saw something that made my jaw drop. Awe and disbelief rolled through me. In what was probably the most ungraceful parking job I'd ever done in my life, I brought Latte to an abrupt stop and was out of the car the second I pulled my keys from the ignition. The others followed moments later. â€Å"What,† I breathed. â€Å"Is that?† â€Å"Oh,† said Adrian casually. â€Å"That's my new car.† I took a few steps forward and then stopped, afraid to approach it in the same way someone hesitated before royalty. â€Å"It's a 1967 Ford Mustang convertible,† I said, knowing my eyes were probably bugging out of my face. I began walking around it. â€Å"The year they did a major overhaul and increased the size to keep up with other high-powered competition. See? It's the first model with the concave tail lights but the last to have the Ford block lettering up front until 1974.† â€Å"What in the world is that color?† asked Eddie, not sounding impressed at all. â€Å"Springtime Yellow,† Adrian and I said in unison. â€Å"I would've guessed Lemon Chiffon,† said Eddie. â€Å"Maybe you can get it repainted.† â€Å"No!† I exclaimed. I tossed my purse over onto the grass and carefully touched the car's side. Brayden's beautiful new Mustang suddenly seemed so ordinary. â€Å"It's been touched up, obviously, but this is a classic color. Which engine code is this? C, right?† â€Å"Um†¦ not sure,† said Adrian. â€Å"I know it's got a V-8 engine.† â€Å"Of course it does,† I said. It was hard not to roll my eyes. â€Å"A 289. I want to know what the horsepower is.† â€Å"It's probably in the paperwork,† Adrian said lamely. It was at that moment that I really processed Adrian's earlier words. I looked up at him, knowing my face must be filled with disbelief. â€Å"This is really your car?† â€Å"Yup,† he said. â€Å"I told you. The old man spotted me the money for one.† â€Å"And you got this one?† I peered in through the window. â€Å"Nice. Black interior, manual transmission.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Adrian, a note of unease in his voice. â€Å"That's the problem.† I glanced back. â€Å"What is? The black is great. And the leather's condition is fantastic. So is the rest of the car.† â€Å"No, not the interior. The transmission. I can't drive a stick.† I froze. â€Å"You can't drive a stick?† â€Å"Neither can I,† said Jill. â€Å"You don't have a license,† I reminded her. Although, my mother had taught me to drive before I had a license – both automatic and manual transmission. I knew I shouldn't be surprised the stick was a lost art, as savage as such a lack seemed to me. That paled, of course, in comparison to the other obvious problem. â€Å"Why on earth would you buy a car like this if you can't drive a stick? There are dozens of cars – new cars – that have automatic transmission. It'd be a million times easier.† Adrian shrugged. â€Å"I like the color. It matches my living room.† Eddie snorted. â€Å"But you can't drive it,† I pointed out. â€Å"I figure it can't be that hard.† Adrian sounded remarkably unconcerned about what I found blasphemous. â€Å"I'll just practice taking it around the block a few times and figure it out.† I couldn't believe what I was hearing. â€Å"What? Are you out of your mind? You'll ruin it if you don't know what you're doing!† â€Å"What else am I supposed to do?† he asked. â€Å"Are you going to teach me?† I turned back to the beautiful Mustang. â€Å"Yes,† I said adamantly. â€Å"If that's what it takes to save it from you.† â€Å"I can show you too,† said Eddie. Adrian ignored him and focused on me. â€Å"When we can start?† I ran through my school schedule, knowing I'd have to make talking to the Alchemists about the Warriors of Light my top priority. Then, the obvious hit me. â€Å"Oh. When we see Wolfe this week. We'll take this out there.† â€Å"Is that really to help me?† asked Adrian. â€Å"Or do you just want to drive the car?† â€Å"Both,† I said, not embarrassed to admit it. Angeline's clock at school was ticking, so the rest of us had to leave. I'd driven three blocks away when I realized I'd left my purse on the grass. With a groan, I looped around and returned to his building. My purse was there, but the Mustang was gone. â€Å"Where's the car?† I asked, panicked. â€Å"No one could have stolen it that fast.† â€Å"Oh,† said Jill from the backseat, sounding slightly nervous. â€Å"I saw through the bond. He, um, moved it.† It was handy having the bond as a source of information, but her words made me panic more than if the car actually had been stolen. â€Å"He what?† â€Å"Not far,† she said quickly. â€Å"Just behind the building. This street's got weird overnight parking rules.† I grimaced. â€Å"Well, I'm glad it won't get towed, but he should've had me move it! Even if it's not far, he could ruin the transmission.† â€Å"I'm sure it's fine,† said Jill. There was a strange note to her voice. I didn't respond. Jill was no car expert. None of them were. â€Å"It's like letting a toddler loose in a room full of china,† I muttered. â€Å"What was he thinking? About any of this?† No one had an answer for that. I got us back to Amberwood in time for Angeline's curfew and retreated to the sanity and calm of my room. As soon as I was satisfied my friends were safe and secure for the night, I e-mailed Donna Stanton – a high-up Alchemist whom I'd inexplicably developed a good relationship with – about the hunters and what we'd learned. I even took pictures of the pamphlet and e-mailed those as well. Once that was done, I sat back and tried to think if there was anything else at all I could provide her with that might help. It was only when I'd exhausted all options (and refreshed my inbox a few times to see if she'd responded already) that I finally moved on to homework. As usual, I was pretty much caught up on every assignment – save one. Ms. Terwilliger's. That stupid book was on my desk, staring back at me, daring me to open it. I still had a number of days before her spell was due, time during which I could continue to procrastinate. I was beginning to accept, however, that this assignment wasn't going to go away. Considering how long some of the prep on these took, maybe it'd be best to bite the bullet and get it out of the way. Resolved, I brought the book over to my bed and opened it to the table of contents, scanning some of the spells she'd gone over with me. My stomach twisted at most of them, every instinct telling me how wrong it was to even be attempting these. Magic is for vampires, not humans. I still believed that to be true, but the analytical part of my mind couldn't help but apply some of the defensive spells to various situations. Much like my decision to give blood, recent events had made me look at the world differently. Was magic wrong? Yes. But that blindness spell would have certainly been useful in the alley. Another spell, one that temporarily immobilized people, could've been used if I'd wanted to flee from the hunters at the cafe. Sure, it only lasted thirty seconds, but that was more than enough time for me to have escaped. On and on, I went down the list. They were all so wrong and yet†¦ so useful. If I hadn't seen the fire charm I'd made ignite a Strigoi, I wouldn't have believed any of these were possible. But by all accounts, they were. So much power†¦ the ability to protect myself†¦ Immediately, I rebuked myself for such a thought. I had no need for power. That kind of thinking was what led freaks like Liam to want to be Strigoi. Although†¦ was it really the same? I didn't want immortality. I didn't want to hurt others. I just wanted to protect myself and those I cared about. Wolfe had a lot to teach me, but his preventative techniques wouldn't help if determined vampire hunters cornered Sonya and me again. As time went on, it was becoming clear that the hunters were very determined. I returned to the table of contents, finding several that would be useful and well within my capabilities to make. According to Ms. Terwilliger, someone like me had excellent potential for magic because of inborn talent (which I didn't entirely believe) and the rigorous Alchemist training in measurement and attention to detail. It wasn't difficult to figure out how long it would take me to produce any of these likely candidates. The question was which spell did I make? Which did I have time to make? The answer was eerily simple. I had time to make all of them.