Fakeer of Jungheera as a Love Story Essay

The Fakeer of Jungheer is a long poem by Henry Louis Vivian Derozio. He was born on 18th April, 1809 in Kolkatta, West Bengal. He was a lecturer and poet. He is considered to be an academic and educator During his time Literary Movement of Bengal Renaissance was undergoing. He was an Indian poet and assistant head principal at the Hindu College of kolkatta. He was a radical thinker and one of the first Indian educators to disseminate western Education and science among the young men of Bengal. He died of Cholera at the age of 22. Long after his death, his influence lived among his former student, who came to be known as young Bengal and many of whom became prominent in social reform law and journalism. Inspired by the scenic beauty of the river Ganga, he started writing poetry. He was generally considered an Anglo-Indian being of mixed partuguese desent, but he was fired by patriotic spirit for his native Bengal and considered himself Indian. He wrote many wonderful poems in English before his untimely death of which. The Fakeer of Jungheera was one of the most important landmark in the history of patriotic poetry in India. As he considered India to be his mother he worried about Indian social, political and religious problem. He also worried about the class and caste discrimination. In his days Bengal faced many problems of caste and creed. The reassessment and inclusion of Derozio in the canon of Derozio in the canon of Indian writing in English has to do with many factors, like communism, religious aspects, colonial aspects. In ‘The Fakeer of Jungheera’ Deroiz mixed the tantric, Hindu, Mythological, Islamic and Cristian tradition. He got the idea about writing the poem of spiritual love from Baital Pachisi. As the story goes, if King Vikram remains stead fast in his love for his queen he can resurrect her and once more both can find happiness together. The dauntless fortitude and courage that The King exemplifies by passing through the horrible ordeals in the graveyard leading to h is triumph, inspire conclusion to the tragic death of the Fakeer in the arms of his beloved Nuleeni. If the Nuleeni can again be resurrected in the arms of the Fakeer if she can pass through the horrors and temptations of life. Fakeer and Nuleeni are two star crossed lovers like Romeo and Juliet. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet were the children of two enemies whose love brought the tragic end. Here, in ‘The Fakeer of Jangheera’. Fakeer is the follower of Islam. Fakeer means saint a person who has renounced the world but here he loves a lady Nuleeni who is married and also an uppercaste Female. Nuleeni was married to a Brahmin. Her husband dies in an early youth. Naleeni, the beloved of Fakeer never loved her husband. In the days of never loved her husband. In the days of Henry Derozio Indian subcontinent was cought by many evils like ‘Sati Pratha’ killing girl child by boiling the still born baby in the hot pot of milk etc. Nuleeni belonged to a conservative Hindu society in the nineteenth century. She was pure and beautiful she doesn’t went to end her life behind a person whom she never loved. Nuleeni was brought to the spot where her husband is to be cremated. Women were singing songs praising sati. They sang of going to heaven but poor Nuleeni was lost in the thoughts of Fakeer. She refuses to die on the funeral pure of her husband and esapes with the bandit faker to his cave in Jungheera to a life from death; She escaped death but she starts a life of forbidden love though frightened by violent social norms she believes that her lover’s courage and her anfailing love will finally make them victorious. Her fair and beautiful face brightens the dark social setting of the poem and mitigates the bold audacity of the Fakeer who snatches her from the midst of a group of mourning upper caste Hindu at the Funeral. In the intense bond of love they forgot the society. They forgot their caste discrimination. They forget strength of power. They Forgot strength of power. They Challenged the man made norms of the society. Both of them completely forgot themselves and did not realize that their lives were at risk. Fakeer, bravely snatched her from the hands of so called upper-class people. Would they tolerate this insult of taking away of female by weaker sect. Here, the brave rebellion of the weaker sect draws the attention to the inequality of the sexes and social malaise rampant in Bangali Society of the time. In can say that the poem makes an important stage in the use of social themes in literary texts endorsing a syncretistic tradition quite popular in 19th century Bengal. Instead of be laboring upon the misery of slavery, Derozio embarked upon a mission of resolving some of the inherent evils of Hindu society especially the practice of widow burning. The romantic atmosphere is raise due to the development of Hindu-Muslim love affair. The Fakeer of Jungheera is in two cantos of twenty eight and twenty four stanzas respectively written in the iambic, anapestic, trochaic and dactylic meters to suit the different rhythems ranging from the normal spoken voice and slow description to the racy battles and the chant of priests and women. The poem starts with nature’s description and then takes many twists. The poem deals with many ser ious issues of social evil along with the tragic love affir as the protagonist of the poem is a robber Fakeer who belongs to some unidentified Muslim sect, While the heroine, the widow Nuleeni, comes from an upper caste Bengali Hindu family. Derozio uses Cristain Imagery, Such as heaven and angles flitting about. He juxtaposes this imagery against the Hindu tradition of sati and muslim prayers. He imitates the English Romantic poets like wordsworth, shelly and Coleridge. In the poem, the imagination is marvelous. Derozio breaks all the norms of writing of the contemporary poem writing. It was not easy for the contemporary writers to break the established laws and at the same time challenging the upper-class of the cosecant. He wanted to eradicate the social evils that slowly swallowed the society. This Hindu-Muslim love story arose great sensation. The poet was marginalized in his time. The poet paints the heroine as a ‘perfect’ Bengali beauty – with large black eyes, black in braided tresses, a pale lily complexion and majestic walk. When she arrives at the funeral her eyes searched somebody when he comes she escapes with. He, her lover Fakery had to fight before taking his beloved with him. At the F akeer’s cave. Nuleeni and he lived very happily. They both are lost in the materialistic. They both are lost in the materialistic imaginative life. They are lost in their world. But Nuleeni in the midst of happy life always feared of some unseen danger. Here, the midst of happy life always feared of some unseen danger. Here, the description of nature seems to be one with the feeling of the love. The first canto of the poem mainly deals with the fantastic description of nature, the funeral procession of a Bengali upper-class Hindu family’s son, the escape of the widow with her faker lover to his cave. The upper-class widow lived with many maid lives happily in the cave of her Fakeer lover always waiting for something unseen to harm them. She smelt something wrong. She worried for she doesn’t want to depart from her lover at any cost. Many a times through the poetry we see her lost in her world, sometime. We see Fakeer lost in his dreamland. As happens in ancient Greek tragedies and Shakespearean tragedies, their tragic doom and mistake of risking their life were waiting for them. As they were run-away lovers Nuleeni’s father – the so called upper-class widow’s father would definitely revenge him. Now, Derozio sees love between a Hindu and a Muslim as transcending religion, though this could be Derozio’s own atheistic vision of religion categories based on his rationalistic temper. There was a hardening of identity of Bengali Muslims in the subcontinent as Islam provided ‘a sense of belonging’ to the Muslim community. In the absence of powerful Muslim leadership in 19th century Bengal, the ulema emerged as the leaders. Britishers were partial too. On one hand the prohibited sati system on the other hand they allowed being sati with permission. The hardening of religious categories in colonial Bengali lays the ground for the inevitable conflict that ensues in the second canto. In the beginning of the canto the end lies. The popular belief that love for a woman can lead any god-fearing young man away from the worship of Allah. Then starts the tragic events one by one. The father of beautiful widow Nuleeni determines to avenge Fakeer. He goes to Shah Shiva the king of his time. He requests him to send his army with him to avenge the Fakeer. The uncertainty of life and death begins at this stage. Nuleeni’s father comes to the place where the lovers lived with the army to avenge his insult. He did not even think of his daughter’s happiness or love. Now Fakeer has no choice, if he runs away from the battle field. He would be caught and punished. He decides to fight back the army of Nuleeni’s father. The story at this point becomes somewhat sketchy but the robber Fakeer decides to make a lost stand and fight. However Nuleeni fears that the dubious hour might bring doom : Let me warn the that our doom so bright may darkly end – as darkly speeds the night – But the Fakeer is confident of Victory. Ere long I’ll worn thee in my breast again – With the ‘battle cry’ of ‘the moslem ringing afar’ to fight the ‘royal cavalry’, he is mortally wounded with a lance. Nulleeni cradles him in her arms and dies together with him – he ‘eloquence had all burned out’. She becomes a free agent to choose her destiny; she prefers to die together with someone she loves than with her husband whom she does not. In ancient India woman were allowed to choose their life partners on their own. In our Epics sita, Rukmani, Sati, Parvati (The incarmation of Sati) Draupadi, Subhadra, Kunti, Gandhari, Sanyogita etc. Choose their husband on their own. In absence of Pritiviraj Chauhan Sanyogita put garland on his statue and took her with him – such was grand and glorious past culture of India which was ruined due to foreign invasion. Nuleeni did not die behind her husband. Now, she is free here to die with Fakeer. She did not die with her husband because she did not love him but she loved Fakeer beyond anything else in the world. For him she left all the luxuries of her life, He also risked his life to be united but they were doomed to depart. Nuleeni decides to die behind him. The Sanskrit word sati means a ‘good and vitreous woman’ who was truly devoted to her husband. And according to the Hindu tradition these virtues found expression is the ultimate act of self-immdation. Women who sacrificed themselves continued to be called sati long after they were dead and usage of the term ‘to the sacrifice alone, the act as well as the agent. The secular and universal ideas that Derozio espoused in his poetry do not go well with the separatist and divisionary politics of modern India. These are some of the revisionist consequences of modernity. However, the ‘modes of social life’ that emerged in the early nineteenth century in response to modernity in India now take us ‘beyond modernity’ into the information age. If India must shine it must do so within its own traditions and Derozio occupies a central place in it. The poet through the impossible and bold story of love – affair between Hindu upper-class widow and a Muslim lower class Fakeer reflected and criticized the evils of Indian Society.

Minor members of the solar system

Asteroids are small rocky bodies that have been likened to â€Å"flying mountains. † The largest, Ceres, is about 1000 kilometers in diameter, but most are only about 1 kilometer across. The smallest asteroids are assumed to be no larger than grains of sand. Most asteroids lie between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. They have orbital periods of three to six years. Some asteroids have very eccentric orbits and travel very close to the sun, and a few larger ones regularly pass close to Earth and the moon.Many of the most recent impact craters on the moon and Earth were probably caused by collisions with asteroids. Many asteroids have irregular shapes. Because of this, planetary geologists first speculated that they might be fragments of a broken planet that once orbited between Mars and Jupiter. Others have hypothesized that several larger bodies once coexisted in close proximity, and their collisions produced numerous smaller ones. The existence of several families of asteroids has been used to support this explanation. COMETS Comets are the shining wanderers of the solar system.With their glowing tails that may stretch 100 million kilometers through space. Most comets reside in the outer fringes of the solar system, far beyond Pluto. For all their apparent size in the sky, comets are actually fairly small objects. When a comet begins its trip down past the Sun, it is probably a chunk of â€Å"dirty ice,† a mixture of rock dust and ice a few kilometers across, much smaller than the typical observed asteroid. As it speeds towards the Sun, the heat from the Sun evaporates the ice, and the gases thus released blow dust particles outward from the solid body or nucleus.Radiation from the Sun ionizes the released atoms, producing a tail that glows in the sky like a neon sign; the dust particles reflect sunlight and form another, smoother tail. But not all develop a tail that extends for millions of kilometers. The fact that the tail of a comet points awa y from the sun in a slightly curved manner led early astronomers to propose that the sun has a repulsive force that pushes the particles of the coma away, thus forming the tail. The tails seem white to the eye, but color photography reveals that the ionized gas tail is blue and the dust tail yellow.The small nucleus, the only even near-permanent part of a comet, is surrounded by the coma or head of the comet, a large, hazy structure formed by the liberated gas and dust. Of the 100 billion comets that may exist, less than 1000 have been observed thus far as they make the long Journey down to the heat of the Sun. Halley's is one of the best-known and brightest comets others are the Oort cloud which are comets that appear to be distributed in all directions trom the sun, torming a spherical shell around the solar system. METEOROIDS Often referred to as a â€Å"shooting star.This streak of light occurs when a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere. A meteoroid is a small solid particl e that travels through space. Most meteoroids originate from any one of the following three sources: (1) Interplanetary debris that was not gravitationally swept up by the planets during the formation of the solar system (2) Material from the asteroid belt, (3) The solid remains of comets that once traveled near Earth's orbit. A few meteoroids are believed to be fragments of the moon, or possibly Mars, that were ejected when an asteroid impacted these bodies.Some meteoroids are as large as steroids. Most, however, are the size of sand grains. Consequently, they vaporize before reaching Earth's surface. Those that do enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up are called meteors. The light that we see is caused by friction between the particle and the air, which produces heat. Occasionally, meteor sightings can reach 60 or more per hour. These displays, called meteor showers, result when earth encounters a swarm of meteoroids traveling in the same direction and at nearly the same speed as E arth. A meteoroid that actually reaches Earth's surface is called a meteorite.

Honor Killing

I believe that the murder of Desdemona was an honor killing. Othello thought that Desdemona brought him dishonor and gave him a bad reputation. While Othello was manipulated into murdering Desdemona, he was the one that had the physical choice. Iago constantly agreed with Othello, saying that Othello should kill Desdemona. This influenced Othello’s decision, but it was ultimately Othello that chose why he should or shouldn’t kill Desdemona. His choice was based off of his own reputation. He loved Desdemona, but after one rumor he decided to murder her because of what others would think.He believes â€Å"she must die, else she’ll betray more men† [V, ii, 6] and he later admits that he is â€Å"almost persuade[d] justice to break her sword† [V, ii, 16-17]. He tells Desdemona to â€Å"think on [her] sins†, trying to get her to realize that he would kill her for having an affair [V, ii, 43]. When he thought to kill Cassio, however, he was seeking revenge. He asked Iago, â€Å"how shall I murder him† [IV, i, 136]. It is more contemplated and decided than Desdemona. The contrasts between his thoughts on the two were considerable. Othello’s immediate thought about Cassio was â€Å"kill him† but he was more torn up about Desdemona.When explaining why he killed her to Emilia, he said â€Å"she turn'd to folly, and she was a whore† [V, iii, 146]. He didn’t care to listen to Desdemona. Othello killed her because he thought there was no other way to repair his reputation. He couldn’t live with the shame of an unfaithful wife. It was his honor versus his love, and he chose honor. This turns out to be the main theme of the story. If reputation were not a factor, Desdemona would not be dead. In the end of Othello, reputation trumps all else. Othello killed Desdemona out of shame, making the murder an honor killing.

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Motivation in a Multigenerational Radiologic Science Workplace - Research Paper Example Since the inception of management-related studies, the area of employee motivation has been emphasized in various ways. This discourse presents a brief review of motivation factors for radiological sciences workforce based on a specific study conducted by Kalar (2008). Earlier, classical management theories proposed employee motivation practices such as incentives and bonuses. The pioneer of scientific management, Fredrick Taylor asserted that the main aim of management should be to secure maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for the employee (qtd. in Schermerhorn, 2010). Taylor believed that extra income will motivate employees to work extra and with greater efficiency, and hence incentives would be an effective way to motivate the employees. Later, the human relations movement led by Hawthorne experiments of Elton Mayo proved that employee motivation can be enhanced through employee participation and involvement with the leadership teams (Bratton , 2001). From a motivation perspective, numerous theories can be found, in literature that describe various motivating factors and ways to motivate. A few of these theories include the Maslow’s needs theory, Alderfer’s ERG Theory, Herzberg’s two-factor theory or the motivation-hygiene theory, McClelland’s 3-needs Theory, Vroom’s expectancy theory, satisfaction-performance theory, goal-setting theory, Reinforcement theory etc. Whatever be the theory, the main point derived from them is that employees will be motivated if they get what they desire and value. A similar pattern was observed in Kalar’s (2008) study conducted in a radiologic science workplace. Kalar’s (2008) study presents a very interesting and different perspective on employee motivation in comparison with other researches on employee motivation. Radiological sciences workplaces comprise of healthcare professionals, technical personnel, caregivers etc., that deal with pro viding radiological services to patients. Hence, these workplaces employ highly diverse work professionals. Kalar’s (2008) study is one of its kinds that was conducted in a radiological science workplace consisting of four generational cohorts or age groups with distinct attitudes, values, work habits and expectations. This study provides current managers with a framework that enables them to accommodate most of the motivational needs of such diverse workforce. According to Chew and Relya-Chew (2007), radiology specialists are self-motivated individuals with high levels of intrinsic motivation. Although radiological sciences professionals experience other motivational factors such as high pay package, hygienic work conditions, job satisfaction, growth etc., it is important that their intrinsic motivation is nurtured constantly. Kalar’s (2008) study explains how intrinsic motivation of these RS specialists can be nurtured. In fact, Kalar’s (2008) findings related to motivating factors to each of these groups can be related to Vroom’s Expectancy theory. This theory proposes that an individual’s motivation depends upon the belief that his/her efforts could lead to high or better outcome and

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Sydney White 2007 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sydney White 2007 - Essay Example It is in this condition that she thinks of how she can plead the sorority of her parents. The young girl works exceptionally hard in school until she secures herself a scholarship. The scholarship lands her into a college where she can follow the footsteps of her mother. Her mother was a woman of dignity and hard work since she had education. In college, Sydney has the assurance that she must go back to where her mother comes from and ask to be taken as one of them. The movie triggers different emotions to different viewers. Some argue that the movie is just one of the must-have because of the way it flows (White). This is true because the plot of the movie has flow and one can be able to track what Sydney does after she is faced with these predicaments. The other thing that the viewers like about the movies is the way it takes to explain different times. This is evident in the way Sydney is goes back to her mothers home to claim that she is her daughter . Her going makes her realize just how times have moved since even the sisters of her mother show no concern to her. The movie is again set in a great scene by the way Sydney keeps changing her location. I agree with the reviewers because the movie revolves around home, campus and the neighborhoods. By watching the movie in this location I agree with the writers that one can never get bored. The movie seeks to explain the different ways in which a young girl has to fight for her rights and reach to the finishing line. It is because of this reason that the viewers say that the movie is not only moving but also thrilling. The other thing that makes the viewers appreciate the movie is the way in which the young girl incorporates comedy into the movie. The main character is talented in that she can be able to act serious issues and yet thrill the crowd. I affirm that the movie is the kind that every person would stay tuned to the end. The movie has credit for being not too short or too long for the viewers. The rev iewers insist that the movie is just the right length and covers all the areas without leaving the viewers in suspense. Other viewers though have different views concerning the movie. The movie has been criticized for not incorporating all the aspects in it. This means that the movie is lacking in such areas as suspense and action (White). In my own opinion, the movie is okay because there is absolutely no movie that can trigger all emotions within a viewer. Different people have different views concerning things and people see things in different perspectives. Other people criticize the movie at a personal level by saying that the main actor does not know how to act. However, this is based on personal interests and opinions and I think that the viewers are just malicious. This explains that different people see things differently and that is okay. Others argue that the movie is just a fairy tale and that it is built on fiction only. This is because it shows actions that are controv ersial to the viewers. Such actions include such things as the young girl living in the community of construction of workers . The critiques argue that this is not just obvious and she cannot live with freshmen as a girl. This is because all this are men and her life would not be in safe hands. The movie revolves around the story of the young girl to the end without deviating. The main character again plays her role with a lot of prowess and tact.  

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Bram Stoker's Dracula Compared to Mary Shelly's Frankenstein - Essay Example aim being awarded to Shelley, who pioneered in brining a literary concept to light, which was initially an unchartered territory for most authors as she combined elements of Goth and Horror with that of science fiction. Although, Dracula and Frankenstein are essentially from the same genre with some overlapping themes, but the concept and the depiction of themes contain some stark dissimilarity as well. The substance of this prose will delve into each of the aspects one by one: Dracula and Frankenstein both entailed a similar theme about life, death and resurrection. Both creatures possess a strong fascination for the human world, which drives Frankenstein to read books by eminent authors, whereas Dracula reads English magazines to gain a deeper understanding of the human world. This is the prime reason as to why both Dracula and Frankenstein are known to have sophisticated intellect and are capable of making conversation on any subject, which adds to Dracula’s charisma in the society, but doesn’t help Frankenstein’s case because of his horrifying appearance. In fact the monster created by Frankenstein had grown miserable of his life and expressed it in the following words: â€Å"Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge† (Shelley, 2004, p. 137) Moreover, the stories are centered on the same theme that involves a group of men trying to eliminate a monster that is nothing but scourge for the society. Besides the character, the literary technique used to project the story is also quite similar as both authors wrote their novels in an epistolary form; in simpler word, the story is told through the correspondences of the main characters with each other. However, it is a clear indication that the entire story is told from a one-sided perspective of the protagonist

Dell Computers Essay Example for Free

Dell Computers Essay Dell Computer pioneered a new way of making and selling personal computers. Its customers â€Å"custom-design† their computer over the Internet or phone. Dell reengineered its â€Å"supply chain† as it coordinated its efforts with its suppliers and streamlined its order-taking and production process. It can ship a computer within two days of taking an order. Personal computers lose 1 percent of their value every week they sit on a shelf. Thus, having virtually no inventory is a great advantage to Dell. Compaq tried to adopt Dells approach, but with limited success. Dell’s CEO Michael Dell understood that kind of execution. His direct-sales and build-to-order approach was not just a marketing tactic to bypass retailers; it was the core of his business strategy. Execution is the reason Dell passed Compaq in market value years ago, despite Compaqs vastly greater size and scope, and its the reason Dell passed Compaq in 2001 as the worlds biggest maker of PCs. As of November 2001, Dell was shooting to double its market share, from approximately 20 to 40 percent. Dell turns its inventory over eighty times a year, compared with about ten to twenty times for its rivals, and its working capital is negative. As a result, it generates an enormous amount of cash. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002, with revenues of $8. 1 billion and an operating margin of 7. 4 percent, Dell had cash flow of $1 billion from operations. Its return on invested capital for fiscal 2001 was 355 percent—an incredible rate for a company with its sales volume. Its high velocity also allows it to give customers the latest technological improvements ahead of other makers, and to take advantage of falling component costs—either to improve margins or to cut prices. These are the reasons Dells strategy became deadly for its competitors once PC growth slowed. Dell capitalized on their misery and cut prices in a bid for market share, increasing the distance between it and the rest of the industry. Because of its high velocity, Dell could show high return on capital and positive cash flow, even with margins depressed. Its competition couldnt. The system works only because Dell executes meticulously at every stage. The electronic linkages among suppliers and manufacturing create a seamless extended enterprise. A manufacturing executive we know who worked at Dell for a time calls its system â€Å"the best manufacturing operation Ive ever seen. In 1998, Dell Computers launched its first global brand advertising campaign, beginning in the United States and Canada, to further highlight the advantages of its direct business model. The brand advertising campaign carries the theme Be Direct. The campaign highlights Dells unique business model, which helps to eliminate barriers between customers and the manufacturer, providing Dell with the means to enhance the overall customer experience. Dells advertising has focused primarily on its products and has been targeted largely at computer-enthusiast and industry trade publications, cable and local television and a few national newspapers. The Be Direct campaign will be in addition to the companys ongoing product-oriented advertising. The new brand campaign emphasizes the strengths and advantages of Dells direct-to-customer business philosophy. The direct model, pioneered by Dell in the computer industry, enables Dell customers to have computer systems built to their specifications; a single point of accountability; award-winning service and support; and fast access to the latest relevant technology. Presently, the growing number of orders comes in over the Internet. The order-taking system interfaces with Dells own supply chain control system, which ensures that inventory is where it needs to be for the computer to be manufactured quickly. In addition, Dell stores very little inventory. Instead, Dells suppliers have built warehouses close to Dells facilities, and Dell orders parts on a just-in-time basis. By implementing these strategies, Dell has been able to provide customers with exactly what they want very quickly. In addition, inventory costs are low, and Dell minimizes the danger of parts obsolescence in the rapidly changing computer industry. In this way, Dell has become a dominant player in the desktop PC market and is well on its way to doing so in the laptop and server markets. References Cravens, D. W. Piercy, N. (2003). Chapter 1: Strategic Planning and Decision Making. NJ: McGraw-Hill Companies. http://www.dell.com

Metabical Case Essay Example for Free

Metabical Case Essay The weight loss drug vailable in three four-week packages. The four week packaging was at the specific point where the consumer did not have to spend too much money to buy it, yet got invested in the product enough that they would come back to buy the second and third portions Marketing Research According to the US survey 34% overweight 25. % obese 4. 7% severely obese Health care providers were positive about the prospects of weight loss drugs. Responses of individuals: indicates 12% would immediately opt for such a solution. Focus group: Need of Prescription-strength drug with FDA approval clinical results o backup weight loss results. Decision making The process of decision making for the consumers would follow the hierarchy of effects and would include the following steps Users involved in word of outh publicity First prescription drug to be approved by the FDA specifically for weight loss of overweight individuals credibility First prescription drug for BMI of 25-30 It worked on low dose formulation hence stress on liver and heart was lesser Side effects were less severe and conditional Behavioral modifications and healthier eating habits Results were seen on an average in 12 weeks More comprehensive support plan The above advantage could be used for positioning in the following ways: Premium pricing as it is the only FDA approved prescription drug for weight loss. Strikingly different from dietary supplements for weight loss Segmentation Targeting multi cluster segmentation Demographic Income levels High Income group, since they are ready to pay out of their pockets. Gender- Females are more weight conscious. Age: 35+ Education: college plus Psychographic : Based on, Physical activity, Food preferences, Nutrition, Self image, Overall health l want to be healthier I want to fit into my skinny Jeans Geographic : US is the largest geographic segment where 65% of the entire adult population is over-weight, obese or severely obese . Targeting customers with a BMI of 25-30 Positioning Strategy Positioning as a ?Life saving drug Those 20 extra pounds can kill you. Being overweight leads to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes Its time to get Healthy- Metabical can help. Positioning as a ?Motivational Therapeutic drug Discover a happier and a more attractive you Increases confidence Boosts self- esteem Marketing Communication Strategy Electronic media TV Radio Social media Print media NEWS Magazines Viral media DTC and prescriber advertising ?Free lunch pre launch program Metabical Challenge Biggest looser contest Medical education events Thank you

Strategic interactions of players in Oligopoly Markets

Strategic interactions of players in Oligopoly Markets The strategic interaction between players in the oligopoly markets gives its study a tint of dynamism. This interdependence nature of oligopolies brings about the concept of conjectural behaviour, a situation whereby the actions and decisions of firms in the markets depends on the actions and decisions of the others. This brings about many of the theoretical problems in modelling oligopolistic behaviour (Waterson 1984, pg 17). An extension of such problem is borne on the willingness of firms to gain market power, and most cases; it is done through integration into lines of business that are related. Literature varies with respect to the theoretical aspect of integrating related firms with unrelated ones, as there has been mixed results in the area of profitability. Rumelt found out that firms that are not vertically integrated are more profitable (Rumelt 1976). Whereas, the situation was different with Luffman and Reed, who argued that vertically integrated firms are more profitable (Luffman and Reed 1984). Policy actions is said to cause a loss in social welfare rather than the actions of the firms themselves, and that integration is used strategically to achieve anticompetitive effects (Cowling and Mueller 1978). This study assesses the measurement of monopoly profit in a collusive oligopolistic market and also deals with the estimation of welfare loss in the distribution aspect of the British film industry. It will also deal with whether vertical integration contributes adversely to consumers welfare or not. The analysis is carried out using the gross profit, general selling administrative expenses and after tax profits of the distributors in the British film industry for the past 20 years, ranging from 1990 2009. As is in the treatment of oligopolies, there are different ways of measuring the game theory. It is either the use of Bertrand equilibrium (which focuses on the manipulation of price to gain market power) is employed, or the Cournot model (which talks about the adjustment of quantity) is used. In other cases, there is the use of intermediate models which deals with the combination of price and quantity adjustment to achieve competitive edge over other players in the industry. In t his analysis, Cowling and Muellers (1978) model will be employed. Their method is based on the Cournot-Nash equilibrium model. The distributors involved in this analysis will be divided into two categories as is the industrial structure. There will be a set that is involved in integration of the production and or exhibition aspect into the business of distribution, while the other set is basically the independent distributors, that is, those involved only in the business of distribution without recourse to other aspect of the industry. The next section will deal with a discussion into the industry. This will involve the history of the industry, the basic structure, size of the industry, how concentrated the industry is and a look into the recent development in the industry. A descriptive statistics into the distribution aspect of the industry will also be discussed. Chapter 3 (i.e. literature review) will deal with the approaches used in the analysis of the behaviour of oligopolies that collude in other to gain monopoly profits. The section will start with a brief review of the oligopoly theories as it affects the industry. The main model in this work, the Cournot-Nash model, will be reviewed before the discussion of the complications in the work of Cowling and Mueller (1978). The assumption that welfare loss is enhanced through vertically integration will then be reviewed. The methodology chapter (i.e. chapter 4) will be based on how the analysis is to be carried out. There will be the description of data, the met hods used and the problems encountered during the analysis. Chapter 5 will be based on the findings of the work. It will involve the presentation and discussion in the findings. The final section, chapter 6, will be a conclusion on the work and policy recommendation, if any. Chapter 2 The Industry The British film industry, over several years, can be classified as undulating, with its high and low peaks. The industry is characterised by volatility and persistent instability, and due to such inconsistencies, has attracted government intervention. There are catastrophic cycles in the history of British film. Fluctuations in cinema attendance and the degree of American dominance in the industry were major factors that influenced the industry. Despite these cycles, the industry is said to be the second largest in the world, next to that of US. This section would look at the history of the industry, the industrial structure (i.e. the key distinct but related sectors in the industry; production, distribution and exhibition), size and concentration. This would involve focusing on the pertinent issues that have contributed to the development of the industry over the years. After this, a discussion into recent developments of the industry would be done. History The emergence of the film industry can be attributed to the series of innovations encountered in the nineteenth century in the US, France and UK. Shortly after the UK dominance in the American market (accounting for about 15% share of the market), there was a slum in their dominance as a result of Americas expensive and heavily marketed productions, which resulted into the loss of indigenous followership to less than 10% (Bakker 2005). Despite this, the home audience increased prompting the government to introduce the Entertainment Tax in 1916. This is based on the premises that the industry is a sleeping giant, thereby including other forms of entertainment, like music hall and theatre in the tax. However, the tax was abolished in 1960 (Murphy 2004). The dominance of the American film market was unprecedented in the 1920s that the government had to intervene by the establishment of the Cinematograph Films Act in 1927. The act was to encourage the production of films indigenously and also set the criteria for the distribution and exhibition of films in the home industry. It was believed that the industry could help stimulate the exports of other goods and services in the British economy, and that it would help wade off American dominance in the industry. This act recorded significant success, as more production companies sprang up, among which are Warners, Fox and British International Pictures. The production of films in the UK doubled as a result. However, the criticism faced by the act has to do with the production of low quality films and low cost of the films, in order to meet the quota requirement set out by the Act. In 1936, the act was reviewed and it allocated quotas to both the distribution and exhibition sector of the i ndustry. Also, quality test was also included in the act. This was to encourage competitiveness in the international market for the industry. Financial institutions were also encouraged to participate in the industry through the provision financial assistance to firms in the industry. At the end of World War II, the industry experienced a boom, which saw cinema attendance soar. Of worthy mention is the existence of the Rank Organisation, a vertically integrated firm, involved in the production, distribution and exhibition of films in the industry. The firm dominated the industry in the 1940s, and was the largest film distributor at the time (UK Film Council Research and Statistics Unit 2009). The British government enhanced their role in the administration of the industry when it was realised the American film industry is taking over the home market, through the establishment of the National Film Finance Corporation (NFFC) and the Eady Levy in 1950. The Eady levy was a law enforcing the ploughing back of a percentage of the film profits back into the development of the industry (UK Film Council, 2009). In the early 1980s when Margaret Thatcher came into power, there was an attempt to create a free market in all industries, with the use of a deregulation policy. This was in view of breaking up monopolies, thereby, enhancing competitiveness in the economy. However, there was criticism that there would be a preference for profit maximisation of firms rather than the welfare of people (BFI Institute 2005, pg 1). In line with this deregulation policy, the Eady Levy was abolished in 1985 and the 25% tax break for film investors was removed. The withdrawal of government support in these areas made getting involved in the film business more risky. At the time, the only hope from the state was also privatised thereby curtailing financial assistance. The Rank Organisation failed at this time. Despite this, the industry still witnessed unprecedented growth. In the words of Leonard Quart, in his work The religion of the market cited in Friedman (1993), despite the Thatcher governments unwillin gness to aid the film industry, it did establish a general mood that encouraged economic risk-taking and experimentation with new and more innovative business practices (Friedman 1993, pg 25). Cannon Group became the dominant player in the industry and was involved not only in the financing of films, but was also engaged in the production, distribution and exhibition. But due to over expansion, the group became bankrupt. Structure, Size and Concentration The industry is characterised basically by activities in three areas, which include the production, the distribution and the exhibition of films. These activities are unique but are related in that the films produced are given to distributors, who market to the exhibitors that show it to the final audience. Thus from the process of production till the final stage where the films are screened, there is distributors who serve as middle men, who helps realise the potential of the film. Production The industry is production led. By production expenditure, the market is the fifth largest and is the eleventh largest with respected to the number of films produced as at 2008. The production sector is heavily dependent of inward investments, basically from the United States. This was attributed to the availability of tax relief, the high quality of workforce and the strength of the exchange rate. The fall of the UK pound contributed significantly to the rebound in the production of films. The total expenditure appreciated to about 20 per cent in 2009 when compared to that of the preceding year. Based on the UK Film Council Statistics in 2008, the sector has about 202 active production companies, with few large ones making films of substantial budgets and others producing mainly low budget films (UK Film Council 2009). Distribution Distribution has to do with the management of the release of films produced in order to earn revenue. The main function of the distributor is to convince the exhibitor in renting or booking each film after production. This is a value chain and it involves negotiation with exhibitors, sequencing of the various windows at which to screen the films, advertisement of the films produced and printing production of the films. However, there is also a weakness in this arm as most of the firms are dominated by the UK subsidiaries of American studios. As at 2008, these subsidiaries accounted for 78 per cent of the market power and the top distributors, numbering up to ten, were responsible for 95 per cent of the market share. The largest indigenous distributor in the industry in terms of gross box office is Entertainment Plc. It was responsible for 8 per cent of the market share in 2008. However, the distribution arm of the industry is taunted by audiovisual piracy, which contributed largely t o most of the losses experienced by firms involved. The marginal profit encountered are as a result of retail sale of DVDs and showing on television, with the Video on demand (VOD) market relatively underdeveloped, contributing marginally to the total revenue. The focus of this analysis is on the distribution aspect of the industry. Based on the characteristics of the sector, it is highly concentrated with few firms assuming a greater control of the market share. Unfortunately, this aspect of the British film industry has been given less attention in the past by state regulations, with more emphasis being given to production rather than distribution. However, the bulk of the profit generated in the industry is greatly enhanced by the activities of distributors as they are involved in the promotion and distribution of the work of the producers, helping achieve the full potential of the films. As stated earlier, this is because they act as intermediaries between film makers, exhibition outlets and the final audience. Due to their indispensable role, there absence in the industry would create a situation where there is neither reinvestment in film production nor the display of viable movies to the final consumers. Also, in their absence, the industry would be open to exploitation from external market, such as the domination in existence in the production aspect of the industry. There are several independent distributors who are UK-based operating in the sector and are basically divided into small and large independent distributors. Even though the large distributors are involved in the release of fewer titles in comparison with smaller ones, they still have control of the market share. Exhibition Exhibition has to do with the display of films to the final audience through theatre screening. The market is dominated by few large numbers, as is the case of the distributors, of firms. But these firms are not predominantly owned by foreign firms. In 2008, majority of the screens were controlled by firms; Odeon, Cineworld and Vue, two of which were owned by private equity firms. Recent Development Insert The industry contributed a total of GBP2.5bn to the economy in 2007, with production cropping up a large chunk of 48 per cent, distribution responsible 36 per cent and exhibition taking up the remaining 16 per cent. The industry also contributed to other aspects of the economy like exports and employment. In 2007, the balance of payment surplus accruing to the industry was estimated to about GBP232m. According to the Labour Force Survey conducted by the Office of National Statistics, there were over 35,000 jobs in the industry. There were over 7000 firms in the industry as at 2008 and these were mainly concentrated in the production arm of the industry. However, the concentration of activities in the distribution arm of the industry is concentrated in the hand of few. The contribution of distributors to the industry, and ultimately to the economy, makes it interesting for a study into how they contribute to welfare loss and how vertical integration affects the accumulation of monopoly profits/losses. Chapter 3 Literature Review From previous studies carried out by researchers, there were mixed results as regards the loss in social welfare by firms trying to gain the bulk of the market share in various industries. In the case of Harberger, he found out that the loss of welfare in the United States is at 0.1 of 1 per cent of the Gross National Product (GNP) (Harberger 1954). This finding confirmed that the loss of social welfare as a result of monopolistic tendencies is insignificant. This idea was also backed by others, even with the use of varying assumptions. However, this was under attack by Bergson (1973) who criticised the partial equilibrium framework employed. Bergson employed the general equilibrium approach, which assumed that social welfare can be captured through a social indifference curve. According to Cowling and Mueller (1978), it was argued that such assumptions brings about discrepancy between the variations in the price cost margins and the supposed constant elasticities of demand (Cowling and Mueller 1978). Thus, this analysis will employ the use of the partial equilibrium approach, following the work of Cowling and Mueller, which was based on the Cournot-Nash equilibrium approach. The next section deals with the brief review of oligopoly theories, the review of the model used, discussion of the complications of the Cowling-Mueller model, and how it affects the industry. Review of oligopoly theories The main feature of an oligopoly is the reliance of firms on the actions of the others, which makes it difficult to assume the simple solutions of a monopoly or perfect competition. There are two main forms clearly distinguished under the classical oligopoly theory, both being majorly determined by either price or quantity (Tasnadi 2006). In order to study the oligopoly markets, economists make use of the game theory in modelling their behaviours. There is the Bertrand competition, which relies on the manipulation of prices as a way of competition. On the other hand is the Cournot Nash competition, which describes the industry with oligopolistic tendency, as one in which companies compete on the amount of goods produced, with the assumptions of homogenous goods, no collusion, existence of market power, and rationality. There is no single model describing the workings of an oligopolistic market. This is because companies compete on varying platforms such as price, quantity, marketing , reputation, technological innovations, etc (Colander 2008). The Bertrand model of oligopolies focuses on price. The model illustrates the interactions between the firm (one who sets the price) and the customer (one who chooses the quantity to buy at the price given by the firm). The working of the model is based on the assumptions that goods are undifferentiated, no collusion and prices are set at the same time. Given the rationality of consumers, they buy from the firm who offers the lowest prices and if all the firms give the same price, they choose the firms to buy from at random. Assuming there is no capacity restriction, if a firm raises the price of its goods, it becomes likely that such firm would lose most or all its customers. In the same light, if the firm reduces prices below its marginal cost, it would lose money on every unit sold (Binger and Hoffman 1998). Thus, under the Bertrand model, the equilibrium is where the price is equals to marginal cost, resulting in zero-profit for the participating firms. However, relaxing the assu mption of capacity restrictions results in a situation where equilibrium is not achieved. The Cournot-Nash Model While the Bertrand model focuses on price, Cournot-Nash model emphasises the importance of quantity adjustment. The model assumes the existence of Cournot conjecture; that firms compete based on quantity rather than prices and that the behaviour of firms are stable. Equilibrium is reached at a point where neither firm desires to change what it produces based on its knowledge on what other firms produces. This is regarded as the Cournot-Nash equilibrium (Kreps 1990). Traditionally, the model considers two firms with the assumption that their marginal costs are linear but not necessarily identical. Each firm is believed to have the ability to decide on the level to produce in other to maximize profit, given the output level of the other firm and this is called the reaction function. In the case of N-number of firms, overall industry production curve is based on the reaction functions of other firms with respect to what the market leader produces. As in the game theory, each firm decide s on the best response function that helps maximize their profit, and if followed at all times results into the Nash equilibrium (Fulton 1997). In general, the Cournot theorem states that as the number of firms in the industry grows to infinity, it brings about competitive tendencies and pushes price towards marginal cost. In perfect competition, allocative efficiency requires that prices to be set equal to the marginal costs of production throughout the economy. If firms are able to restrict output in order to maintain price above the marginal costs this leads to a misallocation of resources and loss of economic welfare. The monopolist is able to raise his price above the level of marginal cost, as he is a price maker. This situation can be compared with the benchmark case of perfect competition where firms are price takers and cannot sell any unit of goods produced at a price higher than the marginal cost and cannot earn supernormal/abnormal profits. Fig 1: Welfare effect of Competition and Monopoly profits Figure 1 compares the welfare effects or performance of perfect competition and monopoly. It depicts the neoclassical case against monopoly. Theorists have formulated the welfare loss concept which measures the potential gain of a movement away from monopoly to perfect competition. The analysis shows the basic deadweight loss model used by Harberger (1954). In order to simplify the analysis, the assumption that costs are constant is used. If the industry is competitive, the firms cannot set price above MC (P=MC), thus the quantity produced is Qc. In figure 1, under perfect competition price would be at Pc and output Qc. Marshall stated that consumer surplus is the difference between what a consumer is willing to pay for a good and the amount actually paid for it. It is a measure of the benefits to a consumer of trading in a market. It is shown by the triangle between price and demand. Market demand is refered to as D (the amount consumers are willing to pay for an additional unit of the product). Thus, consumers pay a price Pc for all units purchased. Any marginal increase in output below Qc generates a difference between the price actually paid and the price consumers are willing to pay. This is the consumer surplus, represented by the larger triangle above marginal cost, depicting an absence of abnormal profit. Given a monopoly facing an equivalent demand and costs conditions, the maximisation of profit may be achieved through output reduction, which is at a point where MC=MR. Here, the price shifts to Pm, thereby setting price above MC, and quantity produced falls to Qm. The triangle above Pm is referred to as the surplus due to consumers in a monopolistic setting. The shaded portion A in the diagram is the supernormal profit due for a monopoly, which signifies the redistribution of wealth from consumers to firms. Thus, the decrease in consumer surplus, as a result of a competitive entity moving to monopoly is represented by the addition of the two shaded portions A and B. However, the net social loss accruing as a result of the existence of monopoly power is represented by the shaded part B (Sawyer 1981). In the work of Harberger, he argued that this triangle is really tiny and is nothing to worry about. Posner, in describing the net social loss, stated that: When market price rises above the competitive level, consumers who continue to purchase the sellers product at the new, higher price suffer a loss exactly offset by the additional revenue that the sellers obtain at the higher price. Those who stop buying the product suffer a loss not offset by any gain to the sellers. This is the deadweight loss from supracompetitive pricing and in traditional analysis its only social cost, being regarded merely as a transfer from consumers to producers (Posner 1975, pg. 807). Complications of the Cowling Mueller Model Observing the mark-up of price on marginal cost helps define the implied price elasticity of demand with the assumption of a profit maximizing behaviour, which also applies to a colluding oligopoly or pure monopoly. Following the work of Cowling and Mueller (1978), in defining a firms implied elasticity of demand, assumed that welfare loss will be estimated from their cost margins. (1) where we have as the price elasticity of demand for the industry; as the price given by firm i; and as the marginal cost of firm i. The estimates derived would help explain the amount of welfare loss (the single firms decision to set price above marginal cost) realised from the reaction functions of firms. The assumption that each firm in the industry possesses some degree of monopoly power is employed and will be applied on a firm by firm basis. This enables them to charge prices higher than the marginal cost of production, given there is perfect competition. This is to help in estimating the relative importance of the variations in each firms outputs. This draws more light on the interdependence of observed price distortions (dp) and changes in output (dq), as seen in the work of Cowling and Mueller (1978). Based on this assumption, the welfare loss of the firms can be derived from the partial equilibrium formula for welfare loss; Â ½dpdq. In a situation where the firms expectatio ns about the behaviour of other competing firms are borne out, it is assumed that = and = =1. Hence the equations; (2) (3) Following the assumption of constant marginal costs, monopoly profit term can be incorporated into the equation, thereby, resulting into (4) Harberger (1954) equated the elasticity of demand to be unitary, i.e. ÃŽÂ · = 1. This depicts that if dpi/pi is small, the social cost of monopoly would be insignificant. He argued that representing the elasticity of demand with a value of 1 was an attempt at compensating for the demerits of using a partial equilibrium measure of welfare loss to examine a structural change in the general equilibrium, and that this would not be so if individual firms cannot act as monopoly in terms of price manipulation. However Cowling and Mueller (1978) refuted this assumption by referring to it as a very awkward way of handling the problem which answers the criticisms raised by Bergson (1973) against the partial equilibrium approach as regards the interdependence of price distortions and change in output (pg. 730), even though their analysis was based on the so criticised partial equilibrium approach. Wenders (1967), as cited in Cowling and Mueller (1978), questioned Harbergers position, but wer e erroneous in their calculations due to ignorance in assuming that the degree of collusion is a variable. Thus, the assumption of joint profit maximization need not be used. Based on this, there is need for proper definition of the methodology involving the partial equilibrium approach, so as to derive plausible estimates from it (to be done later on in this discussion). In measuring the monopoly profits, the excess of actual profits over the long run competitive returns (which are the profits that are compatible with the long run survival in an equilibrium economy) is determined, after adjustment is made for the accommodation of risk, as in the case of Worcester (1973). He used a median profit rate of 90% in allowing for biasness: a rather ad hoc adjustment. The divergence of actual rates of profits and the mean rates was the root of monopoly profits in earlier studies, following that of Harberger. These studies treated industries whose profit is in the range of 5% above or below the mean profit as those that have created welfare loss. However, this will result in a downward biasness of the monopoly welfare estimate as it underestimates the level of monopoly returns. It is not feasible to lean ones analysis on the premises of equal effects on welfare loss by monopolists and firms in perfect competition. Even if the assumption holds, the problem of how to handle firms experiencing loss would arise. Rather, it is plausible to argue that these firms are in disequilibrium and as such, have costs above the competitive levels. Hence, in deriving the social cost of monopoly, the firms experiencing loss will be dropped. This is in line with the work of Cowling and Mueller, who assumed that the firms would return to their normal profits or would disappear, thereby, creating no long run loss to the economy. The role of vertical integration The effect of the firms trying to gain market power is also a contributory factor into the loss of social welfare. Vertical integration carves out niches for monopolistic possibilities in product and geographical areas. Vertical integration is divided into upstream (backward, deals with the production of basic inputs) and downstream (forward, deals with the production of finished or nearly finished products). When two or more operations are vertically integrated, there is a natural bias towards internal procurement of components even in the presence of inefficiency. Bounded rationality also has its role in the diseconomies effect of vertical integration. It would basically take place where it is mutually beneficial to do so and not necessarily when it is cheaper. According to Greenhut and Ohta (1976), vertical integration does not increase integrators monopoly power, but rather, eliminates transitional twist caused by increasing mark-ups. Not only does it eliminate such distortions, it improves the provision of differentiated goods. Carlton (1979) assumes the prevalence of downstream over upstream in an integrated world. Hence, integration is socially undesirable since the downstream firms cannot absorb risk as efficiently as the upstream. The market is less to be contestable if integration is embarked upon by established firms. This is because the possibility of a potential entrant having the know-how and the economies of scale in the successive stages of production is very slim. There is likely to be sunk costs, which may be too expensive for the new entrant, thereby raising entry barrier. However, the ability to discriminate hinges on being able to identify groups of customers having different demand elasticities, then being able to preven t them from price discrimination. This firm structure helps to prevent leakages between markets if the collusive oligopoly, engaging in the upstream successive stage of production, integrates into one or more downstream markets, while still possibly allowing sales of the upstream product to unintegrated firms for specific uses (Waterson 1984). In general, the vertical integration accrues to the firm benefits, which would not have been possible if independently functioning. Among the benefits are lower transaction costs, capturing upstream and downstream profit margins, reduction in uncertainty (i.e. there is always supply assurance), expansion of core competence and the ability to gain a considerable part of the market share. These benefits are supported by the existence of taxes and regulations of market transactions, economies of scale, and similarities between the integrated activities (Greaver 1999). According to Buzzel (1983), he argued that operating in an integrated basis results in the benefits being offset by costs and risks, among which he noted capital requirement, reduced flexibility, and loss of specialization. Firms enjoying monopoly power would act to defend their market through entry barriers, which is a potential free rider problem. Unless, the barriers to entry can be effectively coordinated, it would be difficult to derive a means of calculating above competitive profits. Given the unlikelihood associated with gaining monopoly profit without the expense of extra resource, it would be profitable to utilise extra resources to deter entry. Tullock (1967) and Posner (1975), as cited in Cowling and Waterson (2003), maintained that if the existence of competition for market power is granted by some authority and that the practice acquire real resource costs, it is possible that all the gains due on monopolistic tendencies may be frittered away in the struggle to obtain it. These resource costs may be in the form of excessive generation of advertising goodwill stock; involvement is excess production capacity and excessive costs on Research and Development by engaging in product differentiat ion. It was also believed that the efforts to acquire patent protection, tariff protection and other forms of unwarranted state treatment contribute significantly to welfare loss meted out by monopolies. So, Cowling and Muell

Sigmund Freuds Oedipus Complex Essay -- essays research papers

Oedipus Complex "It is the fate of all of us, perhaps, to direct our first sexual impulse towards our mother and our first hatred and our first murderous wish against our father." - Sigmund Freud(Clark, 122) The Oedipus conflict or complex is a concept developed by Sigmund Freud to explain the origin of certain psychological disorders in childhood. It is defined as a child's unconscious desire for the exclusive love of the parent of the opposite sex. This desire includes jealousy toward the parent of the same sex and the unconscious wish for that parent's death. Horney states that it is not a â€Å"biologically given phenomenon† but rather a response to the â€Å"provocation’s† of the outside world.(Horney) The â€Å"Oedipus Complex† was started from Simund Freud. Freud was born on May 6, 1856, in Freiberg, Moravia, a region now in the Czech Republic. His father was a wool merchant and was forty when he had Sigmund, the oldest of eight children (Gay, 78) and lived till 1939. (Gay, 112) The term Oedipus complex gets its name from Oedipus Rex. The story of Oedipus can be found in the recount authored by Sophocles. In the story Oedipus has been made King of Thebes in gratitude for his freeing the people from a plague brought on them by the presence of the riddling Sphinx. Since Laius, the former king, had shortly before been killed, Oedipus has been further honored by the hand of Queen Jocasta. Now more deadly famines and diseases are raging and the people have come to ask Oedipus to rescue them as before. Oedipus give his brother in-law the job of finding the solution. Creon, Jocasta's brother, comes back from Apollo's temple with the announcement that the famine will be cured if Laius' murderer be found and cast from the city. I... ... things that don't support freud's idea. Freud’s theory was according to the libido theory every human relationship is based ultimately on instinctual drives. When the theory is applied to child-parent relationships several conclusions are suggested: â€Å"any kind of submissive devotion to a parent of the same sex is probably the expression of passive homosexuality or of sexual masochistic trends, while a rebellious rejection of a parent of the same sex is probably an inner fight against existing homosexual desires,† (Horney) Works Cited Bernheimer, Charles, In Dora's case : Freud—hysteria—feminism , New York : Columbia University Press, Horney, Karen, New Ways in Psychoanalysis, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2000 Clark, David. What Freud Really Said. New York: Scholden, 1995. Gay, Peter. Freud, A Life Of Our Time. New York: W.W. Norton, 1988. Sigmund Freud's Oedipus Complex Essay -- essays research papers Oedipus Complex "It is the fate of all of us, perhaps, to direct our first sexual impulse towards our mother and our first hatred and our first murderous wish against our father." - Sigmund Freud(Clark, 122) The Oedipus conflict or complex is a concept developed by Sigmund Freud to explain the origin of certain psychological disorders in childhood. It is defined as a child's unconscious desire for the exclusive love of the parent of the opposite sex. This desire includes jealousy toward the parent of the same sex and the unconscious wish for that parent's death. Horney states that it is not a â€Å"biologically given phenomenon† but rather a response to the â€Å"provocation’s† of the outside world.(Horney) The â€Å"Oedipus Complex† was started from Simund Freud. Freud was born on May 6, 1856, in Freiberg, Moravia, a region now in the Czech Republic. His father was a wool merchant and was forty when he had Sigmund, the oldest of eight children (Gay, 78) and lived till 1939. (Gay, 112) The term Oedipus complex gets its name from Oedipus Rex. The story of Oedipus can be found in the recount authored by Sophocles. In the story Oedipus has been made King of Thebes in gratitude for his freeing the people from a plague brought on them by the presence of the riddling Sphinx. Since Laius, the former king, had shortly before been killed, Oedipus has been further honored by the hand of Queen Jocasta. Now more deadly famines and diseases are raging and the people have come to ask Oedipus to rescue them as before. Oedipus give his brother in-law the job of finding the solution. Creon, Jocasta's brother, comes back from Apollo's temple with the announcement that the famine will be cured if Laius' murderer be found and cast from the city. I... ... things that don't support freud's idea. Freud’s theory was according to the libido theory every human relationship is based ultimately on instinctual drives. When the theory is applied to child-parent relationships several conclusions are suggested: â€Å"any kind of submissive devotion to a parent of the same sex is probably the expression of passive homosexuality or of sexual masochistic trends, while a rebellious rejection of a parent of the same sex is probably an inner fight against existing homosexual desires,† (Horney) Works Cited Bernheimer, Charles, In Dora's case : Freud—hysteria—feminism , New York : Columbia University Press, Horney, Karen, New Ways in Psychoanalysis, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2000 Clark, David. What Freud Really Said. New York: Scholden, 1995. Gay, Peter. Freud, A Life Of Our Time. New York: W.W. Norton, 1988.

The Employment Policy in the UAE: Emiratization or a Quota System Essay

Emiratization is the prevalent topic currently in the UAE’s economic forums and even the everyday life of the Emiratis. The UAE symbolizes an example of how the rapid economic expansion is affecting the natives alongside the economic structure and evidently the fiscal policies. These changes are noticeably manifested in the UAE’s dramatic increase of expatriates inflowing to work in its lucrative market. Conversely, the rapid growth of the UAE’s expatriates ended up reducing the Emiratis to being a minority ethnic group in their own land – a Middle Eastern version of the Red Indians, as some might argue. Subsequently, this has resulted in a radical approach to solve this rising problem through a policy of localization to empower the Emiratis in the emerging combative market and especially the expatriates dominated private sector. This essay will reveal the origins of the current economic situation of the UAE and attempt to validate that Emiratization polic y is becoming solely a quota system not an effective solution. In 1968, Britain announced that it was withdrawing from the region. The seven emirates then had a total population of 180,000, scattered over 90, 6000 square kilometers of desert and mountain (Fairservice, 2001). Historically, the seven emirates were autonomous sheikhdoms until they were united as the UAE in 1971 (Gallant, 2008). UAE is one of the dynamic trading hubs in the Persian Gulf. However, the economic development since the discovery of oil in 1966 has been remarkable. Before the oil boom, people in UAE survived through fishing, pearling and limited trading. The growth that this transformation brought has enabled the swift progress, which assisted a large non-oil economy. Industrialization and tourism are gr... ...ng This article is about the UAE’s policy of Emiratization and wither it is a mere quota system or the effective solution for the unemployment growing rate. I will present some the article arguments and I will discuss them further in the essay. Terterov, M. (2006). Doing business with the United Arab Emirates. GMB Publishing Ltd. This book represents an official guide for businessmen on how to do business in the UAE. I will use this book to present the official views on localization policy. Wright, S. M., & Anoushiravan, E. (2008). Reform in the Middle East oil monarchies. Ithaca Press. This book address many important questions such as should the West be seeking to encourage national indigenous evolution rather than working to impose Western systems? I will represent this book view on the Emiratization policy and its impact on the economic growth of the UAE.

Animal Testing Essay -- Animal Testing

Animal Testing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Using Animals for testing is wrong and should be banned. They should be entitled to the rights we have. Every day humans are using defenseless animals for cruel and most often useless tests. The animals cannot fight for themselves therefore we must. There should be stronger laws to protect them from laboratory experiments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although private companies run most labs, experiments are often conducted by public organizations. The U.S. government, the Army and Air Force in particular, has designed and conducted many animal experiments. The experiments were engineered so that many animals would suffer and die without any certainty that this suffering and death would save a single life, or benefit humans in any way at all. An example of this is some tens of thousands of Beagles experimented with. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, 64 Beagles were forced to inhale radioactive Strontium 90 as part of a â€Å"Fission Product Inhalation Program† which has been paid for by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. In this experiment 26 dogs died. One of the deaths occurred during an epileptic seizure; another from brain hemorrhage. Other dogs, before death, became feverish and anemic, lost their appetites, and had hemorrhages. The experimenters compared their results to those experiments conducted at th e University of Utah and the Argonne National Laboratory in which beagles were injected with Strontium 90. They concluded that the...

Database Environment

Database Environment Paper DBM-380 November 18, 2012 Introduction A database defines a structure for storing information and it collects information that is organized in such a way that a computer program can quickly select desired pieces of data. A database can also be thought of as an  electronic filing  system. Data and information are extracted from a database by creating a query and then submitting it to the query database management system (DBMS) and it is posed in a language that only the DBMS can understand.The query can be in the form of a question or just a keyword and once these queries run against the database, it will find a matching record (Reynolds, 2004) . Database Decisions When building a system for information, you have to decide how much responsibility for data management your software will take. A database can be rather large or it can be small depending on the information that is being stored. Request for information from a database are made in the form of a query or a question asking the database for particular information.All database  management systems  are not the same from a technical standpoint. They differ mostly in the way they organize their information internally. The internal organization can then determine how quickly and supplely the information can be extracted (Jupitermedia, 2011) . Analyzing the use of databases Analyzing the use of databases In the Client Fulfillment department at Tactical Training Group Pacific’s, there are two databases that are mainly used and those are the Command Active directory and the Military & Civilian SME (MC&SME).These databases are very vital to this department because they help with the daily production goals. With the use of the command directory, it is helpful in finding different associates throughout the organization as well as finding certain departments, phone numbers, mail codes, locations of command training centers, and Watch Station machines. When creating a  new a ccount  for a client or associate they must state whether they are an existing client or that they are an associate the command directory is accessed to verify this information in order for them to receive the benefits as an associate.Another advantage of the command directory is helping to find other department phone numbers or Watch Station locations. With the command directory database you select the field that you are searching for like associate search, location, telephone number, Watch Station and then you enter your query not in the form of a question but a certain query language that is understood by this database to extract this information. This database relies on the Microsoft SQL server.Another database that is used command is the Military & Civilian Subject Matter Experts (MC&SME). This database is used to help associates across all lines of business to do their job effectively. MC&SME contains processes and procedures for each department to abide by so if you are not sure on how to complete a customer request or the correct information to give to a customer it can all be found on MC&SME. MC&SME works on structured query language or SQL that it is usually asked a stylized question in order to execute and answer.This is a very large database because it contains so many work procedures and specialists that are very important for each and every department at TTGP Command. Data specifications For TTGP it is important to remember that we have three types of people in our database Command Staff, Clients and Subject Matter Experts(SME) for training area’s and certifications. The Following entities and attributes will apply relationally to all three areas 1. Command Staff: * Name * Address * Phone number * Department Name * Supervisor . Client/Customer: * Name * Address * Phone number * Company Name * Company POC/Supervisor 3. Subject Matter Expert(SME) * SME Name * Company Name * Certifications (Separated By Commas) * Special Training * Cost for Services The requirement for this Database is to ensure a check is made relationally for either name or skills to ensure duel entities aren’t entered. This DB is high usage throughout the day and has to backup and saved daily so that repairs’ upkeep and maintenance can be done by the night IT crew.Database Management/Upkeep Both of these databases, the Command Directory and MC&SME have to be managed and regular maintenance has to be done in order to keep the information up to date. There are so many changes for associate / employee information if they leave the company or switch department or even if a department is no longer functioning all of this information has to be current. With MC&SME, there are so many changes to job procedures qualifications Etc†¦ very day in order to minimize fraud or if new products are on the market and other ones are no longer being offered, MC&SME sends an alert immediately so if it affects your part of production, you will have to read it right away and make all necessary changes on how your work is done so the administration of both databases are important in order to take full advantage of the output to the relevant query. Proposing Improvements Improvements that can be done in order to maximize results for both of these atabases are to make them more client friendly. The Command directory could contain less fields in order to search for results since the 411information page search and the location search is going to give you the same results and if you are not sure or the correct spelling of an member of staff’s name, the â€Å"sounds like† field is not very helpful because it will come back with too many results and you still have to keep looking. MC&SME can definitely be made more user friendly.This is the most confusing database because if you don’t have the proper training it will take hours just to look up simple information. MC&SME needs to be reduced in search / query size in or der to maximize retrieval results faster. Conclusion Because this 3 entity with attributes relational Database has such a high operational Tempo we need to ensure that only the critical attributes fields are used. This will help in not only over all DB performance but help with query retrieval speed as well.Keeping the relational processing required down to a minimum is imperative. Constant upgrades, maintenance along with security patches are done and need to remain transparent to the user. This database is akin to the lungs that breathe life into our command. References Jupitermedia. (2011, Spring). Internal Database Organization. Retrieved from http://jupitermedia. org/DBorg Reynolds, J. N. (2004). Database Structures. PC Magizine, 10(7), 123.

Demand and Supply Curves

We have a certain commodity, `pure Malaysia Laptop’, whose market we are going to analyze. Assume that exogenous (external) forces are equal in magnitude, while supply–demand curves are unitary elastic. Given a certain event/scenario, (a) analyze the curve/s affected, shifts or movements and the direction, and (b) effect to equilibrium price (P*) and equilibrium quantity (Q*) Scenario 1 a. Prices of optical drives suddenly increase The production cost has increased so the supply decreases and eventually the price go up.The supply curve shifts to the left. b. A new market-standard operating system is released to the market but costs at least 50% higher than the previous edition This issue is considered another production cost so the supply curve shifts to the left. The supply decreases and price goes up. c. News spread that local laptops were contaminated with melamine Demand decreases because people buy less due to the news so the demand curve shifts to the left and the Q and P both decrease. d.Video chatting and internet-on-the-go become fad New technology makes people buy more of the product so demand increases and as a consequence the demand curve shifts to the right and price and quantity both increases. Scenario 2 a. China laptop manufacturers were permitted to enter the Malaysian market Cheaper products attract consumers, so the demand for our product decreases. The shift in the demand curve goes to left and the P and Q both decreases. b. Average desktop computer prices have plunged to all-time lowsIf desktop computers become cheaper the demand for laptops decreases so the demand curve shifts to left and eventually the P and Q decrease. c. New taxes were imposed to laptops sales (per unit tax) Imposing new taxes to laptops is additional cost for the production. so it affects the supply and the supply curve shifts to left. so the P increases and Q decreases. d. A recession/economic downturn cause the income of consumers to decline and cause t he prices of laptop parts to increaseWhen consumer’s income decreases, the demand goes down and the demand curve shifts to the left. On the other hand the prices of laptop parts increases and that makes the production costs to increase so the supply decrease and the supply curve shifts to left. So the quantity decreases while we have an ambiguous equilibrium price. Scenario 3 a. Biggest local laptop manufacturer suddenly become bankrupt and the government gives subsidy to consumers to purchase `educational and computer-literacy’ related goodsBy the biggest local laptop manufacturer going bankrupt, our company’s supply goes up and eventually the price goes up. The demand curve shifts to the left. So the Q decreases. b. New production techniques were adopted by local laptop manufacturer and prices of inputs in the production of desktop computer decline significantly When the prices for laptops decease the demand goes up and as a consequence the demand curve shifts to the right so the price and quantity increase.

Critical Paper A Rose for Emily

In the story of â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, a kind of point of view that is used was first point of view of multiple characters where the narrator is one of the characters in the story. The multiple characters narrate the actions of a group of characters while never referring to a â€Å"me† and only to a â€Å"we† of the group. It was evident that the narrator was one of the townspeople who were very objective in presenting the facts of the story. He told us about what the townspeople think of Miss Emily but he didn’t judge her. He clearly presented a reality, not an illusion in which Miss Emily was the one who’s really struggling with the concept of reality vs. illusion and also living one way while hiding a terrible secret (reality vs. appearance). One of the main themes of the story is that people should let go of their past, moving on with the present so that they can prepare to welcome their future. Emily was the proof of a person who always lived on the shadow of the past because she was afraid of changing. She did not accept the passage of time throughout all her life, keeping everything she loved in the past with her. The first evident was about the description of Grierson’s house which was still remained like a symbol of seventieth century while the society was changing every minute. The second evident was the event that Miss Emily declined to pay taxes because in her mind, her family was powerful and they didn't have to pay any taxes in the town of Jefferson and the third was the fact that Miss Emily had kept her father’s death body inside the house and didn’t allow burying him. And last evident which was also the most interesting of this story, the discovery of Homer Barron's skeleton in the secret room which can be understood that Miss Emily was afraid that he would leave her and she decided to kill him because she was afraid of losing him. Another theme of the story is that not all things, people, and events are always what they appears to be, which was associated and expressed many times throughout the story. The townspeople viewed Miss Emily as a strange old woman. Not until after her death when the men opened the secret room and found the corpse of Homer Barron, did the citizens and the reader realized that Miss Emily had gone insane.

You Suck: A Love Story Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-one Being the Chronicles of Abby Normal: Not Unlike the Toaster, I Control the Darkness So I slept a little that day, and talked to my sweet love-ninja, Foo, a couple of times on the phone, then he came over and we left Jared with some blood for Lord Flood and the Countess when they awoke, and motored to the loft. It took like an hour to clean up all the broken glass and ash and stuff from the night before. We had just finished cleaning and counting the money and making out and whatnot when the alarm went off on the Countess's watch. And I was like, â€Å"Dude, I'm not ready.† And he was all, â€Å"Dude, you are more ready than anyone I've ever known.† And I was all, â€Å"OMG, I am so going to sex you to death if we live through this.† And then he was all bashful and pretended to be doing something technical so we were ready. Then, like an hour after sundown, I heard them coming. I was at the kitchen counter when the security door downstairs opened, and when I turned around they were just, like there. Lord Flood called them the Animals, but now they were kind of the roadkill. And I like touched the snap on my UV jacket, just to make sure it was there. So I was all, â€Å"Hey, vampyre scum.† And the formerly black and now gray one, who was like their leader, was all up in my grille, like, â€Å"We need the money, where is the money?† And I was like, â€Å"Step off, undead-tard. There's no money.† And he was like, â€Å"Don't fuck with us. Flood and the redhead took like six hundred grand from my apartment.† And I was all, â€Å"Actually, its like five hundred and eighty-three thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.† And he was all, â€Å"Give it!† And all seven of them were like gathering around me – even the born-again one the Countess had thrashed – like they were going to do the massive gang-suck on me, so I had my finger on my light button all the time, in case I needed to flash-fry the motherfuckers. But I stayed chilly and I was like, â€Å"Are you high?† And he was all, â€Å"No, I'm not high. No one is high.† And they all started whining and whatnot, all, â€Å"We can't even take a bong hit. We can't drink a beer. Our systems won't take it. Being sober sucks. We are useless undead stoners.† So I was all, â€Å"Step back and behold, bi-atches.† And I'm all taking a bottle of Stoli out of the freezer, and mixing in a glass with some of the blood from the pouches, just like the ones we left for the Countess and Lord Flood, and they're all drooling when they see the blood, so I was thinking, Dont' make me fry you. But then I give the glass to the gray vamp, and he's all, â€Å"Sweet.† And the others are like, â€Å"Me, me, me.† So I'm like mixing Bloody Marys all around, and the greasy hippyish one is like, â€Å"Can we dunk pot cookies in this?† And I'm like, â€Å"Of course, stoner vamp.† And they're all, â€Å"You are a goddess. And we are not worthy. And oh please, may we have some more?† Until they started to drop. So like two minutes later there's like this big pile of passed-out vampyres in the kitchen, and I'm all, â€Å"Yo, Foo, I got your shit ready.† And Foo comes out of the bedroom, all cute, holding his UV floodlight like he's going to save me, then sees that they are all out cold and gives me a big kiss and is like, â€Å"You rock.† And I'm like, â€Å"You have no idea, my Manga-haired love toy.† And he was like, â€Å"The sedative in the blood, blah, blah, four hours, blah, blah, nerdspeak, geektalk – â€Å" And I'm like, â€Å"Whateva, studmumn. Handle it.† So it took like two hours for Foo to do all his medical stuff with the Animals, taking some blood and doing various medical nerdism stuff to it, then putting it back in, but finally he was done and I called Jared to tell him that we were on our way to get Lord Flood and the Countess. So I like made the other call to make sure everything was all in order and whatnot, and Foo was all, â€Å"Are you sure this is what you want to do?† And I was all, â€Å"Foo, theirs is the greatest love of all time. It's the only thing to do.† And he was all, â€Å"Okay, as long as you're sure. Because we can do them the same as we did the others.† And I was all, â€Å"No, that won't work. They have to be together. And you don't have to live at home anymore. We'll have a completely sweet love lair.† So we did it. Blue watched from the alley across the street as the Animals came out the security door, empty-handed, and stumbled into the street. She knew she should have gone herself, but that whole getting-burned-up thing had taught her that perhaps it was better to delegate. That they didn't have her money was bad enough, but that they didn't have her money and heat was coming off of them was disastrous. â€Å"Those dumbfucks can't get anything right,† she said to herself. â€Å"I'm going to have to kill them all over again.† â€Å"I don't think so,† said a voice from behind her. She whipped around, leading with her long fingernails in a swipe that would have taken off half a man's face. Elijah caught her hand. He'd found another tracksuit, this one powder blue. â€Å"It's time to let it go. The genie must go back in the bottle, I'm afraid.† â€Å"Let me go, I need to go get my money.† â€Å"No, my dear, you don't want to do that. The residents of that loft have recently developed a very unpleasant fashion sense.† â€Å"You're fucking with my income, paleface.† â€Å"You don't need to worry about that anymore.† â€Å"Meaning what?† â€Å"It ends here. Come with me, my dear.† â€Å"You want me to come with you? I don't even know you.† â€Å"Yes, but we share a special relationship.† â€Å"Special? You beat my face into the hood of a Mercedes.† â€Å"Well, yes. Sorry. To the innocent my behavior can sometimes be distasteful.† â€Å"Yeah? Innocent, I've fucked thousands of guys.† â€Å"Yes, well, I've killed enough to fill a city.† Blue shrugged. â€Å"Okay, you win.† â€Å"Revenge is a dish best served cold anyway, don't you think?† â€Å"Or not at all,† said a male voice behind Elijah. Elijah and Blue turned. Three of them stood there in their long coats, looking like sculptures, looking eternal, like they could wait forever. â€Å"Can just anyone sneak up on me now?† said Blue. â€Å"Time to go, Elijah,† said the African woman. â€Å"None of you would be here if it weren't for me,† Elijah said. â€Å"Yes, and we would have been hunted down and killed a long time ago if we hadn't adhered to your rules.† â€Å"Ah, my rules,† Elijah said, looking down now. â€Å"How many left to clean?† Elijah looked across the street to the loft windows, then at Blue. She raised an eyebrow, smiled a little. â€Å"She's the only one left.† He lied. â€Å"Then finish it.† â€Å"I'd rather not,† Elijah said. The Emperor of San Francisco wept for his city. He had done what he could, called the police, alerted the newspapers, even tried to take to battle himself, but by the time he'd gathered the courage to return to the Marina Safeway, it had been finished, and he could do nothing more than speculate to the uniformed police officers how the window had been broken and why the store was empty. They'd tried to track down the night crew, but none of them seemed to be home. And his city was plagued by vampires. Now the Emperor wept and consoled the troops, rubbing Bummer behind the ears and gently patting Lazarus on the ribs as he lay sleeping on the dock. The fog was coming slow off the Bay tonight, not windblown like it was so often here. He heard footsteps before he saw them, then there were five of them. The fiend, the three in the long coats he had seen come in the night before, and a blond woman in a blue party dress. They walked past, and only the fiend turned and paused. The Emperor held Bummer tight, afraid that he would burst into one of his barking fits and all would be lost. â€Å"Old man,† said Elijah. â€Å"The City is yours again.† Then he joined the others at the end of the dock. The Emperor could see their motor yacht waiting outside the breakwater – it had to be two hundred feet long, far too big to enter the marina. â€Å"Very well, then, shall we go?† said Elijah. â€Å"Can I get a coat like that?† asked Blue, nodding toward the tall blond man. The blond man said, â€Å"You'll get one when you learn the secret handshake and get your decoder ring.† Blue looked at Elijah. â€Å"Is he fuckin' with me?† â€Å"Yes,† said Elijah. He offered her his arm. She took it, and stepped down into the longboat. The Emperor watched the vampires disappear into the fog. Rivera had six uniforms in SWAT gear with a battering ram ready to take down the door, so he and Cavuto were more than somewhat surprised when it opened almost as soon as they knocked. A shirtless, sleepy-looking Chinese guy with spiky hair stood in the doorway. â€Å"Yes, can I help you?† Rivera held up the warrant. â€Å"I have a warrant to search this apartment.† † ‘Kay,† said the Chinese guy. â€Å"Abby, cops are here.† The skinny broken clown girl appeared at the top of the stairs in a kimono. â€Å"Hey, cops,† said Abby Normal. â€Å"What are you doing here?† Rivera said. â€Å"I live here, cop.† She popped the p. Rivera hated that. â€Å"Actually, it's my apartment,† said the Chinese guy. â€Å"Do you need to see ID?† â€Å"Yeah, that would be nice, kid,† said Cavuto. He whipped the kid around and marched him up the stairs as the kid read the warrant. â€Å"Do not bruise the Foo, cop,† said the broken clown girl. Rivera turned to the uniforms and shrugged apologetically. â€Å"Sorry, guys, I guess we got this one.† They shuffled away. â€Å"What are you guys looking for?† asked the Chinese kid. â€Å"Maybe we could speed this up.† â€Å"We're looking for Thomas Flood and Jody Stroud. He's the one on the lease for this apartment and the one down the street.† â€Å"Oh, yeah. I'm subletting,† said the Chinese kid. â€Å"Steven Wong,† Cavuto read off the kid's license. Rivera was feeling very, very bad about this. They had found one more body in the Mission with the blood-loss-and-broken-neck MO – the guy had been naked, supposedly someone had stolen his powder-blue tracksuit, so they logged it as robbery, but then, a week ago, the killings stopped. That didn't mean it was over. He'd made the mistake of thinking it was over with these two before. Rivera had finally gotten the Christian kid at the Safeway to file charges on the redhead for assault. After a long talk with the other stoners, they'd gotten the Flood kid on the arrest warrant for conspiracy. They'd also implied that somehow Flood and the redhead had gotten their share of the old vampire's money. Maybe they had left town. If they had, well, good, but he still had a slew of unsolved murders. â€Å"You're subletting from Thomas Flood?† â€Å"I never met him, actually,† said Steve. â€Å"We arranged it through the rental agent.† â€Å"Yeah, so step off, cop,† said the skinny girl. Rivera looked around the apartment. There was no need to tear the place apart. Obviously everything in here was new. Mostly decorated in Pier 1 Imports cheap wicker motif and some punky Urban Outfitter flair, which he guessed was the input of the creepy little girl. The bronze sculptures were out of character, though. A life-sized nude of a young woman, a large snapping turtle, and a life-sized bronze of a couple posed as if in Rodin's The Kiss. â€Å"These must have been expensive,† Rivera said. â€Å"Not really. I know the artists,† the Chinese kid said. â€Å"Some biker guys down the street.† â€Å"Foo's in biotech,† said the broken clown girl. â€Å"He makes like stupid money, cop.† â€Å"Yeah, that's swell,† said Rivera. He'd watched this neighborhood turn from a rust slum of repair shops and the odd ethnic restaurant to a gentrified hive of hipster professionals in remodeled lofts during the dot-com boom, and it had never turned back. The whole neighborhood was full of kids who spent the equivalent of Rivera's annual salary on a car they wouldn't drive a dozen times a year. This kid apparently was just another one. â€Å"So you don't know these people?† Rivera said, pointing to the warrant. Steven Wong shook his head. â€Å"Sorry, I've never met them. I send my rent directly to the rental agency. You might check with them.† â€Å"Okay then. Sorry to bother you.† â€Å"Okay then?† Cavuto said. â€Å"That's it?† â€Å"They're not here, Nick. These two don't know where they are.† â€Å"But, that's not enough.† â€Å"Yeah? You want to spend some time talking to Allison here, see what you can find out?† Rivera nodded toward the broken clown girl. Cavuto had tried to keep someone between himself and the skinny girl since they'd come upstairs, but now he looked at her full on and shuddered. â€Å"No, I guess that's it.† He turned and lumbered down the steps. â€Å"You need to check your girlfriend's ID,† Rivera said to Steve. â€Å"You may not be old enough for her.† Then he turned and left as well. â€Å"Chill, Foo,† Abby said. â€Å"They're gone. They won't be back. Let's go shopping.† â€Å"Abby, are you sure about this? It seems cruel.† He patted the life-sized sculpture of the couple embraced in a kiss. â€Å"I heard the Countess say once that it was like being in a dream. They just sort of float, all peaceful and dreamy. The main thing is they're together.† â€Å"You're sure?† â€Å"Theirs is the greatest love of all time. It would be wrong for them to be apart, Foo.† â€Å"Well, I think we should just change them back. Now that we know the process works.† â€Å"Someday.† â€Å"Now.† â€Å"The Countess doesn't want that.† â€Å"It's wrong.† â€Å"How can it be wrong? It's my idea, and I am their dedicated minion and whatnot. I control the dark.† She ran and jumped into his arms. â€Å"I guess you do,† he said. â€Å"Okay, let's go shopping for stuff for our most fly apartment.† William arrived back at the loft just after dark, feeling very much rested and well fed from his hospital stay, but craving a sip or two of the good stuff, and terribly worried about Chet. He let himself into the stairway with his key, but when he rang the bell, no one answered, so he sat down to wait for the redhead and that guy to bring his bottle. He hadn't been there ten minutes before he heard the meowing at the door, and his heart leapt as he opened the outer door to find Chet, his red sweater still intact, purring outside. â€Å"Come on, boy. I missed you, buddy.† William scooped up his kitty and carried him into the stairwell. As soon as the door closed, Chet, the huge shaved vampire cat, was upon him.