The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 9~10

Nine When Mikey â€Å"the Collector† Plotznik wheeled into town and saw that the Texaco station had blown up, leaving a charred circle two hundred yards wide around it, he knew that it was going to be a great day. It was a shame about the burger stand going up too, and he'd miss their spicy fries, but hey, you don't often get to see the toasting of a major landmark like the Texaco. The fire was all out now, but several firemen were still sifting through the wreck-age. The Collector waved to them as he wheeled by. They waved back, somewhat reticently, for the Collector's reputation preceded him and made them nervous. Today would be the day, Mikey thought. The Texaco was an omen, the star in the sky over his lifelong dream. Today he'd catch Molly Michon naked, and when he did (and brought back the proof), his reputation would grow to mythic proportions. He patted the disposable camera he carried in the front pouch of his hooded sweatshirt. Oh yes, he'd have evidence to back up his story. They would believe him – and bow to him. At this point in his life, the Collector was more interested in explosions than in naked women. He was only ten, and it would be a couple of years before his interests moved to girls. Freud never identified a stage of devel-opment known as â€Å"pyrotechnic fascination,† but that was only because there wasn't an abundant supply of disposable lighters in nineteenth-cen-tury Vienna. Ten-year-old boys blow shit up. It's what they do. But today a strange new feeling had come over Mikey, a feeling he couldn't put a word to, but if he could, the word would have been â€Å"horny.† As he Rollerbladed through town, tossing the Los Angeles Times into the shrubs and gutters of businesses along Cypress Street, he felt a tightness in his shorts that until now he had associated with having to take a raging pee in the morning. Today it signified a need to see the Crazy Lady in a state of undress. Paperboys are the carriers of preadolescent myth. On every paper route, there is a haunted house, a kid-eating dog, an old woman who tips with twenties, and a woman who answers the door in the nude. Mikey had never actually seen any of these things, but that never stopped him from spinning wild stories for his buddies at school. Today he would get proof, he could feel it in his loins. He skated down the driveway into the Fly Rod Trailer Court, chucked a paper into the rose bushes in front of Mr. Nunez's trailer, then made a beeline for the Crazy Lady's house. He could see a blue glow coming through her windows, a TV. She was home and awake. Yes! He pulled up a couple of doors down and noticed that a new trailer had moved in next to the Crazy Lady. A new customer? Why not give it a try? The Crazy Lady didn't receive the paper, so his pretense for knocking on her door was to get her to subscribe. He could practice on these new people. As he skated up to the front door of the new trailer, lights came on in the two front windows. Yes! Someone was home. Strange curtains – they looked like cat's eyes. Through a part in the curtains, Molly watched the kid come down the road into the trailer park. She liked kids, but she didn't like this kid. At least once a week he knocked on her door and tried to get her to subscribe to the paper, and once a week she told him to go away and never come back. Sometimes he would bring one of his little buddies along. She could hear them skulking around her trailer, trying to peek in the windows. â€Å"Swear to God, she's got a dead guy in there that she does it with. I've seen him. And she ate a kid once.† The kid was heading for the monster trailer. In the background, a videotape was playing on her TV – Mechanized Death: Warrior Babe VII – and THE SCENE was coming up. Molly looked away from the window and watched THE SCENE for the thousandth time. Kendra is standing in the back of a jeep, manning a rack of net guns as the jeep pursues the Evil Warlord across the desert. The driver turns, as he is supposed to, throwing up a fishtail of dust, but the front wheel of the jeep hits a rock and the jeep rolls. Kendra is thrown fifty feet in the air and lands in a heap. The steel bra she is wearing cuts deep into her chest and blood sprays out across the dust. The bastards! Every time she watches THE SCENE she can't believe the bastards left it in. The accident was real, the blood was Molly's, and when she returned to the set ten days later, a security guard escorted her to the producer's trailer. â€Å"I can pay you extra's wages as a mutant,† the producer said, â€Å"but let's face it, babe, you didn't get your billing because of your acting ability. You think I'm gonna hold up filming for ten days when the whole schedule is only three weeks long? We got a new Kendra. Wrote the accident and the facial reconstruction into the script. She's a cyborg now. Now you can get in line with the mutants to pick up your bag of rags, or you can get the fuck off the set. My audience wants perfect bodies, and you were getting up there anyway. With that scar you don't sell anymore.† Molly had just turned twenty-seven years old. She pulled herself from THE SCENE and looked out the window again. The kid was there, right there in front of the monster trailer. She should warn him or something. She pounded on the window and the kid looked up, not startled, but with a dreamy expression on his face. Molly gestured for him to move away. The window she was looking out of didn't open. (Trailers built in those days were designed so people would burn up in case of a fire. The manufacturers thought it would keep the lawsuits down.) The kid just stood there, his fist poised before the door as if he were frozen in the middle of knocking. As Molly watched, the door began to open. Not on the hinges, but vertically, like a garage door. Molly pounded furiously on the window with the hilt of her sword. The kid smiled. A huge red tongue snaked out of the door, wrapped around the kid, and slurped him in, Rollerblades, paper satchel, and all. Molly screamed. The door slammed shut. Molly watched, stunned, not knowing what to do. A few seconds later the mouth opened and expectorated a soccer-ball-sized wad of newspaper. Theo The hours of Theo's day had moved like slugs crawling on razor wire. By four in the afternoon, he felt as if he'd been awake for a week and the cups of French roast he'd been drinking had turned to foaming acid in his stomach. Mercifully, there hadn't been a single call for a bar fight or do-mestic dispute, so he had spent the entire day at the scene of the fuel truck explosion, talking to firemen, representatives from Texaco Oil, and an arson investigator sent up from the San Junipero Fire Department. Much to his surprise, going all day without a hit from his Sneaky Pete pot pipe had not sent him into fits of anxiety as it usually did. He was a little paranoid, but he wasn't sure that that wasn't just an informed response to the world anyway. At a quarter past four, the arson investigator crossed the charred parking lot to where Theo was leaning on the hood of his Volvo. The investigator was in his late twenties, clean-cut, and carried himself like an athlete, even in the orange toxic waste suit. He carried a plastic space helmet under his arm like a tumorous football. â€Å"Constable Crowe, I think that's about all I can do today. It'll be dark soon, and as long as we keep the area closed off, I'm sure everything will still be here in the morning.† â€Å"What's your call so far? â€Å"Well, we generally look for evidence of accelerants, gas, kerosene, paint thinner – and I'd say there were definitely some flammable liquids involved here.† He smiled a weary smile. â€Å"So you don't know what happened?† â€Å"Offhand, I'd say a fuel truck blew up, but without further investigation I'd hate to make a commitment at this time.† Again the smile. Theo smiled back. â€Å"So no cause?† â€Å"The driver probably didn't seal the hose correctly and a cloud of fumes got set off. There wasn't much wind last night, so the fumes would have just clung to the ground and built up. Anything could have set it off: the driver could have been smoking, the pilot lights at the hamburger place, a spark in the truck exhaust. Right now I'd say it was totally accidental. It was a company-owned store, and it was turning a profit, so there really isn't a financial motive for arson. Texaco will definitely be building your town a new burger stand and probably paying off some nuisance settlements from people claiming trauma, duress, and irritation.† â€Å"I have the information on the driver,† Theo said. â€Å"I'll check to see if he was a smoker.† â€Å"I asked him. He's keeping quiet† came a voice from a few yards away. Theo and the arson investigator looked up to see Vance McNally coming toward them holding up a Ziploc bag full of white and gray powder. â€Å"I've got him right here,† the EMT said. â€Å"You want to interrogate him?† â€Å"Very funny, Vance,† Theo said. â€Å"They're going to have to do the autopsy with a flour sifter,† Vance said. The investigator took the Ziploc from Vance and examined it. â€Å"You find any remains of a cigarette lighter? Anything like that?† â€Å"Not my job,† Vance said. â€Å"The fire was so hot it turned the seat springs to liquid. Even incinerated the bones, except for those little bits of calcium in there. Honestly, this might not all be our boy. We might be giving his wife a bag full of burnt-up truck parts to put in an urn on the mantel.† The investigator shrugged and handed the bag back to Vance. Then to Theo he said, â€Å"I'm going home. I'll come back tomorrow and look around some more. As soon as I give the okay, the oil company will send in a crew to drain the ground tanks.† â€Å"Thanks,† Theo said. The investigator left in a county car. Vance McNally turned the Ziploc bag of truck driver in the air. â€Å"Theo, this ever happens to me, I want you to get all my friends together, have a big party, and snort me, okay?† â€Å"You have friends, Vance?† â€Å"Okay, it was just an idea,† Vance said. He turned and carried his bag to the waiting ambulance. Theo sipped his coffee and noticed something moving in the charred brush beyond the Texaco. It looked as if someone was holding up a TV antenna and getting altogether too close to the yellow tape he had run around the perimeter. Jeez, was he going to have to stay here all night guarding the scene? He pried himself off the Volvo and headed for the offender. â€Å"Hey there!† Theo called. Gabe Fenton, the biologist, emerged from the brush, indeed holding up some kind of antenna, followed by his Labrador retriever, Skinner. The dog ran to meet Theo and greeted him with two muddy paw prints on the chest. Theo rubbed Skinner's ears to hold him at bay, the classic slobbering Labrador control move. â€Å"Gabe, what in the hell are you doing down here?† The biologist was covered with burrs and foxtails, his face striped with soot from the charred brush. He looked exhausted, yet there was a note of excitement bordering on ecstasy in his voice. â€Å"You won't believe this, Theo. My rats moved en masse this morning.† Theo tried, but couldn't match Gabe's enthusiasm. â€Å"That's swell, Gabe. Texaco blew up last night.† Gabe Fenton looked around at the surrounding area as if seeing the destruction for the first time. â€Å"What time?† â€Å"About four in the morning.† â€Å"Hmmm, maybe they sensed it.† â€Å"They?† â€Å"The rats. Around 2 A.M. they all started moving west. I can't figure out what caused it. Here, look at the screen.† Gabe had a laptop computer strapped into a harness around his waist. He turned it so Theo could see the screen. â€Å"Each of these dots represents an animal I have implanted with a tracking chip. Here's their location at 1 A.M.† He clicked a key and the screen drew a topographical map of the area. Green dots were scattered pretty much evenly along the creek bed and the business district of Pine Cove. Gabe hit another key. â€Å"Now here they are at two.† All but a few of the dots had moved into the ranchland east of Pine Cove. â€Å"Uh-huh,† Theo said. Gabe was a nice guy. Spent too much time with vermin, but he was a nice guy. Gabe needs to talk to humans occasionally, Theo thought. â€Å"Well, don't you see? They all moved at once, except for these ten over here that moved to the shore.† â€Å"Uh-huh,† Theo said. â€Å"Gabe, the Texaco blew up. A guy was killed. I was talking to firemen in space suits all day. Every paper in the county has called me. The battery is almost out on my cell phone. I haven't eaten since yesterday and I only slept an hour last night. Help me find the significance in rat migration, okay?† Gabe looked crestfallen. â€Å"Well, I don't know the significance yet. I'm tracking the ten that didn't move east, hoping the anomalies will give a clue to the behavior of the larger group. Strange thing is, four of the ten disappeared off my screen a little after two. Even if they were killed, the chips should still transmit. I need to find them.† â€Å"And I wish you the best of luck, but this area may still be dangerous. You can't be here, buddy.† â€Å"Maybe there were fumes,† Gabe said. â€Å"But that doesn't explain why they all moved in the same direction. Some even came through this area from the shore.† Theo couldn't bear to express to Gabe how little he cared. â€Å"You had any dinner, Gabe?† â€Å"No, I've been doing this since last night.† â€Å"Pizza, Gabe. We need pizza and beer. I'll buy.† â€Å"But I need to†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You're a single guy, Gabe. You need pizza every eighteen hours or you can't function properly. And I have a question to ask you about footprints, but I want you to watch me drink a few beers before I ask so I can claim diminished capacity. Come, Gabe, let me take you to the land of pizza and beer.† Theo gestured to his Volvo. â€Å"You can stick the antenna out the sunroof.† â€Å"I guess I could take a break.† Theo opened the passenger door and Skinner leapt into the car, leaving sooty paw prints on the seat. â€Å"Your dog needs pizza. It's the humane thing to do.† â€Å"Okay,† Gabe said. â€Å"I want to show you something over by the creek bed.† â€Å"What.† â€Å"A footprint. Or what's left of one.† Ten minutes later they sat over frosty mugs of beer at Pizza in the Pines, Pine Cove's only pizza parlor. They'd taken a window table so Gabe could keep an eye on Skinner, who was bouncing up and down outside, giving them an ever-changing view of the street, then the street with dog face (ears akimbo), then the street, then the street with dog face again. Other than to order a beer, Gabe Fenton hadn't said a word since they'd gone to the creek bed. â€Å"Will he just keep doing that?† Theo asked. â€Å"Until we take him a slice of pizza, yes.† â€Å"Amazing.† Gabe shrugged. â€Å"He's a dog.† â€Å"Always the biologist.† â€Å"One needs to keep the mind limber.† â€Å"Well, what do you think?† â€Å"I think that you obliterated most of what you thought was a footprint.† â€Å"Gabe, it was a footprint. A talon or something.† â€Å"There are a thousand explanations for a depression in the mud like that, Theo, but one of them is not an animal track.† â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"Well, for one, there hasn't been anything that large on this continent for about sixty million years, and for another, animals tend to leave more than one track, unless it's a creature especially adapted for hopping.† Gabe grinned. The flying dog head pogoed by the windowsill. â€Å"There were a lot of people and vehicles around there, the other tracks might have been wiped out.† â€Å"Theo, don't let your imagination run away with you. You've had a long day and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"And I'm a pothead.† â€Å"I wasn't going to say that.† â€Å"I know, I'm saying it. Tell me about your rats. What will you do when you find them?† â€Å"Well, first I'm going to keep searching for the stimulus of their behavior, then I'll catch a few of the group that migrated and compare their brain chemistry to those that headed toward the shore.† â€Å"Does that hurt them?† â€Å"You have to blend up their brains and run the liquid in a centrifuge.† â€Å"I guess so then.† The waitress brought their pizza and Gabe was severing cables of cheese from his first slice when Theo's cell phone rang. The constable listened for a second, then stood and dug into his pocket for money. â€Å"I've got to go, Gabe.† â€Å"What's up?† â€Å"The Plotznik kid is missing. No one's seen him since he left on his paper route this morning.† â€Å"Probably hiding. That kid is evil. He rigged up something with his remote control car that affected the chips in my rats once. I spent three weeks trying to figure out why they were running figure eights in the parking lot outside the grocery story before I found him lurking in the weeds with the controller.† â€Å"I know,† Theo said. â€Å"Mikey told me that if he wired ten of your rats together, he could pick up the Discovery Channel. I still have to find him. He has parents.† â€Å"Skinner is a pretty good tracker. Want to take him?† â€Å"Thanks, but I doubt that the kid had a pizza in his pocket.† Theo folded his phone, snagged a slice of pizza for the road, and headed out the door. Ten Val Riordan leaned against her office door, trying to catch her breath and maintain her temper. Nothing in her clinical experience compared to the sessions she held on the day after the Texaco exploded. She had seen twenty patients in ten hours, and every one of them had wanted to talk about sex. And not abstract sex either, not issues or attitudes about sex, just squishy, thumping sex itself. It was unnerving. She'd anticipated a spike in libido among her patients (it was a common symptom of withdrawal from antidepressants), but the books said not more than five to fifteen percent would have a reaction – about the same number that experienced a loss of libido upon taking the drugs. But today she'd hit one hundred percent. It was as if she were running a kennel for hopeless horndogs rather than a psychiatric practice. After the last patient, she'd come out of her office to find her new receptionist, Chloe, furiously masturbating, her feet hooked into the edge of the desk, her steno chair squeaking like a tortured squirrel. Val had excused herself, turned on her heel, walked back into her office, and shut the door. Chloe, twenty-one, had maroon hair, an entire wardrobe rendered in black, and a sapphire nose ring. Val had begun treating the girl in her teens for bulimia, then hired her when the volume of appointments skyrocketed after the placebo went into effect. Chloe worked in exchange for therapy; Val had thought it would be a good financial move. Frankly, she'd liked her better when she just threw up a lot. Val was still trying to figure out exactly what to do when there was a soft knock on the door. â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"Sorry,† Chloe said through the door. â€Å"Uh, Chloe, that is not appropriate office behavior.† â€Å"Well, your last appointment had left. I thought that you would be working on your notes or something for a while. I'm really sorry.† â€Å"That's it? My last appointment leaves, so let the wild rumpus begin?† â€Å"Am I fired?† Val thought for a second. There were twenty more patients to see tomorrow and twenty the day after that. If the weirdness didn't kill her, the workload would. She couldn't afford to lose Chloe now. â€Å"No, you're not fired. But please, no more of that in the office.† â€Å"Do you have time to talk? I know my next session isn't until next week, but I really need to talk to you.† â€Å"Wouldn't you prefer to go home and, uh, think about things?† â€Å"You mean finish? No, I'm finished for now. That's what I want to talk to you about. That wasn't the first time today.† Val gulped. It was highly unprofessional to talk to a patient through a door. She steeled herself and opened it. â€Å"Come in.† She returned to her desk without looking at the girl. Chloe took a seat across from her. â€Å"So this wasn't the first time today?† Val was the psychotherapist now, not the boss. If she'd been the boss, she would have come over the desk and strangled the little slut. â€Å"No, I can't seem to get enough. I, well, it started about two in the morning, and I went straight though until time to get ready for work. Then once or twice while each patient was in session.† Val's jaw dropped. Sixteen hours of intermittent masturbation? The other patients she had seen had cited two in the morning as when their sexual adventures had started too. She said, â€Å"And how do you feel about that?† â€Å"I feel okay. My wrist hurts a little. Do you think I could have carpal tunnel?† â€Å"Chloe, if you think that you're going to file a workmen's compensation claim for this†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No no no, I just want to stop.† â€Å"Did something happen to set this off? Something at two in the morning? A dream perhaps?† Her other patients had described various sexual dreams. Winston Krauss, the pharmacist with the sexual obsession for marine mammals, confessed to dreaming of having sex with a blue whale, riding it through the depths like Ahab with a hard-on. Upon awakening, he'd abused his inflatable Flipper until it would no longer hold air. Chloe shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Her long maroon hair hid her face. â€Å"I dreamed I was having sex with a tank truck, and it blew up.† â€Å"A tank truck?† â€Å"I came.† â€Å"Sexual dreams are completely normal, Chloe.† Right, a tank truck? That's normal. â€Å"Tell me, was there fire in your dream?† Pyromaniacs de-rived sexual pleasure from setting and watching fires. That's how they caught them, look in the crowd for a grinning guy with a woody and gas stains on his shoes. â€Å"No, no fire. I woke up at the explosion. Val, what's wrong with me? All I want to do is, you know, do it.† â€Å"And you feel that you might do something impulsive?† Chloe put on her cynical Goth-girl face. â€Å"If you mean something like buffing the muffin while I'm at work, yes, Dr. Riordan, I'm a little worried. Can't you adjust my medication or something?† There it was. In the past, that would have been the answer. Increase the Prozac to eighty milligrams, about four times the dose for the average de-pressed patient, and let the side effect of reduced libido do the work. Val had used the method to treat a nymphomaniac when she was an intern and it had worked marvelously. But what now? Duct tape oven mitts to her receptionist's hands? Although her typing probably wouldn't suffer much, it might make the patients nervous. Val said. â€Å"Chloe, masturbation is a natural thing. Everyone does it. But obviously there are appropriate times and places. Perhaps you should just cut back. Allow yourself to masturbate as a reward for controlling your urges.† Chloe's face went slack. â€Å"Cut down? I'm worried about driving home safely. I have a stick shift. I need both hands to drive, but I don't think I'm going to have them. Do you have a patch you can prescribe, like they do for smoking?† â€Å"A patch?† Val suppressed a laugh. She imagined a twitching, moaning line of people around the block at the pharmacy, there to pick up their prescriptions for the orgasm patch. It would make heroin look like Gummi Bears. â€Å"No, there's no patch, Chloe. You're just going to have to try to control yourself. I have a feeling that this is a side effect of your medication. It should pass in a day or two. I want to hear more about this dream of yours. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?† Chloe stood, obviously not satisfied with the help her therapist was offering, which was none. â€Å"I'll try.† She left the office, closing the door behind her. Val let her head fall to the desk. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, why didn't I go into pathology? she thought. It would be so peaceful sitting around, boiling up beakers of urine and culturing bugs. No wackos. No stress. Okay, occasionally you'd be exposed to some deadly anthrax spores, but at least other people's sex lives stay in the bedroom and the tabloids where they belong. Her appointment with Martin and Lisbeth Luder rose in her head. They were in their seventies, had been in counseling because they hadn't had a decent conversation since 1958, and today they had come in and dumped a half hour of explicit sexual narrative on her, an account of perversions they'd indulged in the night before, starting at around 2 A.M. The visual conjured in Val's mind – all that parched, wrinkled flesh in furious fric-tion – culminated in flames, as if some giant cosmic Boy Scout had decided to rub two old people together to make a fire. The worst of it, the absolute worst of it, is that she'd found herself getting turned on while listening. She'd had to change her panties between appointments four times today. She considered pouring herself a hefty tumbler of brandy and settling down in front of the television, but that wasn't going to do it. Batteries; she needed four C-cell batteries and she needed them now. Then it was time to dig through her lingerie drawers and find a long-forgotten friend – and hope that it still worked. Molly Long past dark and Molly was still staring though the gap in the curtains at the trailer that ate the kid. The problem with being nuts, she thought, is that you don't always feel as if you're nuts. Sometimes, in fact, you feel perfectly sane, and there just happens to be a trailer-shaped dragon crouching in the lot next door. Not that she was ready to go out and pro-claim that fact to anyone, because no matter how sane you feel, some stuff just sounds too crazy. So she watched, still wearing her Warrior Babe outfit, hoping someone else would come along and notice. Around eight, someone did. She saw Theophilus Crowe going from door to door in the park. He came into view two trailers down at the Morales home, spoke briefly with Mr. Morales at the door, then headed for the dragon trailer. Molly was torn. She liked Theo. Yes, he'd taken her to County once or twice, but he'd always been kind to her – warned her about the guy in the day room who cheated at Parcheesi by eating the marbles. And he never spoke to her like she was a crazy woman. Theo was a fan. As Theo was raising his black Mag lite to tap on the dragon trailer's door, Molly saw the two windows on the end slowly open, revealing the cat'seye pupils. Theo obviously didn't see them. He was looking at his shoes. She threw up the aluminum sash and shouted, â€Å"They're not home!† The constable turned toward Molly. â€Å"Just a second,† she said. She bolted out the door of her trailer and stopped by the street where Theo could see her. â€Å"They aren't home. Come here a second,† she repeated. Theo tucked his Mag lite into his belt. â€Å"Molly, how are you?† â€Å"Fine, fine, fine. I need to talk to you, okay? Over here, okay?† She didn't want to tell him why. what if the eyes weren't there? What if it was just a trailer? She'd be on her way to County in a heartbeat. â€Å"They're not home then?† Theo said, pointing over his shoulder to the dragon trailer. He was staring at her now, at the same time trying not to stare. He had a goofy grin on his face, the same sort Molly had seen on the kid right before he got slurped. â€Å"Nope, gone all day.† â€Å"What's with the sword? Oh shit! She forgot she'd grabbed the sword on the way out. â€Å"I was just making some stir-fry. Chopping up some veggies.† â€Å"That ought to do it.† â€Å"Broccoli stems,† she said, as if that explained everything. He was looking at the leather bikini, and she watched his eyes stop on the scar above her breast, then look away. She covered the scar with her hand. â€Å"One of my old Kendra costumes. Everything else is in the dryer.† â€Å"Sure. Hey, you don't get the Times, do you?† â€Å"Nope. Why?† â€Å"The kid that delivers it, Mikey Plotznik, left for his route this morning and no one has seen him since. Looks like the last paper he delivered was a few doors down. You didn't happen to see him, did you?† â€Å"About ten, blond kid, Rollerblades? Kinda evil?† â€Å"That's him.† â€Å"Nope, haven't seen him.† She watched the eyes of the dragon trailer close behind Theo and took a deep breath. â€Å"You seem a little tense, Molly. You okay?† â€Å"Fine, fine, just wanted to get back to my stir-fry. You hungry?† â€Å"Did Val Riordan get hold of you?† â€Å"Yep, she called. I'm not nuts.† â€Å"Of course not. I'd like you to keep an eye out for this kid, Molly. One of his buddies fessed up that Mikey had a little bit of an obsession with you.† â€Å"Me? No kidding?† â€Å"He might be creeping around your trailer.† â€Å"Really?† â€Å"If you see him, give me a call, would you? His folks are worried about him.† â€Å"I'll do that.† â€Å"Thanks. And ask your neighbors when they get home, would you?† â€Å"You betcha.† Molly realized he was stalling. Just staring at her with that goofy grin on his face. â€Å"They just moved in. I don't know them very well, but I'll ask.† â€Å"Thanks.† He said, still just standing there, like a twelve-year-old ready to make an assault on the wall-flowers at his first dance. â€Å"I'd better go, Theo. I have broccoli in the dryer.† No, she had wanted to say she had to get back to dinner, or to her laundry, not both. â€Å"Okay. See ya.† She ran into her trailer, slammed the door, and leaned against it. Through the window she could see the dragon trailer open an eye and close it quickly. She could have sworn it was winking at her. Theo A niggling voice in Theo's head told him that finding the Crazy Lady attractive – extremely attractive – was an indicator that he was less than sane himself. On the other hand, he didn't feel that bad about it. He didn't feel bad about anything, not since he'd walked into the trailer park anyway. He had to deal with an explosion, a lost kid, the recent increase in general nuttiness in town – a virtual shit storm of responsibility – but he didn't feel all that bad. And in that moment outside of Molly's trailer, reflecting and waiting for the tide of lust to ebb, he realized that he hadn't smoked any pot all day. Strange. Normally this long without nursing from his Sneaky Pete and his skin would be crawling. He was heading back to his Volvo to resume the search for the lost boy when his cell phone rang. Sheriff John Burton didn't say hello. â€Å"Get to a land line,† Burton said. â€Å"I'm in the middle of trying to find a lost kid,† Theo replied. â€Å"A land line now, Crowe. My private line. You have five minutes.† Theo drove to a pay phone outside the Head of the Slug Saloon and checked his watch. When fifteen minutes had passed, he dialed Burton's number. â€Å"I said five minutes.† â€Å"Yes, you did.† Theo smiled to himself in spite of Burton's tone, which was on the verge of screaming. â€Å"No one goes on the ranch, Crowe. The lost kid is not on the ranch, do you hear me?† â€Å"It's standard procedure to search all the ranchland. Emergency services has the area gridded out. We have to cover the whole grid. I was going to call in some deputies to help us. The volunteer fire guys are exhausted from the explosion this morning.† â€Å"No. None of my guys. Don't call the Highway Patrol or the CCC either. And no aircraft. If the grid on the ranch has to be checked off, then check it off. No one goes on that land, is that clear?† â€Å"And what if the kid actually is on the ranch. You're talking about a thousand acres of pasture and forest that won't be searched.† â€Å"Oh bullshit, the kid is probably in a tree house somewhere with a stack of Playboys. He's only been missing for what, twelve hours?† â€Å"What if he's not?† There was silence on the line for a moment. Theo waited, watching three new couples leave the Head of the Slug in less than a minute. New couples: in Pine Cove everyone knew who everyone else was dating, and these were people who didn't go together. Not that unusual a phenomenon perhaps on a Friday night at 2 A.M., but this was Wednesday, and it was barely eight o'clock. Maybe he wasn't the only one feeling a wave of horniness. The couples were groping each other as if trying to get all the foreplay out of the way before they reached the car. Burton came back on the line. â€Å"I'll see that the ranchland is searched and call you if they find the kid. But I want to be the first to know if you find him.† â€Å"That it?† â€Å"Find that little fucker, Crowe.† Burton hung up. Theo got into his Volvo and drove to his cabin at the edge of the ranch. There were at least twenty citizen volunteers searching for Mikey Plotznik. The effort could spare him long enough to catch a shower and change his smoke-saturated clothes. As he parked the Volvo, an expensive, tricked-out red pickup truck pulled into the ranch entrance and rolled slowly by. As they passed, a Hispanic man sitting in the bed laughed and saluted Theo with the barrel of an AK-47 assault rifle. Theo looked away and walked to the dark cabin, wishing that there was someone there waiting for him.

Is Hip-Hop Culture Harming Our Youth?

Is Hip-Hop Culture Harming Our Youth? Hip-hop culture is everywhere. The culture, which encompasses rapping, deejaying, break-dancing and graffiti-writing, has become so popular that it has entered mainstream fashion and modern language. It doesn't stop there. The culture permeates everything from TV commercials to toys to video games. Currently, there is even a hip-hop exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. You name it, and hip hop is there representing. However, hip hop's most potent form is its rap music–embraced by urban Blacks and suburban Whites alike.It is raw self-expression that sometimes features profane lyrics, misogyny and violence. The music, along with rap videos that often present a disturbing mix of rap, hip-hop dance styles, fashion and language, leave many people asking: â€Å"Is hip-hop culture harming our youth? â€Å". â€Å"The hip-hop culture is just like electricity,† civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton told JET. â€Å"It can be used nega tively or positively. The same electric current that lights up your house can also electrocute you.It is the misuse of hip-hop culture to attack our women and promote violence. We must encourage the proper use of hip-hop culture. We are all influenced by the hip-hop generation. † Sharpton, who recently hosted a special summit on social responsibility in the hip-hop industry, labeled gangsta rappers â€Å"well-paid slaves. † Advertisement â€Å"Don't let some record executive tell you that cursing out your mama is in style. Anytime you perpetuate a slave mentality that desecrates women and that desecrates our race in the name of a record†¦. I consider you a well-paid slave. Sharpton labeled the fashion of these rappers–loose-fitting pants and sneakers without shoelaces–prison clothes. Sharpton was joined at the summit by some of the industry's superstars, including Master P, Sean â€Å"Puffy† Combs, Chuck D and RZA. No Limit Records' CEO-rapper Master P apologetically admitted that some of his lyrics might be offensive to women. â€Å"Everything that came from me like that came out of ignorance. I hope to edit myself in the future,† he reportedly said during the event. However, he asserted, â€Å"I don't believe any form of entertainment is harming our youth.It is up to parents to raise their own children and teach them. Blaming entertainment is a scapegoat. † Dr. C. DeLores Tucker, chair of the National Political Congress of Black Women, Inc. , who has been a strong critic of hip-hop culture for more than a decade, continues to cite its reported negative influence over our youth. â€Å"The glorification of pornography, wanton disregard for civil authority, misogynistic disrespect for women and a penchant for violence are the unintended impact of hip-hop culture on today's youth,† the activist revealed. I say unintended, because hip hop †¦ was intended to celebrate the revival of the age-old rhym ed recitations of life's problems and aspirations set to music. † Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, some unscrupulous elements hijacked this influential conduit to our youth and loaded it with the evil and debasing, hate-driven messages in the lyrics we now know as gangsta rap. Hence the artistry of the rappers in the streets is used by the gangstas in the suites to spread cultural garbage among our youth. Hip-hop music mogul Russell Simmons, who dubs himself the â€Å"grandfather of hip hop,† says the culture has been helpful in allowing others to understand Blacks' inner-city plight. â€Å"It is not going to go away. I will stand by the door to keep it from being censored. It is easy to try to put a lid on what you don't like. But the real test, if you are freedom-loving people, is to protect even that which we don't like from the censorship by the government,† he explained. He points out the positive contributions from the hip-hop culture. The slam poetr y settings evolved out of the hip-hop community. Some of it does not have any curse words. Young folks have found a way to express themselves that was really inspired by rap. Kids are writing. They are thinking; brilliant thoughts are coming out in this creative poetry. † Concludes Simmons, â€Å"The hip-hop culture will evolve in ways that will be known as a significant art. The rap artists are not the poets that they are yet to become, but they are indeed poets. â€Å"

Beowulf Essay Questions Example For Students

Beowulf Essay Questions A hero is defined in classical mythology as a man, especially the son of a god and a mortal, who is famous for possessing some extraordinary gift. Beowulf, the title character of an epic poem and Superman, a more modern day hero are both prime examples. Beowulf and Superman exhibit several differences, but they also share some similar qualities. Beowulf possessed great strength that separated him from other men. Being able to use a sword that no ordinary man was able to carry gives the feeling that Beowulf is something more than a human being. It makes him special and causes him to stand out from all other men. Fame is something that makes a hero more noted. Beowulfs popularity had spread all over the world. He never let this go to his head and he never thought that he was better than everyone else because of it. By engaging in this foolish contest, Beowulf nearly got himself killed trying to prove he was better than Brecca. Jealousy is never a good trait, especially for a hero. Reve nge is never a trait of a true hero. A hero has no scores to settle. A true hero should fight only to protect others and not out of his own rage. Also, with Beowulf being a human being, he was not invincible. Beowulf didnt realize this until he fought the dragon. He knew nothing of the dragon, its strengths, weaknesses or powers. Beowulf found out what the dragon was capable of and what its powers were. He knew that it could breathe fire, so he got a shield that would protect him. He planned his attack and thought it trough carefully. He was doubtful about himself and knew that this battle would be his last. Superman, also known as Clark Kent, is one of the most popular modern day hero(not as cool as Batman mind you but relates better to Beowulf). Superman spent most of his time saving people from natural disasters and corrupt businessmen. He would level slums to force the city to build decent housing, and he would use his powers to terrorize munitions makers and evil monsters. When Superman encounters Kryptonite for the first time it first appears as a green glowing substance, which Superman uses his powers on to trace its origin. Superman then pays for his discovery of Kryptonite when Luthor learns to synthesize it, causing it to be a very dangerous threat to superman. Gravity of Earth did not prove to be a good enough reason for Supermans powers, thus they attributed his super-senses to the yellow sun radiation, and his muscular strength, speed, and flight due to the Earths gravity. Due to the new explanation of his powers, Superman no longer had super powers on a world without a yellow sun. Lex Luthor and other villains began to create weapons that used red sun radiation which made Supermans life miserable. During the course of the battle for Truth and Justice, man and sword came together at last. Holding the sword, Superman found himself expanding, spreading across the winds of the universe. The entire history of creation flooded his mind, and his consciousness expanded as he became and all-seeing and all knowing protector. He then released the sword. The sword told him of his greatness, and then headed back into space waiting for him to retrieve it and fulfill his destiny. He had gone from being just one of many super-beings from a super-planet, to being one of the best heroes of the human race (Batman is the best). Beowulf and Superman exhibit several differences, but they also share some similar qualities. In our time, they are both considered to be extraordinary heroes.

Mgmt3010 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mgmt3010 - Essay Example 2. Staffing strategy is a term used to denote the long-term plan which provides direction to the organization regarding the staffing issue; the strategy focuses on the supply and demand of the staffing issue with the objective of ensuring that the organization is able to meet the demands of the required workforce. While staffing strategy is created for the longer run, staffing plans are created for the short run and these plans address staffing issues in the short run, the issues addressed are the shortage and surplus of staff members in the short run (Bechet 17). 3. There are two staffing levels, the deficit level, in which the number of staff members required and the kind of skills and abilities required by a company are not available to the company, the second level is staffing surplus when the number of required staff members is higher than the required number and the skills and abilities required are even in compliance with the desired skills and abilities required by the organization (Bechet 79). Staffing level can be determined in a quantitative manner in which emphasis is on the head count and the qualitative manner in which the emphasis is on desired skills and abilities. An organization achieves right staffing levels when their staff members have the desired skills and abilities and the headcount is equal or more than the desired amount of staff members. 4. Uncontrollable actions that arise while an organization develops its staffing model include voluntary turnover, retirement and losses caused as a result of employees taking planned leaves (Bechet 50). Voluntary turnover takes place when employees leave the organization out of their own will, retirements take place when employees reach a certain age and the organization no longer needs them and losses arise because the employee takes leave from the organization due

Drug testing in the public sector Research Paper

Drug testing in the public sector - Research Paper Example In this context we can refer to the research by the Ulster protestant, Brian Mawhinney, who was extremely against the application of mind altering drugs and considered it as highly immoral to provide syringes and needles for the purpose of treating the drug users. Mr. Mawhinney therefore conducted a survey for gathering data about the positive sides of those services and their role in preventing the infections from spreading. The research delivered results proving that genuine health related advantages can be gained through such services and consequently he started supporting the program. iFor further discussions on this issue it is necessary to go through the various thoughts and perceptions of the various researchers and their researches regarding drug testing particularly in the public sector. ... iolence, accidents and often lead to suicidal attempts that might give rise to long term absence from job, dropped level of performance, accidents and subsequently unemployment. Further the usage of illicit drugs causes psychiatric impairment and the injections used during drug intake can eventually spread communicable sickness like HIV and Hepatitis B and C.iii Illicit drug abuse proves to be a serious spoil for the health and safety of the drug addicts as well as the non addicts along with the society at large. For instance, the one who is driving a car and is under some drug influence, tends to cause accident to the passengers, pedestrians and the drivers of the other cars, and for this reason Drug Testing at the office especially in the public sectors must aim at trimming down the costs with respect to absenteeism, employee’s work life and productivity. According to the Quest Diagnostics director Barry Sample, â€Å"We all know how devastating a single accident can be whe n an impaired driver gets behind the wheel,†iv not only this, the work place should also try to eradicate drug abuse for the safety and security of the community.v The practice of drug testing is most widespread among the employees in responsive designations within the public sector, private transportation organizations and those dealing with the federal government.vi Role of Government CICAD plays a major role in the drug abuse eradication program specifically in the regions of Latin American and the United States. viiGovernment plays a crucial role in this regard since it is their duty to maintain and protect the society from any kind of abuse. In the year 1988, the Drug-Free Workplace Act had been passed by the congress government that ultimately gave rise to the Federal Workplace Drug Testing

The Emerge of Islam Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Emerge of Islam - Research Paper Example This resulted to civilization because it benefited the regions around for prosperity. It is arguable that the success of Islam in Palestine and Egypt is attributable to the effective administration that the Arabs employed in their conquered states. Religious accommodations largely influenced Islam in the ancient period thus establishing an empire that eventually spread to Egypt and Palestine among other countries. Egypt, for instance, since the beginning of the 700 A.D., embraced Islam to help define different features of its institutions and infrastructure. (Emon et al, p. 323). Additionally, Islam in Egypt found a public role in shaping the masses’ thinking and doctrines to aid them during the decision making periods. This was notable with the popularity of Islam amongst peasants and uneducated religious preachers in the rural areas unlike in the urban regions mostly inhabited by upper and upper middle class Muslims. According to these upper class Muslims, religion was a pri vate affair. In this perspective, it was upon the person to identify effective ways of supplicating before Allah. However, this negative attitude did not stop the rise of Islamic religious revival movements in the country. The movements eventually transcended class lines because they acted as a unifying factor in facing challenges such as inequality, poverty and oppression among others. By permitting women to receive education and conduct business unlike for Christians, Islam thrived immensely and affirmed its Empire in Egypt and Palestine among other states. Ancient and Historical Mosques found in Egypt. It is crucial to highlight of Arab unity that helped Muslims challenge the surrounding empires. The initial Islamic caliphs viewed conquests as a means of deflecting their control out of Arabia. There were powerful motives that transcended mere need for having new converts. Both the Persian and Byzantine Empire were strategic for attack, but the Persian Empire was an easier option. A powerful monarchy controlled the empire and suppressed the powerful occupants. The authorities instituted an imperial religion, Zoroastrianism, which attracted limited enthusiasm from the populace. The Arabs experienced limited resistance from the empire and this enabled the armies to oust all the emperors by 650 CE. The Byzantine Empire, in Egypt and Palestine, faced limited resistance from the subtle Christians. Furthermore, the Arabs possessed a special ability in naval wars. Islam’s development built an inherent strategy of uprooting civilizations (Roald and Longva, p. 63). The Romans and Greeks had helped entrench formidable political, economic, and cultural elements. For instance, in the Palestinian coasts, the Greek civilization was deeply rooted. These places were instrumental in the conquests’ struggle as the Arabs rose against the Byzantines. Gaza is a notable as an instrumental place in this struggle since it helped connect Palestine and Egypt (Hugh 88). Due to its strategic economic location, it became a major target for the conquering Islam forces. The conquests strove to retain the classical economic gains. After the defeat of the Byzantine forces at Yarmuk, the military triumph helped inspire

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Case Study Example Whilst the defendant may cite the absence of a legal statute that is binding in the contract, the terms of selling and buying as stipulated by eBay are open and very clear for all the participants to easily understand. Acknowledgement by all the participants is a mandatory requirement for participating. Whilst eBay would only facilitate the payment for the items sold between two parties, both of them would have agreed to the terms and conditions of the bid which is not entered into under any jurisdiction but where the highest bidder walks away with the item. Whilst some differences arose with the defendant arguing that he had not entered into a contract with the plaintiff after he had already made a 10 % payment, it seems that both parties were aware of the deal and the defendant had even given information to the effect that the plane had certificates of fitness and the highest amount of bid he expected. Surprisingly, the defendant’s sworn affidavit is silent about this payment which raises doubts. The plaintiff fulfilled all these terms and conditions stipulated in the conditions for eBay which may be folly for the defendant to argue that he is not legally bound to such a contract after kn owingly accepted the terms as provided by eBay which led Rein AJ to doubt his credibility. 5. The defendant argued that there was no binding and enforceable agreement between him and the plaintiff since he argued that it was only eBay which could remove him as a registered member which meant that he had no contract with the client since there is nothing binding if there is an issue of one party defaulting. He argued that the only contract that existed was between him and eBay and between the plaintiff and eBay again without direct relationship between the buyer and the seller. He also argued that placing an advert on eBay was just like placing it in any other classified sections of the press but it seems

Clear and Simple as the Truth in Dressing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Clear and Simple as the Truth in Dressing - Essay Example Meaning (p.59) that writing is thinking about the paper and thought is writing on the mind.   Before the ideology of the war tragedy come to be on the paper, it must be concrete in the writer’s mind, thus the time comes when the stylistic ability of the writer brings the war tragedy already written the mind to be as concrete as it should be. In what seems practical, thought proceeds speech, meaning that writing is not thinking, but rather the reverse is true. Keagan's war tragedy is written as a stylistic output of the written story in the mind of the writer that it becomes more concrete and tangible. Truly, a classic writer presents the concrete diamond and its aesthetic beauty as if both are visible, clear, and exact. Before the ideology of the war tragedy come to be on the paper, it must be concrete in the writer’s mind, thus the time comes when the stylistic ability of the writer brings the war tragedy already written the mind to be as concrete as it should be.

Lies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lies - Essay Example It is a fact that lying leads to more lies. When a person tells a lie for some reason, he/she needs to tell many other lies to cover that lie. Lies do not have any moral ground or proper base. Although lies can benefit people for a short span of time but their long-term effects are never good for them. It is because a person has to lie several times in life to cover one false statement given by that person in some earlier part of life. Another fact regarding lying is that it makes many other people lie to save the liar. A liar not only performs the immoral act of lying himself/herself but also makes his/her friends and family members perform the same act in order to get their cover to escape from the worse scenarios. Lying is really a waste of time and energy. A person who lies for some reason needs to remember that lie and perpetrate it in order to escape from any unexpected situation. Remembering a lie and making efforts to hide the truth regarding that lie forever is a very tiring job. Lies make the life of a person very difficult and troublesome instead of bringing any sort of long-term relief. A person needs to spend a good amount of time thinking how to hide the truth in future. Sometimes liars start believing that the lie that they have spoken is the ultimate truth. They start opposing the reality and a fight between right and wrong starts in their minds. They try to escape from the immorality of lying by opposing the truth and reality. However, they do not succeed in that and a sense of guilt injects in their minds forever. Lies also cause mistrust between true relationships. Lies inject doubt between the relationships, which decrease the degree of love, harmony, and respect that exists between the relationships. Lies create troubles not only for the liars but also for the people who are in some sort of relationship with the liars. Summing it up, lies put a number of negative effects

Othello Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Othello - Essay Example Othello totally believes in the concept of love with full commitment and nobility. He believes in the absolutes. lago subscribes to no particular thought and believes least in human beings. The book’s popularity can also be traced to its modern nature. At the core of intrigue is the very realisation that the play is matter of a private life affair than the other great tragedies. This impression is supported in a number of ways. Othello is a depiction of modern life as the drama depicts contemporary life. The characters appear very close to the readers than in Hamlet or Lear. Many people will realise that Othello employs a sense of beauty that is not available in most plays of the time. Of Shakespeare’s plays, Othello stands out in one important respect: beauty. The play employs much steady rhythm, peculiar phrase and a sense of serious imagination which blend together to create a lucid and clear feeling in the mind of the reader. Indeed, this beauty is only evidenced in two other plays i.e. Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra. However, Othello has another form of beauty. Except for the brief trivial section of the clown, everything is much attached to the central issue and nothing requires any solid justification. At best, the drama has a dense of intellectual beauty which fulfils the aspiration for order and harmony between the different parts and the whole. At the same time, the book glows with much moral beauty. We see the figure of Desdemona in a love situation which is not affected even in the worst of events. A sense of incompleteness in the play gives way to innumerable cases of men at odds with one another. Several ‘parts’ exist in the play which create the wholeness albeit with some incompleteness. lago appears universal, because he represents many things at a single instance. His style and temper make him become the villain of the melodrama. He

Cultural Awareness Essay Example for Free

Cultural Awareness Essay The popular book Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice is a novel that is responsible for the revitalization of the vampire genre in popular fiction. The book itself tells an interesting story about three vampires: Lestat, Louis, and Claudia. The tale is told from the perspective of Louis, a Creole American plantation owner in pre-Civil War America who catches the eye of Lestat, a vampire who is roaming the world alone, in need of a companion. Louis is depressed because of losing his family and therefore is suceptible to Lestat’s eagerness to make him into a vampire, which he does. The plot of the book revolves around these two characters as they live together. Louis hates what he has become and loathes taking life but makes Claudia, a little five year old girl, into a vampire as well. The relationship between Lestat and Louis, and their shared love of Claudia, is depicted throughout the novel as Louis struggles with his immortality, Lestat faces the betrayal of Louis and Claudia, and Claudia matures mentally without every growing physically. Their struggles with each other and against each other becomes the driving force behind the novel. The setting of Interview with the Vampire is primarily Paris and New Orleans before and after the Civil War. The vampires live together in a flat, where much of the action takes place between all of the characters. The reader is led through the torment of the plague in Paris, the customs of the slaves in New Orleans, and the underbelly of these two cities where Lestat, Louis, and Claudia find the people that they feed off of each night for their sustenance and strength. The characters found within this book are Lestat, Louis, Claudia, and Armand. These main characters show themselves throughout the novel to be interesting and complex. The character of Claudia emerges as a young girl whose mother has died of the plague and who Louis feels extremely sickened about when he feeds off of her. Lestat then helps him create a vampire out of her. Armand is the leader of the coven in Paris and becomes a close companion of Louis after Lestat and he go their separate ways. Each character brings a new dimension to the story.

Personal development Plan Essay Example for Free

Personal development Plan Essay Capital is generally referred by the people to the financial assets and resources, however besides the money; personal capital is also a part of capital. Capital is basically the ability to do something and it allows a person to make his own selections and if it is not available, it is very hard or almost impossible for one to make selections. To evaluate the performance of an individual, capital is an important concept. However, personal performance is not normally termed as capital but it does function in the same way as the financial resources but as for the financial resources, we must build up these resources if we want to accomplish something but the personal capital of an individual is his skills, intelligence, his network of contacts, education, or relationships, etc. (Productivity 501, 2007). We have certain options from where we can choose and these options are interdependent on the amount of capital we have actually acquired. For instance, let’s consider the skill capital. This can further be explained by an example of the skill to perform a particular task to accomplish a particular goal. This can also be to sail all around the world. However, this can only be made possible if the person knows how to sail. If this person does not even know how to sail in a lake along with strong winds, he would never be able to sail around the world. Same applies to the other skills that come under personal capital. Personal capital is something that an individual need to develop personally and is not present in a person from the start. This is basically about polishing the skills you already have in you and is all about increasing our skills as well as the level of intelligence that can be done by various activities such as by reading, studying, taking courses, etc. As for the relationships, they can be improved by investing some more time in them. In order to build up a relationship, giving time, taking care of the person and showing love is very essential and without all these factors it would be hard to maintain any relationship as these are the core factors that are required to make up and then to handle a relationship. To increase our network of contacts, it is a must that we reach out people after which we must stay in contact with them because just reaching them out won’t work effectively. Therefore, we must also remember our past acquaintances and should keep in touch with them as well. The activities mentioned above helps to increase our personal capital and so it also increases the opportunities that we might get.   According to Tom Peters, â€Å"everyone lives by selling something.†Ã‚   (Peters, 1999). People normally retreat when they hear about the word sales as it sounds devious. However, when you convince the other person and you sell, it develops more pleasure and satisfaction and it is all about moving your resources to the ones who need them. Personal capital is basically an ability in a person to make a difference and it can be either processing ability or leverage. The processing ability is basically the extent to which a person achieves a desired result with the resources available to him. It is all about achieving a task based on the thinking skills, energy, character of a person, the level of knowledge and know-how about an activity, thus it is all about achieving the targets within the given resources. This furthermore increases the value of a person as when an individual is different from the others and is able to do tasks effectively, it gives him an edge over others and this can even be his core competency. For instance, let us consider an example of a person who has stared with a new job and as the job is new, the person would need some guidance in order to achieve the targets. Therefore, as assistance is needed by the employee, the results would not be totally based on his skills but later after the employee develops understanding and know-how; he would be able to do the same task without getting help from any other person and can work independently. This shows that his processing ability has been increased. The second part of personal capital is leverage, it raises the productivity of others by using your expertise and further explaining it, we can say that it amplifies your processing ability through others and this can either be done by coaching an employee who is new or by guiding him with the way in which the task is to be performed. Leverage can be measured in a way as our ability to transfer our knowledge to the other party, for example leverage of an economics teacher who teaches the course at a university can be judged in way how he teaches the student and does that really benefit the student or not i.e. does it increase the knowledge of the student or not. Furthermore it is also about using your own previous experience to teach the new employees and help them out to reduce chances of errors or mistakes and when this is achieved, a person achieves leverage. Personal capital can only be built only by learning and trying, it is about the way in which an individual is supposed to take a process and further turn it into a better work process and it is also about adding value to the ideas proposed by the others. People can take courses that could help them to increase knowledge and their processing ability and the way they can share their knowledge that in turn increases their leverage. The reason why personal capital should be built is because of the value we place in making a difference in the tasks we are assigned and the better personal capital an individual has, the better can he perform and achieve he desired goal. Moreover, people have better personal capital will also be able to accomplish tasks that are more complex and challenging.   This is not just the only requirement; however a person should keep on improving his personal capital so that they can benefit from it and fulfill his responsibilities as a team member. Being creative is to turn the ideas that erupt into your mind into a reality and for consists of two aspects that have to be considered. The first one is the ability to think that a person has and the other is to actually create that particular idea. For creative thinking, innovation is a must. This basically means to implement the idea that has been though of. However, if some one has ideas but he does not implement them, he would be considered imaginative and not creative. Therefore, the crux of this paragraph is that there is no use of thinking if you are not doing what you have thought about. (Linda, n.d.) Moreover, creativity can also be defined as something that is new and it therefore requires both zeal as well as dedication. People usually determine certain symbols and myths from creativity that further reveals the hidden points of life. (Rollo May, The Courage to Create) According to another author, a product is only creative when it is novel and appropriate. Moreover, he states that a new product shows its originality, however it cannot be predicted. Creativity of a product basically depends on the concept. The bigger it is, more the ideas are generated and so creativity increases. (Sternberg Lubart, Defying the Crowd) Creativity can be used for the purpose of economic development, at work and everywhere. The resources available to us in the world are limited but the demands of the people are unlimited. Creative ideas only come in such case when our resources are restricted and as a popular saying of an economist and a social philosopher says that â€Å"Invention is the mother of necessity.† (Thorstein Veblen, 1857 1929). However, time and budget can limit creativity. In today’s world creativity is taken as something more than just an artistic expression as it was perceived to be in the previous centuries. However, now it is also essential in many other areas as well. It can be used just anywhere, in a very small thing such as to make a loft or a professional canvas painter. However, creativity can be taken differently by different people who are engaged in different tasks. Constant learning enhances the creativity in a person. Moreover, we should explore different techniques that can help us in improving our creativity. We should brainstorm ideas, do mind-mapping and meditation, etc. I would also say that creativity is basically a mental process that is all about creating new ideas but its originality and appropriateness should not be affected in any way. Creativity is also referred as a divergent thought from the scientific point of view and can be studied from various point of views such as in some of the aspects such as behavioral psychology, social psychology, psychometrics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, philosophy, history, economics, design research, business, management, etc. (Linda, n.d.) There are certain questions that one must ask oneself for personal development.  · What’s the history of a person and repercussions for contributions in the past.  · Where we are and what have we gained? (Instead of, What have we lost?)  · What needs to be changed, such as structures to encourage and support learning and innovation?  · What needs to change in my leadership style to foster more of a learning culture? When and where should I practice being a learner? Once we ask those questions to you, one must also consider some of the things mentioned below.  · Hierarchy is not inherently a problem.  · Technical hierarchy not social hierarchy.  · Acknowledge power power dynamics. The more open this is, the less it will be a subtext of interaction.  · Be in the role of teacher, when the authority in a particular skill or situation, and of learner when not.  · Trust, trust, trust. Trying to control everything accomplishes the opposite.  · Communication Interaction must be encouraged as it is essential for personal development.  · Documentation Document learning in one area or project such that it can be shared with other areas and projects. The personal vision of a person is very important as this further develops goal awareness and social orientation. The personal vision of an individual helps them to guide their lives and also provides the direction that is essential to make a choice about the career. It thus, helps to show a way to a person and so it is important for us to identify our personal visions. A personal vision is basically written focusing on the life of person i.e. the joys and the sadness’s filled in their life, what they have achieved and how they have achieved, their contribution, what makes them, their brilliance as well as heritage. Personal vision in turn develops goal awareness as once you identify the personal vision is it easier for a person to focus more on his goals and what he wants to do in life. Moreover, it also develops social orientation in a way that a person cares more about the well being of the society and so he makes sure that their needs are being taken care of and they are satisfied. Other than that, an individual should also have the capacity to working together with other individuals and for this it is necessary that he develops communication, interactive skills and development orientation. The skills and performance of an individual must be upgraded continually and meeting this requirement involves training and development activities and appraising performance for the purposes of giving feedback and motivating people to perform at their best. Training usually refers to teaching lower level employees how to perform their present jobs, while development involves teaching managers and professional employees broader skills needed for their present and future jobs. Individuals must take training to enhance their individual performance that would then increase their productivity. It should focus on developing management skills/development and supervisory skills, technical skills and communication skills. Orientation training programs should be designed for individuals because they are typically used to familiarize them with certain things such as the general policies, procedures, culture and the like. All this results in reputed benefits such as increased morale of an individual; he becomes more productive, lower costs and the like. Team training is also important because it recognizes to facilitate individuals working together. It teaches the people, the skills they to work together and also facilitates their interaction that further focuses on technical, interpersonal and team interaction skills. Communication is very important because it is the only mode through which there can be an exchange of ideas between people but for this they need to interact with other people. They need to form their social groups, talk to their mates and develop orientation that helps to familiarize them with other people. Moreover, concreteness is important too. In this comes openness to change, operational effectiveness and responsiveness challenge. To be concrete basically means to be specific. While making a personal development plan it is also essential to be concrete. An individual cannot do each and everything. Some might be good as some tasks and some might be good at some tasks and so it is not necessary that all people can do the same work well. This in turn develops core competency. In the world today, changes are being made like in every second. However, it does take time for people to adjust to change and people are usually resistant to change but in the end they do have to accept the change. Therefore, it is necessary that one must be flexible and be able to adjust to change well.

Hypothetical Case Study Childhood Sexual Abuse Social Work Essay

Hypothetical Case Study Childhood Sexual Abuse Social Work Essay This presentation analyzes a hypothetical case study of a young girl aged six and a half years who was taken for treatment by her mother, as a result of the girls sexual abuse by her mothers boyfriend. The court has ordered Melissa and her mother Asher to go for treatment after the judge and the social workers dealing with the case established that Melissas claims of being sexually abused were true. When the assessment began, Melissa was 6 years old, and her mother was 27 years old. Asher had been married at 20years but was divorced from Melissas father and had completely distanced herself from him. At the time of the case, Asher had moved in with her boyfriend, Tony, for about year and half. He had started molesting Melissa around seven months earlier. At first Melissa could not open up to her mother because Tony had threatened to kill her if she told anything to her mother. When Melissa decided to break the silence her mother could not initially believe her, and had brushed it off, but she later decided to investigate when she realized that her daughters behavior had really changed and she had become withdrawn and fearful, it was then that she discovered the shocking revelation of what had been happening to her daughter. The therapists also came to learn that Melissas mother also had an abusive childhood, she came from a broken home whereby her mother had divorce with Ashers abusive and alcoholic dad and worse of it had been sexually abused once. The paper discusses that although the girl is the main patient, she is part of larger system that she is connected to; which is very relevant to her case and also course of treatment. Process of the crisis Urie Bronfenbrenner came up with an ecological systems theory explaining how all things in a child and the childs surroundings have an impact on how the child grows. He examined levels of the environment that impact a childs growth, which include the micro system, the immediate surrounding of a child such as the family relationships, the mesosystem, which describes how the various parts of a childs micro system cooperate in order to help the child. The exosystem level consist of the others that the child may not be in contact with her but still affect her in a big way for example parents workplaces, and relationships Bronfenbrenners final level is macro system; its the most remote set of things to a child but still has a great impact on the child. For example freedoms permitted by the government and cultural values. All these affect how a child develops positively or negatively. Using Urie Bronfenbrenners ecological model, I will examine the context of Melissas case, the impact of the sexual abuse in her life, the preferred treatment for both the mother and child and how to avoid future   abuse. Encompassing the mesosystem is exosystem, the broader settings that define Melissas life, and the macrosystem, the cultural values that determine how she and those surrounding her are required to behave. Through the abuse, Tony violated the expected values, and Ashers early refusal to believe what her daughter told her also cut off the girl from the covering that an individual is supposed to be given by the larger society. Nevertheless, the legal system, which is normally a part of the exosystem, has got into a closer circle of Melissas life and attempts to correct the violations of those close to her (Finkelhor, 1986). This has led to an ecological transition, a situation in which an individuals place in ecological environment is changed due to change in the role one plays, setting, or both. Although distressing for Melissa and her mother, the transition is an important, positive move in the healing of both individuals. Interestingly, therapists discovery that Asher was herself sexually abused leads to applicable considerations that will assist in the treatment both of them. These considerations are also important in explaining the current psychopathologies seen in Finkelhor (1986) where he explains that traumas and mal-adaptations during childhood reoccur many times in later generations; children from dysfunctional families mostly create their own dysfunctional families they go with the patterns they learned when growing up. Asher has given Melissa the only kind of childhood she herself knows. Effects When Melissa was taken for treatment the first time she looked afraid, depressed and uncertain. When we look at the effects of sexual abuse can be looked into with the conceptualization of Finkelhor, the traumatogenic impacts of sexual abuse is widely used. The effects are divided into four categories, as explained below; Traumatic sexualization refers to ill disposed feelings about sex, and the sexual identity problems. Stigmatization which is manifested in guilty feelings and feeling responsible for the abuse or of disclosure. The other effect is betrayal, whereby it is downgrading the trust in people who are required to be protectors and nurturers of children. Powerlessness includes a view of being vulnerable and a victim and the behavioral manifestations of anxiety consist of phobias, insomnia, and eating disorders; Management of the case In Melissas case management there are various considerations that need to be made. Hence, coordination is very important. The things that the team are required to put in mind at this stage of intervention are disconnection of the child /or the offender from the family, the part played by the juvenile court and the criminal court and also the plan for treatment of the family Before a treatment plan is developed, it is vital to understand the cause abuse; there are various models as explained by Finkelhor under Sexual Abuse Causal Models. In history there have been two major models namely the family-focused and the offender-focused perspectives. Efforts have been made to integrate the two by Finkelhor who developed a causation model that involves both the family-, and offender-focused perspectives.. Finkelhor explains four preconditions that must be involved for sexual abuse to take place, factors connected to the abusers force to sexually abuse; factors inducing the abuser to overcome internal obstacles; factors inducing the abuser to overcome external inhibitors and factors inducing to overcome the childs resistance Modalities of treatment In treatment modalities, whereby the main goal in sexual abuse treatment is to deal with the impacts of sexual abuse, and decrease the risks of future sexual abuse. Treatment Issues for the Victim that will have to be attended to be are; Trust whereby; there are devastating effects on childrens relationship, especially being able to trust o people. In family sexual abuse, the effect is worse as in the case of Melissa because her stepfather, who should be her protector, exploits and violates the limits of acceptable values. A non- offending parent like Melissas mother who could not believe her initially accelerates this damage. The therapist is required to establish circumstances where the child has positive participation with trusted adults in order to correct the childs ability to trust. Emotional Reactions to Sexual Abuse whereby the child feeling being victimized in that she feels as if she is responsible and starts feeling guilty, having a disorganized sense of self and low self-esteem because of being involved in sexual abuse. The therapist is required to help the child understand and accept that she was not responsible and also make her feel good again about herself. Protection from future victimization Protection from Future Victimization whereby the abused child needs taught future protection strategies. The child should be taught to say no and tell a trustworthy person may be useful. Treatment Issues for the Mother Treatment Issues for the Mother particularly in cases involving the mothers in interfamilial as in Ashers case. Just like the victim Melissa her mother will need to undergo treatment in several areas such as areas connected to Sexual Abuse It is hard for mothers of victims, to comprehend why a grownup may go sexual with a child. This is an issue that the clinician should address with the mother. The therapist can offer professional explanation into the causes of abuse specific to the case. Another issue to be addressed believing the childs disclosure of the sexual abuse. The therapist can explain makes her believe that the child is telling the truth or conclude that children do not make false allegations on such matters. Eventually the therapist will help the mother comprehend her duty in the abuse, if she had one. She is not to blame but in some way may have played a part to prolonged abuse as in the case of Melissa and Asher for not believing her initially Improving the mother-child relationship is also very important because it is an important step in assisting the mother to be protective of her child in future. In the case of intrafamilial abuse like Melissas case, the mother should decide if she wants to cut off her relationship with the abuser or salvage her relationship. Personal issues such as past trauma as having been sexually abused herself which is the case of Melissa. Such an experience has various impacts in on the mothers ability to deal with her childs abuse. The mother may be not being in a position to cope because she has not dealt with her own sexual abuse. Hence her abuse has to be addressed as in the case of Asher. She may not suspect risky situation quickly and her decisions of partners, playing part in moving in with a man who goes sexual with children. Hence in conclusion, childhood sexual abuse is a very sensitive issue that has to be dealt with to avoid future destruction of the childrens lives Reference Finkelhor, D. (1986). The Effects of Sexual Abuse, in D. Finkelhor et al., Eds. Sourcebook on Child Sexual Abuse Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Seneca Indians: Allies And Enemies Essay -- essays research papers

Seneca Indians: Allies and Enemies   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seneca are among the most respected and feared. The Seneca are culturally similar to their Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, an Mohawk confederates. The five tribes were known as the Five Nations or the League of Five Nations. Sometime between 1715 and 1722 the Tuscaroras from North Carolina joined the confederacy and changed the name to the Six Nations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In their relations with white settlers the Seneca played the role of an independent power and were this way from the very start. During the colonial period they held the balance of power between the French and English. Particulary around the Canadian border. The Seneca opposed the extension of French settlement southwards from Canada, and were responsible for prevention the English colonies from being forced on the west by the French.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the American Revolution the Seneca sided with the British.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  SOCIETY   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each town in the tribe contained several long, bark covered communal houses that had both tribal and political significance. Inside each house several families lived in semi-private rooms or areas and the center areas were used as social and political meeting places. They lived in scattered villages that were organized by a system of matrilineal clans.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A calendar cycle of ceremonies reflected their agricultural, hunting, and gathering. The men hunted, cleared fields, traded and made war. The woman gathered various wild plant foods and tended gardens.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  They had a great agricultural economy. Their man crop was corn, but they also grew pumpkins, beans, tobacco, maize, squash and later on they grew orchard fruits like apples and peaches.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Crafts were also made. Fine pottery, splint baskets, mats of corn husk and used wampum as a medium of exchange.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  FAMOUS TRIBE MEMBERS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There were many famous Indians from the Seneca tribe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ely S. Parker- His Indian ... ...termined the outcome and the ways of our country.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   CONCLUSION PAGE   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Seneca Indians were a great tribe. Through themselves and five other tribes they formed the Six Nations. The Six Nations were an almost indomitable clan. They participated in the Revolutionary War and in the colonial wars. The tried to keep the French from coming down from Canada into the now United States.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Seneca had a great agricultural and hunting economy. The men and women each had specific jobs they were to do in order to keep things running.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Seneca was the tribe that was the most intensely studied by the white people. It is also believed that their democratic ways were an influence on the writers of the United States Constitution.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many of the famous Indians came from the Seneca tribe. Some were Red Jacket, Ely S. Parker and Cornplanter. There were also many others from their league tribes, the Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and later joiners the Tuscarora.

Consuming Kids (summary) :: essays research papers fc

Technology & Society (HUM110-80) CONSUMING KIDS Summary on Article, â€Å"Pubic Attitudes Toward the Youth Marketing Industry & Its Impact on Children† â€Å"Few public opinion polls exist concerning the burgeoning youth marketing industry. We therefore conducted an online survey of 978 U.S. residents in the Spring of 2004. Results suggest that a large majority of respondents believe: a) that the youth marketing industry is harmful to children and has questionable ethical practices: b) that the industry contributes to a variety of problems common in youth: c) that most of the marketing which takes place in schools is unacceptable: and d) that marketing directed at children under 8 years of age should be prohibited†, (Kasser and Linn). This survey was born out of concern that there are few statistics on the effects of marketing industry’s impact on our youth. Just as the article on â€Å"Consuming Kids† raises awareness about children being lured into believing they can’t live without things and the problems rising out of it. This survey makes us aware of how this market is willing to sacrifice the sanctity of family life by undermining the parents via their television while children watch mega hours of uninterrupted commercials aimed at them. These surveys were compared with a couple of sparsely completed other ones. The respondents felt that problems such as: aggressiveness, materialism, obesity, lack of creativity, overly sexualized behavior and self-esteem, were detrimentally influenced by the youth marketing industry. The solutions were simple enough, over half believed that schools should be commercial free zones, children’s television should be commercial free, (PBS has it), marketing to children should be subject to more government oversight, marketing to children 12 and under should be prohibited. There has got to be a stemming of the tide of the marketing industry exploiting children at such young ages. The survey results suggested the marketing industry’s is compromising its ethics for sales, is potentially harmful, needs regulation, the school should not be the place to market their products, even though the schools say it is helping them financially.

The Patriot Act Essay -- USA Terrorism Surveillance Wire Tapping

The Patriot Act In the wake of September 11, many things happened very quickly. Along with the beginning of a 'war' against terrorism, an act was passed to help prevent future terrorism in the USA. The name of this is the USA Patriot Act. The act legalizes many surveillance techniques that were once prohibited. The act has been passed without debate, and the new privileges given to our government have not been thoroughly examined. The law enforcers of our country are now capable of monitoring the citizens in ways most people are not aware of. Some of the surveillance laws are self-terminating after four years, but many of the more important laws are permanent. What will these new surveillance laws be used for after the war on terrorism is over? Lee Tien, the Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney, suggests that the new rights can be used to put America into a 'police state'. There is a need for checks and balances in the USA Patriot Act to protect the American citizens. There are two hundred ninety pages in the USA Patriot Act; many of these pages are discussing subjects that change the rights of American citizens forever. The act was passed in a little over a month, which suggest that few, if any, congressmen thoroughly read this detailed act. In times of crisis, history has proved that United States citizens willingly compromise their right of privacy without considering the consequences. Many people have openly accepted this act without knowing what it is, most people have never even heard of the USA Patriot Act. The USAPA (USA Patriot Act) has not gone under the scrutiny that any normal act would have, yet this could be more important than any other act to date. The USAPA allows national or domestic law enforces (from the NSA, FBI, and CIA all the way down to the local police) to tap your computer or voice mail with a simple search warrant issued by a judge. Only one out of ten thousand of these search warrants requests are rejected. The law enf orcers are also allowed to tap electronic devices without telling the victim about the warrant or that they are being monitored. Also, the CIA and other foreign agencies are allowed to share information with the domestic law enforcement. This means that agencies that were once not allowed to intervene in the affairs of the USA can do so without punishment. These are few of the many la... ...dly, there should be a report on if the information acquired is used in court. This is a check on the usefulness of the information gathered by the law enforcers, and a way to monitor the proper use of the search warrant. Fourthly, a check on how the information attained is to be shared with other law based government agencies. It is a way to protect the privacy of the victim, so people do not needlessly read private documents. Finally, the public should be aware of the success or failure of the system. The people should be informed if their loss of privacy has done what it is intended to, which is to protect the country. These checks and balances of the USA Patriot Act are needed if the men and women of the USA want to feel safe. Thus, the USAPA must have many checks as well as balances if the people of the United States are to be happy with it. Until then, people remain concerned that Congress has passed such extensive declines in the right of Americans to be liberated from dominating government observation. But having done so, it is essential that Congress where feasible, shares with the American nation basic information about how these wide new powers are being used.

How to manage the SMART targets in your career plan. Essay

To complete Business course with DDD by the end of the year. I will do this by attending classes, doing tutorials, turning up to one to ones and studying the course work book at home. I will also aim to hand everything in on time and meet all my deadlines in order to stay on top of the work. In order to get a DDD by the end of the year I must get Merits in all my subjects, if I get a one pass for a unit then I must get a distinction in another unit in order to level it out. Select an appropriate course at a reputable University. I will do this by going to open days and logging on to the universities individual websites where there are usually options to do a virtual tour. In order to go to a university that will offer me good teaching in the area of graphic design I will have to look at a graphic design university leader board in order to see who offers the best learning. I must also speak to graphic design students at different universities to see their opinion on what the teaching is like and how good the facilities are. Apply for university before December. I will apply to university before December by making sure I have written up my first draft of my personal statement early to give my tutor enough time to give back amendments and for me to improve it. I will also look on the internet to find good examples of personal statements and guides on how to write them. Find cheap student accommodation. I will find cheap student accommodation by first selecting the university that I wish to study at and then asking at their help desk for some leaflets about the surrounding places I can live at as a student. I could also check the university’s website for links to student accommodation or details on the site about living in the halls of university. I will try to get the cheapest deal I can whilst not compromising on quality by looking through a lot of student apartments. Complete university course with 2:1 by 2014. I will attempt to complete my university course with 2:1 by purchasing the correct equipment before going to university. This will be a laptop that can stand high end applications and will help me be more efficient in completing assignments because my computer can cope with the programs needed for graphic design. I will also purchase books that will prepare me well for the course; these will be details about HTML coding and guides on how to use Adobe products that will be used in university. I will study hard by attending as many lectures as possible and taking notes on the subject, I will then take this theory into practice into the workshops provided by the university. I will keep on top of the assignments from day one in order to keep on top of my work and in control.

Pricing Strategies Essay

Definition coif is a powerful element of a sm on the whole worrys merchandise dodging. The set structure of your convergences and serve, and how it relates to your competitors wrong strategies and the expectations of consumers, con trend to an important role in creating an proto caseful for your c aloneer and establishing a proper(postnominal) node base. An analysis of determine system reveals that companies bring in a range of options in their legal injury toolkit they toilette subprogram to augment their trade initiatives. determine scheme refers to mode companies intake to footing their crossings or bene chequers.Almost all companies, large or weakened, base the hurt of their outputs and services on outturn, labor and advertizement expenses and thus add on a certain dower so they clear sustain a gelt. at that place atomic number 18 several dissimilar damage strategies, such(prenominal) as penetration wrong, damage skimming, fire deter mine, result smell cycle terms and even private-enterprise(a) set. Different Types of hurt StrategiesPenetration setA grim conjunction that uses penetration harm typically sets a low price for its proceeds or service in hopes of twist grocery sh argon, which is the percentage of gross sales a confederation has in the market versus true sales. The primary objective of penetration set is to garner lots of customers with low prices and thitherfore use various marketing strategies to make them. For example, a flyspeck Internet packet distributor whitethorn set a low price for its harvestingions and subsequently e-mail customers with additional bundle harvesting offers either month. A weeny company exit work hard to serve these customers to underframe brand loyalty among them. Price glideAn early(a) type of determine strategy is price skimming, in which a company sets its prices spirited to quickly recover expenditures for harvest-tide intersection pointion and advertising. The spot objective of a price skimming strategy is to procure a profit quickly. Companies often use price skimming when they lack fiscal resources to fix products in script, match to the article price Strategy at NetMBA.com. Instead, the company will use the quick spurts of property to finance additional product production and advertising. Product Life Cycle priceAll products reserve a life span, called product life cycle. A product gradually progresses through different stages in the cycle introduction, ripening, maturity and decline stages. During the growth stage, when sales are booming, a small company usually will reserve prices higher(prenominal)(prenominal). For example, if the companys product is comical or of higher feel than competitive products, customers will likely pay the higher price. A company that prices its products high in the growth stage also whitethorn learn a new technology that is in high have. Competitive-Based Pri cingThere are times when a small company may have to demoralise its price to meet the prices of competitors. A competitive- ground determine strategy may be assiduous when there is little difference amidst products in an industry. For example, when tidy sum purchase musical composition plates or foam cups or a picnic, they often shop for the lowest price when there is minimal product differentiation. Consequently, a small paper company may need to price its products set about or lose potential sales. passing deductive reasoning PricingSmall companies also may use temporary discounts to increase sales. Temporary discount price strategies include coupons, cents-off sales, seasonal worker price reductions and even volume purchases. For example, a small clothing manufacturer may offer seasonal price reductions later the holidays to reduce product inventory. A volume discount may include a obtain- devil-get-one-free promotion. Cost-Plus determineCost-plus determine is the mere(a)st pricing manner. The degenerate calculates the damage of producing the product and adds on a percentage (profit) to that price to give the selling price. This method although simple has ii flaws it takes no account of demand and there is no way of find if potential customers will purchase the product at the calculated price. This appears in cardinal forms, full cost pricing which takes into retainer both protean and fixed cost and adds a percentage as markup. The some other is direct cost pricing which is variable cost plus a percentage as markup. The latter is only employ in extremitys of high competition as this method usually leads to a going in the long run.Limit pricingA coiffe price is the price set by a monopolizer to discourage economic door into a market, and is illegal in many countries. The limit price is the price that the entrant would verbalism upon entering as long as the incumbent immobile did non abate output. The limit price is often lower than the average cost of production or just low enough to make entering not profimesa. The measure alleged by the incumbent firm to act as a deterrent to entry is usually larger than would be optimal for a monopolist, but might still build higher economic profits than would be earned under perfect competition.The short letter with limit pricing as a strategy is that once the entrant has entered the market, the quantity used as a flagellum to deter entry is no nightlong the incumbent firms outperform response. This means that for limit pricing to be an effective deterrent to entry, the threat moldiness in around way be made credible. A way to come across this is for the incumbent firm to constrain itself to produce a certain quantity whether entry occurs or not. An example of this would be if the firm signed a union pick out to employ a certain (high) take aim of labor for a long period of time. In this strategy price of the product shapes the limit according to budget.L oss loss leaderA loss leader or leader is a product sell at a low price (i.e. at cost or downstairs cost) to stimulate other profitable sales. This would service the companies to expand its market share as a whole.Market-oriented pricingSetting a price based upon analysis and inquiry compiled from the target market. This means that marketers will set prices mattering on the results from the research. For instance if the competitors are pricing theirproducts at a lower price, consequently its up to them to either price their goods at an above price or below, depending on what the company compulsions to achieve.Price favouritismPrice discrimination is the apply of condition a different price for the like product in different segments to the market. For example, this bunghole be for different classes, such as ages, or for different opening times. grant pricingPremium pricing is the bore of keeping the price of a product or service artificially high in order to encourage te nder perceptions among buyers, based solely on the price. The practice is intended to exploit the (not necessarily justifiable) aim for buyers to assume that expensive accompaniments enjoy an olympian reputation, are more reliable or desirable, or represent exceptional quality and distinction.Predatory pricingPredatory pricing, also known as aggressive pricing (also known as under lie withting), intended to get under ones skin out competitors from a market. It is illegal in some countries. function beach-based pricingContribution margin-based pricing maximizes the profit derived from an individual product, based on the difference between the products price and variable costs (the products section margin per social unit), and on ones assumptions regarding the alliance between the products price and the number of units that can be sell at that price. The products contribution to total firm profit (i.e. to run income) is maximized when a price is chosen that maximizes the sid e by side(p) (contribution margin per unit) X (number of units sold).Psychological pricingPricing knowing to have a positive psychological impact. For example, selling a product at $3.95 or $3.99, instead than $4.00. There are certain price points where people are willing to buy a product. If the price of a product is $100 and the company prices it as $99, then(prenominal) it is called psychological pricing. In most of the consumers sound judgement $99 is psychologically less than $100. A minor distinction in pricing can make a large-mouthed difference is sales. The company that succeeds in decision psychological price points can change sales and maximize revenue high-octane pricingA flexible pricing mechanism made possible by advances in information technology, and employed in the main by Internet based companies. By responding to market fluctuations or large unions of information gathered from customers ranging from where they live to what they buy to how untold they ha ve spent on ultimo purchases dynamic pricing allows online companies to adjust the prices of similar goods to correspond to a customers willingness to pay. The airline industry is often cited as a dynamic pricing success story. In fact, it employs the technique so trickily that most of the passengers on any give airplane have paid different ticket prices for the same flight.Price leadersAn observation made of oligopolistic barter fashion in which one company, usually the overriding competitor among several, leads the way in find out prices, the others soon following. The context is a convey of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or venders.Target pricingPricing method whereby the selling price of a product is calculated to produce a particular rate of transcend on investment for a specific volume of production. The target pricing method is used most often by publicutilities, like electric and bluster companies, and companies whose capital investment is high, like railcar manufacturers. Target pricing is not effectual for companies whose capital investment is low because, according to this formula, the selling price will be understated. Also the target pricing method is not placeed to the demand for the product, and if the complete volume is not sold, a company might sustain an overall budgetary loss on the product.Absorption pricing manner of pricing in which all costs are recovered. The price of the product includes the variable cost of each stage plus a proportionate amount of the fixed costs and is a form of cost-plus pricingHigh-low pricingMethod of pricing for an disposal where the goods or services offered by the organization are regularly priced higher than competitors, but through promotions, advertisements, and or coupons, lower prices are offered on key percentage points. The lower promotional prices are designed to bring customers to the organization where the customer is offered the promotional product as well as the regular higher priced products.Premium cajole pricingMethod of pricing where an organization artificially sets one product price high, in order to boost sales of a lower priced product.Marginal-cost pricingIn business concern, the practice of setting the price of a product to equal the extra cost of producing an extra unit of output. By this policy, a producer charges, for each product unit sold, only the addition to total cost resulting from materials and direct labor. Businesses often set prices soused to marginal cost during periods of poor sales. If, for example, an item hasa marginal cost of $1.00 and a normal selling price is $2.00, the firm selling the item might appetite to lower the price to $1.10 if demand has waned. The business would choose this approach because the incremental profit of 10 cents from the transaction is bankrupt than no sale at all.Value-based pricingPricing a product based on the value the product has for the cust omer and not on its costs of production or any other factor. This pricing strategy is frequently used where the value to the customer is many times the cost of producing the item or service. For instance, the cost of producing a software CD is about the same free-lance of the software on it, but the prices transfigure with the perceived value the customers are pass judgment to have. The perceived value will depend on the alternatives open to the customer. In business these alternatives are using competitors software, using a manual work around, or not doing an activity. In order to employ value-based pricing you have to know your customers business, his business costs, and his perceived alternatives.Pay what you wantPay what you want is a pricing system where buyers pay any sought after amount for a given commodity, sometimes including zero. In some cases, a lower limit (floor) price may be set, and/or a suggested price may be indicated as guidance for the buyer. The buyer can a lso select an amount higher than the standard price for the commodity. Giving buyers the liberty to pay what they want may look to not make much sniff out for a seller, but in some situations it can be very successful. epoch most uses of pay what you want have been at the margins of the economy, or for special promotions, there are emerging efforts to expand its utility-grade to broader and more regular use.FreemiumFreemium is a business model that works by oblation a product or service free of charge (typically digital offerings such as software, content, games, webservices or other) while charging a premium for advance features, functionality, or related products and services. The word freemium is a portmanteau combining the two aspects of the business model free and premium. It has become a highly popular model, with remarkable success.Odd pricingIn this type of pricing, the seller tends to fix a price whose last digits are odd numbers. This is through so as to give the buyers/consumers no gap for bargaining as the prices seem to be less and yet in an actual sense are too high, and takes advantage of human psychology. A good example of this can be detect in most supermarkets where instead of pricing at $10, it would be written as $9.99. This pricing policy is common in economies using the free market policy. tempt pricingMethod of pricing where the seller offers at least one-third products, and where two of them have a similar or equal price. The two products with the similar prices should be the most expensive ones, and one of the two should be less harming then the other. This strategy will make people compare the options with similar prices, and as a result sales of the most attractive choice will increase. ConclusionPricing strategies for products or services encompass three main ways to improve profits. These are that the business owner can cut costs or sell more, or find more profit with a better pricing strategy. When costs are already at their lowest and sales are hard to find, adopting a better pricing strategy is a key option to stay viable. Merely ski tow prices is not always the answer, especially in a poor economy. Many businesses have been lost because they priced themselves out of the marketplace. On the other hand, many business and sales mental faculty leave money on the table. One strategy does not fit all, so adopting a pricing strategy is a learning curve when canvass the needs and behaviors of customers and clients.Bibliography1. The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing A Guide to Growing more Profitably by Thomas Nagle 2. strength Pricing How Managing Price Transforms the Bottom trace by Robert J. Dolan 3. http//sixrevisions.com/project-management/pricing-strategies-research/ 4. http//entrepreneurs.about.com/od/salesmarketing/a/pricingstrategy_2.htm