Current issues in financial reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Current issues in financial reporting - Essay Example 549-586). This paper explains the importance of financial reporting in organization, and gives the reasons for and against capitalising human resources in the financial statements of a company. Discussion Financial reporting entails communication of useful financial information for making credit, investment and other decisions in business. Reports to the stockholders on quarterly and annual basis, financial statement notes, prospectuses on issuance of security and common stock, and the external financial statements, like the income statements, stockholder’s equity statement, cash flow statements and the statements on stock equity. Financial reporting enhances delivery of information to the shareowners and lenders in business; it is usually component of the essential contract between them since they have the right to know the spending of their money and the returning profits (Ballweiser, 2004). In UK, big changes in financial reporting are under the Financial Services sector. T he Accounting Standards Board, ASB issued exposure drafts that detail the proposals for financial reporting in UK. ... The demand for more transparency ensures growth to the interests of an organization in order to meet such demand constructively. The organization will, therefore, have a strategic value in clarifying for the critical performance as well as internal management of the organization communication. This leads to effective allocation of capital in the organization, and critical in achieving a special attention within the accounting research. Reason for Capitalizing Human Resource in UK Human capital forms the main asset in service companies. The success of an organization can be rated depending on the  employees and customers they retain (Francis, Lafond, Olsson, & Schipper 2005, p. 295-327). Several studies on human resource measurement aim at providing the management of any organization with the traditional financial statements, as well as additional information. The intangible asset from many organizations is more critical than the tangible assets. Intangible assets comprise of the su ccess factors needed for maximization of profits and continual survival of the organization. Like human resource, while the intangible assets comprise of the fixed assets like property. The financial information from the financial statements is considered incomplete when they fail to cover and account the human resources. Financial measuring and reporting by businesses in UK enhance the management and evaluation of people’s performance. This ensures greater transparency on value creation through effective policies and practices that benefit stakeholders and the organization at large. The management of people by an organization impacts their performance. The feature of good managerial practices

Frankenstein Mary Shelly Essay Example for Free

Frankenstein Mary Shelly Essay She is a reminder that even though he gave his monster life she is still dead. It is possible he feels responsible for her death on some level, and now hes responsible for this monster. Shelly focuses the entire dream on death and those close to Frankenstein. It gives the impression that everyone close to Frankensteins heart is tainted even his child and creation. In this paragraph Frankenstein is described as being trapped, too scared to venture into his house. Instead he is confined to the courtyard, waiting with wide eyes to escape onto the streets. Shelly describes the morning just as dismally as the night; rain, cold, depressed atmosphere, but the light is growing. Morning arriving is a portrayal of hope. Once Frankenstein is released onto the streets he walks around quickly, with some unknown purpose. His eyes are ringed with sleep, he moves almost erratically, trying to find something and yet avoiding his monster. Shelly shows a paranoid man, running. Hes drenched and shivering from cold, on the point of breaking down. The picture is unwelcoming and uncomforting. Frankenstein is isolated by the rain and darkness of the black sky. Frankensteins aimless expedition continues, he speeds along pelted by rain, but time only trickles by. It seems he hopes that his stinging eyes and aching legs will numb his troubled mind. Mary Shelly quotes a poem The Ancient Mariner. It fits the story so perfectly it appears as though it could have been her inspiration for this description. It describes a terrified man scared of whats following him. His follower is said to be a frightful fiend, like Frankensteins monster, close to him like a friend but evil, waiting to creep up on him. The poem itself is about sailors searching for land, searching for an albatross to lead them to safety. Frankenstein is also lost in the dark winding streets of Ingolstadt desperate for help. Mary Shelly brings the tension up almost as high as it can go in this section of the chapter. To keep the story flowing she cuts through the suspense with a stinger. Cleval arrives signifying the start of a new stage in the story. Frankenstein is on the point of breaking down when his old friend appears. Clevals arrival brings Frankenstein around and lightens the mood; soon the monster is almost forgotten. Shelly stops using oppressive descriptions and starts describing Frankensteins interactions with his old friend. The reader moves from Frankensteins shoes to an outsider, watching the story unfold. Frankenstein is twitching and restless, terrified that the monster is still in his apartment. He acts childishly in front of Cleval making him wait downstairs while he checks to see if his nightmare is gone. Frankenstein throws open doors and charges into rooms ready to confront his ghouls and demons. Once he realizes that the monster isnt there he becomes giddy with joy. Mary Shelly procedes too describe him as feverish and unsettled. This is noticed by Cleval, alarmed by his ostentatious laughter and wild darting eyes. Frankensteins mind may be more at ease, like the readers, but hes obviously feeling uncomfortable showing that the threat isnt gone. Frankenstein had been malnourished and sleep deprived for many months, and in the last few weeks leading up to the reanimation of his assembled body his life was barely there. Mary Shelly shows Frankenstein as being delirious and senseless, almost wild in the way he moved and did things. Frankenstein is finally overcome by exhaustion and he breaks down, which in turn develops into a feverish illness that renders Frankenstein helplessly weak for months. Shelly allows the necessary time for him to recover which is vital for the story. She had made the story so tense but it needed to continue on, so Frankensteins illness allows the tension to simmer and the plot to progress onto the next chapter. As he slowly recovers things finally return to normal. Shelly gradually stops using depressing worlds like gloom and dismal which were frequent occurrences in the winter months. Instead she describes the holly springtime and plants with buds growing symbolizing new life and a new beginning for Frankenstein. In conclusion, Mary Shelly uses numerous techniques to achieve the right amount of suspense and atmosphere in this chapter. She frequently applies gothic machinery to her descriptions. Shelly distorts the light the increase suspense and consistently describes drab and dreary weather to give an underlying base of gloom. Shelly continuously shows Frankenstein as being terrified, mad with fear yet relentless. His strange behaviour unnerves the reader. Shelly uses longer sentences throughout this chapter to make it appear that the time spent between the reanimation and meeting Cleval even longer. Shelly carefully uses the poem The Ancient Mariner (which mirrors the Frankensteins situation) to cut the tension in the middle of the chapter allowing it to peak then plateau. Shelly moves the reader from the point of view of Frankenstein to the point of an outsider several times, not literally, but by increasing the tension and allowing it to fall, the reader occasionally feels as though they are there with Frankenstein. Shelly does all of this seamlessly, not letting any style or technique stand out and draw away from the seemingly natural flow of the chapter, and still developing the atmosphere terrifically throughout.   Jessica Williamson English 1574 24/10/2005 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Mary Shelley section.

The Local Economic Impact From Mega Events Tourism Essay

The Local Economic Impact From Mega Events Tourism Essay In this section, the researcher will present the reason for the selection of this topic. An introduction about mega sporting events, the research questions, its aims and objectives, the literature review, theoretical rationale, methodology, its limitations and followed by a short summary will be written in this proposal. As the researcher in writing is much more familiar with the Singapore economy, the research would be based on the local market, which would be the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix. Roche (2000) describes mega-sporting events as large-scale cultural (including commercial and sporting) events which have a dramatic character, mass popular appeal and international significance. They are typically organised by variable combination of national governmental and international non-governmental organisations. This describes that such events should attract viewers and media representatives from all over the world and that the host city or nation should experience alterations to the regular cycle of events. The hosting of sport events in particular has showed a number of potential benefits. Potential benefits such as investments, advertising, tax generation, revenue generation, enhanced community image, job creation, positive spiritual earnings, health and fitness, promotion of sport, creating local amusement, creation of new infrastructure, improvement community pride, urban redevelopment, increased tourist flow, according to Daniels and Norman (2003), and Kim et al. (1998). Research Question This research explains how mega-events like Singapore Formula One Grand Prix affects the local economic impact and the strategies adopted. The research is classified under the following question where in this report; the researchers effort will be concentrated on giving insights on this research question. How do managers use strategic analysis tools on a mega-event such as F1? Aims and Objectives The aim of this research is to discuss the impact of strategic analysis tools used on mega-events, on how events such as Formula One is marketed to the beneficial of Singapores local economy. Thus, the researcher will be aiming to attain the following objectives: To identify the different strategic analysis tools used for economic impacts. To develop an understanding on how these strategic analysis tools are placed on to mega-events. To discover the influences from strategic analysis tools on mega-events such as Formula One. To examine the effectiveness of the strategic analysis tools impact on Formula One. Literature Review Mega-events such as Formula One have the ability to attract large numbers of visitors and their expenditure, which is often sought after by local tourism agencies because of their actual potential to contributing to tourism marketing and development. An important fundamental that government bodies put forward to hosting a mega-sports event is the perceived economic benefits that the event creates (Porter, 1999). It is usually claim that mega-events, such as the Formula One Grand Prix, give an incentive to business resulting in economic benefits generated which are greater than the costs, including public funding, from hosting the event. Sports entrepreneurs or government bodies typically engage consulting agencies to outline an economic impact report (Johnson and Sack, 1996). Regardless of the mega-sports event, such reports from consulting agencies normally claim a huge positive economical impact. However, there are a lot of criticisms in the academic literature on the effectiveness of these economic impact analyses. Matheson (2002; 2006) points out that many (event-sponsored) studies overstate the economic impact on local communities and Porter (1999) states that the envisioned benefits of public spending never occur. This explains that the future prospects of hosting such mega-events are worse off for developing countries and the opportunity cost of providing up-to-date facilities are greater and the need of modern infrastructure required poses a major further investment. 4.1 Impact of Events Mega events can help re-prioritise urban agendas, create post event usage debates, often stimulate urban redevelopment, and are instruments of boosterish ideologies promoting economic growth (Hiller, 2003, p. 449). Thus, these offer an extensive range of potential positive and negative impacts for host destinations and are both short- and long-term. Even though now there is significant competition between destinations, there is still significant gaps between the experience of mega-events in developing and advanced societies, between economic and non-economic outcomes. Mega-events should be part of a long-term developing and marketing plan. The hosting of mega-event can play a critical role in marketing or branding a host destination and be part of a long-term development or positioning strategy. It is important for the marketing opportunity sought from hosting a mega-event to be seen as part of a longer term strategic marketing plan for the destination as opposed to a one-off marketing event (Jago, Dwyer, Lipman, Vorster, 2010, p.231). If a host destination has a development plan in place, the hosting of a mega-event can perform as a catalyst to bringing forward future development opportunities. In this case, this often brings in merit in creating an on-going suite of events that utilises the infrastructure built for the mega-event and enhance the reputation and profile of the host destination over time. In order to formulate a plan for both short- and long-term event outcomes, the organizing committee must consider various event leveraging strategies to be adopted. (OBrien and Chalip, 2007). The leveraging perception is implicated with planning ahead of the event so that a host city can improve and maximize positive impacts such as increased business, tourism and social aspects and benefits Chalip (2004, p. 245) explains that a strategic management process must be formed and implemented in order to properly leverage the opportunities from hosting an event. Strategic analysis tools such as SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, Porters Five Forces analysis and Value Chain analysis are appropriate for the evaluation of event leveraging or marketing strategies. The following section will examine what the natures of the said four analysis tools entails and how it is applied to a strategic management process for the organization to host mega-events. 4.2 SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is whereby an approach to analyze the aspects of the external environment, in order to identify and establish the most attractive or suitable course of action in terms of strategic decisions to be used. In the sport context, Shank (2009) found that the strengths and weaknesses are manageable elements within the establishment (in this case a host city) that may influence the objectives of the strategic management process. In this case, conducting a SWOT analysis is deemed helpful for host destinations as it can provide event organizers to recognize how the strengths of their country or city can be matched with opportunities that exist in the environment, and useful insights to leverage the benefits of the event. A brief example of a SWOT analysis on Singapore Formula One Grand Prix can be seen in Figure 1. C:UsersNoWaKiDesktopSWOT table.png Figure1 4.3 PEST Analysis PEST analysis is a useful strategic tool for understanding market growth or decline, business position, potential and direction for operations (Roumboutsos, Chiara, 2010). It understands the political, economic, socio-cultural and technological of the business environment and event managers can use PEST to scan the environment and adjust their plans to minimize threats and capitalize on opportunities. In the context of Singapores Formula One, brief examples of PEST analysis can be seen as: Political Seen as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the public and private sectors. Economic A stable and growing economy, translating to high consumer confidence and increase in spending Social Lack of racing events in Singapore, thus the idea of Formula One will be well received by the society. Technology Singapore ranked 2nd place of World Class IT Infrastructure by the World Economic Forum in 2011. 4.4 Porters Five Forces Analysis Porters (1980) five forces framework models the five most significant competitive rivalry forces in an industry in order to determine that industrys profitability. This serves as a proxy for the magnetism of the industry for potential entrants and determines the industries profitability. The five forces are: rivalry between competitors in the industry, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of consumers, barriers to entry and threat of substitutes. Thus, in the case of Singapore Formula One, examples can be seen in Figure 2. C:UsersNoWaKiDesktopUntitled.png Figure 2 4.5 Value Chain Analysis Value Chain analysis defines each activity that takes place in a business organization and relates them to an analysis of the competitiveness in the environment.  It is based on the principal that firms (or events) exist to create value for their customers and helps to identify new business opportunities. The value chain analysis includes a couple of significant theoretical distinctions, one being between primary and support activities (Porter, 1985). Primary activities create value for the customer, whereas support activities support primary activities and indirectly affect customer value. Competitive advantage involves signification and interpretation on the activity cost behavior drivers and differentiation generated by those activities. Product differentiation in turn effects what customers are willing to pay for the firms products, thus depending on the activity cost drivers leading to the end product. A simplified table used on Formula One can be seen in Figure 3. C:UsersBenjamin PhoonDesktopUntitled.png Figure 3 Theoretical Rationale Leveraging mega-events such as the Formula One can offer incentives and benefits to a host destination, relating to cultural insights, development of collaborations and improved organizational networks (Kellet et al., 2008). In order to successfully leverage the event, strategic analysis tools such as SWOT, PEST, Porters Five Forces and Value Chain Analysis associated with hosting the event can provide valuable knowledge to host destinations. Analysis of weaknesses in the operating environment, such as economic stability and political support (Shank, 2009) can also offer valuable insights for event managers and tourism providers to plan on how the host destination can reap the benefits from the sport event (OBrien and Chalip, 2007). However, mega-events can lead to an entryway to under-utilized infrastructure and debts. Jones (2001) argues that the justifications in the use of public funds are based on the economic benefits that are often overstated. The case of Montreal 1976, where they experienced a tremendous debt after hosting an event, which cost the country and its residents over CAD$2 billion in capital and interest cost (Whitson and Horne, 2006). Therefore, the selection of Strategic Choice Theory and Stakeholder Theory would be appropriate for this rationale. Stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984) focuses the organizations efforts on developing a firm that has to deal with a multitude constituent groups other than customers and shareholders. Stakeholders groups represented are both legitimate and powerful, thus this approach seeks to widen the vision of a marketing manager, of his/her duties, rather than just being profit and customer oriented (Mitchell et al., 1997). Stakeholders are distinguished into two categories primary and secondary. Managing both primary and secondary stakeholder relationships is critical and essential for the marketing organization in achieving marketing objectives. Strategic analysis theory contends that marketing managers plays an exceptional role in a marketing firms success or failure in the market, with other factors such as product development and market repositioning efforts (Child, 1972). Strategic decisions made by managers are often made with careful considerations for the marketing firm as the primary driver, where they are able to adopt a specific type of strategy that fits their main marketing competencies. Strategic choices geared to the accomplishment of achievable strategic objectives are more likely to be effective through an open managerial decision- making process (Harrison and Pelletier, 1998). With the inter-relationship between stakeholder and strategic choice theory, stakeholders (e.g., customers, media, and shareholders) will have an influence and affect on marketing managers strategic decision making on the nature of the situation (Jawahar and Mclaughlin, 2001). A clear role of stakeholders is that they can provide necessary and vital information and if well captured by marketing firms, would lead to better organizational performance in decision making (Mori, 2010). A simple model of the process of decision making can be seen in Figure 4. C:UsersBenjamin PhoonDesktopUntitled.png Figure 4 Managers would use strategic analysis tools to measure the strengths and opportunities from stakeholders to hosting a mega-event, in this case, Formula One in Singapore and make strategic choices within constraints. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of what can be classed as a major sporting event of international recognition and its implications from the perspectives of government officials, private businesses and local residents. Furthermore, sports events research has lacked exploratory findings to qualitatively examine how it impacts on the local economy. Hence, the following research will utilize a qualitative approach to begin developing an understanding of how mega-events such as Formula One would impact on the local economy using strategic analysis tools. This research will offer a basis for future qualitative research and provide relevant information to future researchers studying strategic analysis tools to evaluate and identify data relevant to strategy formulation mainly on mega-events. Research Methods The researcher will undertake a case-study and secondary data approach. This study will only be analyzed by a qualitative approach and thus, the researcher will conduct a case study based on qualitative findings. Qualitative research focuses on the gathering of more richer and in-depth data from other smaller samples (Kent, 1999). Case Study According to Yin (1984), case study research method is defined as an empirical inquiry that explores a contemporary phenomenon and the real-life context in which it occurred; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly palpable; and in which several sources of evidence are used. The approach of a qualitative case study is to research and assists examination of an occurrence within its context and to compare using a wide range of data sources for research validity (M. Dooley, 2002). This will ensure that the focus is not explored through a single view, but a variety of views which allows for various facets of the event to be exposed and understood (Baxter Jack, 2008). Secondary Data Secondary sources will be mainly used to collect and utilized to gather qualitative data related with this research. This is especially helpful as the researcher lives in Singapore and could not acquire data of market situations from other countries holding mega-events such as Formula One. In this case, different research reports, books, electronic journals and web portals will be accessed to gather information from these sources to conduct the study of the available secondary data. Data Analysis Firstly, after collating data from secondary sources and case studies, the researcher will read and transcribed all collected data to get a general sense as a whole and ideas presented. It is crucial to take into consideration the value of the data before analysing as it may not be significant to the research. Next, the researcher will identify areas to be covered and what is to be achieved based on the aims and objectives of the research by focusing on the analysis. In this case, the researcher can focus on the analysis by comparing the data collected from various case studies and secondary sources in a qualitative perspective, in which theoretical statements and causal relationships are clearly developed from and grounded in the phenomena studied (Cumberbatch, 2004). Thus, this leads to the use of Grounded Theory where it provides a mix of flexibility and structure with unambiguous guidelines, where the researcher will adopt the usage of coding. Coding is a method of constant comparison which led to the founding of Grounded Theory on the conceptualisation of data (Jones, Keifilik and Zanko, 2005). There are three steps of coding in analysing data collected. Opening coding is about understanding and to have a constant comparison of data collected that would be fractured into conceptual codes. In this case regarding to case study methodology, the researcher may categorise factors of economic impacts from mega-events into codes such as social, environmental, strengths, benefits, etc. The next step after data has been fractured, axial coding would be used. It is the process of exploring new relationships among the data and to discover any connections between them (Warburton, 2012). The final step would be selective coding, whereby it involves picking of certain codes to construct and integrate them with the listed categories in the axial coding model as part of the approach to developing a grounded theory (Strauss and Cobin, 1998). Limitations One of the main limitations is that an independent empirical process research is not being employed due to restrictions of organizations being reluctant to provide accurate data as some sports that host mega-events are naturally secretive. F1 is heavily technologically driven; therefore the release of information is seen as a pejorative to the sport. Reliance can only be placed upon the accuracy of data provided from external sources such as case studies and mainly secondary data. However, this issue will be minimized through the approach of identifying as many different reports as possible and cross-referencing them. Timeline The Gantt chart in the appendix section will be showing the estimated time needed for each process up till the submission of the dissertation itself. Conclusion In conclusion, the researcher will use a qualitative research methodology to have a better understanding and insight of the local economic impact of mega-events, using Formula One as the key event to the research. With the study on strategic analysis tools, the researcher will be able to find out how marketing managers analyse the economic situation and make strategic decisions on for the success of leveraging mega-events. It is also vital that the researcher have an open mind without any biasness in order to obtain accurate data for the development of grounded theory while conducting this qualitative research. Nevertheless, information acquired for the research will hopefully formalize a grounded theory and to be used as guidance for future researchers and academics studying economic impact from mega-events using analytic tools, to have a better insight and build on in the future for improvement. Appendices C:UsersNoWaKiDesktopUntitled.png Planned Timeline/Gantt Chart of Dissertation

Macbeth :: Essays Papers

Macbeth The witches and Lady Macbeth appear to dominate Macbeth's will, but in reality Macbeth is always in control. The confusion is created because, unlike these one dimensional, aggravating characters, he understands the complexity of the problem and must wrestle with his conscience. However, his action is based primarily upon his own desires. Ironically, given his understanding of the issues, he is horrified by the immensity of his crime once it has been committed and his terrified of the consequences. Clearly Macbeth understands the problem he faces and must struggle with his conscience. Throughout Macbeth's soliloquy in Scene 1 he expresses his feelings by saying, Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear Thy very stones prate of my whereabout, And take the present horror from the time, Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives: Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives. (Act 2, Scene 1) With that speech he is saying don't hear the steps I walk for fear they will give away my whereabouts. He wishes that the silence would break so he could finish his work. This meaning he wants the bell to ring, causing a break in silence, signaling him to kill Duncan so he can get his evil deed finished. To add to that point he also is saying that talking is delaying action. Actions being the killing of Duncan. The bold reality is that he is struggling within himself because he just wants to get it over and done with. He has everything under control now and just hopes that he wont be found out. The complexity of his problem between his ambition and loyalty he recognizes, knowing that he wants to do this but prays not to be caught in his act of disloyalty. Macbeth's ambitions are that of his own desire. The murdering of Duncan is purely what Mabeth truly wants. These desires are well pointed out during his soliloquy in Scene 1. He says, Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable

Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 19

Finding them wasn't so easy. No one was at my apartment, and Vincent didn't answer his phone. I drove down to the Cellar, hoping maybe they'd all decided to start drinking mid-day. Nope. The pub was barren, with only a couple bored patrons sitting at the bar. Frustrated, I called Hugh, deciding it was time to get help from my own resources. â€Å"Is Jerome back yet?† â€Å"No,† the imp said. â€Å"Do you need him?† â€Å"Kind of.† â€Å"Kind of?† â€Å"It's a long story.† â€Å"I'm in the city for a meeting. You want to have lunch and explain? I'm practically down the street from your place. I'll meet you there, and we'll go eat.† It was the first time I'd talked to Hugh since the blowup at Peter's over Seth and me. I was still reeling from all that, but I did kind of want to get feedback from another immortal source. Besides, I was rapidly running out of options. It only took ten minutes for him to show up, but it felt like an hour. â€Å"Holy shit,† said Hugh, spotting the Christmas trees when he walked in. â€Å"Your apartment's a national park.† â€Å"Be quiet.† â€Å"I'm serious. You need a ranger working in here.† â€Å"Come on. Let's go.† We walked to a deli down the street. Once we were seated with our food, I began explaining to him why I needed Jerome. By the time I finished the Nyx story, Hugh's mirth had faded. â€Å"Fuck,† he said, biting into an enormous Reuben. â€Å"That might be worth bugging Jerome after all.† â€Å"Where is he?† I asked. â€Å"Another training?† Hugh shrugged. â€Å"Not entirely sure. He was vague about it. Grace and Hiroko insinuated he's having ‘a personality conflict' with another demon and went to settle it.† â€Å"Oh, God,† I said. â€Å"Not a duel?† â€Å"I don't know. I hope not. Those crazy bitches seemed pretty smug, so they're probably hoping for some opportunity to pull a power play out of all this. You know how they are. Still†¦you could probably go to them for help with all this.† I could†¦but if Jerome had something weird going on, I didn't want to get enmeshed with his lieutenants and possibly be used in some way. The two demonesses worked for him but would seize any chance for promotion, and when political tremors shook our world, everyone was quick to exploit everyone else. â€Å"I'll hold out for the angels,† I said. â€Å"As long as I can space out my energy fixes, there shouldn't be a problem. If I can't find Carter and friends in another day or so, I'll think about talking to Grace and Hiroko.† â€Å"I can get a hold of him if you really need it,† said Hugh. I smiled at the uneasy tone in his voice. â€Å"Yeah, but your instructions were to avoid bothering him at all costs, right?† The imp nodded. â€Å"It's okay. I'll wait on the angels. If I have to go to Grace and Hiroko, they can be the ones to decide if it's worth interrupting Jerome for. I mean, the evidence is pretty solid†¦but, well, if we're wrong, and it turns out to be nothing†¦ Jerome's going to be pissed that I bothered him based on the word of two humans.† â€Å"Pissed at all of us.† â€Å"Yeah.† I idly picked holes in my sandwich with the toothpick that held it together. â€Å"Are you scared?† asked Hugh. â€Å"Of Nyx?† â€Å"Yeah. I am. I don't like the idea of anything invading my sleep. Certainly not something that powerful. That guy I mentioned – Dante – is going to try to make me a charm or something to ward her away.† Hugh snorted. â€Å"No human can make a charm like that.† â€Å"He's a magician. He said he could.† â€Å"Sweetie. Nyx is a fucking deity – no, more than that. An uber-deity. A force of the universe that was instrumental in creation. She's been weakened over time, yeah, but some strung-out, psychic sham can't make a charm powerful enough to scare her off. There are probably only a handful of humans in the world who could, and to get that kind of power†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Hugh shook his head. â€Å"I don't know. Based on what you've told me, I'm just not seeing it.† I'd had my own doubts about Dante, but I'd thus far managed to push them aside and keep hoping for the best. Hearing Hugh, I felt all of my misgivings return. â€Å"Fuck,† I said. Silence fell as we munched on our sandwiches a bit. Rain fell outside, and hungry customers ducked in to avoid it. Hugh watched a cute brunette order at the counter, then he turned his attention back to me. â€Å"Any idea when Niphon's leaving?† I frowned. â€Å"Whenever Tawny gets a victim.† Now Hugh frowned. â€Å"But she did, didn't she?† â€Å"Did she?† â€Å"I don't know. That's what Simon said. Or at least, he thought she did. He said she was up there dancing with a glow a couple nights ago. Made up for the shitty job she was doing.† A couple nights ago†¦ â€Å"No†¦that's impossible. I saw her right around then, and she still hadn't taken anybody. She was so low, I had to kiss her again. He's wrong.† â€Å"Maybe she got a glow from the kiss.† Hugh sounded kind of hopeful. â€Å"You use a lot of tongue?† â€Å"It wasn't that big of a kiss. No glow. Just enough to get by.† â€Å"Huh.† He swirled the ice around in his Diet Coke. â€Å"I guess Simon was wrong. Figured he'd be good at spotting that stuff.† I would have thought so too. â€Å"Hugh†¦this is going to sound weird, but I think Tawny may be faking how inept she is.† He looked rightfully startled. â€Å"Why the fuck would she do that?† â€Å"I don't know. I think it's to help Niphon. But none of this makes sense. This is the second time I've heard of her possibly getting a fix, but then I've seen her shortly thereafter, and she was way too low to have burned through so much so quickly.† â€Å"Maybe she's got your problem.† â€Å"I have a lot of problems.† â€Å"Your Nyx problem. Maybe Tawny's losing her energy too.† Whoa. Interesting idea. And why not? If Nyx was preying on one succubus, why not two? And it would explain how Tawny was losing energy so quickly. Except†¦ â€Å"If Nyx is taking her energy, that means she's actually getting it to begin with. But Tawny keeps telling me she isn't having sex.† â€Å"Huh. A servant of Hell lying. Go figure.† â€Å"Yeah, but why? Niphon's risking getting both of them in a shitload of trouble if Jerome or anyone else finds out. He's gambling a lot just to stick around and annoy me. And if Hell thinks Tawny isn't doing her job, they'll recall her.† Hugh gave me a funny look. â€Å"What?† I asked. â€Å"What's that for?† â€Å"You didn't read the book, did you?† â€Å"What book?† â€Å"The succubus manual.† â€Å"You know I didn't.† â€Å"And I even got you the abridged one,† he said, sounding wounded. â€Å"Hugh,† I growled. â€Å"What's your point?† â€Å"The point is that as her mentor, you're accountable for her actions. If she can't bag a victim, you're the one they'll call in.† â€Å"What? That's ridiculous.† â€Å"Those are the rules now.† â€Å"So, what, I get slapped on the wrist for her screwing up?† â€Å"Slap on the wrist? For being a succubus who can't teach another one to have sex? It's so ludicrous, it's probably never happened before. I don't know what they'd do. Censure you at the very least. Transfer you to work under a senior succubus.† â€Å"I am a senior succubus.† He shrugged. â€Å"But if she's lying†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Then prove it.† I rubbed my eyes. â€Å"This is utterly insane. Why does Niphon hate me so much? He already bought my soul, for God's sake. What more is there?† I expected some smartass remark. Instead, I received silence. I looked at Hugh. â€Å"What? What is it now?† He pointedly glanced away. â€Å"Hugh!† â€Å"I don't know, Georgina.† Hugh rarely called me by my first name. I was usually honey or sweetie. â€Å"Sometimes we make deals, and they seem airtight, but something goes wrong.† â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"I worked with another imp when I lived in Dallas. Raquel. She brokered this one deal with a guy who was pissed off when his wife left him because he found out he was sterile. Couldn't have kids.† Hugh helpfully illustrated the meaning by pointing down toward his lower torso. â€Å"I know what sterile means, Mr. Wizard. Get on with it.† â€Å"So, he sold his soul under the conditions that his ex-wife couldn't have kids either. He was bitter and into the poetic justice thing, apparently. Wanted to punish her with what she'd punished him over. So, he gave up his soul, and our side gave her some kind of inflammation thing that totally destroyed her fallopian tubes and scarred up her uterus. I don't know. Girl stuff.† I had to hold back an eye roll. Hugh might feign ignorance about ‘girl stuff,' but he'd found time in his years of corruption to go to medical school. He knew more about this than I did. â€Å"Harsh,† I said. â€Å"But fitting from the guy's point of view, I guess.† â€Å"Yeah. Should have been a done deal, but something went wrong. Or, well, right. Her ovaries still worked – she was making eggs, even if she couldn't carry a baby. She and her new husband found a surrogate mother. The wife donated eggs, they mixed up a Petri dish cocktail, and the surrogate carried the baby. Bam!† â€Å"The wife had a child after all,† I mused. â€Å"Wow. Hell gets defeated by science. All those philosophers from the Enlightenment were right.† Hugh scoffed at my joke. â€Å"It was stupid. Someone – by which I mean, Raquel – should have thought of that when they picked the infection as a way to make that lady infertile. Raquel fucked up. The guy was able to take his case back to Hell and won his soul back for breach of contract.† â€Å"Oh, wow,† I said. â€Å"I bet that went over well. What's Raquel doing nowadays?† He grimaced. â€Å"I think we're all happier not knowing.† I agreed. â€Å"But what's this have to do with me? That's kind of a rare case.† â€Å"Eh, it happens more than you'd think. Most of the time, the seller doesn't even notice something got messed up. But if the imp or someone else in authority catches it, I've seen them move Heaven and Earth – no pun intended – to fix it.† â€Å"So, you're implying that Niphon's here, finagling all this stuff with Tawny, because he did something wrong in my purchase?† Hugh spread his hands out. â€Å"I don't know. All I know is that when an imp shows up and is going to this much trouble over something, the evidence suggests it's big. Maybe not a situation like Raquel's, maybe not a breach of contract, but something.† â€Å"My contract's long since done,† I murmured. â€Å"Everyone it involved is dead now. If there was a problem, I would have had to bring it up back then.† â€Å"Like I said, I don't know. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions.† â€Å"Could you look? Could you get a hold of the contract?† â€Å"No.† Hugh's answer came almost before I finished speaking. â€Å"Absolutely not.† â€Å"But if there's some wording I didn't know about – â€Å" â€Å"You think I can just go walk into Hell's records and pull a contract I'm not involved with?† he exclaimed. â€Å"Fuck. If I got caught, it'd make what happened to Raquel look like a promotion.† â€Å"But – â€Å" â€Å"No,† he said again, voice like stone. â€Å"No debate. I love you, sweetie. You know I do. You're like my sister, and I'd do almost anything for you, but not this. I'm sorry.† I glared. He glared back. â€Å"Look, you want my advice? Get rid of Niphon. And Tawny, if you can. Expose them if they really are pulling something here, and Jerome will take it from there.† â€Å"Jerome's not even around! Damn it. Why can't you help me with this? You were so quick to help with my love life when you were talking to Seth the other night.† Hugh narrowed his eyes. â€Å"It was probably the best thing I've ever done for you.† â€Å"Are you insane? He's walking around talking about that now – all worried about how he's going to hurt me and make me miserable!† â€Å"Good,† snapped Hugh. â€Å"He should be.† I shoved my trash onto my tray and stood up. â€Å"See you later. Thanks for†¦well, nothing.† Hugh followed me over to the garbage bins. â€Å"You're behaving irrationally. On all of this.† â€Å"I'd never treat you the way you're treating me,† I said, dumping my tray. â€Å"I'm your friend.† â€Å"Friendship has nothing to do with this.† â€Å"It has everything to do with this!† He stacked his tray on the others and looked at his watch. â€Å"Look, I have to go. I'm sorry I can't give you the answers you want. Am I going to see you at Peter's?† Peter, unable to pass up party-giving opportunities, was hosting a Christmas dinner, weird as that seemed. â€Å"No. I'm going to be with Seth. Unless he breaks up with me because of your great advice.† Hugh bit his lip on some remark that probably would have been uncomplimentary. Shaking his head, he turned around and left.

Scholarship letter 2015 Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers

Scholarship letter 2015 Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers People often say money isnt everything however this true. Money is a major part in gaining a college education. Therefore as an upcoming college freshman I wish to obtain any scholarship I can. I am from Missouri City, Texas unlike some students home is not around the corner. Secondly, I come from a very larger family and this fall my parents will have two students in college. Lastly, I dont desire to take out any loans if I dont need to. Money is not everything but I need it to start my new chapter in life. I plan to obtain my PHD in chemistry then farther my education as I go into physical therapy school. After I become a great physical therapist I will then start to train others and start an internship program. In my program I will teach and train the interns to the best of my abilities and at the end of the program I will have a job waiting for them. I plan to gain an education and teach others so I can bless them as I was bless. I want to become a physical therapist because they help God heal those who need to be healed from there body to their soul. At times there is just one check rolling in for the bills. Honestly I need to take as much pressure off my family as possible. It might sound bad now but my family just came across their struggle we all have them. My family believes in education, my parents have bachelor degrees and my brother and sister are obtaining degrees as well. I have big shoes to fill as you can see and my parents have plans to see me soar. Therefore, I wont let them down which is another reason I will stay in school and achieve my goals.

How to Take Math Notes With a Smartpen

How to Take Math Notes With a Smartpen Everybody knows that its important to take good math notes, but do you really know how to take notes that really make a difference? The old rules may not work for modern students. For example, weve always heard that you should use a sharp pencil to take math notes. But these days its much better to use a smartpen! Using a Smartpen for Taking Math Notes A smartpen has the ability to record your teachers lecture as you take notes. This is important because no matter how quickly you copy notes in class, you are likely to miss something. If you are able to record the lecture as you write, you can review the teachers words as you work through the class problemsand you can do it over and over again! The best tool for recording math class is the Pulse Smartpen, by LiveScribe. This pen will enable you to tap on any space in your written notes and hear the lecture that took place while you were writing it. If you cant afford a smartpen, you may be able to use a recording feature on your laptop, iPad, or tablet. If these tools arent accessible, you can use a digital recorder.If you cant use a smartpen, you should be sure to write down everything that might be useful as you do your homework. Be sure to copy every single step of every problem, and in the margins of your notes, jot down anything the teacher says that may give additional clues t o the process. Science has shown that we all learn best through repetition over time. Rewrite each problem or process at night as you study. Also, try to re-listen to the lecture.Sometimes we struggle on exams because we havent worked through enough problems. Before you leave a class, ask for extra sample problems that are similar to the problems your teacher works through. Try to work through the extra problems on your own, but seek advice online or from a tutoring center if you get stuck.Buy a used math textbook or two with more sample problems. Use these textbooks to supplement your lectures. It is possible that one book author will describe things in a more comprehensible manner than another.