Sunday, December 29, 2019

Authority And Authority - 1751 Words

A society is rooted in and cannot last without a form of authority. Authority is seen as a necessary figure, be it subtle or overpowering. Nations, cities, and people all follow a higher authority that typically strives to provide leadership and rules, and without this, social order would not remain intact. Obedience to authority is a topic that is very open ended, leaving many to question what the effects of authority are, if people always have the inclination to obey the authority figure, and what the effects of obedience and disobedience are and how they relate. We see examples of authority everywhere. The Bible, wars, and modern society all have countless instances of both good and bad leaders and authority figures. Nicole Biggart and Gary Hamilton talk about how for authority to be effective, it must institute its power in a way that already copes with the standing beliefs of the people it has authority over. In doing so, the authority figure must make it apparent that what the y are administering is morally acceptable and a requirement for their people. We see a prominent example of this with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. He takes absurd laws, makes them seem okay, and his country follows their leader. Theorists have recognized that personal power in organizations is both a matter of structure, having a position of authority, and individual skill in understanding and manipulating organizational processes (Biggart, Hamilton). This means that the authority figureShow MoreRelatedPower, Authority, And Authority3961 Words   |  16 PagesPower and authority have become central towards the decision-making process in the social environment. As a student, power and authority are fascinating factors based on the leadership position held by the institution. Developing an understanding of power and authority from a personal perspective is towards understanding how the two concepts differ, relate or overlap in the decision-making process. There are diverse reason s as to why power and authority are central in organising constructively withinRead MoreAuthority, Authority And Legal Authority1516 Words   |  7 Pagesinfluence, command† (McCormack, 2001), the concept of â€Å"authority† prescribes the normative rules of correct and incorrect ways to do certain things in the sphere of social control, and describes a person as being an authority regarding his or her proficiency, training and wisdom in the sphere of knowledge (Peters, 1966). Teachers are responsible for promulgating, maintaining and perpetuating the authority of social control, and positioned as authorities on the knowledge that they are required to transmitRead MoreThe Blind Obedience And Authority1237 Words   |  5 PagesBlind Obedience to Authority Millions of people were killed in Nazi Germany in concentration camps however, Hitler wouldn’t have been able to kill them all, nor could just a handful of people. Obedience is when society influences where/ when an individual acts in response to a direct order from another individual, who is usually the authority figure. It is assumed that without such an order the person would not have acted in this way. In order to obey authority, the obeying person has to acceptRead MoreAuthority, Accountability Responsibility2841 Words   |  12 PagesAUTHORITY, ACCOUNTABILITY RESPONSIBILITY By Yusop B. Masdal I. INTRODUCTION Delegation  (or  deputation) is the assignment of authority and responsibility to another person (normally from a manager to a subordinate) to carry out specific activities (Blair, gerald 2002). However the person who delegated the work remains accountable for the outcome of the delegated work. Delegation empowers a subordinate to make decisions, i.e. it is a shift of decision-making authority from one organizationalRead MoreThe Delicate Topic of Authority1384 Words   |  5 PagesAuthority is one of the most critical topics today, now that it is the age where children are more liberated and the society is more open minded. It is budding to be the most delicate issue today. Today more and more people question their authorities and have been becoming more of a problem of many nations. Authority in this study is interpreted as a person with ability to influence or suggest for a separate response for a certain stimuli. This study is concerned with the association of judgmentRead MoreThe Problem Of The Classroom Authority858 Words   |  4 Pagesas â€Å"Is that where that book goes?†, â€Å"What did you forget to put on your paper?†, and â€Å"Would you like to sit down?† you lose your credibility as the classroom authority. I am writing concerning this issue because of my desire to share with you information I have recently learned in relation to the differences in characteristics of authority between white, working-class communities and black, poverty stricken communities. I will also explain the linguistic concept code-switching, which is the abilityRead MoreA True Authority Figure989 Words   |  4 Pagesto consider committing suicide (â€Å"Cyber Bullying Facts†). My condolences go to those impacted by the tragic loss. A situation like this couldn’t have ended any worse, however it should have resolved less painfully by authority figures. Throughout Phoebe Prince’s story a true authority figure appears to be missing entirely. Phoebe Prince, 15 years old, moved from County Clare in Ireland to South Hadley looking to continue enjoying the teenage life. Only to come to find out, students in a little townRead MoreAuthority in the Public Services - Essay2048 Words   |  9 PagesAuthority in the public services Authority means the right or power to enforce rules or give orders. To do this they need legislations to enforce their laws, to function properly the uniformed pubic services need to have legislations. The extent of authority relates to the limit of control held by an individual or organisation. The limit of control is governed by the job description of the role, as well as the jurisdiction, with authority coming either from statute or company policy. An exampleRead MoreAuthority And Structure At A Young Age808 Words   |  4 Pageswhat I believe are the three most directly connected (1) Authority and Structure (2) Self-Control (3) Discipline. Now let us take a look closer at these three specific values - authority, self-control, and discipline. God established authority and Structure and we are expected to submit to its structure. Authority comes in many forms and in many styles. We learn authority and structure at a young age. Dad and mom are the first authority we are introduced to as a baby. We learned to depend on themRead MoreWe Must Obey And Obey Authority1184 Words   |  5 Pagesit is always necessary to obey authority. This is such a normalized function of everyday life, that it has resulted in us losing sight of our own moral convictions. Not every act of this expected obedience is conscious. We have fell into the habit of obeying first and asking questions later. Even worse than that, we have developed a more destructive habit of not questioning authority at all. Our moral judgements have became clouded by our understanding of authority as well as the desire and expectation

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Data Mining and the US Government Essay - 3950 Words

Data Mining and the US Government Introduction On the morning of September 11, 2001, millions of Americans, and many more around the world, woke up to heart-wrenching news of a horrific magnitude. Two planes had collided into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, a third rammed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and yet a fourth crash-landed in Philadelphia. All victims of this carefully planned act of terrorism, several hundreds of innocent lives were lost in the direct assaults on the planes, a couple of thousand more were injured or killed from the damage caused by the attacks, and hundreds more were sacrificed in the rescue attempts.[1] It is unthinkable that such a large scale operation could have been†¦show more content†¦What is Data Mining? Data mining is essentially the ability to discover new information by exploring through various databases of existing information. According to Laura and Jack Cook, data mining facilitates the discovery of previously unknown relationships among the data. †¦These operations present results that users already intuitively knew existed in the database.[2] As an example, let us take a school system consisting of three databases: one which stores the student profiles consisting of name and identification number, another to store student grades based on identification number, and the last one stores all the transactions at the bookstore through the student identification card. This is a simple example, but it should illustrate our point. Alone, the separate databases might not tell us much. With data mining techniques, the process might be able to tell us that in a particular school year, students of a certain ethnic background obtained above a 3.0 GPA, or that the bookstore sold mostl y engineering books to students last year, or even that students who obtained above a 3.0 GPA were ones who bought engineering books. More specifically, the technology might be smart enough to associate that John Doe from Ireland had a 3.32 GPA in his engineering classes, even though he did not buy any engineering books from the bookstore. This type of technology is very powerful source ofShow MoreRelatedIs Data Mining Violating Our Privacy And Rights? Why Are Companies Still Collecting Our Personal Information?1431 Words   |  6 Pagesaccidentally donated data of patients. This means that patient’s social security numbers, addresses, medical records, and other personal information, were given away without patients’ permission or consent. At that moment you realize that all your personal information is out there for everyone to see and use; and there is nothing you can do about it. The collection of personal information is called data mining, and is collected through large online databases. The real question is that data mining violatingRead MoreGS 1140 A Look at Data Mining990 Words   |  4 PagesYour life? â€Å"A Look into Data Mining† Today with the ever growing use of computers in the world, information is constantly moving from one place to another. What is this information, who is it about, and who is using it will be discussed in the following paper. The collecting, interpreting, and determination of use of this information has come to be known as data mining. This term known as data mining has been around only for a short time but the actual collection of data has been happening for centuriesRead MoreOutrage over the NSAs Data Collection is Hypocritical in the Publics Acceptance of Data Mining by Other Companies1701 Words   |  7 PagesOutrage Over the NSAs Data Collection Is Hypocritical in The Publics Acceptance of Data Mining by Other Companies. Everyone assumes that Edward Snowden first brought to the public’s attention the actions by the National Security Agency (NSA) in the mining of public data. (The Guardian and The Washington Post on June 5, 2013). â€Å"The release of classified material was called the most significant leak in US history by Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg†. (Gellman, B., Poitras, L. 2013). This wasRead MoreFuture Privacy Of Information Technologies1303 Words   |  6 PagesFuture Privacy of Information Technologies to Protect Personal Data In a modern life, from the minute a person is born, a digital record is created. From that point on, the individual’s behavior is regularly tracked and information are collected about the typical parts of the person life such as when government collect data about our health, education and income, we hope that the data are used in good way. However, we always have concerned about our privacy. Liina Kamm did her research on the InformationRead MoreWhat Does It Mean For Our Privacy, And Our Wallet?1699 Words   |  7 Pagesable to better serve us and become more efficient. While it’s great for companies implementing these policies, what does this really mean for our privacy, and our wallet? Our lives have truly become electronically based. We can access our banking information though the internet, setup all-kinds of funds to be transfers, also purchase and sell goods. Consumer lives are being tracked and some of their information are even being sold to other businesses. Data is now one of theRead MoreLiterature Review1352 Words   |  5 PagesIssue - Within X organization, there are various tools that report data, but rather than repeat the information, the data is often different depending on the tool accessed. In all likelihood, initial programming was done incorrectly, resulting in an inaccurate harvest of the data. Literature Review - The Literature Review will focus on database management, data mining, and correlation of appropriate data sets within a networked environment. Bardoliwalla, N. (December 1, 2009). The Top 10 TrendsRead MoreThe Piracy of Privacy901 Words   |  4 PagesSecurity Agency and other government administrations have been criticized for their operations. With much criticism, the nation has been seeing a decrease in social networking users and an increase in hacking abilities amongst citizens. Many have questioned how farther the government and businesses will go but this can only be told through time. During the Cold War, at the height of the ‘Red Scare’ FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover conducted mass clandestine operations on US citizens. â€Å"Even before heRead MoreThe Self Quantification1636 Words   |  7 Pageswhen there is something wrong with me, even if it was serious. I’d love to have my DNA decoded and analyzed. Advances in analytics will enable us to decode the DNA of individuals in minutes. It will be so cheap that it becomes a routine check at birth – or even before! A more scary idea is that health insurance companies could use (or even demand) your data to customize their premiums. Yes, on one level I would welcome this because it could reward the ones with a healthier lifestyle. But what if myRead MoreInternal External Institution of Corporate Governance1743 Words   |  7 Pagesto ensure that in attaining that goal, the entity is playing on fair ground, that is, providing employees with proper remuneration, adhering to set rules and reg ulations (external and internal),; Responsibility to other stakeholders such as the government, markets, environment and the general public by securing that their interests are given equal attention and action and not just being left on the bottom list of their priorities. Since a corporate entity, a major contributor and creator of wealthRead MoreData Mining And Data Materials Essay1318 Words   |  6 PagesData mining is the process of analysing data to discover meaningful patterns within the data resulting in extracting useful information that may have not been discovered yet. Data mining borrows techniques from a variety of fields such as statistics, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Because of its usefulness, data mining has been used in a range of industries such as, banking, telecommunications, retail, marketing, and insurance. Exclusive Ore, a group that specializes in data mining

Friday, December 13, 2019

The Secret Circle The Captive Chapter Four Free Essays

string(42) " planted its front feet on her shoulders\." â€Å"Cassie? Is that you?† Sick dismay tingled down Cassie’s nerves. Then she heard her own voice saying, as she turned, â€Å"I-I was scared †¦ I didn’t want to bother you †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Oh, don’t be silly. Come lie down,† Diana said sleepily, patting the bed beside her and shutting her eyes again. We will write a custom essay sample on The Secret Circle: The Captive Chapter Four or any similar topic only for you Order Now It had worked. Cassie had gambled that Diana had just woken up that instant, and she’d been right. But Cassie felt as if she were reeling as she went over to the other side of the bed and got in, facing away from Diana. â€Å"No more nightmares,† Diana murmured: â€Å"No,† Cassie whispered. She could never get up now and call Faye, but she didn’t care. She was too tired of stress, of tension, of fear. And something deep inside her was glad that she hadn’t been able to go through with it tonight. She shut her eyes and listened to the roaring in her own ears until she fell asleep. In her dream she was on a ship. The deck was lifting and dropping beneath her, and waves rose up black over the sides. Lost, lost. . . What was lost? The ship? Yes, but something else, too. Lost forever†¦ never find it now†¦ Then the dream changed. She was sitting in a bright and sunny room. Her chair was low to the ground, its spindly wood back so uncomfortable that she had to sit up straight. Her clothes were uncomfortable too; a bonnet as close-fitting as a swimming cap, and something tight around her waist that scarcely let her breathe. On her lap was a book. Why, it was Diana’s Book of Shadows! But no, the cover was different, red leather instead of brown. As she leafed through it, she saw that the writing in the beginning was very similar, and the titles of some of the spells were the same as in Diana’s. A Charm to Cure a Sickly Child. To Make Hens Lay. For Protection Against Fire and Water. To Hold Evil Harmless. To Hold Evil Harmless! Her eyes moved swiftly across the words after it. Bury the evil object in good moist loam or sand, well covered. The healing power of the Earth will battle with the poison, and if the object be not too corrupt, it will be purified. Of course, Cassie thought. Of course. The dream was ebbing. She could feel Diana’s bed beneath her. But she could also hear a fading voice, calling a name. â€Å"Jacinth! Are you in there? Jacinth!† Cassie was awake. Diana’s blue curtains were incandescent with the sunlight they held back. There were cheerful pottering noises in the room. But all Cassie could think about was the dream. She must have read that spell in Diana’s Book of Shadows last night, absorbed it unconsciously as she was flipping through. But why remember it in such a weird way? It didn’t matter. The problem was solved, and Cassie was so happy that she felt like hugging her pillow. Of course, of course! Before the skull ceremony Diana had said the skull should be buried for purification-in moist sand. Adam had found it on the island buried in sand. Right below Diana’s back door was a whole beach of sand. Cassie could hear the ocean breaking on it this minute. The question was, could she find the exact place in the sand the skull was buried? Faye was in writing class. And she was furious. â€Å"I waited up all night,† she hissed, grabbing Cassie by the arm. â€Å"What happened?† â€Å"I couldn’t get it. It wasn’t there.† Faye’s golden eyes narrowed and the long red-tipped fingers on Cassie’s arm tightened. â€Å"You’re lying.† â€Å"No,† Cassie said. She cast an agonized glance around and then whispered, â€Å"I think I know where it is, but you have to give me time.† Faye was staring at her, those strange eyes raking hers. Then she relaxed slightly and smiled. â€Å"Of course, Cassie. All the time you need. Until Saturday.† â€Å"That may not be long enough-â€Å" â€Å"It’ll just have to be, won’t it?† Faye drawled. â€Å"Because after that I tell Diana.† She let go and Cassie walked to her own desk. There was nothing else to do. They had a minute of silence at the beginning of class for Mr. Fogle. Cassie spent the minute staring at her entwined fingers, thinking alternately of the dark rushing thing inside the skull and Doug Henderson’s tip-tilted blue-green eyes. At lunch there was a note taped on the glass door of the back room in the cafeteria. Outside in front, it said. Cassie turned from it and almost ran into Adam. He was approaching with a loaded tray, and he lifted it to stop her from knocking it all over him. â€Å"Whoa,† he said. Cassie flushed. But then, as they stood facing each other, she discovered a more serious problem. Adam’s smile had faded, she couldn’t stop flushing, and neither of them seemed to be going anywhere. Eyes in the cafeteria were on them. Talk about deja vu, Cassie thought. Every time I’m in here I’m the center of attention. Finally, Adam made an abortive attempt to catch her elbow, stopped himself, and gestured her forward courteously. Cassie didn’t know how he did it, but Adam managed to carry off courtesy like no guy she had ever known. It seemed to come naturally to him. Girls looked up as they went by, some of them casting sideways glances at Adam. But these were different than the sideways glances Cassie had seen on the beach at Cape Cod. There, he’d been dressed in his scruffy fishing-boat clothes, and Portia’s girlfriends had averted their eyes in disdain. These glances were shy, or inviting, or hopeful. Adam just tossed an unruly strand of red hair off his forehead and smiled at them. Outside, the members of the Club were gathered on the steps. Even Nick was there. Cassie started toward them, and then a large shape bounded up and planted its front feet on her shoulders. You read "The Secret Circle: The Captive Chapter Four" in category "Essay examples" â€Å"Raj, get down! What are you doing?† Adam yelled. A wet, warm tongue was lapping Cassie’s face. She tried to fend the dog off, grabbing for the fur at the back of his neck, and ended it by hugging him. â€Å"I think he’s just saying ‘hi,’ † she gasped. â€Å"He’s usually so good about waiting just off campus until I get out of school. I don’t know why-† Adam broke off. â€Å"Raj, get down,† he muttered in a changed voice. â€Å"Now!† he said, and snapped his fingers. The lapping tongue withdrew, but the German shepherd stayed by Cassie’s side as she walked over to the steps. She patted the dog’s head. â€Å"Raj usually hates new people,† Sean observed as Cassie and Adam sat down. â€Å"So how come he always likes you so much?† Cassie could feel Faye’s mocking eyes on her and she shrugged uncomfortably, staring down into her lunch sack. Then something occurred to her: one of those witty comebacks she usually only thought of the next day. â€Å"Must be my new perfume. Eau de pot roast,† she said, and Laurel and Diana giggled. Even Suzan smirked. â€Å"All right, let’s get down to business,† Diana said then. â€Å"I brought us out here to make sure nobody’s listening. Anybody have any new ideas?† â€Å"Any one of us could have done it,† Melanie said quietly. â€Å"Only some of us had any reason to,† Adam replied. â€Å"Why?† said Laurel. â€Å"I mean, just because Mr. Fogle was obnoxious wasn’t a reason to murder him. And quit grinning like that, Doug, unless you really did do something.† â€Å"Maybe Fogle knew too much,† Suzan said unexpectedly. Everyone turned to her, but she went on unwrapping a Hostess cupcake without looking up. â€Å"So?† said Deborah at last. â€Å"What’s that supposed to mean?† â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Suzan raised china-blue eyes to look around at the group. â€Å"Fogle always got here at the crack of dawn, didn’t he? And his office is right up there, isn’t it?† She nodded, and Cassie followed her gaze to a window on the second floor of the red-brick building. Then Cassie looked down the hill, to the bottom where Kori had been found. There was a pause, and then Diana said, â€Å"Oh, my God.† â€Å"What?† Chris demanded, looking around. Deborah scowled and Laurel blinked. Faye was chuckling. â€Å"She’s saying he might have seen Kori’s murderer,† Adam said. â€Å"And then whoever killed her, killed him to keep him from talking. But do we know he was here that morning?† Cassie was now staring from the second-story window to the chimney that rose from the school. It had been cold the morning they found Kori dead, and the principal had a fireplace in his office. Had there been smoke rising from the chimney that morning? â€Å"You know,† she said softly to Diana, â€Å"I think he was here.† â€Å"Then that could be it,† Laurel said excitedly. â€Å"And it would mean it couldn’t have been one of us who killed him-because whoever killed him killed Kori, too. And none of us would have done that.† Diana was looking vastly relieved, and there were nods around the Circle. A little voice inside Cassie was trying to say something, but she pushed it down. Nick, however, had his lip curled. â€Å"And who besides one of us would have been able to drop an avalanche on somebody?† â€Å"Anybody with a stick or a crowbar,† Deborah snapped. â€Å"Those rocks on the cliff at Devil’s Cove are just piled up any old way. An outsider could’ve done it easy. So it’s back to the question of which of them did it-if we have to ask anymore.† There was a hunting light in her face, and Chris and Doug were looking eager. â€Å"You leave Sally alone until we figure this out,† Diana said flatly. â€Å"And Jeffrey,† Faye added throatily, with a meaningful look. Deborah glared at her, then at last dropped her eyes. â€Å"Now that we’ve got that solved, I have a real problem to talk about,† Suzan said, brushing crumbs off the front of her sweater, an interesting process which Sean and the Hendersons watched avidly. â€Å"Homecoming is in less than two weeks, and I haven’t figured out who to ask yet. And I haven’t even got any shoes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The meeting degenerated, and shortly after that the bell rang. â€Å"Who are you going to ask to Homecoming?† Laurel asked Cassie that afternoon. They were driving home from school with Diana and Melanie. â€Å"Oh†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Cassie was taken aback. â€Å"I haven’t thought about it. I-I’ve never asked a guy to a dance in my life.† â€Å"Well, now’s the time to start,† Melanie said. â€Å"Usually the outsiders don’t ask us-they’re a little scared. But you can have any guy you want; just pick him and tell him to show up.† . â€Å"Just like that?† â€Å"Yep,† Laurel said cheerfully. â€Å"Like that. Of course, Melanie and I don’t usually ask guys who’re together with somebody. But Faye and Suzan†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She rolled her eyes. â€Å"They like picking guys who’re taken.† â€Å"I’ve noticed,† Cassie said. There was no question about whom Diana went to dances with. â€Å"What about Deborah?† â€Å"Oh, Deb usually just goes stag,† said Laurel. â€Å"She and the Hendersons hang out, playing cards and stuff in the boiler room. And Sean just goes from girl to girl to girl; none of them like him, but they’re all too scared not to dance with him. You’ll see it there; it’s funny.† â€Å"I probably won’t see it,† Cassie said. The idea of walking up to some guy and ordering him to escort her was simply unthinkable. Impossible, even if she was a witch. She might as well tell everybody now and let them get used to it. â€Å"I probably won’t go. I don’t like dances much.† â€Å"But you have to go,† Laurel said, dismayed, and Diana said, â€Å"It’s the most fun-really, Cassie. Look, let’s go to my house right now and talk about guys you can ask.† â€Å"No, I’ve got to go straight home,† Cassie said quickly. She had to go home because she had to look for the skull. Faye’s words had been ringing in the back of her mind all day, and now they drowned out Diana’s voice. All the time you need-until Saturday. â€Å"Please just drop me off at my house.† In silence that was bewildered and a little hurt, Diana complied. All that week, Cassie looked for the skull. She looked on the beach where her initiation had been held, where stumps of candles and pools of melted wax could still be seen half buried in the sand. She looked on the beach below Diana’s house, among the eelgrass and driftwood. She looked up and down the bluffs, walking on the dunes each afternoon and evening. It made sense that Diana would have marked the place somehow, but with what kind of mark? Any bit of flotsam or jetsam on the sand could be it. As each day went by she got more and more worried. She’d been so sure she could find it; it was just a matter of looking. But now it seemed she’d looked at every inch of beach for miles, and all she’d found was sea wrack and a few old beer bottles. On Saturday morning she stepped out of the front door to see a bright-red car circling in the cul-de-sac a little past her grandmother’s house. There was no building at the very point of the headland where the road dead-ended, but the car was circling there. As Cassie stood in the doorway, it turned and cruised slowly by her house. It was Faye’s Corvette ZRI, and Faye was in it, one languid arm drooping out of the window. As she went by Cassie, Faye raised her hand and held up one finger, its long nail gleaming even redder than the car’s paint job. Then she turned and mouthed a single word at Cassie. Sunset. She went cruising on without a backward look. Cassie stared after her. Cassie knew what she meant. By sunset, either Cassie brought the skull to Faye, or Faye told Diana. I have to find it, Cassie thought. I don’t care if I have to sift through every square inch of sand from here to the mainland. I have to find it. But that day was just like the others. She crawled on her knees over the beach near the initiation site, getting sand inside her jeans, in her shoes. She found nothing. The ocean rolled and roared beside her, the smell of salt and decaying seaweed filled her nostrils. As the sun slipped farther and farther down in the west, the crescent moon over the ocean glowed brighter. Cassie was exhausted and terrified, and she was giving up hope. Then, as the sky was darkening, she saw the ring of stones. She’d passed by them a dozen times before. They were bonfire stones, stained black with charcoal. But what were they doing so close to the waterline? At high tide, Cassie thought, they’d be covered. She knelt beside them and touched the sand in their center. Moist. With fingers that trembled slightly, she dug there. Dug deeper and deeper until her fingertips touched something hard. She dug around it, feeling the curve of its shape, until she had loosened enough sand to lift it out. It was shockingly heavy and covered with a thin white cloth. Cassie didn’t need to remove the cloth to know what it was. She felt like hugging it. She’d done it! She’d found the skull, and now she could take it to Faye†¦. The feeling of triumph died inside her. Faye. Could she really take the skull to Faye? All the time she’d been looking for it, finding it hadn’t been real to her. She hadn’t thought further than simply getting her hands on it. Now that she was actually holding it, now that the possibility was before her†¦ she couldn’t do it. The thought of those hooded golden eyes examining it, of those fingers with their long red nails gripping it, made Cassie feel sick. An image flitted through her mind, of a golden-eyed falcon with its talons extended. A bird of prey. She couldn’t go through with it. But then what about Diana? Cassie’s head bent in exhaustion, in defeat. She didn’t know what to do about Diana. She didn’t know how to solve anything. All she knew was that she couldn’t hand the skull over to Faye. There was a throat-clearing sound behind her. â€Å"I knew you could do it,† Faye said in her husky voice as Cassie, still on her knees, spun around to look. â€Å"I had complete faith in you, Cassie. And now my faith is justified.† â€Å"How did you know?† Cassie was on her feet. â€Å"How did you know where I was?† Faye smiled. â€Å"I told you I have friends who see a lot. One of them just brought me the news.† â€Å"It doesn’t matter,† Cassie said, forcibly calming herself. â€Å"You can’t have it, Faye.† â€Å"That’s where you’re wrong. I do have it. I’m stronger than you are, Cassie,† Faye said. And as she stood there on a little dune above Cassie, tall and stunning in black pants and a loose-knit scarlet top, Cassie knew it was true. â€Å"I’m taking the skull now. You can run to Diana if you want, but you’ll be too late.† Cassie stared at her a long minute, breathing quickly. Then she said, â€Å"No. I’m coming with you.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"I’m coming with you.† In contrast to Faye, Cassie was small. And she was dirty and disheveled, with sand in every crease of her clothes and under her fingernails, but she was relentless. â€Å"You said you only wanted the skull to ‘look at it for a while.’ That was the reason I agreed to get it for you. Well, now I’ve found it, but I’m not going to leave you alone with it. I’m going with you. I want to watch.† Faye’s black eyebrows, curved like a raven’s wings, lifted higher. â€Å"So voyeurism’s your idea of fun.† â€Å"No, it’s yours-or your friends’, rather,† Cassie said. Faye chuckled. â€Å"You’re not such a spineless mouse after all, are you?† she said. â€Å"All right; come. You might find it’s more fun to join in than to watch, anyway.† Faye shut the bedroom door behind Cassie. Then she went and took something out of the closet. It was a comforter, not rose-patterned like the one on the bed, but red satin. â€Å"My spare,† Faye said, with an arch smile. â€Å"For special occasions.† She shook it out over the bed, then went around the room lighting candles that gave off pungent, heady scents. Then she opened a velvet-lined box. Cassie stared. Inside was a jumble of loose stones, some polished, some uncut. They were dark green and amethyst, black, sulfur-yellow, pale pink and cloudy orange. â€Å"Find the red ones,† Faye said. Cassie’s fingers were itching to get into them anyway. She began to sort through the rainbow clutter. â€Å"Those garnets are good,† Faye said, approving some burgundy-colored stones. â€Å"And carnelians, too, if they’re not too orange. Now let me see: fire opal for passion, red jasper for stability. And one black onyx for surrendering to your shadow self.† She smiled strangely at Cassie, who stiffened. Undisturbed, Faye arranged the stones in a circle on the comforter. Then she turned off the lamp and the room was lit only by the candles. â€Å"Now,† Faye said, â€Å"for our guest.† Cassie thought that was an odd way to put it, and there was a sinking in her stomach as Faye opened the backpack. She’d promised herself that she would keep Faye from doing anything too terrible with the skull-but how? â€Å"Just what are you planning to do with it?† she asked, trying to keep her voice steady. â€Å"Just scrying,† murmured Faye, but she wasn’t paying much attention to Cassie. She was gazing down as she slowly peeled the wet, sandy white cloth away to reveal the glittering dome of the crystal skull. As Cassie watched, Faye lifted the skull up to eye level, cradling it in red-tipped fingers. Reflections of the candle flames danced in the depths of the crystal. â€Å"Ah,† said Faye. â€Å"Hello there.† She was gazing into the empty eyesockets as if looking at a lover. She bent forward and lightly kissed the grinning quartz teeth. Then she put the skull in the center of the ring of gems. Cassie swallowed. The sinking feeling was getting worse and worse; she felt sicker and sicker. â€Å"Faye, shouldn’t you have a ring of candles, too? What if-â€Å" â€Å"Don’t be silly. Nothing’s going to happen. I just want to see what this fellow’s all about,† Faye murmured. Cassie didn’t believe it. â€Å"Faye†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She was starting to panic. This was a bad idea, this had always been a bad idea. She wasn’t strong enough to stop Faye from anything. She didn’t even know what Faye was doing. â€Å"Faye, don’t you need to prepare-† â€Å"Be quiet,† Faye said sharply. She was hovering over the skull, gazing down into it, half reclining on the bed. It was all happening too fast. And it wasn’t safe. Cassie felt sure of that now. She could feel a darkness welling up inside the skull. â€Å"Faye, what are you doing with it?† More darkness, rising up like the sea. How could Faye be this powerful, to raise it from the skull so quickly? And all by herself, without a coven to back her up? The star ruby at Faye’s throat winked, and for the first time Cassie noticed matching gems on Faye’s fingers. All these red stones-to heighten the energy of the ritual? To enhance the power of the witch-or the skull? â€Å"Faye!† â€Å"Shut up!† said Faye. She leaned farther over the skull, lips parted, her breath coming quickly. Cassie could almost see the darkness in the skull, swirling, rising like smoke. Don’t look at it! Don’t give it any more power! the voice in her head cried. Cassie stared instead at Faye, urgently. â€Å"Faye, whatever you’re doing-it’s not what you think! It’s not safe!† â€Å"Leave me alone!† Swirling, rising, higher and higher. The darkness had been thin and transparent at first, but now it was thick and oily. Cassie wouldn’t look at it, but she could feel it. It was almost at the top of the skull, uncoiling, wheeling. â€Å"Faye, look out!† The black-haired girl was directly over the skull, directly in the way of the rising dark. Cassie grabbed her, pulling at her. But Faye was strong. Snarling something incoherent, she tried to shake Cassie off. Cassie threw one glance at the skull. It seemed to be grinning wildly at her, the smoke corkscrewing inside it. â€Å"Faye,† she screamed, and wrenched at the other girl’s shoulders. They both fell backward. At the same instant, out of the corner of her eye, Cassie saw the darkness break free. How to cite The Secret Circle: The Captive Chapter Four, Essay examples

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Digital Leadership in UAE Technological Advancement

Question: Describe about the Digital Leadership in UAE for Technological Advancement. Answer: With the global society undertaking great strides in technological advancement, it becomes paramount for the governments to keep up with the pace. Digitizing governments would no doubt enhance service delivery to all citizens as well as enhance the optimal use of resources (Sheninger 2014). This paper is a discussion of the e-Government, a strategy the United Arab Emirates government can use to digitize itself. Working Title The working title of this research will be Digitizing the Government of United Arab Emirates. Research Methodology Qualitative design data collection: questionnaire, synthesis of literature and case study. Relevant Theories A number of theories will be crucial in ensuring steadfast implementation of the e-Government among them the decentralization theory, which is the equivalent of devolution in political policy making. This theory is anchored on the principle of enhancing the redistribution of resources and even government functions from a central location (Bates 2016). The rationale behind this is ensuring that one does not have to pay a visit to a given government departments office with an aim of getting some crucial documents such as the identification documents. In turn, this can be done from a given departments portal whereby the citizen in need will just have to key in their respective details and thereafter post them to the portal through a computerized system. This will, in turn, be enhanced through the power of democracy The theory of educational leadership will also be pertinent in ensuring that the e-Government is successive by offering civic education to the public. This includes educating the public on their rights and expectations (Holland 2016). The United Arabs Emirates consists of seven states and this implies that the importance of civic education can never be underestimated. This is so since it will serve as the binding element cutting across the seven states. The civic education programs will also serve as platforms through which the leaders will carry out researches on the issues that affect the citizens. This would be made easier by the one on one interaction of the leaders with the citizens. Besides, via the e-Government platform will also have an answers and questions icon which will also serve as an interactive session between the leaders and the leaders. This will be also an avenue for educating the public on some pertinent issues that may be affecting them. Aspects of the Thesis that Will Produces Long-term and Sustainable Knowledge Enhancement of transparency and accountability Enhancement of transparency and accountability will, in turn, lead to long-term and sustainable business environment. Through this aspect, businesses will be in a position to get full knowledge on the utilization of their funds, additionally, it will ensure that the businesses thrive in a favorable environment that is free from the exploitation for instance through corrupt deals by the government. This is in line with the principles of the UN Global pact that dictates that businesses should always strive to work against corruption of all kinds, bribery and extortion included-principle 10 (United Nations Global Pact 2016). Through this aspect, therefore, the business will have the powers to raise any alarm related to any corrupt government ministry and therefore enhance the promotion of integrity for the welfare of the society. Need for digitized government In addition, the aspect of the need for a digitized government would be vital in weeding out corruption from within the government institutions. This is in line with the UAEs Pearl Initiative. This initiative is comprised of anti-corruption groups which act as the societys watchdogs and whistleblowers in case any government official or institution is involved in any corrupt dealings (McAuley 2015). Therefore, the e-Government platform is no doubt a long-term and sustainable program, one that would have a lot of support from the Pearl Initiative. This depicts that with such a platform in place, then the interests of the society will be well catered for and embraced in totality. It is, therefore, apparent that the e-Government strategy will be a crucial one within the entire UAEs society. This is not only because it will be a means of enhancing service delivery to the citizens but also a means of guarding the interests of the society with zeal. This will be through curbing corruption within the government institutions, enhancing equity among all the citizens as well as enhancing transparency and accountability at all levels of the government. Besides, as demonstrated above, the strategy will also be in line with the UN Global pact and the Pearl Initiative which guarantees its sustainability and long-life. This would be so since these pacts are active campaigners for transparency and accountability within the UAE society which signifies that the e-Government strategy would receive immense support from them. In turn, this would lead to advancement in service delivery as well as public awareness of the governments dealing with ease. Innovate and rebalance Leadership skills are considered to be more effective if it provides opportunities to the community and penetrates new customers' requirements. The primary objective of this research is to consider all the people in society to bring in-line with the digital technology. Tuia et al. (2016) mentions the government takes initiatives for implementing "Urban remote sensing for high-resolution satellite data and data fusion and also to analyze the requirement for developing sensors to analyze the data on their regular procedures. Moreover, citizen participation plays a crucial role in the aspect of public influence in policy making. This procedure helps the government to build a long-lasting relationship with their community people and values their changing requirements. Citizens acceptance of e-government services in UAE like easy registration for the appointments with the governing authorities without paying any extra costs and provide free educational programs for educating the communiti es to use their digital technology. Madichie and Al Athmay (2013) highlight that the online payment method for the local people like eDirhamis one of the innovative steps that devised by theMinistry of Finance of UAE. This service is supported by the Federal Network and cloud services, mSurvey and Evaluation of mTransformation (Government.ae 2015). This survey conducted by the UAE government entities and is designed to reach a wider segment of the target audience and work for their satisfaction. mTransformation is designed for public awareness of electronic/mobile services, which complies with the government entities and maintain their digital service quality standards. Furthermore, innovation of government that ensure their digital leadership is the application of UAE mGovernment App Store, which has a distinctive design and easy to use. It consists of over 300 UAE Government apps available on Android and iOS platforms. Embrace Risk Jalilvand and Malliaris (2013) depicts that the government details are crucial as these data denotes the economic growth of the nation and comprise of all the essential details that are highly confidential. It is also evident that with the increase in the digital technology and techniques there is an increase in the risks of hacking and unauthorized access in the confidential place. Thus, Kamal and Saadi Halbouni (2013) portrays that in order to ensure the long-term and sustainability of the digital leadership, UAE government must implement effective risk approaches so that confidential data can be protected. Protiviti is an organization that helps the UAE governance to secure their data in clouds. Protivitis IT Governance Risk Management professionals work efficiently on the cybersecurity measures complying with ISO/IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission). The digital leadership ensures its effectiveness by following five essentials procedures- designing secure configuratio n, implementing boundary firewalls and internet gateways, applying administrative privilege management, patch management and malware protection. References Bates L. C. (2016). Decentralized Conglomerate Theory: A New Perspective on Digital Leadership. Linked In. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/decentralized-conglomerate-theory-new-perspective-digital-bates Government.ae. (2015). The Official Portal of UAE Government - Government. [online] Available at: https://government.ae/en/web/guest/government [Accessed 24 Oct. 2016]. Holland B. (2016). Digital Leadership: A New Paradigm Shift. Editorial Projects in Education. Retrieved from https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/edtechresearcher/2016/04/digital_leadership_a_new_paradigm_shift.html Jalilvand, A. Malliaris, T. (2013). Risk management and corporate governance. Routledge. Kamal Hassan, M. Saadi Halbouni, S. (2013). Corporate governance, economic turbulence and financial performance of UAE listed firms. Studies in Economics and Finance, 30(2), pp.118-138. Madichie, N.O. Al Athmay, A.A.A.R.A. (2013). An initial assessment of e-governance and public sector marketing in the UAE. International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets, 5(3), pp.234-253. McAuley A. (2015). UAEs Pearl Initiative Wins Funding from Siemens to Enhance Corporate-Governance Work. The National Business. Retrieved from https://www.thenational.ae/business/economy/uaes-pearl-initiative-wins-funding-from-siemens-to-enhance-corporate-governance-work Sheninger E. (2014). Pillars of Digital Leadership. International Center for Leadership in Education. Retrieved from https://www.leadered.com/pdf/LeadingintheDigitalAge_11.14.pdf Tuia, D., Gamba, P., Juergens, C. Maktav, D. (2016). Foreword to the Special Issue on Urban Remote Sensing. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 9(5), pp.1763-1766. United Nations Global Pact (2016). The Ten Principles of the UN Global Pact. UN Global Pact. Retrieved from https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/mission/principles