Deception Point Page 84

â€Å"Jesus,† the pilot said. â€Å"Eighteen-knot current? Don't fall overboard!† He laughed. Rachel did not laugh. â€Å"Mike, you didn't mention this megaplume, magma dome, hot-current situation.† He put a reassuring hand on her knee. â€Å"It's perfectly safe, trust me.† Rachel frowned. â€Å"So this documentary you were making out here was about this magma dome phenomenon?† â€Å"Megaplumes and Sphyrna mokarran.† â€Å"That's right. You mentioned that earlier.† Tolland gave a coy smile. â€Å"Sphyrna mokarran love warm water, and right now, every last one for a hundred miles is congregating in this mile-wide circle of heated ocean.† â€Å"Neat.† Rachel gave an uneasy nod. â€Å"And what, pray tell, are Sphyrna mokarran?† â€Å"Ugliest fish in the sea.† â€Å"Flounder?† Tolland laughed. â€Å"Great hammerhead shark.† Rachel stiffened beside him. â€Å"You've got hammerhead sharks around your boat?† Tolland winked. â€Å"Relax, they're not dangerous.† â€Å"You wouldn't say that unless they were dangerous.† Tolland chuckled. â€Å"I guess you're right.† He called playfully up to the pilot. â€Å"Hey, how long has it been since you guys saved anyone from an attack by a hammerhead?† The pilot shrugged. â€Å"Gosh. We haven't saved anyone from a hammerhead in decades.† Tolland turned to Rachel. â€Å"See. Decades. No worries.† â€Å"Just last month,† the pilot added, â€Å"we had an attack where some idiot skin diver was chumming-â€Å" â€Å"Hold on!† Rachel said. â€Å"You said you hadn't saved anyone in decades!† â€Å"Yeah,† the pilot replied. â€Å"Saved anyone. Usually, we're too late. Those bastards kill in a hurry.† 101 From the air, the flickering outline of the Goya loomed on the horizon. At half a mile, Tolland could make out the brilliant deck lights that his crewmember Xavia had wisely left glowing. When he saw the lights, he felt like a weary traveler pulling into his driveway. â€Å"I thought you said only one person was onboard,† Rachel said, looking surprised to see all the lights. â€Å"Don't you leave a light on when you're home alone?† â€Å"One light. Not the entire house.† Tolland smiled. Despite Rachel's attempts to be lighthearted, he could tell she was extremely apprehensive about being out here. He wanted to put an arm around her and reassure her, but he knew there was nothing he could say. â€Å"The lights are on for security. Makes the ship look active.† Corky chuckled. â€Å"Afraid of pirates, Mike?† â€Å"Nope. Biggest danger out here is the idiots who don't know how to read radar. Best defense against getting rammed is to make sure everyone can see you.† Corky squinted down at the glowing vessel. â€Å"See you? It looks like a Carnival Cruise line on New Year's Eve. Obviously, NBC pays your electric.† The Coast Guard chopper slowed and banked around the huge illuminated ship, and the pilot began maneuvering toward the helipad on the stern deck. Even from the air, Tolland could make out the raging current pulling at the ship's hull struts. Anchored from its bow, the Goya was aimed into the current, straining at its massive anchor line like a chained beast. â€Å"She really is a beauty,† the pilot said, laughing. Tolland knew the comment was sarcastic. The Goya was ugly. â€Å"Butt-ugly† according to one television reviewer. One of only seventeen SWATH ships ever built, the Goya's Small-Waterplane-Area Twin-Hull was anything but attractive. The vessel was essentially a massive horizontal platform floating thirty feet above the ocean on four huge struts affixed to pontoons. From a distance, the ship looked like a low-slung drilling platform. Up close, it resembled a deck barge on stilts. The crew quarters, research labs, and navigation bridge were housed in a series of tiered structures on top, giving one the rough impression of a giant floating coffee table supporting a hodgepodge of multistaged buildings. Despite its less than streamlined appearance, the Goya's design enjoyed significantly less water-plane area, resulting in increased stability. The suspended platform enabled better filming, easier lab work, and fewer seasick scientists. Although NBC was pressuring Tolland to let them buy him something newer, Tolland had refused. Granted, there were better ships out there now, even more stable ones, but the Goya had been his home for almost a decade now-the ship on which he had fought his way back after Celia's death. Some nights he still heard her voice in the wind out on deck. If and when the ghosts ever disappeared, Tolland would consider another ship. Not yet. When the chopper finally set down on the Goya's stern deck, Rachel Sexton felt only half-relieved. The good news was that she was no longer flying over the ocean. The bad news was that she was now standing on it. She fought off the shaky sensation in her legs as she climbed onto the deck and looked around. The deck was surprisingly cramped, particularly with the helicopter on its pad. Moving her eyes toward the bow, Rachel gazed at the ungainly, stacked edifice that made up the bulk of the ship. Tolland stood close beside her. â€Å"I know,† he said, talking loudly over the sound of the raging current. â€Å"It looks bigger on television.† Rachel nodded. â€Å"And more stable.† â€Å"This is one of the safest ships on the sea. I promise.† Tolland put a hand on her shoulder and guided her across the deck. The warmth of his hand did more to calm Rachel's nerves than anything he could have said. Nonetheless, as she looked toward the rear of the ship, she saw the roiling current streaming out behind them as though the ship was at full throttle. We're sitting on a megaplume, she thought. Centered on the foremost section of rear deck, Rachel spied a familiar, one-man Triton submersible hanging on a giant winch. The Triton-named for the Greek god of the sea-looked nothing like its predecessor, the steel-encased Alvin. The Triton had a hemispherical acrylic dome in front, making it look more like a giant fishbowl than a sub. Rachel could think of few things more terrifying than submerging hundreds of feet into the ocean with nothing between her face and the ocean but a sheet of clear acrylic. Of course, according to Tolland, the only unpleasant part of riding in the Triton was the initial deployment-being slowly winched down through the trap door in the Goya's deck, hanging like a pendulum thirty feet above the sea. â€Å"Xavia is probably in the hydrolab,† Tolland said, moving across the deck. â€Å"This way.† Rachel and Corky followed Tolland across the stern deck. The Coast Guard pilot remained in his chopper with strict instructions not to use the radio. â€Å"Have a look at this,† Tolland said, pausing at the stern railing of the ship. Hesitantly, Rachel neared the railing. They were very high up. The water was a good thirty feet below them, and yet Rachel could still feel the heat rising off the water. â€Å"It's about the temperature of a warm bath,† Tolland said over the sound of the current. He reached toward a switch-box on the railing. â€Å"Watch this.† He flipped a switch. A wide arc of light spread through the water behind the ship, illuminating it from within like a lit swimming pool. Rachel and Corky gasped in unison. The water around the ship was filled with dozens of ghostly shadows. Hovering only feet below the illuminated surface, armies of sleek, dark forms swam in parallel against the current, their unmistakable hammer-shaped skulls wagging back and forth as if to the beat of some prehistoric rhythm. â€Å"Christ, Mike,† Corky stammered. â€Å"So glad you shared this with us.†

Land law problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Land law problem - Essay Example As this is pertinent to both the issue of Jennifer's intended severance and the right of survivorship, it is important to establish that joint tenancy existed. Joint tenancy, as noted in the preceding, holds that each tenant' has an identical interest in the whole of the property, as determined through the four unities of title, interest, possession and time. Under common law, unity of interest is present despite the unequal financial contributions of both parties because conveyance was to both as "beneficial joint tenants." Unity of title is similarly present as both Jennifer and Clarissa received their interest in Maple Leaf under the same conveyance. The same applies to unity of time since both received their share under the same conveyance in fee simple and their titles were vested at the same time. Further, unity of possession also holds as both parties are entitled to the possession of the whole of Maple Leaf and neither Jennifer nor Clarissa may exclude the other as a joint tenant. In further affirmation of the fact that the joint tenancy exists, it is important to clarify that nothing in the case study indicates that the conveyance contains an explicit/express declaration of how Jennifer and Clarissa should hold equitable interests in Maple Leaf. Such declarations are absolute (Goodman v Gallant (1986) Fam 106) and conclusively rebut any presumptions to the contrary. As no such declaration is present, however, one can affirm that neither of the two husbands has a right to the property and that Jennifer's statement, albeit written, does not constitute an act as severance as would convert a joint tenancy into a tenancy in common. First, as regards the question of severance, one may affirm that despite Jennifer's very clear intent, severance was not concluded in this case. In accordance with Section 36(2) Law Property Act 1925, there are four legally recognized methods for severance. The first of these is the actions which any one of the joint beneficial tenants may take operating on his/her share. As per case law, any of the tenants is at liberty to dispose of his/her share in a way that would severe it from the joint tenancy. In Nielson v Fedden (1975), Justice Walton found that a unilateral declaration did not constitute such an act as it did not shatter any of the unities and, hence, did not sever the joint tenancy. Within the context of the stated, Jennifer's statement does not constitute a severance in accordance with the first method. A second method for severance is by mutual agreement as in Burgess v Rawnsley (1975). A third method involves the parties acting, for a sufficiently extended period, as if the property were a tenancy in common, as in Palmer v Rich (1897) but not Greenfield v Greenfield (1979). In the first, the parties acted as if the property in question was a tenancy in common for an extended period but in the second, the parties simply divided the property into two maisonettes and the interests of both were not treated as a tenancy in common for a sufficiently extended period. As regards, Maple Leaf, neither of these two methods, whether severance by mutual agreement nor acting as if it were a tenancy in

A Case of Lengthier Annual Reports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Case of Lengthier Annual Reports - Essay Example It also includes the company’s mission statement and pertinent financial statements (Holmes, Sugden, & Gee, 2008). While annual reports used to fall considerably below the 100-page mark during the last decade, a survey by business advisory firm Deloitte shows that in 2010, the average length of annual reports has reached an all-time high of 101 pages (Deloitte, 2010). Interestingly enough, the lengthiest reports are littered with more advertisement-like photographs and captions than relevant narratives and figures. These are the supposed culprits of reports being lengthier than they used to be. Such a phenomenon is of primary interest because of the impact that this has on the ability of such reports to serve their true purpose. Questions arise as to whether lengthier reports actually provide readers with more information or additional confusion? Do the long reports indicate that companies are revealing more of their respective businesses’ actual performance or are they merely an effort to gloss over weaknesses that new regulatory rules aim to draw out? Do lengthier reports mean more substance or just more clutter? This paper attempts to provide answers to these questions and adequately support the claims made herein by extracts from actual company annual reports. Company reports included are those of Ericssion, Carlsberg, and Walmart. Reasons for the increasing length of annual reports According to Isobel Sharp, an audit partner at Deloitte, annual reports are significantly increasing in length because companies are now revealing their company’s business risks and even having important performance indicators disclosed in their reports. Moreover, corporates now provide a director’s responsibility statement, a requirement introduced around four years ago as a consequence of EU’s Transparency Obligations Directive (Deloitte, 2010). Essentially, the many rules that are brought up in recent years are also being blamed for the cons istently rising trend in annual report length. However, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of UK points out that company reports in general are trying to please too many users at the same time, hence the almost unstoppable increasing trend in the length of annual reports (UK FRC, 2010). Preparers try to put in as much additional information as they can in an attempt to make the reports as appealing to current and prospective investors as possible (Campbell & Slack, 2008). One company that illustrates this is the 163-page Annual Report by the Carlsberg Group of companies which feels so much more like a 163-page advertisement, with pages that are more fitting in a magazine than in a business report. On the other hand, Boeing’s annual report cannot be more straightforward in its layout and content. Yet, the company needed 156 pages to provide all the data needed and required by regulatory institutions. These two examples illustrate that the burgeoning lengths of annual report s are both a result of additional requirements from regulatory institutions, and the trying-to-please-everybody approach of report preparers. If these requirements are further increased in the future, then lengthier annual reports may definitely be expected. Experts are even hinting that 200 page mark may not be far from being surpassed considering the current trend of adding more and more arguably irrelevant pages to annual reports. More words: For better or for worse? Preparers of annual reports reveal that because of the need to effectively inform shareholders of what is happening in the business, and the need to be able to satisfy the disclosure rules set by regulators, more words are apparently needed (The FRC, 2011). However,

Taoism-Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing, or Daodejing Essay

Taoism-Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing, or Daodejing - Essay Example Although, it is imperative for the survival of all creations yet it displays modesty by providing immeasurable benefits to all creations. Likewise, we should profit people without reason. It bends around obstacles, flows in places that people despise; instead modifies itself for the advantage of others. Although, every living creature is dependent upon it yet it humbly flows downwards, no place is too low for it. ‘Good dwelling on the ground’ can be interpreted as constructing dwellings which are strong enough to protect us. Depth of mind implies that one should meditate over matters in life and should not assume everything to be simple. Everything can be accomplished by using our mental faculties to the maximum. Moreover, it enlightens us that the worth of a gift lies not in its value but with the intent it is given. Good gifts are those which are given without any concealed motive. It accentuates the principal of honest and sincere speech. Words spoken are irreversible hence one should not indulge in flattery and fabrication. Honesty and integrity should be embedded deeply in ones character to live a righteous life. an honorable ruler is impartial . Injustice might profit a ruler temporarily but eventually he will have to pay for the consequences of his actions. One should try becoming knowledgeable and adept in his profession to attain better earning and promotion. Timeliness is the essence of a good deed so one should be compassionate to other people’s needs. Lastly, he identifies that a good solution is which benefits everybody .People benefiting in a situation should put themselves in place of those are at the losing end to come up with the best remedy for all. This chapter highlights the significance of curbing ones desires. Only when we abandon the path of needless desires, can we follow the path to spiritual development and get into contact with our inner self. He quotes examples reasoning why one should restrain from

Group Dynamics Outline Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Group Dynamics - Outline Example This reduces the rate of conflict within the organization. As an illustration from the HS engineering sample the major conflicts that arise due to the change taking place within the organization include; loss in manufacturing industries, there is an expectation of 30% reduction in the financial status of the company. The different group dynamics established had their own needs that lead to the closure of some of them due to poor management. Group dynamics are concerned with how groups work within an organization. Groups, as organization develops due to the activities performed by the group members within an organization, group sentiments, and individual interaction within the group. It is in this case that, when individuals share a common activity they tend to work hard so as to achieve the common goal (Frey, 2000). As illustrated in HS engineering firm several group dynamics are established by the management who work with the aim of achieving a common goal. The following factors can be put into consideration so as to manage conflicts within the group dynamics that result from the introduction of change within the system. The managers can conduct frequent monitoring of the groups, the can dynamics group rotation among group dynamics. Greenberg (2000) holds the opinion that, the managers can develop a system that can be used to motivate workers to improve their working conditions that can result to positive outputs. Organizational politics can be controlled by the managers establishing a work flow between rhythms in work related activities and this does not entail work related activities. The managers are encouraged to assess the group from time to time to determine if there is any political influence within it. The managers are to provide support to each group with the visualized company objective that makes the group active throughout the system. For

Warfare in Medieval Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Warfare in Medieval Japan - Essay Example During the Nara period, conscription policy did not distinguish between a warrior and a peasant, which resulted in an army that suffered from poor organization because of the presence of unwilling farmers and government failure to devise regular system of promotion or command. Prior to 789 reforms in Japan’s army system with new regulations that necessitated the use of trained warriors together with men specially selected for their strength and prowess, imperial army was humiliated in 724. The year saw Yemeshi people revolt killing the governor of the province of Mutsu and seizing much of Japan’s mainland. Military power was the province of samurai families with two clans comprising many warrior households became the main security of the Imperial and the clans were Minamoto and Taira (Ratty and Westbrook 80). Another clan, the Fujiwara at the time dominated both Imperial court and the nation, grew its impact with soft life and intricate politics in the capital, which co ntained the seeds of disaster (Brinkley 4). However, the Fujiwara experienced their its first danger in 930 when the Fujiwara attempted the customary maneuver of putting a child in throne, a son eight years old named Shujaku, since the clan had selected Tadahira for the role (Kane 48). During Tadhira’s rule, Taira Masakado a warrior in Japan aspired to be a governor in his native province; however, Tadhira appointed his companion in a debauch manner, a man named Sadabumi. This made Masakado return to his home in disgust and even though he did not instantly get involved in a revolt, he was involved in family feuds. From his actions, Masakado became an outlaw to the Imperial court and instead of submitting to punishment of rulers that he detested, he raised a revolt. In 1159 rivalry in Fujiwara family created another upheaval with a dispute that concerned imperial succession with emperor Go-shirakawa abdicating in favor of his son and Fujiwara Shinzei supporting the ex-emperor. In an open battle, once the Taira household assembled its army the households met in the battle where Taira and Shinzei won a stupendous victory. Thus, the Fujiwara no longer ruled by their power and Taira Kiyomori, a man whose martial skills twice shaped the nation’s future, took advantage of the situation and crushed several conspiracies against his life (Kane 49). The Gen and Pei war that ended in 1183 with a naval battle at Dan-no-ura, saw Minamoto forces’ 800 ships attack Taira’s fleet of 500 in a battle that involved gaining the upper hand. When Minamooto secured defection of Taira admiral Tomomori, the Taira suffered total defeat as their samurai struggled to protect the ship carrying the infant emperor (Van Bergen 41). Emperor Antoku took the throne and the victorious Yoritomi paid long visits to the imperial capital seeking the office of Sei-i-tai-Shogun, the supreme military leader of the country, which he later gained. Though in the past emperors app ointed military leaders for brief periods in order to see the nation through certain crises, Minamoto Yoritomi ensured the office became permanent (Kane 50). Hideyoshi managed to impose control as well as peace and government, which partly lay in his diplomatic skills. Moreover, Hidoyeshi fought several fights campaigns against internal enemies, which ended not in military victories but with treaties in which rival clans received an active stake in the fresh Japanese order. Hideyoshi success lay in the ruthless

Current Rights of Women in India Essay Example for Free

Current Rights of Women in India Essay In America women have the right to work, vote, and own just about anything that they can afford. The only thing limiting them is their credit score, or the limit that the bank determines. These may seem like rights that are universal because the reality of America is not the dismays that other countries have to deal with. In other countries this luxury of Equal Rights is not common, and is actually rejected and avoided by all costs. Some countries do not believe in these rights because of their religion, and what they’ve been taught. How can a fundamental value not be learned? Other countries just do not know any different than the man as the hunter or provider, and the woman as the caregiver or housekeeper. These roles in America only recently began to be shared amongst the genders, and to this day these roles are not confirmed by any means. Other countries are beginning to open their mind to other policies mostly because of influences of other cultures, and it is about time this happens. Some of the horrifying conditions that women in India have to deal with are issues that no women would ever want to fathom, and is very unfortunate. Not always being granted the ability to gain an education, being married at a youthful age without any say in the choice of a partner, and unwanted abortion of female fetuses are just a few that surface news channels. Those disturbing issues listed above are what these women have to deal with regularly and have no hope of these problems ever changing because of what some people in some cultures call beliefs. Media has placed great emphasis on the stories that depict that the women’s rights in India have been improving over the past few decades. Improvement can be misinterpreted when a third world country is involved, because any change that is not for the worst can be considered an improvement. What has really improved? Is it going to be up to the women to determine at which point they feel like they are an equal gender in this country? Until this point, there is no telling how long this can take. Cultural Belief of Equality The problem lies in the internal practices of the country. India is a country which mainly operates from the religious inclinations of the population. Be that as it may, how can anyone question their beliefs, and furthermore, who is to say that these practices do or don’t work? Shouldn’t the answer of whether or not their current policies are effective come from the source – the women in this country? In 1926 Sarojini Naidu, the first female president of the Indian National Congress party, had helped achieve the right for women to vote along with the men. It had taken, like most political victories in India for women, a great deal of time and patience (Roy, 2012, para. 15). Indian society is also one of the worlds most culturally diverse, with innumerable linguistic, cultural, and religious groups. Due to the diversity of the Indian populace, Indian policy makers have faced a tough challenge in ensuring that the individual rights of its citizens, including women, are protected (â€Å"Balancing Minority Rights and Gender Justice: The Impact of Protecting Multiculturalism on Womens Rights in India,† 2005, p. 05). This is a country where religion has always ruled their judicial and ethical structure, and because of this it will need to be a common agreement that there needs to be a change from within. The Butalia (1998) website describes a poor woman Rojammas who took a literacy class. She read a story about a woman who had to endure physical abuse from her husband due to his drinking habit. The woman in the story went through the village speaking with the other women to see who had the same problem as her. She determined that the reason for most of the abuse is that their husbands would go to work, and come home and spend all of their money on alcohol. The husbands would get upset when the women weren’t able to feed them because all of their money was spent at the liquor stores. The women rallied and protested at the liquor stores and eventually, in Andhra Pradesh liquor was banned. As a result, families were able to save, violence rates dropped, and life seemed to improve for these people. Unfortunately women are no longer able to be seen in the streets protesting. These brave women were able to make a difference, and had the strength and tools to do so. Since then, their power of protest and voice has been taken. Is this an improvement, and if so, what is next? The nineteenth century was to be considered â€Å"the age of the women†, because all over the world women’s rights and wrongs were the main topic of heated discussion amongst the world. Different countries such and France, Russia, England and Germany began spreading women consciousness, and more towards the mid nineteenth century, Russia began having issues with reformers and anarchist because of the question that was being widely spread across the nations; should women have rights? Although these issues were now arising throughout most countries, in India, the men still see it as men have all power and women obey as they are told. This now brings us with today’s issue that is still being fought in India and even in some other countries. Women now come across broken promises and the â€Å"possibility† of women rights when those rights were already being fought for and stated in the Indian Constitution. In the Constitution it states that â€Å"every single woman’s and girl’s well-being and safety paramount; that their liberties and rights are not to be challenged on the basis of attire or profession; that they are treated equally. † (Women’s Rights in India, 2009) With that being said, this is not the case of what is going on with the women in India; one in particular that was being socially, economically, and politically deprived. This is what is being said about this situation. â€Å"The police commissioner on the other hand has referred to the recent attacks on women as mere incidents of eve teasing. While eve-teasing is itself a term specific to the South Asian region, associated with unsolicited verbal harassment like catcalls, whistles and/or remarks directed towards women, the incidents that he so casually referred to were actual assaults on women for being dressed in western attire. More importantly, even eve teasing calls for action against the perpetrators† (Women’s Rights in India, 2009). It is not ethical for any one person to use their stature for their own personal gain. Although, different countries do have different ethics/cultural ethics, morals and religious beliefs they choose to abide by, does not mean it is not right to degrade women as sexual objects, â€Å"different† because of their personal beliefs, or even their own sense of style. How can one be punished because of the attire they chose to wear? Women have come so far from being just a â€Å"house wife†, to working while World War 1 was taking place, to joining the army to help our fellow soldiers fight for this country, to running as a presidential candidate. Women bleed, breath, think, feel emotion and get hurt physically just like men do, so why do we treat women any differently than a male? If you look back into Egyptian history, Greek Mythology and even some of the â€Å"Gods† that were â€Å"Political† figures to us at one point in time were women: Aphrodite, Artemis, Isis and etc. Women should be granted the exact same rights as the men in this world because they contribute to a lot of the findings we discover, cures we find, the birth our children, some of the things we study and so forth. Will we ever be able to look passed all of the things that we say and do about/towards women? Is it possible to give the rights that we promised for so many years to the women of our country and the other countries that have promised the exact same thing? Discrimination is such a huge discussion amongst our community today because it continues to thrive off of those that are not subjective to change. Change is exactly what we need to bring out the different opinions between cultures, and religious beliefs. Although it is a belief, that does not mean that it is morally right to believe it is ok to treat women in a certain fashion that we see as correct. The mixed bag of laws, bills, commitments, broken promises, new pledges and fresh possibilities for women’s rights comes with its share of anticipation and disappointments. Will promises be converted into laws and will prejudices make way for a little more tolerance and a little less chauvinism? Will social perceptions of women and their traditionally assigned roles in society witness a change under the collective pressure of government laws and social campaigns? And will society eventually look at girls through the same lens that they see boys? And yet hope survives†¦