Deception Point Page 27

The gaping hole in the ice now looked like a small swimming pool in the middle of the habisphere. The surface of the two-hundred-foot-deep pool of melted water sloshed for a while against the icy walls of the shaft and then finally grew calm. The waterline in the shaft was a good four feet beneath the glacier's surface, the discrepancy caused by both the removal of the meteorite's mass and ice's property of shrinking as it melts. Norah Mangor immediately set up SHABA pylons all around the hole. Although the hole was clearly visible, any curious soul who ventured too close and accidentally slipped in would be in dire jeopardy. The walls of the shaft were solid ice, with no footholds, and climbing out unassisted would be impossible. Lawrence Ekstrom came padding across the ice toward them. He moved directly to Norah Mangor and shook her hand firmly. â€Å"Well done, Dr. Mangor.† â€Å"I'll expect lots of praise in print,† Norah replied. â€Å"You'll get it.† The administrator turned now to Rachel. He looked happier, relieved. â€Å"So, Ms. Sexton, is the professional skeptic convinced?† Rachel couldn't help but smile. â€Å"Stunned is more like it.† â€Å"Good. Then follow me.† Rachel followed the administrator across the habisphere to a large metal box that resembled an industrial shipping container. The box was painted with military camouflage patterns and stenciled letters: P-S-C. â€Å"You'll call the President from in here,† Ekstrom said. Portable Secure Comm, Rachel thought. These mobile communications booths were standard battlefield installations, although Rachel had never expected to see one used as part of a peacetime NASA mission. Then again, Administrator Ekstrom's background was the Pentagon, so he certainly had access to toys like this. From the stern faces on the two armed guards watching over the PSC, Rachel got the distinct impression that contact with the outside world was made only with express consent from Administrator Ekstrom. Looks like I'm not the only one who is off-the-grid. Ekstrom spoke briefly with one of the guards outside the trailer and then returned to Rachel. â€Å"Good luck,† he said. Then he left. A guard rapped on the trailer door, and it opened from within. A technician emerged and motioned for Rachel to enter. She followed him in. The inside of the PSC was dark and stuffy. In the bluish glow of the lone computer monitor, Rachel could make out racks of telephone gear, radios, and satellite telecommunications devices. She already felt claustrophobic. The air inside was bitter, like a basement in winter. â€Å"Sit here, please, Ms. Sexton.† The technician produced a rolling stool and positioned Rachel in front of a flat-screen monitor. He arranged a microphone in front of her and placed a bulky pair of AKG headphones on her head. Checking a logbook of encryption passwords, the technician typed a long series of keys on a nearby device. A timer materialized on the screen in front of Rachel. 00:60 SECONDS The technician gave a satisfied nod as the timer began to count down. â€Å"One minute until connection.† He turned and left, slamming the door behind him. Rachel could hear the bolt lock outside. Great. As she waited in the dark, watching the sixty-second clock slowly count down, she realized that this was the first moment of privacy she'd had since early that morning. She'd woken up today without the slightest inkling of what lay ahead. Extraterrestrial life. As of today, the most popular modern myth of all time was no longer a myth. Rachel was just now starting to sense how truly devastating this meteorite would be to her father's campaign. Although NASA funding had no business being on a political par with abortion rights, welfare, and health care, her father had made it an issue. Now it was going to blow up in his face. Within hours, Americans would feel the thrill of a NASA triumph all over again. There would be teary-eyed dreamers. Slack-jawed scientists. Children's imaginations running free. Issues of dollars and cents would fade away as petty, overshadowed by this monumental moment. The President would emerge like a phoenix, transforming himself into a hero, while in the midst of the celebration, the businesslike senator would suddenly appear small-minded, a penny-pinching Scrooge with no American sense of adventure. The computer beeped, and Rachel glanced up. 00:05 SECONDS The screen in front of her flickered suddenly, and a blurry image of the White House seal materialized on-screen. After a moment, the image dissolved into the face of President Herney. â€Å"Hello, Rachel,† he said, a mischievous glint in his eye. â€Å"I trust you've had an interesting afternoon?† 29 The office of Senator Sedgewick Sexton was located in the Philip A. Hart Senate Office Building on C Street to the northeast of the Capitol. The building was a neo-modern grid of white rectangles that critics claimed looked more like a prison than an office building. Many who worked there felt the same. On the third floor, Gabrielle Ashe's long legs paced briskly back and forth in front of her computer terminal. On the screen was a new e-mail message. She was not sure what to make of it. The first two lines read: SEDGEWICK WAS IMPRESSIVE ON CNN. I HAVE MORE INFORMATION FOR YOU. Gabrielle had been receiving messages like this for the last couple of weeks. The return address was bogus, although she'd been able to track it to a â€Å"whitehouse.gov† domain. It seemed her mysterious informant was a White House insider, and whoever it was had become Gabrielle's source for all kinds of valuable political information recently, including the news of a covert meeting between the NASA administrator and the President. Gabrielle had been leery of the e-mails at first, but when she checked out the tips, she was amazed to find the information consistently accurate and helpful-classified information on NASA overexpenditures, costly upcoming missions, data showing that NASA's search for extraterrestrial life was grossly overfunded and pathetically unproductive, even internal opinion polls warning that NASA was the issue turning voters away from the President. To enhance her perceived value to the senator, Gabrielle had not informed him she was receiving unsolicited e-mail help from inside the White House. Instead, she simply passed the information to him as coming from â€Å"one of her sources.† Sexton was always appreciative and seemed to know better than to ask who her source was. She could tell he suspected Gabrielle was doing sexual favors. Troublingly, it didn't seem to bother him in the least. Gabrielle stopped pacing and looked again at the newly arrived message. The connotations of all the e-mails were clear: Someone inside the White House wanted Senator Sexton to win this election and was helping him do it by aiding his attack against NASA. But who? And why? A rat from a sinking ship, Gabrielle decided. In Washington it was not at all uncommon for a White House employee, fearing his President was about to be ousted from office, to offer quiet favors to the apparent successor in hopes of securing power or another position after the changeover. It seemed someone smelled Sexton victory and was buying stock early. The message currently on Gabrielle's screen made her nervous. It was like none other she had ever received. The first two lines didn't bother her so much. It was the last two: EAST APPOINTMENT GATE, 4:30 P.M. COME ALONE. Her informant had never before asked to meet in person. Even so, Gabrielle would have expected a more subtle location for a face-to-face meeting. East Appointment Gate? Only one East Appointment Gate existed in Washington, as far as she knew. Outside the White House? Is this some kind of joke? Gabrielle knew she could not respond via e-mail; her messages were always bounced back as undeliverable. Her correspondent's account was anonymous. Not surprising.

Musical Hair Critiquing Essay

1) What show are you critiquing? Hair 2) Give a brief summary of the story line. Claude Hooper Bukowski, an Oklahoma farm boy, heads to New York City to enter the Army and serve in the Vietnam War. In Central Park, he meets a troupe of free-spirited hippies led by George Berger, a young man who introduces him to debutante Sheila Franklin when they crash a dinner party at her home. Inevitably, Claude is sent off to recruit training in Nevada, but Berger and his band of merry pranksters follow him. Sheila flirts with an off-duty Sergeant in order to steal his uniform, which she gives to Berger. He uses it to extract Claude from the base for a last meeting with Sheila, taking his place, but while Claude is away, the unit flies out to Vietnam, taking Berger with them. The film ends with the main cast singing at Berger’s grave, followed by scenes of a large anti-war protest outside the White House in Washington, DC. 3) What did you like best about this show? Hair succeeds at all levels—as lowdown fun, as affecting drama, as exhilarating spectacle and as provocative social observation. It achieves its goals by rigorously obeying the rules of classic American musical comedy: dialogue, plot, song and dance blend seamlessly to create a juggernaut of excitement. 4) What did you like least about this show? The film omits the songs â€Å"The Bed†, â€Å"Dead End†, â€Å"Oh Great God of Power†, â€Å"I Believe in Love†, â€Å"Going Down†, â€Å"Air†, â€Å"My Conviction†, â€Å"Abie Baby†, â€Å"Frank Mills†, and â€Å"What a Piece of Work is Man† from the musical. Many of the songs have been shortened, sped up, rearranged, or assigned to different characters to allow for the differences in plot. 5) Who was the hero/heroine? Claude Hooper Bukowski/ Sheila Franklin. 6) Who was the villain? The General. 7) Were you able to understand everything? If not what did you understand? A major plot difference between the film and the musical involves a mistake that leads Berger to go to Vietnam in Claude’s place, where he is killed. The musical focuses on the U.S. peace movement, as well as the love relationships among the Tribe members, while the film focuses on the carefree antics of the hippies. But why not make the film ending a happy one? In that case, the movie will better reflect the aspect of American Culture â€Å"Happy Ever After†. 8) Did you get a chance to listen to the soundtrack? Unfortunately not. 9) What was your favorite song? â€Å"Aquarius†. 10) Did you think that the actors were well cast? Sure. The cast featured John Savage as Claude Hooper Bukowski, Treat Williams as George Berger and Beverly D’Angelo as Sheila Franklin. Williams was nominated for New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture – Male. 11) If you were to remake this show who would you cast in the title roles? Why? If I were to remake the show, I would sill choose the actor and actress as the hero and heroine. The actors are really good-looking, and they can sing and dance well. 12) What aspect of American Culture do you see in this show? Nothing ventured nothing gained. Berger is not only at the heart of the hippie Tribe but is assigned some of Claude’s conflict involving whether or not to obey the draft. His death led to the large anti-war protest and featured the carefree antics of the hippies.

Humanities Prejudice And Persecution Coursework Essay

Why did the Nazis hate the Jews? Did Nazi Propaganda make the German people prejudiced against the Jewish race? How successful were the policies of the Nazi government in establishing an anti- Semitic society? In this coursework I will be explaining why the Nazi’s hated the Jews. I will explain what propaganda is and if the Nazi propaganda makes the German people prejudiced against the Jewish race, and how successful the policies to establish an anti-Semitic were. The term prejudice means an attitude (about a person or group) that is formed without having all the facts. This usually involves disliking somebody, mostly because of their ethnicity, sexuality, religion etc. Prejudice attitudes are learned. For example children in Nazi Germany were taught to hate Jews, which is like anti- Semitic. Germans were influenced by the use of propaganda to prejudice them and make them discriminate against the Jews. The main reason for this was because of Adolf Hitler. The term discrimination means when treating someone in a different way, usually less well, because they belong to a particular group. The Nazi’s treated the Jews differently, due to their religion and they discriminated the Jews as they way they looked like. The term persecution is to treat an individual or group badly. Hitler persecuted the Jews as soon as he came to power in 1993. Adolf Hitler persecuted Jews in many different ways. The way that Hitler persecuted the Jews were: When Hitler seized power in 1933 he used his powers under the ‘enabling law’ to begin his attack on the Jews. In 1938 the attacks on the Jews became more violent with Himmler the head of the SS and the Gestapo launching Kristallnacht on 11th November 1938. By 1939, half of Germany’s 500,000 Jews had emigrated to escape Nazi persecution. In 1939, Germany invaded Poland which had a much larger population of 3 million Jews. In 1941, Germany invaded Russia which had a population of 5 million Jews. Himmler sent four special trained SS units called ‘Einsatzgruppen battalions’ into German occupied territory and shot at least 1 million Jews. Victims were taken to deserted areas where they were made to dig their own graves and shot. Nazi Propaganda: The Nazi’s propaganda in those days was seen as Anti Semitic. Propaganda was an organized way of media that convinced people this could be done by ideas, information, rumours or opinions. The major purpose for the Nazi’s propaganda was to make the German people prejudiced against the Jews race. Another purpose why propaganda was used was a ‘brainwashing’ of the public convincing them of an ideological viewpoint. The Nazi’s propaganda portrayed the Jews as: fat, greedy, lazy, people with big crooked noses, ugly, dark, hooded eyes, nasty, evil, disloyal, unclean, wealthy, powerful and sly. To do this the Nazi’s made sure that their propaganda’s were everywhere. They were more noticed on, for example; posters on windows, cars, walls and also the Nazi’s propaganda was broadcasted on television and films were also made to show the way Nazi’s prejudiced the Jews and was held on the radio. I will now be showing some propaganda posters, which shows positive posters and negative posters. image01.jpg ‘The External Jew’ Poster from a Museum. This propaganda shows a negative outlook about the Jews; it shows Jews being ugly with a crooked nose. The money portrays that Jews are selfish and are money grabbers in the German society. This poster explains the Jews being selfish as they have a lot of money. The whip in this poster indicates that Jews are trying to take control of the German society. This is a negative propaganda towards the Jews. A German Beer Mat This is a Negative propaganda, which shows a German beer mat with a Jew’s face on the mat. This beer mat that was created by the Germans and was put in all pubs. It also has a picture of a Jew showing a very ugly face. Jews are hated by the Germans. The Germans have created this image on the beer mat to show how much they hate the Jews and to show that they do not have any respect towards the Jews. This beer mat indicates ‘whoever buys from a Jew is a traitor to his people!’ People in pubs promote even more hatred against Jews. Anti- Semitic Propaganda in school An Anti-Semitic cartoon. From the German children’s book 1938 This is a negative propaganda which is taken from a German children’s book. This propaganda has both German children and Jewish children in a school. The stereotype here of the Jewish children is made to make them look horrible, dark and with big crooked noses. There is a distinct with the difference of Jews and Germans. Unlike the Jews the Germans stereotype was seen as clean and tidy and they are kept in a lighter area. From this propaganda you can clearly notify which children are Jewish or German as the stereotype comes in again. This propaganda is also to brainwash the German children. This poster explains Jews being kicked out of school, and is showing that without Jewish children the school is better. Showing the Ideal Aryan Family This propaganda is a Positive poster towards the Nazi’s. Because this is trying to promote the ‘Ideal Aryan Family’. We can see this is a positive propaganda as it shown by the fruit and flowers around the family. A fund raising poster for the Hitler Youth This is a Fund raising poster it shows a stunning Nazi girl. This is a positive propaganda towards the Germans. This poster indicates that Nazi’s are beautiful. They are pure good and generous. The tin displays the swastika, which is the Nazi symbol. Hitler posing with German children in 1936 This is a positive propaganda towards the Germans. This poster shows Hitler posing with 3 children from the Nazi Youth. They look extremely joyful as they are with who they believe was the ‘Saviour of Germany’. This poster explains Adolf Hitler is being seen as a father figure for the children. This also explains Hitler is trying to get their support for himself. A ‘Jew Free Area’ Sign This is a Jew Free area sign. From this sign, it shows that this leads to discrimination towards the Jews. This shows that Jews are restricted from going to swimming baths and public places. This propaganda was used to make the Jews jealous as they were unable to go to some places that had a sign like this. This shows Germans being good-looking and healthy, whereas in other propagandas it shows Jews being horrible and fat. In conclusion when the World War 1 had ended, Hitler convinced all the Germans that the Jews were scapegoats. The Nazi’s then used negative propagandas to discriminate the Jews every possible way. Hitler convinced all the Nazi’s about saying negative things about the Jews, Hitler brainwashed the Nazi’s which they began to hate the Jews. The Germans needed a saviour which Hitler came and took upon this role. Due to the fact that all the brainwashing Hitler started to do to the Germans so they were able to hate the Jews. The propagandas were so successful that it led to Hitler making the laws. By the propagandas being successful and the new laws made by Hitler this led the Jews dying in the holocaust. The holocaust is the name given to the slaughter of six million people, mostly Jews, during the Second War. Â  

Consumer Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Consumer Behaviour - Essay Example Many enterprises jumped in on this opportunity and took on local manufacturing of e-bikes, importation and selling of e-bikes and other related industries. The challenge for these businesses is how they will stay afloat as the number of competition rises. In venturing into a business, one must first do a strategic planning and come up with a feasibility study or business plan so as to guide the direction of the business and so that the proprietor can easily remove or dodge certain barricades that may impede in the establishment and growth of the business. One major component of the business plan is to get to know your target market and that can only be accomplished through the analysis of consumer behaviour (Gundlach, 2007). For a business to grow and rise above its competition it needs to occupy a unique niche in the hierarchy of consumer needs that only they can provide – may it be the quality, quantity, or kind of service, quality, quantity, or kind of products or both. ... In the rest of this paper, we will be evaluating the two typologies so as to ascertain which among the two models is better to use in creating a market research tool for e-bike consumer behaviour. I. The Values, Attitudes, and Lifestyle Systems Typology (VALS) With today’s ever increasing product standardization, it gets harder and harder for companies to create unique products that are essentially different from the competition’s products. In this case, the difference only lies on how the company markets their products and the psychological differences the consumer associates with their product compared to the rest. (Evans, Jamal, and Foxall, 2009) The VALS typology is a psychographic means of segmenting the whole consumer populace in to different classes based on AIOD – Activities, Interests, Opinions and Demographics, the factors that for this model shapes how the consumers choose to spend. Being a psychographic consumer segmentation system, it classifies the consumers into 8 basic lifestyle groups on the basis of resources and self-orientation which is the determinants of how the consumer may be able to see the product when it is marketed (Businessdictionary.com, 2013). The resources that are taken into consideration in creating the different lifestyle classes include but are not limited to education, income, intelligence, health, energy level and eagerness to purchase resources that in general, increase from youth to middle age then decrease afterwards (Values and Lifestyles, 2013). On the other hand, the components for determining self-orientation are divided into 3 parts: (1) Principle Oriented: keeping a permanent value system, (2) Status Oriented: influenced by other’s perception of one’s self, and (3) Action Oriented: the propensity to

Colorado Plateau Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Colorado Plateau - Essay Example Colorado plateau covers an area of 140,000 square miles and it extends in four states of USA i.e. Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. River Colorado drains this area. It is unique as it has very less vegetation cover so whole rock strata are exposed as a rare example. Another interesting fact is that Colorado Squawfish is nearly six feet in length. Before I started reading this book, I had all this prior knowledge about Colorado topography and Geology, but never in my life had I paid attention towards the social life fabric in Colorado. The book thus linked my knowledge of Geography and Geology to sociology and the study of culture and history of this region. The experience of reading this book differs a bit from the reality. In the present day Colorado, in comparison, a lot of the things have changed. The way of living of people from Colorado has changed a lot over the passage of last few decades. The book mentions the era of late 19th century when America as a whole and Colorado region in particular was dependent upon primary economic activities. When I looked it up on the internet to find some interesting pictures of the region, I realized that life has changed a lot in this region by now. The beauty of Colorado plateau has always attracted me. Having a natural love for nature and especially of the rugged look and interesting Geology of this region, the book attracted me a lot. It is a land of exceptional wild beauty. High relief and less vegetation cover due to arid climate is the prominent feature of this area. Most of the rock structure of Colorado plateau is made up of sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rocks are mostly formed under sea water. It means that Colorado plateau was formed due to upliftment about 15 million years ago. Weathering by wind and erosion by fast moving water has resulted in the distinctive topography of this plateau. With my interest in Geology and topography of the

Sylvia Plath Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sylvia Plath - Essay Example Sylvia Path had a way of making words change into pictures and imagery. Her works have been very beautifully cited as works of art in the field of literature. Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, in October 1932. She was born as a first child to Aurelia and Emil Plath, who was a biology professor at the Boston University at that time. When Sylvia turned eight, her father died of lung cancer and Aurelia Plath had to work at two places to support the family. This was the time when Sylvia's first drawing and poem were published in Boston newspapers. (Liukkonen, 2000) She got her intitial education from Phillips Junior High School, where she maintained very good grades. She started writing poetry for the literary magazine in her school also, by that time. She won an award in the National Scholastic's Literary Contest, in addition to the Carnegie Institute's Achievement Certificate, which was a very honorable award. In 1950, after graduating from Bradford High School, she got admitted to Smith College on a full scholarship. However, after returning home from New York, she found out that she had been rejected at Harvard's Summer School's Literary Class. She tried committing suicide by taking sleeping pills, due to the great depression caused by this news. After graduating, she won another bright scholarship to Cambridge University, England. This was an important period of her life as she continued to shine with her academia achievements and then met a British poet, Ted Hughes. After getting married, four months later, they shifted to Boston where Plath enrolled in Robert Lowell's poetry classes at Boston University. (Welz, 1999) In 1960, after her first child was born, Sylvia got her first major work published, that being called "The Colossus and Other Poem". This also included 'Lady Lazarus' and 'Daddy', in which Plath indulged in open, expressive poetry. This was a difficult time for the author, since she was overcome by suspicions of Ted Hughes's infidelity. These suspicions came true when Ted left Sylvia devastated and financially over burdened, for another woman. "Every woman adores a Fascist, The boot in the face, the brute Brute heart of a brute like you". (From 'Daddy', 1966) Plath died on February 11, 1963 in London by committing suicide. She was a commendable author and her works create a sense of emotion in the reader. Her tombstone still reads the pride achieved through her literary work. Sylvia Plath is considered a legend. And there is no doubt, to why so. Her Works: Besides, having The Bell Jar, as her most awarded piece of work, Sylvia's other poems also attracted praise and recognition. Some of these include (Liukkonen, 2000) Three Women, 1962 - radio play, BBC Uncollected Poems, 1965 Crossing The Water, 1971 A

Disaster Management and Emergency Planning Essay

Disaster Management and Emergency Planning - Essay Example This report would highlight, in clear terms, the actions expected of the emergency response units: with a great emphasis on how the casualties are attended to; how the public is being warned of the danger of the incident; and how media representatives are properly handled in the course of this catastrophe. The magnitude of this disaster calls for rapid establishment of an effective command structure. According to the classification of emergencies in UK, this scenario can be categorized as a â€Å"serious emergency† (Level 2), because it is a terrorist attack on the welfare of people. In such a situation, a Co-ordinated Combined Government Command Structure (CCGCS) may be necessary to help the casualties. This depends on which section first of all responds to the incident. The UK Central Government, after deliberating on the urgency of the issue may firstly activate Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR), chaired by the Prime Minister. Since this incident occurs in the Promenade of Blackpool, which is located in Lancashire, North West of England, the response would be led by the appropriate Lead Government Department in that English Region. Initially, local responders are naturally expected to start the rescue operations: and when this is carried out by the local police led by Police Gold Commander, Strategic Co-ordination Group (SCG) would be activated (which comprises of all the representatives of rescue/ emergency organizations and agencies in that locality). The main guiding principles behind the operations of the Co-ordinated Combined Government Command Structure include preparedness, situation monitoring, continuity, subsidiarity, crisis detection support, containment, communication, integration, response, de-escalation and recovery (Moore & Lakha 2006). The Strategic Co-ordination Group may involve Regional Resilience Team