Angel and Demons Book Report Essay

ANGELS AND DEMONS Angels and demons is a heart pounding adventure written by the author Dan Brown and published in 2000. Dan Brown is also famous for his bestselling novel The Davinci code (published 2003); both these novels feature the fictional college professor Robert Langdon as the main character or â€Å"hero† in the story. Both of these stories revolve around the delicate subject of religion as he incorporates religious fact into fantasy. First off, our characters include Robert Langdon who is a professor of symbology at Harvard University. He is flown to a Swedish nuclear research facility known as CERN (Which really does exist) by the director of CERN Maximilian Kohler to investigate the murder of esteemed scientist Leonardo Verta. Leonardo Verta was the head scientist of a research group working on an antimatter energy source until he was killed, and the anti-matter stolen. Robert leaves CERN with Leonardos daughter Vittoria Vetra to Rome in search of the stolen anti-matter. Robert leaves CERN with a new counterpart and one clue to solve the unraveling mystery of who stole the anti-matter and killed Leonardo Verta; the ambigram branded into the scientist chest saying Illuminati. Soon after arriving in Rome Robert and Vittoria are rushed to Vatican City by commander of the Swiss guard Commander Olivetti, as the situation grows more dire after four high ranking cardinals are kidnapped by the illuminati assassin, with one clue, one will each be slaughtered on the alters of science along the path of illumination. When the threat comes in that if they don’t stop the assassin by eight o’clock the Vatican will be destroyed, as they race against the clock to stop the destruction of the Vatican new problems will rise and betrayal is around every corner. This book is strongly recommended for readers who enjoy large scale mysteries and people who enjoy stories involving conspiracies. This is because this story involves a race against time and a struggle to stop a secret society that controls half of the government itself. This tale is a mind bending race against time and an enemy who seems to be everyone and control everything.

Ba420 Power and Politics

1. What forms of interpersonal power are evident in the case? Provide evidence to support your answer. One form of interpersonal power is coercive. This is shown by the attitude of the original executives at Disney. The reason for this observation is how the executives required Lasseter to receive ‘great art education' in order to be hired at Disney. It was also mandatory for him to be taught animation prior to his hiring. Next interpersonal power is reward. Lasseters persistence to learn animation and to work at Walt Disney was his driving force.Eventually his reward came when he was hired on by Disney. Another reward was the amazing 3D animation movies he created for Disney (Pixar). Lastly expert was also evident in this case. This is obvious in the expertise and detail in the animated movies created by Walt Disney and Lasseter. Combined, their innovative talent in 3D animation set the standard for major motion pictures of this style. 2. In what ways do the two faces of power appear in this case? Two faces appear in the story. The first is the face of darkness, the other one the face of light and truth.In the case of executives at Disney, they perceived the presence of Lasseter as a threat to their existence. What John Lasseter wants, on the other hand, is just pure contribution of his modern talent to the organization that he sees with ‘personal admiration and respect for Walt Disney and animation in general. There were faces of power to maintain the manual style of animation. While the other force was Lasseter's overflowing enthusiasm to infuse technology into traditional animation in order to improve on it.The end result was two forces merging and creating a single reinvigorated Disney company, relevant to the present era. 3. Does the firing of John Lasseter from Disney Studios and the events leading up to his firing demonstrate the ethical use of power? Explain your answer. I don’t believe that there was ethical use of power in this cas e. Both Lasseter’s hiring and firing was exercised by the executives at Walt Disney in order to continue their existence. The executives realized that the blend of Lasseter's talent into the company could mean the end to their presence with the company.They choose to benefit themselves over improving Disney’s animation department by firing Lasseter. 4. Did the firing of John Lasseter indicate the existence of political behavior in the Disney organization? Yes. The company was politicized by the fact that Walt Disney has never been closely challenged by any serious animation studios. They were wary of the fact that Lasseter would bring a change to their system, ultimately changing it from within the organization. Because of this the executives reacted in a way as to preserve their perks and other benefits.They decided the best strategy would be to terminate Lasseter from the company by any means necessary. 5. Describe a situation, from your experience, where political b ehavior in an organization contributed to benefit or detriment to you or someone else. In my experience as a Soldier, I have not experienced too much of this issue during my career. As I rose through the ranks and began to work in higher echelons I began to see and experience more of the political banter that occurs to benefit people of the organization.My example is small, although it led to the decision to retire by a man who had no plans on retiring. My first line supervisor had 24 years of service in the military when we worked together. He had a wealth of knowledge and never held back or strayed from helping his subordinates. He and his boss did not see eye to eye on many things and often had long discussions about what was right and wrong with the organization we worked in. He never faltered and stood for what he believed was right.One morning as we prepared to leave on a mission his boss wanted him to be somewhere even though the mission took precedence over everything else. His boss came over to our area and halted all actions from happening. Next followed a claim of disrespecting a person of higher grade and he was removed from our company within a week. As he felt the system had failed him he decided it was time to retire. Our organization lost years of experience and the Army lost a valuable part of its senior core of Non-Commissioned Officers over a grudge.

Proposal to Write a Research Paper on Climate Change Mitigations

To Write a Paper on Climate Change Mitigations - Research Proposal Example The economy is affected due to the reduction of agricultural outputs that are caused by soil degradation and loss of other resources that are of economically important. People’s social lives are affected by climate change. For instance, when there are floods some people are usually relocated and others left homeless. Many people develop skin cancer due to global warming that is caused by climate change (Department of Ecology State of Washington, 2009). My readers will be the environmental and business students in my school. I have chosen them since they know about the impacts, causes and the mitigations of climate alteration. They also think that atmospheric change is a serious issue and solutions have to be found. In my research, I will use several sources like books and articles to find information about climate change. I will also interview people in our school and my neighborhood using questionnaires about the climate change issues. I will use the following as one of the s ources to study on my research topic. This topic meets the standards for a relevant topic in my future career. Firstly, I have sufficient interest in the topic. As a business and environmental enthusiast, I have realized that mitigating climate alteration effects will bring positive effects to the social and economic aspects in our country. I am deeply interested in the mitigation measure that other environmentalists have practiced. Secondly, the topic meets standards since it can be searched quickly. A computer search in the library has shown numerous sources accessible on this topic. Moreover, our college library has a wide array of possible sources that I believe will produce a unique project. For my project, please allow me to research the ways of mitigating climate change. If you have ideas concerning the changes on this topic, please notify me.  

Gasoline consumption vs. SUV's popularity Research Paper

Gasoline consumption vs. SUV's popularity - Research Paper Example The numerous pros associated with SUVs however are accompanied by certain cons chief of which is their high fuel consumption and related high pollution levels. This paper will discuss the popularity of SUVs vis-a vis their fuel consumption. In some countries including the United States, the Sports Utility Vehicle is considered a light truck and therefore is subject to less strict regulation compared to passenger vehicles. In the US, the Clean Air Act that governs environmental pollution as well as the Energy Policy and Conservation Act that governs fuel economy have soft landings on SUVs (Yacobucci, 2003). The popularity of SUV vehicles started rising in the 90s and early 2000s with vehicle manufactures making a move to avoid what they considered over-regulation. . The vehicles which are commonly known as 4-wheel drive vehicles, 4x4s, 4WDs include vehicles such as the Land Rover, Jeep, Range Rover, Land Cruiser and the Chevrolet Blazer (Keith, 2002). The ports Utility Vehicle has gained a lot of popularity over the years especially in Australia, Canada and the United States of America. This trend has taken root in other parts of the world, Africa and Asia not being left behind. In some places where there is limited road coverage, the vehicles are preferred to conventional vehicles. For the last two and half decades, SUVs have become a common phenomenon in roads across the world, they being associated with luxury, class, and ambience. The vehicles have larger cabins compared to conventional cars and can be used to haul loads such as caravans, boats and trailers. A lot of the SUVs’ popularity has been credited to their funky images; the reason women also prefer them to other vehicles in the United States. The vehicles are also associated with strength, security, high storage capacity, all terrain handling, high range, and many other qualities that are associated with good performance. In spite of their

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 72

Journal - Essay Example For instance, the story uncovers the ordeal faced by the immigrants back in their countries, which drives them to take a journey through the dangerous sea. Additionally, the author explores how Sicily, its residents, and the government of Italy has come in to provide rescue efforts to these immigrants and provide a safe landing in the form of holding places instead of turning them back. Nevertheless, the journalist ignores another critical part of the story, which is the fatal passage. He ought to emphasize how the bought, and ship journeys are a matter of life and death to discourage anybody willing to go through the journey. In this article, he makes the journey seem like a mere bad luck for one to die, instead of stressing on the fact that it is a gruesome risk with 1% percent chance of reaching the destination. Hence, the story is presented in such a way that it tends to encourage immigration despite the deadly trip it takes to reach Italy. Nonetheless, the article achieves the c riteria for newsworthiness because it contains several elements such as the significance, human interest, and timing among

Foreign country Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Foreign country - Essay Example As a late comer in the industry, it is prudent for the company to seek ways to elevate its performance toward the standard benchmarks set forth by its forerunners. In simple terms, benchmarking can be defined as â€Å"learning from the pros† (American Productivity & Quality Center, 1993). Benchmarks are very essential for organizational operations in that they lay in the open the processes that hold the keys to a successful business take off and the subsequent operations. Through such standards, a business venture Lodgit Courier will identify and adopts a mix of practices of top performers that will in effect define the course that the business initiative takes. Put quite simply, benchmarking is the art of finding out straightforward organization and implementation strategies that leads to success. The concept engenders comparative efficiency to other industry key players with the intent to know the exact processes, procedures, and/or technological applications principles that can results in the production of superior outputs (Ammons, 1996; Camp, 1989). Since businesses are all about competition, benchmarking plays a very important role of measuring specific performance gaps that could be used to gain competitive advantage (Boxwell, 1994). Indeed, it is â€Å"not a cost to be avoided, but a tool that when utilized properly can result into quantum leaps in organizational performance" (Dodd and Turner, 2000). Given that this joint venture business, it would take an influential positive stand to convince colleagues that certain standards have to be met for the company to remain competitive in the industry. It is also essential to note that group of investors can consistently utilize a common investment strategy and emerge victorious. As leant in the analysis of market efficiency, market outcomes are not always efficient to all investors due to the cost of information which may lean towards those with the capacity to acquire such, if at

Nutrition for Women and Children Research Paper

Nutrition for Women and Children - Research Paper Example g population partnerships to recognize and cure health issues, developing plans and programs to sustain individual and societal health efforts and assurance that requires enforcing laws and issues to ensure public health and safety, building linkages among people needed for personalized health services and ensuring supply of health care services that are otherwise unavailable, assurance of a very diligent public and personal health care workforce, evaluating accessibility, validity and quality of personal as well as public health care services and researching newer and innovative solutions to health care service related problems(10 Essential Public Health Services, pp.1).Although theoretically this can sound assuring, yet the problem lies somewhere else that needs to be discussed. First, let us take some examples of malnutrition and its effects in certain developing nations affecting its women and children. Research on malnutrition in sub-Saharan African nations done by Abosede and M cGuire (2001) show that in Gambia, seasonal food shortage causing low food intakes by pregnant women in times of agricultural workload being very high resulted in their dramatic weight loss during their pregnancy period resulting in lower birth weight rise from 13% to 35%. Another instance show anemic women in Benin, 55% of whom are pregnant, giving birth to iron- deficient babies. Nigeria shows children below 80% expected weight-for-age having a 33% increase in the duration of diarrhea. In Uganda it has been found that malnourished infants below 3 years of age being able to develop at a standard rate only be shortening physical activities by 20% per kg. body weight. This study also shows that many African countries suffering from vitamin A deficiency affecting 53 million children but only... This study also shows that many African countries suffering from vitamin A deficiency affecting 53 million children but only a mere 8million covered by supplementation programs. One hundred million people in Africa are suffering from Iodine Deficiency Disorders with almost two-thirds of pregnant women and more than half of infants being anemic due to deficiency of iron in their bodies. This essay makes a conclusion that the intervention should be pocket friendly and innovative in ensuring successful delivery mechanisms. The leadership is also expected to ensure government policies regarding agriculture and food production should be such as to ensure human nutritional demands. There are a few areas where the leadership can be useful in accelerating progress. Primary health care services is the prime sector where intervention should be operational, that is, proper counseling of mothers will help reduce infant deaths due to sub optimal breast feeding, supply of ready-to- use therapeutic foods which will allow malnourished infants to be treated in home. The topical time is a genetic age. In certain ways it is more of a natural development of biotechnology and genetic engineering; on the other hand, it is a revolutionary era in which there have been various views regarding diet and nutritional needs of human body. Genomic information is now being utilized to evaluate th e reasons for individual variations in correspondence to specific nutritional requirements and dietary plans.

Poverty and Pollution Case Study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Poverty and Pollution Case Study - Assignment Example Of course, the implications come with some benefits of economic prosperity at the expense of citizens’ health and expenditure in their future. It is the price they get to pay for the benefits of harmful investment in their countries. This document discuses human right to a clean and safe environment, justifies the moral obligations of developed countries towards third world countries for their incurred costs, and finally, recommends civil liability and taxations as pollution standards that are fair for global enforcement. Keywords: Pollution, Environmental Degradation, Third World Countries, First World Countries, Economy and Development, Pollution Control, Industrialization, Investment, Cities, Production, Costs, Price, Business, Regulations Pollution can be categorized differently depending on its cause and impact in the societies. It has become a key sensitive area not only at the national level, but at a global governance level, with too many policies being enforced from t he industrialized nations to the third world countries. Effectively, environmental law is a measure expected to preserve the environmental pure conditions by preventing further degradation. However, its application is being taken seriously in industrialized nations unlike in developing nations, who still feel that they need the opportunity to grow, before they apply the law effectively at a pace the industrialized nations have set in their nations. Air and water pollution have taken the lead in bringing serious mass destruction.

Fixed Base Operator Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Fixed Base Operator - Essay Example Hence, gradually there was a shift in early decades to bifurcate the jobs between pilots and the technicians. Now the two are totally different fields and much more such fields have been introduced in support of operations. The rationale has been that each and every person in aviation field has a well-defined job and that it is interwoven to such an extent that all these fields work together just to keep an aircraft high up in the air safe. The airport is one of the most vital elements in our air transportation system. A well-equipped airport provides a variety of facilities for the aircraft and for crews and passengers. These include runways and taxiways, which may be lighted for day and night use; a terminal building with lounge areas for passengers, and possibly a restaurant and shops; automobile parking lots; ramp areas and hangars for aircraft storage; and maintenance shops for aircraft and avionics. In the United States, there are about 13,000 airports and 4,000 heliports (land ing sites for helicopters). About 5,000 of these landing facilities are used by the public. It may surprise you to learn that only about 650 airports are served by airlines; most of the Nation's airports are used by general aviation pilots and their aircraft. The atmosphere at these airports is usually a lot less hectic and pressured than the environment at a major airline facility. Some airports are owned by municipalities, states, counties, and cities. Others are operated as privately owned businesses. A fixed base operator (FBO) is a retail firm that sells general aviation products or services at an airport. The FBO may employ one or two people, or it may have as many as one hundred workers. One or more of the following services are offered: aircraft fueling; airframe, engine, and/or instrument repairs; avionics sales and service; aircraft modifications; flight training; ground school; aircraft rentals and sales; and air taxi service and charter flights. Student pilot training ha s been rising in recent years, as have sales of new general aircraft both of which have been traditional sources of income for many Fixed Base Operators. Services. The services offered by a modern FBO may include any or all of the following: Aircraft fueling, de-fueling and oil dispensing: This aspect is normally carried out by professionals from various oil companies under

Business Negotiations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Negotiations - Essay Example In American English, there exists two communication maxims, all under the quantity umbrella, which requires that whenever one speaks, then the information relayed should as much information as possible, while on the other side; the information relayed should not exceed the required informative levels. The amount of information in a communication remains essential in every communication and as such, superfluous information need to be avoided during communication in ensuring that communication meets its intended purpose.Considering the fact that maxims of conversation entail the unwritten rules of governance pertaining to how people speak to each other in some polite conversations, it is, therefore, a significant aspect that a maxim of communication acts in place of a command, directing the manner in which different people engaging in conversation carries out themselves. According to the Japanese culture, the maxims of conversation in Japanese discourse involve a number of aspects. Exp ression of feelings or emotions is critical to every human. In business, either a loss or profit is expected for any transaction done. Whenever either happens, it is expected that an individual expresses the feeling through emotions. As a contributory aspect of the diverse nature of societies and cultures, verbal behavior of the American team and that of the Japanese seem to have significantly different aspects with a realization that indeed the generalizations put in such societies are indeed very wrong.