Taking Sides

Tiffany Kwong : Taking Sides, Unit 4 Response I’m answering question number2, as to why government agencies are getting more conservative regarding drinking during pregnancy. I personally believe the government wants to be stricter on the drinking-during-pregnancy matter because of the outcomes and effects towards the community. Pregnant mothers that drink during pregnancy are already at a small percentage of risk for a child with developmental-defects.The more at-risk children, the more attention these children need in school, in the home environment, and in public. Specifically, the funding of schools is decreasing every year, and the more developmentally-impaired students are enrolled, the greater the need for teachers and supplies to help these children with defects caused by their mothers. If the government agency strengthens the alcohol ban for pregnant women, the lesser the risk for families and the community to fund these problems later on.Mothers can decide to do what ever they want when they’re pregnant; it’s the matter of whether or not they want their child to be healthy, which I’m sure, every expecting mother wants. But, I believe pregnant women should not have the right to make informed decisions on their own. Doctors have medical degrees; they understand the causes and effects of alcohol, specific foods and certain activities pregnant women should stay away from.Pregnant mothers should not make informed decisions on their own; rather, they should consult an expert and stay firm to the government and the doctor’s orders & recommendations. Even if â€Å"casual drinking† may seem to cause no harm, it’s better to not take the risk. This is an issue with the public, the government, the science, and the medical field. Expected mothers should take the time to consult a doctor, and make the best decisions for the health of their child.

Learning Strategies Essay

Learning strategies determine the approach for achieving the learning objectives and are included in the pre-instructional activities, information presentation, learner activities, testing, and follow-through. The strategies are usually tied to the needs and interests of students to enhance learning and are based on many types of learning styles (Ekwensi, Moranski, &Townsend-Sweet, 2006). Due to the Learning Strategies are used to achieve the â€Å"learning objectives† that teachers want their learners to use when they are acquiring a second language, it is important to be conscious about the factor that influence the choice of learning strategies. What are those factors? There is a range of factors that affect strategy choice, including vocabulary learning strategies. According to Ellis (1994: 540 545) there are two broad categories of such factors: INDIVIDUAL LEARNER DIFFERENCES * AGE: Young children tend to use strategies in task specific manner, whereas older ones use generalized and more sophisticated strategies. * LEARNING STRATEGY: According to Oxford (1989), general approach to language learning determines the choice of L2 learning strategies. For example analytic learners prefer strategies such as contrastive analysis and discerning words and phrases, whereas global students use strategies to find meaning: guessing, scanning, predicting, etc. * PERSONALITY TYPE: Ehrman (1990) suggests that each personality type is associated with ‘assets’ and ‘liabilities’ where language learning is concerned. For example, extroverts are assigned to have willingness to take risks (an asset) but with dependency on external stimulation and interaction (a liability). Another finding mentioned by Erhman was that introverts showed greater use of strategies involving searching for and communicating meaning than did extroverts. * MOTIVATION: Some researches show that â€Å"highly motivated learners used more strategies relating to formal practice, functional practice, general study, and conversation/input elicitation than poorly motivated learners† (Ellis 1994:542). The particular reason for studying the language: motivational orientation, especially as related to career field was also important in the choice of strategies. SITUATIONAL AND SOCIAL FACTORS * GENDER: On the basis of Oxford and Nyikos (1989) and Erhman (1990) research, females reported greater overall strategy use than males in many studies. Although sometimes males surpassed females in the use of a particular strategy. * TYPE OF TASK: The specification of the task may help learners in using particular strategies, but cannot predetermine the actual strategies that will be used. * Learning setting: Students (Ellis 1994) have pointed out a number of differences in the usage of learning strategies in a classroom and in more natural setting. Studies of classroom strategies by Chamot (1988) showed that social and affective strategies were used infrequently by adults, excluding ‘questioning for clarification’. However, Wong-Filmore (1976;1979) reported frequent use of social strategies by young learners in a play situation. CONCLUSION Once we as teachers know the factors that influence in our student’s decisions to choose a specific Learning Strategy, it will be easier to guide them in the correct way to be autonomous, students whom can take charge of their own learning (Nation, 2001:222) and gain independence and self-direction. REFERENCES Ehrman, J. K. (1990). Clinical Exercise Physiology . Unided States of America. Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. New York: Oxford University Press. Oxford, R. L. (1989). Language Learning Motivation:pathways to the new century. Unided States of America: University of Hawai’i Press. Ekwensi, F. , Moranski, J. , & Townsend-Sweet, M. , (2006). E-Learning Concepts and Techniques. Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Instructional Technology. 5. 1 Instructional Strategies for Online Learning. Retrieved February 26th , 2010: http://iit. bloomu. edu/Spring2006_eBook_files/ebook_spring2006. pdf.

Major Component Agencies of the Dhs Essay

This paper will discuss what are the major component agencies of DHS and their primary functions. Major Component Agencies of the DHS Major agencies of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are; The Directorate for National Protection and Programs, The Science and Technology Directorate, The Office of Health Affairs, The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), The Office of Investigations, The Office of Detention and Removal Operations, The Federal Protective Service, The Office of Intelligence, The Office of Intelligence and Analysis, The Office of Operations Coordination, The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, The Transportation Administration (TSA), The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), The Citizenship and Immigration Services, The Coast Guard, and The Secret Service. Their Primary Functions The Directorate for National Protection and Programs has five divisions that work to advance the DHS’s risk-reduction mission. The primary development and research arm of the department belongs to the Science and Technology Directorate. The Office of Health Affairs coordinates all medical activities to ensure appropriate preparation for the response to incidents having medical significance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident, administers the National Flood Insurance Program, and prepares the nation for hazards. The CBP prevents terrorists and their weapons from entering the United States. They are responsible for protecting U. S. borders, while simultaneously facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. The largest investigative arm of DHS is ICE. They are responsible for identifying and shutting down vulnerabilities both in the nation’s borders and in economic, infrastructure security, and transportation. The Office of Investigations investigates a wide range of international and domestic activities that violate customs laws and immigration and threatens national security. The department who is ensures the departure from the United States of all illegal aliens through the fair enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws is the Office of Detention and Removal Operations. The Federal Protective Service is responsible for securing, ensuring a safe environment, and policing in which federal agencies can conduct their business at more than 8,800 federal facilities nationwide. Collecting, analyzing, and disseminating strategic and tactical intelligence data belongs to the Office of Intelligence. The Office of Intelligence and Analysis is responsible for using information and intelligence from multiple sources to identify and assess current and future threats to the U. S. The responsibility for monitoring the security of the U. S. on a daily basis and coordinating activities within the department and with governors, law enforcement partners, DHS advisors, and critical infrastructure operators in all fifty states and more than fifty major urban areas nationwide falls under the Office of Operations Coordination. The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office works to enhance the nuclear detection efforts of federal, tribal, states, territorial, and local governments and the private sector and to ensure a coordinated response to such threats. This department protects the nation’s transportation systems. In addition, agents also inspect air carrier operations to the United States, fly air marshal missions, assess security of airports overseas, and training overseas security personnel is TSA. The FLETC provides career–long training to law enforcement professionals to help them fulfill their responsibilities safely and proficiently. The Citizenship and Immigration Services is responsible for the administration of immigration and naturalization adjudication functions and the establishment of immigration service’s policies and priorities. This department is also consider a military department, which protects the public, the environment, and U. S. economic interests in the nation’s ports, along the coast, on international waters, on its waterways, or in any maritime region as required to support national security. Finally, we have the Secret Service who protects the president and other high-level officials and investigates counterfeiting and other financial crimes, identity theft, computer fraud, including financial institution fraud, and computer-based attacks on our nation’s financial, banking, and telecommunications infrastructure. Final Thoughts The Department of Homeland Security was activated in January 2003 from the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to help combat terrorism after the September 11 attacks on the United States. An outline is provided of what happened when the DHS was formed. Our lives in the United States as we knew it, has forever been changed since 9-1-1. We still have a long way to go to become more aware and secure, but it is not impossible. There are still many loopholes to tackle, red tape to cut, and the lack of proper equipment and training which still needs to be addressed on a continuous basis. On March 1, 2003, the DHS absorbed the Immigration and Naturalization Service and assumed its duties. By doing this, it divided the enforcement and services functions into two separate and new agencies: ICE and Citizenship and Immigration Services. The investigative divisions and intelligence gathering units of the INS and Customs Service were merged forming Homeland Security Investigations. Additionally, the border enforcement functions of the INS, including the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Customs Service, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service were consolidated into a new agency under DHS: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Creation of DHS, n.d.). References Creation-department-homeland-security, n.d. Retrieved on 1215/2012 from http://www.dhs.gov/creation-department-homeland-security Peak, K. J., 2012. Policing America challenges and best practices. Retrieved on 12/15/2012 from Chapter Two, Pages 44-48.

Electronic Medical Records Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Electronic Medical Records - Essay Example The objective is to bring out essentials from business hype. These are rated reasonably well in forums (Health Technology Review) While EMR as a terminology gets routinely mixed up with Electronic Health records (EHR's), it is clarified early on that EMR's are different from EHR's. Electronic Medical Records are legal sources of information owned by Physicians and are fed to higher level systems like EHR. So, in our study a Centricity EMR would exchange patient information securely with an EHR like Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) EMR's can be standalone "In Patient" or "Ambulatory systems" facilitating seamless exchange of information. They could be integrated with Practice Management Systems for use in a small practice or scaled adequately for a multi specialty practice. A comparative analysis as in the next section brings out key similarities and features of 3 different EMR systems. eClinicalWorks (eCW) is a leading Scalable Web based EMR system that has capabilities to work in small, mid and large setups. It is extensible and could be integrated with Practice Management systems. As a leader in "In Patient" and "Ambulatory EMR" systems that enhances a physician's ability to exchange information, eCW also decreases a provider's overhead. Physicians could ePrescribe medicines, avoid duplicate prescriptions, reduce costs related to chart pulls, transcriptions, etc. More importantly it offers patient care with accurate information that could be exchanged seamlessly and securely beyond the walls of a clinic or hospital. As per latest information eCW is used by 25000 providers and is well poised to leverage any regulations that may arise from stimulus packages arising out of "The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 and the HITECH Act". It is a CCHIT2008 certified product in both ambulatory and child health for its EMR Version 8.0. It complies effectively w ith submission of reports on clinical quality measures. As per usage reports (health technology review), eCW is easy to familiarize with and takes about less time. It supports remote connections to access charts through Virtual Private Network. It can operate in connected and disconnected modes leveraging the latest in technologies. Wireless operations are supported at a provider's desk. A business optimizer helps to generate accurate reports. The user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate. Another competing EMR product is from NextGen Health Information Systems. While this EMR system also meets fundamental meaningful usage criteria like CCHIT certification, ePrescription, secure exchange of patient information and clinical quality measures, it stands out with respect to many others in its use of pre-defined templates catering to multiple practice specialties. This provides additional quality with respect to maintaining standard documentation formats for patient information exchange. Also ePrescription module validates with patient allergies, their existing medications and alerts physicians appropriately. True to its name, NextGen Advantage offers recording facilities for health care outcomes and assists in "Pay for Performance" programs. Its custom work flow

SWOT analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SWOT analysis - Assignment Example Their success therefore is on people; the customers, employees and the management (Tesco, 2014). This work seeks to establish the SWOT analysis of Tesco PLC. In light of the same, it will put in place a collection of factors that make it stand out in the market putting in mind that the negative aspects also create challenges that make it more stable. The first strength is that the company has been able to benefit from the strong financial performance over the years which underline its strategic capabilities. In 2009 for instance, the company registered a turnover of  £54 billion which, at that time was an increase of 14% as compared to the previous financial period (Hingley & Lindgreen, 2003). The reasons for this exemplary performance have been a collection of factors. In accordance with demands in the market, the customization of the products and services has increasingly made the company to achieve such high status. Key performance indicators have been set to enable the company to continue realizing a profitable cause in the verge of its operations. The table below indicates the continuous improvement in performance over the years as per 2009 and it has a collection of indicators showing different variables of growth and measurement over those years from 2000-2009. The large growth has been attributed to the customer retention strategy of the company. Most of the customers in the company are those that have been referred by an existing customer and then become permanent customers due to the good services at the company. The b company operates an online non-food retail company which highly contributes to the development of the revenue status. The Tesco club card has always been the core of customer tracking and operations and has also improved the rate of customer loyalty. The second point of strength is the diversification of

Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

Response - Essay Example .and peers are readily available" (Carter, 2012). If this type of system is instituted at an early age it will also help all children become more accepting of those with differences.   There are a variety of inventions that can be used to help children with autism develop social skills. I think that the researchers used playtime to implement the social intervention, because it allowed them to use both coaching/training techniques. Play time is an ideal time when children are able to communicate freely with one another in a carefree manner. The researchers picked this time maybe because they felt that the student with autism would feel less targeted by on lookers. The techniques of intervention procedures pre-teaching/modeling, prompting, and praise/reward can be used during lessons where teachers are practicing co-operative learning. Working at stations is also a great way to implement social skill intervention as they must work together sharing information at stations. Positive reinforcement would help students continue with their social interactions. Praise often helps students feel better and confident about the situation. Also peer assistants can help build the confidence of autistic children by providing assistance until they reach a point when they feel they can interact independently. The paper was excellent with clear and succinct points regarding the advantages of playtime sessions. One point that I really loved about the essay was where you recommend that positive reinforcement would help the students to gear up for social interactions in reality. This can also been confirmed by a research carried out which states that â€Å"positive reinforcement for desired target behaviors is highly effective in the education of children with autism† (Schmidt & Heybyrne 2004 p.2) However regarding the stations I do have questions as to how it would benefit the children with autism by sharing information on the stations ? 1. Why

Poetry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Poetry - Essay Example He has to risk that the audience may not catch what he intends. Ferlinghetti compares a poem to a â€Å"little charleychaplin man,† who â€Å"may or may not catch,† meaning that a poem has to risk losing its audience, risk falling into the â€Å"empty existence of air† in order to achieve any kind of greatness, for if the poem risks nothing it also achieves nothing, no beauty, and no artistry. Ferlinghetti makes this point a bit ironically, as it is intended to be a bit of a jab at the Beat poets, poets who, to Ferlinghetti’s mind, risk nothing in their poetry, instead choosing to hide behind a mask of postmodern cynicism and dispair. The Beat poets, in Ferlinghetti’s opinion, do not walk the rope at all, but instead play their gullible audience, capitalizing on an immature dedication to anarchy and a disillusionment with a government that would draft Americans and send them to a war that they did not believe in. In â€Å"Constantly risking absurdi ty,† we see Ferlinghetti using not only theme and imagery to unite the subjects of poetry and high wire acts, but also the form. The words and lines look as if they are constantly shifting, just like a tight-rope walker must constantly change his pacing in order to keep his balance, or just as the poet must do to â€Å"perceive / taut truth.† The poet has to risk leaps in form as well as leaps in theme and subject to create a work of art. There is no other way.

Role of Geology in the Construction of Hoover Dam Case Study

Role of Geology in the Construction of Hoover Dam - Case Study Example Studying the geology of a building site is a vital first step before designing and constructing any structure, particularly formidably large and heavy works like concrete dams. For both civil engineers and environmental scientists, a study of geology is vital, for understanding the soil mechanics and its functions as a building site, and for understanding the environmental impacts of a construction project. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate why geology is important for a civil engineer or an environmental scientist, using a case study of the Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam: A Construction Miracle of the Twentieth Century The Colorado River was chosen for constructing the Hoover Dam because of its steep gradient of 11,000 feet in 1,450 miles, more than any of the larger rivers. It was expected that the sharp fall of the Colorado river would facilitate the spinning of turbines at the highest speeds. Black Canyon was selected as the site for the dam, and not the e arlier choice of Boulder Canyon. Both sites were on the lower Colorado River beyond the mouth of the Grand Canyon; however the advantages with Black Canyon lay in â€Å"a more solid and therefore safer bedrock foundation† (Powell 2008: 72), which is reiterated by Stevens (1990) who states that the bedrock at Black Canyon had less jointing and faulting than at Boulder Canyon, after diverting the river there would be less silt and debris to clear, tunneling through the canyon walls would be much easier, and the dam would require less concrete for building because the gorge was narrower. Further, the advantages of constructing the dam at Black Canyon included its easier access, and facilitation for sediment accumulation at the deepest part of the reservoir. The Hoover Dam was unprecedented in the number of hazards and problems the construction project presented. The pressure caused by the reservoir of over nine trillion gallons of water was countered by using the principle of th e arch shape to the dam. To anchor the dam firmly, its base was designed to be several times thicker than its crest. Additionally, to keep the dam site dry during construction, the river had to blocked with a coffer dam and the water diverted through bypass tunnels bored through the bedrock (Powell 2008: 74, 58). Further, tremendous measures had to be undertaken for overcoming natural obstacles such as jagged mountains of volcanic rock, the rapid flow of the Colorado River rushing through a narrow gorge, and the rugged and inaccessible Black Rock Canyon between Nevada and Arizona situated against a desert background infested with wildlife including rattlesnakes. The dam site was also in an isolated area, away from human habitation, with the model town for workers being about eight miles from the dam site. There were sharp differences in temperature, from 140 degrees on the canyon floor in summer to below 20 degrees in the winter. Other daunting construction problems included the nec essity to â€Å"divert the Colorado river through freshly made tunnels in nearby rocks and a temporary coffer dam while the site was cleared and the dam built† (McGovern 2000: 144). Additionally, the possibility of stress imposed by temperature changes and the use of large volumes of concrete in relatively small areas, resulting in cracks in

Applied economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Applied economics - Essay Example ucted to establish the functions of human capital earnings and its impacts on the decomposition of the periodic earnings into linear function forms, in which the log of earnings serve as both the function of schooling measure in terms of years of experience in work and other factors representing heterogeneity within a cross-section sample of people observed, and dependent variables. This simple statistical model has however been faced by some limitations, i.e., biasness in the estimation of returns to education and endogeneity in the schooling variables. As a positively correlated function of the unobserved variable of ability, people with varied ability to work and learn are in most instances a better position to school for longer periods; hence this enhanced ability will have a reflection of higher wages within their occupations. Additionally, existence of a symmetric correlation between any of the independent variables such as schooling and the error term in an OLS regression can consequently lead to bias in the estimates. In this case, effects of ability/heterogeneity have to be random in the sample to avoid positive correlations. Card (1999) explored the causal relationship of education on earnings, and explicitly the study analysed the heterogeneity between schooling of twins in contrast to their earnings. The assumption in the study was that twins would have the same ability and other external influences so that differences in wages could be more accurately associated with differences in education. Card used the pooled sample of men and women standing up to 198,075 aged from 16 – 66 during the years 1994 to 1996. In this given time frame, the study targeted the differences between individuals having 10, 12 and 16 years of schooling to their returns. An OLS regression analysis was used to inspect the human capital earning with variety of hourly, weekly and annual earnings. The study findings explored an interesting impact of an instrumental factor family

The Credit Crisis and the Resulting Effects on the Financial World Essay Example for Free

The Credit Crisis and the Resulting Effects on the Financial World Essay All of these events are what has led to what analysts have said to be a recession. This paper will attempt to explain the causes that credit issues had on the financial crisis as well as show how liquidity played a major role in throwing debt markets into panic and in some cases failure. I will also give some insight into how the debt markets became inactive because of these issues. We will also take a look at how interest rates affected this crisis as well as how the stock market and initial public offerings (IPOs) were affected. The Beginnings of the Bubble Burst After the internet bubble burst of 2000 the Federal Reserve Bank was worried about a serious deflationary period. Because of this fear they did not want to counteract the housing bubble. The Federal Reserve Bank actually lowered the federal funds rate from 6. 5% to 1% in the period from 2000 to 2003. This was done in order to soften the blow from the internet bubble and was encouraging people to borrow at faster rates. During this time period, banks also went through a serious transformation period where instead of holding onto debt, they used new financial innovations to bundle them and sell the risk off onto other investors. This process was named originate and distribute. In this banking model loans were put together, tranched and sold via securitization. To tranche means to slice up the pool of debt into say slices of a pie. Each pie slice has a different risk involved, credit rating and thus different amounts of interest paid. Securitization is where these slices are then sold to different investors as bonds or Collaterized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs). The principal and interest on the debt, underlying the security, is paid back to the various investors regularly. These types of new innovations led to new investors and thus access to more liquidity for banks. Banks began to thrive with all the new opportunities for them to create more liquidity. As you can see from this chart, Securitization was being exploited at alarming rates. [pic] This in turn, allowed them to be able to lend more money. The problem was not the increased amounts of loans that banks gave out, the problem lied with whom these banks were lending money. Of course the added pressures growing in the market from the government and financial institutions werent helping matters. As I mentioned earlier, The Federal Reserve Bank was lowering the federal funds rate in the years of 2000 through 2003 which encouraged people to invest in real estate. At the time the real estate market was on a tremendous upswing. However in the years of 2004 through 2006 they started increasing the federal funds rate (FFR) which made 1-5 year adjustable rate mortgages more expensive to reset for homeowners. There was another side effect of the rising FFR, generally when interest rates rise, assets fall in value. This would mean that speculation in real estate would be much riskier for investors, and this may have led to the eventual housing bubble burst. However this did not stop banks from targeting a new market. A new customer target entered the market for banking systems, Sub-prime borrowers. Originally, banks were, for the most part only lending to prime borrowers, a group of borrowers who are considered the most credit-worthy, indicated by a FICO score greater than 720. These prime borrowers were able to borrow money at the markets best interest rate and were also considered safe investments. Sub-prime borrowers on the other hand, were less than desirable potential customers to lend to. Their credit ratings were much lower than prime borrowers, meaning they were more likely to be late with payments on loans or even default all together. Now, initially banks may have strayed away from giving as many loans out to sub-prime borrowers as they did, however added pressures by the government and financial institutions were mounting. When the Securities and Exchange Commission relaxed the net capital rule in 2004, this allowed the five biggest investment banks to dramatically increase the leverage they could use and also allowed them to aggressively expand on their issuance of mortgage backed securities (an asset-backed security or debt obligation that represents a claim on the cash flows from mortgage loans through securitization). This then pressured government entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to expand their riskier lending to sub-prime borrowers, and this led as an example for other banks that followed suit. Financial Market Begins to Feel the Pain and the Onslaught of Liquidity Issues Arise The rise of securitized products ultimately led to a flood of cheap credit, and lending standards fell. Now that banks had a way to get rid of the majority of risk involved in lending money, via securitized products being sold to financial institutions, they took an easy going approach to approving and monitoring loans. Banks came up with new ways to give out mortgage loans with no down-payments, jobs and even income! These were called piggyback mortgages (the combination of two loans to take the need of a down payment away) and NINJA (no income, no job or assets). These loans were given on the assumption that people if people needed money they could always refinance and actually horribly wrong and in fact the opposite happened. Loans started to default a domino effect began causing liquidity crisis as well as other issues. The trigger for the liquidity crisis began in early 2007, when sub-prime mortgage defaults started increasing at damageable speeds. Mortgage-backed Securities, CDOs and asset-backed securities (a security whose value and income payments are derived from and collateralized (or backed) by a specified pool of underlying assets) all took a huge hit. This dominoed into the shadow banking system (financial institutions that do not have the same regulations as banks because they do not take deposits like banks do) causing many institutions great problems. The major issue was that a lot of these shadow banks had borrowed from investors in short-term, liquid markets (such as money markets and commercial paper markets) and then took this money and lent it out to corporations or invested in long term investments, less liquid assets. In most cases these long term assets that were purchased were mortgage-backed securities. So as you can see the default on sub-prime mortgages was deeply intertwined with all that shadow banking systems were involved in. Once the mortgages defaulted and investors became weary of investing in mortgage backed securities, these financial institutions that had so heavily depended on short term monetary loans from the investors were finding themselves quickly bankrupt. Because the shadow banks are not regulated such as depository banks they are also not able to use the lender of last resort, the U. S. Central Bank. In short financial institutions were in a serious bind. They needed to sell their long term loans for cents on the dollar to be able to pay off the short term loan payments and in the end many institutions were out of business. Some notable companies in 2008 that closed down shop were Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. And the long and short of it is that these financial institutions were also highly leveraged. That coupled with the long term illiquid investments they held were the shadow bankers downfall. The effects of defaulted mortgages did not stop there. The effects of defaulted mortgages continued to snowball into a huge problem for such companies as AIG. AIG is an international insurance company that had heavily invested in credit default swaps. The major problem that started the downfall of AIG was the downgrade of its credit rating. When you have a credit rating of AAA you do not, by industry standards, have to give collateral when entering into credit swaps. When AIG had to start providing collateral with their trading counter parties the problem of liquidity started. This was not just a small problem either; they had backed 100 cents on the dollar to CDSs. They had engaged in over 440 billion dollars worth of CDSs of which almost 60 billion were structured by sub-prime loans. In their first half of 2008 they reported 13. 2 billion in losses. They were on the verge of what could have sent our whole financial system into chaos. Had AIG failed it would have sent a wave of bankruptcy through the financial world that would have collapsed the entire market. Because after all, they were insuring financial institutions, who were holding risk for banks who had defaulted mortgage loans. The bailout by the U. S. Government saved AIG by giving them the biggest bailout in history, 85 billion dollars (of which the US Government got an 80 percent equity stake). That was not even the end of it; AIG was given another 77 billion after that. The buck basically stopped with AIG, as they were too big to fail. They had offered a product that while markets were doing well AIG was successful, but as the market declined they entered into what analysts say was inevitable. They offered to cover all risk when offering 100 cents on the dollar, and once the defaults on prime mortgages made it through the entire financial world they had to back the product they offered in CDSs and obviously they could not. The Financial Market Freezes The collapse of the shadow banking system was an igniter of the market freezing. They had accounted for one third of all U. S. lending mechanisms leading into this crisis. The reasoning was because investors that had been supporting the financial institutions with short term money loans quickly bailed out once things started to go wrong. With this absence of monetary injection into the shadow banking systems they were no longer able to fund mortgage funds, corporations and others in need of their services. This caused banks to have a serious absence of liquidity as well, leading them to start hoarding money. This meant that instead of banks loaning to counter-parties in need they held onto the funds in fear of needing liquidity in the future. This was a serious problem and one that will not be fixed in years to come. A lot of the forms of securitization that were once available are likely gone forever. The reasoning behind them disappearing is that they were designed in a time of very loose credit conditions and that time has gone, at least for now. While banks have raised their lending standards it was the rise and fall of shadow banks that inevitably led to the inactivity of debt markets. The Stock Market Follows As I mentioned earlier, the defaults on sub-prime mortgages spiraled into many liquidity problems in the financial markets. They caused investors to start fearing that markets would continue to drop. Banking institutions bankrupted, and with AIG on the brink of disaster, matters only got worse. Investors caused bank runs (Groups of people all withdrawing money from banking institutions at the same time), Illiquidity, and massive panic in stock markets. As we can see from this table, The S;P 500 index was significantly hit by these defaults. As you can see, during the crisis period volatility was 43. 6% (325% of pre-crisis period). [pic] This table reflects how the average investor was feeling about the market. As you can see in the post-crisis analysis the market volatility is still at 20. 9% and the average is actually lower than the crisis period. This next chart reflects the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW). As you can see here, the chart mirrors the information given in the last table. March 2009 was the low point of the market (where the crisis ended), and the market has rebounded. It has not yet returned to its previous high of 14,000 but it has steadily been on the incline since March 2009. This gives us hope in looking to the future, that even in the trenches our economy can rebound. Effects on Initial Public Offerings Initial public offerings are the first sale of stock by a company to the public. This allows companies big and small to raise capital for their firms. With the severe economic downturn in 2008, it sent a wave of negative effects worldwide, which hit the IPO markets hard. IPO markets plummeted by over 60% in both deal numbers and funds raised. Up until 2008, there had been record-setting years with IPOs. The problem lied with the illiquid markets. There was a significantly less money that investors were willing to supply for IPOs. Although IPOs were taking a significant hit, U. S. and China still led the way as far as funds raised from IPOs Companies with strong business plans and innovative products for the economy were still able to realize positive gains in the public markets. Looking towards the future, IPOs will rebound. Analysts say that signs point to new horizons for IPOs, favoring companies that offer innovative and public solutions for the changing environment. Looking Towards the Future In short, our financial world hit a wall when sub-prime mortgages were abused. Securitization multiplied the effects from default mortgages causing financial ripples that destroyed many firms. Other problems such as the relaxing of regulations and the pressures from the U. S government to give out sub-prime mortgages only made things worse. Greed ran wild and should have taught us a lesson on what deregulation and the abuse of sub-prime borrowers can do to markets. We also need to keep banks more regulated and have the government always keeping a watchful eye on the shadow banking system. Congress and the Obama Administration have taken the first step forward to preventing a repeat by putting into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. As regulators begin the rule-making process it is estimated that the act mandates nearly 250 regulations and 70 studies. Just as quickly as it was passed, however, the industry was hard at work lobbying to diminish the protections under the act by intervening as much as possible in the rule-making process that follows any such legislation. Additionally, the industry lobbyist are hard at work in an effort to get the newly elected Republican-controlled House of Representatives to weaken the legislation’s impact through low funding of the various regulatory enforcement provisions. I would hope that in the future we can learn from this crisis and realize that lending to borrowers with good credit, and income that can afford the payments of a loan, are very important aspects in lending. Equally, financial institutions must get back to seriously following their own loan policies, since most policiesthat were ignored allowed for loans to be approved that should not have been. . Works Cited 1. United States. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The Financial Crisis Timeline. Web 09 Dec. 2010.

UK Protection of Interest of the Rights Holders

UK Protection of Interest of the Rights Holders INTRODUCTION In the 17th century, the economic investments of publishers and printing press where threatened by unlicensed copyist who were involved in unauthorised printings and reproduction of copyrighted material.[1] At that time, the common-law remedies were very in effective making the publishers to labour in vain. The introduction of the 1709 Statute of Anne put a landmark in the protection of copyright in literary works in the form of statutory monopolies and regulations, giving the authors exclusive rights and used to control the distribution of books by publishers.[2] The act provided a copyright which lasted for 14 years and if the author were still alive during the period of its expiry, the right will be returned to him for another 14 years, giving a total of a 28-year period.[3] The law on copyright started to develop and included things like sculptures, engravings and some others. The law of intellectual property (IP) has been closely linked with economic development and innovation. The case of Donaldson v Beckett established that copyright is considered to have a dual purpose.[4] The first purpose is to protect the interest of the right holders so they are encouraged to publish their works and make gains from it. The second purpose is to encourage creativity and innovation and the sharing of knowledge so that the public can have access to copyrighted work for learning purposes. As copyright developed a key issue arose which is need for legislators to strike a balance between the protection of the interest of the right holders and the promotion of innovation and creativity of the public at large. Legislature has worked hard to achieve a good balance as the size of the statute has increased over the years. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA), is the current act which attempts to create the balance. These groups of conflicting interest argue that its interest should be prioritised by the legal framework but legislature should not prioritise any interest to achieve a balanced system.[5] This paper will discuss the current situation on how the UK achieves an effective balance between the protection of interest of the rights holders and the encouraging of innovation and creativity, by using the scope of copyright to find how it is necessary for economic growth. It will look at issue concerning the duration of copyright in UK. Finally, this paper takes a critical look at defence of fair dealings in the UK and compares it to fair use in US. This essay concludes that the law on copyright does not create an effective balance between the interest or the right holders and the encouragement of innovation and creativity. SCOPE OF COPYRIGHT Lessig defines the scope of copyright as the range of rights granted by the law.[6] The law of copyright has expanded and tried to adapt because of development in technology. In modern times, the law on copyright does not only cover publishing, printing of a creative work it extends to derivative works and all the steps previously taken by taken by authors to protect their works have been abolished by the rule that imposing authors to accept the protection offered by the law.[7]ÂÂ   Copyright work covers a wide range of materials and output and does not require any form of registration like patents or designs. To illustrate the extent to which copyright goes, in the case of Elanco v Mandops, the court established that the label with instructions on a barrel of herbicide is a literary work that is subject to copyright.[8]ÂÂ   The law tries to create a balance by making provisions for adequate protection and adequate access. The idea of this balance originated from the 1709 S tatute of Anne where it was established that the purpose of the act was for the Encouragement of Learning, by Vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or Purchasers of such Copies.[9] It was also established in the 1774 case of Donaldson v Beckett, where it saw the nature of copyright as distinct from traditional forms of property mainly because of its underlying social function.[10] Copyright work needs to be accessible and this can be explained in the following ways as the development of human society is based on derivation of the works of others. First, the public needs to have access to copyright work so that they can access the ideas of the works. The use of the idea is free from copyright infringement if the user will not copy the expression of the idea for the author. Second, the public involves two groups of people, which are the users who use the work as a source of learning and the potential authors who borrow ideas from them. If the works of the author are not a vailable, he will receive monetary rewards without contributing to the society and hindering economic development.[11] The protection of copyrights of the right holder is based on the basic idea of why should someone reap benefits from the work of another. Copyright has been closely linked with the economic principle of monopoly, it is often criticized to be harmful to the public interest in a free and open competition. They claim that it will give monopolist the power to increase the prices and they will make it difficult for these rights to be accessed. Adherents of this principle of monopoly have suggested that the monopoly exists in a temporary form to creators and innovators, and it incentivises for creativity through the offer of time limited on innovative investment and economic rewards.[12] In a system with poor IP rules where consumers can use goods without paying for them, no one will want to invest in innovation as it will put them at a competitive disadvantage and the output of useful works will start to diminish having a negative impact on the knowledge base of the society. THE DURATION OF COPYRIGHT In considering the extent to which the UKs law achieves a balance in copyright law, the duration of the law is an important factor to be considered. It is important because it determines when the work will be open to the public domain, if the term of copyright is too short it will have a negative effect on the right holders as they will not be motivated to create works when they cannot reap the benefits.[13] The duration of copyright has been controversial and there have been debates on the topic of how long copyright should last.[14] In the CDPA 1988, the length of copyright is the life time of the author with an additional 70 years for literary works. The length was initially lower by 20 years which was argued to be more than adequate. The question of why the copyright law has given such extended timeframe was answered in 1991 by The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and it was also suggested in connection with a possible Protocol to the Berne Convention. The justification for length of copyright here was stated in the Preamble to the draft Directive saying: The Commission stresses the need to harmonise copyright and neighbouring rights at a high level of protection since these rights are fundamental to intellectual creation and their protection ensures the maintenance and development of creativity in the interest of authors, cultural industries, consumers and society as a whole.[15] The protection provided for authors is of positive value but by providing them with endless monopoly rights is detrimental to the security of the good of the public.[16] It can be argued that there was once a balance in 1790, where the Congress passed the first copyright law that was available for 14 years and renewable for another 14 years for works they wanted. The enactment of the new law has caused the public domain to be eroded rather than enriched.[17] The increase in the duration has caused a reduction in the creativity and causes problems that are harmful to its own purpose and welfare. From the economic perspective, extended periods of copyright will bring about an increase costs to the consumers by the additional payment and the cost of collection.[18] It can also be argued that this extended periods for copyright are not necessary to protect the commercial exploitation of works as they are rapidly exploited, they may be sold to gain part of gain from part of the royalties. [19] The length of copyright terms has deprived the public of creative inspiration and puts the public at a loss, which is the opposite of a motivation for further creation. With the situation in the UK it has become clear that the long-lasting copyright is cannot work in favour of the public, which is its main objective. FAIR DEALINGS Since the introduction of Copyrights Act in 1911, there have been different statutory defences that have been existing in relation to copyright infringement, and fair dealing is the most important of them all. Fair dealing in the UK is similar to the Fair use in USA. Fair dealings have been recognised by case law prior to the 1911 Act, which tries to strike a balance between the interest of the right holder and interest of the user for encouragement of innovation and creativity. This was supported in the Governments Green Paper which stated that: These exceptions are of obvious importance in that they seek to establish a proper balance between the legitimate interests of copyright owners and the legitimate desires of users of copyright material. [20] It covers three main areas which include private study and research, review and criticism and news reporting. Fair dealings for research and private study can be found in s29 of the Act. If the relevant conditions are met there will be no infringement of copyright for the purpose of research. The rule fair dealing also applies to dramatic, literary, musical or artistic works for research purposes but there must be no commercial benefit from it. An example of this is the case of Green Amps, where the High Court decided that there was a breach of the non- commercial restriction when copying took place in a non-commercial research which the end-product was a commercial product.[21] Fair dealings for criticism gives permission to the use of the work of others for criticising and reviewing work as long sufficient acknowledgement is given. The work must be published through an authorised act for this defence to apply. Fair dealings for the purpose of reporting current events applies to all works apart from photographs The term fairness does not have any defined meaning and it must be defined by the court. To determine fairness the court has a set of tests which it uses. There are 3 main factors for this test but they are not fixed.[22] The first is if the fair dealing is commercially competing with the authors exploitation of his work. The second factor is whether the work has been published to the public in some form, but still leaves the possibility of fair dealings with unpublished works. The third factor is the amount and the level of importance of the work that has been taken. It indicates that work should not be taken beyond what is reasonable or appropriate.[23] Other relevant factors have been set out in the case of Fraser-Woodward by Mann J, which list the factors above and others of relevance like the intended use of the work, whether the work has unreasonably prejudiced the interest of the author.[24] The UK law on fair dealings is often criticised as being inflexible, restrictive and impedes innovation and undermining its primary purpose of facilitating creation and the exchange of new works. On several occasions, it has been directly compared with the Fair use system adopted in US. The fair use has been described to be a flexible system, although it may have its disadvantages one of which is the uncertainty in the law,[25] it can still be argued to be a better system than that in the UK. The test for fair use in the US includes, first the purpose and character of use, the nature of the copyright work, the amount and substantiality of the portion used and the last relevant factor is the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.[26] The system in the US is more flexible and it is more of a general defence than the fair dealings as it gives the court the opportunity give room for new exceptions or the modification of existing ones as we conti nue to experience development in technology.[27] In a system with an open-ended defence there is less need to worry about the changes that might occur in the future as the flexibility of the law is enough to adapt to changes. The current state of fair dealing can also be seen to restrict the development of scholarly works. The British Library commissioned a paper that criticised UKs copyright law saying it has to be redefined as it brings about difficulty in licencing works, as permission is needed from the right holder.[28] If the source cannot be found, the work cannot be used and this reduces the quality of research.ÂÂ   The law regarding fair dealing are not in line with the interest of the users and the creatives. They are illegitimate and they restrict innovation. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the area of law which copyright should cover is forever increasing, so the legislative body of the law must stay in tune with these changes and it is left with the task to strike a balance between the interest rights holder and the encouragement of innovation and creativity. The scope of copyright law is very broad and almost any right material could fall under this therefore making it difficult to control and strike a balance in the law. The imbalance in the law will hinder the encouragement of creativity and will have an effect on economic development. The duration of the copyright has been an issue and will always be. Its excessive length is an interruption to the process of creativity and innovation. Although it has a long list of problems it still has not found a reason to start rethinking alternatives. The fair dealing is another important area of copyright law and in the UK, it is very rigid compared to that of the US and it does not cover works that may come about in the future. There might need to be a reform in this area of the law. The law in UK has been making a conscious effort to strike a balance between the interest of the shareholders and the encouragement of creation and innovation of the public but it is argued here to be inadequate. BIBLIOGRAPHY Calum Docherty, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Reforming Fair Dealing in English Copyright Law, Law School GDL Christopher John Adduono, Rebalancing Copyright Law [2015], Faculty of Business and Law, 1-355 Duke, Copyright Should Fair Dealing be replaced by Fair Use? 2011 Eva Garmpi, Alternatives to Copyright [2006] KLS LLM Gillian Davies, Copyright and the Public Interest [1997] Hua, J. J. (2013). Toward a more balanced approach: rethinking and readjusting copyright systems in the digital network era. Chapter 2 Laddie, Justice, Copyright: over-strength, over-regulated, over-rated? E.I.P.R. 1996, 18(5), 253-260 Professor Ian Hargreaves, Digital Opportunity, A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth [2011] CASES Donaldson v Beckett [1774] 4 Burr. 2408 Elanco Products ltd v Mandops (Agrochemical Specialist) Ltd [1979] FSR 46 Fraser-Woodward Ltd v BBC [2005] EWHC 472 (Ch), [2005] 28(6) IPD 11 Green Amps [2007] EWHC 2755 (Ch) [21]-[23] PCR Ltd v Dow Jones Telerate Ltd [1998] EMLR 407, [1998] FSR 170 [1] Laddie, Justice, Copyright: over-strength, over-regulated, over-rated? E.I.P.R. 1996, 18(5) [2] Ibid. [3] Hua, J. J. (2013). Toward a more balanced approach: rethinking and readjusting copyright systems in the digital network era. Chapter 2 [4] Donaldson v. Beckett [1774] 4 Burr. 2408 [5] Christopher John Adduono,2015, Rebalancing Copyright Law, University of Southampton Faculty of Business and Law, pp. 1 [6] Eva Garmpi, Alternatives to Copyright [2006] KLS LLM [7] Ibid. [8] Elanco Products ltd v Mandops (Agrochemical Specialist) Ltd [1979] FSR 46 [9] Hua, J. J. (2013). Toward a more balanced approach: rethinking and readjusting copyright systems in the digital network era. Chapter 2 [10] Donaldson v Beckett [1774] 4 Burr. 2408 [11] Hua, J. J. (2013). [12] Professor Ian Hargreaves, Digital Opportunity, A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth [2011] [13] Ibid. [14] Davies G, Copyright and the Public Interest (VCH, 1994), Page 194 [15] ibid, page 198 [16] Eva Garmpi, (2006) Alternatives to Copyright, KLS LLM Dissertation [17] ibid, page 12 [18] Professor Ian Hargreaves 2011, Digital Opportunity A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth [19] Eva Garmpi, (2006) Alternatives to Copyright, KLS LLM p.11 [20] Gillian Davies, Copyright and the Public Interest [1997] [21] [2007] EWHC 2755 (Ch) [21]-[23] [22] Duke, Copyright Should Fair Dealing be replaced by Fair Use? 2011 [23] PCR Ltd v Dow Jones Telerate Ltd [1998] EMLR 407, [1998] FSR 170 [24] Fraser-Woodward Ltd v BBC [2005] EWHC 472 (Ch), [2005] 28(6) IPD 11 [25] Duke, Copyright Should Fair Dealing be replaced by Fair Use? [26] Laddie, Justice, Copyright: over-strength, over-regulated, over-rated? [27] Ibid. [28] Calum Docherty, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Reforming Fair Dealing in English Copyright Law, Law School GDL

The Conclusion Of The First World War History Essay

The Conclusion Of The First World War History Essay At the conclusion of the First World War, Italy was riddled with chaos. This disorder was caused primarily by the belief that Italy was not adequately paid for aiding the Allies at the conclusion of the war. Italy expected to be rewarded with large expanses of territory from the defeated nations for its services. But it did not. In fact, under the charter of the League of Nations and the various peace treaties, Italy only gained territory from turkey when other nations whom they saw as inferior gained more land and more resources. Mussolini and his rapidly growing supporters capitalised on this and it was during this time Mussolinis fascist views spread throughout the country. Due to his military service during the war, Mussolini already had a large amount of support from military veterans and the lower classes in Italian society. He also had support of the business class for fear of a communist style regime that would see their profits lost. This capitalisation was the first of many political successes that would befall Mussolini and his soon to be fascist government. The next political success that occurred was Mussolinis solidification as Italys leader. This occurred in the late 1920s when Gabriele DAnnunzio and his supporters were forced out from Fiume. DAnnunzio was labeled as the John the Baptist of Italian Fascism  [1]  and Mussolinis style of leadership was rather like that of DAnnunzio during his occupation of Fiume and his leadership of the Italian Regency of Carnaro  [2]  . Aspects of this style were seen throughout Mussolinis time in power and frequently à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦included the balcony address, the Roman salute, the cries of Eia, eia, eia! Alala!, the dramatic and rhetorical dialogue with the crowd, the use of religious symbols in new secular settings  [3]  . Once Mussolini succeeded in driving DAnnunzio out of Fiume, many Italian separatists also embraced Mussolini as their leader as he promoted a strong foreign policy and the annexation of Fiume and Dalmatia. With his position as leader solidified, Mussolini rapidly ga ined power gained power and progressively converted the government into a one-party fascist dictatorship under his leadership. From that time until his death, Mussolinis only interest was in holding on to power. Perhaps, the biggest success for Mussolini and the government were the two organisations they created to control Italy. The first of these organisations was known as the Blackshirts. The Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale or National Security Volunteer Militia was formed in 1923 and was responsible for security of the regime and reported directly to Mussolini. This allowed for complete control over Italy and its subjects  [4]  . The second of these organisations was a secret police force created in 1927, called the Organizzazione di Vigilanza Repressione dellAntifascismo, (Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism) or OVRA. It was led by Arturo Bocchini with the sole purpose of cracking down on all opponents of the the government and Mussolini as there had been several assassination attempts on his life since his rise to power  [5]  . The OVRA itself was an effective force, but caused fewer deaths of political opponents compared to that of the Schut zstaffel of Nazi Germany and the NKVD of the Soviet Union, the OVRA. This being said, the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦fascists methods of repression were cruel which included physically forcing opponents of Fascism to swallow castor oil which would cause severe diarrhoea and dehydration, leaving the victim in a painful and physically debilitated state which would sometimes result in death  [6]  . This created a state of constant fear of the OVRA and the Blackshirts, both of whom used this method of torture. In 1925, organised crime was rapidly rising in the Sicily and southern Italy. To combat this, the government gave special powers to the prefect of Palermo, Cesare Mori. These powers gave him the ability to prosecute the Mafia, forcing many Mafiosi to flee abroad (many to the United States) or risk being jailed  [7]  . Mori was fired however, when he began to investigate Mafia links within the Fascist regime. He was removed from his position in 1929, and the Fascist regime declared tha t the threat of the Mafia had been eliminated. Moris actions weakened the Mafia, but did not destroy them. Between 1929 and 1943, the Italian government completely abandoned its aggressive measures against the Mafia, and left them relatively undisturbed. The Fascist government had a major success when it came to education, endorsing many new and stringent education policies in Italy throughout the period aimed at lowering illiteracy which was a growing problem in Italy at the time  [8]  . To reduce the number of drop-outs, the government raised the minimum age of leaving school from 12 to 14 years of age and due to the fascist nature of the government, they were able to strictly enforce attendance at school. This was just the first step in their education plan and in 1922, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the governments first minister of education, Giovanni Gentile announced his recommendation that all education policy from this point forward should focus on indoctrination of students into fascism, and to educate youth to respect and be obedient to authority  [9]  . Before this could be realised, the government invoked a concurrent plan to increase and recognise intellectual talent throughout Italy when the government established the Royal Ac ademy of Italy in 1926 to reward, promote and coordinate Italys intellectual success  [10]  . It wasnt until 1929 that education policy took a major step toward that agenda of indoctrination. In that year, the government took control of the authorisation of all textbooks, all school teachers were required to take oaths of loyalty to fascism and children began to be instructed that they owed the same loyalty to fascism as they did to God  [11]  . It then increased in the control set by the government with all university teachers were required to be members of the National Fascist Party in 1933  [12]  , and in the 1930s and 1940s Italys education system was refocused onto the history of Italy displaying Italy as a force of civilization during the Roman era, displaying the rebirth of Italian nationalism and the struggle for Italian independence  [13]  . Also in the late 1930s, the fascist government copied Nazi Germanys education system regarding the physical fitness st udents, and begun demanding that Italians become physically healthy  [14]  . The major success in social policy for the government was the establishment of the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro (OND) or National After-work Program in 1925 and soon became the states largest recreational organisation for adults. The Dopolavoro as it was known, had no trouble attracting members  [15]  , à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but according to historian Tobias Asbe, while the activities sponsored by the OND were popular with the working class, these activities did not turn workers into ideologically convinced supporters of the Fascist regime was so popular that, by the 1930s, all towns in Italy had a Dopolavoro clubhouse and the Dopolavoro was responsible for establishing and maintaining 11,000 sports grounds, over 6,400 libraries, 800 movie houses, 1,200 theatres, and over 2,000 orchestras  [16]  . When Achille Starace took over as director of the OND in the early 1930s, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ t became primarily recreational; concentrating on sports and other outings and by 1936 the OND had a pproximately 80% of salaried workers as members  [17]  . The OND had the largest membership of any of the mass Fascist organizations in Italy and due to its huge success in Italy, it was the key factor in Nazi Germany creating its own version, the Kraft durch Freude (KdF) or Strength through Joy program, which was even more successful than the Dopolavoro  [18]  . Once in power, Mussolini attempted to alter the countrys economy to work within his fascist ideology. This was his major failure. He immediately began investing in and taking over industrial interests from within the leaders of Italian capitalism. There are two views amongst both historians and economist with regard to Mussolinis economic management, David Baker who discusses this in The New Political Economy There is a messy tangle between economic theory and economic practice which leads to two opposing views either Mussolini had an economic plan, or that he did not, but instead reacted to changes without forward planning  [19]  . Mussolinis first failure was though he did have an economic agenda which was both short and long term in nature, he attempted to completely change the economy in one phase. The government had two major tasks, one, to modernise the economy, and two, to improve the countrys dire lack of resources. To attempt these tasks, the government stimulated devel opment through creating a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦modern capitalistic sector in the service of the state, intervening directly as needed to create collaboration between the industrialists, the workers, and the state  [20]  . This was achieved by removing class and implementing corporations and in the short-term the government worked to reform the widely-abused tax system, dispose of inefficient state-owned industry, cut government costs, and introduce tariffs to protect the new industries  [21]  . The governments second failure was that it started to sell off legislative monopolies. The first of these was the 19 April 1923 law which transferred life insurance policy from a state run company to private enterprise. This effectively cancelled à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the 1912 law which had created a State Institute for insurances and which had envisioned to give a state monopoly ten years later  [22]  . By doing this the government lost one sector of income it rely on and with a rapidly growing inflation Up until 1925 the country enjoyed modest growth but structural weaknesses increasing rate of inflation the value of currency slowly dropped. Then in 1925 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the Italian state abandoned its monopoly on telephones infrastructure, while the state production of matches was handed over to a private consortium of matches producers  [23]  . This led to increase in speculation against the strength of the lira. This then caused the government to intervene and De Stefani, the fin ance minister à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦was sacked, his program side-tracked, and the Fascist government became more involved in the economy in step with the increased security of their power  [24]  . The great depression of the early 1930s was the third major economic failure to beset the Italian government. As companies came close to failure, the policy of the government was for banks to buy out the companies. This was largely an illusionary bail-out as the funds used to pay for the purchases were largely worthless and this led a financial crisis which peaked in 1932 and led to the need for major government intervention  [25]  . After the bankruptcy of the Austrian Kredit Anstalt in May 1931, Italian banks followed, with the bankruptcy of the Banco di Milano, the Credito Italiano and the Banca Commerciale  [26]  . In response to this, the state created three financial management institutions funded by the Italian treasury which were designed to buy back all the debt made by the failed banks. This aid was in the form of $5.5 billion and was to be paid back within ten years. Throughout the period of 1923 and 1939, there were a number of decisions that Benito Mussolini and his fascist government of Italy made that led to both successful and unsuccessful ventures. They were successful with implementing a number of new political policies through taking advantage of the circumstances and solidifying Mussolinis position in as leader and creating new powerful policing agencies that answered directly to them and through exerting fear into the populous. Once their position was solidifies they then commencing working on the education standards of Italy and through the fascist influence increased the literacy rate of the country and also the support of their movement by the students and teachers of the school. The government also built support up through their introduction of the OND, a social organisation that grew to include over 80% of salary workers. Though this being said, their major failure was their inability to manage funds appropriately. The economy of t he country wasnt great when they came to power, and they then attempted to achieve too much too quickly and send the economy into a downward spiral once they sold off their monopolies and then failed to act appropriately when the great depression hit the country. All in all, there were a number of both successes and failures that the Italian fascist government had during the inter war years of 1923 to 1939.

Transgenic Rice Plants Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For centuries, rice has been one of the most important staple crops for the world and it now currently feeds more than two billion people, mostly living in developing countries. Rice is the major food source of Japan and China and it enjoys a long history of use in both cultures. In 1994, worldwide rice production peaked at 530 million metric tons. Yet, more than 200 million tons of rice are lost each year to biotic stresses such as disease and insect infestation. This extreme loss of crop is estimated to cost at least several billion dollars per year and heavy losses often leave third world countries desperate for their staple food. Therefore, measures must be taken to decrease the amount of crop loss and increase yields that could be used to feed the populations of the world. One method to increase rice crop yields is the institution of transgenic rice plants that express insect resistance genes. The two major ways to accomplish insect resistance in rice are the introduction of the potato proteinas e inhibitor II gene or the introduction of the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin gene into the plant's genome. Other experimental methods of instituting insect resistance include the use of the arcelin gene, the snowdrop lectin/GNA (galanthus nivallis agglutinin) protein, and phloem specific promoters and finally the SBTI gene.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The introduction of the potato proteinase inhibitor II gene, or PINII, marks the first time that useful genes were successfully transferred from a dicotyledonus plant to a monocotyledonous plant. Whenever the plant is wounded by insects, the PINII gene produces a protein that interferes with the insect's digestive processes. These protein inhibitors can be detrimental to the growth and development of a wide range of insects that attack rice plants and result in insects eating less of the plant material. Proteinase inhibitors are of particular interest because they are part of the rice plant's natural defense system against insects. They are also beneficial because they are inactivated by cooking and therefore pose no environmental or health hazards to the human consumption of PINII treated rice.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to produce fertile transgenic rice plants, plasmid pTW was used, coupled with the pin 2 promoter and the inserted rice actin intron, act 1. The combi... ... SBTI gene is being cloned into vectors and is being used to transform other types of embryos using the particle gun technique.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, through the use of new technologies such as the introduction of potato proteinase inhibitor II gene, the establishment of the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin gene and the experimental methods of using the arcelin gene, the snowdrop lectin/GNA (galanthus nivallis agglutinin) protein, and phloem specific promoters and finally the SBTI gene, rice plants have become almost completely resistant to insects that used to destroy much of the crop. This has been an important step in biotechnology because the improvement of rice plants is a major concern that could potentially effect almost all of the populations of the world. Biotechnology has become an increasingly accepted method of solving some of the major problems in agriculture, medicine, and industry. Potentially, with the advancements of many techniques, almost whenever people eat, drink, take medicine, or go to work, they will be touched in some way by the many complicated processes of biotechnology, that are striving to make our world a better place to exist in.

Chapter 17 Cat, Rat, and Dog

Harry's mind had gone blank with shock. The three of them stood transfixed with horror under the Invisibility Cloak. The very last rays of the setting sun were casting a bloody light over the long-shadowed grounds. Then, behind them, they heard a wild howling. â€Å"Hagrid,† Harry muttered. Without thinking about what he was doing, he made to turn back, but both Ron and Hermione seized his arms. â€Å"We can't,† said Ron, who was paper-white. â€Å"He'll be in worse trouble if they know we've been to see him†¦.† Hermione's breathing was shallow and uneven. â€Å"How — could — they?† she choked. â€Å"How could they?† â€Å"Come on,† said Ron, whose teeth seemed to be chattering. They set off back toward the castle, walking slowly to keep themselves hidden under the cloak. The light was fading fast now. By the time they reached open ground, darkness was settling like a spell around them. â€Å"Scabbers, keep still,† Ron hissed, clamping his hand over his chest. The rat was wriggling madly. Ron came to a sudden halt, trying to force Scabbers deeper into his pocket. â€Å"What's the matter with you, You stupid rat? Stay still — OUCH! He bit me!† â€Å"Ron, be quiet!† Hermione whispered urgently. â€Å"Fudge'll be out here in a minute –â€Å" â€Å"He won't — stay — put –â€Å" Scabbers was plainly terrified. He was writhing with all his might, trying to break free of Ron's grip. â€Å"What's the matter with him?† But Harry had just seen — stinking toward them, his body low to the ground, wide yellow eyes glinting eerily in the darkness — Crookshanks. Whether he could see them or was following the sound of Scabbers's squeaks, Harry couldn't tell. â€Å"Crookshanks!† Hermione moaned. â€Å"No, go away, Crookshanks! Go away!† But the cat was getting nearer — â€Å"Scabbers — NO!† Too late — the rat had slipped between Ron's clutching fingers, hit the ground, and scampered away. In one bound, Crookshanks sprang after him, and before Harry or Hermione could stop him, Ron had thrown the Invisibility Cloak off himself and pelted away into the darkness. â€Å"Ron!† Hermione moaned. She and Harry looked at each other, then followed at a sprint; it was impossible to run full out under the cloak; they pulled it off and it streamed behind them like a banner as they hurtled after Ron; they could hear his feet thundering along ahead and his shouts at Crookshanks. â€Å"Get away from him — get away — Scabbers, come here –â€Å" There was a loud thud. â€Å"Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat –â€Å" Harry and Hermione almost fell over Ron; they skidded to a stop right in front of him. He was sprawled on the ground, but Scabbers was back in his pocket; he had both hands held tight over the quivering lump. â€Å"Ron — come on back under the cloak –† Hermione panted. â€Å"Dumbledore — the Minister — they'll be coming back out in a minute –â€Å" But before they could cover themselves again, before they could even catch their breath, they heard the soft pounding of gigantic paws†¦. Something was bounding toward them, quiet as a shadow — an enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dog. Harry reached for his wand, but too late — the dog had made an enormous leap and the front paws hit him on the chest; he keeled over backward in a whirl of hair; he felt its hot breath, saw inch-long teeth – But the force of its leap had carried it too far; it rolled off him. Dazed, feeling as though his ribs were broken, Harry tried to stand up; he could hear it growling as it skidded around for a new attack. Ron was on his feet. As the dog sprang back toward them he pushed Harry aside; the dog's jaws fastened instead around Ron's outstretched arm. Harry lunged forward, he seized a handful of the brute's hair, but it was dragging Ron away as easily as though he were a rag doll — Then, out of nowhere, something hit Harry so hard across the face he was knocked off his feet again. He heard Hermione shriek with pain and fall too. Harry groped for his wand, blinking blood out of his eyes â€Å"Lumos!† he whispered. The wandlight showed him the trunk of a thick tree; they had chased Scabbers into the shadow of the Whomping Willow and its branches were creaking as though in a high wind, whipping backward and forward to stop them going nearer. And there, at the base of the trunk, was the dog, dragging Ron backward into a large gap in the roots — Ron was fighting furiously, but his head and torso were slipping out of sight — â€Å"Ron!† Harry shouted, trying to follow, but a heavy branch whipped lethally through the air and he was forced backward again. All they could see now was one of Ron's legs, which he had hooked around a root in an effort to stop the dog from pulling him farther underground — but a horrible crack cut the air like a gunshot; Ron's leg had broken, and a moment later, his foot vanished from sight. â€Å"Harry — we've got to go for help –† Hermione gasped; she was bleeding too; the Willow had cut her across the shoulder. â€Å"No! That thing's big enough to eat him; we haven't got time –â€Å" â€Å"Harry — we're never going to get through without help –â€Å" Another branch whipped down at them, twigs clenched like knuckles. â€Å"If that dog can get in, we can,† Harry panted, darting here and there, trying to find a way through the vicious, swishing branches, but he couldn't get an inch nearer to the tree roots without being in range of the tree's blows. â€Å"Oh, help, help,† Hermione whispered frantically, dancing uncertainly on the spot, â€Å"Please†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Crookshanks darted forward. He slithered between the battering branches like a snake and placed his front paws upon a knot on the trunk. Abruptly, as though the tree had been turned to marble, it stopped moving. Not a leaf twitched or shook. â€Å"Crookshanks!† Hermione whispered uncertainly. She now grasped Harry's arm painfully hard. â€Å"How did he know –?† â€Å"He's friends with that dog,† said Harry grimly. â€Å"I've seen them together. Come on — and keep your wand out –â€Å" They covered the distance to the trunk in seconds, but before they had reached the gap in the roots, Crookshanks had slid into it with a flick of his bottlebrush tail. Harry went next; he crawled forward, headfirst, and slid down an earthy slope to the bottom of a very low tunnel. Crookshanks was a little way along, his eyes flashing in the light from Harry's wand. Seconds later, Hermione slithered down beside him. â€Å"Where's Ron?† she whispered in a terrified voice. â€Å"This way,† said Harry, setting off, bent-backed, after Crookshanks. â€Å"Where does this tunnel come out?† Hermione asked breathlessly from behind him. â€Å"I don't know†¦It's marked on the Marauder's Map but Fred and George said no one's ever gotten into it†¦It goes off the edge of the map, but it looked like it was heading for Hogsmeade†¦Ã¢â‚¬  They moved as fast as they could, bent almost double; ahead of them, Crookshanks's tail bobbed in and out of view. On and on went the passage; it felt at least as long as the one to Honeydukes†¦ All Harry could think of was Ron and what the enormous dog might be doing to him†¦He was drawing breath in sharp, painful gasps, running at a crouch†¦. And then the tunnel began to rise; moments later it twisted, and Crookshanks had gone. Ahead Harry could see a patch of dim light through a small opening. He and Hermione paused, gasping for breath, edging forward. Both raised their wands to see what lay beyond. It was a room, a very disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor; every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up. Harry glanced at Hermione, who looked very frightened but nodded. Harry pulled himself out of the hole, staring around. The room was deserted, but a door to their right stood open, leading to a shadowy hallway. Hermione suddenly grabbed Harry's arm again. Her wide eyes were traveling around the boarded windows. â€Å"Harry,† she whispered, â€Å"I think we're in the Shrieking Shack.† Harry looked around. His eyes fell on a wooden chair near them. Large chunks had been torn out of it; one of the legs had been ripped off entirely. â€Å"Ghosts didn't do that,† he said slowly. At that moment, there was a creak overhead. Something had moved upstairs. Both of them looked up at the ceiling. Hermione's grip on Harry's arm was so tight he was losing feeling in his fingers. He raised his eyebrows at her; she nodded again and let go. Quietly as they could, they crept out into the hall and up the crumbling staircase. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust except the floor, where a wide shiny stripe had been made by something being dragged upstairs. They reached the dark landing. â€Å"Nox,† they whispered together, and the lights at the end of their wands went out. Only one door was open. As they crept toward it, they heard movement from behind it; a low moan, and then a deep, loud purring. They exchanged a last look, a last nod. Wand held tightly before him, Harry kicked the door wide open. On a magnificent four-poster bed with dusty hangings lay Crookshanks, purring loudly at the sight of them. On the floor beside him, clutching his leg, which stuck out at a strange angle, was Ron. Harry and Hermione dashed across to him. â€Å"Ron — are you okay?† â€Å"Where's the dog?† â€Å"Not a dog,† Ron moaned. His teeth were gritted with pain. â€Å"Harry, it's a trap –â€Å" â€Å"What –â€Å" â€Å"He's the dog†¦he's an Animagus.† Ron was staring over Harry's shoulder. Harry wheeled around. With a snap, the man in the shadows closed the door behind them. A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. It was Sirius Black. â€Å"Expelliarmus!† he croaked, pointing Ron's wand at them. Harry's and Hermione's wands shot out of their hands, high in the air, and Black caught them. Then he took a step closer. His eyes were fixed on Harry. â€Å"I thought you'd come and help your friend,† he said hoarsely. His voice sounded as though he had long since lost the habit of using it. â€Å"Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful†¦it will make everything much easier†¦.† The taunt about his father rang in Harry's ears as though Black had bellowed it. A boiling hate erupted in Harry's chest, leaving no place for fear. For the first time in his life, he wanted his wand back in his hand, not to defend himself, but to attack†¦to kill. Without knowing what he was doing, he started forward, but there was a sudden movement on either side of him and two pairs of hands grabbed him and held him back†¦ â€Å"No, Harry!† Hermione gasped in a petrified whisper; Ron, however, spoke to Black. â€Å"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!† he said fiercely, though the effort of standing upright was draining him of still more color, and he swayed slightly as he spoke. Something flickered in Black's shadowed eyes. â€Å"Lie down,† he said quietly to Ron. â€Å"You will damage that leg even more.† â€Å"Did you hear me?† Ron said weakly, though he was clinging painfully to Harry to stay upright. â€Å"You'll have to kill all three of us!† â€Å"There'll be only one murder here tonight,† said Black, and his grin widened. â€Å"Why's that?† Harry spat, trying to wrench himself free of Ron, and Hermione. â€Å"Didn't care last time, did you? Didn't mind slaughtering all those Muggles to get at Pettigrew†¦What's the matter, gone soft in Azkaban?† â€Å"Harry!† Hermione whimpered. â€Å"Be quiet!† â€Å"HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!† Harry roared, and with a huge effort he broke free of Hermione's and Ron's restraint and lunged forward — He had forgotten about magic — he had forgotten that he was short and skinny and thirteen, whereas Black was a tall, full-grown man — all Harry knew was that he wanted to hurt Black as badly as he could and that he didn't care how much he got hurt in return — Perhaps it was the shock of Harry doing something so stupid, but Black didn't raise the wands in time — one of Harry's hands fastened over his wasted wrist, forcing the wand tips away; the knuckles of Harry's other hand collided with the side of Black's head and they fell, backward, into the wall — Hermione was screaming; Ron was yelling; there was a blinding flash as the wands in Black's hand sent a jet of sparks into the air that missed Harry's face by inches; Harry felt the shrunken arm under his fingers twisting madly, but he clung on, his other hand punching every part of Black it could find. But Black's free hand had found Harry's throat â€Å"No,† he hissed, â€Å"I've waited too long –â€Å" The fingers tightened, Harry choked, his glasses askew. Then he saw Hermione's foot swing out of nowhere. Black let go of Harry with a grunt of pain; Ron had thrown himself on Black's wand hand and Harry heard a faint clatter — He fought free of the tangle of bodies and saw his own wand rolling across the floor; he threw himself toward it but â€Å"Argh!† Crookshanks had joined the fray; both sets of front claws had sunk themselves deep into Harry's arm; Harry threw him off, but Crookshanks now darted toward Harry's wand — â€Å"NO YOU DON'T!† roared Harry, and he aimed a kick at Crookshanks that made the cat leap aside, spitting; Harry snatched up his wand and turned — â€Å"Get out of the way!† he shouted at Ron and Hermione. They didn't need telling twice. Hermione, gasping for breath, her lip bleeding, scrambled aside, snatching up her and Ron's wands. Ron crawled to the four-poster and collapsed onto it, panting, his white face now tinged with green, both hands clutching his broken leg. Black was sprawled at the bottom of the wall. His thin chest rose and fell rapidly as he watched Harry walking slowly nearer, his wand pointing straight at Black's heart. â€Å"Going to kill me, Harry?† he whispered. Harry stopped right above him, his wand still pointing at Black's chest, looking down at him. A livid bruise was rising around Black's left eye and his nose was bleeding. â€Å"You killed my parents,† said Harry, his voice shaking slightly, but his wand hand quite steady. Black stared up at him out of those sunken eyes. â€Å"I don't deny it,† he said very quietly. â€Å"But if you knew the whole story.† â€Å"The whole story?† Harry repeated, a furious pounding in his ears. â€Å"You sold them to Voldemort. That's all I need to know.† â€Å"You've got to listen to me,† Black said, and there was a note of urgency in his voice now. â€Å"You'll regret it if you don't†¦You don't understand†¦.† â€Å"I understand a lot better than you think,† said Harry, and his voice shook more than ever. â€Å"You never heard her, did you? My mum†¦trying to stop Voldemort killing me†¦and you did that†¦you did it†¦.† Before either of them could say another word, something ginger streaked past Harry; Crookshanks leapt onto Black's chest and settled himself there, right over Black's heart. Black blinked and looked down at the cat. â€Å"Get off,† he murmured, trying to push Crookshanks off him. But Crookshanks sank his claws into Black's robes and wouldn't shift. He turned his ugly, squashed face to Harry and looked up at him with those great yellow eyes. To his right, Hermione gave a dry sob. Harry stared down at Black and Crookshanks, his grip tightening on the wand. So what if he had to kill the cat too? It was in league with Black†¦If it was prepared to die, trying to protect Black, that wasn't Harry's business†¦ If Black wanted to save it, that only proved he cared more for Crookshanks than for Harry's parents†¦. Harry raised the wand. Now was the moment to do it. Now was the moment to avenge his mother and father. He was going to kill Black. He had to kill Black. This was his chance†¦. The seconds lengthened. And still Harry stood frozen there, wand poised, Black staring up at him, Crookshanks on his chest. Ron's ragged breathing came from near the bed; Hermione was quite silent. And then came a new sound — Muffled footsteps were echoing up through the floor — someone was moving downstairs. â€Å"WE'RE UP HERE!† Hermione screamed suddenly. â€Å"WE'RE UP HERE — SIRIUS BLACK — QUICK!† Black made a startled movement that almost dislodged Crookshanks; Harry gripped his wand convulsively — Do it now! said a voice in his head — but the footsteps were thundering up the stairs and Harry still hadn't done it. The door of the room burst open in a shower of red sparks and Harry wheeled around as Professor Lupin came hurtling into the room, his face bloodless, his wand raised and ready. His eyes flickered over Ron, lying on the floor, over Hermione, cowering next to the door, to Harry, standing there with his wand covering Black, and then to Black himself, crumpled and bleeding at Harry's feet. â€Å"Expelliarmus!† Lupin shouted. Harry's wand flew once more out of his hand; so did the two Hermione was holding. Lupin caught them all deftly, then moved into the room, staring at Black, who still had Crookshanks lying protectively across his chest. Harry stood there, feeling suddenly empty. He hadn't done it. His nerve had failed him. Black was going to be handed back to the Dementors. Then Lupin spoke, in a very tense voice. â€Å"Where is he, Sirius?† Harry looked quickly at Lupin. He didn't understand what Lupin meant. Who was Lupin talking about? He turned to look at Black again. Black's face was quite expressionless. For a few seconds, he didn't move at all. Then, very slowly, he raised his empty hand and pointed straight at Ron. Mystified, Harry glanced around at Ron, who looked bewildered. â€Å"But then†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lupin muttered, staring at Black so intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind, â€Å"†¦why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless† — Lupin's eyes suddenly widened, as though he was seeing something beyond Black, something none of the rest could see, â€Å"– unless he was the one†¦unless you switched†¦ without telling me?† Very slowly, his sunken gaze never leaving Lupin's face, Black nodded. â€Å"Professor,† Harry interrupted loudly, â€Å"what's going on –?† But he never finished the question, because what he saw made his voice die in his throat. Lupin was lowering his wand, gazing fixed at Black. The Professor walked to Black's side, seized his hand, pulled him to his feet so that Crookshanks fell to the floor, and embraced Black like a brother. Harry felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. â€Å"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!† Hermione screamed. Lupin let go of Black and turned to her. She had raised herself off the floor and was pointing at Lupin, wild-eyed. â€Å"You — you –â€Å" â€Å"Hermione –â€Å" â€Å"?C you and him!† â€Å"Hermione, calm down –â€Å" â€Å"I didn't tell anyone!† Hermione shrieked. â€Å"I've been covering up for you –â€Å" â€Å"Hermione, listen to me, please† Lupin shouted. â€Å"I can explain –â€Å" Harry could feel himself shaking, not with fear, but with a fresh wave of fury. â€Å"I trusted you,† he shouted at Lupin, his voice wavering, out of control, â€Å"and all the time you've been his friend!† â€Å"You're wrong,† said Lupin. â€Å"I haven't been Sirius's friend, but I am now — Let me explain†¦.† â€Å"NO!† Hermione screamed. â€Å"Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too — he's a werewolf!† There was a ringing silence. Everyone's eyes were now on Lupin, who looked remarkably calm, though rather pale. â€Å"Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione,† he said. â€Å"Only one out of three, I'm afraid. I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead. An odd shiver passed over his face. â€Å"But I won't deny that I am a werewolf.† Ron made a valiant effort to get up again but fell back with a whimper of pain. Lupin made toward him, looking concerned, but Ron gasped, â€Å"Get away from me, werewolf!† Lupin stopped dead. Then, with an obvious effort, he turned to Hermione and said, â€Å"How long have you known?† â€Å"Ages,† Hermione whispered. â€Å"Since I did Professor Snape's essay†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"He'll be delighted,† said Lupin coolly. â€Å"He assigned that essay hoping someone would realize what my symptoms meant†¦ Did you check the lunar chart and realize that I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you realize that the Boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?† â€Å"Both,† Hermione said quietly. Lupin forced a laugh. â€Å"You're the cleverest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione.† â€Å"I'm not,† Hermione whispered. â€Å"If I'd been a bit cleverer, I'd have told everyone what you are!† â€Å"But they already know,† said Lupin. â€Å"At least, the staff do.† â€Å"Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf,† Ron gasped. â€Å"Is he mad?† â€Å"Some of the staff thought so,† said Lupin. â€Å"He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy –â€Å" â€Å"AND HE WAS WRONG!† Harry yelled. â€Å"YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!† He was pointing at Black, who suddenly crossed to the four-poster bed and sank onto it, his face hidden in one shaking hand. Crookshanks leapt up beside him and stepped onto his lap, purring. Ron edged away from both of them, dragging his leg. â€Å"I have not been helping Sirius,† said Lupin. â€Å"If you'll give me a chance, I'll explain. Look –â€Å" He separated Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's wands and threw each back to its owner; Harry caught his, stunned. â€Å"There,† said Lupin, sticking his own wand back into his belt â€Å"You're armed, we're not. Now will you listen?† Harry didn't know what to think. Was it a trick? â€Å"If you haven't been helping him,† he said, with a furious glance at Black, â€Å"how did you know he was here?† â€Å"The map,† said Lupin. â€Å"The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it –â€Å" â€Å"You know how to work it?† Harry said suspiciously. â€Å"Of course I know how to work it,† said Lupin, waving his hand impatiently. â€Å"I helped write it. I'm Moony — that was my friends' nickname for me at school.† â€Å"You wrote –?† â€Å"The important thing is, I was watching it carefully this evening, because I had an idea that you, Ron, and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I?† He had started to pace up and down, looking at them. Little patches of dust rose at his feet. â€Å"You might have been wearing your father's old cloak, Harry–â€Å" â€Å"How d'you know about the cloak?† â€Å"The number of times I saw James disappearing under it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Lupin, waving an impatient hand again. â€Å"The point is, even if you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak, you still show up on the Marauder's Map. I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid, and set off back toward the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else.† â€Å"What?† said Harry. â€Å"No, we weren't!† I couldn't believe my eyes,' said Lupin, still pacing, and ignoring Harry's interruption. â€Å"I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?† â€Å"No one was with us!† said Harry. â€Å"And then I saw another dot, moving fast toward you, labeled Sirius Black†¦I saw him collide with you; I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow –â€Å" â€Å"One of us!† Ron said angrily. â€Å"No, Ron,† said Lupin. â€Å"Two of you.† He had stopped his pacing, his eyes moving over Ron. â€Å"Do you think I could have a look at the rat?† he said evenly. â€Å"What?† said Ron. â€Å"What's Scabbers got to do with it?† â€Å"Everything,† said Lupin. â€Å"Could I see him, please?† Ron hesitated, then put a hand inside his robes. Scabbers emerged, thrashing desperately; Ron had to seize his long bald tail to stop him escaping. Crookshanks stood up on Black's leg and made a soft hissing noise. Lupin moved closer to Ron. He seemed to be holding his breath as he gazed intently at Scabbers. â€Å"What?† Ron said again, holding Scabbers close to him, looking scared. â€Å"What's my rat got to do with anything?† â€Å"That's not a rat,† croaked Sirius Black suddenly. â€Å"What d'you mean — of course he's a rat –â€Å" â€Å"No, he's not,† said Lupin quietly. â€Å"He's a wizard.† â€Å"An Animagus,† said Black, â€Å"by the name of Peter Pettigrew.†