International Business - Meli Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

International Business - Meli - Essay Example The firm has also focused immensely on the differentiation strategy. This has enabled it to increase its perceived value among its loyal customers. This is through offering superior services. This has made the customers to be willing to pay a premium for the new services to be offered. Lastly, the company has integrated the value chain through offering door-to-door services. Therefore, it can capitalize on these strategies in order to increase its competitive advantage in the market (Hamermes & Yong, 2012). Meli has performed effectively especially with the limits on the routes that its vessels can cover. The competitors have a wider range of route and vessels with high capacities. Therefore, when putting these constrains into consideration, the firm can be said to have performed above average (Hamermes & Yong, 2012). I would recommend that Tim approve the decision to acquire Teeh-Sah Holdings. This is because the new strategies will open up new routes for the company. In addition, the firm will acquire more assets and human resources that have an experience in different markets across the world especially in the trans-pacific route. This will strengthen the company’s position through reducing the risks and uncertainties associated with concentrating on few markets (Hamermes & Yong,

Latar belakang kawasan kajian

Latar belakang kawasan kajian 3.1 PENGENALAN Dalam bab ini, perkara yang dibincangkan adalah tentang latar belakang kawasan kajian dan aspek yang berkaitan dengan pembangunan lokasi kajian, penduduk, sosio-ekonomi, guna tanah, perindustrian dan lain-lain. Dalam bab ini, isu kesan perindustrian seperti pencemaran dibincangkan. Bab ini, pembaca akan memahami secara lebih mendalam tentang kawasan kajian. dengan mengetahui secara lebih mendalam latar belakang kawasan kajian, penkaji akan dapat memahami dan menerangkan secara menyeluruh tentang kawasan kajian. 3.2 PEMBANGUNAN DI MALAYSIA Pembangunan adalah sesuatu aspek yang penting dan sentiasa diutamakan oleh kebanyakan negara yang sedang membangun dan negara maju. Di Malaysia, pembangunan adalah satu agenda penting yang diberi keutamaan kerana Malaysia adalah sebuah negara yang sedang membangun. Pembangunan di sini bermaksud pembangunan ekonomi, politik, sosial, dan lain-lain. Jika dilihat kembali sejarah Zaman Batu Awal, manusia sudah mula berusaha mencipta peralatan-peralatan dan pengangkutan untuk memudahkan kehidupan mereka. Secara lahiriah, setiap manusia sudah pasti ingin mengecapi pembangunan dan pemodenan serta gaya hidup yang mudah dan berkualiti. Oleh itu, kita tidak dapat menghalang pembangunan sesebuah negara. Di kebanyakan negara maju dan negara sedang membangun, pembangunan ekonomi adalah sesuatu yang paling penting dan sentiasa diutamakan. Revolusi perindustrian adalah salah satu agen dan pemangkin kepada pembangunan ekonomi sesebuah negara. Revolusi perindustrian di Malaysia telah bemula sejak tahun 1970-an lagi. Revolusi perindustrian ini adalah salah satu langkah mencapai Wawasan 2020. Usaha mencapai Wawasan 2020 terbukti dengan pembangunan sektor perindustrian, pertanian, perumahan dan sebagainya. Setiap negeri di Malaysia mempunyai kawasan Perindustriannya sendiri. Contohnya, Shah Alam (Selangor), Mergong (Kedah) dan lain-lain. 3.2 PEMBANGUNAN DI KEDAH   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Negeri Kedah merupakan salah sebuah negeri daripada 14 negeri yang terdapat di Malaysia. Negeri Kedah terletak di utara Semenanjung Malaysia. Lokasi negeri Kedah adalah bersempadanan dengan 3 negeri dah 1 negara iaitu Perlis (Barat Laut), Pulau pinang (Barat Daya), Perak (Selatan) dan Thailand (Utara). Kedah Darul Aman merupakan sebuah negeri di Semenanjung Malaysia yang kaya dengan hasil pertanian. Kedah mempunyai keluasan lebih kurang 9,426km ². Kedah terletak di Utara semenanjung Malaysia yang berhadapan dengan Selat Melaka. Kedah merupakan salah sebuah negeri Agraria (pertanian) yang mempunyai banyak kawasan pertanian padi serta perkampungan nelayan. Negeri Kedah juga dikenali sebagai negeri Jelapang Padi kerana hasil pertanian padi yang banyak. Perindustrian membawa kepada pertumbuhan penduduk dan wujudnya banyak bandar-bandar baru. Kawasan perindustrian biasanya mempunyai tahap kepadatan penduduk yang sangat tinggi. Berdasarkan bancian pada tahun 2003, Kedah mempunyai populasi penduduk sebanyak 1,778,188 orang. Daripada itu, populasi penduduk yang berbangsa Melayu adalah kaum terbesar dengan 75%, diikuti kaum Cina iaitu sebanyak 15%, kaum India sebanyak 7%, Bukan warganegara sebanyak 1.6%, lain-lain kaum sebanyak 1.4%. Negeri Kedah terbahagi kepada 9 buah daerah yang kecil. Daerah-daerah tersebut adalah Daerah Kubang Pasu, Daerah Padang Terap, Daerah Yan, Daerah Pendang, Daerah Kuala Muda, Daerah Sik, Daerah Baling, Daerah Kulim dan Daerah Alor Setar. Di setiap daerah ini, terdapat aktiviti-aktiviti ekonomi yang dijalankan oleh penduduk tempatan. Sebagai contoh, aktiviti ekonomi yang dijalankan di Daerah Pendang adalah pertanian padi basah, Revolusi Perindustrian di Kedah tertumpu di Kulim dan Mergong. Pembangunan perindustrian ini semakin rancak dan membesar. Semakin banyak kilang dibina berhampiran dengan kawasan perumahan, pusat rekreasi dan sungai. Pembangunan yang tidak terancang boleh mendatangkan masalah manusia dan alam sekitar. 3.3 LATAR BELAKANG KAWASAN MERGONG   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Negeri Kedah Darul Aman mempunyai 11 buah daerah. Daerah Kota Setar adalah ibu negeri Kedah. Terdapat 34 buah mukim dalam daerah Kota Setar. Salah sebuah mukim yang terdapat dalam Daerah Kota Setar adalah Mergong. Mergong adalah salah sebuah mukim yang sangat terkenal dan menjadi tumpuan penduduk. Kawasan Mergong ini adalah sebuah kawasan perindustrian. Sebelum pembinaan kawasan perindustrian ini, kawasan ini kurang menjadi tumpuan penduduk. Apabila kawasan ini dibangunkan menjadi kawasan perindustrian yang utama di Kedah, kawasan ini mula didiami penduduk. Ini kerana terdapatnya peluang pekerjaan yang banyak dalam sektor perindustrian serta jaringan pengangkutan yang dimajukan. Ini telah menyebabkan pertambahan penduduk di kawasan Mergong semakin meningkat. Daerah Kota Setar sudah lama wujud. Mengikut sejarah, daerah kota setar telah wujud sejak awal abad ke-16. Daerah Kota Setar ini telah berkembang pesat dan akhirnya diishtiharkan sebagai Bandaraya Alor Setar pada 21 Disember 2003. Daerah Kota Setar ini mempunyai keluasan 666 km ². Kawasan perindustrian Mergong ini meliputi 60.45 hektar daripada jumlah keluasan daerah Kota Setar. 3.4 CIRI-CIRI FIZIKAL Bagi melihat ciri-ciri fizikal kawasan perindustrian Mergong, pengkaji telah mengenalpasti ciri-ciri bentuk muka bumi, iklim dan cuaca, tumbuh-tumbuhan semulajadi serta saliran dan perparitan di Daerah Kota Setar. 3.4.1 Bentuk Muka Bumi : Kawasan daerah Kota Setar terdiri daripada kawasan tanah pamah yang landai. Dianggarkan sebanyak 85% daripada kawasan di Daerah Kota Setar adalah kawasan tanah pamah. Di kawasan tanah pamah ini, pelbagai jenis aktiviti dijalankan seperti, perindustrian, perniagaan, kawasan pentadbiran, kawasan perumahan, kawasan bandar, kawasan pertanian dan lain-lain. Kawasan tanah pamah sangat sesuai dibangunkan sebagai pusat bandar dan pembinaan sistem pengangkutan yang baik. Daerah Kota Setar disaliri oleh 3 buah anak sungai iaitu Sungai Mempelam, Sungai Gunung Sali, dan Sungai Alor Terus. Kawasan tanah pamah yang luas ini juga telah mempengaruhi kegiatan ekonomi penduduk. Contohnya, kawasan tanah pamah yang luas dan subur serta sistem saliran yang baik telah membolehkan kebanyak penduduk menjalankan kegiatan pertanian. Terdapat sedikit kawasan tanah tinggi di daerah Kota Setar. Kawasan tanah tinggi ini adalah kawasan di sekeliling Gunung Kerian. Kawasan di Gunung Kerian ini mempunyai kepadatan penduduk yang rendah serta sistem jalan raya yang kurang baik. 3.4.2 Cuaca dan Iklim : Malaysia terletak berhampiran dengan garisan Khatulistiwa. Kedudukan ini menentukan jenis iklim yang dialami oleh sesebuah negara. Oleh itu, Kedah mengalami iklim Khatulistiwa atau iklim Hutan Hujan Tropika. Iklim jenis ini tidak mengalami musim panas atau musim sejuk yang nyata. Ini bermaksud, Malaysia mengalami panas dan lembap sepanjang tahun. Jumlah hujan atau nilai kerpasan minimum yang dicatat sekurang-kurangnya 60mm. Selain itu, perubahan suhu harian adalah antara 2 °C (36 °F) dan 5 °C (41 °F).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jumlah hujan yang turun di Alor Setar adalah mengikut musim dan masa. Jangkaan jumlah hujan sebulan di Alor Setar pada Januari dan Februari adalah kurang daripada 80mm. Keadaan ini adalah kerana keadaan cuaca yang sangat kering. Bermula dari bulan Mac hingga Oktober, jumlah hujan yang turun mula meningkat. Jumlah hujan yang turun pada masa ini adalah sebanyak 110-160mm. Pada bulan November, jumlah hujan yang turun meningkat iaitu antara 150-250mm. Pada masa ini, rebut petir diiringi dengan hujan lebat berlaku dengan kerap pada sebelah petang. Pada bulan disember pula, jumlah hujan mula berkurangan iaitu kurang daripada 150mm. Selain itu, hujan di kawasan iklim Khatulistiwa mempunyai adalah lebat iaitu hujan perolakan. Kedah terletak di pantai barat Semenanjung Malaysia dan di bahagian utara yang berhampiran dengan Negara Thailand. Thailand dan kawasan sekitarnya mengalami iklim Monsun Tropika. Ini menyebabkan negeri Perlis dan Kedah mengalami sedikit ciri iklim Monsun Tropika. Ini menyebabkan sesetengah kawasan di Negeri Kedah mempunyai perbezaan suhu yang ketara. Oleh itu, tumbuh-tumbuhan yang sesuai ditanam di bumi Kedah dengan iklim khatulistiwa adalah padi basah, kelapa sawit, getah, dan lain-lain. 3.4.3 Tumbuh-Tumbuhan Semulajadi : Iklim dan cuaca merupakan faktor yang sangat penting mempengaruhi jenis tanaman atau tumbuh-tumbuhan yang terdapat di sesuatu kawasan. Di daerah Kota Setar, tumbuhan yang sesuai ditanam adalah padi basah. Ini kerana tanah di daerah Alor Setar ini adalah tanih jenis alluvium. Tanih ini sangat sesuai untuk pertanian. Selain itu, tanaman yang sesuai adalah pelbagai jenis sayur-sayuran. Sebelum Malaysia mencapai kemerdekaan, kawasan di daerah ini telah digunakan untuk pertanian padi basah. Petani-petani di kawasan ini kebanyakannya telah menjual tanah pertanian mereka untuk tujuan pembangunan seperti pembinaan kawasan perindustrian. Segelintir petani sahaja yang masih meneruskan aktiviti pertanian mereka kerana mereka masih mencintai tanah pusaka mereka. Ini menyebabkan petani-petani itu menerima pelbagai kesan daripada perindustrian yang juga terdapat di kawasan tersebut. Antara tanaman lain yang terdapat di kawasan ini adalah pokok pisang, getah dan lain-lain. 3.4.4 Sistem Perparitan dan Saliran: Kawasan Mergong ini disaliri oleh 3 cawangan daripada Sungai Kedah iaitu Sungai Mempelam, Sungai Gunung Sali, dan Sungai Alor Terus yang saling berhubung antara satu sama lain. Ketiga-tiga sungai ini bermula dan bersambung dengan Sungai Kedah. Sungai Mempelam melalui kawasan perindustrian Mergong dan kawasan kediaman Kampung Mempelam. Sungai Gunung Sali merentasi kawasan perindustrian Mergong 1 dan Mergong 2. Sungai Alor Terus juga mengairi kawasan di pinggir kawasan perindustrian Mergong 1 dan Mergong 2 tetapi lebih banyak dilalui kawasan perniagaan di sekitar Mergong.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Daerah Kota Setar juga disaliri oleh terusan yang terkanal iaitu Terusan Wan Mat Saman. Terusan ini merupakan terusan yang terpanjang di Malaysia. Terusan sepanjang 36 km ini telah dibina pada tahun 1885. Terusan ini menghubungkan Sungai Kedah di Alor Setar hingga ke Kaki Gunung Jerai di Gurun iaitu di selatan Kedah. Terusan Wan Mat Saman ini berfungsi ini mengairi kawasan pertanian padi di Kedah. 3.5 KEPENDUDUKAN Negeri Kedah mempunyai bilangan penduduk yang sederhana padat. Mengikut data daripada Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia, jumlah penduduk Kedah pada tahun 2009 adalah seramai 2 juta orang. Daripada angka ini, jumlah penduduk di Daerah Kota Setar mencatat bilangan penduduk yang paling ramai. Jumlah penduduk di Daerah Kota Setar adalah seramai 429,900 orang penduduk. Daripada jumlah ini, seramai 214,100 orang adalah lelaki dan 215,800 orang adalah perempuan. Mergong adalah salah sebuah mukim yang terdapat dalam Daerah Kota Setar. Jumlah penduduk di mukim Mergong ini adalah seramai 20,300 orang iaitu 10,100 adalah lelaki dan 10,200 adalah perempuan. Bilangan penduduk di kawasan Mergong ini didapati meningkat berbanding pada tahun 2000. Pertambahan penduduk ini adlah disebabkan pembinaan kawasan perindustrian Mergong. Apabila kawasan perindustrian Mergong dibina, kawasan ini menjadi tumpuan penduduk kerana pertambahan kemudahan jaringan jalan raya dan wujudnya banyak peluang pekerjaan. Oleh itu, terdapat pertambahan penduduk di kawasan Mergong ini. 3.6 KEGIATAN EKONOMI Di Daerah Alor Setar, terdapat pelbagai aktiviti ekonomi yang dijalankan oleh penduduk setempat. Antara aktiviti-aktiviti ekonomi yang dijalankan adalah seperti pertanian, perindustrian, perniagaan dan lain-lain. 3.6.1 Pertanian Sebelum kawasan Mergong ini dibangunkan sebagai kawasan perindustrian, kawasan ini adalah kawasan pertanian padi basah. Kawasan ini diusahakan oleh petani-petani tempatan di tanah pusaka. Pada mulanya, kawasan pertanian di Mergong ini adalah sangat luas. Apabila kawasan ini hendak dibangunkan dan dimajukan sebagai kawasan perindustrian, kebanyakkan tanah-tanah pertanian itu dibeli oleh pemilik-pemilik kilang. Ini kerana kebanyakkan golongan yang tiggal di kawasan Mergong pada ketika ini adalah golongan muda. Apabila kawasan ini dibina kilang dan dimajukan, guna tanah kawasan ini telah berubah daripada pertanian kepada perindustrian. Pada masa sekarang, masih terdapat sebilangan kecil tanah yang masih digunakan sebagai pertanian. Kawasan ini diusahakan oleh sebilangan kecil petani yang kebanyakkannya adalah golongan tua yang sangat mencintai alam sekitar. Apabila kawasan ini digunakan untuk pertanian, kawasan ini akan mengalami masalah kerana tanah pertanian ini adalah berhampiran dengan kawasan perindustrian. Tahap kesuburan tanih pertanian ini agak terjejas berikutan kesan daripada pembinaan kawasan perindustrian di kawasan ini. Sungai Kedah yang menyaliri kawasan pertanian ini tercemar dengan sisa daripada kilang. Ini memberi kesan negatif kepada kegiatan pertanian di kawasan ini. 3.6.2. Industri Kilang Mukim Mergong merupakan sebuah kawasan pertanian yang luas dan subur. Kawasan Mergong ini sangat subur kerana kedudukannya adalah berhampiran dengan Sungai Kedah yang melalui kawasan ini. Mergong kemudiannya dibangunkan sebagai kawasan perindustrian yang utama di Kedah. Di kawasan perindustrian ini, terdapat banyak kilang yang terdiri daripada pelbagai jenis perindustrian. Terdapat 3 jenis industri di kawasan Mergong ini iaitu industri ringan, industri sederhana dan industri berat. Industri ringan di kawasan ini adalah kilang-kilang pembuatan bahan-bahan makanan seperti industri keropok, gula-gula dan sebagainya. Kilang-kilang yang berasaskan industri ringan ini adalah paling banyak di kawasan Mergong ini. Industri sederhana pula mempunyai bilangan yang kedua terbanyak di kawasan Perindustrian Mergong. Antara contoh-contoh kilang yang berasaskan industri sederhana adalah kilang pakaian, kilang perabot, kilang pembuatan kicap, kilang papan kilang pembuatan roti dan sebagainya. Kategori industri ketiga adalah industri berat. Bilangan industri berat kawasan Mergong adalah paling sedikit. Walaupun bilangan industri berat ini adalah sedikit, tetapi kilang-kilang industri berat inilah yang telah menjadi titik permulaan kepada pembukaan kawasan Perindustrian Mergong ini. Antara kilang yang paling awal di buka di kawasan Perindustrian Mergong ini adalah Kilang Sime Tyres iaitu kilang pembuatan tayar yang terkenal. Antara kilang kilang lain yang mengusahakan industri berat adalah kilang beras, kilang pembuatan cecair nitrogen, kilang simen, kilang pembuatan tayar kenderaan berat, kilang pembuatan kapal dan bot-bot kecil, bengkel membaiki kereta. Berdasarkan kepada laporan MBAS (2000), terdapat lebih 600 buah kilang di kawasan ini. Kilang-kilang yang terdiri daripada pelbagai jenis dan ketegori. Antara jenis industri yang utama di kawasan Mergong ini adalah industri ringan, industri pembuatan dan perkhidmatan serta industri berat. Kawasan perindustrian Mergong ini menyediakan lebih kurang 40,000 peluang pekerjaan kepada penduduk. 3.6.3 Perniagaan :   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kawasan Mergong ini adalah sebuah kawasan yang sangat berhampiran dengan pusat bandar iaitu Bandaraya Alor Setar. Di kawasan Mergong ini, terdapat pelbagai aktiviti ekonomi. Antara aktiviti ekonomi yang utama di kawasan ini adalah aktiviti perniagaan. Aktiviti perniagaan adalah satu aktiviti ekonomi yang penting kerana ia akan menjana pendapat penduduk setempat yang berniaga. Selain itu, ia juga akan menyumbang kepada pendapatan dan menjana ekonomi negeri Kedah. Perniagaan adalah antara aktiviti yang penting kerana ia akan membawa kepada pertumbuhan penduduk di kawasan tersebut. Secara lahiriah, manusia memang suka akan kemajuan serta kawasan ekonomi seperti pusat bandar berbanding kawasan pedalaman yang kurang aktiviti perniagaan. Terdapat pelbagai jenis aktiviti perniagaan di mukim Mergong ini. Antaranya adalah perniagaan makanan, pakaian, tekstil, barang kemas, kedai menjual kereta dan motosikal, hotel, motel, kedai perabot, kedai papan. Selain itu, di kawasan Mergong juga terdapat ‘Hipermarket yang terkenal iaitu TESCO. Oleh itu, kawasan ini menjadi sebuah kawasan yang terkenal dengan pelbagai aktiviti perniagaan. 3.7 GUNA TANAH Secara keselurahannya, guna tanah di Mergong adalah lebih kepada kegiatan ekonomi seperti perindustrian, perniagaan, pertanian dan lain-lain. Kebanyakan kawasan telah dibangunkan untuk tujuan ekonomi. Kegiatan ekonomi ini adalah sangat penting kerana ia menyediakan peluang pekerjaan kepada penduduk setempat. Selain itu, penduduk dapat meningkatkan taraf sosio-ekonomi penduduk. Antaranya adalah kawasan perindustrian Mergong. Kawasan perindustrian Mergong adalah sebuah kawasan yang luas. Ia meliputi lebih 600 buah kilang di kawasan ini. Kawasan perindustrian Mergong ini terbahagi kepada 2 fasa iaitu fasa 1 dan Fasa 2. Oleh itu, kawasan perindustrian Mergong ini merupakan sebuah tapak yang sangat luas dengan melibatkan pelbagai kegiatan perindustrian di kawasan tersebut. Terdapat pelbagai jenis industri di Mergong iaitu industri ringan, industri sederhana dan industri berat. Antara contoh industri ringan adalah kilang-kilang membuat bahan makanan seperti gula-gula, keropok dan lain-lain. Contoh industri sederhana pula adalah kilang papan, kilang perabot, kilang kayu, kilang kapas, kilang kicap, kilang pakaian, dan pelbagai jenis kilang lain. Contoh industri berat yang terdpat di kawasan perindustrian Mergong adalah kilang Sime Tyres, kilang simen, kilang besi dan keluli dan lain lain. Aktiviti kilang di kawasan perindustrian ini membawa pelbagai kesan terhada p penduduk dan alam sekitar. Kesan-kesan daripada perindustrian ini akan dibincang dalam bab 4 dan bab 5. Guna tanah untuk kawasan perumahan adalah terhad. Kawasan Mergong ini yang pada asalnya adalah kawasan pertanian merupakan kawasan tumpuan penduduk. Pada masa sekarang, kawasan ini telah dibangunkan menjadi bandar dan pusat perindustrian. Oleh itu, tanah yang digunakan untuk tujuan perumahan menjadi semakin kurang. Walaupun kawasan ini merupakan kawasan tumpuan penduduk, kawasan perumahan ini adalah terhad di sebahagian kawasan sahaja. Ini kerana kebanyakan kawasan telah dibangunkan menjadi pusat ekonomi seperti bandar dan sebagainya. Kawasan Mergong ini mempunyai jumlah penduduk yang ramai kerana terdapatnya peluang pekerjaan yang banyak serta taraf hidup penduduknya juga tinggi. Oleh itu, penduduk di kawasan Mergong ini kebanyakannya adalah penduduk yang baru berpindah ke kawasan itu. Ini kerana, kawasan perumahan di Mergong ini boleh dianggap sangat baru. Oleh kerana kawasan Mergong tidak mempunyai tanah yang mencukupi untuk perumahan, rumah-rumah yang dibina adalah rumah jenis fl at. Ini adalah kerana masalah kekurangan tanah dan bilangan penduduknya yang ramai. Di kawasan Mergong, terdapat beberapa sekolah yang dibina. Antaranya adalah Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Mergong, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Mergong, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tunku Abdul Rahman (STAR) dan Sekolah Menengah Agama Kedah. Sekolah-sekolah ini terletak berhampiran dengan kawasan perumahan. Semua sekolah ini adalah antara sekolah-sekolah yang utama dan terkenal di Kedah. Selain itu, di kawasan Mergong juga terdapat kawasan pertanian. Pada mulanya kawasan pertanian ini merupakan kawasan pertanian sangat luas. Kawasan pertanian ini ditanam dengan padi basah. Apabila kawasan mergong mula dibangunkan, tanah-tanah pertanian tersebut diubah kepada pembangunan kawasan perindustrian. tanah-tanah pertanian itu dibeli dan di ambil alih oleh kerajaan dan syarikat-syarikat swasta yang inging menggunakan tanah tersebut. Oleh itu, kawasan pertanian di Mergong mula berkurangan. Guna tanah lain di kawasan Mergong ini adalah pembinaan kemudahan Perhentian Bas Ekspres di Alor Setar iaitu Perhentian Shahab Perdana. Semua bas yang datang ke Alor Setar dari pelbagai tempat seperti dari Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh dan sebagainya akan berhenti di perhentian ini. BANK, TESCO, SEK RENDAH, SEK, MENENGAH, UNIVERSITY INSANIAH,PASAR BORONG, PUSAT FUTSAL, PUSAT KESIHATAN MERGONG, PEJABAT PENDIDIKAN DAERAH KOTA SETAR, KOMPLEKS PENERANGAN DI SHAHAB PERDANA,HOTEL/MOTEL, PUSAT PENJUALAN KERETA, PEJABAT JPJ 3.8 PEMBANGUNAN DAERAH MERGONG 3.9 KEMUDAHAN-KEMUDAHAN INFRASTRUKTUR 3.9.1 Bekalan Elektrik 3.9.2 Bekalan Air 3.9.3 Hubungan telefon 3.9.4Hospital dan Kemudahan Kesihatan 3.9.5 Lain-lain Kemudahan 3.10 SISTEM PENGANGKUTAN 3.11 KESIMPULAN http://images.google.com.my/imglanding?q=map%20kedahimgurl= http://www.about-malaysia.com/kedah/images/map-kedah.gifimgrefurl=http://www.about-malaysia.com/kedah/usg=__UgDwddpNj3b9l5tme89hXaCYaQg=h=212w=206sz=6hl=enum=1itbs=1tbnid=G49LrsUsXtHK3M:tbnh=106tbnw=103prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmap%2Bkedah%26start%3D36%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D18%26tbs%3Disch:1start=44um=1sa=Nndsp=18tbs=isch:1#tbnid=G49LrsUsXtHK3Mstart=48

Western :: Papers

Western Some stupid cowboy guy went into a dump of a town called Wisbech. The local Sheriff came up to him, "what are you doing here," he asked. "None of your business," replied the stranger calmly. "Ok, pay your tax," said the sheriff. "Go to hell!" said the Stranger, as he divedto the side drawing his Colt 45 pistol, firing only one shot towards the small town sheriff, the stranger rolled behind a barrel then ran off down a back alley behind the saloon. The bullet hit a window just next to the sheriff, shattering it. The shot automatically brought out the deputy sheriff from the sheriff's office; he appeared with a benneli 12 ball shotgun poised ready to protect his sheriff. The deputy ran over to the sheriff, "I'm too old for this crap," the sheriff said just after what seemed a never ending sigh. Days passed without any sighting of this certain stranger, but things had started to happen, things that hadn't happened previously such as bread and beer being stolen, a horse equipped with a saddle, shotgun and rounds had been stolen during the night from outside the blacksmiths. On April the 9th this stranger decided to go for a drink, he rode the stolen horse right up to the side of the saloon, jumped off and slowly walked in. He walked up to the bar sat down and shouted "service! Service." The bar tender strolled up to this man and replied. "Yes, sir and how can we help you today?" "Get me a beer," the stranger replied in a disgruntled manner. The sheriff and his deputy walked in at this point, they walked either side of this half drunk stranger, each putting their hands on each of his shoulders, he spun round grabbing the guns from both of their holsters and rolled backwards over the bar, he lifted his hat. The sheriff recognised his face but where from? "Leave me alone or else!" the tall, dark scruffy looking stranger threatened. "Or else what?

Case Study on Kaye West University Essay

Companies and businesses adopt different organizational structures when they pursue different strategy. In Kaye West University case, it has developed a strong student administration and services infrastructure while it aims to provide high quality and supportive education experience to all its students and to foster an environment that leads to outstanding research. However, the Global Financial Crisis has caused Kaye West University to suffer a decline in the number of students’ intake. In addition, the increase in the university’s operating cost and decrease in state government funding have caused the University’s new Vice Chancellor to look into reducing the university operating cost. He had hired a firm of business consultants, Efficiency for You Consulting, to look into saving cost. In the following report, we will be discussing about different organizational structure that a firm can take. Firstly, we will be discussing about the current organizational structure that Kaye West University uses for its student support services by defining what different types of organizational structure mean and providing justification to our explanation. We will also evaluate on the advantages and the disadvantages that current organizational structure has. Next, we will look into the organizational structure that Efficiency for You Consulting has recommended and provide a detailed outline of the organizational structure recommended. The advantages and disadvantages of the particular organizational structure will be assessed. Finally, we will evaluate on the strategy that Kaye West University is pursing and whether the recommendation provided by Efficiency for You Consulting is suitable. Section B: Kaye West University Decentralized Organizational Structure Decentralization refers to the delegation of decision making of routine works to lower levels of managements (Iqbal 2005). Work units are created and each unit will be headed by a manager. Managers of each work unit have the power to act independently and make decisions (Management Study Guide 2008). In Kaye West University case, decentralized and market-based work unit organizational structure best describe the student support services. The student support services are provided at faculty level, so that services provided are more relevant, timely and specific to student’s needs. Each support service is incorporated as a centre, with each having a manager in charge of the centre’s performance. The manager in-charge has the power to make decisions. This is similar to decentralization structure, where decision making power is delegated to lower management level and managers get to act independently. Business (Market-Based) Work Unit Organizational Structure In market-based structure, employees will concentrate on understanding the needs of the particular group, unlike in functional work unit. It is a work unit based on particular market group (CliffsNotes 2000). Each centre is work units. The staffs will focus on meeting the needs of students of a particular faculty, providing customized assistance. The centres provide information or services that are tailored made to the students’ needs. For instance, the counselling centres, where students will be counselled according to their academic circumstances, have counsellors with specialized knowledge of the particular degree they are pursuing. This is similar to market-based structure, where the staffs in the centre focus on the needs of students from a particular faculty. Advantages and Disadvantages of using Business (Market-Based) and Decentralized Organizational Structure The advantages of having a decentralized and market-based organizational structure are that students’ needs can be addressed timely, and more specific assistance can be given to them. The managers, who understand certain procedures, are able to make rapid decisions to control the situations. Co-ordination of the different activities in the same faculty is also easier. Decentralization empowers the managers, and motivates them to strive harder (Jordan 2002). The staffs are more committed to serving one particular faculty students, providing services that are more customized to their needs and hence providing a high quality and supportive education experience to students. The disadvantages are that there may be lack of goal congruence and difficulty in communication of objectives between different faculties. As different centres serving different faculty will have diverse objectives, it will be difficult to set the same goal for all, let alone communicating of similar objectives between the faculties. Also, there may be unhealthy competition between the different faculties. There will also be duplication of non-production staff in different faculties. Functional economics of scale will be limited as a result. Also, this means that the manager becomes less skilled as he or she does not have chance in dealing with students of other faculties. Section C: Efficiency for You Consulting Centralized Organizational Structure The consultant of Kaye West University wants to remove the 6 student service centres from different faculties to a central administration, and this shows that the consultant wants to change the student service centres to a centralized organizational structure. CentralizationcentralizationThe degree to which decision-making authority is concentrated at higher levels in an organization. is the degree to which decision-making authority is concentrated at higher levels in an organization. There is little or no delegation of decision-making authority given to the lower management level (Web Books). Since the service centres will be changed to one university-wide centre, decisions will be made by the authorities in that central administration. Functional Work Unit Organizational Structure Functional work units limit attention to one function and that is what the consultant has recommended the school to do (Cohen & Bailey 1997). It plans to remove the student services from the 6 faculties and incorporate them into one central administration. Hence, by doing this, the consultant wants the University’s central administration to be the only functional work unit that serves the students. Advantage and Disadvantages of using Functional and Centralized Organizational Structure With all employees specializing in one function, they get to specialize in a common skill and there will not be a need to multi-task several different activities at the same time. In the new organizational structure that the consultant has proposed, fewer employees will be required to staff the student services and the staffs will be able to focus in one area only. At the same time, lesser employees will be needed to staff the services and this will significantly cut cost. In addition, they will know their respective job scope and they will use similar processes in centralized student service centre, so it is an efficient and effective way of operating (Fontaine 2006). With the single university-wide centre, all the support services will be standardized. All the students will get the same service throughout the school. Hence, the students in different faculties will not feel that they are receiving unfair treatment. However, there are some disadvantages of using functional organizational structure. The focus of functional organizational structure is often on efficiencies of operation, at the expense of creativity and customer value (Fontaine 2006). With one centralized unit for each support service, it may not be able to give the same level of high quality and customized service to its students as is traditionally provided. Furthermore, under the new organizational structure, the students may not get timely and relevant support services. Since there is only one centralized unit for each support service, it may not be able to cater to all the students’ needs at the same time. Section D: Our evaluation Kaye West University’s strategy An organization’s structure and process is determined by the management’s strategic choices (Miles & Snow 2003). Thus to determine the most suitable organizational structure for Kaye West University, we would need to examine the goals of Kaye West University. The two strategic aims of Kaye West University are to provide a high quality and supportive education and to foster an environment that leads to outstanding research. To achieve this, the University has developed strong student administration and services infrastructure at faculty level. Efficiency For You Consulting Recommendation According to Efficiency For You Consulting, it is not as cost-effective to carry on providing students services at faculty level when compared to incorporating the services into University’s central administration. When providing services at faculty level, staffs in each faculty also had to multi-task and are responsible for multiple roles. Decentralized Organizational Structure As each of the school has unique and diverse academic program, it would be good for Kaye West University to continue adopting decentralized organizational structure in order to maintain its efficiency in making decision for each school. Students’ needs will be attended to faster, with specific assistance given to them. The managers, with more specialized knowledge, are able to make decisions more efficiently to control the situations. Business (Market-Based) Work Unit Organizational Structure The advantages of providing students services at faculty level include being able to be more responsive and customized to students needs, in a more timely manner. The staffs are more committed on serving one particular faculty students, providing services that are more customized to their needs and hence meeting its aims of achieving high quality and supportive education experience. When we examine the different student services that each faculty provides, including enrolment and administrative matters, assessment method, special consideration, counseling, disabilities, academic program, workshops, employment upon graduation, we understand that detailed knowledge and understanding in each course is essential before staffs can be able to give quality advice and assistance to the students. Our recommendation and Conclusion If Kaye West University were to adopt the advice provided by Efficiency For You Consulting advice, the quality of advice and assistance that the staffs can provide for the students will decrease substantially as it is unlikely for the staffs to be able to know in depth knowledge for all the courses in the entire faculty. As mentioned, the focus of functional organizational structure is often on efficiencies of operation, at the expense of creativity and customer value (Fontaine 2006). With the adoption of Efficiency For You Consulting recommendation, it may not be able to give the same level of high quality and customized service to its students as is traditionally provided. Furthermore, under the new organizational structure, the students may not get timely and relevant support services, it may not be able to cater to all the students’ needs at the same time. If the university were to adopt the functional and centralized organizational structure as advised by Efficiency For You Consulting, the university would be able to save on costs, but the quality of the services provided for the student would decrease and may cause a drop in reputation. In the long-term, it will affect the potential students’ impression of the school leading to a possible drop in student intake. Therefore, we would recommend that Kaye West University to continue using business (market-based) work unit and decentralized organizational structure.

Big Data Analysis

Nowadays the volume of data has grown massively due to the evolution of technology. Smartphones, social media, and the Internet of things are the most important factors in the occurrence of big data. The most challenging part is that the data is present in a various format and at the same time it is huge in size. They have exceeded a traditional machine processing capacity and conventional competing mechanisms which led to the use of distributed processing mechanisms and need to improve Infrastructural technologies which is the core of the Big Data ecosystem.IntroductionSince the beginning of computers, the people had used landline phones but now they have smartphones. Apart from that, they are also using bulky desktops for processing data, they were using floppies, hard disk and now they can store data in the cloud. Similarly nowadays even self-driving cars have come up and it is one of the Internet of things (IOT) examples. We can notice due to this enhancement of technology we're generating a lot of data. Let's take the example of IOT, have imagined how much data is generated due to using the smart air conditioners, this device actually monitors the body temperature and the outside temperature and accordingly decides what should be the temperature of the room. So we can actually see that because of IOT we are generating a huge amount of data. Another example of smartphones, Every action even one video or image that is sent through any messenger app will generates data. List this data is not in a format that our relational database can handle and apart from that even the volume of data has also increased exponentially. We can define Big data as a collection of data sets vary large and complex that it is difficult to analyzing using conventional data processing applications or database system tools.

The eNotes Blog Thats an Egrig Egregou Egregious Error Most Commonly Misspelled and Looked-upWords

Thats an Egrig Egregou Egregious Error Most Commonly Misspelled and Looked-upWords When I worked in a bookstore in my early twenties (my mother said it was the equivalent of putting an alcoholic behind a bar), this book was one we stocked.   I worked in the tiny store inside an elite hotel alone and Nurnbergs book was one I frequently thumbed through in between waiting on doctors wives looking for the latest bodice-ripper (true story). No matter how well-educated one is, there are always a few words that, for some reason, just dont stick. You are not alone.   According to the website Grammar.net, the following are the fifteen most frequently looked up words (at least on their site): 1.  anomaly  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ an irregularity; an abnormality Example: If I get struck by lightning, I’ll be a statistical anomaly! 2.  ethereal  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ something lacking physical substance; light and intangible Example: This ambient music is so gentle, so ethereal! 3.  loquacious  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ talkative Example: For someone with such limited vocabulary, you’d think she’d be less loquacious! 4.  empathy  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ an understanding of and identification with the feelings or experience of another Example: I empathize - I’ve been there! 5.  agnostic  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the position that God’s existence cannot be proven or disproved; one who doesn’t confirm or deny God’s existence Example: A: â€Å"Are you religious?† B. â€Å"No.† A: â€Å"You don’t believe in God?† B: â€Å"I didn’t say that.† A: â€Å"Oh, you’re agnostic!† 6.  protocol  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ a system by which a task is completed correctly Example: Is there a protocol for parenting feral children? 7.  fascist  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ a person who believes a dictator should be in control of a nation’s economic and social policies Example: A: â€Å"You shouldn’t be trusted to take care of yourself.† B: â€Å"You fascist!† 8.  sycophant  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ one who prostrates himself before and flatters another as a means to personal gain Example: He thought I would go on a date with him if he told me how undeserving of my company he was - what a sycophant! 9.  facetious  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ a remark or attitude characterized by insincerity and humorousness Example: When he said that nobody likes a liar, I facetiously remarked that the guy who sets liars’ pants on fire probably likes them. 10.  capricious  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ acting impulsively Example: Here’s a hundred bucks, kid; go be capricious! 11.  salient  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ highly prominent; impossible to ignore Example: All stuffed up, she sprayed saline solution into her salient schnoz. 12.  superfluous  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ excessive; an unnecessary amount Example: I like icing on my cake, but this two-inch layer is a bit superfluous. 13.  ambiguous  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ vague; allowing for many interpretations Example: I’m sorry for the misunderstanding; my explanation was ambiguous. 14.  spongiform  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ spongelike; porous and soft Example: What spongiform skin you have! 15.  deficit  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ shortfall or insufficiency Example: His stiff personality suffered from a humour deficit I looked over this list and none of these were among the words I have ever had trouble spelling or defining (but I truly find it hard to believe that spongiform is looked up all that often. Spell-check doesnt even recognize it was a word, for cryin out loud). I take umbrage with this list (go ahead look up umbrage, Ill wait. You think I spelled it wrongly,  dont you?).    So I asked my mostly over-educated friends and universally-known big mouths to confess the words they always have to look up. Here are ten words with which we struggle (keep in mind, Im from Texas) : 1.   Ã‚  hemorrhoids   Ã‚  a mass of dilated veins in swollen tissue at the margin of the anus or nearby within the rectum Example:   Bobby Dons got the hemorrhoids again after sittin on the tractor all day. 2.   diarrhea     abnormally frequent intestinal evacuations with more or less fluid stools Example: Durn it! The dogs et the bacon grease and now hes got the diarrhea. 3.   terrific-   exciting or fit to excite fear or awe Example:   Terrific. We get to  chaperon the high school dance. 4.   Ã‚  scissors   Ã‚  a cutting instrument having two blades whose cutting edges slide past each other Example:   Mom! Get the peanut butter an scissors! Sisters got gum stuck in the cats fur again. 5.   jewelry-   objects of precious metal often set with gems and worn for personal adornment Example:   Have you seen the jewelry Meemaw is makin outta gum wrappers an beer bottle caps? 6.   efficacious   having the power to produce a desired effect Example:   I  am pleased to report that the combination of antibiotics, leeches and the Mexican hat dance has proved most efficacious. 7.   alcohol   Ã‚  ethanol especially when considered as the intoxicating agent in fermented and distilled liquors Example: Somebody go get some alch.. alcho go on a beer run. 8.   accommodate   to make fit, suitable, or  congruous Example: Im sorry sir, but we are unable to accommodate your request for a min-horse in your hotel room. 9.   Massachusetts   State, northeastern U.S. Area: 8,263 sq mi (21,401 sq km). Pop. (2009 est.): 6,593,587. Capital:  Boston. Example:   Try and hurt our beloved Boston, Massachusetts and we will SHUT DOWN THE CITY UNTIL WE FIND YOU, PUNKS. 10.   rhythm   Ã‚  an ordered  recurrent  alternation of strong and weak elements in the flow of sound Example:   You can leave them all behind / To the beat of the rhythm of the night (DeBarge only) .

Kevin Mitnick essays

Kevin Mitnick essays What lies behind the eyes of a hacker have you ever wondered what made them tick, what drove them to what they are today? What is a hacker? A hacker is one who breaks forcefully into a computer to retrieve data or learn about his victims who have no idea their victims YET. But can a hacker really be changed to use his knowledge for good and to help fix problems with security in todays computers. One did but Its all the same for one man a hacker from his young phone phreaking days to what got him caught and what was done to free him. Kevin Mitnick is a hacker and this is just a small portion of what his life was and what made him change to help for the good. Kevin Mitnick was born in 1965 and grew up in San Fernando Valley, California not to far from Los Angeles. His father and mother divorced when he was three years old his mother worked long hard hours as a waitress at a small restaurant just to make ends meet. Kevin grew up lonely and isolated he hardly ever seen his father. What friends he did have where phone phreaks they often met at a small pizza parlor named Shakeys Pizza. Figuring out how to break into large communication systems and local computers. The more that Kevin hung out with this kids he got into phone phreaking, gaining illegal access to telephone services using electronic techniques. He would spend time in dumpsters of phone companies looking for old manuals that would provide information about the phone companys computers. The first time Kevin ever go into trouble with the law was in his teen years he broke into his schools computer grade system in which he changed no grades but very well could have. Kevin was also reported that he hacked the militarys North American Air Defense Command computers in Colorado just for fun. He was seventeen when he was caught stealing technical manuals from the Pacific Bell Telephone Company the judge gave him probation. He began to hack again after hi...

Use of Names of Greek Letters in English

Use of Names of Greek Letters in English Use of Names of Greek Letters in English Use of Names of Greek Letters in English By Mark Nichol Because of the significance of Greek civilization in the development of engineering, mathematics, and science, names for Greek letters of the alphabet are widely employed in English to represent various constants, functions, and variables, though such use has extended to less technical contexts as well. Here’s a discussion of more casual usage. Alpha and beta, the words for the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, were combined- in Greek, Latin, Middle English, and Modern English consecutively- to denote a set of letters, constituting a language’s written system, arranged in a traditional order. The first and last letters, alpha and omega, also have a resonance in Christianity, as the Bible has God referring to himself as â€Å"the beginning and the end, the first and the last.† Alpha also has a sense borrowed from the use of the term in science to describe the first, primary, or dominant specimen in a group, as in referring to the leader of a wolf pack as the alpha. By extension, in popular culture, an alpha male is a dominant, competitive, and aggressive man. Alpha is also the first stage in development of a product, especially software or hardware, during which the bugs are (ostensibly) worked out. Beta, in turn, refers to the next iteration of a product when a select group of people not involved in development of the product are invited to test it to enable further refinement. The word is also used in rock climbing as slang for â€Å"advice,† but this usage apparently stems from the name of the obsolete Betamax videotape format, not directly from the name of the second letter of the Greek alphabet. Delta, based on the shape of the Greek letter by that name, came in English to refer to a triangular area of land where a river divides into smaller flows of water as it nears an ocean; numerous deltas exist around the world, but the most prominent are the Nile Delta, in Egypt, and (to Americans, at least) the Mississippi River Delta, in Louisiana- the latter not to be confused with the Mississippi Delta, a land-bound geographic region in the northern part of Mississippi. It is the latter designation, not the former one, that inspired the phrase â€Å"Delta blues† to refer to the distinctive music form that developed in that part of the United States. Iota, as the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet, came to mean â€Å"a very small amount,† as in â€Å"He doesn’t have an iota of common sense.† The word was sometimes transcribed by Latin scholars as jota, which led to the synonym jot. (This is also the source of the verb jot, meaning â€Å"quickly make a note.†). Omega, as mentioned before, refers to the last or least of anything, including the omega wolf in a pack, while psi, in addition to its frequent use in scientific and technical contexts, refers to psychic or paranormal activity. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Arrive To vs. Arrive At"Confused With" and "Confused About"Nominalized Verbs

What is Philosophy. How would you explain this to someone who hasn't Essay

What is Philosophy. How would you explain this to someone who hasn't studied it - Essay Example many strategies for breaking through the delusions and self-deceptions that keep us human beings from seeing things as they really are.† (What is Philosophy?). Thus philosophy can be regarded as an enquiry into the facts relating to human life, knowledge and values. It helps humans to analyze the meaning of various concepts about life as also to understand the relationship between theories. Philosophy provides them relevant insight to evaluate the arguments and determine their validity or expose their fallacy. Philosophy is distinct from other branches of studies in humanities both because of its subject matter and methodology. Though arts and literature also deal with the fundamental problems of human life, they are not necessarily based on critical reasoning. On the other hand, science relies heavily on observations and experiments for critical reasoning of theories. Philosophy is, therefore, more comparable to mathematic and logic; but encompasses a wider range of generic topics like religion, morality, culture, tradition and values. â€Å"The topics that philosophy addresses fall into several distinct fields. Among those fundamental concerns are: A major difference between philosophy and other branches of learning is that philosophy leans more towards the spiritual aspects of life, as can be evidenced in the words of Socrates, â€Å"Men of Athens, I honor and love you; but I shall obey God rather than you, and while I have life and strength I shall never cease from the practice and teaching of philosophy, exhorting any one whom I meet after my manner, and convincing him, saying: O my friend, why do you, who are a citizen of the great and mighty and wise city of Athens, care so much about laying up the greatest amount of money and honor and reputation, and so little about wisdom and truth and the greatest improvement of the soul, which you never regard or heed at all?.† Obviously, great teachers like Socrates have considered philosophy as the pursuit of wisdom

The link between social class issues and depression for women in Essay

The link between social class issues and depression for women in Scotland - Essay Example Besides, evidence also suggests that social issues such as poverty and discrimination can â€Å"undermine the recovery of people† from mental health problems (Myers, McCollam & Woodhouse, 2005, p.1). It further transpires that despite various initiatives taken to mitigate the problem, various challenges to mental health in Scotland arising out of â€Å"poverty, deprivation, discrimination and inequality† still remain unresolved (p.1). The problem appears to be more compounded in the case of Scottish females from lower social strata as they are unlikely to be financially independent and, thus, have to cope with various other stress elements. In this scenario, a research into the relationship between social class and depression in females in Scotland can facilitate reasonable insights into the mental health problems of this segment, which the logic behind the choice of this topic. The research will primarily be based on the information gleaned from various articles publis hed on the topic, which have been discussed in detail in the annotated bibliography appended below. Scotland’s Mental Health and Its Context: Adults 2009, written by Taulbut M, Parkinson J, Catto S, and Gordon D: This report, co-authored by four professionals in the public health field, on behalf of NHS Health Scotland, identifies the improvement of mental health as a â€Å"national priority† and sets out the objectives of the Scotland government (Taulbut et al, 2009, p.1). It attempts to describe the concept of mental health, identify the risk factors that may cause mental problems as well as the â€Å"difference within the adult population by selected dimensions of equality† (p.1). The report has relied on both quantitative and qualitative data in arriving at its findings and overall it captures the situation in Scotland, especially in the context of specific social status. The data considered for the report are from reliable sources such as public surveys or published by organizations in public or mental health. The surveys relating to 2003 suggest that women and people who live in â€Å"deprived communities† are â€Å"significantly more likely† to become victims of the mental health problems (p.17). It further points to the findings that women have higher risk of mental health problems and â€Å"17%† females have been found to be having ailing from mental health problem while the percentage of males remained at 13 (p.18). In the specific context of depression, the report maintains that it did not â€Å"significantly† differ among gender or age (p.20). Available data further suggests that the adults from lower social strata are more likely to manifest the symptoms of mental health problems at â€Å"12% compared with 8%† of those from higher echelons of the society (p.21). The findings of the study further suggest about three-fourth of the indicators of equalities analysis indicate an â€Å"association between poor mental health† and socio-economic disadvantages (p.155). The report finally provides benchmarks for â€Å"mental health improvement in Scotland† but concedes to one limitation that the data in most cases relate to the year 2000. However, the authors believe that when the availability and quality of data improves in the future the benchmarks can be modified suitably. The

The link between social class issues and depression for women in Essay

The link between social class issues and depression for women in Scotland - Essay Example Besides, evidence also suggests that social issues such as poverty and discrimination can â€Å"undermine the recovery of people† from mental health problems (Myers, McCollam & Woodhouse, 2005, p.1). It further transpires that despite various initiatives taken to mitigate the problem, various challenges to mental health in Scotland arising out of â€Å"poverty, deprivation, discrimination and inequality† still remain unresolved (p.1). The problem appears to be more compounded in the case of Scottish females from lower social strata as they are unlikely to be financially independent and, thus, have to cope with various other stress elements. In this scenario, a research into the relationship between social class and depression in females in Scotland can facilitate reasonable insights into the mental health problems of this segment, which the logic behind the choice of this topic. The research will primarily be based on the information gleaned from various articles publis hed on the topic, which have been discussed in detail in the annotated bibliography appended below. Scotland’s Mental Health and Its Context: Adults 2009, written by Taulbut M, Parkinson J, Catto S, and Gordon D: This report, co-authored by four professionals in the public health field, on behalf of NHS Health Scotland, identifies the improvement of mental health as a â€Å"national priority† and sets out the objectives of the Scotland government (Taulbut et al, 2009, p.1). It attempts to describe the concept of mental health, identify the risk factors that may cause mental problems as well as the â€Å"difference within the adult population by selected dimensions of equality† (p.1). The report has relied on both quantitative and qualitative data in arriving at its findings and overall it captures the situation in Scotland, especially in the context of specific social status. The data considered for the report are from reliable sources such as public surveys or published by organizations in public or mental health. The surveys relating to 2003 suggest that women and people who live in â€Å"deprived communities† are â€Å"significantly more likely† to become victims of the mental health problems (p.17). It further points to the findings that women have higher risk of mental health problems and â€Å"17%† females have been found to be having ailing from mental health problem while the percentage of males remained at 13 (p.18). In the specific context of depression, the report maintains that it did not â€Å"significantly† differ among gender or age (p.20). Available data further suggests that the adults from lower social strata are more likely to manifest the symptoms of mental health problems at â€Å"12% compared with 8%† of those from higher echelons of the society (p.21). The findings of the study further suggest about three-fourth of the indicators of equalities analysis indicate an â€Å"association between poor mental health† and socio-economic disadvantages (p.155). The report finally provides benchmarks for â€Å"mental health improvement in Scotland† but concedes to one limitation that the data in most cases relate to the year 2000. However, the authors believe that when the availability and quality of data improves in the future the benchmarks can be modified suitably. The

Marketing Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing Strategy - Essay Example The name of the product is ‘Hair Food’. During the initial stages of the product, we will primarily focus on understanding the customer value and focus more on maintaining a stronger relationship with the final consumers. However on the other hand, the focus will be primarily laid on transforming the customer value in to the sales , profits and revenues and the equity. (Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. , 2001). Before introducing the product in the market, it is very important that the three important steps should be followed which are, segmentation, targeting and positioning. Since the product can not be reached to the masses , hence there is a need to divide the total segment in to the small segments so that the marketing strategies can be better concentrated on. Segmentation is defined as dividing the total market in to small sector and segments with the consumers having similar demands and needs. Different books and scholars talk about different segmentation methods, but the most common ones are geographic segmentation, demographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation and the behavioral segmentation as well. In the case of Hair food , the segmentation will be done on the basis of gender, age, income group, social class and status and the usage rate. The Hairfood is a product which will primarily be focused on the females , who fall in the age bracket of 16-40 years of age , who belong to the middle and the high income group brackets . These females will be the ones who are facing severe hair damage and hair fall and they want to revitalize the natural look , shine and the luster of the hair. Since the primary focus is on the natural ingredients of the product, there it priced comparatively higher as to the other hairfall products which are available in the market. Hence only the consumers who fall in the middle and high income bracket will be able to fall under the category. Target markets is the process through which the marketers make evaluati ons made on how attractive each market and then later choose the segments which can potentially generate the most profits. (Masterson, R., & Pickton, D. ,2010). Once the target market has been defined, the positioning has to defined. Positioning is defined as making a clear and a different place in the market with a competitive edge and the differentiation. A company’s customer value proposition is one of the most important aspects which defines how the targeted customers will be served, with the help of the differentiation and proper market positioning. A value proposition is the number of advantages that the marketer aims to provide to the final consumers, so that the product differentiation can be exhibited . (Masterson, R., & Pickton, D. ,2010). Ayucure and Artesia Harifall Solutions and currently offering the hairfall products range which are made by extracting the natural herbs and help in rejuvenating the original natural look of the hair by minimizing the damage. Howe ver these two products have been available in the market for a very long time and the competitive edge is that over the past two years , they have gained the customer loyalty and the high ranking it has received over time shows that the shampoo gives amazing hair results. Creating the differentiation for the product is a very necessary aspect and this competitive edge helps the product to stand out from the other competitors which are availa

The application of consumer behaviour theory in the practice of Essay

The application of consumer behaviour theory in the practice of Marketing - Essay Example Consumer behaviour is an effective approach to analyse the decision making process of consumers individually and in groups. This concept gives particular focus to individual consumer characteristics including demographics and behavioural variables in order to identify consumers’ needs. This paper will discuss the application of consumer behaviour theories in the practice of marketing. For this purpose, the paper will consider two theories including Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Noel’s consumer behaviour model. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a psychological approach developed by Abraham Maslow in his paper ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’ published in 1943. When human behaviour is influenced by culture, family background, and other relationships, consumer behaviour is shaped by different needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs gives a basic framework to evaluate why a consumer makes a particular purchase dec ision. The visual representation of the Maslow’s model is given below. (Source: Sorensen, n.d.) The Maslow’s model suggests that unmet need is the fundamental motivation for people’s every action. In addition, individuals try to meet their needs and desires in a particular hierarchy. According to the Maslow’s model, people should seek to meet their most fundamental needs before they can find solutions for their more sophisticated needs. In the pyramid above, most fundamental needs are portrayed at the bottom whereas the top part represents the need for self actualisation. Other layers reflect the need for security, love and belonging, and esteem. Maslow collectively calls the basic four layers of the pyramid as deficiency needs. Here, psychological needs represent basic physical requirements (air, food, and water) necessary for the human survival. Security needs may include personal security, financial security, health safety, security against unforeseen events like accidents (Koontz & Weihrich 2006). Likewise, the love and belonging needs represent relationships like friendship, intimacy, and family. The esteems needs indicate the human desire to feel respected. In the view of Maslow, self actualisation reflects the human desire to know what his full potential is and to achieve everything that he can (ibid). Referring to this model, psychological needs have the prime priority in an individual’s life. If an individual’s psychological needs are not met properly, he would de-prioritise all other needs and desires until these fundamental needs are met (ibid). For instance, breathing is more important for an individual to survive than financial security and friendship. If this highly prioritised need is not met, the individual’s physical condition will become worse and he will die eventually. In other words, an individual cannot try to satisfy needs like security and love and belonging unless his most fundamental ne ed (here breathing) is not met. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can be used to explain consumer behaviour and hence it has greater applicability in the practice of marketing. This model is greatly assistable for marketers to determine what kinds of marketing efforts have to be taken to promote various products and services. Maslow claims that consumer behaviour and decision making are driven by any of the five levels of need in the hierarchy. Therefore, a marketer

Project environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Project environment - Essay Example In this scenario, the accomplishment of novel technology based infrastructure is intended to improve the general company as well as its operations management processes. I will present a complete outline of key tasks and areas those are considered to be problematic from the diagnosis point of view. Moreover, I will also propose the possible changes and improvements that we are able to carry out throughout new technology infrastructure. At the current time the businesses are facing a lot of problems regarding effective business projects management and reduced cycle time. In this regard, they are facing considerable delays between the project plan and actual implementation. Therefore, businesses are requiring to frequently adjusting company operations to survive in the everlasting competitive market situations. Additionally, to productively handle and manage new information and maintain it all through the corporation is critical to deal with these challenges. Thus, steady, business-wide knowledge sharing has, as a result, turned out to be essential. In this scenario, businesses apply solutions to collect, manage, and share knowledge. The most common opening application has been in the field of learning and training. Unluckily, usual classroom training plans are very time-consuming and costly to help businesses to tackle out mission-critical information quickly and competently (OneTouch, 2009). According to Efstathiades, Tassou, Antoniou, & Oxinos (1998) companies whose continued existence depends on upholding new, up to date, and well-informed business information need a flexible information sharing platform. Therefore, the business-wide knowledge sharing is one of most important factors. In scenario of latest technology implementation at a company there is need to change or update a lot of factors and business elements. In addition, there are a lot of issues involved in company management and

Plot summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Plot summary - Essay Example This occurs when an action by the protagonist produces an effect that contravenes the expected effect. For instance, in Oedipus Rex, the reversal occurs when Oedipus hears about Polybus’ death and this seems to be good news, but it is disastrous in actual sense. The second principal part of the plot according to Aristotle is the recognition also known as the anagnorisis. It is at this point of the play that a character learns about certain facts, which prompt him to hate or love another character. For instance, Oedipus unknowingly kills the king of Thebes only to learn later that he is his real father. The third element of a tragic play is the final suffering or pathos. This is a destructive act that leaves the hero of the tragedy in pain. In Oedipus Rex, the protagonist removes his eyes; a rather painful process. There are other elements of the plot like the two stages, that is, the unraveling and the complication. The latter encompasses every aspect of the play up to the point where the main character encounters positive or negative fortune. In contrast, the unraveling takes place from the turning point to the play’s

Project environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Project environment - Essay Example In this scenario, the accomplishment of novel technology based infrastructure is intended to improve the general company as well as its operations management processes. I will present a complete outline of key tasks and areas those are considered to be problematic from the diagnosis point of view. Moreover, I will also propose the possible changes and improvements that we are able to carry out throughout new technology infrastructure. At the current time the businesses are facing a lot of problems regarding effective business projects management and reduced cycle time. In this regard, they are facing considerable delays between the project plan and actual implementation. Therefore, businesses are requiring to frequently adjusting company operations to survive in the everlasting competitive market situations. Additionally, to productively handle and manage new information and maintain it all through the corporation is critical to deal with these challenges. Thus, steady, business-wide knowledge sharing has, as a result, turned out to be essential. In this scenario, businesses apply solutions to collect, manage, and share knowledge. The most common opening application has been in the field of learning and training. Unluckily, usual classroom training plans are very time-consuming and costly to help businesses to tackle out mission-critical information quickly and competently (OneTouch, 2009). According to Efstathiades, Tassou, Antoniou, & Oxinos (1998) companies whose continued existence depends on upholding new, up to date, and well-informed business information need a flexible information sharing platform. Therefore, the business-wide knowledge sharing is one of most important factors. In scenario of latest technology implementation at a company there is need to change or update a lot of factors and business elements. In addition, there are a lot of issues involved in company management and

Critically evaluate the current political and technological drivers Essay

Critically evaluate the current political and technological drivers associated with mitigating CO2 emissions in the UK - Essay Example 78). The carbon dioxide emissions in UK take various forms. These include emissions relating to the production of goods and services produced by the various businesses, emissions from household generation through private motoring and heating, and the emission related to imported goods and services. The carbon dioxide emission reached the peak in 2004, after which it has fallen considerably. Emissions from agriculture and food services have decreased. Some key products groups that have shown an increase in carbon dioxide emissions include the warehousing and imputed rent services, fabricated metal products and the publishing services. The increased emissions from goods and services is related to the increased rate of spending offset by carbon efficiency during production and the shift to low carbon intensive products (Dixon & Bahleda 2008, p. 56). Over the period, the household emissions associated with imports, either for individual consumptions or businesses contribute considerably to the increased carbon dioxide emission in UK. However, the direct absolute emission from the household consumption is relatively constant, with emissions from heating fluctuating depending on the severity of winter. The private motoring increases the level of carbon dioxide emissions due to increased travel by motor cars, which has been offset by the introduction of highly fuel efficient vehicles (Edmunds & Wise 2011, p.90). The emission of carbon dioxide in UK has shown tremendous decrease due to the displacement of coal, which is the main source of carbon emission, with other fuels like electricity and nuclear power. However, there has been annual variation in the level of carbon dioxide emission since 1990s, with no defined upward or downward trend. In 2006, the emission from energy supply was the highest followed by emissions from road transport. Emission from business and household emissions formed the lowest percentage. The emissions from the

The Inbound Tour Operators

The Inbound Tour Operators Mass Market tour operators have dominated in the outbound market for years, with the rise of holidays abroad becoming more and more popular since the end of the Second World War. Thomas Cook, Thomson and First Choice are examples of mass market tour operators. Thomson and First Choice belong to TUI, these are known as mass market tour operators as they sell/sold holidays that appealed to the majority of holiday makers. Some of the larger mass market tour operators have diversified in now offering more specialised products such as safari and skiing. TUI AG is the largest travel group in the world; Thomson belongs to TUI and is a travel agency as well as having its own airline. First Choice is another travel agent that has its own airline, which belongs to TUI. TUI travel was formed in 2007, with the merger of TUI; their existing distribution, tour operators, air-lines and destination groups; with First Choice Holidays Plc. TUI travel is the majority shareholder of the company and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. They operate in 180 countries worldwide, making TUI the leading tour operator within Europe; to become this they provide a wide and varied service for over 30million customers. TUI is a British based company, with their head office in Crawley, West Sussex, not too far from Gatwick Airport; one of the UKs busiest international airports. TUI has over 200 different brands to over, over 140 aircraft and 3,500 retail shops across Europe, employing approximately 50,000 employees. TUI is separated in too four sectors of business, covering all 200 plus brands, these are: Mainstream Specialist Activity Accommodation and Destinations The mainstream sector is the largest of the four sectors in size, operating profit and the number of employees. The 3,500 retail outlets through-out Europe, providing over 25million customers per year, with package, self-package, sun and beach holidays. This sector operates over 140 aircraft to a wide variety of destination through-out the year, incorporating a large number of high street retail stores. The Specialist and Emerging Markets sector includes 40 specialist tour operator companies, providing and selling tour destinations to a smaller demographic, this sector is becoming more popular as people are starting to spread away from the usual package beach holiday. Specialist travel and emerging markets are places such as tours in North America, Europe and further afield such as China and Russia, the emerging markets that have not been popular in the past due to inaccessibility. This sector also provides escorted tours to the Galapagos, around-the-world trips and student gap years to Australia for example. The Activity sector is designed in providing customers that are seeking adventure or active holidays unique tours or packages to suit them. These specialised tour operators operate in the marine, adventure, ski, student and sporting segments, for example hiking in Kilimanjaro, polar expeditions, skiing in Canada and chartering yachts in the Caribbean. The Accommodation and Destination sector provides on and offline accommodation and destination services worldwide; selling accommodation directly to the customers through online hotel booking sites, such as Laterooms.com; Hotelpedia.com and Asiarooms.com. It also provides accommodation, transfers, excursions and a destination agencies portfolio to tour operators, travel agents, cruise lines and other corporate customers. Thomas Cook is another example of a mass market tour operator. As with TUI, Thomas Cook has travel agencies, airlines, hotels and tour operator; Club 18-30. In 2007, Thomas Cook merged with MyTravel; this was to cut costs; a predicted  £75million per year saving; and to combat competition from the low-cost airlines and web-based travel agents, that are on the rise in where customers are buying their holidays from. All tour operators that offer air inclusive packages are required by law to have an Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL). This protects customers from losing their money and/or being stranded abroad if something was to happen to the flights. ATOL is managed by the Civil Aviation Authority (www.caa.co.uk) Specialist Tour Operators Specialist tour operators cater for niche market holidays, they specialise in particular destinations and/or in a particular product. For example Journey Latin America specialises in the particular destination of Latin America (www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk) and Active Diving specialise in Scuba Diving holidays around the world (www.activediving.co.uk). Journey Latin America (www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk) specialises in holidays to Latin America; some of the destinations they include are: Antarctica Argentina Belize Chile Cuba Caribbean El Salvador The Galapagos Islands The Falkland Islands Guyana Peru Mexico Nicaragua Venezuela They provide a wide variety of different types of holidays for a wide range of different markets. The types of holidays available are: Tailor-Made Tours Small Group Tours Value Active Beach Wildlife Expedition Honeymoon Responsible Family Learn to (learning a new skill) Cruise JourneyLatinAmerica markets to everyone, with holidays suitable for low-budgets to the higher budgets, family holidays to romantic honeymoons. Wildlife holidays with JourneyLatinAmerica offers the traveller a vast array of wildlife and birdlife to see, from giant tortoises to llamas to sloths and penguins, all depending which country has been chosen to go to, there is the added advantage of there being the largest rainforest, driest desert to the longest mountain range and biggest river within the territories of the holidays available. There is plently of advantages of travelling with a smaller, specialised tour operator, the service is more personal and the smaller operators tend to have more of a passion for the area they specialise in. Smaller operators are experts in their destination, enabling them to give first-hand advice and recommendations to the holiday maker. They also have more care towards to the places, the people and the environment and try to minimise the negative effects of the holiday. Inbound Tour Operators Not only is there tour operators for outbound tourists, either specialised or/and mass market; there is also many tour operators for inbound tourists, specialised and/or mass market. These tour operators specialise and cater for inbound tourists to the UK from many different countries. They provide tours and holidays in many different languages and for different budgets. One example of an inbound tour operator is British Tours. British Tours (www.britishtours.com) specialise in tours of Britain. They provide tours to all size groups, from private groups up to 7 persons by car with their own guide; to larger groups by mini-bus or coach, with own guide. All prices are per car not per person. Tours are available in most languages, at an extra cost; including French, German, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Japanese and Chinese. Tours are suited to individual travellers, families, people with special interest, people with special needs and anyone who wants the freedom to travel at their own pace with their guide to help and inform. The tours of Britain cover the main tourist attractions and sites; the more famous to the lesser known authentic tourist sites; all with guide that are local to the area with a vast knowledge and interest of the particular site. Some of these tours are Stonehenge at Dawn, Legal London, Harry Potter and Englands Gardens. British Tours offer private day tours leaving London as well as personally guided tours of Scotland, Wales and England, special interest tailor-made tours. They also provide European destination tours, such as Paris, Normandy Beaches by private plane and private bus tours of Rome and Italy. British tours work with 100s of travel agents worldwide, as well as many UK companies for sightseeing, ground-handling, interpreting and corporate entertainment within the UK. British Tours is a member of the London Tourist Board, the British Incoming Tour Operators Association, The Society of the Golden Keys and the American Society of Travel Agents. An example of a tour and costs with British Tours: Harry Potter Tour includes the locations where the Harry Potter films have been made, including London, Oxford and Gloucester. Oxford and Gloucester tour only (not including the London sights) for up to 7 people taking roughly 10 hours to complete would cost  £655 per car; price includes private car and guide, collection and return to hotel; anywhere in London; entrance and meals are not included in the price. These tours are also available in most languages.

Essay --

Daniel Urbina Mr. LaVigne English 101 (WC 1110) 4 October 2013 Symbolizing Savagery In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, symbolism is portrayed throughout the novel and impacts the story in such a way that it sculpts almost the entire theme. The boys who are stranded on the island come in contact with many unique elements that Golding uses to symbolize ideas or concepts. Each boy represents a specific element of society, and each object Golding presents throughout the novel also has particular importance to the novel. Through the use of symbols such as the beast, the pig's head, and even Piggy's specs, Golding demonstrates that humans, when liberated from society's rules and taboos, allow their natural capacity for evil to dominate their existence. One of the most important symbols in Lord of the Flies is the also what gives the novel its name, the pig head. Golding's description of the slaughtered animal head on a sharpened spear is very graphic and even frightening. The pig head is depicted as "dim-eyed, grinning faintly, blood blackening between the teeth," (Golding 137) and the obscenity is swarmed with a "black blob of flies" that "tickled under his nostrils" (Golding 138). As a result of this detailed, striking image, the reader becomes aware of the great evil and darkness on the island that the pig head represents. When Simon begins to converse with the seemingly inanimate, devil-like pig head, the source of that wickedness is revealed. Even though the conversation may be entirely a hallucination, Simon learns that the beast, which has long since frightened the other boys on the island, is not an external force. In fact, the head of the severed pig tells him, "Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and k. .. ...d thump of living things," Piggy's specs are stolen, leaving him virtually blind (Golding 167). Meanwhile, Jack returns to Castle Rock, "trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement," as he has practically abandoned all ties to his previous civilized life (Golding 168). Although there are plenty of other allegories important to the book, the symbols that represent the most drastic changes are the beast, the pig head, and Piggy’s specs. The beast symbolizes the inborn savage nature within all of mankind, and shows that this evil will prevail no matter what. Piggy’s specs represent science, civilization, and order, but are destroyed due to the overpowering evil in the boys. Golding clearly uses the novel Lord of the Flies to project the unfortunate truth that evil is present within all of humanity, and if let loose, will destroy anything that tries to suppress it.

The American Diet and Its Effects Essay -- Nutrition

The American Diet and Its Effects Today, we have many people suffering from various diseases, most of which are diet related. Basically, these complications are either as a result of increased intake of specific foods, or due to deficiency of some major nutritional components. What this means is that the health of human beings can only be assured by making sure the right foods and dietary compositions have been consumed (Swinburn & Waters, 2010). This approach can therefore make sure majority of diet-related diseases and complications will be addressed. This is because good diet is the beginning of good life. The American diet is a dietary habit that is highly associated with the high consumption of red meat, sugary desserts, foods high in fat content, as well as refined grains. A distinct characteristic of this diet is the fact that these foods are consumed as fast foods and they are characterized by ingredients that are either preheated or pre - cooked. Most of the American diet consists of products with high cholesterol levels associated with obesity and diabetes, secondly the sodium salts and sugars in the diets have negative effects on health where they progress blood pressure, heart diseases and stroke. Since our bodies factually depend on sugars, moderate glucose content is effective for normal functioning, but unlike glucose, fructose found in most American diet is metabolized differently from glucose. High Fructose levels in the liver increases uric acid which inhibits normal functions of nitric oxide cycle, a process that keeps blood vessels open or vasodilated.High sugar levels are also characterized with hyperinsulinemia and production of VLD Lipoproteins which elevates risks of heart diseases. American diet... ...case, I totally believe that obesity has become a major problem in our country (Swinburn & Waters, 2010). An obese person is at a higher risk of developing threatening health conditions such as stroke and other cardiovascular risks. Most obese children suffer from eating and sleeping disorders which interfere with the developmental stages of the child. Because of the poor diet compositions in our nation, obesity has thus remained a major problem. This calls for new approaches to deal with the situation before it gets out of hand. Works Cited Farber, L. & Blustein, J. (2007). Handbook of health care ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hills, J. (2005). Childhood obesity: prevention and treatment. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Swinburn, B. & Waters, E. (2010). Preventing childhood obesity: evidence policy and practice. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

The Twilight Saga 4: Breaking Dawn 37. Contrivances

Aro did not rejoin his anxious guard waiting on the north side of the clearing; instead, he waved them forward. Edward started backing up immediately, pulling my arm and Emmett's. We hurried backward, keeping our eyes on the advancing threat. Jacob retreated slowest, the fur on his shoulders standing straight up as he bared his fangs at Aro. Renesmee grabbed the end of his tail as we retreated; she held it like a leash, forcing him to stay with us. We reached our family at the same time that the dark cloaks surrounded Aro again. Now there were only fifty yards between them and us – a distance any of us could leap in just a fraction of a second. Caius began arguing with Aro at once. â€Å"How can you abide this infamy? Why do we stand here impotently in the face of such an outrageous crime, covered by such a ridiculous deception?† He held his arms rigidly at his sides, his hands curled into claws. I wondered why he did not just touch Aro to share his opinion. Were we seeing a division in their ranks already? Could we be that lucky? â€Å"Because it's all true,† Aro told him calmly. â€Å"Every word of it. See how many witnesses stand ready to give evidence that they have seen this miraculous child grow and mature in just the short time they've known her. That they have felt the warmth of the blood that pulses in her veins.† Aro's gesture swept from Amun on one side across to Siobhan on the other. Caius reacted oddly to Aro's soothing words, starting ever so slightly at the mention of witnesses. The anger drained from his features, replaced by a cold calculation. He glanced at the Volturi witnesses with an expression that looked vaguely†¦ nervous. I glanced at the angry mob, too, and saw immediately that the description no longer applied. The frenzy for action had turned to confusion. Whispered conversations seethed through the crowd as they tried to make sense of what had happened. Caius was frowning, deep in thought. His speculative expression stoked the flames of my smoldering anger at the same time that it worried me. What if the guard acted again on some invisible signal, as they had in their march? Anxiously, I inspected my shield; it felt just as impenetrable as before. I flexed it now into a low, wide dome that arced over our company. I could feel the sharp plumes of light where my family and friends stood – each one an individual flavor that I thought I would be able to recognize with practice. I already knew Edward's – his was the very brightest of them all. The extra empty space around the shining spots bothered me; there was no physical barrier to the shield, and if any of the talented Volturi got under it, it would protect no one but me. I felt my forehead crease as I pulled the elastic armor very carefully closer. Carlisle was the farthest forward; I sucked the shield back inch by inch, trying to wrap it as exactly to his body as I could. My shield seemed to want to cooperate. It hugged his shape; when Carlisle shifted to the side to stand nearer to Tanya, the elastic stretched with him, drawn to his spark. Fascinated, I tugged in more threads of the fabric, pulling it around each glimmering shape that was a friend or ally. The shield clung to them willingly, moving as they moved. Only a second had passed; Caius was still deliberating. â€Å"The werewolves,† he murmured at last. With sudden panic, 1 realized that most of the werewolves were unprotected. I was about to reach out to them when I realize that, strangely, I could still feel their sparks. Curious, I drew the shield tighter in, until Amun and Kebi – the farthest edge of our group – were outside with the wolves. Once they were on the other side, their lights vanished. They no longer existed to that new sense. But the wolves were still bright flames – or rather, half of them were. Hmm†¦ I edged outward again, and as soon as Sam was under cover, all the wolves were brilliant sparks again. Their minds must have been more interconnected than I'd imagined. If the Alpha was inside my shield, the rest of their minds were every bit as protected as his. â€Å"Ah, brother†¦,† Aro answered Caius's statement with a pained look. â€Å"Will you defend that alliance, too, Aro?† Caius demanded. â€Å"The Children of the Moon have been our bitter enemies from the dawn of time. We have hunted them to near extinction in Europe and Asia. Yet Carlisle encourages a familiar relationship with this enormous infestation – no doubt in an attempt to overthrow us. The better to protect his warped lifestyle.† Edward cleared his throat loudly and Caius glared at him. Aro placed one thin, delicate hand over his own face as if he was embarrassed for the other ancient. â€Å"Caius, it's the middle of the day,† Edward pointed out. He gestured to Jacob. â€Å"These are not Children of the Moon, clearly. They bear no relation to your enemies on the other side of the world.† â€Å"You breed mutants here,† Caius spit back at him. Edward's jaw clenched and unclenched, then he answered evenly, â€Å"They aren't even werewolves. Aro can tell you all about it if you don't believe me.† Not werewolves? I shot a mystified look at Jacob. He lifted his huge shoulders and let them drop – a shrug. He didn't know what Edward was talking about, either. â€Å"Dear Caius, I would have warned you not to press this point if you had told me your thoughts,† Aro murmured. â€Å"Though the creatures think of themselves as werewolves, they are not. The more accurate name for them would be shape-shifters. The choice of a wolf form was purely chance. It could have been a bear or a hawk or a panther when the first change was made. These creatures truly have nothing to do with the Children of the Moon. They have merely inherited this skill from their fathers. It's genetic – they do not continue their species by infecting others the way true werewolves do.† Caius glared at Aro with irritation and something more – an accusation of betrayal, maybe. â€Å"They know our secret,† he said flatly. Edward looked about to answer this accusation, but Aro spoke faster. â€Å"They are creatures of our supernatural world, brother. Perhaps even more dependent upon secrecy than we are; they can hardly expose us. Carefully, Caius. Specious allegations get us nowhere.† Caius took a deep breath and nodded. They exchanged a long, significant glance. I thought I understood the instruction behind Aro's careful wording. False charges weren't helping convince the watching witnesses on either side; Aro was cautioning Caius to move on to the next strategy. I wondered if the reason behind the apparent strain between the two ancients – Caius's unwillingness to share his thoughts with a touch – was that Caius didn't care about the show as much as Aro did. If the coming slaughter was so much more essential to Caius than an untarnished reputation. â€Å"I want to talk to the informant,† Caius announced abruptly, and turned his glare on Irina. Irina wasn't paying attention to Caius and Aro's conversation; her face was twisted in agony, her eyes locked on her sisters, lined up to die. It was clear on her face that she knew now her accusation had been totally false. â€Å"Irina,† Caius barked, unhappy to have to address her. She looked up, startled and instantly afraid. Caius snapped his fingers. Hesitantly, she moved from the fringes of the Volturi formation to stand in front of Caius again. â€Å"So you appear to have been quite mistaken in your allegations,† Caius began. Tanya and Kate leaned forward anxiously. â€Å"I'm sorry,† Irina whispered. â€Å"I should have made sure of what I was seeing. But I had no idea___† She gestured helplessly in our direction. â€Å"Dear Caius, could you expect her to have guessed in an instant something so strange and impossible?† Aro asked. â€Å"Any of us would have made the same assumption.† Caius flicked his fingers at Aro to silence him. â€Å"We all know you made a mistake,† he said brusquely. â€Å"I meant to speak of your motivations.† Irina waited nervously for him to continue, and then repeated, â€Å"My motivations?† â€Å"Yes, for coming to spy on them in the first place.† Irina flinched at the word spy. â€Å"You were unhappy with the Cullens, were you not?† She turned her miserable eyes to Carlisle's face. â€Å"I was,† she admitted. â€Å"Because†¦ ?† Caius prompted. â€Å"Because the werewolves killed my friend,† she whispered. â€Å"And the Cullens wouldn't stand aside to let me avenge him.† â€Å"The shape-shifters,† Aro corrected quietly. â€Å"So the Cullens sided with the shape-shifters against our own kind – against the friend of a friend, even,† Caius summarized. I heard Edward make a disgusted sound under his breath. Caius was ticking down his list, looking for an accusation that would stick. Irina's shoulders stiffened. â€Å"That's how I saw it.† Caius waited again and then prompted, â€Å"If you'd like to make a formal complaint against the shape-shifters – and the Cullens for supporting their actions – now would be the time.† He smiled a tiny cruel smile, waiting for Irina to give him his next excuse. Maybe Caius didn't understand real families – relationships based on love rather than just the love of power. Maybe he overestimated the potency of vengeance. Irina's jaw jerked up, her shoulders squared. â€Å"No, I have no complaint against the wolves, or the Cullens. You came here today to destroy an immortal child. No immortal child exists. This was my mistake, and I take full responsibility for it. But the Cullens are innocent, and you have no reason to still be here. I'm so sorry,† she said to us, and then she turned her face toward the Volturi witnesses. â€Å"There was no crime. There's no valid reason for you to continue here.† Caius raised his hand as she spoke, and in it was a strange metal object, carved and ornate. This was a signal. The response was so fast that we all stared in stunned disbelief while it happened. Before there was time to react, it was over. Three of the Volturi soldiers leaped forward, and Irina was completely obscured by their gray cloaks. In the same instant, a horrible metallic screeching ripped through the clearing. Caius slithered into the center of the gray melee, and the shocking squealing sound exploded into a startling upward shower of sparks and tongues of flame. The soldiers leaped back from the sudden inferno, immediately retaking their places in the guard's perfectly straight line. Caius stood alone beside the blazing remains of Irina, the metal object in his hand still throwing a thick jet of flame into the pyre. With a small clicking sound, the fire shooting from Caius's hand disappeared. A gasp rippled through the mass of witnesses behind the Volturi. We were too aghast to make any noise at all. It was one thing to know that death was coming with fierce, unstoppable speed; it was another thing to watch it happen. Caius smiled coldly. â€Å"Now she has taken full responsibility for her actions.† His eyes flashed to our front line, touching swiftly on Tanya's and Kate's frozen forms. In that second I understood that Caius had never underestimated the ties of a true family. This was the ploy. He had not wanted Irina's complaint; he had wanted her defiance. His excuse to destroy her, to ignite the violence that filled the air like a thick, combustible mist. He had thrown a match. The strained peace of this summit already teetered more precariously than an elephant on a tightrope. Once the fight began, there would be no way to stop it. It would only escalate until one side was entirely extinct. Our side. Caius knew this. So did Edward. â€Å"Stop them!† Edward cried out, jumping to grab Tanya's arm as she lurched forward toward the smiling Caius with a maddened cry of pure rage. She couldn't shake Edward off before Carlisle had his arms locked around her waist. â€Å"It's too late to help her,† he reasoned urgently as she struggled. â€Å"Don't give him what he wants!† Kate was harder to contain. Shrieking wordlessly like Tanya, she broke into the first stride of the attack that would end with everyone's death. Rosalie was closest to her, but before Rose could clinch her in a headlock, Kate shocked her so violently that Rose crumpled to the ground. Emmett caught Kate's arm and threw her down, then staggered back, his knees giving out. Kate rolled to her feet, and it looked like no one could stop her. Garrett flung himself at her, knocking her to the ground again. He bound his arms around hers, locking his hands around his own wrists. I saw his body spasm as she shocked him. His eyes rolled back in his head, but his hold did not break. â€Å"Zafrina,† Edward shouted. Kate's eyes went blank and her screams turned to moans. Tanya stopped struggling. â€Å"Give me my sight back,† Tanya hissed. Desperately, but with all the delicacy I could manage, I pulled my shield even tighter against the sparks of my friends, peeling it back carefully from Kate while trying to keep it around Garrett, making it a thin skin between them. And then Garrett was in command of himself again, holding Kate to the snow. â€Å"If I let you up, will you knock me down again, Katie?† he whispered. She snarled in response, still thrashing blindly. â€Å"Listen to me, Tanya, Kate,† Carlisle said in a low but intense whisper. â€Å"Vengeance doesn't help her now. Irina wouldn't want you to waste your lives this way. Think about what you're doing. If you attack them, we all die.† Tanya's shoulders hunched with grief, and she leaned into Carlisle for support. Kate was finally still. Carlisle and Garrett continued to console the sisters with words too urgent to sound like comfort. And my attention returned to the weight of the stares that pressed down on our moment of chaos. From the corners of my eyes, I could see that Edward and everyone else besides Carlisle and Garrett were on their guard again as well. The heaviest glare came from Caius, staring with enraged disbelief at Kate and Garrett in the snow. Aro was watching the same two, incredulity the strongest emotion on his face. He knew what Kate could do. He had felt her potency through Edward's memories. Did he understand what was happening now – did he see that my shield had grown in strength and subtlety far beyond what Edward knew me to be capable of? Or did he think Garrett had learned his own form of immunity? The Volturi guard no longer stood at disciplined attention – they were crouched forward, waiting to spring the counterstrike the moment we attacked. Behind them, forty-three witnesses watched with very different expressions than the ones they'd worn entering the clearing. Confusion had turned to suspicion. The lightning-fast destruction of Irina had shaken them all. What had been her crime? Without the immediate attack that Caius had counted on to distract from his rash act, the Volturi witnesses were left questioning exactly what was going on here. Aro glanced back swiftly while I watched, his face betraying him with one flash of vexation. His need for an audience had backfired badly. I heard Stefan and Vladimir murmur to each other in quiet glee at Aro's discomfort. Aro was obviously concerned with keeping his white hat, as the Romanians had put it. But I didn't believe that the Volturi would leave us in peace just to save their reputation. After they finished with us, surely they would slaughter their witnesses for that purpose. I felt a strange, sudden pity for the mass of the strangers the Volturi had brought to watch us die. Demetri would hunt them until they were extinct, too. For Jacob and Renesmee, for Alice and Jasper, for Alistair, and for these strangers who had not known what today would cost them, Demetri had to die. Aro touched Caius's shoulder lightly. â€Å"Irina has been punished for bearing false witness against this child.† So that was to be their excuse. He went on. â€Å"Perhaps we should return to the matter at hand?† Caius straightened, and his expression hardened into unreadability. He stared forward, seeing nothing. His face reminded me, oddly, of a person who'd just learned he'd been demoted. Aro drifted forward, Renata, Felix, and Demetri automatically moving with him. â€Å"Just to be thorough,† he said, â€Å"I'd like to speak with a few of your witnesses. Procedure, you know.† He waved a hand dismissively. Two things happened at once. Caius's eyes focused on Aro, and the tiny cruel smile came back. And Edward hissed, his hands balling up in fists so tight it looked like the bones in his knuckles would split through his diamond-hard skin. I was desperate to ask him what was going on, but Aro was close enough to hear even the quietest breath. I saw Carlisle glance anxiously at Edward's face, and then his own face hardened. While Caius had blundered through useless accusations and injudicious attempts to trigger the fight, Aro must have been coming up with a more effective strategy. Aro ghosted across the snow to the far western end of our line, stopping about ten yards from Amun and Kebi. The nearby wolves bristled angrily but held their positions. â€Å"Ah, Amun, my southern neighbor!† Aro said warmly. â€Å"It has been so long since you've visited me.† Amun was motionless with anxiety, Kebi a statue at his side. â€Å"Time means little; I never notice its passing,† Amun said through unmoving lips. â€Å"So true,† Aro agreed. â€Å"But maybe you had another reason to stay away?† Amun said nothing. â€Å"It can be terribly time-consuming to organize newcomers into a coven. I know that well! I'm grateful I have others to deal with the tedium. I'm glad your new additions have fit in so well. I would have loved to have been introduced. I'm sure you were meaning to come to see me soon.† â€Å"Of course,† Amun said, his tone so emotionless that it was impossible to tell if there was any fear or sarcasm in his assent. â€Å"Oh well, we're all together now! Isn't it lovely?† Amun nodded, his face blank. â€Å"But the reason for your presence here is not as pleasant, unfortunately. Carlisle called on you to witness?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"And what did you witness for him?† Amun spoke with the same cold lack of emotion. â€Å"I've observed the child in question. It was evident almost immediately that she was not an immortal child – â€Å" â€Å"Perhaps we should define our terminology,† Aro interrupted, â€Å"now that there seem to be new classifications. By immortal child, you mean of course a human child who had been bitten and thus transformed into a vampire.† â€Å"Yes, that's what I meant.† â€Å"What else did you observe about the child?† â€Å"The same things that you surely saw in Edward's mind. That the child is his biologically. That she grows. That she learns.† â€Å"Yes, yes,† Aro said, a hint of impatience in his otherwise amiable tone. â€Å"But specifically in your few weeks here, what did you see?† Amun's brow furrowed. â€Å"That she grows†¦ quickly.† Aro smiled. â€Å"And do you believe that she should be allowed to live?† A hiss escaped my lips, and I was not alone. Half the vampires in our line echoed my protest. The sound was a low sizzle of fury hanging in the air. Across the meadow, a few of the Volturi witnesses made the same noise. Edward stepped back and wrapped a restraining hand around my wrist. Aro did not turn to the noise, but Amun glanced around uneasily. â€Å"I did not come to make judgments,† he equivocated. Aro laughed lightly. â€Å"Just your opinion.† Amun's chin lifted. â€Å"I see no danger in the child. She learns even more swiftly than she grows.† Aro nodded, considering. After a moment, he turned away. â€Å"Aro?† Amun called. Aro whirled back. â€Å"Yes, friend?† â€Å"I gave my witness. I have no more business here. My mate and I would like to take our leave now.† Aro smiled warmly. â€Å"Of course. I'm so glad we were able to chat for a bit. And I'm sure we'll see each other again soon.† Amun's lips were a tight line as he inclined his head once, acknowledging the barely concealed threat. He touched Kebi's arm, and then the two of them ran quickly to the southern edge of the meadow and disappeared into the trees. I knew they wouldn't stop running for a very long time. Aro was gliding back along the length of our line to the east, his guards hovering tensely. He stopped when he was in front of Siobhan's massive form. â€Å"Hello, dear Siobhan. You are as lovely as ever.† Siobhan inclined her head, waiting. â€Å"And you?† he asked. â€Å"Would you answer my questions the same way Amun has?† â€Å"I would,† Siobhan said. â€Å"But I would perhaps add a little more. Renesmee understands the limitations. She's no danger to humans – she blends in better than we do. She poses no threat of exposure.† â€Å"Can you think of none?† Aro asked soberly. Edward growled, a low ripping sound deep in his throat. Caius's cloudy crimson eyes brightened. Renata reached out protectively toward her master. And Garrett freed Kate to take a step forward, ignoring Kate's hand as she tried to caution him this time. Siobhan answered slowly, â€Å"I don't think I follow you.† Aro drifted lightly back, casually, but toward the rest of his guard. Renata, Felix, and Demetri were closer than his shadow. â€Å"There is no broken law,† Aro said in a placating voice, but every one of us could hear that a qualification was coming. I fought back the rage that tried to claw its way up my throat and snarl out my defiance. I hurled the fury into my shield, thickening it, making sure everyone was protected. â€Å"No broken law,† Aro repeated. â€Å"However, does it follow then that there is no danger? No.† He shook his head gently. â€Å"That is a separate issue.† The only response was the tightening of already stretched nerves, and Maggie, at the fringes of our band of fighters, shaking her head with slow anger. Aro paced thoughtfully, looking as if he floated rather than touched the ground with his feet. I noticed every pass took him closer to the protection of his guard. â€Å"She is unique†¦ utterly, impossibly unique. Such a waste it would be, to destroy something so lovely. Especially when we could learn so much .. .† He sighed, as if unwilling to go on. â€Å"But there is danger, danger that cannot simply be ignored.† No one answered his assertion. It was dead silent as he continued in a monologue that sounded as if he spoke it for himself only. â€Å"How ironic it is that as the humans advance, as their faith in science grows and controls their world, the more free we are from discovery. Yet, as we become ever more uninhibited by their disbelief in the supernatural, they become strong enough in their technologies that, if they wished, they could actually pose a threat to us, even destroy some of us. â€Å"For thousands and thousands of years, our secrecy has been more a matter of convenience, of ease, than of actual safety. This last raw, angry century has given birth to weapons of such power that they endanger even immortals. Now our status as mere myth in truth protects us from these weak creatures we hunt. â€Å"Thisamazingchild† – he lifted his hand palm down as if to rest it on Renesmee, though he was forty yards from her now, almost within the Volturi formation again – â€Å"if we could but know her potential – know with absolute certainty that she could always remain shrouded within the obscurity that protects us. But we know nothing of what she will become! Her own parents are plagued by fears of her future. We cannot know what she will grow to be.† He paused, looking first at our witnesses, and then, meaningfully, at his own. His voice gave a good imitation of sounding torn by his words. Still looking at his own witnesses, he spoke again. â€Å"Only the known is safe. Only the known is tolerable. The unknown is†¦ a vulnerability.† Caius's smile widened viciously. â€Å"You're reaching, Aro,† Carlisle said in a bleak voice. â€Å"Peace, friend.† Aro smiled, his face as kind, his voice as gentle, as ever. â€Å"Let us not be hasty. Let us look at this from every side.† â€Å"May I offer a side to be considered?† Garrett petitioned in a level tone, taking another step forward. â€Å"Nomad,† Aro said, nodding in permission. Garrett's chin lifted. His eyes focused on the huddled mass at the end of the meadow, and he spoke directly to the Volturi witnesses. â€Å"I came here at Carlisle's request, as the others, to witness,† he said. â€Å"That is certainly no longer necessary, with regard to the child. We all see what she is. â€Å"I stayed to witness something else. You.† He jabbed his finger toward the wary vampires. â€Å"Two of you I know – Makenna, Charles – and I can see that many of you others are also wanderers, roamers like myself. Answering to none. Think carefully on what I tell you now. ‘These ancient ones did not come here for justice as they told you. We suspected as much, and now it has been proved. They came, misled, but with a valid excuse for their action. Witness now as they seek flimsy excuses to continue their true mission. Witness them struggle to find a justification for their true purpose – to destroy this family here.† He gestured toward Carlisle and Tanya. â€Å"The Volturi come to erase what they perceive as the competition. Perhaps, like me, you look at this clan's golden eyes and marvel. They are difficult to understand, it's true. But the ancient ones look and see something besides their strange choice. They see power. â€Å"I have witnessed the bonds within this family – I say family and not coven. These strange golden-eyed ones deny their very natures. But in return have they found something worth even more, perhaps, than mere gratification of desire? I've made a little study of them in my time here, and it seems to me that intrinsic to this intense family binding – that which makes them possible at all – is the peaceful character of this life of sacrifice. There is no aggression here like we all saw in the large southern clans that grew and diminished so quickly in their wild feuds. There is no thought for domination. And Aro knows this better than I do.† I watched Aro's face as Garrett's words condemned him, waiting tensely for some response. But Aro's face was only politely amused, as if waiting for a tantrum-throwing child to realize that no one was paying attention to his histrionics. â€Å"Carlisle assured us all, when he told us what was coming, that he did not call us here to fight. These witnesses† – Garrett pointed to Siobhan and Liam – â€Å"agreed to give evidence, to slow the Volturi advance with their presence so that Carlisle would get the chance to present his case. â€Å"But some of us wondered† – his eyes flashed to Eleazars face – â€Å"if Carlisle having truth on his side would be enough to stop the so-called justice. Are the Volturi here to protect the safety of our secrecy, or to protect their own power? Did they come to destroy an illegal creation, or a way of life? Could they be satisfied when the danger turned out to be no more than a misunderstanding? Or would they push the issue without the excuse of justice? â€Å"We have the answer to all these questions. We heard it in Aro's lying words – we have one with a gift of knowing such things for certain – and we see it now in Caius's eager smile. Their guard is just a mindless weapon, a tool in their masters' quest for domination. â€Å"So now there are more questions, questions that you must answer. Who rules you, nomads? Do you answer to someone's will besides your own? Are you free to choose your path, or will the Volturi decide how you will live? â€Å"I came to witness. I stay to fight. The Volturi care nothing for the death of the child. They seek the death of our free will.† He turned, then, to face the ancients. â€Å"So come, I say! Let's hear no more lying rationalizations. Be honest in your intents as we will be honest in ours. We will defend our freedom. You will or will not attack it. Choose now, and let these witnesses see the true issue debated here.† Once more he looked to the Volturi witnesses, his eyes probing each face. The power of his words was evident in their expressions. â€Å"You might consider joining us. If you think the Volturi will let you live to tell this tale, you are mistaken. We may all be destroyed† – he shrugged – â€Å"but then again, maybe not. Perhaps we are on more equal footing than they know. Perhaps the Volturi have finally met their match. I promise you this, though – if we fall, so do you.† He ended his heated speech by stepping back to Kate's side and then sliding forward in a half-crouch, prepared for the onslaught. Aro smiled. â€Å"Avery pretty speech, my revolutionary friend.† Garrett remained poised for attack. â€Å"Revolutionary?† he growled. â€Å"Who am I revolting against, might I ask? Are you my king? Do you wish me to call you master, too, like your sycophantic guard?† â€Å"Peace, Garrett,† Aro said tolerantly. â€Å"I meant only to refer to your time of birth. Still a patriot, I see.† Garrett glared back furiously. â€Å"Let us ask our witnesses,† Aro suggested. â€Å"Let us hear their thoughts before we make our decision. Tell us, friends† – and he turned his back casually on us, moving a few yards toward his mass of nervous observers hovering even closer now to the edge of the forest – â€Å"what do you think of all this? I can assure you the child is not what we feared. Do we take the risk and let the child live? Do we put our world in jeopardy to preserve their family intact? Or does earnest Garrett have the right of it? Will you join them in a fight against our sudden quest for dominion?† The witnesses met his gaze with careful faces. One, a small black-haired woman, looked briefly at the dark blond male at her side. â€Å"Are those our only choices?† she asked suddenly, gaze flashing back to Aro. â€Å"Agree with you, or fight against you?† â€Å"Of course not, most charming Makenna,† Aro said, appearing horrified that anyone could come to that conclusion. â€Å"You may go in peace, of course, as Amun did, even if you disagree with the council's decision.† Makenna looked at her mate's face again, and he nodded minutely. â€Å"We did not come here for a fight.† She paused, exhaled, then said, â€Å"We came here to witness. And our witness is that this condemned family is innocent. Everything that Garrett claimed is the truth.† â€Å"Ah,† Aro said sadly. â€Å"I'm sorry you see us in that way. But such is the nature of our work.† â€Å"It is not what I see, but what I feel,† Makenna's maize-haired mate spoke in a high, nervous voice. He glanced at Garrett. â€Å"Garrett said they have ways of knowing lies. I, too, know when I am hearing the truth, and when I am not.† With frightened eyes he moved closer to his mate, waiting for Aro's reaction. â€Å"Do not fear us, friend Charles. No doubt the patriot truly believes what he says,† Aro chuckled lightly, and Charles's eyes narrowed. â€Å"That is our witness,† Makenna said. â€Å"We're leaving now.† She and Charles backed away slowly, not turning before they were lost from view in the trees. One other stranger began to retreat the same way, then three more darted after him. I evaluated the thirty-seven vampires that stayed. A few of them appeared just too confused to make the decision. But the majority of them seemed only too aware of the direction this confrontation had taken. I guessed that they were giving up a head start in favor of knowing exactly who would be chasing after them. I was sure Aro saw the same thing I did. He turned away, walking back to his guard with a measured pace. He stopped in front of them and addressed them in a clear voice. â€Å"We are outnumbered, dearest ones,† he said. â€Å"We can expect no outside help. Should we leave this question undecided to save ourselves?† â€Å"No, master,† they whispered in unison. â€Å"Is the protection of our world worth perhaps the loss of some of our number?† â€Å"Yes,† they breathed. â€Å"We are not afraid.† Aro smiled and turned to his black-clad companions. â€Å"Brothers,† Aro said somberly, â€Å"there is much to consider here.† â€Å"Let us counsel,† Caius said eagerly. â€Å"Let us counsel,† Marcus repeated in an uninterested tone. Aro turned his back to us again, facing the other ancients. They joined hands to form a black-shrouded triangle. As soon as Aro's attention was engaged in the silent counsel, two more of their witnesses disappeared silently into the forest. I hoped, for their sakes, that they were fast. This was it. Carefully, I loosened Renesmee's arms from my neck. â€Å"You remember what I told you?† Tears welled in her eyes, but she nodded. â€Å"I love you,† she whispered. Edward was watching us now, his topaz eyes wide. Jacob stared at us from the corner of his big dark eye. â€Å"I love you, too,† I said, and then I touched her locket. â€Å"More than my own life.† I kissed her forehead. Jacob whined uneasily. I stretched up on my toes and whispered into his ear. â€Å"Wait until they're totally distracted, then run with her. Get as far from this place as you possibly can. When you've gone as far as you can on foot, she has what you need to get you in the air.† Edward's and Jacob's faces were almost identical masks of horror, despite the fact that one of them was an animal. Renesmee reached for Edward, and he took her in his arms. They hugged each other tightly. â€Å"This is what you kept from me?† he whispered over her head. â€Å"From Aro,† I breathed. â€Å"Alice?† I nodded. His face twisted with understanding and pain. Had that been the expression on my face when I'd finally put together Alice's clues? Jacob was growling quietly, a low rasp that was as even and unbroken as a purr. His hackles were stiff and his teeth exposed. Edward kissed Renesmee's forehead and both her cheeks, then he lifted her to Jacob's shoulder. She scrambled agilely onto his back, pulling herself into place with handfuls of his fur, and fit herself easily into the dip between his massive shoulder blades. Jacob turned to me, his expressive eyes full of agony, the rumbling growl still grating through his chest. â€Å"You're the only one we could ever trust her with,† I murmured to him. â€Å"If you didn't love her so much, I could never bear this. I know you can protect her, Jacob.† He whined again, and dipped his head to butt it against my shoulder. â€Å"I know,† I whispered. â€Å"I love you, too, Jake. You'll always be my best man.† A tear the size of a baseball rolled into the russet fur beneath his eye. Edward leaned his head against the same shoulder where he'd placed Renesmee. â€Å"Goodbye, Jacob, my brother†¦ my son.† The others were not oblivious to the farewell scene. Their eyes were locked on the silent black triangle, but I could tell they were listening. â€Å"Is there no hope, then?† Carlisle whispered. There was no fear in his voice. Just determination and acceptance. â€Å"There is absolutely hope,† I murmured back. It could be true, I told myself. â€Å"I only know my own fate.† Edward took my hand. He knew that he was included. When I said my fate, there was no question that I meant the two of us. We were just halves of the whole. Esme's breath was ragged behind me. She moved past us, touching our faces as she passed, to stand beside Carlisle and hold his hand. Suddenly, we were surrounded by murmured goodbyes and I love you's. â€Å"If we live through this,† Garrett whispered to Kate, â€Å"I'll follow you anywhere, woman.† â€Å"Now he tells me,† she muttered. Rosalie and Emmett kissed quickly but passionately. Tia caressed Benjamin's face. He smiled back cheerfully, catching her hand and holding it against his cheek. I didn't see all the expressions of love and pain. I was distracted by a sudden fluttering pressure against the outside of my shield. I couldn't tell where it came from, but it felt like it was directed at the edges of our group, Siobhan and Liam particularly. The pressure did no damage, and then it was gone. There was no change in the silent, still forms of the counseling ancients. But perhaps there was some signal I'd missed. â€Å"Get ready,† I whispered to the others. â€Å"It's starting.†