Identifying Illogical Fallacy And Arguments Philosophy Essay

Identifying Illogical Fallacy And Arguments Philosophy Essay Have you wondered the truth behind some peoples logic when considering why they believe what they do or why they believe it is true based upon their own interpretation? In almost every aspect of life there is some underlying reason that people conform or believe in things, whether its regarded as truth or fallacy. Most people would argue that there is a higher power in terms of religion while most or others will disagree that there is no such existence because they have not seen him personally. An argument can be said to be the exchanging of opposing views by means of persuasion in asserting that a view or purpose is true or false; right or wrong. Philosophers in history have argued that there is error in reasoning in the causation of life and this is can be referred to as a fallacy. A fallacy can be an intentional act or unintentional act or line of reasoning. There are several illogical fallacies beginning with a mere assertion. Mere Assertion: An illogical fallacy based up on the belief that an argument is true because you believe in it. In other words, if you argue that the sky is black ant is something that you believe or feel strongly about, and then it is presumed true. Clearly, any other person would note that the sky is never black and is in fact blue at all time. However, in this case, it is true because you believe it. Circular Reasoning: circular reasoning is the argument that suggests that whatever the argument may be, as long as the conclusion of an argument supports the premise (justifiable claim) then it is true. In simpler terms, the reason for the argument is also the reason in the conclusion. There must be evidence to prove that what you are arguing is a valid argument. For example: Reading is an excellent practice in learning as it helps to enhance ones knowledge. It is clear that reading does assist in learning new things but reading alone does not promote being more knowledgeable but it does assist in the learning processes. Ad Hominem: Ad Hominem is an arguments reasoning associated with demeaning the opposition relevant to the argument. My 4 year old I famous for this because whenever he does something he is not supposed to do or I asked him not to do, and I get on him because of his behavior, he attempts to divert my attention away for the purpose of preventing himself for getting a spanking or yelled at. He may say things like I just love you so much or Mommy can I give you a hug. Another example is when my mother and I get into arguments about the rude ways she speaks to me; she brings up the topic of money because she wants to control my income. Because we are already in a heated argument, she includes other things in the argument that are irrelevant to her rude ways when conversing. Red Herring: A form of drawing attention away for means of confusion and irrelevant subjects within an argument. Red herring is a part of an argument where the parties intend to manipulate the argument by including irrelevant reasoning and allow the opposing party to consider the irrelevant information pulling away from the initial reason for the argument. For example: An employee is in trouble with his boss for not completely assignments timely and being rude to clients. The employee mentions other employees who mingle in the workplace and take personal calls pretending to be talking business with clients. In this situation, the employee is attempting to influence his boss to consider the quality of others work in order to reduce the tension between the boss and himself. Pseudo Questions: Pseudo questions can be defined as rhetorical questions which mean that they cannot be answered. Pseudo question can be simple question that are hard to answer because the person who supposed to answer has no knowledge of the topic. A question by Billy Corgon asks If practice makes perfect and no one is perfect, then why practice? Or George Corlin asks Why do doctors call the work a practice? Isnt what they learned a skill? False Cause: False cause is a fallacy that suggests that something is the result of something else. This fallacy is similar to determinism where every event has a cause. An example of false cause: Tyler Perry became famous, a great writer and actor because he gained experience from living on the streets and being homeless. If this were true, then all homeless people would become actors because they lived on the street thus gaining experience. Sweeping generalizations: The fallacy that says if one assumes that all incidents of reason are applied to every situation. Furthermore, sweeping generalizations accepts the sense that there are no exceptions to generalization. For example: People who dont eat pork are Muslims. You are a Muslim because you dont eat pork. In this case, not eating pork can be for religious purposes but also can apply to the fact that the person is a vegetarian thus invalidating the argument because there is an exception to this argument. Slippery Slope: Suggests that a cause of events will continuously occur because one thing causes another. In other words, by chance one thing will finally lead to the last. Consider the slippery slope fallacy in this situation. Not wearing a coat in the winter will cause you to catch a cold eventually. How does this occur? Well first you get the sniffles and maybe allergy like symptoms (i.e. stuffy nose, clogged ears, runny eyes) following maybe changes in your body temperature then eventually you will cough which signifies that you have caught a cold. Any human knows that if you act carelessly in the winter, you will be subjected to catching a cold and being sick. Being sick is not fun right? Equivocation or Changing Means: Altering the meaning of a word in the course of an argument. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ and is a time of happiness therefore the birth of Jesus Christ must too be full of happiness. This example signals that both implications of the argument produces happiness (i.e. Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ); Jesus himself being full of happiness because his birth was full of happiness.

Tablet Direct Compression Methods

Tablet Direct Compression Methods Tablets are solid dosage forms usually prepared with the aid of suitable pharmaceutical excipients. The excipients can include binders, glidants (flow aids) and lubricants to ensure efficient tableting; disintegrants to promote tablet break-up in the digestive tract; sweeteners or flavours to enhance taste; and pigments to make the tablets visually attractive. They may vary in size, shape, weight, hardness, thickness, disintegration, and dissolution characteristics and in other aspects, depending on their intended use and method of manufacture. Most tablets are used in the oral administration of drugs. Many of this are prepared with colorants and coatings of various types. Other tablets, such as those administered sublingually, buccally, or vaginally, are prepared to have features most applicable to their particular route of administration. Tablets are prepared primarily by compression, with a limited number prepared by molding. Compressed tablets are manufactured with tablet machine s capable of exerting great pressure in compacting. Their shape and dimensions are determined by use of various shaped punches and dies. (Allen, Ansel and Popovich (2004)). In the tablet-pressing process, it is important that all ingredients be fairly dry, powdered or granular, somewhat uniform in particle size, and freely flowing. Mixed particle sized powders can segregate during manufacturing operations, which can result in tablets with poor drug or active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) content uniformity. Content uniformity ensures that the same API dose is delivered with each tablet. In early formulation studies, as a promising compound is characterized for biologic activity, it is also evaluated with regard to chemical and physical properties that have a bearing on its ultimate and successful formulation into a stable and effective pharmaceutical product. This is the area of responsibility of pharmaceutical scientists and formulation pharmacists trained in pharmaceutics. When sufficient information is gleaned on the compounds physical and chemical properties, initial formulation of the dosage form are redeveloped for use in human clinical trials. During the course of the clinical trials, the proposed product is developed further, from initial formulation to final formulation and from pilot plant (or small-scale production) to scale-up, in preparation for large-scale manufacturing. The dose of the drug may be described as an amount that is enough but not too much; the idea is to achieve the drugs optimum therapeutic effect with safety but at the lowest possible dose. The effective dose of a drug may be different for different patients. In a normal distribution sample, a drugs dose will provide what might be called an average effect in most individuals. However, in a portion of the population the drug will produce little effect, and in another portion the drug will produce an effect greater than average. The amount of drug that will produce the desired effect in most adult patients is considered the drugs usual adult dose and the likely starting dose for a patient. From this initial dose the physician may, if necessary, increase or decrease subsequent doses to meet the particular requirements of the patient. Certain drugs may produce more than one effect, depending on the dose. Drug doses vary greatly between drug substances; some drugs have small doses, other drugs have relatively large doses. The dose of the drug is based on its biochemical and pharmacologic activity, its physical and chemical properties, the dosage form used, the route of administration, and various patient factors. The dose of a drug for a particular patient may be determined in part on the basis of the patients age, weight, body surface area, general physical health, liver and kidney function (for drug metabolism and elimination), and the severity of the illness being treated. General dosing information for drug substances is provided in the monographs in the British National Formulary (BNF) as well as in the package inserts that accompany manufacturers pharmaceutical products. Again, these sources provide the prescriber and pharmacists with guidelines of usual dosage and usual dosage range. Optimally, appropriate drug dosage should resulting blood serum drug concentrations that are ab ove the MEC and below the MTC for the period of time that drug effects are desired. For certain drugs, a larger than usual initial dose may be required to achieve the desired blood drug level. (Stoklosa and Ansel, 1996) Active ingredients can be separated into two categories: low-dose and high-dose drugs. It should be technically possible to manufacture almost all drugs of low doses (less than 50 mg) by the direct compression process with a proper choice of excipients and tablet equipment. The term direct compression is defined as the process by which tablets are compressed directly from powder mixture of API and suitable excipients. No pretreatment of the powder blend by wet or dry granulation procedure is required. The problems encountered in direct compression of low-dose drugs centre around uniform distribution of the drug (blending) and possible unblending during the compression stage. Steps of Direct Compression Source: http://inferenceforqbd.com/Solutions/Pharmaceutical%20R+D.aspx Some granular chemicals, like potassium chloride, possess free-flowing and cohesive properties that enable them to be compressed directly in a tablet machine without need of granulation. For chemicals lacking this quality, special pharmaceutical excipients may be used to impart the necessary qualities for production of tablets by direct compression. These excipients include fillers, such as spray-dried lactose, microcrystals of alpha-monohydrate lactose, sucrose-invert sugar-corn starch mixtures, microcrystalline cellulose, crystalline maltose, and dicalcium phosphate; disintegrating agents, such as direct compression starch, sodium carboxymethyl starch, cross-linked carboxymethylcellulose fibers, and cross-linked polyvinylpyrrolidone; lubricants, such as magnesium stearate and talc; and glidants, such as fumed silicon dioxide. The capping, splitting, or laminating of tablets is sometimes related to air entrapment during direct compression. When air is trapped, the resulting tablets expand when the pressure of tableting is released, resulting in splits or layers in the tablets. Forced or induced feeders can reduce air entrapment, making the fill powder more dense and amenable to compaction. Capping also may be caused by punches that are not immaculately clean and perfectly smooth or by a granulation with too much fines, or fine powder. Fine powder, which results when a dried granulation is sized, is generally 10 to 20% of the weight of the granulation. Some fine powder is desired to fill the die cavity properly. However, an excess can lead to tablet softness and capping. Tablets that have aged or been stored improperly also may exhibit splitting or other physical deformations. In low dose formulation, advances in pharmaceutical research have resulted in the development of high potency active ingredients, which can be difficult to formulate into capsules or tablets. The use of Starch 1500HYPERLINK http://www.colorcon.com/products/core-excipients/immediate-release/starch-1500 ®HYPERLINK http://www.colorcon.com/products/core-excipients/immediate-release/starch-1500 partially pregelatinized maize starch as an active-premix in low dose formulations can provide consistent drug uniformity, which allows manufacturing by a direct compression process. Since many low dose medications are manufactured by a wet granulation method to assure each tablet contains the proper amount of active, switching to a direct compression process can result in substantial savings in total process time and cost. Comparison of wet granulation and direct compression methods Source: http://www.atacamalabs.com/technology_specialty Spray-dried lactose is the earliest and is still one of the most widely-used direct compression fillers. It is one of the few such excipients available from more than a single supplier. In spite of many early problems, this material revolutionized tableting technology. Coarse and regular grade sieved crystalline fractions of a-lactose monohydrate have very good flow properties but lack compressibility. However spray drying produces an agglomerated product that is more fluid and compressible than regular lactose. In the production of spray-dried lactose, lactose is first placed in an aqueous solution which is treated to remove impurities. Partial crystallization is then allowed to occur before spray-drying the slurry. As a result the final product contains a mixture of large a-monohydrate crystals and spherical aggregates of smaller crystals held together by glass or amorphous material. The fluidity of spray-dried lactose results from the large particle size and intermixing of spheric al aggregates. The compressibility is due to the nature of the aggregates and the percentage of amorphous material present and the resulting plastic flow, which occurs under compaction pressure. The problem of compressibility of spray-dried lactose is still real and troublesome. The compressibility of spray-dried lactose is borderline, and furthermore, it has relatively poor dilution potential. Spray-dried lactose is an effective direct compression filler when it makes up the major portion of the tablet (more than 80%), but it is not effective in diluting high-dose drugs whose crystalline nature is, in and of itself, not compressible. Furthermore, spray-dried lactose does not lend itself to reworking because it loses compressibility upon initial compaction. (Lieberman, Lachman and Schwartz). For the binders, there are many excipients that can be used. these include hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC), methylcellulose (MC), povidone (PVP), hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC), and starches and their derivatives, such as pregelatinized and granulated starches. These polymers differ in their physico-chemical, mechanical and morphological characteristics. For direct compression, studies suggest highly compactable, plastic, fine particle size binders facilitate compression of drugs at relatively low filler-to-drug ratios, therefore representing ideal properties for tablet binders (Drug Dev Ind Pharm. 1999;25:1129-35) (Drug Dev Ind Pharm. 2001;27:181-924). Tablet manufacturing by direct compression has increased steadily over the years. It offers advantages over the other manufacturing processes for tablets, such as wet granulation and provides high efficiency (Zhang et al., 2003). As direct compression is more economic, reducing the cycle time and straight forward in terms of good manufacturing practice requirements. Amongst the techniques used to prepare tablets, direct compression is the most advanced technology. It involves only blending and compression. Thus offering advantage particularly in terms of speedy production. Because it requires fewer unit operations, less machinery, reduced number of personnel and considerably less processing time along with increased product stability. Drugs characterized by high-dose, high bulk volume, poor compactibility, and poor fluidity (flow properties) do not lend themselves to direct compression. A typical sample would be paracetamol, an analgesic. The API of which is not easily compressed, then it require usually restricted to about 30% of direct compression formula hence tablet will costly and difficult to swallow. While it is possible to densify some drugs or formulations by preprocessing, there is some question as to whether the final tableting process could then be called direct compression. Paracetamol is high dose at 500 mg, is highly elastic and requires tastemasking. The taste-masking system to use is important for the active ingredient. If a finished dosage form has great taste, the consumer may prefer your tablet to another tablet solely based upon taste. If the product has an unpleasant taste, the consumer may discount speed of delivery and prefer better tasting slower tablets. The taste-masked API needs to survive the tabletting operation. It is inherently a poor compressible drug and high dose formulation can show capping and lamination. This can be attributed to the elastic recovery and brittle nature of the drug. Good tablet hardness (17kP), friability (30%) and elimination of capping and lamination were achieved with 7% HPC EXF binder level in the IR granulation and employing a pre-compression force of 3kN in addition to a main compression force of 25kN.(www.aqualon.com). Magnesium stearate dihydrate (MgSt-D) is a more effective lubricant for a high dose product containing 90+% COMPAPà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ L at a high tableting speed. CONCLUSION As shown, there is a big difference in the formulation of low dose and high dose tablet. For the low dose tablet, an example is digoxin which is a cardiotonic, it is manufactured under direct compression since the powder mixture of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is compressed directly with its excipients. Low dose means having a small amount of API, since there is a small amount of it, direct compression is the best possible way because when compounding a tablet, it is unavoidable that there will have some residue or some particles that can be left in the containers or when triturating. For the high dose tablet, an example is paracetamol, direct compression cant be use since high dose API are not easily compressed.

The Inner-City Problems and Solving Them Essay -- Papers

The Inner-City Problems and Solving Them There are many problems that can be clearly seen in the inner city. Problems such as crime, poor housing (perhaps slums), and unemployment are all apparent. However unemployment levels are gradually dropping. Lack of money gives rise to the problems so are often seen in the lower class areas of cities. On the whole the perception of the inner-city areas has the image of poverty and overcrowding which faces many cities across Britain today in whatever proportion. The first as such it the Economic which inner-city areas have long suffered due to lack of investment especially after the 1940's when a lot of money was put into New Towns. Many of the houses built were made from poor fabric and cheap materials which within time will make them liable to be damaged. This is the main problem arising from the issue of poor housing. Few Industries have built or for that matter expanded in an Inner-city location partly due to the environment, which surrounds it. Social Inequalities also play a part in British City the following characteristics are often present in many of them: Lack of basic amenities, many houses of which lack any sort of bathroom Overcrowding- large families may live in small houses, or families may live in poorly built high rise flats. On the whole we can say that there are high infant mortality and death rates Families have a low income Single parent families. There are also the environmental problem which affect these areas- The Inner-city areas may suffer from noise and air pollution caused by heavy traffic and the few remaining fac... ...o mortgage properties in the inner areas, and local plan authorities have become more flexible in their plan making. The public and private sectors are much more willing to improve enterprise zone and industrial improvement. New voluntary and community bases organisations have developed particularly concerned with environmental improvements and employment creation. The physical environment has been improved, with vacant land and buildings being put to new, and also the removal of some of the worst dereliction. However the economic point of view in the inner city has deteriorated, with more unemployment and the closure of many firms. However unemployment will probably remain high, especially among the poorly educated and disadvantaged, which will, especially in children, lead to further problems. The Inner-City Problems and Solving Them Essay -- Papers The Inner-City Problems and Solving Them There are many problems that can be clearly seen in the inner city. Problems such as crime, poor housing (perhaps slums), and unemployment are all apparent. However unemployment levels are gradually dropping. Lack of money gives rise to the problems so are often seen in the lower class areas of cities. On the whole the perception of the inner-city areas has the image of poverty and overcrowding which faces many cities across Britain today in whatever proportion. The first as such it the Economic which inner-city areas have long suffered due to lack of investment especially after the 1940's when a lot of money was put into New Towns. Many of the houses built were made from poor fabric and cheap materials which within time will make them liable to be damaged. This is the main problem arising from the issue of poor housing. Few Industries have built or for that matter expanded in an Inner-city location partly due to the environment, which surrounds it. Social Inequalities also play a part in British City the following characteristics are often present in many of them: Lack of basic amenities, many houses of which lack any sort of bathroom Overcrowding- large families may live in small houses, or families may live in poorly built high rise flats. On the whole we can say that there are high infant mortality and death rates Families have a low income Single parent families. There are also the environmental problem which affect these areas- The Inner-city areas may suffer from noise and air pollution caused by heavy traffic and the few remaining fac... ...o mortgage properties in the inner areas, and local plan authorities have become more flexible in their plan making. The public and private sectors are much more willing to improve enterprise zone and industrial improvement. New voluntary and community bases organisations have developed particularly concerned with environmental improvements and employment creation. The physical environment has been improved, with vacant land and buildings being put to new, and also the removal of some of the worst dereliction. However the economic point of view in the inner city has deteriorated, with more unemployment and the closure of many firms. However unemployment will probably remain high, especially among the poorly educated and disadvantaged, which will, especially in children, lead to further problems.

Comparing Coming of Age in The Chocolate War and Boys Life :: comparison compare contrast essays

Coming of Age in The Chocolate War and Boy's Life Cory in Boy's Life and Jerry in The Chocolate War are examples of characters in a bildungsroman Many high school students read coming of age novels, or bildungsromans such as: Kidnapped, The Outsiders, To Kill a Mocking Bird, and many others. What these students, however, do not realize while reading these novels is that the protagonist of the story is growing and changing throughout the novel in many ways. Many of these changes are results of conflicts, which most teens face throughout their lives. In Boys Life, by Robert McCammon, and The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier, the male protagonist encounter many conflicts, in which most teens can relate to in everyday life. These two books are examples of bildungsromans because both, Cory and Jerry change throughout the novel because of their mental tests and physical abuses. The male protagonist, Cory and Jerry, encounter many mental tests, which affect the boy's views on life. The most obvious test which shows this is the dealing with a close one's death. In Boy's Life, Cory shows this best the way he completely changes his views on life and especially faith, when his best friend Davy Ray dies. A good example is when Cory says "I wasn't sure of anything anymore: not life, not afterlife, not God, not goodness." (p454). Cory begins to understand that he must have faith. In The Chocolate War, when Jerry's mother dies he begins to look at life in a new way wondering if he is wasting away his life. He wonders if he is a part of anything special, or if he is "sleepwalking" through life (p20). He later thinks of this often when he thinks about disturbing the universe. He also shares very little intimacy with his father after his mother's death and looks at him in a different way. When Jerry looks at his father one night, he wonders if his father is wasting away his life with everyday ordinary routines, and if he is turning out to be like his father (p52). The deaths involved in these two books challenge Cory and Jerry's beliefs and help them to grow and to mature into young adults. Because of the boy's determination, they are challenged in many ways. This is best shown in The Chocolate War with Jerry's decision not to sell the chocolates.

Essay --

1. MEANING OF FINAL ACCOUNTS â€Å"Final accounts refers to the final statements of accounts prepared in order to ascertain and report the result of the financial activities of a business†[Accounting for management, N.P Srinivasan & M. Sakthivel, page no.85]. Trial balance establishes the accuracy of books of accounts. After preparing the trial balance, preparing final accounts is the next step. It includes Balance sheet, Profit and Loss account and Trading account. The Balance sheet would gives the financial position of the business, the Profit and loss account gives the net profit or loss earned and that of Trading account gives the gross profit earned or gross loss incurred. At the end of the accounting year organization prepare final accounts to find out the financial position of the organization. i.e. Profit or Loss. 2. TRADING ACCOUNT â€Å"Trading accounting is an account prepared to ascertain the trading result of a business i.e.; the gross profit earned or gross loss incurred from buying and selling of goods during a particular period. The excess of net sales [total sales less returns] over cost of goods sold is termed as gross profit. When the cost of goods sold is more than the net sales, the difference is termed as gross loss. The gross profit or loss is transferred to profit and loss account.†[Accounting for management, N.P Srinivasan & M. Sakthivel, page no.85]. Form of trading a/c:- TRADING ACCOUNT OF ____________ For the year ending†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Dr. Cr. Particulars Amount(Rs.) Particulars Amount(Rs.) To Opening Stock To purchases ... ...transfer Net loss Capital a/c Dr. 4. BALANCE SHEET A balance sheet is defined as a statement drawn upon a given date, generally at the end of each accounting year, to measure the exact financial position of a business, setting for the various assets and liabilities of the concern at this date†. On the left hand side of the balance sheet, the liabilities and capital are shown. On the right hand side, all the assets are shown .Therefore, the two sides of a balance sheet must always be equal. Otherwise, there is an error somewhere in the books of accounts. A properly drawn up balance sheet gives information relating to(a)the nature and value of asset;(b)the nature and extent of liabilities;(c)whether the firm is solvent ;and(d)whether the firm is over trading in short, it explains the financial condition of the concern.

Night World : The Chosen Chapter 4

Quinn was cold. Not physically, of course. That was impossible. The icy March air had no effect on him; his body was impervious to little things like weather. No, this cold was inside him. He stood looking at the bay and the thriving city across it.Boston by starlight. It had taken him a long time to come back toBoston after†¦ the change. He'd lived there once, when he'd been human. But in those daysBoston was nothing but three hills, one beacon, and a handful of houses with thatched roofs. The place where he was standing now had been clean beach surrounded by salt meadows and dense forest. The year had been 1639. Bostonhad grown since then, but Quinn hadn't. He was still eighteen, still the young man who'd loved the sunny pastures and the clear blue water of the wilderness. Who had lived simply, feeling grateful when there was enough food for supper on his mother's table, and who had dreamed of someday having his own fishing schooner and marrying pretty Dove Redfern. That was how it had all started, with Dove. Pretty Dove and her soft brown hair†¦ sweet Dove, who had a secret a simple boy like Quinn could never have imagined. Well. Quinn felt his lip curl. That was all in the past. Dove had been dead for centuries, and if her screams still haunted him every night, no one knew but himself. Because he might not be any older than he had been in the days of the colonies, but he had learned a few tricks. Like how to wrap ice around his heart so that nothing in the world could hurt him. And how to put ice in his gaze, so that whoever looked into his black eyes saw only an endless glacial dark. He'd gotten very good at that. Some people actually went pale and backed away when he turned his eyes on them. The tricks had worked for years, allowing him not just to survive as a vampire, but to be brilliantly successful at it. He was Quinn, pitiless as a snake, whose blood ran like ice water, whose soft voice pronounced doom on anybody who got in his way. Quinn, the essence of darkness, who struck fear into the hearts of humans and Night People alike. And just at the moment, he was tired. Tired and cold. There was a kind of bleakness inside him, like a whiter that would never change into spring. He had no idea what to do about it-although it had occurred to him that if he were to jump into the bay and let those dark waters close over his head, and then stay down there for a few days without feeding†¦ well, all his problems would be solved, wouldn't they? But that was ridiculous. He was Quinn. Nothing could touch him. The bleak feeling would go away eventually. He pulled himself out of his reverie, turning away from the shimmering blackness of the bay. Maybe he should go to the warehouse in Mission Hill, check on its inhabitants. He needed something to do, to keep him from thinking. Quinn smiled, knowing it was a smile to frighten children. He set off forBoston . Rashel sat by the window, but not the way ordinary people sit. She was kneeling in a sort of crouch, weight resting on her left leg, right leg bent and pointing forward. It was a position that allowed for swift and unrestricted movement in any direction. Her bokken was beside her; she could spring and draw at a second's notice. The abandoned building was quiet. Steve and Vicky were outside, scouting the street. Nyala seemed lost in her own thoughts. Suddenly Nyala reached out and touched the bokken's sheath. â€Å"What's this?† â€Å"Hm? Oh, it's a kind of Japanese sword. They use wooden swords for fencing practice because steel would be too dangerous. But it can actually be lethal even to humans. It's weighted and balanced just like a steel sword.† She pulled the sword out of the sheath and turned the flashlight on it so Nyala could see the satiny green-black wood. Nyala drew in her breath and touched the graceful curve lightly. â€Å"It's beautiful.† â€Å"It's made of lignum vitae: the Wood of Life. That's the hardest and heaviest wood there is-it's as dense as iron. I had it carved specially, just for me.† â€Å"And you use it to kill vampires.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"And you've killed a lot.† â€Å"Yes.† Rashel slid the sword back into its sheath. â€Å"Good,† Nyala said with a throb in her voice. She turned to stare at the street. She had a small queenly head, with hair piled on the back like Nef-ertiti's crown. When she turned back to Rashel, her voice was quiet. â€Å"How did you get into all this in the first place? I mean, you seem to know so much. How did you learn it all?† Rashel laughed. â€Å"Bit by bit,† she said briefly. She didn't like to talk about it. â€Å"But I started like you. I saw one of them kill my mom when I was five. After that, I tried to learn everything I could about vampires, so I could fight them. And I told the story at every foster home I lived in, and finally I found some people who believed me. They were vampire hunters. They taught me a lot.† Nyala looked ashamed and disgusted. â€Å"I'm so stupid-I haven't done anything like that. I wouldn't even have known about the Lancers if Elliot hadn't called me. He saw the article in the paper about my sister and guessed it might have been a vampire killing. But I'd never have found them on my own.† â€Å"You just didn't have enough time.† â€Å"No. I think it takes a special kind of person. But now that I know how to fight them, I'm going to do it.† Her voice was tight and shaky, and Rashel glanced at her quickly. There was something unstable just under the surface of this girl. â€Å"Nobody knows which of them killed my sister, so I just figure I'll get as many of them as I can. I want to-â€Å" â€Å"Quiet!† Rashel hissed the word and put a hand over Nyala's mouth at the same instant. Nyala froze. Rashel sat tensely, listening, then got up like a spring uncoiling and put her head out the window. She listened for another moment, then caught up her scarf and veiled her face with practiced movements. â€Å"Grab your ski mask and come on.† â€Å"What is it?† â€Å"You're going to get your wish-right now. There's a fight down there. Stay behind me†¦ and don't forget your mask.† Nyala didn't need to ask about that, she noticed. It was the first thing any vampire hunter learned. If you were recognized and the vampire got away†¦ well, it was all over. The Night People would search until they found you, then strike when you least expected it. With Nyala behind her, Rashel ran lightly down the stairs and around to the street. The sounds were coming from a pool of darkness beside one of the warehouses, far from the nearest streetlight. As Rashel reached the place, she could make out the forms of Steve and Vicky, their faces masked, their clubs in their hands. They were struggling with another form. Oh, for God's sake, Rashel thought, stopping dead. One other form. The two of them, armed with wood and lying in ambush, couldn't handle one little vampire by themselves? From the racket, she'd thought they must have been surprised by a whole army. But this vampire seemed to be putting up quite a fight-in fact, he was clearly winning. Throwing his attackers around with supernatural strength, just as if they were ordinary humans and not fearless vampire slayers. He seemed to be enjoying it. â€Å"We've got to help them!† Nyala hissed in Rashers ear. â€Å"Yeah,† Rashel said joylessly. She sighed. â€Å"Wait here; I'm going to bonk him on the head.† It wasn't quite that easy. Rashel got behind the vampire without trouble; he was preoccupied with the other two and arrogant enough to be careless. But then she had a problem. Her bokken, the honorable sword of a warrior, had one purpose: to deliver a clean blow capable of killing instantly. She couldn't bring herself to whack somebody unconscious with it. It wasn't that she didn't have other weapons. She had plenty-back at home in Marblehead. All the tools of a ninja, and some the ninja had never heard of. And she knew some extremely dirty methods of fighting. She could break bones and crush tendons; she could peel an enemy's trachea out of his neck with her bare hands or drive his ribs into his lungs with her feet. But those were desperate measures, to be used as a last resort when her own life was at stake and the opposition was overwhelming. She simply couldn't do that to a single enemy when she had the jump on him. Just then the single enemy threw Steve into a wall, where he landed with a muffled â€Å"oof.† Rashel felt sorry for him, but it solved her dilemma. She grabbed the oak club Steve had been holding as it rolled across the concrete. Then she circled nimbly as the vampire turned, trying to face her. At that instant Nyala threw herself into the fight, creating a distraction, and Rashel did what she'd said she would. She bonked the vampire on the head, driving the club like a home runner's swing with the force of her hips. The vampire cried out and fell down motionless. Rashel raised the club again, watching him. Then she lowered it, looking at Steve and Vicky. â€Å"You guys okay?† Vicky nodded stiffly. She was trying to get her breath. â€Å"He surprised us,† she said. Rashel didn't answer. She was very unhappy, and her feeling of being in top form tonight had completely evaporated. This had been the most undignified fight she'd seen in a long while, and†¦ †¦ and it bothered her, the way the vampire had cried out as he fell. She couldn't explain why, but it had. Steve picked himself up. â€Å"He shouldn't have been able to surprise us,† he said. â€Å"That was our fault.† Rashel glanced at him. It was true. In this business, you were either ready all the time, expecting the unexpected at any moment, or you were dead. â€Å"He was just good,† Vicky said shortly. â€Å"Come on, let's get him out of here before somebody sees us. There's a cellar in the other building.† Rashel took hold of the vampire's feet while Steve grabbed his shoulders. He wasn't very big, about Rashel's height and compact. He looked young, about Rashel's age. Which meant nothing, she reminded herself. A parasite could be a thousand and still look young. They gained eternal life from other people's blood. She and Steve carried their burden down the stairs into a large dank room that smelled of damp rot and mildew. They dropped him on the cold concrete floor and Rashel straightened to ease her back. â€Å"Okay. Now let's see what he looks like,† Vicky said, and turned her flashlight on him. The vampire was pale, and his black hair looked even blacker against his white skin. His eyelashes were dark on his cheek. A little blood matted his hair in the back. â€Å"I don't think he's the same one Elliot and I saw last night. That one looked bigger,† Vicky said. Nyala pressed forward, staring at her very first captive vampire. â€Å"What difference does it make? He's one of them, right? Nobody human could have thrown Steve like that. He might even be the one who killed my sister. And he's ours now.† She smiled down, looking almost like someone in love. â€Å"You're ours,† she said to the unconscious boy on the floor. â€Å"Just you wait.† Steve rubbed his shoulder where it had hit the wall. All he said was â€Å"Yeah,† but his smile wasn't nice. â€Å"I only hope he doesn't die soon,† Vicky said, examining the pale face critically. â€Å"You hit him pretty hard.† â€Å"He's not going to die,† Rashel said. â€Å"In fact, he'll probably wake up in a few minutes. And we'd better hope he's not one of the really powerful telepaths.† Nyala looked up sharply. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Oh-all vampires are telepathic,† Rashel said absently. â€Å"But there's a big range as to how powerful they are. Most of them can only communicate over a short distance-like within the same house, say. But a few are a lot stronger.† â€Å"Even if he is strong, it won't matter unless there are other vampires around,† Vicky said. â€Å"Which there may be, if you and Elliot saw another one last night.† â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Vicky hesitated, then said, â€Å"We can check outside, make sure he doesn't have any friends hiding around that warehouse.† Steve was nodding, and Nyala was listening intently. Rashel started to say that from what she'd seen, they couldn't find a vampire in hiding to save their lives-but then she changed her mind. â€Å"Good idea,† she said. â€Å"You take Nyala and do that. It's better to have three people than two. I'll tie him up before he comes around. I've got bast cord.† Vicky glanced over quickly, but her hostility seemed to have faded since Rashel had knocked the vampire over the head. â€Å"Okay, but let's use the handcuffs. Nyala, run up and get them.† Nyala did, and she and Vicky fixed the wooden stocks on the vampire's wrists. Then they left with Steve. Rashel sat on the floor. She didn't know what she was doing, or why she'd sent Nyala away. All she knew was that she wanted to be alone, and that she felt†¦ rotten. It wasn't that she didn't have anger. There were times when she got so angry at the universe that it was actually like a little voice inside her whispering, Kill, kill, kill. Times when she wanted to strike out blindly, without caring who she hurt. But just now the little voice was silent, and Rashel felt sick. To keep herself busy, she tied his feet with bast, a cord made from the inner bark of trees. It was as good for holding a vampire as Vicky's ridiculous handcuffs. When it was done, she turned the flashlight on him again. He was good-looking. Clean features that were strongly chiseled but almost delicate. A mouth that at the moment looked rather innocent, but which might be sensuous if he were awake. A body that was lithe and flat-muscled, if not very tall. All of which had no effect on Rashel. She'd seen attractive vampires before-in fact, an inordinate number of them seemed to be really beautiful. It didn't mean anything. It only stood as a contrast to what they were like inside. The tall man who'd killed her mother had been handsome. She could still see his face, his golden eyes. Filthy parasites. Night World scum. They weren't really people. They were monsters. But they could still feel pain, just like any human. She'd hurt this one when she hit him. Rashel jumped up and started to pace the cellar. All right. This vampire deserved to die. They all did. But that didn't mean she had to wait for Vicky to come back and poke him with pointy sticks. Rashel knew now why she'd sent Nyala away. So she could give the vampire a clean death. Maybe he didn't deserve it, but she couldn't stand around and watch Vicky kill him slowly. She couldn't. She stopped pacing and went to the unconscious boy. The flashlight on the floor was still pointing at him, so she could see him clearly. He was wearing a lightweight black shirt-no sweater or coat. Vampires didn't need protection from the cold. Rashel unbuttoned the shirt, exposing his chest. Although the angled tip of her bokken could pierce clothing, it was easier to drive it straight into vampire flesh without any barrier in between. Standing with one foot on either side of the vampire's waist, she drew the heavy wooden sword. She held it with both hands, one near the guard, the other near the knob on the end of the hilt. She positioned the end exactly over the vampire's heart. â€Å"This kitten has claws,† she whispered, hardly aware she was saying it. Then she took a deep breath, eyes shut. She needed to work to focus, because she'd never done anything like this before. The vampires she'd killed had usually been caught in the middle of some despicable act-and they'd all been fighting at the end. She'd never staked one that was lying still. Concentrate, she thought. You need zanshin, continuing mind, awareness of everything without fixing on anything. She felt her feet becoming part of the cold concrete beneath them, her muscles and bones becoming extensions of the ground. The strike would carry the energy of the earth itself. Her hands brought the sword up. She was ready for the kill. She opened her eyes to perfect her aim. And then she saw that the vampire was awake. His eyes were open and he was looking at her.

Police Officer Essay

It is always quite frustrating whenever things don’t go as you had planned it. You plan things thoroughly expecting those things to happen exactly how you want them to be, but still certain unexpected occurrences keep coming up ruining everything you had planned. It might be a little bit more comforting if you know that it was your own fault that caused your plans to not go as you had wanted it. However, when it is something you totally did not expect; something completely out of your control; something which was not your fault at all; that is the annoying part. What is more irritating is that you end up having no choice but to live with what has already happened and ending up fixing the damages or compromising yourself to the damages that that unexpected occurrence has done to your plans. In my case for example, I’ve always wanted to be a police. Ever since high school, I’ve dreamt of getting into the police academy. My family may have influenced this dream of mine as I was growing up. Most of my family members worked in the police department. It was my father and my eldest brother who were the first to be a part of the police. Currently, there are four people in the family who are working in the police. My brother before me, the one who I m closest to, is currently training at the police academy. My initial plan was to get into the academy as soon as I finish my schooling from back home. Things changed when I got into an accident last summer and injured my plane. With this injury, I could no longer get into the academy; I was deeply disappointed. My plans for my future had been ruined; however, hope was not completely lost for me. My eldest brother found a way of getting into the police department by studying finance and accounting. The academy doesn’t only need physically strong people; they also need people with brains who specialize in certain fields. My plans have now changed; I am now studying for a degree in business. I will finish that and then find a way of getting into the police academy with the help of that degree. Things do not always go the way we want it to be. Expect to always have unexpected things coming up. The best thing we could do when something unexpected comes up is to not give up even if tit ruins out original plan. Think of other ways, other alternatives, of coping up with that unexpected change so as to get back on track with our original plan.