Prison Break Essay

Prison break is an American television series just entering the second season. It is a drama series set around a prison. This five star thriller is based in a prison named Fox River. The masterminded character, Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) is the main actor in this series. He plays as a structural engineer, this comes in handy when he plans to break out his step brother Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), also acted as Drake in â€Å"Blade Trinity† out of prison. Lincoln Burrows (Purcell) is the only family he has, and is on death row, convicted of the murder of the vice president’s brother. In actual fact, the vice presidents brother is hiding. This scheme was set up by the vice president herself and her right hand man, working with the secret service agent Paul Kellerman. (Paul Adelstein) Lawyer Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney) investigates a conspiracy that takes place indicating that Lincoln Burrows was framed for the murder. The evidence was destroyed and Veronica could not get Lincoln exonerated. When a date was set for the execution of Lincoln, Michael has to think fast about how he is going to execute this plan. He has plans of the prison tattooed all over his body. These blueprints are camouflaged by artwork of devils and angels and so not anyone can see it and understand it apart from him. Any phrases or important words would be tattooed backwards or inverted and only could be recognized seeing it through a mirror. He deliberately robs a bank firing a gunshot on the ceiling to acquire maximum security and gets caught intentionally and gets sent to the same prison as his brother. The action inside the prison is full of suspense as the series continues. Michael has to persuade several other prisoners who are important for this escape to happen. Predictably other prisoners acknowledge that there is a scheme going on and they have to be part of the escape for obvious reasons. Psychopath Theodore Bagwell (Robert Knepper) known as T-Bag as his nickname, is a perfect example of why this show is so great. His character is a murder and rapist. His emetic performance is what gets the viewers gripped. Throughout the series there is another plot of what’s happening outside the walls. Veronica is working hard to end this conspiracy or to delay the execution. This is not an easy task as she is fighting against the government. The second season is when the cons are on the run. Fernando Sucre, Benjamin Franklin, John Abruzzi, Theodore T-bag Bagwell, Charles Patoshik, David Apolskis, Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows are the â€Å"Fox River 8 MOST WANTED MEN IN AMERICA†. The phrase â€Å"MOST WANTED† sums up the feelings of how the cops would really like to catch them. After the breakout the cons make their way to the airstrip to board a plane that should wait there to pick them up. The plane was unknown and identified by an inspector. The pilot had to leave the cons behind after being suspicious. This is a difficult situation for Scofield and the viewers are worried that the fugitives will be apprehended. He proves his intelligence by having a plan B if they never made it to the airstrip. They all go their different ways to uncover five millions dollars buried in Utah by an inmate that was killed in Fox River. The break out becomes a Federal matter and FBI’s have to get involved. Special conniving agent FBI Alexander Mahone (William Fitchtner) is at almost the same intelligence as Scofield and is a real obstacle for him. This undeniable amazing series caught over ten million viewers. Brett Ratner, the director of Prison Break has turned famous after directing the best series with the highest ratings. On www. reviewit. com, 10,000 blogs show the people love the excitement and the suspense they get watching this series. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.

The Da Vinci Code Chapter 73-77

CHAPTER 73 Bourget Airfield's night shift air traffic controller had been dozing before a blank radar screen when the captain of the Judicial Police practically broke down his door. â€Å"Teabing's jet,† Bezu Fache blared, marching into the small tower,† where did it go?† The controller's initial response was a babbling, lame attempt to protect the privacy of their British client – one of the airfield's most respected customers. It failed miserably. â€Å"Okay,† Fache said,† I am placing you under arrest for permitting a private plane to take off without registering a flight plan.† Fache motioned to another officer, who approached with handcuffs, and the traffic controller felt a surge of terror. He thought of the newspaper articles debating whether the nation's police captain was a hero or a menace. That question had just been answered. â€Å"Wait!† the controller heard himself whimper at the sight of the handcuffs. â€Å"I can tell you this much. Sir Leigh Teabing makes frequent trips to London for medical treatments. He has a hangar at Biggin Hill Executive Airport in Kent. On the outskirts of London.† Fache waved off the man with the cuffs. â€Å"Is Biggin Hill his destination tonight?† â€Å"I don't know,† the controller said honestly. â€Å"The plane left on its usual tack, and his last radar contact suggested the United Kingdom. Biggin Hill is an extremely likely guess.† â€Å"Did he have others onboard?† â€Å"I swear, sir, there is no way for me to know that. Our clients can drive directly to their hangars, and load as they please. Who is onboard is the responsibility of the customs officials at the receiving airport.† Fache checked his watch and gazed out at the scattering of jets parked in front of the terminal. â€Å"If they're going to Biggin Hill, how long until they land?† The controller fumbled through his records. â€Å"It's a short flight. His plane could be on the ground by†¦ around six-thirty. Fifteen minutes from now.† Fache frowned and turned to one of his men. â€Å"Get a transport up here. I'm going to London. And get me the Kent local police. Not British MI5. I want this quiet. Kent local.Tell them I want Teabing's plane to be permitted to land. Then I want it surrounded on the tarmac. Nobody deplanes until I get there.† CHAPTER 74 â€Å"You're quiet,† Langdon said, gazing across the Hawker's cabin at Sophie. â€Å"Just tired,† she replied. â€Å"And the poem. I don't know.† Langdon was feeling the same way. The hum of the engines and the gentle rocking of the plane were hypnotic, and his head still throbbed where he'd been hit by the monk. Teabing was still in the back of the plane, and Langdon decided to take advantage of the moment alone with Sophie to tell her something that had been on his mind. â€Å"I think I know part of the reason why your grandfather conspired to put us together. I think there's something he wanted me to explain to you.† â€Å"The history of the Holy Grail and Mary Magdalene isn't enough?† Langdon felt uncertain how to proceed. â€Å"The rift between you. The reason you haven't spoken to him in ten years. I think maybe he was hoping I could somehow make that right by explaining what drove you apart.† Sophie squirmed in her seat. â€Å"I haven't told you what drove us apart.† Langdon eyed her carefully. â€Å"You witnessed a sex rite. Didn't you?† Sophie recoiled. â€Å"How do you know that?† â€Å"Sophie, you told me you witnessed something that convinced you your grandfather was in a secret society. And whatever you saw upset you enough that you haven't spoken to him since. I know a fair amount about secret societies. It doesn't take the brains of Da Vinci to guess what you saw.† Sophie stared. â€Å"Was it in the spring?† Langdon asked. â€Å"Sometime around the equinox? Mid-March?† Sophie looked out the window. â€Å"I was on spring break from university. I came home a few days early.† â€Å"You want to tell me about it?† â€Å"I'd rather not.† She turned suddenly back to Langdon, her eyes welling with emotion. â€Å"I don't know what I saw.† â€Å"Were both men and women present?† After a beat, she nodded.† Dressed in white and black?† She wiped her eyes and then nodded, seeming to open up a little. â€Å"The women were in white gossamer gowns†¦ with golden shoes. They held golden orbs. The men wore black tunics and black shoes.† Langdon strained to hide his emotion, and yet he could not believe what he was hearing. Sophie Neveu had unwittingly witnessed a two-thousand-year-old sacred ceremony. â€Å"Masks?† he asked, keeping his voice calm. â€Å"Androgynous masks?† â€Å"Yes. Everyone. Identical masks. White on the women. Black on the men.† Langdon had read descriptions of this ceremony and understood its mystic roots. â€Å"It's called Hieros Gamos,† he said softly. â€Å"It dates back more than two thousand years. Egyptian priests and priestesses performed it regularly to celebrate the reproductive power of the female,† He paused, leaning toward her. â€Å"And if you witnessed Hieros Gamos without being properly prepared to understand its meaning, I imagine it would be pretty shocking.† Sophie said nothing. â€Å"Hieros Gamos is Greek,† he continued. â€Å"It means sacred marriage.† â€Å"The ritual I saw was no marriage.† â€Å"Marriage as in union, Sophie.† â€Å"You mean as in sex.† â€Å"No.† â€Å"No?† she said, her olive eyes testing him. Langdon backpedaled. â€Å"Well†¦ yes, in a manner of speaking, but not as we understand it today.† He explained that although what she saw probably looked like a sex ritual, Hieros Gamos had nothing to do with eroticism. It was a spiritual act. Historically, intercourse was the act through which male and female experienced God. The ancients believed that the male was spiritually incomplete until he had carnal knowledge of the sacred feminine. Physical union with the female remained the sole means through which man could become spiritually complete and ultimately achieve gnosis – knowledge of the divine. Since the days of Isis, sex rites had been considered man's only bridge from earth to heaven. â€Å"By communing with woman,† Langdon said,† man could achieve a climactic instant when his mind went totally blank and he could see God.† Sophie looked skeptical. â€Å"Orgasm as prayer?† Langdon gave a noncommittal shrug, although Sophie was essentially correct. Physiologically speaking, the male climax was accompanied by a split second entirely devoid of thought. A brief mental vacuum. A moment of clarity during which God could be glimpsed. Meditation gurus achieved similar states of thoughtlessness without sex and often described Nirvana as a never- ending spiritual orgasm. â€Å"Sophie,† Langdon said quietly,† it's important to remember that the ancients' view of sex was entirely opposite from ours today. Sex begot new life – the ultimate miracle – and miracles could be performed only by a god. The ability of the woman to produce life from her womb made her sacred. A god. Intercourse was the revered union of the two halves of the human spirit – male and female – through which the male could find spiritual wholeness and communion with God. What you saw was not about sex, it was about spirituality. The Hieros Gamos ritual is not a perversion. It's a deeply sacrosanct ceremony.† His words seemed to strike a nerve. Sophie had been remarkably poised all evening, but now, for the first time, Langdon saw the aura of composure beginning to crack. Tears materialized in her eyes again, and she dabbed them away with her sleeve. He gave her a moment. Admittedly, the concept of sex as a pathway to God was mind-boggling at first. Langdon's Jewish students always looked flabbergasted when he first told them that the early Jewish tradition involved ritualistic sex. In the Temple, no less.Early Jews believed that the Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple housed not only God but also His powerful female equal, Shekinah. Men seeking spiritual wholeness came to the Temple to visit priestesses – or hierodules – with whom they made love and experienced the divine through physical union. The Jewish tetragrammaton YHWH – the sacred name of God – in fact derived from Jehovah, an androgynous physical union between the masculine Jah and the pre-Hebraic name for Eve, Havah. â€Å"For the early Church,† Langdon explained in a soft voice,† mankind's use of sex to commune directly with God posed a serious threat to the Catholic power base. It left the Church out of the loop, undermining their self-proclaimed status as the sole conduit to God. For obvious reasons, they worked hard to demonize sex and recast it as a disgusting and sinful act. Other major religions did the same.† Sophie was silent, but Langdon sensed she was starting to understand her grandfather better. Ironically, Langdon had made this same point in a class lecture earlier this semester. â€Å"Is it surprising we feel conflicted about sex?† he asked his students. â€Å"Our ancient heritage and our very physiologies tell us sex is natural – a cherished route to spiritual fulfillment – and yet modern religion decries it as shameful, teaching us to fear our sexual desire as the hand of the devil.† Langdon decided not to shock his students with the fact that more than a dozen secret societies around the world – many of them quite influential – still practiced sex rites and kept the ancient traditions alive. Tom Cruise's character in the film Eyes Wide Shut discovered this the hard way when he sneaked into a private gathering of ultraelite Manhattanites only to find himself witnessing Hieros Gamos. Sadly, the filmmakers had gotten most of the specifics wrong, but the basic gist was there – a secret society communing to celebrate the magic of sexual union. â€Å"Professor Langdon?† A male student in back raised his hand, sounding hopeful. â€Å"Are you saying that instead of going to chapel, we should have more sex?† Langdon chuckled, not about to take the bait. From what he'd heard about Harvard parties, these kids were having more than enough sex. â€Å"Gentlemen,† he said, knowing he was on tender ground,† might I offer a suggestion for all of you. Without being so bold as to condone premarital sex, and without being so naive as to think you're all chaste angels, I will give you this bit of advice about your sex lives.† All the men in the audience leaned forward, listening intently. â€Å"The next time you find yourself with a woman, look in your heart and see if you cannot approach sex as a mystical, spiritual act. Challenge yourself to find that spark of divinity that man can only achieve through union with the sacred feminine.† The women smiled knowingly, nodding. The men exchanged dubious giggles and off-color jokes. Langdon sighed. College men were still boys. Sophie's forehead felt cold as she pressed it against the plane's window and stared blankly into the void, trying to process what Langdon had just told her. She felt a new regret well within her. Ten years.She pictured the stacks of unopened letters her grandfather had sent her. I will tell Robert everything.Without turning from the window, Sophie began to speak. Quietly. Fearfully. As she began to recount what had happened that night, she felt herself drifting back†¦ alighting in the woods outside her grandfather's Normandy chateau†¦ searching the deserted house in confusion†¦ hearing the voices below her†¦ and then finding the hidden door. She inched down the stone staircase, one step at a time, into that basement grotto. She could taste the earthy air. Cool and light. It was March. In the shadows of her hiding place on the staircase, she watched as the strangers swayed and chanted by flickering orange candles. I'm dreaming, Sophie told herself. This is a dream. What else could this be? The women and men were staggered, black, white, black, white. The women's beautiful gossamer gowns billowed as they raised in their right hands golden orbs and called out in unison,† I was withyou in the beginning, in the dawn of all that is holy, I bore you from the womb before the start of day.† The women lowered their orbs, and everyone rocked back and forth as if in a trance. They were revering something in the center of the circle. What are they looking at? The voices accelerated now. Louder. Faster. â€Å"The woman whom you behold is love!† The women called, raising their orbs again. The men responded,† She has her dwelling in eternity!† The chanting grew steady again. Accelerating. Thundering now. Faster. The participants stepped inward and knelt. In that instant, Sophie could finally see what they were all watching. On a low, ornate altar in the center of the circle lay a man. He was naked, positioned on his back, and wearing a black mask. Sophie instantly recognized his body and the birthmark on his shoulder. She almost cried out. Grand-pere! This image alone would have shocked Sophie beyond belief, and yet there was more. Straddling her grandfather was a naked woman wearing a white mask, her luxuriant silver hair flowing out behind it. Her body was plump, far from perfect, and she was gyrating in rhythm to the chanting – making love to Sophie's grandfather. Sophie wanted to turn and run, but she couldn't. The stone walls of the grotto imprisoned her as the chanting rose to a fever pitch. The circle of participants seemed almost to be singing now, the noise rising in crescendo to a frenzy. With a sudden roar, the entire room seemed to erupt in climax. Sophie could not breathe. She suddenly realized she was quietly sobbing. She turned and staggered silently up the stairs, out of the house, and drove trembling back to Paris. CHAPTER 75 The chartered turboprop was just passing over the twinkling lights of Monaco when Aringarosa hung up on Fache for the second time. He reached for the airsickness bag again but felt too drained even to be sick. Just let it be over! Fache's newest update seemed unfathomable, and yet almost nothing tonight made sense anymore. What is going on? Everything had spiraled wildly out of control. What have I gotten Silas into? What have I gotten myself into! On shaky legs, Aringarosa walked to the cockpit. â€Å"I need to change destinations.† The pilot glanced over his shoulder and laughed. â€Å"You're joking, right?† â€Å"No. I have to get to London immediately.† â€Å"Father, this is a charter flight, not a taxi.† â€Å"I will pay you extra, of course. How much? London is only one hour farther north and requires almost no change of direction, so – â€Å" â€Å"It's not a question of money, Father, there are other issues.† â€Å"Ten thousand euro. Right now.† The pilot turned, his eyes wide with shock. â€Å"How much? What kind of priest carries that kind of cash?† Aringarosa walked back to his black briefcase, opened it, and removed one of the bearer bonds. He handed it to the pilot. â€Å"What is this?† the pilot demanded. â€Å"A ten-thousand-euro bearer bond drawn on the Vatican Bank.† The pilot looked dubious.† It's the same as cash.† â€Å"Only cash is cash,† the pilot said, handing the bond back. Aringarosa felt weak as he steadied himself against the cockpit door. â€Å"This is a matter of life or death. You must help me. I need to get to London.† The pilot eyed the bishop's gold ring. â€Å"Real diamonds?† Aringarosa looked at the ring. â€Å"I could not possibly part with this.† The pilot shrugged, turning and focusing back out the windshield. Aringarosa felt a deepening sadness. He looked at the ring. Everything it represented was about to be lost to the bishop anyway. After a long moment, he slid the ring from his finger and placed it gently on the instrument panel. Aringarosa slunk out of the cockpit and sat back down. Fifteen seconds later, he could feel the pilot banking a few more degrees to the north. Even so, Aringarosa's moment of glory was in shambles. It had all begun as a holy cause. A brilliantly crafted scheme. Now, like a house of cards, it was collapsing in on itself†¦ and the end was nowhere in sight. CHAPTER 76 Langdon could see Sophie was still shaken from recounting her experience of Hieros Gamos. For his part, Langdon was amazed to have heard it. Not only had Sophie witnessed the full-blown ritual, but her own grandfather had been the celebrant†¦ the Grand Master of the Priory of Sion. It was heady company. Da Vinci, Botticelli, Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, Jean Cocteau†¦JacquesSauniere. â€Å"I don't know what else I can tell you,† Langdon said softly. Sophie's eyes were a deep green now, tearful. â€Å"He raised me like his own daughter.† Langdon now recognized the emotion that had been growing in her eyes as they spoke. It was remorse. Distant and deep. Sophie Neveu had shunned her grandfather and was now seeing him in an entirely different light. Outside, the dawn was coming fast, its crimson aura gathering off the starboard. The earth was still black beneath them. â€Å"Victuals, my dears?† Teabing rejoined them with a flourish, presenting several cans of Coke and a box of old crackers. He apologized profusely for the limited fare as he doled out the goods. â€Å"Our friend the monk isn't talking yet,† he chimed, â€Å"but give him time.† He bit into a cracker and eyed the poem. â€Å"So, my lovely, any headway?† He looked at Sophie. â€Å"What is your grandfather trying to tell us here? Where the devil is this headstone? This headstone praised by Templars.† Sophie shook her head and remained silent. While Teabing again dug into the verse, Langdon popped a Coke and turned to the window, his thoughts awash with images of secret rituals and unbroken codes. A headstone praised by Templarsis the key.He took a long sip from the can. A headstone praised by Templars.The cola was warm. The dissolving veil of night seemed to evaporate quickly, and as Langdon watched the transformation, he saw a shimmering ocean stretch out beneath them. The English Channel.It wouldn't be long now. Langdon willed the light of day to bring with it a second kind of illumination, but the lighter it became outside, the further he felt from the truth. He heard the rhythms of iambic pentameter and chanting, Hieros Gamos and sacred rites, resonating with the rumble of the jet. A headstone praised by Templars. The plane was over land again when a flash of enlightenment struck him. Langdon set down his empty can of Coke hard. â€Å"You won't believe this,† he said, turning to the others. â€Å"The Templar headstone – I figured it out.† Teabing's eyes turned to saucers. â€Å"You know where the headstone is?† Langdon smiled. â€Å"Not where it is. What it is.† Sophie leaned in to hear. â€Å"I think the headstone references a literal stone head,†Langdon explained, savoring the familiar excitement of academic breakthrough. â€Å"Not a grave marker.† â€Å"A stone head?† Teabing demanded. Sophie looked equally confused.† Leigh,† Langdon said, turning,† during the Inquisition, the Church accused the Knights Templar of all kinds of heresies, right?† â€Å"Correct. They fabricated all kinds of charges. Sodomy, urination on the cross, devil worship, quite a list.† â€Å"And on that list was the worship of false idols, right? Specifically, the Church accused the Templars of secretly performing rituals in which they prayed to a carved stone head†¦ the pagan god – â€Å" â€Å"Baphomet!† Teabing blurted. â€Å"My heavens, Robert, you're right! A headstone praised by Templars!† Langdon quickly explained to Sophie that Baphomet was a pagan fertility god associated with the creative force of reproduction. Baphomet's head was represented as that of a ram or goat, a common symbol of procreation and fecundity. The Templars honored Baphomet by encircling a stone replica of his head and chanting prayers. â€Å"Baphomet,† Teabing tittered. â€Å"The ceremony honored the creative magic of sexual union, but Pope Clement convinced everyone that Baphomet's head was in fact that of the devil. The Pope used the head of Baphomet as the linchpin in his case against the Templars.† Langdon concurred. The modern belief in a horned devil known as Satan could be traced back to Baphomet and the Church's attempts to recast the horned fertility god as a symbol of evil. The Church had obviously succeeded, although not entirely. Traditional American Thanksgiving tables still bore pagan, horned fertility symbols. The cornucopia or† horn of plenty† was a tribute to Baphomet's fertility and dated back to Zeus being suckled by a goat whose horn broke off and magically filled with fruit. Baphomet also appeared in group photographs when some joker raised two fingers behind a friend's head in the V-symbol of horns; certainly few of the pranksters realized their mocking gesture was in fact advertising their victim's robust sperm count. â€Å"Yes, yes,† Teabing was saying excitedly. â€Å"Baphomet must be what the poem is referring to. A headstone praised by Templars.† â€Å"Okay,† Sophie said, â€Å"but if Baphomet is the headstone praised by Templars, then we have a new dilemma.† She pointed to the dials on the cryptex. â€Å"Baphomet has eight letters. We only have room for five.† Teabing grinned broadly. â€Å"My dear, this is where the Atbash Cipher comes into play† CHAPTER 77 Langdon was impressed. Teabing had just finished writing out the entire twenty-two-letter Hebrew alphabet – alef-beit – from memory. Granted, he'd used Roman equivalents rather than Hebrew characters, but even so, he was now reading through them with flawless pronunciation. A B G D H V Z Ch T Y K L M N S O P Tz Q R Sh Th â€Å"Alef, Beit, Gimel, Dalet, Hei, Vav, Zayin, Chet, Tet, Yud, Kaf, Lamed, Mem, Nun, Samech, Ayin, Pei, Tzadik, Kuf, Reish, Shin, and Tav.† Teabing dramatically mopped his brow and plowed on. â€Å"In formal Hebrew spelling, the vowel sounds are not written. Therefore, when we write the word Baphomet using the Hebrew alphabet, it will lose its three vowels in translation, leaving us – â€Å" â€Å"Five letters,† Sophie blurted. Teabing nodded and began writing again. â€Å"Okay, here is the proper spelling of Baphomet inHebrew letters. I'll sketch in the missing vowels for clarity's sake. B a P V o M e Th â€Å"Remember, of course,† he added,† that Hebrew is normally written in the opposite direction, but we can just as easily use Atbash this way. Next, all we have to do is create our substitution scheme by rewriting the entire alphabet in reverse order opposite the original alphabet.† â€Å"There's an easier way,† Sophie said, taking the pen from Teabing. â€Å"It works for all reflectional substitution ciphers, including the Atbash. A little trick I learned at the Royal Holloway.† Sophie wrote the first half of the alphabet from left to right, and then, beneath it, wrote the second half, right to left. â€Å"Cryptanalysts call it the fold-over. Half as complicated. Twice as clean.† A B G D H V Z Ch T Y K Th Sh R Q Tz P O S N M L Teabing eyed her handiwork and chuckled. â€Å"Right you are. Glad to see those boys at the Holloway are doing their job.† Looking at Sophie's substitution matrix, Langdon felt a rising thrill that he imagined must have rivaled the thrill felt by early scholars when they first used the Atbash Cipher to decrypt the now famous Mystery of Sheshach.For years, religious scholars had been baffled by biblical references to a city called Sheshach.The city did not appear on any map nor in any other documents, and yet it was mentioned repeatedly in the Book of Jeremiah – the king of Sheshach, the city of Sheshach, the people of Sheshach. Finally, a scholar applied the Atbash Cipher to the word, and his results were mind-numbing. The cipher revealed that Sheshach was in fact a code word for another very well-known city. The decryption process was simple. Sheshach, in Hebrew, was spelled: Sh-Sh-K. Sh-Sh-K, when placed in the substitution matrix, became B-B-L. B-B-L, in Hebrew, spelled Babel. The mysterious city of Sheshach was revealed as the city of Babel, and a frenzy of biblical examination ensued. Within weeks, several more Atbash code words were uncovered in the Old Testament, unveiling myriad hidden meanings that scholars had no idea were there. â€Å"We're getting close,† Langdon whispered, unable to control his excitement. â€Å"Inches, Robert,† Teabing said. He glanced over at Sophie and smiled. â€Å"You ready?† She nodded.† Okay, Baphomet in Hebrew without the vowels reads: B-P-V-M-Th.Now we simply apply your Atbash substitution matrix to translate the letters into our five-letter password.† Langdon's heart pounded. B-P-V-M-Th.The sun was pouring through the windows now. He looked at Sophie's substitution matrix and slowly began to make the conversion. B is Sh†¦P is V†¦ Teabing was grinning like a schoolboy at Christmas. â€Å"And the Atbash Cipher reveals†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He stopped short. â€Å"Good God!† His face went white. Langdon's head snapped up. â€Å"What's wrong?† Sophie demanded. â€Å"You won't believe this.† Teabing glanced at Sophie. â€Å"Especially you.† â€Å"What do you mean?† she said.† This is†¦ ingenious,† he whispered. â€Å"Utterly ingenious!† Teabing wrote again on the paper. â€Å"Drumroll, please. Here is your password.† He showed them what he had written. Sh-V-P-Y-A Sophie scowled. â€Å"What is it?† Langdon didn't recognize it either. Teabing's voice seemed to tremble with awe. â€Å"This, my friend, is actually an ancient word of wisdom.† Langdon read the letters again. An ancient word of wisdom frees this scroll.An instant later he got it. He had never seen this coming. â€Å"An ancient word of wisdom!† Teabing was laughing. â€Å"Quite literally!† Sophie looked at the word and then at the dial. Immediately she realized Langdon and Teabing had failed to see a serious glitch. â€Å"Hold on! This can't be the password,† she argued. â€Å"The cryptex doesn't have an Sh on the dial. It uses a traditional Roman alphabet.† â€Å"Read the word,† Langdon urged. â€Å"Keep in mind two things. In Hebrew, the symbol for the sound Sh can also be pronounced as S, depending on the accent. Just as the letter P can be pronounced F.† SVFYA? she thought, puzzled. â€Å"Genius!† Teabing added. â€Å"The letter Vav is often a placeholder for the vowel sound O!† Sophie again looked at the letters, attempting to sound them out.† S†¦ o†¦ f†¦ y†¦ a.† She heard the sound of her voice, and could not believe what she had just said. â€Å"Sophia? This spells Sophia?† Langdon was nodding enthusiastically. â€Å"Yes! Sophia literally means wisdom in Greek. The root of your name, Sophie, is literally a ‘word of wisdom.'† Sophie suddenly missed her grandfather immensely. He encrypted the Priory keystone with my name.A knot caught in her throat. It all seemed so perfect. But as she turned her gaze to the five lettered dials on the cryptex, she realized a problem still existed. â€Å"But wait†¦ the word Sophia has six letters.† Teabing's smile never faded. â€Å"Look at the poem again. Your grandfather wrote, ‘An ancient word of wisdom.' â€Å"Yes?† Teabing winked. â€Å"In ancient Greek, wisdom is spelled S-O-F-I-A.†

Paranoid Schizophrenia

Paranoid Schizophrenia Josh Brotheim Keiser University First off, what is paranoid schizophrenia? According to Coon and Mitterer, (2010) paranoid schizophrenia is schizophrenia marked by a preoccupation with delusions or by frequent auditory hallucinations related to a single theme, especially grandeur or prosecution. In simple terms, the patients with this disease have false beliefs (delusions) that somebody or some people are plotting against them or members of their family. They hear things that are not real, or have delusions of personal grandeur- a false belief that they are much greater and more powerful and influential than they really are. (MNT, 2010) The disease was first identified as a discrete illness by Dr. Emile Kraepelin in 1887 and the illness itself is generally believed to have accompanied mankind throughout its history. (Schizophrenia, 2010) There are three things to know about paranoid schizophrenia: what the signs and symptoms are, the types of different treatments, and how people with this disease can have a threatening effect on society. Since paranoid schizophrenia affects so many people worldwide, it is very important to know the early signs and symptoms associated with it. Signs and symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia sometimes vary from person to person, but all the patients have the majority of these symptoms. They suffer from paranoid delusions or false personal beliefs that are not subject to reason or contradictory evidence. (MNT, 2010) A patient with paranoid schizophrenia will usually suffer from periods of high anxiety. They may have anger that may range from mild irritation, to fury and rage. The patients may suffer physical or emotional detachment. Aggression may reach levels in which violent outbursts occur. (MNT, 2010). Violent behavior sometimes occurs with paranoid schizophrenics. Often this violence is interoperated by the patient as self-defense as he believes others want to do him harm; or may become suddenly violent without observed provocation. (Livestrong, 2011) They also often behave in bizarre ways. They are often reported as having a conversation with someone who is not there or making strange statements when speaking to friends and family. (Livestrong, 2011) Finally, many schizophrenics contemplate suicide due to the difficulty of living with their mental illness or because they believe they have been instructed to do so by auditory hallucinations. (MNT, 2010). Patients with paranoid schizophrenia require treatments on a permanent basis; even when symptoms seem to have receded- a tempting time for patients to say they are fine and no longer need more help. Treatments are basically the same for all forms of schizophrenia; there are variations depending on the severity and types of symptoms, the health of the patient, his/her age, as well as some other factors. (MNT, 2010) Treatments include medications, which include antipsychotics; these are effective at managing hallucinations, delusions and other symptoms such as loss of motivation and lack of emotion. (Mayo, 2010) Other medications like antidepressants, anti-anxiety, and mood stabilizing medications may also be used in combination with the antipsychotics depending on the patient’s symptoms. Psychotherapy for paranoid schizophrenic patients is also essential. Psychotherapy may include individual therapy, which is therapy with a skilled mental health provider that can help them learn ways to cope with the distress and daily life challenges brought on by the disease. (Mayo, 2010) Psychotherapy may also include family therapy, where both the patient and his family may benefit from therapy that provides support and education to the families. Eletroconclusive therapy (ECT) which electric currents are passed through their brains to trigger brief seizures, changes the brains chemistry that can reduce symptoms of this disease. Mayo, 2010) Finally, to help the patients live independently and an important part of their recovery, people with this disease benefit from social and vocational skills training. Though there are not too many cases worldwide, people with paranoid schizophrenia may cause a violent threat to our everyday lives. According to Coon and Mitterer, (2010) thinking that god, the government, or â€Å"cosmic rays from space† are controlling their minds or that someone is trying to poison them, people suffering from paranoid schizophrenia may feel forced into violence to â€Å"protect† themselves. An example is James Huberty, who brutally murdered 21 people at a McDonald’s restaurant in San Ysidro, California. Huberty felt prosecuted and cheated by life. Shortly before he announced to his wife that he was â€Å"going hunting humans,† Huberty had been hearing hallucinated voices. (Coon and Mitterer, 2010) In July, 1998, a man named Russell Westen, who had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, entered the Capitol Building in Washington, D. C. , with a handgun, killing two security guards before he was shot and injured himself. As it turned out, the man had refused to take his medications. He was delusional, claiming that the President was conspiring to kill him. Once he claimed that the satellite dish in his little town in Montana was spying on him for the CIA. His parents said that he believed secret powers were trying to control him through the TV set. The man's symptoms read like a textbook description of paranoid schizophrenia. Not all paranoid schizophrenics are dangerous; most of them are not. However, when they begin to act on their fantasies, like this man did, they can become dangerous. (Psywww, 2007) Since, paranoid schizophrenia affects so many people worldwide, it is very important to know the early warning signs and symptoms associated with it. It is important to be able to recognize the strange activities he or she may be doing, from talking to the strange little leprechauns in the corner or getting violent and raged about the government or whomever, trying to come after them or their families. These diseased people need to be given the help they need. They need the antipsychotic medications, and the psychotherapy treatments to help them control there hallucinations and anger. With positive family and treatments, the violent outrages and murders can be kept under control. We just have to be able to understand what these patients are going through and help them with the proper treatments for their individual symptoms. (W/c 998) REFERENCES: Coon, D. and Mitterer, J. (2010) Introduction to Psychology (12th Ed. (P. 472). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth LIVESTRONG. com, (2010) Signs ; Symptoms of Paranoid Schizophrenia. Retrieved December 6, 2011 from http://www. livestrong. com/article/22699-signs-symptoms-paranoid-schizophrenia/ MAYOCLINIC, (2010) Treatments and Drugs. Retrieved December 6, 2011 from http://www. mayoclinic. com/health/paranoid-schizophrenia/Ds00862/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs MNT, (2010) What is Paranoid Schizophrenia? What causes Paranoid Schizophrenia? Retrieved De cember 6, 2011 from

President Washingtons inaugural address Assignment

President Washingtons inaugural address - Assignment Example 3). The president stressed that he would act in accordance with the Constitution. According to his speech, Washington sees presidency as the institution aimed at making sure that the major law is followed and people have an opportunity to live proper lives. The president is a guard who makes sure that the nation develops and achieves all the goals set. Of course, the major goal is wellbeing and prosperity, but there is also an aim to be respected in the world. It is necessary to add that a number of political ideals mentioned by Washington especially animate his speech. First of all, the reference to the Constitution is one of these ideals as the nation was built on the idea of equality secured by the Constitution. Americans have always been sure that there should be the governance of law. The president promised that there would be â€Å"no local prejudices, or attachments†, no â€Å"party animosities† (Washington’s inaugural address, 1789, para. 3). He promised that all decisions would be made in accordance with the major law of the country. Admittedly, this was an important political ideal for Americans who took pride in their Constitution. The president also mentioned â€Å"the voice† of his country a number of times (Washington’s inaugural address, 1789, para. 1). In this case, he appeals to another political ideal: people’s ability to vote and choose the President of the country. This is an important pillar for the American democracy as people take the responsibility and make their major decision affecting the future of their country. Clearly, Americans knew (or at least wanted to make it happen) that there was political equality, and each citizen could express his ideas and his voice could be heard. Washington paid specific attention to another important political ideal. The president stressed that he (as any other politician should) would try his best to make the nation prosperous and

OUTLINE Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

OUTLINE - Assignment Example In the present age where there is growth hence need for more food, the pesticides should be used as much as critics may perceive them to be poisonous. The Environmental protection Agency provides that food may not harm individuals if they are washed (Robin, pp.30) I. To know if the food that individuals eat is safe, one should be aware of the amount of pesticides left on the food consumed. This amount of pesticide is referred to as pesticide residue. According to the Environmental Agency, there is an amount that when left on the food makes it safe. This amount that is permitted on the food is known as pesticide tolerance. For the determination on what is to be left, the Environmental protection Agency dictates environmental and health risks that pesticides pose (Robin, pp.30) a) For the persons who do not consume organic foods, there are measures that can be considered to make the food harmless. Firstly, if foods are washed the consumption of pesticides are reduced to some amounts. The most effective way of washing is by the use of running water rather than soaking or dunking as it washes away pesticide on the surface unlike the other two that scatter them on the surface b) Apart from the washing effectiveness can be achieved by scrubbing vegetables and fruits like root and melon vegetables like root and melons vegetables. The leafy vegetables outer layer should be cast off to lessen exposure. Peeling vegetables and fruits if need be may be of help. Skin and fat can be sheared from poultry, fish and meat to lessen the pesticide residue amount that is in fats. In addition, eating various vegetables and fruits limits exposure to one pesticide type. A dry cloth should be used in drying of food to avoid contamination from towel. The consumers ought to know that organic food contains pesticides. In fact 95% of additives in organic food are organic. I. There are ways to decrease the pesticide amount that are got on foods, although

Treatment for Tobacco Use Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Treatment for Tobacco Use - Essay Example Chantix was developed specifically for smoking cessation and is a highly selective nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist. Chantix affects the sites in the brain that are affected by nicotine and aid by reducing the craving for nicotine. Being a partial agonist means that is has both a stimulating and a blocking effect on the receptor it is attracted to. Pfizer received a priority FDA review because of its potential to offer substantial improvement in the public health. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), trials took place in 2003-2004 at 6 US and 18 International medical clinics that were experienced in smoking cessation. The participants were chronic smokers who averaged smoking 21 cigarettes per day. The trials were designed as a 12-week treatment program with an extended follow-up period. Participants were given carbon monoxide testing to verify their claims of abstinence. In a trial reported by JAMA, after 52 weeks 43.6% of the participants that received varenicline had continued not to smoke. This compared to 36.9% of the participants that received a placebo. Other studies have reported a success rate of 21.9% for varenicline versus 8.4% for the placebo. The difference has been attributable to the design of the study.

Business ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Business ethics - Essay Example that there was a big problem with epidemics of AIDS along with hepatitis B, hepatitis C and some other lethal diseases among American medical workers during the 1990s. The problem concerned the fact that the syringes that hospitals provided their workers with were extremely unsafe, as they were constructed the way that it was easy to get a needlestick injury if used inappropriately. Hence, nurses often got injured in some extreme medical situations that required fast actions; very often they got injuries with the syringes that contained the blood of the patients that had the lethal diseases mentioned above. The cost of such injuries was estimated at $400 million to $1 billion a year. Thus on December 6, 1991, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) brought in safety precautions and obligated hospitals to provide their workers with special trainings concerning prevention of the injuries like that. However the prevention measures caused a lot of discussions, as they were not efficient at all. The point was that considering the difficulty of nurses’ work and their obligation to react immediately most of the time, it appeared to be impossible to teach them how to avoid accidents involving injuries. About 70 percent of all the needles and syringes used by U.S. health care workers were manufactured by Becton Dickinson. Even though the huge harm had been done to medical workers, production of a new design of safer syringes required a lot of funds and resources, as reorganization of manufacturing would cost a lot of money for Becton Dickinson. Therefore the company wanted to shorten their expenses and the only measure they suggested was putting warning labels on their production without any actual engineering changes in the syringes. However, on December 23, 1986, a patent for a syringe with a tube surrounding the body of the syringe that could be pulled down to cover and protect the needle on the syringe was issued to Norma Sampson (a nurse) and

The Effects Of Social Networks On E-Commerce Dissertation

The Effects Of Social Networks On E-Commerce - Dissertation Example Over the past years, the internet was used by majority of people as a medium for interaction and making fun by engaging in activities such as online gaming. With numerous improvements made on the internet, there has been an ever rising increase in trust in social links among the users. For this reason, online marketplaces have been augmented by many online business people as a way of developing and building honest and trust in their transactions with their partners as well as maximizing customer satisfactions. The outcome is the growth in the size of sales over the internet leading to a shift in demand. Through social links, customers can chart through forums with their clients, exchange useful business information concerning a particular company or product. Therefore, customers have a better bargaining power. This paper gives a deep exploration into how social media instruments affects the frequent purchasing behaviors and business transaction activities, notwithstanding the implica tions on the demand for products in the online-fashion industry. Like the trends in fashions, the tools of social media are innovative yet unpredictable because they are getting utilized and improved each and every time. The fashion industry is getting transformed by facets that are more related as a result of movement of more professionals of fashion in the online media, for this case the social media. The accessibility into the industry by has been made easy by these tools thus involving the general public and the entire customers of the fashion industry updated on the current fashion trends. Specifically this study explains the effects of social media on the behaviors of demand and customer inflow into the market. 1.0 INTRODUCTION In the recent years, the way people communicate with each other and share information has been revolutionized by social media. Initially the social networks were being used in large numbers by the teenagers for making new friends as well as keeping in t ouch with old ones. However, the situation has changed with now the focus being directed to online commerce for the purpose of generating solid and reliable revenues1. The e-mail which was earlier seen as the only method of communication electronically has been out-fashioned by the social media which is currently leaving its mark in the e-commerce, and the online fashion industry is not an exception. The fashion industry traces its roots to the traditional and old business practices hence making it lag behind in adopting new technologies. Almost everything done in the industry is more dependent on human labor rather than machines, beginning with designs sketches of designs to the process of purchasing. In most situations, the customers were the determiners of what kind of stock was to be put in stock because of their different tastes and preferences. However, with the existence of fast-acting technologies, fashion brands no longer seat back and wait for their customers to meet their needs. Social media is a to-way form of media under which users develop personal identities through dialogue and self-presentation.2 This has led to the social media receiving immense attention from consumers who go shopping online, specifically the fashion industry consumers. The global platforms such Tweeter, LinkedIn and Facebook creates room for designers to blog and keep their profiles updated with the aim of molding their brands and personalities on real-time basis. The interaction between

Market Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Market Analysis - Assignment Example Also worth to note is the eventual interaction between online shopping and the gaming market. Gamers continue to purchase their preferred games online as opposed to the traditional approach where games were mostly purchased over the counter. This will obviously affect such outcomes as packaging. Marketers will be forced to shift from their current packaging models that mostly involve compact disks and memory sticks to other packaging models that are friendlier to online shoppers. Already, gamers are flooding social media sites to enable them to find fellow gamers and to indeed play a video game over the internet. Gaming coders are also ensuring that their games contain the requisite social media links so as gamers can share their progress and achievements over the social media sites and in the process contribute to marketing of the game. Mobile phones and tablets are the other market disruptors in the gaming market (Kammerlander, 2013). The current gaming sensation, Candy Crush, that boasts of over 45 million monthly users mainly derived from social media platforms. The game is not available through traditional consoles but through mobile phones and tablets. Candy Crush has since been declared as the most addictive and popular social media games of all time. The Candy Crush statistics has since dwarfed those of the former contenders Angry Birds and Farm Ville. Since its launch in April 2012, the game has attracted over 550 million installations across Apple’s ios, Google’s Android and Facebook. Also notable is the fact that the game’s revenue model is mainly driven by an integrated online shopping platform where gamers can purchase extra lives and functions or even purchase more time in between the allowable lockout period that is applied after one fails to complete a particular level even after numerous repetitions. King, the company that manufacturers Candy Crush receives $875,000 in revenues in a single business day by integrating the

Government health care vs private health care Essay

Government health care vs private health care - Essay Example Over the years people have argued for both the private health care sector and the public health care sector stating the advantages and the disadvantages of each side. A private health care or private medicine is a health care or medicine that is funded and provided by entities other than the government, they are privately run by companies or personals. People have mainly argued for private health care mainly because it’s based on basic economic principles like supply, demand and a competitive market. No private health firm could charge you more than the other firms due to the competitive nature of market in which they operate. Secondly due to the competitive nature patients receive fast and high quality treatment as private facilities often are in competition with other facilities, this characteristic of private health facilities makes it convenient for patients and often prove life saving. The author talks about what Ken Dallafior, senior vice president of group sales and corporate marketing, at Detroit-based Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, had to say â€Å"If youre in an industry that is highly competitive in terms of recruiting and maintaining talent, you have better control of the process and the plans that are offered to employees, which can affect your talent objectives,† (Banham, 2013). Private health care facilities offer a large pool of specialists and hospitals, so the patients have a choice of who they want to go to for treatment. Looking at large private health care facilities also helps remove a big burden off the backs of the government; it reduces government spending on the health sector. Although this kind of medical health care proves very beneficial for the public, private health facilities are often very expensive and majority of the public is unable to attain such facilities and they revert back to public health care. A public health care facility is one that is funded by the government so that all public could avail health

Steve Smith and postmodernism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Steve Smith and postmodernism - Essay Example The paper "Steve Smith and Postmodernism" investigates how does Steve Smith defend postmodernism. The first defense of Smith from Østerud is his criticism against Østerud terminology as too abstract that cannot even pinpoint in detail his positions but rather content himself with quotations from international relations literature. In sum, Smith is criticizing Østerud for lack of vagueness and lack of originality. The terminology which Østerud uses that are often borrowed from epistemological argument and perspective, are also lambasted by Smith to be foggy and fancy â€Å"talking about imprecise shortcuts†. Østerud penchant for usage of new terminologies as required in studying international relations is also debunked by Smith to be hardly unique to international relations. Even the deconstruction method and approach of Østerud criticism against postmodernism which is deconstruction is also lambasted by Smith to be faulty because it leads an infinite regressi on that undermines the research. He also negated the claim of Østerud that postmodernism is anti-unscientific is very simplistic and reject the notion put forth by Ostrud that â€Å"postmoderns are not rigorous†. The biggest defense of Smith for postmodernism from the criticism of Østerud is his reiteration of the purpose of postmodernism to be closer to Enlightenment because it focuses on how to use knowledge to improve human condition which is the same as the aim of the enlightenment which is his direct refutation against Østerud’s criticism.

The motorcycle Helmet law Essay Example for Free

The motorcycle Helmet law Essay Millions of people all over the United States choose motorcycles over automobiles for the thrill, speed, and high performance capabilities. On the other hand, motorcycles are not at all the safest way of transportation. Motorcycles do not provide the passenger with the outer protection that cars provide, therefore, when one crashes, the results are usually much more serious. Injuries to the head are responsible for 76% of fatalities when dealing with motorcycle crashes many of which could have been prevented had the rider been wearing a helmet. For this reason, many states have adopted the motorcycle helmet law. The law states that every passengers must wear a helmet at all times when riding on a motorcycle. This law has created a great deal of controversy. One side supports the law, believing that it protects motorcyclists from danger and saves the economy a great deal of money. The other side argues that the law is unconstitutional and it violates our right to freedom. However, statistics show overwhelming support in favor of the motorcycle helmet law. Although wearing helmets cannot prevent motorcycle crashes, they can greatly reduce the number of deaths caused by head injury as well as lowering taxes, insurance rates, and health care costs. Therefore, the helmet law should be put into effect in every state across the United States. Helmets drastically reduce the tremendous number of deaths caused by head injuries as well as reducing the severity of any nonfatal injuries to the head. Statistics gathered by the Safety Nationwide Insurance Enterprises show that an unhelmeted rider is 40% more likely to suffer fatal head injuries, compared with a helmeted rider. Also, with the helmet law in effect, close to 100% of motorcyclists wear a helmet. Without the law, only 50% of motorcyclists wear helmets. Also, death rates are twice as high in states without the law. One study estimated that because 25 states ratified the law, over 3,300 lives were saved last year alone. Since helmets reduce the risk of injury and death, they will also, in tern, help the economy. The Vice President of Safety Nationwide Insurance Enterprises, Tim Hoyt, states, We may not be able to eliminate all the risk from motorcycling, but helmet laws greatly reduce the most expensive injuries head injuries. Reducing these costs is good for the consumer and it Is good for business, too. Health care costs and insurance rates are lowered because it is not as expensive to treat smaller-scale injuries. The government ends up paying a large portion of peoples medical bills because of different types of public assistance programs. Hence, when health care costs are lower, the government does not need as much of our money to pay for those programs and taxes are reduced. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimated that over $4 million dollars were saved last year as a direct result of the motorcycle helmet law. For these reasons the motorcycle helmet law should indisputably be enforced in every state. If the motorcycle helmet law helps the economy and more importantly saves lives, why doesnt the entire country enforce the law? The answer is, many people feel that the helmet law is a violation of the rights granted to Americans in the Constitution. Most people in opposition to this law do not necessarily believe that it is a wise choice to ride a motorcycle without a helmet and they do recognize the positive impinge the helmet law has created. However, they do not think that the government has the right to tell people that it is mandatory to wear a helmet. One man argues, If we let the government dictate things like how we should ride a motorcycle, we will slowly develop characteristics of a communist government. Isnt communism what we fought against for so many years? Because of these strong points of view, a number of states do not endorse the motorcycle helmet law. Some people believe that the motorcycle helmet law violates our freedom as Americans, but the law is actually used to protect us from harm and maintain order. There are limitations on almost everything we do, because a society without some type of laws or rules would be complete chaos. Just as there are speed limits, drinking restrictions, and seatbelt laws to protect us while in an automobile, there needs to be some type of law to protect us while riding on a motorcycle (especially since motorcycles are more dangerous in the first place). Therefore, in response to the opposing argument, the helmet law is not imposing on our Constitutional rights, but merely the governments way of saving money for itself and consumers and protecting riders. The motorcycle helmet law was designed to lower taxes, insurance rates, and health care costs and more importantly to save the lives of our loved ones. Statistics have proved just that. There is not one study that disproves the positive effect the motorcycle helmet law has created thus far. Helmets will not stop a motorcyclist from getting into an accident, but with a helmet, the rider will most likely be able to survive the crash. The extra second it takes to put on a helmet could be the second that saves someones life. Why not make it the law?

Coca-Cola Amatil Limited Management

Coca-Cola Amatil Limited Management Introduction The soft drink manufacturing industry is one of the largest industries around the globe. In Australia, it is one of the greatest revenue generators, estimated at $4bn as of 2016 according to the ibisworld.com 2016 report (IBISWorld.com, 2016 P. 1). The major players in the industry in Australia are Coca-Cola Amatil Limited and Asahi Holdings. The aim of this paper is to analyze and evaluate the performance of Coca-Cola Amatil Limited by first looking at the overview of the company itself. Overview of the Company Management and directors of the company The management of Coca-Cola Amatil Limited comprises of the Board of Directors and the group leadership team. The Chief Executive Officer, officially known as the group managing director, Ms. Alison Watkins (CCA, P.1) is both on the board of directors and the leadership team. The board of directors comprises of the Chairman, Mr. David Gonski, and the CEO (CCA, P. 1). The Chairman is a non-executive director. The other non-executive directors include the following: Ilana Atlas, Non-Executive Director (Independent) John Borghetti, Non-Executive Director (Independent) Anthony (Tony) Froggatt, Non-Executive Director (Independent) Martin Jansen, Non-Executive Director Mark Johnson, Non-Executive Director (Independent) Wal King, AO Non-Executive Director (Independent) David Meiklejohn, AM Non-Executive Director (Independent) Catherine Brenner, Non-Executive Director Paul OSullivan, Non-Executive Director (Independent) Krishnakumar Thirumalai, Non-Executive Director (Nominee of TCCC) (CCM, 2016) The management team consists of the Group managing director, Ms. Alison Watkins, and the following: Mr. Reg Weine, Managing Director SPC Mr. Barry OConnell, Managing Director, Australian Beverages Mr. Kadir Gunduz, Managing Director, Indonesia PNG Mr. Shane Richardson, Managing Director, Alcohol Coffee Mr. Chris Litchfield, Managing Director, New Zealand Fiji Ms. Libbi Wilson, Group Human Resources Director Ms. Betty Iyanoff, Group General Counsel Ms. Katie Newton-John, Joint Company Secretary Mr. James Lane, Sales Director Ms. Liz McNamara, Group Head of Public Affairs and Communications Mr. Simon Edgar, Director Marketing, and Strategy Mr. Chris Sullivan, Chief Procurement Officer Mr. Warwick Hutton, Chief Information Officer Mr. Andrew Wilson, General Manager-Strategy, Planning Innovation Mr. Davis Akers, Head of Investor Relations Ms. Kate Mason, Chief Transformation Officer (ibisworld.com, 2016) Major shareholders (holding at least 5% of shares) Coca-Cola Amatil Limited is a public limited company in Australia (IBISWorld.com, 2016 P. 1).   According to IBISWorld.com, (2016), the major shareholders are the following: Coca-Cola Holdings Ltd of the United States of America, with a percentage shareholding of 29.21 HSBC Custody Nominees Limited (Australia) with a share of 18.65% JP Morgan Nominees Australia Limited with 10.05% shareholding National Nominees Limited (Australia) with 8.54% shareholding Citicorp Nominees Pty Limited with 5.93% shareholding. Compensation of Directors and Top Executives The company has a remuneration committee that is responsible for setting out the remuneration of all employees. The committee has set favourable compensation incentive plans that are performance based; a key management who performs better is likely to earn more on top of the fixed remuneration. According to the CCA Annual Report (2015, P. 62), the compensation of key management personnel was as follows; A.M. Watkins, the Group Managing Director, had a fixed compensation which included Salary and leaves entitlements amounting to $2,263,266, non-monetary benefits of $450, superannuation of base salary of $19,046 and another amount of $7,720. The manager was also able to take at-risk performance related compensation which amounted to $1,564,500 (Coca-Cola Amatil Annual Report, 2015, P. 62). The Group Chief Financial Officer, Mr. M.J. Robert had a fixed salary of $1,810,083 and non-monetary benefits of $258. He also received a superannuation of base salary amounting to $9,654 (CCA Annual Report, 2015, P. 62). He was also entitled to at-risk performance-related compensation of $267,027 (CCA Annual Report, 2015, P. 62). The Group Human Resources Director, E.C Wilson, was entitled to a fixed salary of $620,987 and non-monetary benefits of $36,562 (CCA Annual Report, 2015, P. 62). The Managing Director of Indonesia PNG was entitled to a fixed salary of $719,674 and non-monetary benefits of $432,970, and a risk allowance of $ 371, 626 (CCA Annual Report, 2015, P. 62). The managing director of New Zealand and Fiji was entitled to a fixed salary of $341, 440 and non-monetary benefits of $5,254 with risk allowance of $316,269 (CCA Annual Report, 2015, P. 62). The managing director of Australian Beverages, on the other hand, was entitled to a fixed salary of $939,462 and non-monetary benefits of $118,222 with a risk allowance of $491,447 (CCA Annual Report, 2015, P. 62). Key performance Indicators (accounting and market) Coca-Cola Amatil Limited, being the largest company in the Asia Pacific in the soft drinks industry, has several key performance indicators which serve as the basis for its business decisions. According to ibisworld.com (2016), the Accounting Key Performance Indicators include: The Return on Revenue percentage Percentage Return on Shareholders Funds Percentage Return on Assets Percentage Profit Margin The Revenue per Employee The Net Profit after Tax (NPAT) per Employee The percentage Effective Tax Rate The Percentage Gearing The Interest Cover The Current Ratio The Dividends paid per Share The Marketing Key Performance Indicators are: The percentage change of Total Revenue Growth The percentage change in Sales Revenue Growth The Percentage change in Total Assets The percentage change in the Net Profit After Tax The percentage change in Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) The percentage change in Shareholders Funds Evaluation of the performance of Coca-Cola Amatil Limited Coca-Cola Amatil Limited is one of the major players in the Soft Drink Manufacturing Industry in Australia. The industrys retail market has been hit by changing customer preferences of soft drink which has led to a significant drop in revenue. However, the growth in popularity of energy and sports drinks has spearheaded the growth of the industry. According to IBISWorld.com (2016), the industry revenue has been projected to increase at an annual rate of 2.4% for the next five years through 2015-2016. In Australia, the company is ranked position 72 in the top 2000 companies. The primary source of income of the company is from the manufacture of beverage and tobacco in the Australia industry. According to ibisworld.com (2016), Coca-Cola Amatil Limited is reported to have generated total revenue of $5.253 billion in the year ending 2016. The company operates in two groups namely: Non-Alcoholic beverages, and Alcoholic, Food, and Services. Under the Non-Alcoholic Beverage segment, the company manufactures and distributes the Coca-Cola licensed products in five Asia Pacific countries which are Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia (IBISWorld.com, 2016). For the purpose of evaluation, the report will cover the various segments in which Coca-Cola Amatil Limited operates. Spirit Manufacturing in Australia In 2007, CCA started to venture into the alcoholic beverage market after signing a 10 year deal with Beam Global Spirits and Wines Inc and executing it as a joint venture with SABMiller (IBISWorld.com, 2016). As of 2016, the number of companies in the industry is 71 with a turnover growth rate of 1.31 and a size of $1.7831 billion (IBISWorld.com, 2016). Coca-Cola Amatil Limited has an estimated market share of 15.3% in this industry (IBISWorld.com, 2016). Over the past five years, from 2012 to 2017, CCAs alcoholic segment has been performing well despite a reduced consumption which has slowed growth rate. According to IBISWorld.com (2016), CCAs revenue in this industry is expected to increase at an annual rate of 3.3% through December 2017. The primary competitors are Diageo Australia Limited and Asahi Holdings (Australia) Pty Limited. Diageo and Asahi Holdings have market shares of 23.6% and 12.3% respectively, implying that Diageo is the market leader followed by CCA. Fruit and Vegetable Processing in Australia The company ventures in the fruit and vegetable processing through its subsidiary company called SPC Ardmona (IBISWorld.com, 2016). The subsidiary processes a broad range of fruits and vegetable products for sale in various retail stores. The companys performance in this segment has been hampered by cheap imports from South Africa and Italy (IBISWorld.com, 2016). There has also been a competition between the major supermarkets such as Woolworths and Coles, which has also led to the reduction in prices of the products. The industry size is estimated to be $5.8864 billion with a turnover growth rate of 0.29. CCA has a market share of 5.7%. Other players in the Industry are Simplot Australia Pty Limited and Heinz Watties Pty Limited with market shares of 8.1% and 6.6% respectively (IBISWorld.com, 2016). Coca-Cola Amatil has been struggling to cope with the competition over the past five years. Generally, it has been underperforming due to oversupply from cheap imports. Extreme weather has also affected the company since it has reduced fresh produce.   In 2013, the total revenue was 319.8, up from 317.2 in 2012. There was also an increase in 2014, but the revenue decreased in 2015 which was recorded to be 319.6 down from 328.1 in 2014. The revenue in 2016 rose to 332.4. Soft Drink Manufacturing Coca-Cola Amatil boasts being the largest soft drink manufacturer in Australia with a market share of 53.8% (ibisworld.com, 2016).   Its rival, Asahi Holdings Pty Limited has a market share of 24.9%. Historically, the performance of CCA has been strong. However, high competition and shift of customers preference of soft drinks due to health concerns have significantly affected the revenue.   Despite being the market leader in the industry, CCA has been underperforming over the last five years. The companys revenue has been falling due to pressures from competitors and marketing costs. According to IBISWorld report (2016), the revenue increased between 2011 and 2012. From 2012 to 2016, the profits have sharply decreased. Overall Company Performance In overall, CCA has been performing relatively well considering the fact that its main business segment has the highest market share in Australia. Sales Revenue According to Saunders Cornett (2014), sales revenue refers to the net income from the sales of goods or services after all the costs have been subtracted. Over the last five years, CCA has been recording an unstable growth in sales revenue. As at December 2012, the sales revenue was $5,097,400. This was followed by a drop in 2013 which recorded sales revenue of $5,036,400, a growth rate of -1.2%. In 2014, the sales revenue grew at a rate of -1.9% to $4,942,800. This was the lowest figure in the span of five years. In 2015, CCA did a lot to achieve high sales revenue of %5,093,600,000 which is equivalent to a growth rate of 3.1%. In 2016, the sales revenue changed positively at a rate of 1.1% to record a figure of $5,150,800,000 (ibisworld.com, 2016). Although the sales growth rate seems to be staggering, the average growth of sales revenue from 2011 to 2016 is 1.4%. Total Revenue Saunders Cornett (2014) define total revenue as the income of a company from all sources, including the sales revenue, in a given period. The figure includes the sales revenue and revenue from other sources. Just like the sales revenue, CCA has had unstable total revenue since 2012. The company recorded $5.175 billion of total revenue in 2012 (ibisworld.com, 2016). In 2013, the total revenue dropped by 1.1% to record $5.1199 billion (ibisworld.com, 2016). In the following year, a further decline in total revenue was also realized, at a staggering figure of $5.0341 billion, which was a drop by 1.7% (ibisworld.com, 2016).   In 2015, CCAs total revenue increased at a rate of 3% to become $5.1869 billion by the end of the year (ibisworld.com, 2016). By the end of 2016, the total revenue was recorded as $5.2532 billion, which was an increase of 1.3% from the previous year. On average, the percentage change in growth rate since 2011 is 1.5%, implying that the company is on the righ t track. However, comparing to the average growth rate in the industry which was 2.36% in 2016, the company has been underperforming. Net Profit after Tax (NPAT) Net Profit after Tax (NPAT) is the amount of money a company earns after all its expenses (Saunders Cornett, 2014). Coca-Cola Amatil Limited has been hit by fluctuations in profits, and its profits have generally been decreasing sharply from 2012 to date. In 2012, the net profit after tax was $457.8 million. This was followed by a sharp decrease in 2013, which was $79.9 million, which is a percentage decrease of 82.5% (ibisworld.com, 2016). In 2014, the profits increased more than twice and reached $272.1 million, which is 240.6% growth. The profits grew further by 44.6% in 2015 but, as of 2016 December, the profit was $246.1 million as opposed to $393.4 million in 2015, which was a decrease of 37.4% (ibisworld.com, 2016). On average, CCA has not been doing well regarding profits. Its average change in NPAT is -16.1%. As of December 2016, the industry average NPAT was 4.99%, implying that CCA has been performing poorly. Return on Revenue (ROR) To understand the profitability of CCA, it is essential to look at the change in ROR. In 2012, the change in ROR was 8.9% (ibisworld.com, 2016). In 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, the ROR was 1.6%, 5.4%, 7.6% and 4.7% respectively (IBISWorld.com, 2016). This implies that the company was more profitable in 2012 and 2015 compared to the rest of the years. Return on Assets (ROA) The ROA measures the profitability of a company in relation to its assets. CCA has been doing well since it has been recording a positive ROA since 2012. Coca-Cola Amatil Limited management team can be said to be efficient in utilizing assets to generate revenue. From 2012 to 2016, the Return on Assets is 6.8%, 1.2%, 4.5%, 5.9%, and 3.8% respectively. The average ROA in the industry as at 2016 was 1.9% compared to CCAs 3.8% (IBISWorld.com, 2016). The company has, therefore, been performing well in the industry. Question 2 Robert Alba just won the state lottery. He has been given the option of receiving either  $62.9 million today or $5 million a year for the next 35 years, with the first payment paid  today. Discuss the process that Robert should use to determine which payment option he  prefers. Ignore all taxes and assume that Jesse will live for at least 40 more years Solution To determine the best option, we need to determine the present value the Annuity due of for the given cash flows since the payment in the second option is going to be made at the beginning of the period. Present value or the discounted value refers to the current worth of the given amount of money or the stream of cash flow that is going to be received in future at a particular rate of return (Brealey, Myers, Allen, and Mohanty, 2012). The present value is usually less than the future value due to the time value of money characteristic, which states that money will always earn an interest; therefore, a dollar today is more than a dollar tomorrow. The formula is as follow; (Brealey, Myers, Allen, and Mohanty, 2012) Where C=the cash given per period i = rate of interest n= the number of payments In this case, the present value of $62.9 million today is $62.9 million. Robert Alba should determine the present value of the cumulative cash flows of $5 million per year for 35 years.   The best option would be that with the highest present value. Using the formula above, the present value for option B will be as follow; Assuming a uniform interest rate of 10%, $53.04 million is less than $62.9 million; therefore, Robert Alba should choose option A, i.e. to receive the payment of $62.9 million now. List References Brealey, R.A., Myers, S.C., Allen, F. and Mohanty, P., 2012. Principles of corporate finance. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. CCA Annual Report, 2015. Real Possibilities Real Progress-2015 Annual Report. Accessed on https://www.ccamatil.com/-/media/Cca/Corporate/Files/Annual-Reports/2015/CCA166-CCA-Annual-Report-2015-WEB_final.ashx CCA, n.d. Coca-Cola Amatil Limited. Accessed on https://www.ccamatil.com IBISWorld.com, 2016. IBISWorld Company Premium Report: Coca-Cola Amatil Limited. Balance Date: 2016 Saunders, A. and Cornett, M.M., 2014. Financial institutions management. McGraw-Hill Education.

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Issues in the UK and US

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Issues in the UK and US Why it Remains a Pervasive Issue in the United States and the European Union   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unsolicited sexual harassment, especially toward women, has been a serious and harrowing issue all around the world for centuries. Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 in the United States defines sexual harassment as unwelcome advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature that create offensive or hostile environments (1964, 3). This includes any instance of verbal harassment, molestation, rape, etc. that violate the victim’s dignity while creating a hostile, humiliating, or degrading environment (European Institute for Gender Equality). Sexual harassment has taken many shapes and forms throughout history but one fact remains, women are exploited and discredited while their harassers are more than often unaffected. Women have not been properly represented and advocated for within their respective countries and their voices have been silenced. They have not had a platform to advocate for themselves as well as others because most of the time, their accusations are ignored, discredited, and they are forced to hide their pain and suffering. Both the United States and the European Union have laws and legislature in place that prohibit institutions, like schools and workplaces, from having any gender discrimination and encourage the protection of women’s rights. Additionally, countries in the EU have ratified convention such as the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). However, these measures have been ineffective because there is a severe lack of regulation of these laws and conventions and no monitoring of how they are being implemented. Sexual harassment rates rise steadily in both these regions as over sixty percent of women in the US and EU have been sexually harassed in their lifetime (Clarke 2007, 1) and something must be done about it. Thankfully, testimonies, particularly from the past few years, have sparked the creation of movements that shed light on the horrifying instances of sexual harassment of women around the world and expose the individuals behind such abominable acts. Widespread movements, such as #MeToo and Time’s Up have given victims a community to heal and a voice through which they can combat sexual harassment both in and out of the workplace. There would not be a need for movements like these if harassment and assault were not a prominent issue. Sexual harassment remains a pervasive issue in both the United states and the European Union because, even with conventions, laws, and legislature in place, the lack of regulation, limited monitoring of implementation, and an absence of national recognition leave victims alone in their fight.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sexual harassment comes in many different forms and comprehending them is the first step toward understanding the magnitude of this issue. By comparing how both the United States and the European Union define sexual harassment, we can begin to analyze the inner workings of each country in regard to sexual harassment. Cases of sexual harassment are always unsolicited and unwelcome according to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Moreover, the European Institute for Gender Equality defines sexual harassment as a form of gender based violence including acts of unwanted physical, verbal, and non-verbal conduct, which have the grounds or effect of violating the victim’s dignity while creating a hostile or degrading environment (EIGE 1). A key word used in the definition of both the US and the EU is unwelcome. The word unwelcome emphasizes the victims’ discomfort and feelings of entrapment. However, it is not the same as involuntary because a victim may have agreed to certain things before realizing it was offensive or potentially dangerous. The main difference between these two interpretations is their focus. The US centralizes on the act of sexual harassment while the EU concentrates on the results.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Additionally, there are two main distinctions of sexual harassment that apply to both the EU and the US. The first is the private sphere. This level details sexual abuse in the home or private life of an individual. A study conducted by Quinnipiac University revealed that fifteen percent of women who have been sexually harassed and/or abused said it happened at home. (Frederick, 2) People often forget that some instances of harassment occur within the victims’ homes because most cases of sexual assault occur in the second sphere, the public sphere. This form involves instances of verbal harassment, sexual advances, molestation, rape, etc. that occur in the general community (RAINN). Also included in the public sphere is sexual harassment in the workplace. United States law recognizes two kinds of sexual harassment within the workplace, quid pro quo sexual harassment and hostile work environment. Quid pro quo involves an employee that has to tolerate and endure sexual harassment in exchange for employment, a promotion, a raise, etc. Hostile work environment, as defined by US law, is an offensive work environment that hinders an employee’s performance as a result of sexual harassment in the workplace (Title VII). On the other hand, the EU does not recognize different forms of sexual harassment in the workplace and uses a general definition. This is a huge part of the problem because the lack of distinction and recognition generates apathy and people forget that sexual harassment in the workplace is an entirely different issue on its own.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The impact of sexual harassment on survivors is severe and can range from depression and anxiety to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Victims can grow to fear physical and sexual conduct and avoid leaving their homes (Thomas, 143). According to Equal Rights Advocates, a women’s law center in the US, one in four women, between the ages of 18 and 35, have been sexually harassed in the workplace. This is only a statistic those who have reported sexual assault and, sadly, many women hide their pain and suffering out of fear. Additionally, this ratio gets slimmer as the women get older. The likelihood of women experiencing sexual harassment in or out of the workplace gets higher the older they are. If a study were conducted on women ages 18 to 75, the ratio would be closer to one in two women. 95 percent of these women suffer from debilitating stress reactions including anxiety, headaches, sleep disorders, weight loss or gain, depression, and fear of physical/sexual contact, as mentioned earlier (Equal Rights Advocates).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Furthermore, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) concluded that around 90 million women in all EU Member States have experienced at least one form of sexual harassment since the age of 15. That means that almost 60 percent of women have been sexually harassed. These statistics prove that having ratified a convention such as CEDAW has little to no effect on harassment and assault if there is no implementation and hard-set guidelines. Sexual harassment has a disheartening effect that hinders women from asserting themselves within the workplace. Among men, it reinforces the stereotypical view of women as objects. Extreme sexual harassment creates hostile or intimidating work environments that cause women to quit their jobs and look for another one or it discourages them from seeking jobs altogether. Women are too afraid to speak out about the issues theyre facing because they do not want to lose their jobs but if it gets too intense they feel as there is no other option but to quit. For most of American and European history, women quietly endured mistreatment and harassment in the workplace, with little to no protection or way out. By the 1920s, working women were advised to quit their jobs if they cannot handle sexual advances (Hill, 2). These traumatized women, some of which are single mothers, lose their source of income because their voices are silenced and they cannot advocate for their rights. Moreover, sexual harassment at work can have major consequences not only for the victim but for other working women who witness it. Like the harassed individuals, women try not to draw too much attention to themselves to avoid being sexually harassed as well. This hinders them from performing their best because they do not want to stand out, even if it means sacrificing potential promotions, raises, acknowledgements, etc. (Webb, 52) These women are exploited and mistreated because they have no one to fight for them as laws against sexual harassment both in the US and the EU are not adequately enforced.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979. It outlines discrimination against women and calls for national action to end gender based discrimination, harassment, and violence. Additionally, it requires States Parties to legislate provisions, programs, policies, and strategies which prohibit sexual harassment in all spheres. The United States was one of the first signatories on the convention but still has not ratified it. The US claims there are laws and regulations already in place that achieve what CEDAW means to accomplish, one of them being Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It aims to eradicate sexual harassment in schools and workplaces. The goal of the Sexual Harassment Policy, which is in effect at all schools and workplaces, is to provide an environment free of sexual harassment, intimidation, and exploitation. However, it has not worked effectively as sexual assault and harassment rates are steadily increasing. On the other hand, countries in the European Union, such as France and the United Kingdom, have signed and ratified CEDAW. After ratifying the convention, member states are required to meet a series of conditions to end discrimination of women in all forms. This includes assimilating gender equality into their legal system, abolishing discriminatory laws and adopting appropriate ones, establishing public institutions, etc.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To monitor the implementation of CEDAW, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was set in place by the UN. It is comprised of 23 independent experts from around the world that conduct observations and propose recommendations to state parties. However, these observations are few and far apart and the recommendations are not heavily enforced. The committee also requests that reports be sent in every few years from all member states that have ratified CEDAW yet many do not comply. If a country does not send in general reports of how gender equality and anti-sexual harassment laws are being enforced, the UN does not take any action. These countries are still considered to have ratified the convention even if they are not adhering to the guidelines set forth by the UN. I wanted to evaluate whether there is a correlation between the rates of sexual harassment and ratification of CEDAW. I concluded that there is no correlation between the two because the United States and countries in the European Union have the same rates of sexual harassment and assault. On average, over sixty percent of women in the US and EU reported they have been sexually harassed in their lifetime and sexual harassment rates have been steadily increasing in both these regions (Clarke 2007, 1). This all leads back to the lack of appropriate application and reinforcement, for both CEDAW and other legislature like Title VII, that leaves victims and survivors of sexual assault unprotected while the perpetrators get away with their crimes. Furthermore, the unwillingness of national governments to properly implement and fully adhere to regulations concerning sexual harassment in the workplace causes this issue to remain pervasive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sexual harassment in the workplace is nothing new and has been an agonizing issue for centuries, but it has seen a massive wave of attention and recognition recently as celebrities, citizens, coworkers, and others use their platforms to advocate for the rights of women around the world. The prevalence of workplace harassment led to the creation of groundbreaking anti-sexual assault and women’s empowerment movements such as #MeToo and Time’s Up. These movements, like many others, would not be necessary if sexual harassment were not an issue or if it were properly addressed by national governments and institutions. Celebrities have stepped up and accused Hollywood producers, directors, and actors who have taken advantage of their positions and sexual harassed women, such as Harvey Weinstein, Louis C. K., and Kevin Spacey. Countless women have spoken out about harassers, specifically Harvey Weinstein whose scandals triggered a series of allegations against similarly powerful men around the world (Rodino-Colocino, 97). These events provoked the creation of the #MeToo movement, a stand against sexual harassment, specifically in the workplace. It started in the United States on social media as a hashtag under which women would share testimonies about their personal experiences with sexual assault, harassment, and rape in the workplace or a professional setting. It provides a community of healing and lets victims and survivors know that they are not alone in their pain. Celebrities are looked up to and their seemingly perfect lives are envied. The #MeToo movement is extremely powerful and shift our view of Hollywood’s elites. Their courage to openly and so vulnerably share their experiences with the world gives women hope. Through their stories, we can also see that fame and fortune does not grant you a perfect life. Celebrities go through pain, discomfort, and fear just like anyone else and this shows women that they can let their voice be heard as well. Victims in European Union countries have found their voice just as Americans through many powerful women’s declarations. The movement went viral in October of 2017 and exposed the widespread prevalence of sexual harassment. Since then, #MeToo has spread to over 200 countries and women in every community, big or small have the courage to speak out and advocate for their own rights (Edge, 22).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In response to the #MeToo movement and the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the Time’s Up movement was founded in January 2018 by Hollywood celebrities. Additionally, many A-listers have assisted in the creation of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund. The fund provides legal support, defense, and advising to victims of sexual harassment, assault, or abuse in the workplace. As of February 2018, Time’s Up has raised 20 million dollars for its legal defense fund. It has also gained over 200 volunteer lawyers who are going to work directly with victims to ensure their rights are protected (Chu 2018, 16). When you visit the Time’s Up website, the first thing you see is a quote that reads, â€Å"The clock has run out on sexual assault, harassment, and inequality in the workplace. It is time to do something about it.† This perfectly exemplifies the goal of the movement. The time is up on silencing women and protecting abusers. It is time to make a change and take matters into our own hands since governments refuse to acknowledge the severity of sexual harassment and do something about it (Time’s Up Now). However, the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have caught plenty of negative backlash. Many men and, surprisingly, even women argue that these movements are unnecessary. Their claims range from attention seeking to pushing an extremist liberal agenda. The individuals who push back are not educated on the goals these movements. Many individuals have claimed that #MeToo and Time’s Up are only ways for women to get more attention and fame by falsely accusing others. People in opposition claim that since there is no proof of the assaults, other than women’s testimonies, how can they believe them? Additionally, men argue that accusations make male workers and executives have to avoid women in the workplace completely. They claim there is no communication between males and females unless it is directly related to work and this can hurt their work performance (Rodino-Colocino, 98). Nevertheless, the opposition to the movement has only given women a bigger reason to fight for their rights and protection. There will always be antagonists but victims and supporters are doing their part to lift their voices, especially for women who are teared down and silenced.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Additionally, the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have made their way across the pond, literally. What started in the United States has made an impact all over the globe as more than 200 countries have been actively raising awareness and implementing the goals of these movements into their own communities (Edge, 22). The celebrities that have shown their support for the cause, such as Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman, Justin Timberlake, Sebastian Stan, and many others, have utilized their platforms to advocate for an issue that is not only current in the United States but it applies all over the world including Europe. The global reach of these movements is massive and shows that women refuse to be silenced and cast aside, rather we will unite our voices and speak out for those who cannot. An example of the expansive influence of Time’s Up and #MeToo is the creation of British versions of them. British media and the entertainment industry have had a surge of simmering issues that leave women feeling hopeful of meaningful change. European celebrities, including Kierra Knightley, Emma Watson, and Daisy Ridley, are speaking out and demanding action. By the end of January, the British Time’s Up initiative had gained the support of over 50 internationally acclaimed women (Chu 2018, 16).They are uniting under this cause and increasingly raising their voices in a post Harvey Weinstein age. Various celebrities have reflected the support of Americans by wearing all black to the BAFTA ceremony much like celebrities who wore all black to the Oscars and the Golden Globes.These effects are mirrored in various countries in the EU and the resulting awareness is causing a change of drastic proportions. These movements have been able to achieve what national governments and legislature have failed to do. They have given all women a hopeful voice and have protected and defended them in the face of injustice and sexual harassment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I believe that there are many changes that could be implemented in both the United States and the European Union to lower the rates of sexual harassment in the workplace and, eventually, eradicate it. First, the United States should recognize the flaws and failures of its laws to fully protect women and eradicate sexual harassment in all spheres. They should take necessary measures to ratify CEDAW and enact legislative provisions that ensure the safety of women in and out of workplaces. There should also be proper punishment measures set forth for the perpetrators, such as termination of employment and prison sentences where necessary. Too many harassers get away with their crimes and they must be stopped. I believe that the US should also allocate funds to organizations, foundations, and movements like Time’s Up and #MeToo that properly identify harassers and provide defense for the victims of sexual assault. Next, countries in the European Union that have ratified CEDAW should regulate and measure the extent of implementations within their respective governments and institutions. I believe that EU countries would also benefit from recognizing various forms of sexual harassment rather than relying on a general definition. Additionally, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women under CEDAW should recruit more members to monitor application of the convention into law. They could also revoke the member states’ benefits of ratification. If they have not made an effort to implement policies and no change is detected, they should not be able to say they ratified the convention.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conclusion, the prevalence and pervasiveness of sexual harassment in both the United States can be attributed to their lack of regulation of these laws and conventions and the absence of implementation monitoring. Even so, the creation of movements such as Time’s Up and #MeToo have aided in representing for the victims of sexual assault and giving them a voice to speak out about their experiences. The lack of adequate representation and advocacy in the US left women no choice but to speak out for themselves and help others victims and survivors who have been silences. Their stand was inspiring and other countries like the United Kingdom, France, etc. mirrored their movements and efforts (Chu 2018, 16). This has been bringing about the change that governments failed to. Through the strength and global reach of these movement and fund the rates of sexual harassment and assault can be significantly lowered. Additionally, the US and the EU would benefit from implementing appropriate regulations to conventions, updating and revising current law and legislature, setting adequate punishment measures for perpetrators, and nationally recognizing sexual harassment in and out of the workplace. References Chu, Henry. â€Å"Time’s Up Movement Ripples across Pond.† Variety. 339(1):16. 2018. Clarke, Linda. 2007. †Sexual Harassment Law in the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union: Discriminatory Wrongs and Dignitary Harms† in Common Law World Review, Vol. 36. Edge, Abigail. The #MeToo Movement: Sexual Misconduct Charges Force Industry to Confront Itself† in The Quill. pp. 22. 2018. European Parliament. â€Å"How Could CEDAW be Implemented in the EU Legal Framework?† in Directorate-General for Internal Policies, Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs. Frederick, Bob. 2016. The Victims of Sexual Harassment in America. Connecticut: Quinnipiac University. Latcheva, Rossalina. 2017. Sexual Harassment in the European Union: A Pervasive but Still Hidden Form of Gender-Based Violence† in Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Vienna: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. Rodino-Colocino, Michelle. â€Å"#MeToo: Countering Cruelty with Empathy in Communication & Critical/Cultural Studies, pp. 96-100. 2018. Swift, Evangeline W. Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace: Trends, Progress, Continuing Challenges. Pennsylvania: DIANE Publishing. 1996. Thomas, Alison M. Politics, Policies and Practice: Assessing the Impact of Sexual Harassment Policies in UK Universities† in British Journal of Sociology of Education. 2004. Webb, Susan L. Step Forward: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. MasterMedia Publishing Corporation. 1991. Zippel, Kathrin S. The Politics of Sexual Harassment: A Comparative Study of the United States, the European Union, and Germany. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.