Was the Cold War an Identity Conflict?

Was the Cold War an Identity Conflict? The Cold War was a controversial war. Unlike previous wars the main actors never really frontally fought each other. By using client states to fight on their behalf, the USA and Soviet Union fought for their beliefs and identities. [1]Identity in IR can be associated with nationalism, and that is one of the reasons that the Cold War is seen as an identity conflict. The Cold War was in fact an opposition of different cultural, political, power and ideological identities.[2]This essay tries to clarify the semantics of the word identity, when this word started to have importance between the scholars an[3]d in particular why it is so important in order to understand better International Relations.[4] In this essay the main protagonists and events related to the Cold War will also be reviewed. After this important context is explained, the role of identities in the Cold War will be examined and described. By using some examples it should be clear why the Cold War was in fact an identity c onflict. What is Identity? To understand the role of identities in the Cold War it is first necessary to understand what identity really means, in particular related to IR. Defining identity is not easy and if we look at the word in the Cambridge Dictionary we find this definition: who a person is, or the qualities of a person or group that make them different from others [1]. But as James D. Fearon relates in his manuscript [2] dictionary definitions fail to capture the meaning of identity in every day and social science contexts.According to many scholars, identities play a central role in politics. Anthony Burke, for example, affirms that there would be no world politics, no people, no states and no international system without identity[3]. Before extending to groups such states or the international system[5] it is important to remember how the concept of identity starts from the individual. It is said that identity is what we make of it. Culture, education, family environment, media and many other factors shape every persons identity. Another aspect that should be pointed out is that rarely is identity forever fixed, and in fact identities can change throughout places and time. Relationships, for example, are a powerful factor able to change ones identity. Personal and national identities have a close connection as both mutually influence each other. A persons identity is influenced by the national identity of the country he/she was born in, and at the same time national identity is formed by putting together the single peoples identities of its inhabitants. [6]But as Jervis Robert asks: Can we treat national identity as singular in the face of internal differences? [4]. That is the reason why understanding the individuals identity and how they develop is important to understand how a group of identities work. We can refer to many aspects as identity. Identity in IR can often be related to nationalism, and this will be explained better later on. If we refer to cultural identity it is necessary to remember Huntingtons theory about the Clash of Civilisations [5]He argued that modern conflicts would happen mainly because of conflicts between civilisations. Regarding civilisations as cultural identities is evidence of how Huntingtons theory also applies to this case. Brief summary of the Cold War Besides clarifying the definition of identity, it is also important to understand the reasons for and the protagonists involved in the Cold War. As is well known, the Cold War happened mainly because of the tension between the two opposing superpowers, the USA in the West and the Soviet Union in the East. The Soviet Union was a communist system where, based around a central ideology, everyone owned the means to create a Commonwealth[7] while the United States was a capitalist system where almost everything was privately owned and run for profit. These two powers never really frontally fought against each other, instead, after World War II they started spreading their influence through the world and fighting each other using proxy wars, intimidation, propaganda and espionage. The Soviet Union and the United States spread their influence in the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia, trying to overthrow the old European colonial regime. Nationalism and identity As human beings we are considered to be social beings and for this reason we feel the desire or the necessity of belonging to a community. As explained before, an identity is something that belongs to a person and it is indivisible. Everyone has his/her own identity but everyone as human being has the need for belonging to a greater community or identity. Extending this fact to a national view we can understand how nationalisms are born. The pride of belonging to a nation and the desire to make ones own country the greatest is a way of making yourself belong to a national identity, making your identity complete by being part of a greater identity. In western counties, in particular in the US, the idea that ones own country was better than other was common. And although Karl Marx believed that nationalism was something to avoid, communist countries, such as China and the Soviet Union, were strongly nationalist as well. Nationalisms and wars are often connected to each other or even though necessary for the existence of the other. [8]The pride of ones own culture and identity that comes with nationalism can cause people to believe that their own country is always right and keeps motivated people to make sacrifices for their own country and be willing to fight for it. We build our identity by excluding characteristics we dont like. If we extend this concept to IR we can see how identities had a major role in the Cold War. Soviet identity, as an example, was shaped in opposition to the capitalist world as well, as Americans were constantly afraid of the spread of Communism (the Red Scare[6]). Americans believed that democratic ideology was the best , and that by globally spreading their ideologies they would assist the world to modernise and improve it. Communists from the Soviet Union had the same feelings about communism. By thinking like this it was inevitable that the two super powers would be pitted against each other. Geopolitical divisions = clash of identities During the Cold War the clash of identities was physically and geopolitically visible. Germany, Vietnam and Korea are clear examples of how there was a clear division and conflict between the two super powers identities. During the Vietnam War, the contrast between the two political and ideological identities was clear. South Vietnam was anti-communist and for this reason it was supplied by the US, while North Vietnam was pro-Communist and by using weapons from the USSR and China they fought against the south and against the US. The same scenario occurred in Korea and Germany,[9] in this last one by creating the material and physical division of the wall.This clash of identities was sometimes also immaterial[10]. An example of this is the Red Fear that was spreading in the US during the war. The fear of the other and the fear of the contagion of unwanted ideologies, in this case, communism was a daily reality in the US during the Cold War. This fear was extended outside US borders By this point it should be clear that the Cold War was an attempt of preservation of national identities. The curious thing after all was said, as Jervis Robert 4 debates, is that the Soviet Union and the US had in fact a lot of similarities or parallels. As he ascertains, both implied a form of universalism and both were founded on ideas instead of nationalities or myths of common heritage or blood. Robert testifies that in a country where mostly everyone was an immigrant,[11] like the United States, it was possible to not be considered an American just by not believing in the correct ideas[12]. Another aspect that they[13] had in common was that both believed they were the standard to be followed in order to obtain global progress and modernity. How the Cold War ended The way the Cold War ended is another clear example of the importance that identities had in this war. In fact, the Cold War ended only when one of the two sides identities ended as well. As this war was happening mainly because of the contrast of the two main identities, when one of them failed there was no more reason for conflict to exist. CONCLUSION To summarise, it has been noted that conflicts of identities, if extended to an international level, had a major role in the Cold War. This particular war cannot be explained by classic IR. Just by analysing the role of identities in the global system this particular war can be understood properly. As was explained, identity can assume many different forms (political, ideological, cultural), and it is clear now how preservation and spread of identities were the two main reasons that for the Cold War. The two main ideologies of capitalism and communism started from the United States and the Soviet Union but rapidly spread globally creating internal conflicts in countries such as Vietnam, Korea and Germany. These clear distinctions and divisions, the development of the War and finally the way the Cold War ended make indisputable the fact that the Cold War was an identity conflict. BIBLIOGRAPHY Adler-Nissen, R. Stigma Management in International Relations: Transgressive Identities, Norms and Order in International Society, International Organisation 68/1 (2014): 143-176 Berenskoetter, F. Identity in International Relations in R. Denemark (ed.), The International Studies Encyclopedia (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010): 3594-3611 Burke, Anthony. Identity/Difference. In M. Griffiths (ed.) Encyclopedia of International Relations and Global Politics. London: Routledge, 2006: pp.394-6 Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary Thesaurus  © Cambridge University Press s.v. Identity http://www.dictionary.cambridge.org/dictioà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦/english/identity Fearon, J. What is Identity (as We Now Use the Word)?, unpublished manuscript (Stanford University, 1999) Jervis Robert. Identity and the Cold War. Cambridge University Press, 2010: pp.22-43 Samuel P. Huntington 1996, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Touchstone Books. Zachary Keck 2013, How Geopolitics Doomed the Clash of Civilizations, The Diplomat, . Individual, transnational(means in the space between) identity Dignity and Privacy in Health Care: Literature Review Dignity and Privacy in Health Care: Literature Review Annotated Bibliography To complete this assignment I am going to complete an Annotated Bibliography. An annotated bibliography is a bibliography of sources of information such as: books, websites, journals, articles. However under each source is an evaluation paragraph that is a brief description about the source that has been used. During this assignment the sources used will be based upon on the subject of privacy and dignity, and overall 15 sources will be used including one national policy. Finally the evaluation paragraph of each source will focus on a few points: 1) what the main points of the source are. 2) Are the main points of the source clearly presented to the reader? 3) Who is the source directed at- who is the audience? 4)Is the information in the source supported by someone or is the source unsupported. Alaszewski, H, Holdsworth, L,Billings, J, Dr Wagg (2009) ‘Privacy and dignity in continence care: research review Nursing Residential Care. 11 (8) pp 393-396. http://internurse.com [Accessed 5th December 2009] This article is written by three health professionals who specialise in research two of whom are research associates and one who is a researcher and one health professional who is a senior lecturer at a university. Therefore due to the nature of the authors the article is primarily based to health professionals. More specifically as it was published in Nursing and Residential care the health care professionals who work in nursing and residential homes. The layout of this article is very simple and the information is presented clearly with the use of subheadings to describe the different parts of the study. This article reviews a study that was carried out in relation to privacy and dignity in continence care. This review highlights that there four major themes identified from the study one of them being privacy. With the review commenting that maintaining privacy during toileting and continence care is vital to maintaing dignity. In addition that it was easier to maintain privacy in care homes that provided en-suite bathrooms for the residents. This article is not supported as it only gives reference to what the Health Care commission report caring for dignity says about dignity. Foss, T D (2006) ‘Grave Bearing: how dignity will be dealt with on wards. British Journal of Nursing. 15 (9) pp 481 http://www.internurse.com [Accessed 5th December 2009] This article is written by the editor of the British Journal of Nursing and bases the article around the new duty that the government has imposed on nurses, the new duty of the Dignity nurse. In the article the author argues that nurses simply have too many duties and adding another will make the nurses even more overstretched. In addition it is pointed out that nurses already show the patients respect and dignity in basic care as nurses play an important role in keeping up dignity in mixed wards, so why does it need to be actually stated as a new duty. The article concludes with the view that the government cannot deal with this with continuing learning courses as the nurses do not have the time nor do the trust have the money to send the nurses on them. As this article is published in the British Journal of Nursing and written by the editor of the journal this article is aimed at Health Care professionals especially who work on wards. As no reference is made to anyone else or any o ther publications this article is unsupported. McParland J, Scott, PA, Dassen, T ,Gasull, M, Lemonidou, C, Valimaki, M , Leino-Kilpi, H ( 2000) ‘ Atonomy and clinical practice 2: patient privacy and nursing practice. British Journal of Nursing. 9 (9) pp 556-559. http://www.internurse.com [Accessed 5th December 2009] This article is written by a number of health lecturers and outlines privacy and the nursing practices to enable the policy of privacy is adhered to. The article is presented clearly with an abstract box at the beginning of the article to inform the reader what information the article is going to contain, and all the information under sub headings. The article begins with a number of definitions of privacy and then informs the reader of patient privacy. A number of situations and examples of patient privacy are given in the article with it also stating how nurses can maintain patient privacy. This article is primarily aimed at the nursing profession as it was published in the British Journal of Nursing. This article may be extremely useful to student nurses to enable them to learn about privacy to maintain a good understanding of it and how to make sure it is maintained why they are on placement. Throughout this article many references are made to many people who have researched this area before, therefore this article is supported. Charles- Edward, I, Brotchie, J (2005) ‘Privacy: what does it mean for childrens nurses? Paediatric Nursing. 17 ( 5) pp 38-44. http://www.proquest.com [Accessed 6th December 2009] Although this article is appropriate for paediatric health professionals due to where it was published and the authors. Imelda Charles- Edward being the programme director for the Bsc (Hons) in child health nursing and it being published in the Paediatric Nursing journal, it is most appropriate for Paediatric Nursing students. The main reason for this being that includes a number of activates that could be completed in order to gain a good understanding of the subject of privacy and dignity while undertaking training. Due to this being aimed at paediatric nursing students the layout is very clear as it includes tables and is sectioned off with what the author calls ‘Time outs at the end of each section for the reader to complete. This article covers many issues to do with privacy and dignity including: the different definitions of privacy, physical privacy, privacy of information and adult secretes. Throughout the article the author makes reference to many other health professi onals and authors who have their own views on this subject and who have carried out studies on the subject previous, therefore this article is supported. Matiti, M R, Trorey, G M ( 2008) ‘Patients expectations of the maintenance of their dignity Journal of clinical nursing. 17 (20) pp 2709- 2971. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com [Accessed 6th December 2009] This study was carried out to research into patients expectations of dignity while they were in hospital and how it was maintained. Due to both the authors being health lectures at universities in England and the article being printed in a nursing journal this article is aimed at any health professional who works in a hospital setting as this is where the study was carried out. The information about the study is clearly presented in this article as the information is divided into the different sections of the study. For example the article provides information background to dignity, information on the methodology of the study, the study population, data collection and information on the findings of the study. As this is a study that was conducted it is not supported in the traditional sense as it only makes reference to what other people perceive privacy and dignity to be. Nazarko, L, (2007) ‘Bathing Patients with care and dignity. British Journal of Health Care Assistants. 1 (2) pp 73-76. http://www.internurse.com [Accessed 6th December 2009] An abstract box at the beginning of this article informs the reader that healthcare assistants play an important role in maintaining the hygiene of clients in their care and this role should be carried out with sensitivity to maintain the clients dignity. The article comments on this in more depth informing the reader that one of the main ways of respecting the clients dignity is to assess the risk of the client of getting in the bath/shower as if they can complete the task themselves then they should be left to do so. This article was written by a nursing consultant for older people and was published in the British Journal of Healthcare Assistants; therefore it is aimed more specifically at Healthcare Assistants. Nursing students however may find this useful as the article is simply written and explains what needs to be done to bath a client, therefore a student nurse may find it useful to use to find out how to bath a patient. As the article is like a guide to bathing clients no re ference is made to any other publications therefore this article is unsupported. Thomas, S, (2008) ‘RCN: Lets get political for patient dignity. British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing. 4 (5) pp 243-244. http://www.internurse.com [Accessed 6th December 2009] The author of this article Sue Thomas a nurse policy adviser for the Royal College of Nursing writes this article to inform health professionals about the barriers that face nurses when trying to make policy changes and how maintaining patient dignity can bring about policy change. The information is clearly presented with sub headings and quotations being easily distinguished by being in bold. The article highlights the barriers to dignity such as the obstacles that stop the nurses providing the dignity that the patients want. The article then provides recommendations that the RCN would like to see in place in order for the nurses to provide the dignity the patients want such as: no more mixed wards and curtains around beds that actually close. Although this was published in the neuroscience journal this article is aimed at all health professionals especially them in the Royal college of Nursing. Throughout this article there are many quotations by health professionals and results o f a survey carried out therefore this article is supported. Pownall, M, ( 2009) ‘Privacy and dignity: eliminating mixed sex accommodation in hospitals. Nursing Times. 105 (44) pp 15. http://www.proquest.com [Accessed 6th December 2009] This article is written by a freelance health journalist who uses the issue of mixed sex wards as an example of how individual trusts can monitor how they are maintaining privacy and dignity in relation to overall performance. The author states that this is achieved in three ways: 1) A committed board of directors e.g. providing the senior management with the right information and recourses to ensure privacy and dignity is maintained to patients in their care. 2) The care environment e.g. separated sleeping areas and washing facilities for men and women on mixed sex wards. 3) Individual action e.g. if it is unavoidable for a patient to be placed on a mixed ward try to relocate the patient as soon as possible and apologise for any inconvenience. The article is clearly presented and uses sub-headings to categorise the information. As it is printed in a nursing journal nurses and health care professionals may find this article beneficial. Walsh, K, Kowanko, I (2002) ‘Nurses and patients perceptions of dignity International Journal of Nursing. 8 (3) pp143-145. http://www3.interscience.com [Accessed 7th December 2009] The authors of this article, one being a senior lecturer and another being a senior researcher explains in depth the study and the results of the study they carried out in order to obtain nurses and patients perceptions of dignity. This article highlights that after carrying out the study nurses believe that there are many aspects and many different characteristics of dignity, the most important ones being aspects such as privacy and respect. With the study also concluding that the characteristics the patients associated with dignity were very similar to the nurses. Although the article is of length it is clearly presented with the use of sub-headings and the use of quotations in italics. As the authors have used quotations of the participants in the study and have related to other health professionals during this study this article is supported. As it was published in the International Journal of Nursing this article is not only aimed at audiences here in the United Kingdom but heal th professionals all over the world. Ashurst, A (2007) ‘Palliative Care: maintaining dignity. Nursing and residential care. 9 (1) pp22-24. http://www.internurse.com [Accessed 7th December 2009] This article has been specifically written for palliative care staff in nursing or residential care specifically for the care of the elderly and terminally ill. The author- a consultant editor for the journal highlights guidelines to follow to ensure dignity is maintained for the care of the terminally ill during their stay at residential homes. Ashurst sates to maintain privacy and dignity towards the end of the patients life emotional support must be obtainable which may include respecting the relatives wishes- this may include involving themselves in the care of their relative. He also sates that respect for the patients wishes should be at the forefront of the care for the patient regardless of what the nursing staff believes to be the best course of treatment. Ashurst clearly presents the main points of this article to the reader by using a simple layout with the uses of sub-headings, pictures, columns and quotations in bold and inverted comers. As this is not legislation but me rely guidelines it is not supported in the traditional sense as the author only uses the opinions of members of the health profession. NHS Executive- Safety, Privacy and dignity in mental health units- guidance on mixed sex accommodation for mental health services. (2000). http://www.dh.gov.uk [Accessed 9th December 2009] This policy is a National Health Service policy for all NHS trusts in England written by the NHS Executives. It provides guidance for the practical steps that need to be taken out by all NHS staff to ensure that safety, privacy and dignity are maintained for the patients in mental heath units with regards to mixed sex accommodation. It is split into two main sections. Section A being operation policy. This provides the audience with guidelines to meet the overall objects of providing a safe environment and safe facilities for mentally ill patients which maintain their privacy and dignity. Section B being design guidance. This section elaborates on the guidelines given in the previous section by specifically relating it to mental health facilities. As this is a NHS policy and is therefore legislation it is not supported as it is not a matter of opinion. Although this policy is long in length it is clearly presented with the use of sections and sub-sections being clearly numbered. The policy also includes models as aguidance to possible accommodation arrangements for new/existing accommodation in order to maintain privacy and dignity in mental health facilities. Professor Ian Philip, National Director for old people, Department of health- A new ambition for old age- next steps in implementing the national service framework for older people. (2006) http://www.dh.gov.uk [Accessed on 9th December 2009] This report written by the national director for old people outlines the next steps for implementing the national service framework for older people and follows on from a previous report on ‘Better Health in old age. The author states that it is the department of healths ambition that within five years all older people will be treated with respect and dignity and in all care settings. He believes this will be achieved by following 10 programmes of activity. An example being: improving dignity in care by strengthen activities such as ensuring the dignity towards and at the end of a persons life. As it is a government policy this report is primarily aimed at everyone in the United Kingdom, however more specifically those who work with older people and those in the health sector. The layout is easy to understand with each programme easy to identify by the use of sub headings in a different colour. Bullet points are also used to keep the text short and direct in some areas with the use of pictures also to brake down the writing.

Last Sacrifice Chapter Twenty-two

â€Å"YOU'RE AWFULLY HAPPY.' I blinked and found Sonya staring at me. The CR-V and smooth stretch of I-75 hummed around us, the outside revealing little except Midwestern plains and trees. Sonya didn't seem quite as creepy crazy as she had back at school or even at her house. Mostly, she still just seemed scattered and confused, which was to be expected. I hesitated before answering but finally decided there was no reason to hold back. â€Å"Lissa passed her second monarch test.' â€Å"Of course she did,' said Victor. He was staring out the window away from me. The tone of his voice suggested I'd just wasted his time by saying something that was a given. â€Å"Is she okay?' asked Dimitri. â€Å"Injured?' Once, that would have sparked jealousy in me. Now, it was just a sign of our shared concern for Lissa. â€Å"She's fine,' I said, wondering if that was entirely true. She wasn't physically injured, but after what she'd seen †¦ well, that had to leave scars of a different type. The back door had been quite a surprise too. When she'd seen a small crowd by the first door, she'd thought it meant only a few people were up that late to see the candidates. Nope. Turned out everyone was just waiting out back to see the victors. True to her promise, Lissa hadn't let it faze her. She walked out with her head held high, smiling at her onlookers and fans as though she already owned the crown. I was growing sleepy but Lissa's triumph kept me smiling for a long time. There's something tiring about an endless, unknown stretch of highway. Victor had closed his eyes and was leaning against the glass. I couldn't see Sydney when I twisted around to check on her, meaning she also had decided on a nap or was just lying down. I yawned, wondering if I dared risk sleeping. Dimitri had urged me to when we left Sonya's house, knowing that I could use more than the couple hours Sydney had given me. I tipped my head against the seat and closed my eyes, falling instantly asleep. The blackness of that sleep gave way to the feel of a spirit dream, and my heart leapt with both panic and joy. After living through Lissa's test, spirit dreams suddenly had a sinister feel. At the same time, this might be a chance to see Adrian. And †¦ it was. Only we appeared somewhere entirely unexpected: Sonya's garden. I stared in wonder at the clear blue sky and the brilliant flowers, nearly overlooking Adrian in the process. He wore a dark green cashmere sweater that made him blend in. To me, he was more gorgeous than any of the garden's other wonders. â€Å"Adrian!' I ran to him, and he lifted me easily, spinning me around. When he placed me back on my feet, he studied the garden and nodded in approval. â€Å"I should let you pick the place more often. You have good taste. Of course, since you're dating me, we already knew that.' â€Å"What do you mean, â€Å"pick the place?† I asked, lacing my hands behind his neck. He shrugged. â€Å"When I reached out and sensed you were sleeping, I summoned the dream but didn't feel like thinking up a place. So I left it to your subconscious.' Irritably, he plucked at the cashmere. â€Å"I'm not dressed for the occasion, though.' The sweater shimmered, soon replaced by a light gray T-shirt with an abstract design on the front. â€Å"Better?' â€Å"Much.' He grinned and kissed the top of my forehead. â€Å"I've missed you, little dhampir. You can spy on Lissa and us all the time, but the best I get are these dreams, and honestly, I can't figure out what schedule you're on.' I realized that with my â€Å"spying,' I knew more about what had just happened at Court than he did. â€Å"Lissa took her second test,' I told him. Yup. His expression verified it. He hadn't known about the test, probably because he'd been sleeping. â€Å"When?' â€Å"Just now. It was a tough one, but she passed.' â€Å"Much to her delight, no doubt. Still †¦ that keeps buying us time to clear you and get you home. Not sure I'd want to come home if I were you, though.' He looked around the garden again. â€Å"West Virginia's a lot better than I thought.' I laughed. â€Å"It's not West Virginia–which isn't that bad, by the way. It's Sonya Karp's– ‘ I froze, unable to believe what I'd nearly said. I'd been so happy to see him, so at ease †¦ I'd let myself screw up. Adrian's face grew very, very serious. â€Å"Did you say Sonya Karp?' Several options played out in my head. Lying was the easiest. I could claim this was some place I'd been a long time ago, like maybe she'd taken us on a field trip to her house. That was pretty flimsy, though. Plus, I was guessing the look on my face screamed guilt. I'd been caught. A pretty lie wouldn't fool Adrian. â€Å"Yes,' I said finally. â€Å"Rose. Sonya Karp's a Strigoi.' â€Å"Not anymore.' Adrian sighed. â€Å"I knew you staying out of trouble was too good to be true. What happened?' â€Å"Um, Robert Doru restored her.' â€Å"Robert.' Adrian's lip curled in disdain. The two spirit users hadn't gotten along well. â€Å"And just because I feel like we're marching into full-fledged Crazy Territory–which means something, coming from me–I'm going to take a guess that Victor Dashkov is also with you.' I nodded, wishing desperately then that someone would wake me up and get me away from Adrian's interrogation. Damn it. How could I have slipped up like this? Adrian released me and walked around in small circles. â€Å"Okay, so. You, Belikov, the Alchemist, Sonya Karp, Victor Dashkov, and Robert Doru are all hanging out in West Virginia together.' â€Å"No,' I said. â€Å"No?' â€Å"We're, uh, not in West Virginia.' â€Å"Rose!' Adrian halted his pacing and strode back over to me. â€Å"Where the hell are you then? Your old man, Lissa–everyone thinks you're safe and sound.' â€Å"I am,' I said haughtily. â€Å"Just not in West Virginia.' â€Å"Then where?' â€Å"I can't †¦ I can't tell you.' I hated saying those words to him and seeing the look they elicited. â€Å"Part of it's for safety. Part of it's because †¦ well, um, I don't actually know.' He caught hold of my hands. â€Å"You can't do this. You can't run off on some crazy whim this time. Don't you get it? They'll kill you if they find you.' â€Å"It's not a crazy whim! We're doing something important. Something that's going to help all of us.' â€Å"Something you can't tell me,' he guessed. â€Å"It's better if you're not involved,' I said, squeezing his hands tightly. â€Å"Better if you don't know the details.' â€Å"And in the meantime, I can rest easy knowing you've got an elite team at your back.' â€Å"Adrian, please! Please just trust me. Trust that I've got a good reason,' I begged. He let go of my hands. â€Å"I believe you think you've got a good reason. I just can't imagine one that justifies you risking your life.' â€Å"It's what I do,' I said, surprised at how serious I sounded. â€Å"Some things are worth it.' Pieces of static flickered across my vision, like TV reception going bad. The world started to fade. â€Å"What's going on?' I asked. He scowled. â€Å"Someone or something's waking me up. Probably my mom checking in for the hundredth time.' I reached for him, but he was fading away. â€Å"Adrian! Please don't tell anyone! Anyone.' I don't know if he heard my pleas or not because the dream completely disappeared. I woke up in the car. My immediate reaction was to swear, but I didn't want to give away the idiotic thing I'd done. Glancing over, I nearly jumped out of my seat when I saw Sonya watching me intently. â€Å"You were having a spirit dream,' she said. â€Å"How'd you know?' â€Å"Your aura.' I made a face. â€Å"Auras used to be cool, but now they're just starting to get annoying.' She laughed softly, the first time I'd heard her do so since being restored. â€Å"They're very informative if you know how to read them. Were you with Vasilisa?' â€Å"No. My boyfriend. He's a spirit user too.' Her eyes widened in surprise. â€Å"That's who you were with?' â€Å"Yeah. Why? What's wrong?' She frowned, looking puzzled. A few moments later, she glanced up toward the front seat, where Dimitri and Robert sat, and then studied me in a scrutinizing way that sent chills down my spine. â€Å"Nothing,' she said. â€Å"Nothing's wrong.' I had to scoff at that. â€Å"Come on, it sure seemed like–‘ â€Å"There!' Sonya abruptly turned from me, leaned forward, and pointed. â€Å"Take that exit.' We were nearly past â€Å"that exit,' and Dimitri had to do some fancy maneuvering–kind of like in our escape back in Pennsylvania–to make it. The car jerked and lurched, and I heard Sydney yelp behind me. â€Å"A little warning next time would be helpful,' Dimitri noted. Sonya wasn't listening. Her gaze was totally fixated on the road we'd pulled off onto. We came to a red light, where I caught sight of a cheery sign: WELCOME TO ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN. The spark of life I'd seen in her moments ago was gone. Sonya had returned to her tense, almost robotic self. Despite Sydney's clever negotiating, Sonya still seemed uncomfortable about this trip. She still felt guilty and traitorous. â€Å"Are we here?' I asked eagerly. â€Å"And how long were we on the road?' I'd hardly noticed the drive. I'd stayed awake for the first part of it, but the rest had been a blur of Lissa and Adrian. â€Å"Six hours,' said Dimitri. â€Å"Go left at that second light,' said Sonya. â€Å"Now right at the corner.' Tension built in the car. Everyone was awake now, and my heart raced as we pushed deeper and deeper into suburbia. Which house? Were we close? Was one of these it? It was a fast drive but seemed to stretch forever. We all let out a collective breath when Sonya suddenly pointed. â€Å"There.' Dimitri pulled into the driveway of a cute brick house with a perfectly trimmed lawn. â€Å"Do you know if your relatives still live here?' I asked Sonya. She said nothing, and I realized we were back to promise territory. Lockdown mode. So much for progress. â€Å"I guess there's only one way to find out,' I said, unbuckling my seatbelt. â€Å"Same plan?' Earlier, Dimitri and I had discussed who would go and who would stay behind if Sonya got us to the right place. Leaving the brothers behind was a no-brainer. The question had been who would guard them, and we'd decided Dimitri would while Sydney and I went with Sonya to meet her relatives–who were undoubtedly in for a shocking visit. â€Å"Same plan,' agreed Dimitri. â€Å"You go to the house. You look less threatening.' â€Å"Hey!' He smiled. â€Å"I said â€Å"look.† But his reasoning made sense. Even at ease, there was something powerful and intimidating about Dimitri. Three women going up to the door would freak these people out less–especially if it turned out Sonya's relatives had moved. Hell, for all I knew, she'd purposely led us to the wrong house. â€Å"Be careful,' Dimitri said, as we got out of the car. â€Å"You too,' I replied. That got me another smile, one a little warmer and deeper. The feelings that stirred in me flitted away as Sonya, Sydney, and I walked up the sidewalk. My chest tightened. This was it. Or was it? Were we about to reach the conclusion of our journey? Had we really found the last Dragomir, against all odds? Or had I been played from the beginning? I wasn't the only one who was nervous. I could feel Sydney and Sonya crackling with tension too. We reached the front step. I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. Several seconds later, a man answered–and he was Moroi. A promising sign. He looked at each of our faces, no doubt wondering what a Moroi, a dhampir, and a human were doing at his door. It sounded like the start of a bad joke. â€Å"Can I help you?' he asked. I was suddenly at a loss. Our plan had covered the big stuff: find Eric's mistress and love child. What we'd say once we actually got there wasn't so clear. I waited for one of my companions to speak up now, but there was no need. The Moroi man's head suddenly whipped to my side as he did a double take. â€Å"Sonya?' he gasped. â€Å"Is that you?' Then, I heard a young female voice behind him call, â€Å"Hey, who's here?' Someone squeezed in beside him, someone tall and slim–someone I knew. My breath caught as I stared at waves of unruly light brown hair and light green eyes–eyes that should have tipped me off a long time ago. I couldn't speak. â€Å"Rose,' exclaimed Jill Mastrano. â€Å"What are you doing here?'

Cloud Computing Research

The world revolves around money. Why pay more for less or why would you pay for something that you don’t need. In this research essay I will explore the Cloud Services community. I will explain what important services to have are and which type of cloud services you should have for the size of the company you are running or plan to run. The basic criteria people need to know about cloud services and what they offer is the most important. First and most importantly is the price. Others are storage space you allowed to have, reliability, features, upload speed, ease of use. These will be the premise of using to find out what service would be best for you. The first cloud provider chosen to look at is Amazon. Amazon EC2’s simple web service interface allows you to obtain and configure capacity with minimal friction. It provides you with complete control of your computing resources and lets you run on Amazon’s proven computing environment. Amazon EC2 reduces the time required to obtain and boot new server instances to minutes, allowing you to quickly scale capacity, both up and down, as your computing requirements change. Amazon EC2 changes the economics of computing by allowing you to pay only for capacity that you actually use. Amazon EC2 provides developers the tools to build failure resilient applications and isolate themselves from common failure scenarios (Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud ). Next we are going to look at Google cloud service. Google offers seamless integration with current Google products is one of the best features that are being offered. There may also be the ability to connect to future Google software for movies and music. The features of other Google products are very helpful. Those would include Google Maps, Docs, Google Search and Gmail. There are lots of other products that Google has developed and released for free, but lately they have been shutting down some of those projects to focus on other areas of the business. One exciting feature of Drive is the optical character recognition technology they have added. That means that customers will be able to scan images of text and the system can convert it over to digital text. It can also be used for image recognition so that every time you search for a word in your files or on the internet, images you have uploaded will be included in those search results. The initial 5GB are free and possibly will be ad funded. Then they are offering a 25GB and 50GB plan with monthly pricing. We will update our review as soon as we know more. Though, we have heard that 1TB will cost around $49. 99 a month (The Ten best Cloud Storage). Next we are going to look at Rackspace. The Rackspace Cloud is a growing set of Cloud-related products and services billed on a utility computing basis, including web application hosting/cloud platform (â€Å"Cloud Sites†), cloud storage (â€Å"Cloud Files†), VPS/Virtual private server (â€Å"Cloud Servers†), Cloud Load Balancers, Cloud Databases, Cloud Backup, Cloud Monitoring, and more. The Rackspace Cloud was one of the first commercial cloud computing services (Rackspace Cloud). So given the basic information above we are going to find out what is best for the consumer. Are you a large Fortune 500 company or are you a startup company looking for space where you wouldn’t have to buy a server and all the necessary equipment to run an IT department. For large companies you should stick with a provider that is not going any place soon and this is Google. Google is a very large company that can offer a lot of space and resources for your company to run. If you are a smaller company and looking to keep your budget down then Rackspace would be the way to go. Now if you are the one that loves to take pictures and have them uploaded then either Google or Amazon would be the way to go for you. Whatever your case may be this will help you in determining what cloud service you may want.

The Burden Of History Expectation Past And Imperfect Essay

The Burden of History – Expectation Past and Imperfect David A. Kirsch examines the manufacture of storage batteries for the electric vehicle, which was manufactured by various companies. As these companies rushed towards the manufacturing process of the vehicle, the development of its storage batteries was one of major troubles in the initial stages of the production process. These companies neglected improvements of the storage battery by failure to transform any of their previously renowned characteristics. This was despite expectations by early electric vehicle enthusiasts of a revolutionary discovery in energy storage technology. The expectations were based on the fact that engineers in the second half of the 19th Century had experienced several technological revolutions. Regardless of incremental technological changes that have relatively enhanced the capability of the ordinary electric vehicle, the expectations were never fulfilled, especially those for better storage b attery. Even though there was significant progress in technologies used to manufacture the electric vehicle system, none of these technologies were able to meet the expectations. Kirsch’s main argument in the article is that there are no better storage batteries for the electric vehicle despite smaller technological changes or improvements that have relatively enhanced the capability of these vehicles. The expectations for better storage batteries were not realized though the electric vehicle wasShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Fall of Russia1531 Words   |  7 Pagesof freedom and human rights were once more relegated to the margins of peoples thinking becoming less democratic. Instead, the regime programmed people with the notion of social order, with traditional attitudes to great power, superiority and history, â€Å"Orthodoxy† the primary religion of the state and military. 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