The Importance of Traffic Lights :: Exploratory Research Papers

The Importance of Traffic Lights The topic I picked for our community project was traffic lights. In a community, people need stop signs and traffic lights to slow down drivers from going to fast. If there were no traffic lights or stop signs, people’s lives would be in danger from divers going too fast. When having stop signs and traffic lights, people have a tendency to drive slower and look out for people walking in the middle of streets. To put a traffic light or a stop sign in a community, it takes a lot of work and planning from the community and the city to put one in. It is not cheap to do it either. The community first needs to take a petition around to everyone in the community and have them sign so they can take it to the board when the next city council meeting is. A couple residents will present it to the board, and they will decide weather or not to put it in or not. If not put in a lot of residents might be mad and bad things could happened to that part of the city. When the planning of putting traffic lights and stop signs, you should look at the subdivision plan and figure out where all the buildings and schools are for the protection of students walking and riding home from school. In our plan that we have made, we will need traffic lights next to the school, so people will look out for the students going home. We will need a stop sign next to the park incase kids run out in the street. This will help the protection of the kids having fun. Will need a traffic light separating the mall and the store. This will be the busiest part of the town with people going to the mall and the store. And finally there will need to be a stop sign at the end of the streets so people don’t drive to fast and get in a big accident. If this is down everyone will be safe driving, walking, or riding their bikes. In putting in a traffic light, it takes a lot of planning and money to complete it. A traffic light cost around $40,000 to $125,000 and sometimes more depending on the location.

Ray Bradbury’s There Will Come Soft Rains and James Tiptree Jr.s The L

Ray Bradbury’s "There Will Come Soft Rains" and James Tiptree Jr.'s "The Last Flight of Dr. Ain" - Probable Futures of our World Since the beginning of time mankind has predicted the end of the universe. From early Christians to science fiction authors of the 20th century, each generation has had its own vision of how life on earth will cease to exist. In earlier times though, most apocalyptic ideas consisted of the "hand of God," or God’s figures punishing humankind for its sins and ending human existence. However, in the mid-twentieth century many more scientific ideas of the apocalypse appeared. Ray Bradbury’s "There Will Come Soft Rains," which was published in 1950, is a post-nuclear apocalyptic tale. "The Last Flight of Dr. Ain," written in 1969 by James Tiptree Jr. is a story about the world ending due to biological terrorism. Amazingly, over 30 years since the publication of the latter, these ideas are currently two of the most prevalent thoughts on how the world will come to end. "There Will Come Soft Rains" illustrates the devastating effects of nuclear warfare. Bradbury’s use of vivid and poignant details to describe the end of world shows exactly how unforgiving nuclear weapons are. "The house stood alone in a city of rubble and ashes†¦. At night the city gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles" (Bradbury 719). It is almost impossible to imagine this landscape appearing in real life; almost everything destroyed, and the buildings that are still standing left in shambles. Weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear warheads, seem to have God-like powers. They can level an entire city in one swift blow, and whoever has possession of the most of them rules the world. In an instant everything is d... ...both be probable futures of our world. In the case of these two stories, science fiction and reality seem to almost overlap, and in a not too distant future they could become one. Bibliography Anthrax. 5 November 2001. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 30 November 2001. http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/anthrax.htm Bradbury, Raymond Douglas. "There Will Come Soft Rains." The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Ed. Garyn G. Roberts. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2001. 718-722 "Bush Bioterrorism Funding Request Low, CDF Chief Says" Baltimore Sun. 30 November 2001. 30 November 2001. http://chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.anthrax30nov30.story Tiptree Jr., James. "The Last Flight of Dr. Ain." The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Ed. Garyn G. Roberts. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2001. 915-921

Aldo Leopold and his Land Ethic

Born on January 11, 1887, Aldo Leopold grew up in Iowa, Burlington. He became interested in the environment and natural history when he was still a small boy. Most of the time, he was involved in observing and drawing the features of his surrounding. He attended Lawrenceville Prep school in New Jersey, Burlington and Sheffield Scientific School in Yale (Meine 6). He enrolled at Yale Forestry School and graduated with masters in 1909. Yale Forestry School was the first School in the United States to offer forestry. After graduation, he got actively involved in Arizona with the U.S. Forest Service. The whole of Arizona was under his docket and he became a great conservationist of the environment. Aldo viewed land as an organism which has life. In New Mexico, he worked with Carson National Forest where he became the Supervisor at the age of 24 in 1924 (Meine 6). He helped in the conservation of Gila National Forest in 1922. He was among the people who proposed the conservation of this f orest. During his tenure with the Forest Service, he persuaded the department to conserve areas not meant for roads as wilderness. This was known as the wilderness concept.He was against the subdivisions of these areas for the purpose of recreation such as camping sites, private use and for building homes. He argued that such actions were based on self interest. He, therefore, disagreed with the idea of utilitarianism of people like Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot who were also conservationists. Pinchot and Roosevelt believed that people can use the environment while at the same time renew it for the future generations. In his opinion, land was meant to be used by the public not set aside as reserves.Aldos’ idea came into reality when the recommendations were accepted and the Gila region became a wilderness area. This happened long before the wilderness act was established and enacted (Meine 29). Aldo Leopold traveled widely and continued with his work of conservation and ecological studies. He was involved in wildlife management and he later published a book in this field in 1924. He was transferred to Madison where he worked as an associate director with the U. S. Forest Products Laboratory in Wisconsin. The laboratory was involved in research on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service. He held onto this position till the time of his death. In 1928, Aldo Leopold taught at University of Wisconsin. He was to make the students to understand the land and enjoy what he taught. Some of the assignments that he gave mainly involved land puzzle which required the students to understand the interaction between the different components of land such land use, plants, animals, soil and the changes that take place. Aldo Leopold wrote several articles and books which mainly focused on human’s relationship to the natural environment.He described how man views the environment (Meine 7) During his work in Mexico, Aldo Leopold was assigned the duty of hunting do wn wild animals such as lions and bears. The natives in Mexico killed the predators because they attacked their livestock and caused major losses. Leopold believed that the predators were important in that they helped in ensuring a balance of nature. His concept helped in preservation and repopulation of bears and lions in the wilderness areas of Mexico (Flader 26). He was actively involved in the management and conservation of wildlife and in the wilderness system.He believed that the wildlife in America had a future but this entirely depended on decisions of farmers and the owners of the land. He fought for the preservation of the habitats by everyone rather than living the task to laws that only protected particular species only. He was involved in the formation of the Wilderness Society that was mainly involved in the expansion and protection of these areas. In his book, Game Management which he wrote in 1933, he explains the important methods of wildlife management. He further writes on the techniques to help in restoring these populations.His work contributed to his success since he was appointed the chairman of Department of Game management at the University of Wisconsin. This department encompassed several fields such as; ecology, zoology, forestry, education and agriculture. He was known as the father of wildlife conservation and a hero in Wisconsin. Aldo Leopold was a scientist, a teacher and a renowned write (Newton 43). His family greatly supported him in his efforts to conserve the environment. In 1935, they bought and restored a degraded farm in Wisconsin near Baraboo (a place known as the sand counties).Their work involved planting pine trees and monitoring the changes that took place afterwards. This further inspired Aldo to do his work even more. He believed that tools for destruction can also be used as tools for rebuilding the landscape. Through his entire life, he was mainly involved in conservation movement. He frankly criticized the injus tices that the natural environment was subjected to (Newton 66). Aldo Leopold died of heart attack on 21st April 1948 when he was trying to put off a fire which was about to burn his farm.His essays were later compiled and published in a collection which was titled, A Sand County Almanac. It mainly involved the conservation of the environment and has greatly been respected. It gives guidelines on how the environment should be handled. His legacy has for a long time been informative and an inspiration to many generations. It has been an eye opener on how people should view the natural environment and the way to preserve it. The natural world is a community where every person belongs to (Meine 51). Philosophy of Land Ethic This concept was developed by Aldo Leopold.It dates back in Iowa on the shores of River Mississippi where he was interested in the natural environment. Aldo appreciated what he saw in the environment as he was adventuring the forests and rivers in Iowa. His strong a ttachment to the environment drove him into studying forestry at Yale school. He suggests that it is a moral duty to take care of the land rather than the fact that you expect to benefit from it (Meine 56). The land ethic transforms man to be a citizen and just a member to the land community rather than a conqueror. It commands respect for such a community together with its members.The land ethic basically defined the community in a broader aspect to involve waters, soils, animals and plants. The land, therefore, was a community. He describes the degradation that the environment has been subjected to such as; soil erosion, the extermination of plant and animal species that were considered beautiful. He notes that it would be difficult to control or alter these changes. A land ethic may not alter the use or management of the available resources. However, it affirms that they should continue existing as they were in their natural environment (Leopold 204).In his concept of land ethic, he described conservation as a harmonious state between human and the land just as is the case of harmony between friends. The land is an organism which is treated as one unit and encompasses everything inside or above the earth. Every component of the land is important and should not be abolished. Leopold believed that conservation should be done in all areas but changes can be made but with caution. It is not possible to be involved in water conservation while at the same time the ranges are being wasted.He further argues that a person cannot love game hunting whereas he hates the predators (Leopold 145). According to Leopold (153), the land acts as a source of livelihood for people. It is therefore the duty of everyone to ensure that the beauty of biotic community is maintained in a stable manner. However, most of them do not take part in its conservation. In forestry, for example, there has been continuous devastation due to felling of trees for the purposes of selling. Leopold argues that land is seen as a commodity that is owned by people rather than a community where they belong.This is the reason why it is being abused, (Leopold 153). Conclusion Leopold was a significant figure whose work became useful in many generations that followed. His concepts and philosophies have been applied in efforts to conserve the environment and wildlife. It acted as a motivation and an eye opener to people so that they can understand the environment where they live and take it as a personal responsibility to take care of it. His work paved way to other environmental philosophers and conservationists who have applied his ideas to help in the environmental conservation. Works citedFlader, Susan L. Thinking Like a Mountain: Aldo Leopold and the Evolution of an Ecological Attitude toward Deer, Wolves and Forests. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1974. Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. (ISBN 0-19 -505305-2). Leopold, Aldo. Round River. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Meine, Curt. Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work. Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. Newton Julianne, L. Aldo Leopold's Odyssey: Rediscovering the Author of a Sand County Almanac. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2006.

Benefit to Home Country Essay

A relatively small number of disease and conditions account for a large share of health burden, and most of them can be prevented and treated with low cost interventions. However Maldives have a shortage of physicians, nursed and allied health workers, and much of the population lives a significant distance from a tertiary health care facility. So, access to medical care is a constant challenge for a substantial portion of the population. Very few health care providers are trained specifically in community health and safety, despite the presence of several strong medical programs within the country. Male’ Health Service Corporation Ltd (MHSC/MALDIVES) is the first health corporation formed in April 2010. MHSC was formed to provide health care needs within the country. (Approximately sixty percent of the population) However maternity care is one of the main leading forefronts (www.mhsc.com.mv). Lack of skilled health care professionals and the related difficulties in distributi on of the necessary health care resources has resulted in the majority of births occurring in the tertiary hospital (IGMH). Moreover caesarean delivery rates are higher in the island hospitals due to the lack of skilled based midwives. (www.health.gov.mv) Furthermore, the vast majority of the population having little or no knowledge regarding health care issues can be attributed to the poor health care system in the country. Despite the difficulties in the field, with the gained knowledge and experience, I would like to strengthen the maternity care within the country. Every woman should have the choice for a planned pregnancy, safe birth and healthy newborns. To deliver a maternity service that enables women to have a positive birth experience and gives midwives the satisfaction of providing quality care, it is important to consider the organizational structures and environment in which it is delivered. The aim of WHO strategy based in Maldives in the year 2005 was safe pregnancy, evaluation of health care workers and development of guidelines for reduction of maternal mortality (www.who.org.mv). Hence, this must be done in conjunction with the appropriate use of healthcare professionals’ skills. Some of the key factors include: improving the environment the care is given, strengthening multidisciplinary partnership. Policy development and strategy making are some other factors to be looked upon. Yet the importance of healthcare management in an organization is realized when the organization is fully staffed and is financially sound to inve st in advanced equipments. A basic concept in health care management is to provide affordable health care services to an average person. For example to pay for health visits, drugs, caring of the elderly etc. My aim is to strengthen the midwives in the country. To enroll skilled based professionals in giving care to the pregnant women in a financially feasible budget, while educating the community respectively. To conclude I believe the organization will benefit as I believe myself worthy candidate for the health care management program.

English Banking Law Essay

INTRODUCTION: There are three types of cheque frauds exists in UK viz. forged, counterfeit and fraudulently altered cheque fraud. In 2005, the cheque fraud in U.K was estimated about  £ 40.3 million – a 13% decrease from the 2004 total of  £ 46.2 million. The earlier year figures also revealed a steady increase totaling  £ 36million in 2002 and  £ 45million in 2003.In U.K during 2005, counterfeit cheque fraud was estimated at  £ 3.23m, forged cheques fraud was estimated at  £ 30.9 m in 2005 and fraudulently altered cheque fraud was estimated at  £ 6.2 millions. SOURCE: FRAUD FACTS -2006 APACS- UK This paper studies the various protections available to banks and customers when using cheques as opposed to cards, as method of payment. PROTECTION AVAILABLE TO CHEQUE PAYMENTS UNDER BILL OF EXCHANGE ACT, 1882, UK (BEA) AND CHEQUES ACT 1957 Under Bill of Exchange Act, 1882, under section 81 A, a non-transferable cheques has been defined as follows†   Ã¢â‚¬Å"81 A (1). Where as cheques is crossed and bears across its face the words ‘account payee’ or a/c either with or without the word ‘only’, the cheques shall not be transferable but shall only be valid as between the parties thereto. (2) A banker is not to be treated for the purpose of section 80 above as having been negligent by reasons only of his failure to concern himself with any purported endorsement of a cheque which under subsection (1) above or otherwise is not transferable. (Cheques Act, 1992). One risk associated with the cheques bearing forged or unauthorized endorsements’. However protection is available under the English Bills of exchange Act, (BEA, or the Act). Under BEA, a legitimate holder of a cheques payable to bearer attain a good title to the instrument overcoming thereby any adverse claim of ownership that might have been hold good against his predecessor. Accordingly, the payment by the drawee bank to those acquirers discharges the cheques as well as the drawer’s engagement thereon so as to permit the drawee bank to debit the drawee’s account. But this is not applicable to cheques payable to order. In the case of payable to order cheques, effect of an unauthorised or an absence of endorsement or forged endorsement shall have to be looked into under the circumstances of forged endorsements. One of the ways to prevent forged endorsement or loss due to stolen cheques is to use crossed cheques or cheques payable in account. Cheques crossing are available under the BEA, UK. The crossed cheques requires to deposit the cheques into account rather than payable to bearer does not reallocate the cheques theft losses but it minimizes the loss and thus benefits the party on whom the loss falls. Further the losses arose due to stolen cheques or loss cheques payable to bearer fall on the dispossessed owner under BEA. Thus under BEA , reallocation of loss away from dispossessed owner may not be successful in case of crossed cheques payable to bearer as the onerous shifted to bank for its negligence. If a bank has acted in good faith and it is protected under BEA for the payment made to open cheques to bearer.    In the case of crossed cheques, if the bank seeks protection, it should have acted without negligence and in good faith. Under BEA, if forged endorsement losses fall on the taker from the forger who is naturally a bank. Further, the cheques payable to the order under the BEA, loss reduction thus seems to be mainly advantageous to the collecting bank. Further the collecting bankers of the crossed cheques are protected under the BEA over forged endorsements as long as they acted in good faith and without negligence. Further under BEA, the drawee bank is protected and this shifts the reallocation of forged endorsement losses to the first innocent party prior to the collecting bank.   Where the one who grabbed the payment through a bank account was the conman, such innocent party is construed to be dispossessed owner. Thus the crossing has reassigned the loss to the dispossessed owner, thus excluding the collecting bank that took the cheque from the conman. Thus under BEA, protection is available to banking channel had they acted in good faith and without negligence even in case of crossed cheques .If an open or crossed stolen cheque has been collected by or paid to the conman , the loss is assigned to the dispossessed owner .Under UK laws , where a cheque is payable to order is collected or paid over a forged endorsement for or to a non-bank situated in the chain of title subsequent to the conman, loss is assigned to the non-bank from that of the conman. This is apart from of whether the cheque was collected for or paid to the innocent taker from the conman or someone obtaining title from the conman despite of crossing.   Where the cheque is crossed and it has to be paid into a bank account and then only it can be encashed as it will be convenient for the dispossessed owner to trace that person and assign the loss to him. Thus the crossing of cheque becomes more helpful to the true owner. However thus the innocent endorser has to bear the loss as the benefit is not in the reallocation of losses. The best example of the above is the Nigerian gangsters operating in UK and taking the gullible students who are in the poverty to carry out cheque fraud worth  £ 50 million a year. These Nigerians conman recruit poor students with promises of good cash reward for just providing the conman with their bank account particulars. By using stolen corporate cheque books, they then deposit huge amount of British pounds through the accounts. No sooner the account is credited with the collection amount from the fraudulent cheques, the account will be emptied before the firm or bank realizes what has happened. The major lion’s share goes to the conman and only a very meager amount goes to the innocent, poor student who has provided the bank account number to the conman. When the fraud comes to light due to alerting by the bank to the police, it is the poor, innocent student who will become the scapegoat. The conman mainly selects the students from Camden in North London where thousands of students from the capital’s universities congregate. Conman liberally offer them up to  £ 5000 for doing nothing. Then the conman approaches an insider who is working in the royal mail and induces them to steal a company’s cheque book. Then the conman visits the company office to collect the director’s signature from the dustbin and thus they scrupulously copy the same in writing the bogus cheques.   Thus the conman had a fortune by sharing a lion’s share in the booty leaving the innocent, poor account holder to face police and possible fraud investigation.[i] Banks and building society’s in UK from September 2006 onwards is not to accept the cheques that are issued in favour of the banks itself in a move to avoid frauds. Bank is to insist to issue the cheques payable to an individual or to include the individual’s name on the payee line after the name of the institution. This strategy is mainly designed to ensure that the money lands in the right account and to bring to an end to cheque fraud which reached to a height of  £46.2 million in 2004 which includes counterfeit and stolen cheques. This modification is being launched following a case in which an independent financial advisor informed his clients to draw cheques out to the financial institutions where the money was going to be invested. He then paid them in to his own account, rather than the customers account.[ii] Under the BEA , there is a provision with a bill containing words prohibiting transfer or indicating an intension that it should not be transferable and these instruments is termed as ‘ not negotiable’. As such these instruments can not be negotiated by the payee to another holder. In UK, an account payee or a/c payee and with or without the words only can be encashed only by the account holder and thus it can not be encashed other wise than by an endorsement. Further, under the BEA, the consequence of an unauthorised or forged assignment is similar to that of forged endorsement as both do not convey title. Under BEA, in there is no acceptance, the drawee can not be held liable on the instrument and it does not exclude in tort or in receipt of money provided elements of such liability are present. If the drawer has given sufficient notice well in advance informing the drawee about the forged endorsement and the remedy available to the drawer against drawee for the forged endorsement is under contract and this arises regardless of any particular provision of the BEA. Further under BEA , no remedies is specified for the misappropriation under forged endorsement but the injured can avail the common law remedies for the embezzlement of property in chattels generally rather than stipulating specific recourse to the true owner of misappropriated cheques. Further the loss of cheque does not forfeit the action on it under the BEA. Under BEA, no title is passed on under the forged endorsements and one who derives the title under forged endorsement can not enforce payments against a prior party to the forgery. Further no payment is made under due course so as to discharge the cheque and to preclude drawee’s liability against the drawer. Thus the original owner from whom the cheque was stolen and forged inherits the right to and on the cheque and he has a right to sue for the wrongful interference with his rights. Further under BEA, an endorser is barred from refuting the authenticity and promptness of all previous endorsements and at the time of endorsement, he had a good title and this denial will be advantageous for the holder in due course later. Further under BEA, the drawee bank can base its reliance on laws governing mistake and restitution for the payment made over a forged endorsement. Further, under BEA provisions, true owner may recover on the lost cheque from any party prior to the falsification till up to the drawer. Under BEA, cheques payable to fictitious or non existing persons is deemed to payable to the bearer. A collecting bank can not be held responsible for payment made to a thief if it is drawn on fictitious name and if they have acted in good faith which absolves the collecting from its liability. In Fok Cheong Shing Investments v. Bank of Nova Scotia, the president of the drawer who turned to be the authorised signatory of the company issued a cheque to a real person with an intention for misappropriation. The loss was allocated to the drawer under the fictious payee provision. Thus the drawee bank is being protected under the BEA if it has paid a cheque over forged endorsement in the ordinary course of business under good faith. Thus the statutory protection is extended to the collecting bank which collects in good faith and without negligence a cheque bearing a forged endorsement. S 60 of the BEA does not warrant that drawee bank should act with out negligence. However one may assume that a bank has to act without negligence in the ordinary course of business. The UK Review Committee on Banking Services Law and Practice considered provisions ss.60, 80 and s.1 of the Cheques Act 1957. The committed recommended to combine these provisions under single enactment so that statutory protection may be extended to a paying bank acting in ’good faith’ and without negligence. Both the s 82 and s.1 of the Bills of exchange (crossed cheques) Act were repealed by the Cheques Act 1957 in UK which mainly extended the protection to open cheques and other payments documents. In UK, the drawee is primarily liable to payment, the endorser is liable secondly and the drawer is the ultimately liable to payment upon dishonor. Not withstanding this, the drawer and the endorser may sign without recourse. The United Nations Convention on international Bills of exchange and International Bills of Exchange and International promissory notes , 1988( UNCITRAL Convention) specifies that the drawer may exclude his own liability for acceptance or deferment by an express stipulation in the Bill. Such stipulation will hold of use only where another party is or becomes liable on the bill. PROTECTION AVAILABLE TO PAYING BANK: Section 24 of the BEA states that a forged signature is no signature. In Brown v Westminster Bank (1964), the estoppel caused from the misleading facts from the client. In this case , the bank has reminded a old lady , the customer against the veracity of the signature as her signature was forged more than in 300 cheques and in turn she certified that the signature was her own.   When the bank was sued by her son later, it was held that bank was not liable and they were estopped from denying the genuineness of the cheques. In Tai Cotton Mills Ltd v Liu Chong Hing bank (1985), it was held in this case that a customer of a bank needs to check his bank statement to keep on watch that the forged cheques were processed. The bank’s express condition to the contrary in the contract with customer can absolve the banks from the wrongful debit. Like wise if a bank pays a cheque in breach of a mandate by oversight, it has the right of subrogation and the bank has the right to take the possession of a title or good that it effectively paid for. PROTECTION IN THE CASE OF CONVERSION: It is not necessary for the bank to check every endorsement on the cheque and it would be time consuming and onerous to do so. So as to assuage the liability of banks, BEA (1882) and the Cheques Act (1959) offer defense for the paying bank. Bank of Ireland v Hollicourt (Contracts) limited (2000) EWCA Cir 263. A suit was filed against a bank which continued to pay on cheques against the company’s bank account even after filing of a petition for bankruptcy. It was held that the bank had acted as an agent and didn’t have any beneficial interest and the legislation made the disposition void but that did not operate the way claimed. Roger Smith and Christopher Trimothy Esmond Hayward and Lloyds Bank TSB; Harvey Jones Ltd and Woolwich Plc (2000). Where a cheque has been misused falsely to change the name of the payee, then the piece of paper can not be termed as a cheque and an action for alteration against the collecting or paying bank will stand only as the nominal value of the paper and not as to the face value. As the material alteration was carried out with out assent of any one but the fraudster and under the bill is avoided save against a party consenting or making to the alteration. PRECAUTIONS TO BE OBSERVED WHILE WRITING A CHEQUE: Write clearly the name of person in whose favour your are writing a cheque with additional information like Dr, Er, his shop name or company name etc. From September 2006 on wards whenever you issue a cheque to UK building society or to a bank, add additional information other than the name of the bank or society like account no, bank branch name etc. To prevent fraudsters to add words in the empty blank space available in the written cheque, it is always better to draw a line through unused spaces. Don’t pre sign blank cheques and also try to fill all the details like full name, amount in figures and words and don’t issue undated cheques. Always issue ‘account payee only ‘crossed cheques’ to avoid any frauds. CREDIT CARD CHEQUES: These cheques have been issued as an additional facility on credit card accounts for the last 10 years in UK. These are similar to the normal bank account cheques and can be deployed for the same purpose. During 2004 , about 3.4m credit cheques have been issued which constitute a very little percentage (2%) as opposed to overall number of credit card in operation which totaled to 1.727 billion in the UK according to APACS , the UK payment association. The credit card cheques are likely to bounce in most of the cases if credit limit has been crossed. These credit card cheques are utilised for high value transactions ranging from  £ 850 as against  £ 58 for a UK credit card purchases and  £ 120 for payment of a personal cheque. In credit card cheques, the customer need not ask for the cheques from the credit card issuer but they are issued at the discretion of the card provider and there are different terms and conditions applicable to transaction done through credit cards cheques as compared with a credit card and this is being unaware by the most of the customers. One of the disadvantages is the fraud that is prevalent in the credit card cheques as the most of the issuer are forwarding it to their customers on discretionary basis. These credit card cheques are vulnerable to fraudulent activities as most of the customers do not aware that credit card cheques have been dispatched to them. In the case of these credit card frauds, lender has to bear the losses rather than customer. CREDIT CARD FRAUDS: Credit and debit card frauds cost  £ 400 m during 2004 and devise deployed by the fraudsters have become sophisticated.One of the remedy is to insure against the ID theft. Some insurance company offer it as free adds on with home insurance policy. One of the protection for the prevention of credit card frauds   is the introduction of new industry standard namely ‘Chip and Pin† which required implanting a microchip inside the credit and debit card and mandates that consumers key in a secrete four-digit personal identification number to complete a transaction using the card. As the result the consumers deceived by the fraudsters are on the decrease in UK. [i] Dan Evans, â€Å"Gang’s Pounds 50m stolen cheque racket ‘, Sunday Mirror, Jan, 12, 2003. [ii] â€Å"Banks put checks on Cheques in new bid to beat pounds 46 million fraud, The Birmingham post, December 8, 2005, page 24. â€Å"Check Your Balance before the Match.† The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland) : 11 â€Å"Cheques in the Post-Mortem.† The Birmingham Post (England) 21 Jan. 2006: 27. Cheques to Be Stubbed Out. After 350 YEARS; Signed and Sealed.† The Mirror (London, England) 10 Nov. 2004: 1. â€Å"Fraud Bill Shock.† Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough, England) 31 Jan. 2006: 2. Ghost Workers Help Fraud to Soar.† Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales) 2 Feb. 2005: 6. â€Å"King of the Cons.† The Mirror (London, England) 11 Jan. 2005: 10. â€Å"Postman Given Asylum Plundered [Pounds Sterling] 20million.† The Daily Mail (London, England) 21 Dec. 2005: 17. â€Å"Store Bans Slowcoach Cheques to Speed Checkouts.† Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales) 3 Apr. 2006: 4. Sally Ramage Dabydeen, â€Å"Legal and Regulatory Frame work â€Å"iUniverse, 2004.

Life Changing Moment Essay

Ever since I can remember I spent almost ever y day at my Grandparents house. They live right down the road from my family and me, and that is how they got the title â€Å"Grandma and Grandpa down the road†. They lived in a small house three bedrooms, one bathroom, and a small living room with a fire place that can worm the coldest heart. And in their back yard stood a shed filled with old farm equipment and stray cats with their kittens that I would try to catch every day. They are now both 78 years old and sadly not very healthy. My grandpa was diagnosed with lung cancer in October, and it changed my grandpa’s life, my family’s life, and my life. I remember that October day so perfectly. I got out of class, called my Aunt Gwen for directions to the hospital he was at, and went on my way. I arrived at the hospital just as my grandpa was slowly making his way down the hallway with his oxygen and with my aunt right by his side. I look at her face and I can tell she is trying to hold back tears. My Uncle Jacky was there too which is my grandpas oldest son. After the doctors we went to Ryan’s restaurant and ate lunch, its where he always ate with my grandma when she had to go to the doctors. Now my grandpa is a big guy and watching him barely eat that day was terribly hard. I could barely look at him for I was trying to hold back all my tears with everything I had. From that day on I knew my grandpa’s life wouldn’t be the same. The doctors said they would be able to cure him, the cancer had spread to his fluids. My grandpa has been doing chemo therapy to just slow the cancer down and sadly he has to come to his last treatment. When this terrible news got around to the family we all grieved, especially my dad. My dad was my grandpa’s youngest son, and they are the closest out of all the kids. My dad is just like my grandpa, he’s hard working, tough, and hard of hearing. My dad was always down in the field with my grandpa. My grandpa would rack while my dad bailed hay, and after the boys got done my grandma would have lunch for them after a long day in the fields. Now that my grandpa is sick he won’t be able to do that. In fact the whole family doesn’t know if he will make it to hay season. My dad has to take care of two farms now, and my aunt has to stay at the farm house almost every day to take care of my grandparents since they are both sick. My family has been stressed to the max, we haven’t had any get to gathers in a while when my grandma would have a random family meal once a week. There is a lot of tension now from my grandma being stubborn and my grandpa not being able do very much at all when he used to be able to take care of her himself. My family is in a lot of pain, we never thought this would happen to us and now we can barely talk about the situation without somebody getting frustrated or upset our lives will forever be changed. Now out of all of the grandchildren ji was around my grandparents the most. They supported me in everything that I did. They were always in the front row of all my volleyball games, at my gymnastics meets, and they even watched me cheer for a year after I decided I didn’t like it. I can’t imagine life without my grandparents they are my everything. My grandpa would always tell me about his time in the army. I would get out his old pictures and he would tell me everything, it was like traveling back in time and seeing my grandpa in his prime. I cant imagine not being able to see my grandpa again; when I went and visited him in the hospital with my sister not too long ago I could barely handle it. I had to step out of the room and take deep breaths. My grandpa is supposed to be the rock of the whole family and seeing him as a strand of grass was painful. My life will ever be the same, I think about him every day and pray that he gets better, and so far it hasn’t been working. Now that my grandpa is due for his last treatment of chemo all I can do is pray and hope for the best, hope that he makes it to my cousins wedding, makes it to my dad’s birthday, and makes it to birth of his first Great Grandson. He started this family pretty much and to just have to wait is going to be the most difficult thing that I have ever had to do. I miss him so much and I can’t wait to go home one weekend and hug him. I stop at my grandparents’ house first every time I go home. I swing the back door open and run in and greet them with a big hug. Even though now his life, my family’s life, and my life are forever changed he will still strong on our hearts. Now all we can do is wait, hope, and pray that god doesn’t take the Payne family’s rock away just yet, he has the most loving family and wife. And even though my grandpa doesn’t say much I wish he would say just once that he loves me and that he is proud to call me his grandchild, for I am the youngest and last Payne that will ever walk this earth and dirt road of AC highway or what me and my family call â€Å"Payne Lane†

Death of a Salesman: Symbolism

Langston Hughes's poem â€Å"Dream Deferred† is basically about what happens to dreams when they are put on hold. Hughes probably intended for the poem to focus on the dreams of African-Americans because he originally entitled the poem â€Å"Harlem,† which is the capital of African American life in the United States; however, it is just as easy to read the poem as being about dreams in general and what happens when people postpone making them come true.Overall, Hughes uses a carefully arranged series of images that suggest that people should not delay their dreams because the more they postpone them, the more the dreams will change and the less likely they will come true. In the opening of the poem Hughes uses a visual image that compares a dream deferred to a raisin. Hughes asks the question, â€Å"Does it [the dream] dry up, Like a raisin in the sun? † (2-3). Here you can see the raisin, which used to be a moist, healthy-looking grape, has shriveled up to becom e a raisin.Like the raisin, the dream has been on hold for a long time and eventually it has transformed into something very different than it once was. Because they look so different, few people would believe that raisins were once grapes unless they had been told. Similarly, a dream that continues to be postponed will go through a transformation as well-it won't be the same as the original. On the surface, readers may not view the outcome as negative because raisins are valuable on their own. However, Hughes does not stress the taste of the raisin; he emphasizes the fact that a raisin â€Å"dries up† or loses its moisture.The comparison of the dream to the withered raisin shows how a dream that is postponed changes dramatically and will not turn out as the person originally intended. The next image in the poem â€Å"fester like† a sore and then run† (3-4) gives you a sense of infection and pain. Comparing the dream to a sore of a body, Hughes suggests that unfu lfilled dreams become part of us, like a longstanding injury that has gathered pus. The word â€Å"fester† meaning something decay and â€Å"run† literally refers to pus in my opinion.From this perspective, it explains the pain that someone has when their dream always defers. A postponed dream is like a painful injury that begins to be infected. The next image â€Å"Does it stink like rotten meat†(5) intensified the sense of disgust. A dream deferred may also stink. If dreams are stashed away, will they haunt us like rotten meat haunts us when it sits too long in the refrigerator? If rotting meat didn't smell so bad, how much longer do you think it would sit in your fridge? The smell is often what reminds us to do something about it, to throw it away.What kinds of things crust or sugar over(6)? Honey; cheese or candy. Usually things that left out in the open and that aren't put away properly. Can dreams be put away properly? Can dreams be preserved if they aren' t pursued? Hughes compares dreams to sweet-tasting things, and comparing the bitterness of lost dreams. â€Å"Maybe it just sags like a heavy load† (8-9). Sagging things are things that are old, for example our skin, furniture or even curtains. I think Hughes is pointing out how important dreams are because they are heavy and if we ignore them, they grow to sag. Or does it explode† (10)? I think when Hughes uses the word â€Å"explode† he leaves it up to question. Explode could mean either from built up pressure or something more positive like fireworks or celebration. Whichever comparison, I think either are strong outcomes become your dream has some sort of result. Because of the time period Hughes wrote this poem, I think he wants the readers to question and think about their dreams, and what you are going to do with them; especially for African Americans.