Analysing The Effectiveness Of The Kyoto Protocol Politics Essay

Analysing The Effectiveness Of The Kyoto Protocol Politics Essay Environmental issues become global issues because the effect of the environmental problem goes beyond national boundaries. Thus, environmental issues are common concerns and every country has a responsibility to tackle the problem. One of the environmental problems is global warming. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1992 in order to mitigate the impact of greenhouse gas that can endanger human life. Principally, the Convention attempted to reduce the emissions that can trigger the gradual warming of the atmosphere. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in the Third Conference of the Parties as a legally binding treaty. In the Kyoto Protocol, the ratified countries have to commit to a target to reduce their emissions. By countries to reducing emissions in concert, it is expected that the issue of climate change and its impact on the earth can be addressed. After more than a decade, the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol as a global environmental regime to address climate change is still questioned. This essay argues that the Kyoto Protocol is not effective enough to tackle global warming. The argument will be based on the examination of two issues in the Kyoto Protocol. Firstly, the issue of participation will be discussed, especially the principle of common but differentiated responsibility (CDR). Secondly, the issue of participation will be linked to the compliance issue in the Kyoto Protocol. In this section, this essay will look at the effectiveness of three mechanisms in the Kyoto Protocol: emission trading, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Joint Implementation (JI). The Kyoto Protocol Environmental damage caused by pollution does not recognize national boundaries and has to be addressed by combined action of multiple states. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported the scientific findings about the actual threat to the earth were caused by the increase of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG). GHG will cover the atmosphere and eventually block solar radiation. This will cause an increase of the earths temperature and result in climate change, such as unpredictable and extreme weather, floods, and storms. The scientific findings recommend to maintain the increase of temperature below 20C by limiting the concentration of CO2 on the atmosphere below 550 ppm (Baylis et al. 2008: 361). Notwithstanding keeping the increase of temperature below 20C, scientists believe that the climate change would still bring mostly negative effects to human life (Scott 2004: 271). These scientific findings force all nations to cooperate to mitigate climate change. The UNFCCC was established at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 as an international action to address climate change. The UNFCCC was non-binding agreement to encourage state parties to cut their gas emission. Then, the Third Conference of the Parties on December 11, 1997, successfully negotiated the Kyoto Protocol as the first binding international agreement to mitigate global warming by targeting emission reduction of states (Scott 2004: 273). The Kyoto Protocol was signed by most states, but the process of ratification was not easy. Article 24(1) of the Kyoto Protocol stated that the Protocol was opened for signature from 16 March 1998 to 15 March 1999. According to Article 25(1) of the Kyoto Protocol, the Protocol shall enter into force on the ninetieth day after the date on which not less than 55 Parties to the Convention, incorporating Parties included in Annex I which accounted in total for at least 55 per cent of the total carbon dioxide emissions for 1990 of the Parties included in Annex I, have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. (Scott 2006: 637-638) The United States represents 36.1 per cent of Annex I emissions, Russia represents 17.4 per cent, and Japan, Australia, Canada and the rest of Annex I countries represent below 10 per cent. With that composition, the United States and the Russian Federation ratification became significant for the Kyoto Protocol to be enforced. Although the United States signed the Protocol it is opposed to bringing the Kyoto Protocol to the Senate for ratification. Consequently, the ratification of the Russian Federation became crucial to fulfil at least 55 per cent of the total emission of Annex I countries as stated in the article 25(1) (Doelle 2005: xv). The Russian Federation did ratify the Protocol and it was enforced on February 16, 2005. According to UNFCCC, there are 191 parties in the Kyoto Protocol and the total percentage of Annex I parties emissions is 63.7 per cent (UNFCCC). Participation The climate change issue is not only about emission reduction. The issue involves many other aspects, such as transportation, agriculture, and energy security. Thus, addressing climate change will eventually point to the structural inequalities in wealth, income and power between the North and the South (Gupta in Hisschemà ¶ller and Gupta 1999: 154). Encouraging participation from all developed and developing countries is one difficulty in creating an effective climate change regime. The basis for implementing the principle of common but differentiated responsibility (CDR) is to encourage the cooperation of all states to promote effective action on global issue, such as climate change (Cullet 2003: 16). However, the application of the CDR principle has its own obstacles. As stated above, the reluctance of the United States to ratify the Kyoto Protocol refers to the minimum role of developing countries to the reduction of GHG emissions, particularly regarding the principle of CDR. Developing countries recognize two principles in environmental law: the common heritage of mankind (CHM) and the common but differentiated responsibility (CDR) between nations. CHM is the first principle used by developing countries to assert justice on resource exploitation. However, the CHM principle is less significant (Duff in Okereke 2008: 8) than the CDR principle in negotiating environmental law. Thus, this essay only discusses the CDR principle in the climate change regime. Common is to recognize that all states have the same environmental risks to face, but the responsibility to address the problems is differentiated among countries, particularly between developed and developing countries (Stone 2004: 277). According to Okereke, from the perspective of international law, the CDR principle has culpability and capability dimensions. The first dimension refers to history and emphasizes that most of the current environmental problems were caused by the development of the North, particularly in the era of industrialization. That dimension is closely related to the dimension of capability. Because of that development, developed countries are now more capable than developing countries, in term of technology and financial resources (Okereke 2008: 32). Thus, article 4 of the UNFCCC adopts the CDR principle to acknowledge that developed countries have more responsibilities and should take the lead in dealing with climate change. Making the environmental issue a global priority would distract developing countries from their development which could make them reluctant to join the Kyoto Protocol. The CDR principle resolves this issue because it bridges the notions of environmental protection and the need of development by the South, or developing countries (Najam 2005: 308). Therefore, the CDR principle has two implications in the Kyoto Protocol. Firstly, the Annex I countries in the Kyoto Protocol have commitments in reducing emissions while the developing countries are excused from the effort to reduce their emissions. Secondly, the developed countries are expected to provide technological and financial assistance to developing countries in order to meet the recommended amount of emission reduction and also to reduce the possible social and economic impacts on developing countries when they are fulfilling their voluntary commitment (Cullet 2003: 70-71). The implications of the CDR principle are demonstrated b y the provision of financial and technological assistance under the Kyoto Protocol. The application of the CDR principle into policy instruments of the Kyoto Protocol is challenging. The United States as the largest emitter in the world rejects those two implications of the CDR principle as stated above. This opposition is based on the view that although developed countries are the largest producers of GHG, new emerging economies, such as China, India, and Brazil, that also produce large amount of GHG emissions, should not be ignored. China, which is included in the grouping of developing countries, is the second largest which produce of GHG emissions (Harris 1999: 31). Therefore, the United States is of the view that the large developing countries should give the similar contributions as the Annex I countries to prevent the high increases of GHS emissions in the next decades (Scholtz 2008: 127). The unwillingness of the United States as the largest producer of GHG emissions, to ratify the Kyoto Protocol results in the Protocols lack of legitimacy. This is worsened by the reluctance of the developing countries to reduce their emissions before the developed countries show progress (Harris 1999: 33-34). Thus, the Kyoto Protocol will only be effective if all parties are willing to participate. This means the United States must agree to have a binding commitment for reducing its emissions and the developing countries should agree to have a voluntarily commitment to cut their increasing emissions (Scholtz 2008: 128). According to Downs, determinants for the regimes legitimacy are democratic decision-making, high consensus standard, and the degree of distributive fairness embodied in standards (Downs 2000: 27). The debate between developed and developing countries over the CDR principle shows that the climate change regime lacks consensus. In this case, it shows that developing cou ntries are distrustful of the Kyoto Protocol by believing that it is only aimed for the developed countries benefit (Downs 2000: 27). The lack of consensus will influence the issue of participation and compliance and at the end, the Kyoto Protocol will become ineffective as a binding treaty to solve global environmental problems. Compliance The issue of participation is closely related to the issue of compliance and both will influence the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol. When the highest sovereignty is the state, it is difficult to enforce international law. Scott argues that the lack of an international police force to enforce compliance makes international law is only politically effective (Scott 2004: 7). If the compliance mechanism in international law is effective, then on the one hand many countries will be willing to participate in the treaty. On the other hand, they would rather not participate in the treaty than breach their obligations (Vezirgiannidou 2009: 42). Becoming a non-compliant state will risk its image in the international community. In environmental law, particularly under the climate change regime, this essay would argue that lack of capacity and the idea of a free rider are the reasons for the issue of non-compliance in the Kyoto Protocol. Firstly, one possibility is that the states, mostly developing countries, intend to comply with the treaty, but they do not have enough resources and the capacity to fulfil the requirements. In this case of non-compliance, assistance would be needed rather than penalty to increase their compliance with the treaty (Young in Vezirgiannidou 2009: 43). Another possibility is that the states would prefer to spend their resources for other priorities, such as their basic needs, than for climate mitigation (Doelle 2005: 116). Thus, the principle of assistance is to support the fulfilment of basic needs and to open the chance for countries to get involved with international commitment to address climate change. Secondly, the free rider in climate change is also considered as a form of non-compliance. Free riding is when states are able to enjoy the benefits without contributing to the cost. Grundig et al. describe that in the climate context, a state could free ride by not reducing its GHG emissions, while others do so. That state still could enjoy the benefit from the decreased danger of climate change achieved by others efforts (Grundig et al. in Vezirgiannidou 2009: 49). Neo-liberal theorists view the free riding problem as important in enforcing international law. In this case, non-participation in the treaty is also included as free riding. The issue of free riding can be solved with the strong mechanism of the compliance process, such as effective and transparent review and reporting mechanisms. Unfortunately, the current punishment mechanism in the Kyoto Protocol is not strong enough to make the state parties comply with their obligations. The issue of compliance provided in article 3(1) of the Kyoto Protocol is the Parties included in Annex I shall, individually or jointly, ensure that their aggregate anthropogenic carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of the greenhouse gases listed in Annex A do not exceed their assigned amounts, calculated pursuant to their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments inscribed in Annex B and in accordance with the provisions of this Article, with a view to reducing their overall emissions of such gases by at least 5 per cent below 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008 to 2012. (Scott 2006: 622) This article describes the obligation of Annex I countries to meet the emissions reduction. Countries could reduce emissions through several mechanisms, such as through national efforts or other mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol. According to UNFCCC, the mechanisms provided under the Kyoto Protocol are aimed to stimulate sustainable development through technology transfer and investment, help countries with Kyoto commitments to meet their targets by reducing emissions or removing carbon from the atmosphere in other countries in a cost-effective way, and encourage the private sector and developing countries to contribute to emission reduction efforts. (UNFCCC) The obligation of emissions reduction should be done through national measures. Emissions reduction is closely related to other policies, such as transportation, energy security, agriculture, economic activities, and also education and culture. There should be policy changes in those areas to assist reduction of climate change, but these should be applied carefully in order not to affect the economic growth and development of the states. The limitation in the use of fossil fuels energy has its own dilemmas. On the one hand, states should limit the use of fossil fuels to support the notion of environmental protection. On the other hand, the reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels will impact on supply and price. When developed countries limit themselves in their consumption of fossil fuels, the supply will increase and the price will decrease. This condition will trigger developing countries to consume fossil fuels. Here, environmental problems are not solved rather they are tran sferred from Annex I to non-Annex I countries (Baylis et al. 2008). Thus, this again reasserts the idea that environmental problems cannot be solved only by developed countries themselves without the participations of developing countries. To accelerate the progress in dealing with environmental problems and also to give flexibility to the state parties to fulfil their commitments, the Kyoto Protocol provides three mechanisms: emissions trading, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Joint Implementation (JI). The first mechanism, emission trading, allows one Annex I country to sell its amount of permitted GHG emissions to another Annex I country that has emissions below the target in the Kyoto Protocol. Although the overall amount of emissions can be reduced, the trading itself still cannot be ensured to be transparent, low-cost, and efficient (Cameron 2002: 12). The second mechanism is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) that is provided under the article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol. CDM is aimed to assist parties not included in Annex I to reduce GHG emissions and attempt to achieve the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol. By assisting the project, including transferring technology, to non-Annex I countries, Annex I countries will gain GHG credits or Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs). The CERs will raise the assigned amount stated in article 3 of the Kyoto Protocol. The developing countries will also get the benefit from project assistance or the transfer of technology (Cameron 2002: 11). The last mechanism in the Kyoto Protocol is Joint Implementation (JI). The CDM and JI mechanisms have the same principles. JI mechanism allows developed countries to gain CERs by financing projects in another developed country or an Annex I party. This happens when the same amount of money could give a greater result in emissions reduction in other develop ed countries that have more efficient power plants or projects, rather than spending the money in own country (Baylis et al. 2008: 362). There are some critical questions on the implementation of the CDM. The CDM will surely need the participation from developing countries in the Kyoto Protocol to receive financial and technological assistance. Domestic politics in developing countries mostly place the agenda of climate change lower than other issues, such as economic development and health policies. Moreover, the effective implementation of the CDM depends on the recipient countries. Problems such as poverty and minimal health care, weak institutions, and the transparency of aid might influence the success of the project. Thus, assistance could be effective only within certain conditions. From a long-term perspective, this essay argues that the bigger problem is that the CDM might only relocate industries from developed countries to developing countries in order to avoid restrictions by the Annex I countries (Cameron 2002: 13-14). Therefore, those mechanisms might be attractive for all parties to participate and work hard to implement the Kyoto Protocol, but the environmental problems will not eventually be solved and the objective of climate change will not be achieved. Conclusion The Kyoto Protocol aims to address gradual warming and to protect the environment for the future generations. Climate change is a common problem and needs participation from all countries. This essay examines the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol from two elements: participation and compliance. The issue of participation is examined by discussing the principle of common but differentiated responsibility (CDR). The principle of CDR is meant to bridge the notions of environmental protection and development. By applying the principle of CDR in the Kyoto Protocol, the developing countries are willing to join in this climate change regime because this principle gives more attention to the developing countries. Firstly, the current environmental problems are related to the history of the era of industrialization which resulted in the developed countries. Secondly, the developing countries should be differentiated because they might not have the same capacity as developed countries, in te rms of finance and technology, to address the issue of climate change. However, in order to legitimize the Kyoto Protocol as a binding treaty, the new emerging economies, such as China, India, and Brazil, should be given more significant roles than other developing countries. This will also resolve the reluctance of the United States to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. The issue of participation in order to make the Kyoto Protocol more effective are closely related to the issue of compliance. A state will not join a treaty if it will breach the treaty. The non-compliance of states in environmental law is mostly because of the lack of capacity to fulfil the commitments and the issue of free riding. The issue of free riding could be solved by implementing a stronger compliance mechanism in the treaty. The Kyoto Protocol provides three mechanisms to help a state to comply with the obligations, through its own national measures. Those three mechanisms are emission trading, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Joint Implementation (JI). Although those mechanisms provide flexibility to fulfil the commitments among the Annex I countries or between developed and developing countries, the negative impacts for the long-term still need to be addressed in order to make the Kyoto Protocol an effective environmental treaty. (3219 words)

Affect the Daily Lives of Elderly

â€Å"I’ve fallen and can’t get up! † How many times have you heard and laughed at that expression? Although there are countless jokes to go along with aging, the fact is the age process brings about numerous bodily changes that can affect the lives of older adults. With such a large span of changes that may happen, not all elderly people have the same changes. This is called probabilistic aging (changes that may happen to some, but not all people as they grow older). The majority of aging changes not only cause physical disability, but mental and social setbacks as well.The ones that have the largest effects of the quality of daily life in the elderly are the loss of bone density, kidney dysfunctions, and hypertension. As we progress through the years, our bones begin to decrease in density. We all lose some bone mass as we age and it reaches its peak between the ages of 25 and 35. Our bones lose calcium and other minerals and become more porous, lighter, and le ss dense. The loss of density causes our bones to become weak and possibly break. There are many different stages to bone loss, but osteoporosis is the most debilitating.It is most commonly found in women over the age of 60 when their bones begin to break and can even cause hip and spinal fractures. In women who have experienced menopause, they can use hormone therapy to help increase bone density. Through calcium and vitamin D supplements as well as exercise (weight lifting and walking), we can also increase our bone density. Of course, the earlier we start, the healthier our bones will be when we get older. Another common ailment is kidney disease. Our kidneys have the job of removing waste from the bloodstream.As we age and have chronic conditions like: diabetes or high blood pressure, damage can be done to our urinary tract and kidneys. When poisons and toxins are not being eliminated properly, problems can range from fatigue and frequent urination to incontinence (loss of bladd er control) and the need for dialysis (blood is cleaned out) may occur. The most extreme cases would require kidney transplants. Reducing the intake of sugar and carbohydrates, maintaining a low cholesterol and fat diet, as well as drinking plenty of fluids is what doctors suggest to avoid these types of problems.The third and most significant bodily change as we age is hypertension or high blood pressure. It is a silent change that is linked to various other diseases and is the most deadly. Hypertension is caused by fatty deposits that form on the walls of the heart vessels known as atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). The body receives blood through arteries pumped by the heart muscles. This blood carries oxygen, carbon dioxide and nutrients to the necessary areas in the body. If there are fatty deposits on the walls of the vessels, it impedes the blood flow, resulting in the heart working harder to push the blood through blocked arteries.The effect is an elevated blood pr essure reading medically known as hypertension. Stress is one of the main causes of hypertension which is directly linked to overeating, smoking, and drinking. Research indicates that cold weather can be related to high blood pressure in older people because it is related to stress. Without treatment, it increases the risk of kidney disease, erectile dysfunction, eye problems, diabetes and more importantly heart disease and stroke which can be fatal. A proper diet, exercise and healthy choices are necessary to decrease the fatty deposits in our blood vessels.All of these bodily changes can cause some form of physical disability which in turn can cause emotional and social problems as well. When a physical body change occurs, the elderly may become depressed because they may need to rely of others to help them. They also may avoid social situations because they are uncomfortable, in pain, or have a level of embarrassment due to their disability. Although biological aging cannot be av oided, there often are many ways to prevent some of the probabilistic changes from happening or be less debilitating.A common thread found throughout the bodily changes is many of them can be avertable with a healthy lifestyle change of a proper diet and exercise. So get wiser with age by seeing a doctor regularly and begin your lifestyle changes to ensure an enjoyable aging process. Works Cited Aging. (Last modified March 21, 2009. ) In Wikipedia Online. Retrieved March 21, 2009 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Aging Bone Mineral Density. (2005-2009) WebMD. Retrieved on March 21, 2009 from http://www. webmd.com/osteoporosis/bone-mineral-density Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). (2009. ) National Kidney Foundation. Retreived on March 21, 2009 from http://www. kidney. org/kidneydisease/ckd/index. cfm Hypertension/High Blood Pressure Guide (2005-2009). WebMD. Retrieved on March 20, 2009 from http://www. webmd. com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/ Warner, J. (January 12, 2009). WebMD. High Blood Pressure Climbs in Winter. http://www. webmd. com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/news/20090112/high-blood- pressure-climbs-in-winter

Bloodlines Chapter Thirteen

MY CELL PHONE RANG at the crack of dawn the next morning. I was already up, being an early riser, but Jill rolled over in bed and put her pillow over her head. â€Å"Make it stop,† she groaned. I answered and found Eddie on the other end of the line. â€Å"I'm downstairs,† he said. â€Å"Ready to practice some self-defense before it gets too hot.† â€Å"You're going to have to do it without me,† I said. I had a feeling Eddie was taking his promise to Clarence about training us very seriously. I felt no such obligation. â€Å"I've got a ton of homework to do. That, and I'm sure Ms. Terwilliger's going to make me do a coffee run today.† â€Å"Well, then send Jill down,† said Eddie. I glanced over to the cocoon of blankets on her bed. â€Å"That might be easier said than done.† Surprisingly, she managed to rouse herself enough to brush her teeth, take aspirin for a headache, and throw on some workout clothes. She bid me farewell, and I promised to check on them later. Not long after that, Ms. Terwilliger called with her coffee demand, and I prepared myself for another day of trying to fit in my own work with hers. I drove over to Spencer's and didn't even notice Trey until I was standing right in front of him. â€Å"Ms. Terwilliger's?† he asked, pointing to the caramel sauce cappuccino. â€Å"Huh?† I looked up. Trey was my cashier. â€Å"You work here?† He nodded. â€Å"Gotta make spending money somehow.† I handed him some cash, noting that he'd charged me half price. â€Å"Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't look so great,† I told him. He looked tired and worn out around the edges. Closer inspection showed bruises and cuts as well. â€Å"Yeah, well, I had kind of a rough day yesterday.† I hesitated. That was a leading comment, but there was no one in line behind me. â€Å"What happened?† I asked, knowing it was expected. Trey scowled. â€Å"That asshole Greg Slade wreaked havoc in football tryouts yesterday. I mean, the results aren't up yet, but it's pretty obvious he's going to get quarterback. He was like a machine, just plowing guys over.† He extended his left hand, which had some bandage-wrapped fingers. â€Å"He stepped on my hand too.† I winced, remembering Slade's out-of-control athleticism in PE. The politics of high school football and who was quarterback weren't that important to me. True, I felt sorry for Trey, but it was the source behind the tattoos that intrigued me. Keith's warnings about not causing trouble rang back to me, but I was unable to stop myself. â€Å"I know about the tattoos,† I said. â€Å"Julia and Kristin told me about them. And I get now why you were suspicious of mine – but it's not what you think. Really.† â€Å"That's not what I've heard. Most people think you're just saying that because you don't want to tell where you got it.† I was a little taken aback by that. I was pretty sure Julia and Kristin had believed me. Were they actually spreading around the opposite? â€Å"I had no idea.† He shrugged, a small smile on his lips. â€Å"Don't worry. I believe you. There's something kind of naively charming about you. You don't seem like the cheating type.† â€Å"Hey,† I scolded. â€Å"I'm not naive.† â€Å"It was a compliment.† â€Å"How long have these tattoos been around?† I asked, deciding it was best to move in. â€Å"I heard since last year.† He handed me my coffee, thinking. â€Å"Yeah, but it was the end of last year. School year, I mean.† â€Å"And they come from a placed called Nevermore?† â€Å"As far as I know.† Trey eyed me suspiciously. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Just curious,† I said sweetly. A couple of college kids dressed like rich hobos got in line behind me and regarded us impatiently. â€Å"Can we get some service here?† Trey gave them a stiff smile and then rolled his eyes at me as I moved away. â€Å"See you around, Melbourne.† I headed back to Amberwood and delivered Ms. Terwilliger's coffee. I wasn't in the mood to stay leashed to her all day, so I asked if I could go elsewhere if I kept my cell phone handy. She agreed. The library had too much activity and – ironically – noise for me today. I wanted the solitude of my room. As I was cutting across the lawn to catch the shuttle, I spotted some familiar figures behind a cluster of trees. I changed direction and found Jill and Eddie squaring off in a small clearing. Micah sat cross-legged on the ground, watching avidly. He waved at me as I approached. â€Å"I didn't realize your brother was a kung-fu master,† he remarked. â€Å"It's not kung fu,† said Eddie gruffly, never taking his eyes off Jill. â€Å"Same difference,† said Micah. â€Å"It's still pretty badass.† Eddie feinted, like he was going to strike at Jill's side. She responded fairly quickly with a block, though not quite fast enough to match him. Had he been serious, he would have hit her. Still, he seemed pleased with her response time. â€Å"Good. That would deflect part of a hit, though you'd still feel it. Best is if you can duck and dodge altogether, but that takes a little more work.† Jill nodded obediently. â€Å"When can we work on that?† Eddie regarded her with pride. That expression softened after a few moments of study. â€Å"Not today. Too much sun.† Jill started to protest and then stopped herself. She had that worn-out-from-the-light look again and was sweating heavily. She glanced up at the sky for a moment, as though begging it to give us some cloud cover. It remained unresponsive, so she nodded at Eddie. â€Å"All right. But we're doing this tomorrow at the same time? Or earlier maybe. Or maybe tonight! Could we do both? Practice tonight when the sun's going down and then again in the morning? Would you mind?† Eddie grinned, amused at her enthusiasm. â€Å"Whatever you want.† Smiling back, Jill sat down beside me, getting into as much shade as possible. Eddie regarded me expectantly. â€Å"What?† I asked. â€Å"Aren't you supposed to learn to throw a punch?† I scoffed. â€Å"No. When would I ever need to do that?† Jill nudged me. â€Å"Do it, Sydney!† Reluctantly, I allowed Eddie to give me a quick lesson on throwing a punch without injuring my hand in the process. I barely paid attention and felt like I was mostly providing entertainment for the others. When Eddie finished with me, Micah asked, â€Å"Hey, would you mind showing me some ninja moves too?† â€Å"They have nothing to do with ninjas,† protested Eddie, still smiling. â€Å"Come on up.† Micah leapt to his feet, and Eddie walked him through some rudimentary steps. More than anything, it seemed like Eddie was sizing up Micah and his capabilities. After a while, Eddie grew comfortable and let Micah practice some offensive moves to get rid of an attacker. â€Å"Hey,† protested Jill when Eddie landed a kick on Micah. Micah shrugged it off in a guy kind of way. â€Å"No fair. You wouldn't hit me when we were practicing.† Eddie was caught off guard enough that Micah actually got a hit in. Eddie gave him a look of grudging respect and then said to Jill, â€Å"That was different.† â€Å"Because I'm a girl?† she demanded. â€Å"You never held back with Rose.† â€Å"Who's Rose?† asked Micah. â€Å"Another friend,† explained Eddie. To Jill, he said: â€Å"And Rose has had years more experience than you.† â€Å"She's had more than Micah too. You were going easy on me.† Eddie flushed and kept his eyes on Micah. â€Å"Was not,† he said. â€Å"Were too,† she muttered. As the boys sparred again, she said quietly to me, â€Å"How am I ever going to learn if he's afraid of breaking me?† I watched the guys, analyzing what I knew of Eddie so far. â€Å"I think it's more complicated than that. I think he also just believes you shouldn't have to take the risk – that if he's doing a good enough job, you shouldn't have to defend yourself.† â€Å"He's doing a great job. You should have seen him at the attack.† Her face got that haunted look it did whenever the attack that had driven her into hiding was mentioned. â€Å"But I still need to learn.† She lowered her voice even more. â€Å"I really want to learn to use my magic to fight too, not that I'll get much practice in this desert.† I shuddered, recalling her display from the night before. â€Å"There'll be time,† I said vaguely. I stood up, saying I had to go get some work done. Micah asked Eddie and Jill if they wanted to get lunch. Eddie said yes immediately. Jill looked to me for help. â€Å"It's just lunch,† said Eddie meaningfully. I knew he still thought Micah was harmless. I didn't know, but after seeing how infatuated Jill was with Lee, I figured Micah would have to make some pretty aggressive moves to get anywhere. â€Å"I'm sure it's fine,† I said. Jill looked relieved, and the group headed off. I spent the day finishing off that miserable book for Ms. Terwilliger. I still thought having to copy the archaic spells and rituals verbatim was a waste of time. The only point I could see for it was that if she ever did need to reference them for her research, she would have an easy computer file to check and not risk damage to the ancient book. It was evening by the time I finished that and my other homework. Jill still wasn't back, and I decided to use the opportunity to check on something that had been bothering me. Earlier in the day, Jill had mentioned Eddie defending her in the attack. I'd felt from the beginning that there was something strange about that initial attack, something that they weren't telling me. So, I logged onto the Alchemists' network and pulled up everything we had on the Moroi rebels. Naturally, it was all documented. We had to keep track of important events among the Moroi, and this ranked pretty high. Somehow, the Alchemists had gotten pictures of the Moroi Court, with protesters lined up outside one of the administrative buildings. Dhampir guardians were easy to pick out as they mingled and kept order. To my surprise, I recognized Dimitri Belikov – Rose's boyfriend – among those doing crowd control. He was easy to spot since he was almost always taller than everyone around him. Dhampirs look very human, and even I could admit that he was pretty good-looking. There was a rugged handsomeness to him, and even in a still photograph, I could see a fierceness as he watched the crowd. Other protest pictures confirmed what I knew. By far, most people supported the young queen. Those against her were a minority – but a loud and dangerous one. A video from a human news show in Denver showed two Moroi guys nearly getting in a bar fight. They were shouting about queens and justice, most of which wouldn't make sense to a human observer. What made this video special was that the guy who'd filmed it – some random human with a cell phone camera – claimed he'd seen fangs on both men in the argument. The videographer had submitted his recording claiming he'd witnessed a vampire fight, but no one gave it much credibility. It was too grainy for anything to show up. Still, it was a reminder of what could happen if the Moroi situation spun out of control. A status check showed me that Queen Vasilisa was indeed trying to get a law passed so that her rule was no longer dependent on there being at least one other person in her royal family. Alchemist experts guessed it would take three months, which was about what Rose had said. The number loomed in my head like a ticking time bomb. We needed to keep Jill safe for three months. And for three months, Vasilisa's enemies would be trying harder than ever to get to Jill. If Jill died, Vasilisa's rule would end – along with her attempts to fix the system. Yet none of this was what had really driven me to research. I wanted to know about Jill's initial attack, the one that no one talked about. What I found wasn't much help. No Alchemists had been there at the time, of course, so our information was based on what Moroi sources had reported. All we knew was that â€Å"the queen's sister had been viciously and severely attacked – but had made a full recovery.† From what I'd observed, that was certainly true. Jill showed no signs of injury, and the attack had occurred a week before she came to Palm Springs. Was that enough time to heal from a â€Å"vicious and severe† attack? And was an attack like that enough to make her wake screaming? I didn't know but still couldn't shake my suspicions. When Jill came home later, she was in such a good mood that I couldn't bear to interrogate her. I also remembered too late that I'd meant to research the case of Clarence's niece and her bizarre death by throat-slitting. Jill's situation had distracted me. I let the matter go and called it an early night. Tomorrow, I thought drowsily. I'll do it all tomorrow. Tomorrow came much more quickly than I expected. I was woken out of a heavy sleep by someone shaking me, and for a split second, the old nightmare was there, the one about Alchemists carrying me away in the night. Recognizing Jill, I just barely stopped myself from screaming. â€Å"Hey, hey,† I scolded. There was light outside, but it was purplish. Barely after sunrise. â€Å"What's going on? What's the matter?† Jill looked at me, face grim and eyes wide with fear. â€Å"It's Adrian. You have to rescue him.†

Software Engineering Design Rules For All Components

In software engineering, requirements from user met with available components, then following activities needs to be performed 1) Component Qualification: System requirements and architecture define the components that will be required. Reusable components (whether COTS or in house) are normally identified by the characteristics of their interfaces. That is, â€Å"the services that are provided, and the means by which consumers access these services† are described as part of the component interface. But the interface does not provide a complete picture of the degree to which the component will fit the architecture and requirements. The software engineer must use a process of discovery and analysis to qualify each component’s fit. 2) Component Adaptation: we noted that software architecture represents design patterns that are composed of components (units of functionality), connections, and coordination. In essence the architecture defines the design rules for all components, identifying modes of connection and coordination. In some cases, existing reusable components may be mismatched to the ar chitecture’s design rules. These components must be adapted to meet the needs of the architecture or discarded and replaced by other, more suitable components. 3) Component Composition: Architectural style again plays a key role in the way in which software components are integrated to form a working system. By identifying connection and coordination mechanisms (e.g., run-time propertiesShow MoreRelatedThe Elements Of A Collection Framework And Increase The Capability Of Existing Adapted Data Type1424 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract: In software development, there have a complex problem is found out that object, class or similar types of data cannot be plugged in when inference miss matches. Collection framework is used to overcome this problem. 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