Infertility’s Effects on the Macbeths Essay - 1168 Words

According to the clichà © rhyme,â€Å"First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage.† What happens, though, if the â€Å"baby in the baby carriage† never comes to fruition? Millions of couples struggle with infertility every year. Despite relentless effort and sometimes even therapy, many relationships become strained by the curse of sterility. Both partners in a childless (yet child-wanting) couple feel the tension of the struggle to become parents. One literature-based couple that struggles with infertility is Shakespeare’s Macbeths. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth yearn for a child and react to their unsuccessful attempts at becoming parents in psychologically understandable ways. The inability to bear children†¦show more content†¦They tend to focus their energy back into their work, a place where they feel they can have more success† (â€Å"Emotional Effects†). When considering this tidbit of informatio n, one may connect Macbeth’s behavior of securing his position as king (and thereby killing Duncan) to Lady Macbeth’s irrational behavior and murderous encouragement. Despite the fact that Macbeth is not the only murderous character in the tragedy, he experiences a significant amount of guilt, which is nothing but exacerbated by his infertility. Since men â€Å"are trained to be more instructional to take charge, to make decisions and to think without being sidetracked by emotions,† Macbeth eventually takes it upon himself to murder Banquo without consulting Lady Macbeth (â€Å"Emotional Effects†). Later, however, he greatly regrets his behavior, particularly when he finds himself in the presence of the ghost of Banquo (Shakespeare 101). According to an article by U.S. News World Report, â€Å"people with infertility often feel a sense of†¦regret†(â€Å"Managing Infertility†). Of course, the direct cause of Macbeth’s regret is not the fact that he is infertile, but rather that he has murdered. The guilt of his murderous behavior is, however, intensified by the haunting realization that he has no heirs. The effects of infertility also intensify the

Analysis Of Max Shulman s Love Is A Fallacy - 964 Words

Anti-man Max Shulman’s â€Å"Love is a Fallacy† is an essay about a young man who gets more than he bargained for after trying to teach a gorgeous woman about logic. The narrator is portrayed as a law school freshman who is looking for a possible wife, suitable for a lawyer’s career. Polly Espy is the desired woman. Polly also happens to be the narrator’s roommate, Petey Bellows’ â€Å"girl†. So that the narrator can make his move on Polly, he barters an agreement that he will give Petey the raccoon coat he has been wanting in exchange for his girl. According to the narrator, Polly was a very beautiful woman, but she was also uneducated. Throughout the essay, he made many attempts to change Polly. Their dates consisted of learning about logical fallacies, which Polly used to her benefit in the end. This caused his plan to make her his possible wife, backfire. The narrator’s constant need to change Polly Espy because she did not meet hi s expectations made me believe this essay, â€Å"Love is a Fallacy†, is very much anti-man. Many people may argue that this essay is specifically anti-woman. I understand where these people may be coming from, but I cannot agree with their belief. The way the narrator spoke of Polly as so inconsequential, â€Å"This girl’s lack of information was terrifying. Nor would it be enough merely to supply her with information. First she had to be taught to think. This loomed as a project of no small dimensions, and at first I was tempted to give her back

Obesity Control Implementation

Question: What role should the government have in controlling obesity? In your answer, address the pros and cons of government involvement. Answer: Role of Government should have in controlling obesity Obesity is a serious public concern. It has developed into a public obsession and often turns to melancholy. It is a delegated responsibility of government to make people aware of overweight and put a stop to increasing rate of obesity in public health interference. Obesity can be controlled by bringing a change in society and environment where food is consumed. Government has the authority to regulate physical state and economic environments. Government should bring in legislation to regulate the commercial food practices, to control the production of junk food and sugary drink commodities to reduce unhealthy eating habits, to support the production of fruits and vegetables, to control media practices, and to maintain informed consent by involving the stipulation of information. Obesity can be a consequence of eating junk food and leading a sedentary way of living. It is essential to identify constraints and influence both the culture of obesity and the practice of public health. Individual should have appropriate resources and education about anti-obesity initiative, healthy-habits that can develop a concern on eating behaviour. Mass education on obesity prevention, newspapers, popular magazines, public obesity awareness campaign, radio programme, television and sound bites of government can create substantial information and guidance about prevention of obesity. Government Involvement Pros: A broad range of programs and government policies have been applied, including nutrition cataloguing on packaged food, national clinical guidelines development, social and education marketing efforts, and recently, calorie labelling on menus of restaurant and central efforts to enhance access and investment for fresh vegetables and fruits. Many of these efforts emphasize on community educational and clinical factors or on intervention Cons: Dr. Nestle stated that the government is involved with some policies that encourage obesity by promoting the production of sugary drinks and food commodities, but not of vegetables and fruits; permitting beverage and food companies to reduce marketing costs from taxes. As per previous research, prevalence of obesity began to increase in early 1980s. Food industry has brought a major transformation in food environment that urge people for having more food anywhere, anytime and in very large amounts ('CME posttest', 2015). Addressing the pros and cons Its a responsibility of government to show how infants should be assisted by parents that can help them to get rid of their junk food, what breast-feeding mothers should eat, what healthy meal an individual should have Instead of promoting the production and increase in availability of these unhealthy products, government and other health organizations should take essential initiative to control people from having unhealthy diets. They should provide necessary awareness for people about the consequences of daily consumption of junk foods and sugary drinks. Governments law of regulation school food In 2000, government approved concern regarding the poor quality of school meal; the set of laws was passed by government establishing nutritional values for school snacks and lunches (McKay, 2015). Vegetables and fruits were provided in every school meals which are required to regulate prevalence of increasing obesity, but fast food was also served. It was students wish to choose between healthy meals or other food offered. References CME posttest. (2015). Obesity, 23, S15-S15. doi:10.1002/oby.21097 McKay, B. (2015). What Role Should Government Play in Combating Obesity?. WSJ. Retrieved 25 June 2015, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390444812704577609482961870876

Supply Creates Its Own Demand free essay sample

Each enlargement of output adds to the wages and other incomes that constitute the funds needed to purchase added output. Classical economists had complete faith in markets. They believed that the economy would always settle automatically at the full employment equilibrium in the long-run. However, they did acknowledge that there might be a slightly different reaction in the short run as the economy adjusted to its new long-run equilibrium. Keynes provides the following formulation of Says Law in Chapter Two of his General Theory: The classical economists have taught that supply creates it own demand, meaning by this in some significant, but not clearly defined, sense that the whole of the costs of production must necessarily be spent in the aggregate, directly or indirectly, on purchasing the product. Keynesian economics places central importance on demand, believing that on the macroeconomic level, the amount supplied is primarily determined by effective demand or aggregate demand, and Keynes summarized Says law as supply creates its own demand. We will write a custom essay sample on Supply Creates Its Own Demand or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For example, without sufficient demand for the products of labour, the availability of jobs will be low; without enough jobs, working people will receive inadequate income, implying insufficient demand for products Says Law had to an important extent replaced theorie de debouches or law of markets as the name for a particular set of economic principles that was part of the core foundation of classical economic thought. Two questions therefore intrude themselves. Firstly, were the words, supply creates its own demand a fair characterisation of the meaning that classical economists wished to convey? And, secondly, where might the words supply creates its own demand have originated in the first place? J. B Say believed that it is production that creates market for goods. He says every producer finds its buyer in other words every supply of output creates an equivalent demand for output, and so therefore there can never be a problem of general over production. For Example, in the Nigerian economy if a manufacturer/producer decides to go into the production of blankets, he/she would already have a target market where he can take his products for sale. Like in our case the blanket manufacturer would target his market in places like Jos, Plateau state where the weather condition is cold and therefore the populace of this area would purchase it more thus, â€Å"supply creates its own demand†.   A free market enterprise is one within which all markets are unregulated by any parties other than market participants. In its purest form, the government plays a neutral role in its administration and legislation of economic activity, neither limiting it (by regulating industries or protecting them from internal/external market pressures) nor actively promoting it (by owning economic interests or offering subsidies to businesses or RD). It is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts. Free-market economics is closely associated with laissez-faire economic philosophy, which advocates approximating this condition in the real world by mostly confining government intervention in economic matters to regulating against force and fraud among market participants. Some free-market advocates oppose taxation as well, claiming that the market is more efficient at providing all valuable services of which defense and law are no exception, that such services can be provided without direct taxation and that consent would be the basis of political legitimacy making it a morally consistent system. Free-market economy is a system for allocating goods within a society: purchasing power mediated by supply and demand within the market determines who gets what and what is produced, rather than the state. A free market may refer narrowly to national economies, or internationally; specific reference to international markets is referred to as free trade (for goods) or lack of capital controls (for money). The major reason why unemployment is impossible in the free market enterprise is because of the laissez faire system they adopt. They believe that the market forces of demand and supply will bring the economy back to equilibrium which is the full employment level. They had strong belief in free and perfect competition idea of the profit motive and price mechanism to remedy the temporary ills of the economic system and ensure full employment. So, basically i feel the reason why unemployment is impossible in the free market enterprise is based on the invisible hand/laissez faire system of the interplay of the market forces to bring back the economy to full employment.

Proverb vs. Adage

Proverb vs. Adage Proverb vs. Adage Proverb vs. Adage By Maeve Maddox English possesses dozens of nouns that mean â€Å"short sayings that encapsulate truth or wisdom passed on from previous generations.† Proverb and adage are two of them. proverb: a short, traditional, and pithy saying; a concise sentence, typically metaphorical or alliterative in form, stating a general truth or piece of advice; an adage. adage: a proverb or short statement expressing a general truth. Efforts are made to draw a distinction between proverb and adage, but in common usage, the words are interchangeable. There may be a sense that adage is a classier word than proverb. Because a saying becomes a proverb or an adage by being repeated from generation to generation, the expression â€Å"old adage† is often criticized for being redundant, but it is very common: According to the famous old adage, all roads lead to Rome. Remember the old adage, A pictures worth a thousand words? He said President Reagans old adage about trust but verify is in need of an update I confirmed with Brenda that what she is trying to convey to her students is the old writing adage â€Å"show, don’t tell.† As that last quotation is from the Grammar Girl herself, Mignon Fogarty, I wouldn’t be too quick to criticize. Numerous lists of proverbs and adages can be found on line, but their compilers don’t always distinguish between actual proverbs and quotations from song lyrics and literature. For example, All you need is love (Beatle song, 1967) ‘Tis better to have loved and lost/Than never to have loved at all. (Tennyson, In Memoriam, 1850) The female of the species is more deadly than the male. (Kipling, â€Å"The Female of the Species,† 1911.) Many proverbs are couched as advice: Dont cross the bridge till you come to it. Dont put all your eggs in one basket. Dont rock the boat. Let sleeping dogs lie. Never let the sun go down on your anger. Never tell tales out of school. Waste not want not. Judging by some of the questions that have stumped recent Jeopardy contestants, the passing on of proverbs seems to be in decline. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Great Similes from Literature to Inspire YouFive Spelling Rules for "Silent Final E"Ulterior and Alterior

How to be a Bodybuilder

How to be a Bodybuilder The process of body building does not involve lifting heavy weights only. It also involves building the mass of the muscle by doing the right exercises. Muscle building requires bodybuilders to take in special types of food that assist in the process. In addition, it is important to receive good training on weight as well as having enough rest.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on How to be a Bodybuilder specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The process starts when body muscles are exposed to intense stress as it happens when they are forced to lift substances that are heavier than usual. Exposing muscles to more work than they normally do leads to small ruptures and tears. These ruptures often bring about sores but they are cured after taking enough rest. After the healing process, the muscles become larger and able to withstand the stressful activity that caused the tears. Muscle building process is maximized by increasing t he stress exerted on the muscles. This is achieved by forcing the muscles to lift heavier weight than they are used to, exerting the stress on muscles more regularly, and varying the exercise types performed on particular muscles. These processes result in new tears which consequently increase the size of the muscles and make them stronger. The first important consideration to be made in the process of muscle building is paying attention to the type of food eaten by bodybuilders. Remarkable muscle growth requires them to use specific foods and develop nutritional plans. Bodybuilders should take in food rich in complex carbohydrates and proteins. These types of food are burned during exercises and assist in building the mass of the muscles. The nutrition plan should be followed without alterations since altering it disrupts the whole process. Carbohydrates and proteins provide the body with recommended quantities of building materials required for muscle growth. The intervals at whic h the foods are taken are also an important issue to consider. It is advisable that bodybuilders take in small quantities of meals five or six times every day. This ensures that the foods taken in are well metabolized. Taking in food stuffs frequently is essential for them because when they stay for about four hours without food, the muscles are lost and fat is accumulated. The feeling of starvation causes the body to eat away the lean muscles and accumulate fat. It is therefore crucial for a bodybuilder to eat after every three hours in order to enhance the muscle building process. The second important aspect in the process of building muscles is working out well. Muscle building process requires exercises such as chest presses, lateral pull downs, leg lifts and bench presses among others. For every muscle in the body to feel the impact of these exercises, different types of exercises are performed.Advertising Looking for essay on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Cardio training is important for assisting in endurance of the muscles and burning excess fat. The growth of the muscles should be forced by engaging heavier weights and repeating the exercises several times. It is advisable to repeat all exercises at least four times especially when performing the final exercises. The strength of muscles and their mass is increased by increasing the overload while the overload is increased by increasing the resistance. On the other hand, resistance can be increased through additional weight or increased number of repetitions on the exercises done. Carrying out few repetitions enables a bodybuilder to raise the overload of specific muscles. This assists in stimulating muscle fibers that are responsible for supporting the extra stress exerted on muscles. To determine the right weight to lift when building muscles, bodybuilders should focus on the number of repetitions done in the final sets. If the repetitions are more than six, the weight is usually too light while less than four repetitions indicate extremely heavy weight. The third important aspect in building muscle is staying motivated in the process. The process involves a lot of activities some of which are strenuous hence it requires strong will and commitment. The desired results can only be achieved through following stringent workout schedules and feeding on particular diets. It is not practical for bodybuilders to start the initial stages of muscle building by doing many repetitions and lifting heavy weights. The process usually begins with small number of repetitions and light weights after which the number of repetitions and the weight are increased. Building muscle to a desired level should be a lifelong process until bodybuilders reach the anticipated goals. It is important to check the stages since overworking may cause serious injuries. The fourth critical aspect in building muscle is rest. Rese archers have established that muscle building takes place when exercising and also when resting. Bodybuilders are advised to take a rest of at least eight hours every night. Synthesis of proteins takes place when muscles are resting as well as repair of the muscles that were involved in the day’s workout. This ensures that the muscles continue growing and recovering. Bodybuilders should also ensure that their general health is maintained. This should be done by consulting a doctor and getting proper recommendations on how the process should be conducted.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on How to be a Bodybuilder specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More

Business plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Business plan - Essay Example Asian countries are also witnessing growth in the household sector, it is estimated that consumption will continue to grow at a moderate rate through out the year 2006/07. (Source?) Yellow lupins(YL) have been analysed and proven to be a better product for fish feed than soy in studies conducted by Brett Glencross. The large volume of soy and the intermittent supply of YL has led to SSOM cutting out contracts that were originally in place with WestEx in favour of cheaper continually available soy beans. A market for yellow lupins has therefore not been able to be continually established at this point. The export of wheat is definitely the best market for WestEx in the short to middle term. If some of the profits from the supply of wheat were able to be channelled into lupin R+D there may be potential for the product. Yellow lupin supply has also been affected by the current drought. (King & Gilmour, 2007). Research will need to be conducted into areas including those outlined in the R+D section if a Yellow lupin market is to be established. The new 3 monthly contracts starting in November 2007 between Westex and SSOM for an increasing supply of wheat will go some way to cement the relationship between the two companies. The supply of wheat may be able to be considered a â€Å"cash cow† for WestEx to enable them to further R+D and market development into other products to establish further differentiation of products. SoonSoon Oil has requested a supply of APW from WestEx on a sliding scale starting at 500tpm and increasing by 500tpm to 12000tpm. The wheat is used by SoonSoon to mill into flour for on sale to their clients. The flour market in Malaysia is a significant one. WestEx as explained above focuses on wheat. The particular product seems to have an increasing demand within the Malaysian market. In accordance with a series of statistics published in 2007, the consumption of wheat in Malaysia presents an increasing trend

Global Trade and Distribution Strategy Coursework

Global Trade and Distribution Strategy - Coursework Example In some cases, imported goods are of low quality hence they have cheap prices which make people shun products that are locally manufactured. 2. The target market for the Achilles kids shoes mainly include the parents who have young kids. The kids themselves are dependent on their parents for all their clothing needs. The company ought to identify factors such as levels of income of the targeted group. In order to cut costs, distribution strategy that would work for this target market is that the company performs the distribution of the products itself. After the products have been manufactured, the company ought to identify the channels through which the products will be distributed. The products should be sold through company operated stores since this helps to attract many customers. More importantly, this helps to reduce costs since other suppliers may charge more money for performing the same task of distributing the finished

Term Paper on Forest Resource Management in Bangladesh Essay Example for Free

Term Paper on Forest Resource Management in Bangladesh Essay Introduction Forests are a very important source of natural resources like wood, bamboo, thatching material etc. It also has a great influence on the environment like climate, water availability, soil erosion, flood and nutrient turnover. It is also the last portion of the world’s fauna and flora. Wood which is the main forest produce has been used from the very early days of human civilization. Even though substitute has been found for most natural materials wood remains irreplaceable in most of its uses. Wood is the major cooking fuel for vast majority of the world’s population; it provides the raw material for pulp, paper and cellulose base industries and is still a major component in the building industry. Wood is playing as important a role in human lives today as it did in the ancient times. It is still vitally necessary in the lives of people, particularly in the developing countries. With the increase in the population of the world, the pressure on land increased very greatly. This together with the requirement of timber for an increasing world population has resulted in large scale destruction of forest. According to Porte (1989) 33 million acres of tropical forests are cleared every year. The situation in Bangladesh is not any better than other developing countries. In fact because of its small land base and very large population, the situation here is more precarious than most other countries. The population of the country more than two and a half fold in the last four decades, while during the same period of time there has not been any addition to the existing forests except for the establishment of about 250,000 acres of plantation in the newly accreted coastal char land. Even though on record about 6.1 million acres of forest exists in Bangladesh, in reality, less than half of that can be considered as productive. This has been the result of over exploitation of trees resources for meeting the demand of population which is much larger than what our forest can support. A portion of the forest has also been lost to jhuming and encroachment. This has resultant in diminished supply situation causing a steadily widening gap between demand and supply of wood. Forests in Bangladesh Bangladesh has 2.60 million ha of forest land which is about 17.62% of the land area of the country. Of the forest land, Forest Department manages 10.37% (1.53 million ha) while the rest of the area is managed by either deputy commissioners of three hill districts (unclassed state forests) or privately manage (rubber and tea garden and social forestry plantation) though forest land is about 18%. However, actual tree covered area is only 8.6% (hill forest 2.7%, littoral 3.3%, Sal forest 0.8% an village forest 1.8%). The forest area of Bangladesh is presented in table 1. Forest situation in Bangladesh Bangladesh has lost over 50% of its forest resource over the period of about 25years. According to forests experts, we should have at least 25% of our total land area covered with trees, or forests to enjoy the benefit of nature. But a total of 769,000 hectares or 6% of the countries land mass have actual tree cover (from forestry master plan surveys by multi-lateral donor agencies). At approximately 0.02 ha per person of forest, Bangladesh currently has one of the lowest per capita forest ratio in the world. In Bangladesh, government owned forest area covers 2.19 million ha with the remaining 0.27 million ha being privately controlled homestead forests. Of the government owned forest land, 1.49 million ha are national forests under the control of the Department of Forest, with the rest being under control of local governments. Of the state owned forests, over 90% is concentrated in 12 districts in the Eastern and South-Western region of the country. However, due to over exploitation these forests have become seriously degraded. Major Causes for depletion of forest An inventory shows that there has been overall depletion in forest resources in all major state owned forest. The growing stock in Sundarban has been depleted from 20.3 million cubic meters in 1960 to 10.9 million cubic meters in 1998. In the Hill forest of hill districts, the growing stock has depleted from 23.8 million cubic meters in 1964 to less then 20.7 million cubic meters in l998. Over-cutting by timber merchants, increased consumption linked to population growth, shifting cultivation, encroachment, illegal felling and land clearing for agriculture, lack of participatory management have been the principal causes of deforestation and shrinking of forest land in the country. Status of the resources base Because of heavier exploitation than a desirable level, there has been an overall depletion in forest resources in all the major forests. The growing stock in Sundarbans has depleted from 717 million cu. ft. in 1960 (forestral) to 375.7 million cubic feet in 1984 (Chaffey, et.al.). This is roughly 48% depletion of tree resources in Sundarbans over 25 years. Similarly, in the reserved forest of Chittagong Hill Tracts the growing stock has depleted from 840 million cubic feet in 1964-65 (Forestral) to less than 700 million cubic feet in 1985. According to De Milde, et.al. (1985) there has been 61% depletion in growing stock in Ranglheong Reserve forests in the Hill Tracts between 1963 and 1983. Similarly the growing stock in the unclassed state forest has dwindled from 121 million cubic feet in 1964 (forests) to less than 50 million cubic feet at present. There has not been any stock taking of village resources after 1981. However, it is generally believed that over exploitation has caused substantial depletion of village tree resources. Flood has also caused a major destruction of village tree resources. Consumption According to the latest assessment, the per capita consumption of fuel wood and timber in 2.3 and 0.38 cubic feet respectively (Byron et. al. 1983). Based on this assessment, the consumption of fuel wood and timber during the current year is about 246.0 million cubic feet respectively. The broad usages of fuel wood are cooking fuel (Approx. 69%) brick burning (23% approx) and industrial fuel and raw material (Approx 8%). However, the above information does not provide an overall picture of the energy consumption in the country. Cooking fuel constitutes only about 70% biomass fuel consumption in the country and fuel wood constitutes only about 20% of all biomass fuel utilized as cooking fuel. Agriculture residue and cow dung constitute about 60% and 20% respectively of the biomass fuel consumption in the country. According to available information (BAPP report, 1985; Islam, 1986) about 38% of roughly 61 million metric tons of agricultural residues and 34% of 22 million tons of cow dung are used annually as cooking fuel. Agricultural residue and cow-dung can be used more profitably as animal feed and organic fertilizer. The result of use of these two commodities as cooking fuel has far reaching implication which are not confined just loss of animal feed and nutrients. Forest management in Bangladesh In Bangladesh management of government forest is the responsibility of the Forest Department under the Ministry of Environment and Forest. In this process the department is managing, protecting, developing the forest resources, forest land and also collecting the revenues. People have never been consulted nor involved in forestry activities. From the management point of view, forest of Bangladesh is being divided into three categories such as: ↠ State owned forest under the administrative control of Forest Department. ↠ State owned forest under the administrative control of Ministry of Land through District administration. ↠ Private village forest managed by private individuals. Type of forest The natural forests of the country are classified into three categories: 1) Tropical evergreen/ semi-evergreen forest in the eastern districts of Sylhet, Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts, and Coxs Bazaar: 2) Moist/dry deciduous forest also known as Sal forests in the central and the northwest region and 3) Tidal mangrove forest along the coast, known as the sundarban, the largest mangrove ecosystem in the world. These forests are official reserves and placed under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department. Unfortunately, recent inventories indicate a continuing depletion of all major forests. Forest under Forest Department control and management again divided into three major types, †¢ Hill Forests †¢ Plain land Forests and †¢ Mangrove Forests. Hill Forests: The tropical evergreen/semi evergreen forest cover as approximately 1.32 million ha of which 0.67 million ha is controlled by the forest department and rest is under the control of hill district council. Clear felling followed by replanting with suitable species (both long and short rotation) is the method of management in hill forest. Because of increased demand for timber and fuel wood and prevailing socio-economic condition of the country this forest has greatly affected and rate of denudation is considerably high. The forest department is mainly confined in raising of single species plantation. Inventory shows that most of these plantations would not give the desirable output. This programme suffers from technical, social and administrative soundness. Another problem is most of the hill forest are subjected to shifting cultivation by the hill tribes. The tribes are entitled to shifting cultivation in forest land under administrative control of district administration which has resulted in the total destruction of this tropical evergreen forest. The growing stock has depleted from 23.8 million cubic meters in 1964 to less than 20.7 million cubic meters in 1998. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, substantial loss of forest resources is attributed to commercial exploitation of immature trees for sale in the black market in collusion with an unscrupulous section of the forest department people, said some sources that who preferred not to be identified. Commercial use of forest land for mono-culture of rubber and fuel wood also left negative impact on the country’s forestry resources. Mangrove Forests: The single largest chunk of productive forest in the country is located in the intertidal zone in the south western districts of Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira. It has a type of tree formation which grows on swampy land in undated daily by tidal water-which is known as a mangrove forest. This forests, otherwise known as the Sundarbans with an area of 1.46 million acres in the single largest source of timber and fuel wood in the country. It is also the single largest productive mangrove forest in the world. Sundarban forests are being managed by selection felling method followed by natural regeneration. Beside Sundarbans, plantations are being raised with mangrove species in the newly accreted char land all along the Coast of the Bay of Bengal. Sundarban forest is an official reserve forest; unfortunately recent inventory shows a continuous depletion due to over-cutting, illegal felling. It is estimated that in less then 25 years, the volume of commercial species Sundari, Gewa, has declined by 40 to 50% respectively. A new form of encroachment of forest is the clearing of trees for shrimp culture in the coastal areas, especially in Satkhira and Cox’s Bazaar. According to the department of environment (DOE), Chokoria and some other parts of the Cox’s Bazar area, have been completely destroyed in the last 13 years. Shrimp culture having devoured most of the forest land there. Plain land Forests: Plain land forests covering 0.30 million acres are located in greater district of Dhaka, Tangail, Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Rangpur, Dinajpur and Rajshahi. These forests are also known as Sal forests, because Sal is the predominant species. Silvicultural system applied for Sal forest was coppice with standard system. In this system matured trees were felled and the areas were protected for coppice regeneration. The typical nature of Sal forest is that this forest is scattered. In the forest areas there are agricultural lands owned by the adjacent people. Frequently these land owners are extending their lands and encroaching to forest and in the process they are destroying the forest and subsequently converting the area to agricultural land. In this process forest lands are being marginalized day by day. FAO estimated that only 36% of the Sal forest cover remained in 1985; more recent estimates that only 10% of the forest cover remains due to over exploitation and illicit felling through there is an official base on logging since 1972. Most of the Sal forests are now substantially degraded and poorly stocked. Forest management approaches in Bangladesh Since 1960 two major approaches regarding the role of forestry in development have been reflected in the forestry sector of Bangladesh. In the 1960s, Bangladesh as a part of Pakistan and then as an independent nation has followed An Industrialization Approach consonant with the international conventional wisdom at that time. As a result, Department of Forest raised large-scale Industrial plantation which were seen as conversion of low-yielding natural forest into artificial plantation of species (mostly teak) of great economic importance. This conversion of semi-evergreen and evergreen forest into deciduous teak plantation was largely concentrated in hill forest areas. During the plantation raising local people were not consulted and often they did not drive any benefits from these plantations. The lack of support by the local people/ communities in combination with lack of silvicultural knowledge and lack of proper maintenance contributed to raise low quality plantations and these plantations were also lost due to illegal felling. Forest Department was considered as revenue earning department. The main activities of Forest Department were concentrated in extraction of trees from the forest and replanting of those felled areas where applicable, Forest Department has not considered the people and their participation in managing forest of the country. In the 1980s following a change in thinking about the role of forestry in development, and people’s participation in forestry activity was encouraged. People participation with the forestry sector realized the need of people oriented forestry programme to replenish the degraded forest resources of the country. Accordingly, in 1994 Government formulated a forest policy replacing earlier one enunciated in 1979 with a due emphasis to the need for peoples participation in forest management. Participatory forest management approach in Bangladesh (a). Past activities Forest extension activities were formally launched in the country in the year of 1964 with the establishment of two forest extension divisions at Dhaka and Rajshahi and later two divisions at Comilla and Jessore. It was really a very small programme and the activities were confined only to establish nursery in the districts headquarter and raised seedling and sell the same to individuals and organizations. The location of this programme was so urbanized and limited that it only partially served the needs of the effluent town dwellers only. (b). Betagi- pomora comunity forestry project The first community forestry programme in the country, started at Betagi and Pomora mouza under the district of Chittagong in the year of 1979 with the personal initiative of Prof. A. Alim, renowned forester and Prof. Dr.Mohammed Yunus, founder of Gramen Bank. Initially the project covered 160 ha of Government denuded hilly land at Betagi and with 83 landless participants from adjacent community and subsequently extend over another 205 ha of Government owned denuded hilly land at Pomora with another batch of 243 landless (families) participants. Under this programme each landless participant was provided with 1.62 ha of land for growing tree and horticultural crops with technical and financial assistance from the Forest Department. This community programme has given the landless an identity of their own and a sense of direction in life. But this model has not been replicated in the other areas due to lack of initiative of the Forest Department as well as the Government. (c). Rehabilitation of Jhumia families (shifting cultivator families) Another project was undertaken by the Forest Department in the Hill tract areas to establish plantation through rehabilitation of Jhumia families in 1980. Main objectives of the programme were, I. To rehabilitate tribal families in the Unclassed State Forest (USF) lands along with rehabilitation of denuded USP land; II. To introduce a sustainable agro forestry production system; III. To improve the socio-economic condition of the tribal people and IV. To motivate tribal people in development of forestry. Under this programme each family was allocated 2.02 ha of USF land for growing agricultural crops (over 1.20 ha), raising plantation (0.80 ha) and for house construction (0.20 ha). The rehabilitated families were given land use rights and were allowed to enjoy 100% benefits accrued to those lands. The participants were given input support for growing agriculture, horticulture and forestry crops and cash support for house construction. This programme continues for quite a long period of time but could not sustain mainly because of nomadic character of the tribal groups. Another reason of failure was that the families were rehabilitated in clustered villages without considering their cultural and religious values. Thus in most of the cases, it was found that the families have left the area. A parallel programme was also initiated by the Chittagong Hill Tract Development Board in which Forest Department was responsible for implementation of afforestation component where Chittagong Hill Tract Development Board was responsible for the rehabilitation component. This program was also not found so much responsive to hilly people except for some plantation establishment. (d). Development of community forests project The activities of the first phase of this project began in 1981 and were completed in 1987 in seven greater districts of the North-Western zone of the country. The main components of the project were: ââ€" ª Strip plantations along roads and highways, railways, canal sides, district and Union Parishad roads, totaling about 4,000 km. ââ€" ª Fuel wood plantation on 4800 ha of depleted Government land on participatory concept. ââ€" ª Agroforestry demonstration farms over 120 ha also with participatory concept. ââ€" ª Replenishment of depleted homestead wood lots in 4,650 villages. ââ€" ª Training of Forest Department Personnel and Village leaders. (e). Development of forest extension services (l980-l987) Development of Forest Extension Services (Phase II) began in 1980 with the Government funding and subsequently amalgamated in some areas (i.e. North-North West district) with Asian Development Bank funded Community Forestry Project. The main activities under this programme were: ↠ afforestation in some 3100 villages. ↠ roadside tree planting along 3600 km of primary highways and roads and about 600 km of Union Parishad roads. ↠ Production of 49 million seedlings for distribution. (f). Thana afforestation and nursery development project This project is a follow-up of Development of Community Forestry Project and Forest Extension Project and has been designed primarily to: o Increase the production of biomass fuels and o Enhance the institutional capability of FD and local administration in implementing a self-sustaining nationwide social forestry programme. In order to increase the production of biomass fuel and to arrest the depletion of tree resources, the project envisaged to develop tree resources base through planting of depleted Sal forest as well as brining all suitable and available land in the rural areas under tree cover with active participation of the rural poor of the locality. Originally the project was to be implemented by the Forest Department and former Thana Parishad during the period of 1987 to 1994. But in 1992 Government decided that the all project activities were to be implemented by Forest department alone. The major components of the project were: 1. Establishment of plantation over 20,225 ha depleted Sal forest areas. 2. Development of agroforestry over 4,200 ha in the Sal forest lands. 3. Raising strip plantation on 17,272 km along Road and highway, Railways, Embankment and Feeder Roads. 4. Raising l, 282 ha plantation in the land outside the BWDB. 5. Planting 7.017 million seedlings at the premises of different education, religious and social institutions 6. Establishment of 345 nurseries at Thana headquarters. 7. Raising of l0.6l8 million seedlings for distribution to public. 8. Training of some 76,000 people of different levels. Here this may be mentioned that at the last stage of the project implementation, the Government has found that this was quite impossible to protect the strip plantation and also impossible to trained 76,000 people by the Forest Department alone. The Government invited NGOs to participate in this programme for successful implementation. PROSHIKA, POUSH, GRAMMEN BANK and other NGOs came forward to help the Government for successful completion of the project; NGOs employed their group members to protect the strip plantation and ADAB came forward to train people at different levels with the help of its member organizations. The above plantation activities were carried out with the direct participation of the local people with the help of the NGOs by executing benefit sharing agreement. (g). Coastal greenbelt project Another project financed by Asian Development Bank is under implementation in the Coastal region of Bangladesh. The main objective of the project is to create a vegetative belt all along the coast to save the lives and properties of the people living in the coastal areas from devastated cyclone and tidal surges which occur very frequently in those areas. All of the activities of this project are also being carried out following participatory approach. In this project also the participants have been selected among the poor people living in the adjacent areas by involving NGO and a pre-designed benefit sharing agreements also being executed with the participants to protect their rights over plantations and to ensure benefit expected to be received out of the plantation. (H). Agroforestry research project Pilot Agroforestry Research and Demonstration was implemented by the FD in the Sal forest areas. The project had been developed precisely to design/develop agroforestry modules which is environmentally feasible, socio-economically acceptable enhance tree and crop production at the same time to uplift the socio-economic condition of the participants. The project aimed at using 120 ha of encroached Sal Forest land of Dhaka, Mymenshing and Tangail Forest Division to develop suitable participatory plantation models. (i). Food assisted social forestry programme The World Food Programme assisted the Government to develop Social Forestry as a national programme and the Government incorporated WFP assisted social forestry programme in its annual development plan from 1998. Poverty alleviation, economic rehabilitation of rural poor especially the destitute women of the society by engaging them in forestry activities, social uplift of rural poor and environmental improvement are the main objectives of this project. Historically this programme was conceived in the country since 1989 on pilot basis allocating in kind resources (Wheat) to a limited number of NGOs for raising strip plantation along roads, embankments, Highways etc. in rural areas following the participatory mechanism. In implementing this programme FD was involved later on to provide technical guidance to the NGOs and other GOB agencies. At present probably this is the largest Participatory Forestry Programme in Bangladesh. From l990, 100 NGOs are involved in this programme and at present about 60 NGOs are continuing with the programme. Commencing from 1990 up to 1998 about 31 million trees were planted involving 0.062 million people directly and 0.62 million people indirectly. The programme has created employment to the tune of 68 million man days. This programme is being implemented by the NGOs through contractual benefit sharing among participating poor men women 60%, NGOs 10%, the rest land owners. NGO participation in the forest management In Bangladesh the history of NGO involvement in the field of development is not very old. After liberation, NGO started their activities through relief and rehabilitation of the war victims. During mid-seventies, NGO switched over to the socio-economic development of the rural poor, and at present there are thousands of NGOs most of whose mandate is to organize rural poor and provide awareness, education, skill training and various support services including credit to enhance participation of landless poor in the development process towards self-reliance. On the basis of the networking throughout the country the NGO can be classified into two levels; I) local and II) National. At present more then 100 NGOs both local and National are implementing social forestry programme in Bangladesh. It is not possible to enlist activities of all the NGOs involved in the Social forestry programme in the country. The participatory forestry activities of some of the NGOs are highlighted here who are playing pioneer role in this field. BRAC: The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) has been established in 1972 and this is the largest NGO in Bangladesh. BRAC has six categories of projects/ programmes in broad sense among which Social Forestry falls within rural development programme. The Social/ Participatory forestry has three components; 1. Nursery establishment; 2. Plantation and 3. Establishment of agroforestry. They claim that they have assisted their women members in raising more then 225 homestead nurseries and 100 large nurseries with a combined production capacity of a million seedlings of fruits and forest seedlings. They have established 200 mulberry nurseries with the production capacity of 2 million seedlings. Social afforestation programme of BRAC is WFP assisted which has been commenced from 1989 and till now it is going on. Most of the plantation under this programme has been established along the strips. Up to this time about 33.72 million seedlings have been planted over an area of 33,700 km strips along road, railway and embankment. This programme involves about 670,000 participants of which 80% are women. PROSHIKA: Proshika A center for human development is one of the largest NGO in Bangladesh. The Social Forestry Programme of Proshika is a systematic intervention effort to enhance afforestation in the country and to make a case that the poor are the best managers and protectors of forest resources if they are granted usufruct rights on these resources. Proshika has introduced its group members in social forestry activities and provided them with credit and technical support, which contributed significantly to their self-sufficiency. The main components of social forestry programme of Proshika are; a. Homestead plantation; b. Strip and block plantation; c. Natural Forest protection, and d. Nursery establishment. Proshika has planted 71 million seedlings which covered along 8,887 km strips, 37,662 areas of block plantation which included natural Sal forest protection throughout the country. One of the most significant contributors of Proshika to the development arena is the introduction of the concept of participatory forest management for natural forest protection. Proshika has successfully involved the forest dwellers in the Sal forest areas of Kaliakoir, Mirzapur, Shakhipur and Shreepur thanas under district of Tangail and Gazipur for the protection of coppice Sal forest by involving group members of Proshika. It has already been proved that when poor people surviving on the forest resources are organized, trained and granted usufruct rights, they present on enormous human potential needed for afforestation and forest protection. RDRS: The Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Services operating in 28 thanas of greater Rangpur and Dinajpur districts covering 28 thanas. It is the largest International Integrated Rural Development NGOs operating in Northern Bangladesh for more than two decades. Its entry point in forestry was through road side plantation in 1977. Initially, seedlings were protected with bamboo cages. Situation has been changed a lot nowadays and protection of seedlings with bamboo cage has be come a part of history. Besides strip plantation, they also extend their tree plantation programme in homestead, institutional grounds as well as raising of local nurseries. With the assistance of WFP they have planted about 10.66 million trees under their participatory afforestation programme. TMSS: It stands for Thangamara Mohila Sabuj Sangha. It is an NGO exclusively meant for women. Although, it was initiated in l976, its presence was visible only since 1965. This NGO be1ieves in the concept of simple living and high thinking. TMSS was also involved in the social forestry programme particularly in the Northern districts of Bangladesh. The organisation has been implementing both road side and farm forestry with assistance from the WFP and Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) respectively. POUSH: Another NGO has been engaged in planting in the private lands also by persuading the owner farmers in Baroibari, Kaliakoir thana with the food aid from WFP. Its activities in the forestry field are limited to strip plantations and it plans to expand its programme extensively. Target groups of POUSH are mostly landless destitute, widow and divorced women. POUSH also happens to be the first of its kind to get involved in participatory forestry in the hill district of Bandarban. Problems and prospects of participatory forest management Considering the demand and supply situation for forest products to meet the economic and environmental needs, no one can deny the need of peoples participation in forestry. Probably there is no second answer except participatory forestry in developing, managing, and protecting the countrys forest land and the forest resource. But there are numbers of issues remain unresolved. As a technical department, Forest Department is playing pioneer role in implementing and popularizing Participatory Forestry in the country. Up to this time Forest Department is managed by the professional foresters who have educational background only in managing traditional forests and who do not consider people as development partners. Participatory Forestry, if we recollect the Chinese proverb, needs mental development managers towards the people. Realization has started among the planners, policy makers, administrators and senior managers to involve people in forestry development activities. But up to this time Government has failed to adopt real Participatory Forestry programme to address the basic need of the peoples. Mobilization of the people in participatory forestry programme is another bottleneck of the Forest Department who has not had the machinery to reach the community people. NGOs who work at the grassroots level have developed their own expert to mobilize people and ensure their participation in any development programmes as partner. So NGO should be involved in the implementation of the participatory forestry programme where Forest Department should confine their activities only in technical aspect. In the context of Bangladesh, the scarcity of land is a most vital problem. On the other hand, Forest Department controlling over 16% of the total land area of the country is still hesitant to allow Participatory Forestry in reserved forest areas. According to FD, it should be confined only in public and private lands beyond reserved forest areas through these are devoid of trees. The Participatory Forestry is being practiced in marginal lands which are under administration control of other Government departments. Recently, due to pressure from planners and donor communities, Forest Department has allowed to practice participatory forestry in Sal Forest areas. Tenure of the contract was found as a bottleneck for implementing Participatory Forestry. Forest Department allowed rights of participants over these lands for a period of seven years, but there was a strong desire, that this tenure should more and at least for rotation period, so that participants can manage and protect trees till harvesting. A negative attitude was also observed among the Foresters to involve women in forestry activities. They viewed that activities of women should be confined in the areas where there is a locality apprehending the social problems. But in participatory forestry both men and women should be treated equally. Recommendations †¢ All vacant areas within existing forests which is about 50% of the total forest areas should be brought under tree cover immediately to make total forest areas 25%. †¢ Use of organic fertilizer should be encouraged to people as alternative use of fuel wood and burning of cow dung and agro residues should be reduced. †¢ The forest policy of 1994 needs a fundamental change to make participatory forestry approach as a core concept for social fencing against forest destruction and for poverty alleviation through income generation. †¢ An independent Forest Policy needs to be formulated to promote Participatory Forestry in the country. †¢ For implementing Participatory Forestry programme, Land as an input is to be ensured with authority. Preset land lease system is neither responsive nor effective for practicing Participatory Forestry in the country. Tenurial rights of land in-stead of land use right is to be given to the participants. †¢ To make effective participation of the people on a sustained basis, sufficient motivation is required and this responsibility must be given to the NGOs. †¢ Involvement of the groups in planning and decision making is to be ensured through proper policy directions. †¢ Provision should be made for giving subsistence to the participants so that they can survive and keep confined their activities in the programme. †¢ A National forum where there will be representation all from Government politicians, NGOs and private sector. They will act as a coordination body to coordinate among all the participants like land owning agency, NGO, Forest Department and the participants. †¢ NGO should act as a catalyst and they should not be treated as a competitor of Forest Department. †¢ Process of recruiting NGOs by inviting tender for implementing any Participatory Forestry programme of the Government must be avoided. ADAB may be given the responsibility to identify the NGOs for a particular programme implementation. †¢ Major reforestation and afforestation programmes with community participation in a profit sharing basis and improvement in technology and management of plantation are required. †¢ Institutional capacity, policy and legal framework of forestry management should be strengthened. †¢ Forestry professiona1s should be trained in environmentally sound forestry. †¢ Implementation strategies for community management of forestry resources should be developed. Conclusion Bangladesh has a small land base and a large population. Area under tree cover is small and shrinking. Some forest areas are located in inaccessible areas. It is important that whatever area is for planting, should be brought under such practice in an organized fashion. Through intensive manipulation of crops, it is to increase production per unit of land substantially. If such is the importance of forests, of trees, in the ecology and the economy of a country, and therefore in the lives of its people, it is very urgent to manage the resources. Traditionally, forest has remained the function of only the forest department. A change of this attitude is essential and development, management and production of forest should become the function of the entire population of the country, not only for ensuring improved supply of wood but also for the maintenance of a quality environment.

9 11 Essay :: September 11, 2001 Essay

On September 11, 2001 terrorists crashed two American airline airplanes into Twin Towers, killing thousands of people. It was the worst terrorist attack in American history and it showed us that we are not protected by Atlantic and Pacific. It showed us that we could be attacked by anyone at anytime. It showed us that if we will be attacked again that we can only depend on each other and not on other nations to help us. The 9/11 changed people forever, some lost family members or friends, others lost their jobs even so called â€Å"American Dream.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The September 11th attacks made us united as one powerful person who can stand up from the ruins of thousands pounds of metal and fight so that we wont have to be in ruins again. In the recent videos Osama bin Laden and his colleagues are talking about the power of Islam and the attacks on Twin Towers. It seems like Osama bin Laden and other radicals are ready for â€Å"Jihad† and they are ready to win. They say that Allah is on their side and people around the world want to learn more about Islam since the September 11th attacks. A good example was John Walker, an American who was with Taliban army man when he was captured. He was studying Muslim traditions in Pakistan where he joined Taliban. The other day I was watching â€Å"Dennis Miller Live† where I heard Dennis Miller talk about John Walker, he said that his parents should give him more then just spanking. This showed me that even today almost five months of 9/11 people still talk about it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Our military campaigns in Afghanistan eliminated a regime that supported terrorism and other violent groups. Today in Afghanistan there is no regime and the country is rebuilding it self from the ruins of Soviet war. John Ashcroft who is now the famous man on TV is probably the only one who takes the problem seriously. He said that he wants to check for people who have connections with the Alquida and its cells. But some people say it’s unconstitutional to do that, but in 1700’s or even 1800’s terrorists did not attack America. That means that our finding fathers did not had to deal with Ottoman Empire nor their attacks because we were protected by oceans. Even in the old days constitution was not a factor for some people to do something immoral or illegal.

Twilight 11. COMPLICATIONS

11. COMPLICATIONS Everyone watched us as we walked together to our lab table. I noticed that he no longer angled the chair to sit as far from me as the desk would allow. Instead, he sat quite close beside me, our arms almost touching. Mr. Banner backed into the room then – what superb timing the man had – pulling a tall metal frame on wheels that held a heavy-looking, outdated TV and VCR. A movie day – the lift in the class atmosphere was almost tangible. Mr. Banner shoved the tape into the reluctant VCR and walked to the wall to turn off the lights. And then, as the room went black, I was suddenly hyperaware that Edward was sitting less than an inch from me. I was stunned by the unexpected electricity that flowed through me, amazed that it was possible to be more aware of him than I already was. A crazy impulse to reach over and touch him, to stroke his perfect face just once in the darkness, nearly overwhelmed me. I crossed my arms tightly across my chest, my hands balling into fists. I was losing my mind. The opening credits began, lighting the room by a token amount. My eyes, of their own accord, flickered to him. I smiled sheepishly as I realized his posture was identical to mine, fists clenched under his arms, right down to the eyes, peering sideways at me. He grinned back, his eyes somehow managing to smolder, even in the dark. I looked away before I could start hyperventilating. It was absolutely ridiculous that I should feel dizzy. The hour seemed very long. I couldn't concentrate on the movie – I didn't even know what subject it was on. I tried unsuccessfully to relax, but the electric current that seemed to be originating from somewhere in his body never slackened. Occasionally I would permit myself a quick glance in his direction, but he never seemed to relax, either. The overpowering craving to touch him also refused to fade, and I crushed my fists safely against my ribs until my fingers were aching with the effort. I breathed a sigh of relief when Mr. Banner flicked the lights back on at the end of class, and stretched my arms out in front of me, flexing my stiff fingers. Edward chuckled beside me. â€Å"Well, that was interesting,† he murmured. His voice was dark and his eyes were cautious. â€Å"Umm,† was all I was able to respond. â€Å"Shall we?† he asked, rising fluidly. I almost groaned. Time for Gym. I stood with care, worried my balance might have been affected by the strange new intensity between us. He walked me to my next class in silence and paused at the door; I turned to say goodbye. His face startled me – his expression was torn, almost pained, and so fiercely beautiful that the ache to touch him flared as strong as before. My goodbye stuck in my throat. He raised his hand, hesitant, conflict raging in his eyes, and then swiftly brushed the length of my cheekbone with his fingertips. His skin was as icy as ever, but the trail his fingers left on my skin was alarmingly warm – like I'd been burned, but didn't feel the pain of it yet. He turned without a word and strode quickly away from me. I walked into the gym, lightheaded and wobbly. I drifted to the locker room, changing in a trancelike state, only vaguely aware that there were other people surrounding me. Reality didn't fully set in until I was handed a racket. It wasn't heavy, yet it felt very unsafe in my hand. I could see a few of the other kids in class eyeing me furtively. Coach Clapp ordered us to pair up into teams. Mercifully, some vestiges of Mike's chivalry still survived; he came to stand beside me. â€Å"Do you want to be a team?† â€Å"Thanks, Mike – you don't have to do this, you know.† I grimaced apologetically. â€Å"Don't worry, I'll keep out of your way.† He grinned. Sometimes it was so easy to like Mike. It didn't go smoothly. I somehow managed to hit myself in the head with my racket and clip Mike's shoulder on the same swing. I spent the rest of the hour in the back corner of the court, the racket held safely behind my back. Despite being handicapped by me, Mike was pretty good; he won three games out of four singlehandedly. He gave me an unearned high five when the coach finally blew the whistle ending class. â€Å"So,† he said as we walked off the court. â€Å"So what?† â€Å"You and Cullen, huh?† he asked, his tone rebellious. My previous feeling of affection disappeared. â€Å"That's none of your business, Mike,† I warned, internally cursing Jessica straight to the fiery pits of Hades. â€Å"I don't like it,† he muttered anyway. â€Å"You don't have to,† I snapped. â€Å"He looks at you like†¦ like you're something to eat,† he continued, ignoring me. I choked back the hysteria that threatened to explode, but a small giggle managed to get out despite my efforts. He glowered at me. I waved and fled to the locker room. I dressed quickly, something stronger than butterflies battering recklessly against the walls of my stomach, my argument with Mike already a distant memory. I was wondering if Edward would be waiting, or if I should meet him at his car. What if his family was there? I felt a wave of real terror. Did they know that I knew? Was I supposed to know that they knew that I knew, or not? By the time I walked out of the gym, I had just about decided to walk straight home without even looking toward the parking lot. But my worries were unnecessary. Edward was waiting, leaning casually against the side of the gym, his breathtaking face untroubled now. As I walked to his side, I felt a peculiar sense of release. â€Å"Hi,† I breathed, smiling hugely. â€Å"Hello.† His answering smile was brilliant. â€Å"How was Gym?† My face fell a tiny bit. â€Å"Fine,† I lied. â€Å"Really?† He was unconvinced. His eyes shifted their focus slightly, looking over my shoulder and narrowing. I glanced behind me to see Mike's back as he walked away. â€Å"What?† I demanded. His eyes slid back to mine, still tight. â€Å"Newton's getting on my nerves.† â€Å"You weren't listening again?† I was horror-struck. All traces of my sudden good humor vanished. â€Å"How's your head?† he asked innocently. â€Å"You're unbelievable!† I turned, stomping away in the general direction of the parking lot, though I hadn't ruled out walking at this point. He kept up with me easily. â€Å"You were the one who mentioned how I'd never seen you in Gym – it made me curious.† He didn't sound repentant, so I ignored him. We walked in silence – a furious, embarrassed silence on my part – to his car. But I had to stop a few steps away – a crowd of people, all boys, were surrounding it. Then I realized they weren't surrounding the Volvo, they were actually circled around Rosalie's red convertible, unmistakable lust in their eyes. None of them even looked up as Edward slid between them to open his door. I climbed quickly in the passenger side, also unnoticed. â€Å"Ostentatious,† he muttered. â€Å"What kind of car is that?† I asked. â€Å"An M3.† â€Å"I don't speak Car and Driver.† â€Å"It's a BMW.† He rolled his eyes, not looking at me, trying to back out without running over the car enthusiasts. I nodded – I'd heard of that one. â€Å"Are you still angry?† he asked as he carefully maneuvered his way out. â€Å"Definitely.† He sighed. â€Å"Will you forgive me if I apologize?† â€Å"Maybe†¦ if you mean it. And if you promise not to do it again,† I insisted. His eyes were suddenly shrewd. â€Å"How about if I mean it, and I agree to let you drive Saturday?† he countered my conditions. I considered, and decided it was probably the best offer I would get. â€Å"Deal,† I agreed. â€Å"Then I'm very sorry I upset you.† His eyes burned with sincerity for a protracted moment – playing havoc with the rhythm of my heart – and then turned playful. â€Å"And I'll be on your doorstep bright and early Saturday morning.† â€Å"Um, it doesn't help with the Charlie situation if an unexplained Volvo is left in the driveway.† His smile was condescending now. â€Å"I wasn't intending to bring a car.† â€Å"How -â€Å" He cut me off. â€Å"Don't worry about it. I'll be there, no car.† I let it go. I had a more pressing question. â€Å"Is it later yet?† I asked significantly. He frowned. â€Å"I supposed it is later.† I kept my expression polite as I waited. He stopped the car. I looked up, surprised – of course we were already at Charlie's house, parked behind the truck. It was easier to ride with him if I only looked when it was over. When I looked back at him, he was staring at me, measuring with his eyes. â€Å"And you still want to know why you can't see me hunt?† He seemed solemn, but I thought I saw a trace of humor deep in his eyes. â€Å"Well,† I clarified, â€Å"I was mostly wondering about your reaction.† â€Å"Did I frighten you?† Yes, there was definitely humor there. â€Å"No,† I lied. He didn't buy it. â€Å"I apologize for scaring you,† he persisted with a slight smile, but then all evidence of teasing disappeared. â€Å"It was just the very thought of you being there†¦ while we hunted.† His jaw tightened. â€Å"That would be bad?† He spoke from between clenched teeth. â€Å"Extremely.† â€Å"Because†¦ ?† He took a deep breath and stared through the windshield at the thick, rolling clouds that seemed to press down, almost within reach. â€Å"When we hunt,† he spoke slowly, unwillingly, â€Å"we give ourselves over to our senses†¦ govern less with our minds. Especially our sense of smell. If you were anywhere near me when I lost control that way†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He shook his head, still gazing morosely at the heavy clouds. I kept my expression firmly under control, expecting the swift flash of his eyes to judge my reaction that soon followed. My face gave nothing away. But our eyes held, and the silence deepened – and changed. Flickers of the electricity I'd felt this afternoon began to charge the atmosphere as he gazed unrelentingly into my eyes. It wasn't until my head started to swim that I realized I wasn't breathing. When I drew in a jagged breath, breaking the stillness, he closed his eyes. â€Å"Bella, I think you should go inside now.† His low voice was rough, his eyes on the clouds again. I opened the door, and the arctic draft that burst into the car helped clear my head. Afraid I might stumble in my woozy state, I stepped carefully out of the car and shut the door behind me without looking back. The whir of the automatic window unrolling made me turn. â€Å"Oh, Bella?† he called after me, his voice more even. He leaned toward the open window with a faint smile on his lips. â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"Tomorrow it's my turn.† â€Å"Your turn to what?† He smiled wider, flashing his gleaming teeth. â€Å"Ask the questions.† And then he was gone, the car speeding down the street and disappearing around the corner before I could even collect my thoughts. I smiled as I walked to the house. It was clear he was planning to see me tomorrow, if nothing else. That night Edward starred in my dreams, as usual. However, the climate of my unconsciousness had changed. It thrilled with the same electricity that had charged the afternoon, and I tossed and turned restlessly, waking often. It was only in the early hours of the morning that I finally sank into an exhausted, dreamless sleep. When I woke I was still tired, but edgy as well. I pulled on my brown turtleneck and the inescapable jeans, sighing as I daydreamed of spaghetti straps and shorts. Breakfast was the usual, quiet event I expected. Charlie fried eggs for himself; I had my bowl of cereal. I wondered if he had forgotten about this Saturday. He answered my unspoken question as he stood up to take his plate to the sink. â€Å"About this Saturday†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he began, walking across the kitchen and turning on the faucet. I cringed. â€Å"Yes, Dad?† â€Å"Are you still set on going to Seattle?† he asked. â€Å"That was the plan.† I grimaced, wishing he hadn't brought it up so I wouldn't have to compose careful half-truths. He squeezed some dish soap onto his plate and swirled it around with the brush. â€Å"And you're sure you can't make it back in time for the dance?† â€Å"I'm not going to the dance, Dad.† I glared. â€Å"Didn't anyone ask you?† he asked, trying to hide his concern by focusing on rinsing the plate. I sidestepped the minefield. â€Å"It's a girl's choice.† â€Å"Oh.† He frowned as he dried his plate. I sympathized with him. It must be a hard thing, to be a father; living in fear that your daughter would meet a boy she liked, but also having to worry if she didn't. How ghastly it would be, I thought, shuddering, if Charlie had even the slightest inkling of exactly what I did like. Charlie left then, with a goodbye wave, and I went upstairs to brush my teeth and gather my books. When I heard the cruiser pull away, I could only wait a few seconds before I had to peek out of my window. The silver car was already there, waiting in Charlie's spot on the driveway. I bounded down the stairs and out the front door, wondering how long this bizarre routine would continue. I never wanted it to end. He waited in the car, not appearing to watch as I shut the door behind me without bothering to lock the dead-bolt. I walked to the car, pausing shyly before opening the door and stepping in. He was smiling, relaxed – and, as usual, perfect and beautiful to an excruciating degree. â€Å"Good morning.† His voice was silky. â€Å"How are you today?† His eyes roamed over my face, as if his question was something more than simple courtesy. â€Å"Good, thank you.† I was always good – much more than good – when I was near him. His gaze lingered on the circles under my eyes. â€Å"You look tired.† â€Å"I couldn't sleep,† I confessed, automatically swinging my hair around my shoulder to provide some measure of cover. â€Å"Neither could I,† he teased as he started the engine. I was becoming used to the quiet purr. I was sure the roar of my truck would scare me, whenever I got to drive it again. I laughed. â€Å"I guess that's right. I suppose I slept just a little bit more than you did.† â€Å"I'd wager you did.† â€Å"So what did you do last night?† I asked. He chuckled. â€Å"Not a chance. It's my day to ask questions.† â€Å"Oh, that's right. What do you want to know?† My forehead creased. I couldn't imagine anything about me that could be in any way interesting to him. â€Å"What's your favorite color?† he asked, his face grave. I rolled my eyes. â€Å"It changes from day to day.† â€Å"What's your favorite color today?† He was still solemn. â€Å"Probably brown.† I tended to dress according to my mood. He snorted, dropping his serious expression. â€Å"Brown?† he asked skeptically. â€Å"Sure. Brown is warm. I miss brown. Everything that's supposed to be brown – tree trunks, rocks, dirt – is all covered up with squashy green stuff here,† I complained. He seemed fascinated by my little rant. He considered for a moment, staring into my eyes. â€Å"You're right,† he decided, serious again. â€Å"Brown is warm.† He reached over, swiftly, but somehow still hesitantly, to sweep my hair back behind my shoulder. We were at the school by now. He turned back to me as he pulled into a parking space. â€Å"What music is in your CD player right now?† he asked, his face as somber as if he'd asked for a murder confession. I realized I'd never removed the CD Phil had given me. When I said the name of the band, he smiled crookedly, a peculiar expression in his eyes. He flipped open a compartment under his car's CD player, pulled out one of thirty or so CDs that were jammed into the small space, and handed it to me, â€Å"Debussy to this?† He raised an eyebrow. It was the same CD. I examined the familiar cover art, keeping my eyes down. It continued like that for the rest of the day. While he walked me to English, when he met me after Spanish, all through the lunch hour, he questioned me relentlessly about every insignificant detail of my existence. Movies I'd liked and hated, the few places I'd been and the many places I wanted to go, and books – endlessly books. I couldn't remember the last time I'd talked so much. More often than not, I felt self-conscious, certain I must be boring him. But the absolute absorption of his face, and his never-ending stream of questions, compelled me to continue. Mostly his questions were easy, only a very few triggering my easy blushes. But when I did flush, it brought on a whole new round of questions. Such as the time he asked my favorite gemstone, and I blurted out topaz before thinking. He'd been flinging questions at me with such speed that I felt like I was taking one of those psychiatric tests where you answer with the first word that comes to mind. I was sure he would have continued down whatever mental list he was following, except for the blush. My face reddened because, until very recently, my favorite gemstone was garnet. It was impossible, while staring back into his topaz eyes, not to remember the reason for the switch. And, naturally, he wouldn't rest until I'd admitted why I was embarrassed. â€Å"Tell me,† he finally commanded after persuasion failed – failed only because I kept my eyes safely away from his face. â€Å"It's the color of your eyes today,† I sighed, surrendering, staring down at my hands as I fiddled with a piece of my hair. â€Å"I suppose if you asked me in two weeks I'd say onyx.† I'd given more information than necessary in my unwilling honesty, and I worried it would provoke the strange anger that flared whenever I slipped and revealed too clearly how obsessed I was. But his pause was very short. â€Å"What kinds of flowers do you prefer?† he fired off. I sighed in relief, and continued with the psychoanalysis. Biology was a complication again. Edward had continued with his quizzing up until Mr. Banner entered the room, dragging the audiovisual frame again. As the teacher approached the light switch, I noticed Edward slide his chair slightly farther away from mine. It didn't help. As soon as the room was dark, there was the same electric spark, the same restless craving to stretch my hand across the short space and touch his cold skin, as yesterday. I leaned forward on the table, resting my chin on my folded arms, my hidden fingers gripping the table's edge as I fought to ignore the irrational longing that unsettled me. I didn't look at him, afraid that if he was looking at me, it would only make self-control that much harder. I sincerely tried to watch the movie, but at the end of the hour I had no idea what I'd just seen. I sighed in relief again when Mr. Banner turned the lights on, finally glancing at Edward; he was looking at me, his eyes ambivalent. He rose in silence and then stood still, waiting for me. We walked toward the gym in silence, like yesterday. And, also like yesterday, he touched my face wordlessly – this time with the back of his cool hand, stroking once from my temple to my jaw – before he turned and walked away. Gym passed quickly as I watched Mike's one-man badminton show. He didn't speak to me today, either in response to my vacant expression or because he was still angry about our squabble yesterday. Somewhere, in a corner of my mind, I felt bad about that. But I couldn't concentrate on him. I hurried to change afterward, ill at ease, knowing the faster I moved, the sooner I would be with Edward. The pressure made me more clumsy than usual, but eventually I made it out the door, feeling the same release when I saw him standing there, a wide smile automatically spreading across my face. He smiled in reaction before launching into more cross-examination. His questions were different now, though, not as easily answered. He wanted to know what I missed about home, insisting on descriptions of anything he wasn't familiar with. We sat in front of Charlie's house for hours, as the sky darkened and rain plummeted around us in a sudden deluge. I tried to describe impossible things like the scent of creosote – bitter, slightly resinous, but still pleasant – the high, keening sound of the cicadas in July, the feathery barrenness of the trees, the very size of the sky, extending white-blue from horizon to horizon, barely interrupted by the low mountains covered with purple volcanic rock. The hardest thing to explain was why it was so beautiful to me – to justify a beauty that didn't depend on the sparse, spiny vegetation that often looked half dead, a beauty that had more to do with the exposed shape of the land, with the shallow bowls of valleys between the craggy hills, and the way they held on to the sun. I found myself using my hands as I tried to describe it to him. His quiet, probing questions kept me talking freely, forgetting, in the dim light of the storm, to be embarrassed for monopolizing the conversation. Finally, when I had finished detailing my cluttered room at home, he paused instead of responding with another question. â€Å"Are you finished?† I asked in relief. â€Å"Not even close – but your father will be home soon.† â€Å"Charlie!† I suddenly recalled his existence, and sighed. I looked out at the rain-darkened sky, but it gave nothing away. â€Å"How late is it?† I wondered out loud as I glanced at the clock. I was surprised by the time – Charlie would be driving home now. â€Å"It's twilight,† Edward murmured, looking at the western horizon, obscured as it was with clouds. His voice was thoughtful, as if his mind were somewhere far away. I stared at him as he gazed unseeingly out the windshield. I was still staring when his eyes suddenly shifted back to mine. â€Å"It's the safest time of day for us,† he said, answering the unspoken question in my eyes. â€Å"The easiest time. But also the saddest, in a way†¦ the end of another day, the return of the night. Darkness is so predictable, don't you think?† He smiled wistfully. â€Å"I like the night. Without the dark, we'd never see the stars.† I frowned. â€Å"Not that you see them here much.† He laughed, and the mood abruptly lightened. â€Å"Charlie will be here in a few minutes. So, unless you want to tell him that you'll be with me Saturday†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He raised one eyebrow. â€Å"Thanks, but no thanks.† I gathered my books, realizing I was stiff from sitting still so long. â€Å"So is it my turn tomorrow, then?† â€Å"Certainly not!† His face was teasingly outraged. â€Å"I told you I wasn't done, didn't I?† â€Å"What more is there?† â€Å"You'll find out tomorrow.† He reached across to open my door for me, and his sudden proximity sent my heart into frenzied palpitations. But his hand froze on the handle. â€Å"Not good,† he muttered. â€Å"What is it?† I was surprised to see that his jaw was clenched, his eyes disturbed. He glanced at me for a brief second. â€Å"Another complication,† he said glumly. He flung the door open in one swift movement, and then moved, almost cringed, swiftly away from me. The flash of headlights through the rain caught my attention as a dark car pulled up to the curb just a few feet away, facing us. â€Å"Charlie's around the corner,† he warned, staring through the downpour at the other vehicle. I hopped out at once, despite my confusion and curiosity. The rain was louder as it glanced off my jacket. I tried to make out the shapes in the front seat of the other car, but it was too dark. I could see Edward illuminated in the glare of the new car's headlights; he was still staring ahead, his gaze locked on something or someone I couldn't see. His expression was a strange mix of frustration and defiance. Then he revved the engine, and the tires squealed against the wet pavement. The Volvo was out of sight in seconds. â€Å"Hey, Bella,† called a familiar, husky voice from the driver's side of the little black car. â€Å"Jacob?† I asked, squinting through the rain. Just then, Charlie's cruiser swung around the corner, his lights shining on the occupants of the car in front of me. Jacob was already climbing out, his wide grin visible even through the darkness. In the passenger seat was a much older man, a heavyset man with a memorable face – a face that overflowed, the cheeks resting against his shoulders, with creases running through the russet skin like an old leather jacket. And the surprisingly familiar eyes, black eyes that seemed at the same time both too young and too ancient for the broad face they were set in. Jacob's father, Billy Black. I knew him immediately, though in the more than five years since I'd seen him last I'd managed to forget his name when Charlie had spoken of him my first day here. He was staring at me, scrutinizing my face, so I smiled tentatively at him. His eyes were wide, as if in shock or fear, his nostrils flared. My smile faded. Another complication, Edward had said. Billy still stared at me with intense, anxious eyes. I groaned internally. Had Billy recognized Edward so easily? Could he really believe the impossible legends his son had scoffed at? The answer was clear in Billy's eyes. Yes. Yes, he could.

Forms and Classification of Online Business

Forms and classification of online business According to (Adam, Z. R. ), the major different types of e-commerce (B2B) Business-to Business, (B2C) Business-to-Consumer, (B2G) Business-to-Government, (C2C) Consumer-to-Consumer and M-commerce which is mobile commerce. Business-to-business is simply e-commerce that is present between two businesses. It is said that it is the fastest growing type of e-commerce, much faster than B2C. It is a type of e-commerce wherein two businesses transact with each other online. About 80% of online businesses are of B2B type. Business-to-consumer is e-commerce between companies and consumers. It is the second largest in growth and numbers among the types of E-commerce. It basically is interactions between consumers whether they transact online or offline or just gather information about products that are being offered by the company. Examples of such companies that are of B2B are Amazon and Costco. Business-to-government is e-commerce between companies and the public sector. It refers to the use of the Internet for public procurement, licensing procedures, and other government-related operations Consumer-to-consumer is e-commerce between private individuals with their fellow consumers. This type of e-commerce is characterized by online markets and online auctions wherein these sites serve as a medium for consumers to transact with other consumers. This type of e-commerce is said to have huge potential of growth out of all the types of e-commerce. Consumer-to-business is e-commerce that is likened to reverse auction. It is basically the opposite of selling wherein a company would respond to a consumer’s need. This type of e-commerce is rarely encountered. However, e-bays report that there is a large number of this type of e-commerce wherein they earn millions of dollars every day. Mobile commerce is e-commerce wherein transactions from businesses to consumers are done through wireless networks through the medium of PDA’s and portable handheld devices. Business Models used on the Internet According to (Starting an internet business- we make it simple), there are numerous ways on making money in the internet. There are business models on which they are differentiated on how they execute and return profit. Some of these are retail while some use the power of information to sell. Affiliate Marketing  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the most common type of Internet business around. It objective is to market and sell someone  else’s  product. There are various ways to market the brand both on and offline. Passive (or niche sites)  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ sites designed to market advertising and/or products that require little to no maintenance. These sites can be focused on small subjects or some are built to be big multi-subject sites. The main intention here is build, promote and forget. Information Sites – this could fall into the category of passive. These sites are built for advertising; they target a narrow subject and are intended to make money primarily from advertising. Once set up and promoted, they only require occasional maintenance. Other specific business models are Product creator wherein creating one’s product be it a fashion line, shoes, and etc as long as it’s an original product and not someone else’s. Its difference with affiliate marketing is that Product creator makes one’s products and sells it as well. Email Marketing or more commonly called List building makes use of Email marketing wherein one has to build relationships with its customers and is particularly effective in building targeted traffic. It is the most highly rated way of making money in the Internet. Services are providing services such as weight loss program, quit smoking plan and etc. This provides more consumer interaction and is recommended if one excels in interacting with people. There are also more specific types of business models and more recognizable which is the Retail and Wholesale which is like an online store version of a store such as SM, Costco or Walmart. The main difference between them is that one is whole sale and the other is not. This requires a higher investment compared to other business models since additional cost through shipping products, payment processing, customer service and etc are accumulated. Creating a website for online business According to Poo (2008), in creating one’s website for business purposes, the first step is to determine one’s goals on what will one use the site for? Is it for retailing or purely marketing website? These are some things that need pondering before designing a website to make it an effective website. By brainstorming and finding out the main goals, determining the genre of the website is the next step. This will determine the pros and cons of the website. There are four genres of websites which are the sales or retailing, marketing, information and a web-based application. Poo (2008) describes that retailing or sales website it focuses much on a lot of pictures, sporadic text on product descriptions and these sites are very user friendly and easy to navigate. However, one disadvantage of retail websites is that they are not usually recognized by search engines and one way of counteracting that and bringing in traffic is making use of affiliate programs. Marketing websites compared to retailing websites is that it is designed to sell a product and one product only. Marketing website is very easy to design which feature mostly text and a few images. What is great about marketing websites is that it is perfectly positioned to make money through advertisements and affiliate programs and they are better optimized for search engines which are a huge advantage in getting traffic into the site. Information website compared to marketing and retailer is that its purpose is mainly to inform the consumers of its products or what is its trying to sell. Although some corporate websites such as Nokia, Honda, Sony, and etc. are information websites that can also sell, they are primarily designed to inform its consumers. Information websites are only recommended for businesses that has a national or international presence since local businesses that only has a local presence only gets a few visits on its website while having a business that has a nationwide presence gives off many visits and informs its consumers well on its products. Web based application works like traditional programs but the difference is that web based application is accessed through the web unlike traditional programs which are installed beforehand. It’s basically computer based application that is hosted in a browser-controlled environment. This type of business venture requires a team of programmers who are creative and persevering. The payoff is very profitable but this type of business is not recommended for the newcomers. Efficiency of Online Business compared to Traditional Business According to (Nielsen, 2008), about over 85% of the world’s online population has used the internet to make a purchase which is a staggering 875 million people. Reason why there is a huge percentage of the online community using internet for purchasing is that the internet is unrivaled for its convenience when it comes to researching and shopping. Consumers nowadays would rather stay at the comfort of their homes shopping than travel and find their desired product which is very tiring compared to single click buying. In Philippine context, about 45% of Filipino online population has purchased through online means. Compared to other countries like South Korea which hails to be the number 1 in frequency of using internet for shopping, Philippines is near the bottom list of infrequent use of online shopping. However, for a third world country like Philippines this is a new innovation that is newly tapped into by consumers and in a few years the trend would be increase in use of online shopping could be observed just like what is observed in the Global population which jumped 40% for only two years. In matters of what people look for in an online shop, according to (Nielsen, 2008). â€Å"In selecting sites on which to shop, one-third used a search engine or just surfed around to find the best online store. One in four relied on personal recommendations. It is said that once an online shop captures the hearts and loyalty of its consumers about 60% of these consumers would tend to stick to the same shop in buying its products since consumer relationship has been playing a large role in making these online businesses successful. Furthermore, recommendations from fellow consumers also play a huge role in making an online site successful. Feedback is one important aspect in closing transactio ns in online businesses especially businesses on online auctions or social networking sites that seem to make 1st time online shoppers reluctant to purchase. Using Social Networking for Business According to (Brown of Inc. Technology), online social networking sites are new grounds for profiteering through online means. It is said that two out of every three internet user has used or visited a social networking site according to internet research company Compete. These numbers alone show the potential of what social networking has to offer for business opportunities. Among social networking sites, Myspace, multiply, facebook and etc. are the popular ones while there are other networking sites that have been primarily geared towards entrepreneurs such as LinkedIn, Ryze and Spoke. One of the main strengths and factor in making a successful social networking business is to focus on building networks. First is to find the niche and build the appropriate networks that fit the desired business niche. This is the essential step if not the key step in establishing a successful online business through social networking sites. References: Adam, Z. R. (2003). E-commerce and e-business. Manila, Philippines: United Nations Development Programme. Brown, D. (2009). Using Social Networking for Business. Retrieved March 14, 2010, from the World Wide Web: http://technology. nc. com/internet/articles/200611/interneticebreakers. html Nielsen (2009). Trends in Online Shopping. Retrieved March 14, 2010, from the World Wide Web: http://th. nielsen. com/site/documents/GlobalOnlineShoppingReportFeb08. pdf Poo, C. (2007) Build Website Online. Retrieved March 14, 2010, from the World Wide Web: http://www. cessypoo. com/build-website-online. html Starting an internet business- we make it simple (2010). Types of Business Models- Step 2. Retrieved March 14, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://biggbucksonline. com/2009/08/25/types-of-internet-business-models/