Deception Point Page 92

Through the darkness, a staccato burst from the nose of the chopper sent a torrent of bullets chewing across the Goya's fiberglass deck, slashing a line across the stern. Rachel dove for cover too late and felt the searing slash of a bullet graze her arm. She hit the ground hard, then rolled, scrambling to get behind the bulbous transparent dome of the Triton submersible. A thundering of rotors exploded overhead as the chopper swooped past the ship. The noise evaporated with an eerie hiss as the chopper rocketed out over the ocean and began a wide bank for a second pass. Lying trembling on the deck, Rachel held her arm and looked back at Tolland and Corky. Apparently having lunged to cover behind a storage structure, the two men were now staggering to their feet, their eyes scanning the skies in terror. Rachel pulled herself to her knees. The entire world suddenly seemed to be moving in slow motion. Crouched behind the transparent curvature of the Triton sub, Rachel looked in panic toward their only means of escape-the Coast Guard helicopter. Xavia was already climbing into the chopper's cabin, frantically waving for everyone to get aboard. Rachel could see the pilot lunging into the cockpit, wildly throwing switches and levers. The blades began to turn†¦ ever so slowly. Too slowly. Hurry! Rachel felt herself standing now, preparing to run, wondering if she could make it across the deck before the attackers made another pass. Behind her, she heard Corky and Tolland dashing toward her and the waiting helicopter. Yes! Hurry! Then she saw it. A hundred yards out, up in the sky, materializing out of empty darkness, a pencil-thin beam of red light slanted across the night, searching the Goya's deck. Then, finding its mark, the beam came to a stop on the side of the waiting Coast Guard chopper. The image took only an instant to register. In that horrific moment, Rachel felt all the action on the deck of the Goya blur into a collage of shapes and sounds. Tolland and Corky dashing toward her-Xavia motioning wildly in the helicopter-the stark red laser slicing across the night sky. It was too late. Rachel spun back toward Corky and Tolland, who were running full speed now toward the helicopter. She lunged outward into their path, arms outstretched trying to stop them. The collision felt like a train wreck as the three of them crashed to the deck in a tangle of arms and legs. In the distance, a flash of white light appeared. Rachel watched in disbelief and horror as a perfectly straight line of exhaust fire followed the path of the laser beam directly toward the helicopter. When the Hellfire missile slammed into the fuselage, the helicopter exploded apart like a toy. The concussion wave of heat and noise thundered across the deck as flaming shrapnel rained down. The helicopter's flaming skeleton lurched backward on its shattered tail, teetered a moment, and then fell off the back of the ship, crashing into the ocean in a hissing cloud of steam. Rachel closed her eyes, unable to breathe. She could hear the flaming wreckage gurgling and sputtering as it sank, being dragged away from the Goya by the heavy currents. In the chaos, Michael Tolland's voice was yelling. Rachel felt his powerful hands trying to pull her to her feet. But she could not move. The Coast Guard pilot and Xavia are dead. We're next. 111 The weather on the Milne Ice Shelf had settled, and the habisphere was quiet. Even so, NASA administrator Lawrence Ekstrom had not even tried to sleep. He had spent the hours alone, pacing the dome, staring into the extraction pit, running his hands over the grooves in the giant charred rock. Finally, he'd made up his mind. Now he sat at the videophone in the habisphere's PSC tank and looked into the weary eyes of the President of the United States. Zach Herney was wearing a bathrobe and did not look at all amused. Ekstrom knew he would be significantly less amused when he learned what Ekstrom had to tell him. When Ekstrom finished talking, Herney had an uncomfortable look on his face-as if he thought he must still be too asleep to have understood correctly. â€Å"Hold on,† Herney said. â€Å"We must have a bad connection. Did you just tell me that NASA intercepted this meteorite's coordinates from an emergency radio transmission-and then pretended that PODS found the meteorite?† Ekstrom was silent, alone in the dark, willing his body to awake from this nightmare. The silence clearly did not sit well with the President. â€Å"For Christ's sake, Larry, tell me this isn't true!† Ekstrom's mouth went dry. â€Å"The meteorite was found, Mr. President. That is all that's relevant here.† â€Å"I said tell me this is not true!† The hush swelled to a dull roar in Ekstrom's ears. I had to tell him, Ekstrom told himself. It's going to get worse before it gets better. â€Å"Mr. President, the PODS failure was killing you in the polls, sir. When we intercepted a radio transmission that mentioned a large meteorite lodged in the ice, we saw a chance to get back in the fight.† Herney sounded stunned. â€Å"By faking a PODS discovery?† â€Å"PODS was going to be up and running soon, but not soon enough for the election. The polls were slipping, and Sexton was slamming NASA, so†¦ â€Å" â€Å"Are you insane! You lied to me, Larry!† â€Å"The opportunity was staring us in the face, sir. I decided to take it. We intercepted the radio transmission of the Canadian who made the meteorite discovery. He died in a storm. Nobody else knew the meteorite was there. PODS was orbiting in the area. NASA needed a victory. We had the coordinates.† â€Å"Why are you telling me this now?† â€Å"I thought you should know.† â€Å"Do you know what Sexton would do with this information if he found out?† Ekstrom preferred not to think about it. â€Å"He'd tell the world that NASA and the White House lied to the American people! And you know what, he'd be right!† â€Å"You did not lie, sir, I did. And I will step down if-â€Å" â€Å"Larry, you're missing the point. I've tried to run this presidency on truth and decency! Goddamn it! Tonight was clean. Dignified. Now I find out I lied to the world?† â€Å"Only a small lie, sir.† â€Å"There's no such thing, Larry,† Herney said, steaming. Ekstrom felt the tiny room closing in around him. There was so much more to tell the President, but Ekstrom could see it should wait until morning. â€Å"I'm sorry to have woken you, sir. I just thought you should know.† Across town, Sedgewick Sexton took another hit of cognac and paced his apartment with rising irritation. Where the hell is Gabrielle? 112 Gabrielle Ashe sat in the darkness at Senator Sexton's desk and gave his computer a despondent scowl. Invalid Password – Access Denied She had tried several other passwords that seemed likely possibilities, but none had worked. After searching the office for any unlocked drawers or stray clues, Gabrielle had all but given up. She was about to leave when she spotted something odd, shimmering on Sexton's desk calendar. Someone had outlined the date of the election in a red, white, and blue glitter pen. Certainly not the senator. Gabrielle pulled the calendar closer. Emblazoned across the date was a frilly, glittering exclamation: POTUS! Sexton's ebullient secretary had apparently glitterpainted some more positive thinking for him for election day. The acronym POTUS was the U.S. Secret Service's code name for President of the United States. On election day, if all went well, Sexton would become the new POTUS. Preparing to leave, Gabrielle realigned the calendar on his desk and stood up. She paused suddenly, glancing back at the computer screen. Enter Password:_ She looked again at the calendar.

Value Added Tax in European countries Research Paper

Value Added Tax in European countries - Research Paper Example It was evident that if there was ever going to be an efficient single market in Europe, a neutral and transparent turnover tax system was required which ensured tax neutrality and allowed the exact amount of tax to be rebated at the point of export. This created tax is known as Value Added Tax (VAT). Drawing reference to Economy Watch (2011), it described Value Added Tax (VAT) as being a special type of indirect tax in which a sum of money is levied at a particular stage in the sale of a product or service. Initiated for the first time April 10, 1954 in France by Maurice Laure; the joint director of tax authority, the VAT is designed to eliminate any problems which may be caused by double taxations. The VAT is intended to be charged whenever there is some added value to raw materials. The taxpayers on the other hand, will get credit for the amount of tax paid off at the stages of procurement. For further clarification, the European Commission Taxation and Customs Union declares a tax able person as any individual, partnership, company or whatever which supplies the taxable goods and services in the course of business. However, if the annual turnover of this person is less than a certain limit (the threshold), which differs according to the member State, the person does not have to charge VAT on their sales. The VAT due on any sale is a percentage of the sale price but from this the taxable person is entitled to deduct all the tax already paid at the preceding stage. As such, double taxation is avoided and tax is paid only on the value added at each stage of production and distribution. In this way, as the final price of the product is equal to the sum of the values added at each preceding stage, the final VAT paid is made up of the sum of the VAT paid at each stage. The value added tax system deals with these problems quite efficiently. As VAT is imposed on value addition - at every single stage - there is no incidence of cascading. In this way, the final consum ers bear the burden of paying value added tax. This system involves absolute transparency at every stage of taxation, thereby making the tax system quite comprehensible and simple (Economywatch.com) For the purpose of exports between community and non-member countries, no VAT is charged on the transaction and the VAT is already charged on the transaction and the VAT already paid on the inputs of the goods for export is deducted – this is an exemption with the right to deduct the input VAT, also called ‘zero-rating’. That means there is no residual VAT contained in the export price. However, as far as imports are concerned, VAT must be paid at the moment the goods are imported so they are immediately placed on the same footing as equivalent goods produced in the community. Taxable people registered for VAT will be able deduct this VAT on their next VAT return. The system has proven to be effective in avoiding problems caused by double taxation of goods and service s and also problems with the conventional sales tax. Compared to the VAT, the Sales tax does not provide for input tax credit, which means that the consumer may pay tax on an input that has already been previously taxed. This scenario should be better able to explain the VAT system in Europe. This scenario will take a rate of 10% 1. The Manufacturer pays $1.10 for raw materials.

Conflict Resolution - Mediation 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Conflict Resolution - Mediation 2 - Essay Example Unlike arbitrators, the mediator has no legal authority of imposing any decision rules but relies on persuasion in order to reach an agreement to the dispute. The process involves confidential meetings with the participants where the mediator has no liberty to reveal what the participant said during the meeting without the express consent of the participant. The mediation process involves key steps which include the opening statement at the meetings, education phase, options (alternatives) generation phase, negotiation phase and closing phase (Billikopf 1). The opening statement involves setting the rules of engagement like confidentiality requirements and ground rules of approaching the negotiation phase. The education phase of the mediation phase entails setting the perspectives of the dispute, the key needs of each disputant and feelings of each party to the dispute. At this stage, the disputants are required to relive themselves of any negative feelings towards each other and con fidently state their desired outcome towards the dispute. The alternatives seeking stage involves brainstorming and searching for the viable alternatives of ending the dispute. The negotiation parties explore the alternatives of ending the dispute at the negotiation stage while the final stage includes closing the dispute with the most viable and mutually agreed solution of settlement (Billikopf 2). Transformative dispute mediation style involves an opportunity for moral growth and empowerment of the parties to the dispute. The mediator will encourage the debate to the conflict and direct the process while adhering to the ground rules set by the parties. Problem solving mediation sees the conflict as a short term situation that needs a solution whereby the mediator acts as an expert in finding the solutions to the settlement. The mediator can adopt a party controlled approach whereby discussions include broad questions and allowing emotions or an evaluative approach whereby emotions are limited and have authority to direct the discussions. Some principles to mediation include openness, balanced approach, resourcefulness, inspiration and tactfulness in approaching the mediation process. The mediator should remain impartial and neutral during the mediation process while disclosing any potential instances that may cause conflicts of interest. The mediator should build confidence to the process by showing his confidence and trust which is demonstrated by his or her ability to smile, listen, remain tactful and build cordial relationships with all the disputants. The mediator should undertake the responsibility of ensuring no potential instances that contribute to conflict of interest which can jeopardize his impartiality and neutrality to the mediation process. Emotions such as anger, sadness and shame should be avoided during the mediation process since they may result to defensiveness or criticism during the mediation process. During a party-mediated process, the mediator should conduct the mediation process in a manner which ensures competence and mutual respect to all the disputants. Some levels of resolution which are critical include the end to behavioral fighting, settlement of conflict issues, eliminating the emotional tensions and reconciliation of the outstanding disputes between the disputants. Party directed mediation is mainly useful when poor communication, and personality conflicts exist which threaten the ongoing interpersonal relations. The purpose of

Role of the Nurse to manage a patient with Myocardial Infarction Speech or Presentation

Role of the Nurse to manage a patient with Myocardial Infarction - Speech or Presentation Example Any signs of irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, and pallor should be noticed. Next, diagnostic evaluation is important in which the nurse should look for ST segment elevation or depression to decide if it is ST-elevation MI or non-ST elevation MI (Nursing Care Plans 2014). ECG results and vital signs should be recorded. This is an important feature of nursing intervention for MI. Oxygen supplementation should be immediately started in case the patient is experiencing severe dyspnoea. ECG should be performed during acute pain attack also (Cardiac Care Network 2013). Fluid retention and high cholesterol levels can create a problem, so diet and lifestyle changes should be strictly maintained to reduce both fluid retention and cholesterol levels (Mok et al. 2013, p. 256). Before giving any medicine to the patient, the nurse should carefully evaluate if he/she is allergic to the medicine or not. Many MI patients can be allergic to aspirin in which case it should not be given. Statins should be given to reduce cholesterol level and ACE inhibitors should be administered to reduce blood pressure level. Beta-blockers should also be given to reduce workload of the heart, but care should be taken when giving beta-blockers in patients who have a very slow pulse ( Kenny 2012b). In context of ethical consideration, obtaining informed consent of the patient is critically important (Andreae, Ekstedt & Snellman 2011). Patient autonomy or respect for what a patient wants is also an important ethical consideration. Also in the care of MI patients, it should be ensured that resources are fairly distributed and no harm is provided to the patient due to carelessness. Elderly patients with MI often experience high levels of anxiety, but they are not provided psychological care. So, it is important for a nurse to ensure psychological help for very anxious patients (NHS 2007). Anxiety increases both heart rate and blood

Organizational Issues and Trends Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Organizational Issues and Trends Paper - Essay Example d of course in order to be able to predict tendencies the managerial staff has to be on top of the topic in the present to know how are these areas affect the business in the present and how they have influenced in the past to learn from the victories and the mistakes. Three topics or issues of great importance which are studied in this essay are global ethics, stress in the workplace and organization politics. The paper analyses these three issues from a current perspective as well as looking at the tendencies in these issues a decade from now. Stress is a mental and emotional condition that affects the behavior of humans in all facets of life. It is a condition that is not healthy and organization must recognize its existence and ensure preventive measures are in place to minimize its occurrence. If stress is identified among a group or individual worker the company must also have a way to litigate with the problem on a personal and confidential matter to ensure the employee or employee get the help needed to deal with the problem. Since stress is a human condition spark by a variety of factors in a person’s personal and work life it will always be present among some members of the staff. A company first of all has to take measure to ensure the work conditions of the company do not contribute to a stressful work environment as well as having protocol measures in place to identify employees suffering from this medical condition to provide them with the counseling the person needs to help them deal with the situation . Stress in the workplace is an undesirable condition because it leads to lower productivity, a higher incidents of human error, unnecessary tension, a lack of group synergy and other negative factors for an enterprise. The factors or categories that lead to stress in the workplace include bad economic trends in an organization, interpersonal relationships, organizational culture, lack of promotional opportunities for qualified candidates and other

A passage to India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

A passage to India - Essay Example Aziz and friends longs for the company of an English man, the common wish of the Indians during that time. Both, Aziz and Fielding have similarities in their behavior that they are curious in Indian mysteries. Moreover, Fielding has high respects for Indian tradition and is high tolerant. It may be this common fact that befriends them. The western similarity of Aziz is clear when Moore explains her experience with Aziz in the mosque. Only much later Ronny and others realize that she was speaking about a Muslim, who exactly follows the western way of living. The words of Miss Quested are notable in this context when she exclaimed, â€Å"A Mohammedan! How perfectly magnificent!† (Foster 9). 2. What do you think really happened to Adel Quested in the cave? What might the echo signify symbolically in the novel? Adel Quested had a wild experience in the Marabar Caves where she was overcome with claustrophobia like Mrs. Moore. When she entered the cave alone, the echo of the sound a nd loneliness might have frightened her. This actually caused for her fainting and misunderstanding that Aziz molested her. However, the echo in the cave has symbolic significance in the novel with various propositions. There have been many inferences among the critics regarding this symbol. But one can see echo representing climax of horror of the novel.

Supervisor Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Supervisor Development - Essay Example also make my team members feel rewarded and research has it that an employee’s motivation depends on this expectation that his/her efforts will lead to a valued reward (Mathis, Jackson, & Valentine, 2013, p. 127). I aim to develop a hands-on leading style which would not be about supervision alone, but also turning difference of opinion into quality performance. As a conscientious supervisor, I also believe that developing a solid relationship with team members is exceedingly important. This is where human relations skills could offer real value. I will try to refine my skills in this area by using the tool of good communication. I will relate with my team members in a way that would make them feel like they are being positively influenced instead of being forced to comply with orders. Skills based on participative leadership and good relationship will enable me in supervising my team because they both promote supervision based on