The existence of high commitment management in unionized workplaces Essay Example for Free

The existence of high commitment management in unionized workplaces Essay The existence of high commitment management in unionized workplaces suggests that such management is compatible with trade unionism. Discuss The relationship between workers and management has historically been an adversarial one. In the process of fighting for employee right and benefits, unions have traditionally created a them and us atmosphere between employees and managers. On the other hand, high commitment management tries to eliminate the them and us atmosphere and instead attempts to replace it with one of partnership where both employees and management work together for the benefit of the firm. Thus, the respective natures of high commitment establishments and unions would imply incompatibility. It is due to this belief that some high commitment firms devote enormous resources to strategies aimed to keep unions away from their firms such as hiring lawyers who specialize in union avoidance and implementing high commitment work practices such as grievance systems and work teams. However, there is a paradox to this belief as studies show that as compared with non-unionized firms, unionized firms in high commitment establishments provide more rights and benefits to workers, give more opportunities to employees to give and receive information, and give a greater voice to employees to voice either constructive suggestion or dissent (WERS 1992). Furthermore, union presence is increasingly popular in HRM organizations, as union density is 47% in organizations which employ at least half of the identified high commitment management practices. In this paper, I will use evidence from various studies to show why high commitment firms and unions are indeed compatible. High commitment management is based on the theory that firms who give more High commitment management is based on the theory that firms who give more to their workforce get back more from it in return. This requires a cooperative relationship based on trust and reciprocity between labor and management. Unions can help in solidifying a high commitment environment by policing management to ensure that certain high commitment goals are met. Unions in high commitment work environments fight to give employees a collective voice in decision making as well as enhancing distributive and procedural justice while in return improving workforce solidarity and aiding in legitimizing change. Thus, the compatibility between management and unions can increase the payoffs of both management and labor while allowing the firm to firm to be driven forward. In the fast pace, ever changing corporate world, responsiveness to change and flexibility within firms are oftentimes required so that firm can readily adapt to ever-changing times. Recent times have seen an increasing amount of firms moving away from traditional authoritarian ways of management towards that of high commitment human resource management. Such drastic changes in work practicess however, are not always easily implemented because a lack of communication between the workforce and managers makes it hard to change the character of employment relationships. Unions however, can aid in making such changes by allowing firms to communicate to the entire workforce quickly and efficiently while giving the workforce the opportunity to respond with input or inquiries. This increases the workforces knowledge and understanding of the new direction that their firm is taking and improves the probability that they will facilitate rather than resist future changes. Such was the case with Tesco, who realized that its inflexible employee involvement structure, as well as its high turnover, relatively low pay and a hands on directive management style were inconsistent with achieving enhanced levels of service to advance in competitive strategy. 1 Tesco wanted their employees to identify with and commit themselves to the company, and it saw the union Usdaw as the means for cultivating and realizing this goal. As a result a partnership between Tesco and Usdaw was formed where Usdaw gave up their strike threat in return for a greater union input to secure improved policy implementations. As a result, employee wages rose, terms and working conditions were improved and staff turnover dropped significantly.2 . Thus, this partnership took a step away from an us and them environment and took one towards unions working with management as team for the benefit of the entire firm. High commitment management is greatly dependent on a partnership between employees and management. This assumes that there arent agency problems because it is expected that employees have a deep understanding of the firms interests and that they go about their job as if those interests were their own. In order for the partnership between employees and management to flourish however, a workforce must have a collective voice in decision-making. Firms encounter many problems when trying to give individual workers decision-making authority. For instance, there is always the fear that a worker will abuse his decision-making authority by using it to further his own ends rather than to help the entire firm advance. Another problem is that it is extremely difficult to have a partnership between management and a fragmented workforce. Unions however facilitate a partnership by providing a channel of communication between management and the entire workforce. 3 This enhanced communication is made possible by unions because just as management speaks with single voice, having a union allows the employees it represents to speak to management with a unified voice. Thus unions give their members decision making authority by taking into account the needs of the workforce and communicating it to managers. As a result, there is an improved match between what employees want and what they get from management and this is an important ingredient in high commitment environments. Allowing workers to have a say in how their firm is managed increases their job satisfaction and is a major reason why on average, turnover is lower in union settings.4 In addition, unions tend to fight more for the benefits of employees with longer tenures in firms. This gives union members an increased incentive to commit themselves to their firm in the long term and also may be a factor contributing to lower turnover. This is compatible with high commitment management strategy in many occupations such as teaching and nursing where goals such as low turnover and worker longevity are important. However, any high commitment based partnership can break down if there is a lack of trust and accountability. Unions though can be trusted by management to act cooperatively because managers know that union officials want to protect their unions reputation with a particular firm and oftentimes this concern for its reputation can be the guarantee that management needs of good, constructive behavior5. In addition, a long-term partnership between unions and management can permit a greater degree of trust and objectivity than can the partnership between management and individual workers. This is because there is a greater frequency of interactions between management and a union. The partnerships experience in collectively dealing with past disputes makes it possible for future disputes to be settled in a promptly in a way that doesnt disturb work practices. This partnership also presents a checks and balance system to ensure that both parties act cooperatively. Just as a union is a party that can be held accountable for the actions of its members6, management can also be held responsible for bad behavior of any single manager. For instance, if a manager is engaging in an activity that the workforce views unfavorably, a union representative can give notice to management to put an end it before it goes too far. One of the biggest obstacles not permitting employees from fully committing themselves to a high commitment firm is if they perceive there to be unjustified unequal treatment. This can decrease employee performance incentives as well as hurt the morale of a high commitment firm. Unions however, have a sword of justice effect and are successful in eliminating many of the adverse affects that occur because of unequal employment opportunities. A major reason for this is that unionized can better monitor firm practices to ensure fairness because they are much more likely to have managers and supervisors who are trained in people management skills and in addition, managers in unionized firms put a greater emphasis on ensuring that there is equal treatment among their employees. Studies indicate that when taking into account workplaces where all the supervisors are required to have training in people management skills, 20% of those in unionized environments, [as] compared with only 12% of those in non-unionized places, have responsibility for equal opportunities.7 Two of the most common and documented forms of unequal opportunities are employee promotions and employee selection. When compared to non-unionized firms, firms with a union presence are four times as likely to monitor promotions by gender and three times as likely to review selection procedures to identify indirect discrimination.8. There is also evidence that the increased monitoring in unionized firms has helped reduce sexual discrimination as it regards to promotions and this has thus helped women advance up firms hierarchy. Studies indicate that about one in seven managers in the union sector reported that the proportion of women in the managerial post had risen markedly in the last 5 years; [while] only one in ten managers in the non-union sector reported this. 9 Furthermore, unions have also traditionally been seen as defenders of an egalitarian pay structure. High commitment work environments value and oftentimes even require worker solidarity. However, when some workers are paid more than others for essentially the same job, the existence of this solidarity is difficult to maintain. A union presence in a high commitment work environments facilitates the presence of solidarity as they prefer to pay each occupational group a single rate. This takes the wages out of competition among co-workers, and ensures that the high-commitment working environment wont be harmed due to ruthless competition practices such as undercutting between co-workers. Thus unionized workers have less wage inequality than their non-unionized counterparts. Studies indicate that the standard deviation is .457 in unionized setting [while it is] .592 in a non-union setting.10 Furthermore, unions help decrease wage inequality by 2.6% between males and females, 1.4% between blacks and whites, .6% between the healthy and those with health problems, and 3.1% between non-manual and manual employees.11. Thus by ensuring that firms pay equal wages for equal work, unions help maintain workforce solidarity which aids firms in maintaining high commitment work environments. In recent years, it had become apparent that the relationship between firms and unions doesnt necessarily have to be an adversarial one. In fact, the popularity of partnerships in high commitment firms indicates that the two institutions are indeed compatible. The evidence stated above indicates that when this partnership is properly utilized, unions can be a great asset to a high commitment management work design. This is because unions facilitate the existence of many of the necessary ingredients that go into high commitment work environments such as flexibility, increased employee voice in decision making, distributive justice, and worker solidarity. Major firms such as Tesco have recently taken advantage of this compatibility and are now realizing the formerly untapped benefits that a partnership between unions and high commitment management schemes can bring about. 1 Industrial Relations Services Partnership delivers the goods at Tesco, IRS Employment Review, August 1999, No. 662 2 Industrial Relations Services Partnership delivers the goods at Tesco, IRS Employment Review, August 1999, No. 662 3 Fernie, Sue. HRM Lecture on 29/01/02 : London: London School of Economics, 2001 4 Baron, James N. , Kreps David M. Strategic Human Resources: Frameworks for General Managers. (New York: John Wiley Sons, Inc., 1999), 127 5 Baron, James N. , Kreps David M. Strategic Human Resources: Frameworks for General Managers. (New York: John Wiley Sons, Inc., 1999), 134 6 Baron, James N. , Kreps David M. Strategic Human Resources: Frameworks for General Managers. (New York: John Wiley Sons, Inc., 1999), 134 7 Fernie, Sue Gray, Helen Women what unions can do for you CentrePiece Summer 2000 8 Fernie, Sue Gray, Helen Women what unions can do for you CentrePiece Summer 2000 9 Fernie, Sue Gray, Helen Women what unions can do for you CentrePiece Summer 2000 10 Metcalf, David Fighting for equality CentrePiece Summer 2000 11 Metcalf, David Fighting for equality CentrePiece Summer 2000

Use of Azithromycin for Asthma Patients

Use of Azithromycin for Asthma Patients Does adding azithromycin to standard therapy for asthma patients with acute exacerbations improve symptom resolution? Background: ÂÂ  Asthma is presented as a chronic long term disease that causes inflammation, narrowing and mucus production in the lungs airways resulting in difficulty breathing. It is assumed to be initiated by genetics or environmental influences. Physical activities and other contributing factors can exacerbate asthmatic symptoms that include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tighten. Most patient symptoms occur at a rapid onset and requires immediate treatment. Asthma is not curable but symptoms can be controlled with appropriate therapy. Patients with asthma are given treatment based on the severity and frequency of symptoms. Therapy options include SABA, LABA, corticosteroids or leukotrienes and adjustments are made as needed. However, many patients still experience uncontrolled symptoms that effect their daily activities. Macrolide antibiotics such as azithromycin have been recently studied as adjunct therapy for asthmatics, due to their anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Researchers are geared to believe that untreated bacterial infections within the lungs are the underlying influences of asthma related problems. Despite these findings, the issue is still being investigated as patients on traditional standard therapy are still experiencing unwanted symptoms. Literature Search A literature search was conducted utilizing the MEDLINE database of Pubmed using MESH terms asthma and azithromycin and MESH subheading therapy. The terms were combined using AND which returned 37 articles. The application of additional limitations of 5 years, randomize controlled trials and humans were applied which reduced the search total amount to 17 articles. Although 17 articles were retrieved during the search, each article was evaluated based on their relevancy and criteria, the above article was selected because it addressed the question at hand. Results AZIthromycin in Severe ASThma (AZISAST) was a randomized double-blinded placebo control trial conducted to determine if adding azithromycin to asthmatic patients as standard therapy would be statistically and clinically beneficial.ÂÂ   The trial was conducted from September 2011 to April 2014, as a United Kingdom multicenter study. The study consisted of individuals ages 18-75 that had been diagnosed with persistent asthma. Inclusion criteria consisted of patients whose current therapy included high doses of inhaled corticosteroids, inhaled long acting beta agonist LABAÂÂ   for six months prior to the study, two severe asthma exacerbations required systemic steroid therapy, or if they experienced a lower respiratory tract infection that required antibiotic treatment within a twelve month period2. Subjects were excluded if they had prolong QT interval, severe bronchiectasis, currently receiving macrolide treatment in past three months, laboratory abnormalities, pregnant or b reastfeeding and concomitant anti-IgE treatments2. Participants were randomly selected to receive to 250mg capsules of azithromycin (n=55) and a placebo (n=54) in combination with inhaled corticosteroids and LABAs for six months2. Subjects in both treatment groups were matched in respect to the baseline characteristics. The intervention instructed patients to take one capsule daily for five days and continue with one capsule three times a week with a total treatment period of twenty-six weeks. The primary outcome measured severe asthmatic episodes during the treatment phase in both groups, which was defined as hospitalization, emergency department visits, and the utilization of systemic corticosteroids for three days2. Secondary outcomes measured lung function (FEV1), peak expiratory flow (PEF) quality of life (QOL) and asthma control score2. Analyzing the secondary outcomes, the azithromycin group reported a number of thirty exacerbations occurred in comparison to twenty-seven form the placebo group. (p=1.000)2. Additionally, azithromycin and placebo group experience two hospitalization admission due to exacerbations (p=1.000)2. Other efficacy outcomes showed there was no significant improvement in the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire score between both groups. The treatment period lasted for six months and demonstrated no significant difference between the azithromycin group and the placebo group in relation to asthma exacerbations. The estimated primary endpoints without adjustments resulted in 0.71 (95% CI 0.52 to 0.97) in the azithromycin group and 0.80 (95% CI 0.59 to 1.07) in the placebo group with a p-value of 0.6002. With the addition of sensitivity analyses restricted to asthma exacerbations results were 0.55 (95% CI 0.38 to 0.78) in the azithromycin group and 0.52 (95% CI 0.36 to 0.75) in the placebo group with a p-value of 0.8472. Based on the aforementioned data, add-on therapy of azithromycin is statistically and clinically insignificant, as well as did not reduce the rate of asthma exacerbation in adults. Recommendations Although, the clinical trial failed to demonstrate that azithromycin was clinically /statistically significant in patients with asthma. This should not be a definite factor to rule out the therapeutic benefits azithromycin can have on patients with respiratory infections that contributes to asthma exacerbations. Developing an accurate interpretation from the study can be difficult considering the study focused on a small population and the duration of treatment was only twelve weeks. I would not recommend azithromycin as add-on therapy for patients with asthma due to it showed no improvement in comparison to patients receiving a placebo, as well as long-term use of a macrolide might lead to resistance. References Brusselle GG, VanderStichele C, Jordens P, et al. 2013. Azithromycin for prevention of exacerbations in severe asthma (AZISAST): a multicenter randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial Thorax 2013;68:322-329. 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2012-202698mm

Is It Possible to Reconstruct a State?

Is It Possible to Reconstruct a State? Definitions: According to Max Weber, â€Å"State is an entity which possesses a delegatable monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.† (Warner, 1991) When a state looses its monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force or looses its capacity to perform even the most basic functions within its territory, it comes under the category of failed/ dysfunctional states. Most of the times reasons for failure of a state are civil war, international conflict, corrpution, lack of resources etc. De jure state[1] State which exist by a fiat of the international community, which recognizes them as soveregin entities whether or not they have a government capable of effectively controlling or administering the territory. Example- Somalia De facto state- State which receives no international recognition and has weak institutions, but where power is exercised and enforced within its territory. Examples- Kurdistan, Puntland, Somaliland De facto de jure state- State which enjoys international recognition and excercises control over people and territory through formal and strong, preferably democratic instritutions. This is the modern state in all its legal- rational Weberian splendour. In other words, this is the model the international community tries to replicate in dysfunctional states. Reconstruction:- is a process of recreation of an entity by the intrnal or external forces. Externally-led-reconstruction Where International actors intervene into a state and try to reconstrct. This model demands transtition from dysfunctional de jure state to the Weberian de facto state. Examples- Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia etc. Internally-led-reconstruction- Where domestic actors inside a state try to bring change. A transition from dysfunctional de jure state to a de facto state that slowly develops institutions, though not necessarily democratic ones. Examples- Mozambique, Kurdistan etc. Historically failed states simply used to disappear, divided up or conquered by a more powerful neighbour but today’s conventional wisdom has it that collapsed states must be reconstructed immediately and comprehensively along the lines of democratic countries with free market economies, thanks to the intervention by international community.[2] International community has assumed that it is both possible and essential for all the dysfunctional state to be reconstructed within their old borders but this assumption is very recent one. In the 1990s intervention by international community in a dysfunctional state invariably entailed the organizing of multi-party elections within the shortest possible time. For example. The Lusaka agreement of 1999 required the warring parties of DRC[3] to engage in ‘national dialogue’ to reach agreement on a new democratic political syatem and to hold elections. The December 2001, Bonn agreement called for holding of a loya Jirga[4] in Afghanisatn to reach agreement on a new democratic political system, to be followed by elections. Historically, attempts to reconstruct a state can be categorized in two ways- Externally-led-reconstruction:- Donor approach[5] of reconstruction includes setting up of new democratic institutions, re-writing constitutions, new election laws, creating civil society organization, liberalization of the economy etc. Most of the times these organizations do not turn out to be significant and established-hence institutions because most of the time they do not provide solution to the real problems on the ground. But donors, however, think of institution building, less in terms of finding solutions to what local actors preceive to be problems, and more in terms of transpalnting â€Å"best practices† that have been successful elsewehere. In the end, this approach of international community makes difficult for organizations to become institutions because they do not solve the real time problems. International community also wants institutions to come into function within a short span of time which is impossible. Internally-led-reconstruction:- The domestic actors that reconstruct states are miliatry men and politicians, who are more prone to act than to write, meaning by creation of constitution and institutions (liked by international community) is usually not their first priority. Majority of the internally led reconstuction of states come from Africa. For example in Uganda, Eritrea, Ethiopia, first step towards reconstruction was military victory. Since there were no other means at the disposal of domestic actors to generate the authority needed to govern a state, the only path was recourse to the raw power generated by superior force. Once they had generated legitimacy through force, they tried to transfrom that raw power into authority by regularizing institutions and processes of governemnt. This led to the reconstruction of the state, but not to the emergence of democratic states. Major components, free choice and popular participation were missing. Thus International community doesnà ¢â‚¬â„¢t like this approach. Criticism of Externally-led-reconstruction- Best practices do not solve real problems. For example, in Afghanistan retributional justice, against the wishes of President Karzai, was adopted against Taliban which became reason for Taliban to re-emerge. But if we look at the South African trasition from Aprtiheid regime, it was very smooth because they practiced what suited South Africa’s future the best. Donor supported institution building put an unbearable burdan on fragile states and in the end becomes self-defeating. For example , the strength of Afghan Army is 3,75,000. Annual budget of the Army and the annual income of the state are similar. Therefore, if there is no international committment then how will Afghan state fund the salaries of soldiers and what is their use if Taliban can come to negotiating terms. In most of the attempts of reconstruction, so-called institution building is not part of a sustained, open ended intrnational commitment to remain involved until the process is completed, but rather part of an exit strategy. Donors wants organizations in place so that they can go home but to my understanding that is a self-defeating strategy. Criticism of Internally-led-reconsturction- The actors wants to create a de facto state but usually they don’t have resources Even if they have the capacity to reconstruct the de facto state, they are likely to be reluctant to curb their newly acquired power and move from dictatorship or raw power to institutionalized politics and rule of law. In both types of state reconstruction, a major challenge lies in moving from â€Å"order imposed through power to the institutions† because institutions help in regularising authority in the long run. In internal reconstruction processes, second phase of state reconstruction[6] often fails to take place, because those who have consolidated power have little incentive to limit its exercise by developing institutions. In donor-directed processes, the international community rushes to develop institutions, but tends to withdraw the power that buttresses them far too soon, leading to failure. Some prescriptions to reconstruct a state:- When we think about the term reconstruction, we should give enough attention towards the possible outcome and resources at our disposal. Above all we need to know the short term and long term goals. Sometimes states are in need of means of survival but we are busy in creating democratic institutions and implementing best practices of governance for them. Thus we need to create and promote institutions according to the relevance and need of the hour but at the same time keeping in mind the long term goals. We need to recognize the potential candidates of statehood. For an example, Kurdistan Regional Government is a de facto state but it does not have international recognition. We are afraid of accepting the nationhood for Kurdistan. The same goes for Somaliland or Puntland. International community need to give heed to the de facto states. We need to know that institution building is a slow process and one size does not fit all- hence one type of system cannot fulfil the needs of every state. Every place is different on the earth and people have different approaches to the life. Thus we shouldn’t impose so-called â€Å"best practices† of governance in every corner of the world. Above all we shouldn’t create those institutions which can put unbearable burden on fragile states and become self defeating. For example- strong military apparatus in Afghanistan. If any state believes in the implementation of the â€Å"best practices† then that donor should set modest targets and should have long term commitment. We shouldn’t’ expect too much too soon. As saying goes, It takes 18 years for an infant to turn into an adult then how we can expect an institution to be functional within few years. Conclusion Reconstruction of states is a very difficult process. In 21st century, international community believes that there can not exist any failed states in the world and if there is any then we need to reconstruct it. But a lot of lessons needs to be learnt before we take up new assignments of reconstruction. Neither extrnal led, nor internal led approaches of reconstruction are perfect but with some improvements they can yield descent outcomes. International community always seems to be in hurry to build institutions but it requires a very long term commitment for organizations to turn into established institutions. Sometimes there is severe imbalance between the goals set by international community and the resources donors are willing to commit to attain the goals. It is possible to reconsturct a state if whatever organizations we set up, help in solving real probelms on the ground and thus become long lasting instutions. But if we just delpoy best practices without giving heed to the possible outcomes, it can lead to failure. Internally led reconstruction can also yield positive results if international community can provide long term commitment in building institutions. At the same time international community should bring de facto states into de jure states but there are always no easy choices to make. Bibliography:- Jackson, R. (1990) Quasi-states: Sovereignty, International Relations and the Third World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Daniel Warner (1991) An ethic of responsibility in International Relations. Lynne Rienner Publishers Chang, H. (2000) `Institutional Development in Developing Countries in a Historical Perspective: Lessons from Developed Countries in Earlier Times. Forman, S. and S. Patrick (2000) Good Intentions: Pledges of Aid for Post-Conflict Recovery. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Guiding Principles for Stabilization and Reconstruction (2009), United States Institute of Peace Press, Washington DC Marina Ottaway (2003), Rebuilding State Institutions in Collapsed States, EBSCO publishing house. Call Charles T. (2008). â€Å"Building States to Build Peace? A critical analysis†. Journal of Peacebuilding and Development Vol.4 n.2 p.60. De Weijer, F. (2013). ‘A Capable State in Afghanistan: A Building without a Foundation?’ WIDER Working Paper No. 2013/063. Helsinki: UNU-WIDER. [1] Definitions of de jure and de facto states have been borrowed from the work of Robert R Jackson. [2] International Community- in this paper this word means â€Å"the conglomerate of industrialized democracies and the multilateral agencies over which industrialized countries have preponderant influence.† [3] DRC- Democratic Republic of Congo [4] Loya Jirga- is a special type of grand assembly that is mainly organized to choose a new head of state in case of sudden death, to adopt new constitution or to settle serious issues such as war etc. [5] Donors- International community including international organizations [6] Second phase of reconstruction in internally led reconstruction is to transform raw power into authority by establishing institutions.

Regulating Prostitution Essay -- Prostitutes Ethics Morals Sex Essays

Regulating Prostitution Historically, although prostitution has been viewed as a threat to the moral order and a danger to public health, the state has tended to legislate for the regulation of prostitution, rather than introducing measures focussed on its elimination. Even early Christian societies did not seek to eliminate prostitution, with the Church fathers justifying this stance by asserting that "Sewers are necessary to guarantee the wholesomeness of palaces." (quoted by de Beauvoir, 1974, 618). St Augustine was adamant that prostitution should be recognised as a necessary social evil, arguing, Suppress prostitution and capricious lusts will overthrow society. (cited in Roberts, 1992, 61). His stance was predicated on a belief in men’s sexual appetites necessitating access to sexual outlets outside of marriage. In order to prevent them committing adultery and threatening their marriages, society should facilitate men’s access to prostitutes. It follows from St Augustine’s argument that two separate classes of women were required - good, virtuous, sexually faithful wives to service men’s procreative needs within marriage, and prostitutes who would cater to their desires and pleasures outside of marriage. Such thinking views prostitution as a necessary social evil, and reinforces the madonna/whore dichotomy. Given the fact that men’s demand for prostitution services has not abated through the ages, the historic response has been to continue to seek its regulation and control rather than its eradication. For instance, in medieval England and Europe the preferred way of regulating prostitution was to restrict prostitutes to working in certain districts and/or requiring that they dress in particular, identifiable, styles. Thus in Paris, prostitutes were confined to working in brothels in particular areas of the town and were required to wear armbands, dye their hair, "or in other ways distinguish themselves from respectable society matrons" (Bullough and Bullough, 1987, 125). Women who violated such codes of behaviour could find themselves expelled from that district, literally being run out of town. Confining the sex industry to specifically designated areas was also seen as economically advantageous in that it enabled municipal councils to share in the profits (Roberts, 1992, 90). By the 17th century the practice of visiting prostitutes was so wid... ...ciety and an Analysis of the Causes and Effects of the Suppression of Prostitution. London, Souvenir Press. Beyer, G. (1999). Change for the Better. Auckland, Random House. Bishop, C. (1931). Women and Crime. London, Chatto and Windus. Boyle, F. M., M. P. Dunne, et al. (1997). "Psychological distress among female sex workers." Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 21(6): 643-646. Brock, D. R. (1998). Making Trouble, Making Work: Prostitution as a Social Problem. Toronto, University of Toronto Press. Brockett, L. and A. Murray (1994). Thai sex workers in Sydney. Sex Work and Sex Workers in Australia. R. Perkins, G. Prestage, R. Sharp and F. Lovejoy (editors). Sydney, University of New South Wales Press. Brookes, B. (1993). "A weakness for strong subjects: the women's movement and sexuality." New Zealand Journal of History 27(2): 140-156. Brothels Task Force (2001). Report of the Brothels Task Force. Sydney, New South Wales Government. Brown, A. and D. Barrett (2002). Knowledge of Evil: Child Prostitution and Child Sexual Abuse in Twentieth-Century England. Cullompton, Devon, Willan Publishing. Brown, K. (1994). "Lesbian sex workers." Broadsheet (202): 32-35.

Game Consoles Comparison :: Video Gaming Games Game Paperes

Game Consoles Comparison Playing games is one of the most popular ways for people to release their stress from work, school, or from other family issues. However, there are a lot of varieties of games: Console games, PC games, Board games, and many more. One of the most famous types of games, though, is console game. Among all consoles, PS2 is the best one. This might be a little direct, but I have my reason for saying this. We will have a discussion regarding this later. But first, what is PS2? Why console games are so popular until now? Here is a little bit of history of why console games have been so popular since the first existing console, Nintendo Entertainment system (NES), by Japanese gaming company in 1985. Nintendo did a good job in marketing the first console game in the past in selling thirty million dollars worth of merchandise in the United States and ninety million dollars worldwide. This successful console game business changed the industry of gaming so that soon, Sony, another big Japanese electronic company, launched its first console called Sony Playstation in 1995. This console dominated the market so that Sony succeeded in selling more than ninety million dollars by 2002. As the battle of console games continued, there was one important fact that was inevitable called â€Å"period of excitement.† After a while, people will get bored with the same kind of machine with the same kind of capability. This is why Nintendo initiated the practice of releasing a new console every 5 to 6 years. It released the latest upgraded Nintendo console called GameCube (2000) following the release of Playstation two (PS2) by Sony in the same year. The popularity of these console games excited Bill Gates, the CEO of the huge Microsoft Company, to participate in the competition of console gaming by releasing the Xbox in the same year. These three consoles have battled each other for 4 years now, and people a lot of times are confused about which console is the best. This is why I am interested in comparing all three consoles based on these three categories: Game Play (the variety of available games, user friendliness, and user’s age orientation), specifications, and price. I put game play as the first priority because no matter how advanced the console is, if it is not playable, then there is no reason for it to exist.

To Be Or Not To Be A Criminal: A View On Young Offenders And Young Victims Of Crimes

Everyday we hear about news on crimes committed almost everywhere in the world. What is not anymore surprising to hear is that most of the persistent offenders and victims of crimes are young people. No matter how not surprising it can be, it has been a growing public concern. This work aims to understand why these young people are the most common offenders and victims of crimes, the factors which pushed them to commit crimes, and gender differences of the offenders and victims. Furthermore, a view on the reasons why the Black youth has the greater tendency of committing and being victimized by crimes will also be discussed. An individual who is 17 years old or younger is classified as a young offender or victim of crime. It has been observed that the presence of certain risk factors in a young individual’s life most likely increases his vulnerability in committing crimes. Such particular factors include personal, family, social, educational and mental health factors. When we speak of personal factors, these involve alienation and lack of social commitment. Family factors are poor parental supervision and discipline, low family income or social isolation, family conflict and parental criminality. Social factors are hanging around in public places, availability of illegal drugs, opportunity for crime and peer involvement in problem behavior. Educational factors include lack of commitment to school, disruptive behavior, low achievement and school disorganization. In regard to mental health factors, these are aggressive and anti-social behavior, emotional disorders and severe mental illnesses. You can read also King v Cogdon Additionally, it was also studied that young people in care are the most disadvantaged and socially excluded population. Hence, their low educational attainment increases their chances of being unemployed, becoming homeless and more likely to engage in anti-social behavior and crime. Furthermore, the young people have the greater tendency of committing and becoming offenders of crimes should there be proof of evidence of the availability of multiple risk factors in their lives. As much as young people commit crime disproportionately, they also suffer from it. Analysis on the experiences of young people showed that they are generally at greater risk of all types of violence than older people. Violent offences are predominantly committed against young people, and more often against men than women. It has been observed that males are more delinquent and victimized than females. Such difference in gender and youth crime is affected by the seriousness of the crime being committed. A study by Carrington and Moyer (1998) states that females are less likely to commit crimes involving the use of weapon which most of the time result to major injury or death to the victim. Furthermore, females are much less inclined in targeting a private residence to commit crimes probably because males are more likely to be involved in break and enter offences. The males, having the greater chances of being violent, are therefore more delinquent in committing crimes. Hence, such tendency also pushes them to commit crimes against male victims whom they think will have the lesser opportunity of fighting back, or should they fight back, such offenders will take the risk in placing great injury or killing their victims. Young chronic offenders may be defined as a group of individual who are responsible for the most severe crimes and are most likely to continue such criminal activity until they reached adulthood. Family and environment play vital role whether or not youth become chronic offenders. Chronic juvenile delinquents display a huge amount of anti-social behavior whether or not they belong to the same social class or racial group. Hence, the vulnerability of youth in committing crimes does not depend solely in a particular class or racial or ethnic group. As long as the same factors exist in the youth’s life, the greater the tendency of them becoming juvenile delinquents. It has been learned that these young chronic offenders have history of lying, stealing, or doing poorly in school when they are still of tender age. Such behavior patterns will not be outgrown as easily as it may appear. In regard to the issue why there are more black youth offenders in the society as well as juvenile delinquents from the lower class who commit crimes, it is fair to note that racial and social status should not only be the determining factor why these people have been tagged as chronic crime offenders. Geographical factors as well as the number of population of blacks and other races in a particular place are vital elements in the determination of the weight of crimes being committed. It would be too racist to establish the black youth as chronic crime offenders. Economic deprivation may be an issue in committing crimes but belonging in the lower class does not necessarily mean that most youth belonging in this social bracket have the most tendency of becoming offenders.

The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 15

Hurrying behind Damon, Elena tried not to look either to the left or the right. She could see too much of what to Meredith and Bonnie must have appeared to be featureless darkness. There were depots on either side, places where slaves were obviously brought to be bought or sold or transported later. Elena could hear the whimpers of children in the darkness and if she hadn't been so frightened herself, she would have rushed off looking for the crying kids. But I can't do that, because I'm a slave now, she thought, with a sense of shock that ran up from her fingertips. I'm not a real human being anymore. I'm a piece of property. She found herself once again staring at the back of Damon's head and wondering how on earth she had talked herself into this. She understood what being a slave meant – in fact she seemed to have an intuitive understanding of it that surprised her – and it was Not a Good Thing to Be. It meant that she could be†¦well, that anything could be done to her and it was no one's business but that of her owner. And her owner (how had he talked her into this again?) was Damon, of all people. He could sell all three girls – Elena, Meredith, and Bonnie – and be out of here in an hour with the profits. They hurried through this area of the docks, the girls with their eyes on their feet to prevent themselves from stumbling. And then they crested a hill. Below them, in a sort of crater-shaped formation, was a city. The slums were on the edges, and crowded almost up to where they were standing. But there was a chicken-wire fence in front of them, which kept them isolated even while allowing them a bird's-eye view of the city. If they had still been in the cave they had entered, this would have been the greatest underground cavern imaginable – but they weren't underground anymore. â€Å"It happened sometime during the ferry ride,† Damon said. â€Å"We made – well – a twist in space, say.† He tried to explain and Elena tried to understand. â€Å"You went in through the Demon Gate, and when you came out you were no longer in Earth's Dimension, but in another one entirely.† Elena only had to look up at the sky to believe him. The constellations were different; there was no Little or Big Dipper, no North Star. Then there was the sun. It was much larger, but much dimmer than Earth's, and it never left the horizon. At any moment about half of it showed, day and night – terms which, as Meredith pointed out, had lost their rational meaning here. As they approached a gate made of chicken wire that would finally let them out of the slave-holding area, they were stopped by what Elena would later learn was a Guardian. She would learn that in a way, the Guardians were the rulers of the Dark Dimension, although they themselves came from another place far away and it was almost as if they had permanently occupied this little slice of Hell, trying to impose order on the slum king and feudal lords who divided the city among themselves. This Guardian was a tall woman with hair the color of Elena's own – true gold – cut square at shoulder length, and she paid no attention at all to Damon but immediately asked Elena, who was first in line behind him, â€Å"Why are you here?† Elena was glad, very glad, that Damon had taught her to control her aura. She concentrated on that while her brain hummed at supersonic speed, wondering what the right response to this question was. The response that would leave them free and not get them sent home. Damon didn't train us for this, was her first thought. And her second was, no, because he's never been here before. He doesn't know how everything works here, only some things. And if it looked as if this woman was going to try to interfere with him, he might just go crazy and attack her, a helpful little voice added from somewhere in Elena's subconscious. Elena doubled the speed of her scheming. Creative lying had once been a sort of specialty of hers, and now she said the first thing that popped into her head and got a thumbs-up: â€Å"I gambled with him and lost.† Well, it sounded good. People lost all sorts of things when they gambled: plantations, talismans, horses, castles, bottles of genii. And if it turned out not to be enough of a reason, she could always say that that was just the start of her sad story. Best of all, it was in a way, true. Long ago she'd given her life for Damon as well as for Stefan, and Damon had not exactly turned over a new leaf as she'd requested. Half a leaf, maybe. A leaflet. The Guardian was staring at her with a puzzled look in her true blue eyes. People had stared at Elena all her life – being young and very beautiful meant that you fretted only when people didn't stare. But the puzzlement was a bit of a worry. Was the tall woman reading her mind? Elena tried to add another layer of white noise at the top. What came out was a few lines of a Britney Spears song. She turned the psychic volume up. The tall woman put two fingers to her head like someone with a sudden headache. Then she looked at Meredith. â€Å"Why†¦are you here?† Usually Meredith didn't lie at all, but when she did she treated it as an intellectual art. Fortunately, she also never tried to fix something that wasn't broken. â€Å"The same for me,† she said sadly. â€Å"And you?† The woman was looking at Bonnie, who was looking as if she were going to be sick again. Meredith gave Bonnie a little nudge. Then she stared at her hard. Elena stared at her harder, knowing that all Bonnie had to do was mumble â€Å"Me, too.† And Bonnie was a good â€Å"me, too-er† after Meredith had staked out a position. The problem was that Bonnie was also either in trance, or so close to it that it didn't matter. â€Å"Shadow Souls,† Bonnie said. The woman blinked, but not the way you blink when someone says something totally unresponsive. She blinked in astonishment. Oh, God, Elena thought. Bonnie's got their password or something. She's making predictions or prophesying or whatever. â€Å"Shadow†¦souls?† the Guardian said, watching Bonnie closely. â€Å"The city is full of them,† Bonnie said miserably. The Guardian's fingers danced over what looked like a palmtop computer. â€Å"We know that. This is the place they come.† â€Å"Then you should stop it.† â€Å"We have only limited jurisdiction. The Dark Dimension is ruled by a dozen factions of overlords, who have slumlords to carry out their orders.† Bonnie, Elena thought, trying to cut through Bonnie's mental haze even at the cost of the Guardian hearing her. These are the police. At the same moment, Damon took over. â€Å"She's the same as the others,† he said. â€Å"Except that she's psychic.† â€Å"No one asked your opinion,† the Guardian snapped at him, without even glancing in Damon's direction. â€Å"I don't care what kind of bigwig you are down there† – she jerked her head contemptuously at the city of lights – â€Å"you're on my turf behind this fence. And I'm asking the little red-haired girl: is what he is saying the truth?† Elena had a moment of panic. After all they'd been through, if Bonnie blew it now†¦ This time Bonnie blinked. Whatever else she was trying to communicate, it was true that she was the same as Meredith and Elena. And it was true that she was psychic. Bonnie was a terrible liar when she had too much time to think about things, but to this she could say without hesitation, â€Å"Yes, that's true.† The Guardian stared at Damon. Damon stared back as if he could do it all night. He was a champion out-starer. And the Guardian waved them away. â€Å"I suppose even a psychic can have a bad day,† she said, then added to Damon, â€Å"Take care of them. You realize that all psychics have to be licensed?† Damon, with his best grand seigneur manner, said, â€Å"Madam, these are not professional psychics. They are my private assistants.† â€Å"And I'm not a ‘Madam' I'm addressed as ‘Your Judgment.' By the way, people addicted to gambling usually come to horrible ends here.† Ha, ha, Elena thought. If she only knew what kind of gamble we all are taking†¦well, we'd probably be worse off than Stefan is right now. Outside the fence was a courtyard. There were litters here, as well as rickshaws and small goatcarts. No carriages, no horses. Damon got two litters, one for himself and Elena and one for Meredith and Bonnie. Bonnie, still looking confused, was staring at the sun. â€Å"You mean it never finishes rising?† â€Å"No,† Damon said patiently. â€Å"And it's setting here, not rising. Perpetual twilight in the City of Darkness itself. You'll see more as we move along. Don't touch that,† he added, as Meredith moved to untie the rope around Bonnie's wrists before either of them got on the litter. â€Å"You two can take the ropes off in the litter if you draw the curtains, but don't lose them. You're still slaves, and you have to wear something symbolic around your arms to show it – even if it's just matching bracelets. Otherwise I get in trouble. Oh, and you'll have to go veiled in the city.† â€Å"We – what?† Elena flashed a look of disbelief at him. Damon just flashed back a 250-kilowatt smile and before Elena could say another word, he was drawing gauzy sheer fabrics from his black bag and handing them out. The veils were of a size to cover an entire body. â€Å"But you only have to put it on your head or tie it on your hair or something,† Damon said dismissively. â€Å"What's it made of?† Meredith asked, feeling the light silky material, which was transparent and so thin that the wind threatened to whip it from her fingers. â€Å"How should I know?† â€Å"It's different colors on the other side!† Bonnie discovered, letting the wind transform her pale green veil into a shimmering silver. Meredith was shaking out a dramatic deep violet silk into a mysterious dark blue dotted with a myriad of stars. Elena, who had been expecting her own veil to be blue, found herself looking up at Damon. He was holding a tiny square of cloth in a clenched fist. â€Å"Let's see how good you've gotten,† he murmured, nodding her closer to him. â€Å"Guess what color.† Another girl might only have noticed the sloe black eyes and the pure, carven lines of Damon's face, or maybe the wild, wicked smile – somehow wilder and sweeter than ever here, like a rainbow in the middle of a hurricane. But Elena also made note of the stiffness in his neck and shoulders – places where tension built up. The Dark Dimension was already taking its toll on him, psychically, even as he mocked it. She wondered how many soundings of Power by the merely curious he was having to block each second. She was about to offer to help by opening herself up to the eldritch world, when he snapped, â€Å"Guess!† in a tone that didn't make it a suggestion. â€Å"Gold,† Elena said instantly, surprising herself. When she reached to take the golden square from his hand a powerful, pleasurable feeling of electric current shot from her palm up her arm and seemed to skewer her straight through the heart. Damon clung to her fingers briefly as she took the square and Elena found she could still feel electricity pulsing from his fingertips. The underside of her veil blew out white and sparkling as if set with diamonds. God, maybe they were diamonds, she thought. How could you tell with Damon? â€Å"Your wedding veil, perhaps?† Damon murmured, lips close to her ear. The rope around Elena's wrists had come very loose and she stroked the diaphanous fabric helplessly, feeling the tiny jewels on the white side cool to the touch of her fingers. â€Å"How did you know you'd need all this stuff?† Elena asked, with bruising practicality. â€Å"You didn't know everything, but you seemed to know enough.† â€Å"Oh, I did research in bars and other places. I found a few people who'd been here and had managed to get out again – or who had gotten kicked out.† Damon's wild grin grew even wilder. â€Å"At night while you were asleep. At a little hidden store, I got those.† He nodded at her veil, and added, â€Å"You don't have to wear that over your face or anything. Press it to your hair and it will cling to it.† Elena did so, wearing the gold side out. It fell to her heels. She fingered her veil, already able to see the flirtatious possibilities in it, as well as the dismissive ones. If only she could get this damned rope off her wrists†¦ After a moment, Damon retreated back into the persona of the imperturbable master and said, â€Å"For all our sakes, we ought to be strict about these things. The slum lords and nobility who run this abominable mess they call the Dark Dimension know that it's only two days away from revolution at any time, and if we add anything to the balance they're going to Make a Public Example of Us.† â€Å"All right,† Elena said. â€Å"Here, hold my string and I'll get on the litter.† But there wasn't much point in the rope, not once they were both sitting in the same litter. It was carried by four men – not big men, but wiry ones, and all of the same height, which made for a smooth ride. If Elena had been a free citizen, she would never have allowed herself to be carried by four people whom (she assumed) were slaves. In fact, she would have made a big noisy fuss over it. But that talk she'd had with herself at the docks had sunk in. She was a slave, even if Damon hadn't paid anyone to buy her. She didn't have the right to make a big noisy fuss about anything. In this crimson, evil-smelling place she could imagine that her fuss might even make problems for the litter bearers themselves – make their owner or whoever ran the litter-bearing business punish them, as if it were their fault. Best Plan A for now: Keep Mouth Shut. There was plenty to see anyway, now that they had passed on a bridge over bad-smelling slums and alleys full of tumbledown houses. Shops began to appear, at first heavily barred and made of unpainted stone, then more respectable buildings, and then suddenly they were winding their way through a bazaar. But even here the stamp of poverty and weariness appeared on too many faces. Elena had expected, if anything, a cold, black, antiseptic city with emotionless vampires and fire-eyed demons walking the streets. Instead, everyone she saw looked human, and they were selling things – from medicines to food and drink – that vampires didn't need. Well, maybe the kitsune and the demons need them, Elena reasoned, shuddering at the idea of what a demon might want to eat. On the street corners were hard-faced, scantily clad girls and boys, and tattered, haggard people holding pathetic signs: A MEMORY FOR A MEAL. â€Å"What do they mean?† Elena asked Damon, but he didn't answer her immediately. â€Å"This is how the free humans of the city spend most of their time,† he said. â€Å"So remember that, before you start going on one of your crusades – â€Å" Elena wasn't listening. She was staring at one of the holders of such a sign. The man was horribly thin, with a straggly beard and bad teeth, but worse was his look of vacant despair. Every so often he would hold out a trembling hand on which there was a small, clear ball, which he balanced on his palm, muttering, â€Å"A summer's day when I was young. A summer's day for a ten-geld piece.† As often as not there was no one near when he said this. Elena slipped off a lapis ring Stefan had given her and held it toward him. She didn't want to annoy Damon by getting out of the litter, and she had to say, â€Å"Come here, please,† while holding the ring toward the bearded man. He heard, and came to the litter quickly enough. Elena saw something move in his beard – lice, perhaps – and she forced herself to stare at the ring as she said, â€Å"Take it. Quickly, please.† The old man stared at the ring as if it were a banquet. â€Å"I don't have change,† he moaned, bringing up his hand and wiping his mouth with his sleeve. He seemed about to drop to the ground unconscious. â€Å"I don't have change!† â€Å"I don't want change!† Elena said through the huge swelling that had formed in her throat. â€Å"Take the ring. Hurry or I'll drop it.† He snatched it from her fingers as the litter bearers started forward again. â€Å"May the Guardians bless you, lady,† he said, trying to keep up with the litter bearer's trot. â€Å"Hear me who may! May They bless you!† â€Å"You really shouldn't,† Damon said to Elena when the voice had died away behind them. â€Å"He's not going to get a meal with that, you know.† â€Å"He was hungry,† Elena said softly. She couldn't explain that he reminded her of Stefan, not just now. â€Å"It was my ring,† she added defensively. â€Å"I suppose you're going to say he'll spend it on alcohol or drugs.† â€Å"No, but he won't get a meal with it, either. He'll get a banquet.† â€Å"Well, so much the – â€Å" â€Å"In his imagination. He'll get a dusty orb with some old vampire's memory of a Roman feast, or someone from the city's memory of a modern one. Then he'll play it over and over as he slowly starves to death.† Elena was appalled. â€Å"Damon! Quick! I have to go back and find him – â€Å" â€Å"You can't, I'm afraid.† Lazily, Damon held up a hand. He had a firm grip on her rope. â€Å"Besides, he's long gone.† â€Å"How can he do that? How could anyone do that?† â€Å"How can a lung cancer patient refuse to quit smoking? But I agree that those orbs can be the most addictive substances of all. Blame the kitsune for bringing their star balls here and making them the most popular form of obsession.† â€Å"Star balls? Hoshi no tama?† Elena gasped. Damon stared at her, looking equally surprised. â€Å"You know about them?† â€Å"All I know is what Meredith researched. She said that kitsune were often portrayed with either keys† – she raised her eyebrows at him – â€Å"or with star balls. And that myths say they can put some or all of their power in the ball, so that if you find it, you can control the kitsune. She and Bonnie want to find Misao's or Shinichi's star balls and have control over them.† â€Å"Be still, my unbeating heart,† Damon said dramatically, but the next second he was all business. â€Å"Remember what that old guy said? A summer's day for a meal? He was talking about this.† Damon picked up the little marble that the old man had dropped on the litter and held it to Elena's temple. The world disappeared. Damon was gone. The sights and sounds – yes, and the smells – of the bazaar were gone. She was sitting on green grass which rippled in a slight breeze and she was looking at a weeping willow that bent down to a stream that was copper and deep, deep green at once. There was some sweet scent in the air – honeysuckle, freesia? Something delicious that stirred Elena as she leaned back to gaze at picture-perfect white clouds rolling in a cerulean sky. She felt – she didn't know how to say it. She felt young, but somewhere in her mind she knew that she was actually younger than this alien personality that had taken hold of her. Still, she felt excited that it was springtime and every golden-green leaf, every springy little reed, every weightless white cloud seemed to be rejoicing with her. Then suddenly her heart was pounding. She had just caught the sound of a footfall behind her. In one, springing joyous moment she was on her feet, arms held out in the extremity of her love, the wild devotion she felt for this†¦ †¦this young girl? Something inside the sphere user's brain seemed to fall back in bewilderment. Most of it, though, was taken up with cataloguing the perfections of the girl who had crept up so lightly in the waving grass: the clustering dark curls at her neck, the flashing green eyes below arching brows, the smooth glowing skin of her cheeks as she laughed with her lover, pretending to run away on feet as light as any elf's†¦! Pursued and pursuer both fell down together on the soft carpet of long grass†¦and then things quickly got so steamy that Elena, the distant mind in the background, began wondering how on earth you made one of these things stop. Every time she put her hand to her temple, groping, she was caught and kissed breathless by†¦Allegra†¦that was the girl, Allegra. And Allegra was certainly beautiful, especially through this particular viewer's eyes. The creamy soft skin of her†¦ And then, with a shock just as great as she'd felt when the bazaar disappeared, it appeared again. She was Elena; she was riding on the litter with Damon; there was a cacophony of sounds around her – and a thousand different smells, too. But she was breathing hard and part of her was still resounding with John – that had been his name – with John's love for Allegra. â€Å"But I still don't understand,† she almost keened. â€Å"It's simple,† Damon said. â€Å"You put a blank star ball of the size you like to your temple and you think back to the time you want to record. The star ball does the rest.† He waved off her attempted interruption and leaned forward with mischief in those fathomless black eyes of his. â€Å"Perhaps you got an especially warm summer day?† he said, adding suggestively, â€Å"These litters do have curtains you can draw closed.† â€Å"Don't be silly, Damon,† Elena said, but John's feelings had sparked her own, like flint and tinder. She didn't want to kiss Damon, she told herself sternly. She wanted to kiss Stefan. But since a moment ago she had been kissing Allegra, it didn't seem as strong an argument as it could be. â€Å"I don't think,† she began, still breathless, as Damon reached for her, â€Å"that this is a very good†¦Ã¢â‚¬  With a smooth flick of the rope, Damon untied her hands completely. He would have pulled it off both wrists, but Elena immediately half-turned, supporting herself with that hand. She needed the support. In the circumstances, though, there was nothing more meaningful – or more†¦exciting†¦than what Damon had done. He hadn't drawn the curtains, but Bonnie and Meredith were behind them on their own litter, out of sight. Certainly out of Elena's mind. She felt warm arms around her, and instinctively nestled into them. She felt a surge of pure love and appreciation for Damon, for his understanding that she could never do this as a slave with a master. We're both of us unmastered, she heard in her head, and she remembered that when cooling down most of her psychic abilities she had forgotten to set the volume on low for this one. Oh, well, it might just come in handy†¦. But we both enjoy worship, she replied telepathically, and felt his laughter on her lips as he admitted the truth of it. There was nothing sweeter in her life these days than Damon's kisses. She could drift like this forever, forgetting the outside world. And that was a good thing, because she had the feeling that there was much depression in the outside and not too much happiness. But if she could always come back to this, this welcome, this sweetness, this ecstasy†¦ Elena jerked in the litter, throwing her weight back so fast that the men carrying it almost fell in a heap. â€Å"You bastard,† she whispered venomously. They were still psychically entangled, and she was glad to see that through Damon's eyes she was like a vengeful Aphrodite: her golden hair lifting and whipping behind her like a thunderstorm, her eyes shining violet in her elemental fury. And now, worst of all, this goddess turned her face away from him. â€Å"Not one day,† she said. â€Å"You couldn't even keep your promise for a single day!† â€Å"I didn't! I didn't Influence you, Elena!† â€Å"Don't call me that. We have a professional relationship now. I call you ‘Master.' You can call me ‘Slave' or ‘Dog' or whatever you want.† â€Å"If we have the professional relationship of master and slave,† Damon said, his eyes dangerous, â€Å"then I can just order you to – â€Å" â€Å"Try it!† Elena lifted her lips in what really wasn't a smile. â€Å"Why don't you do that, and see just what happens?†