What Is The Ultimate Basis Of Religious Belief Philosophy Essay

What Is The Ultimate Basis Of Religious Belief Philosophy Essay In the article, Are Men ever directly aware of God, James considered mystical states of consciousness as the centre and root of personal religious experiences which encompasses spectrum of experiences, from the unspiritual to the most devotedly profound.  One of his arguments is that, we, humans, are in control of what we believe. This can be cross-referenced from his humanistic perspective in psychology. Moreover, he started his piece by defining the expression, mystical states of consciousness. He built his paper by creating a valid topic of investigation and study by defining mystical states of consciousness as real experiences, which is available to most people. And to prevent verbal disputation and recrimination of the loosely-defined words mysticism and mystical, he proposed four marks that an experience must have to be considered one. He started with ineffability which stresses the defiance of expression in order for the experience not to be mistaken as a state of feeling. Moreover, it must be directly experienced; cannot be transferred to others and the no words can be used to describe it. Noetic quality, on the other hand, which is also so similar to states of feeling, says that mystics experience a state of knowledge, not just an intellectual aha moment. It is all encompassing knowledge which is the knowledge of the Unity that fuses even contradictory thoughts to a whole which penetrates the mystics backbone. Subject claims that they have experience revelations and insights into virtual truths. Transiency and passivity are less sharply marked, but are also usually found in mystical religious experiences. Transiency is a state that cannot be sustained for long; it fades rapidly, and remains out of reach. However, some memory content always remains, and this can be used to modify the interior life of the subject between the instant of their recurrence. When in a mystical experience, individuals do not seem to keenly process the data. It is a passive experience; the subject feels a loss of control, and of being in the grasp of superior command James fourth mark. These four qualities mark is what he called, the mystical group. These four marks of mystics and mysticism state forms a distinct region of consciousness. Later, James goes on to suggest that these experiences occur as our field of consciousness increases. James offers variety of experiences that he wants to categorize as mystical, extending from the most trivial to the most important. And he cited examples of their lower grades. He relates this to the power of poetry and music. He also mentioned dà ©jà   vu, a sudden feeling which sometimes sweeps over us of having  been there before. He sees this sort of experience as making us imprecisely conscious of the likelihood of things beyond our normal perceptions. There are degrees of what James calls  mystical consciousness. For these, the writer merely quotes from people who have experienced them. One of the subjects describes being visited by trance states in which awareness of the world was annihilated, leaving a sharp awareness of the self. This brings him to the contemplation of what we to-day call drug-induced states, the consciousness produced by intoxicants and anaesthetics, especially by alcohol. The writer states that his own experience of  nitrous oxide intoxication  has led him to the conclusion that our normal waking consciousness is but one especial type of consciousness. Continuing his survey, James now reaches  religious mysticism pure and simple. This is where the experience is of the presence of God. As one of the writers quoted says, I was aware that I was immersed in the infinite ocean of God. He completes his survey of the range of mystical experiences by looking at  its methodical cultivation as a component of the religious life. He starts with yoga, the experimental union of the individual with the divine  and the various levels of contemplation in Buddhism. Then he goes on to quote at considerable length an account that offers insight into Sufism. Finally, the writer comes to the mystical theology of Catholicism as exemplified in three Iberian mystics, St John of the Cross, St Ignatius Loyola and St Teresa of Avila. Two concerns that the writer dwells on are sense of revelation and tonic effects of mystical states Illumination and Ecstasy. Thus St Teresa reports on the one hand on receiving privileged insights, and on the other hand on experiencing rapture of the mind and senses. Moreover, five negatives have been described; however, the main benefit that James seems to see in all this is an  overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute. There is oneness and both parties are aware of it. Before concluding, he characterized the general traits of the mystic range of consciousness as whole pantheistic, optimistic, anti-naturalistic and harmonizes best with twice-borness and the so-called worldly states of mind. In conclusion, the writer made three points. First, the subjects of mystical experiences are themselves totally convinced by them. Second, there is no reason why other people should share that conviction for different subjects experiences generate different messages. James suggests that mystical experiences, viewed overall, are non-specific in doctrinal content. Third, mystical experiences prevent us from rejecting out of hand the possibility of a world beyond our senses. The supernaturalism to which they persuade us may, interpreted in one way or another. The significance of keeping the meaning of mystical states of consciousness value-neutral was pointed out by James. Furthermore, he explains that all mystical experience, whether positive or negative, deserves recognition as available states of consciousness. He does not debate whether they are a superior or inferior form of consciousness; instead he points out that mystical states include truth and deceit, gratification and pain. His approach is subjective rather than objective and I think he makes some valid points concerning how we judge the faith claim by other people. It was right to respect the personal belief of serious spiritual believers; likewise it is right that what they believe to be true should not be imposed on anyone for them to believe. We all have spiritual needs that somehow, someway when put together build our fragmenting self. Furthermore, he didnt investigate developed patterns of various religions rather he was interested on the experiences that formed the basis of the formal expressions. He has no time for time-honored religion, or theology, rather, he focuses on the mystical, individual life-changing experiences people have in sensing the presence of a higher power. He gave a humane analysis which cleared the empiricists. Indeed, he sets it as his task to evaluate whether religion is good as a social force, and concludes that it is, though with some important caveats. This leaves us with an essential account of what religion truly means and the way in which it is or can be intertwined with social, political and other factors. It lets us unravel such threads in an effective way, and shows us that religion in its essence is not the cause behind all the worlds evil and or good. Rather, religion is a fundamental dimension of consciousness. He concludes that there are other types of truth that we are not usually conscious of and that mystical states give us some hint. Moreover, it interesting that he appears to rebuff and demonstrate flaws in every proof of Gods existence but at the same time believes God is real because He has genuine effects. In his paper, religion was examined from a purely pragmatic perspective. It focused on the individual connection of one individual to the heavenly. Moreover, it was remarkable that the characteristics of religious experience were connected to a range of other phenomena such as drunkenness, ghostly visions, optimism and diseases without any anti-religious schema. It offers less in terms of experimental results since it is impossible to agree on an epistemological point of reference for spiritual matters. So, he provides a virtual catalog of anecdotal references from which to deduce his observations. His answer, of course, is an assorted bag, a cognitive dissonance that is tentatively positive, but not definitively so. This article is not just an assessment but a search for the legitimacy of religion, the reality, and the unity. It is neither an endorsement nor a tearing-down; it does not walk with a particular faith. It is a scientific and philosophic look at religion and one that does not simply dismiss faith as foolish primitive garbage. A foremost flaw in the work is that he dispatches entirely with the historical, institutional, and intellectual mechanisms of religious praxis. While it could be said that these components were anterior to his psychological concern, the manner in which they are done demonstrates a narrow purview of what religion is. Despite this admirable aspiration for reconciliation, he leaves the reader uncertain of what road to take. No matter what his convictions, systematic theology will never voluntarily submit itself to the methodological considerations of empirical science, nor vice versa. Perhaps only in the past decades has the passion for disproving religion subsided enough to allow researchers to make meaningful steps in dialogue between the disciplines. Additionally, his breakdown of four common attributes of the mystical experience primarily the noetic quality, have really been a useful in assessing ones mystical experience. On the other hand, the article A skeptical View of Mysticism by Bertrand Russell started with a presentation of another possible source of knowledge in religion aside from science, which may be properly described as revelation. According to him, we accept the results of studies as truths which we have never conducted or had firsthand experience, and so, mystics might also claim that their source of knowledge is also unquestionable. He admitted that this point is difficult to argue because, people who have mystical experiences would justify that their claim as unquestionable as so with scientific findings of people. Furthermore, he compared the verifiability of science over religion and says that it is useless to attempt an argument that will appeal to the man who has himself enjoyed mystic illumination. He emphasized the importance of the scientific ways of acquiring knowledge as opposed to mystical experiences which cannot be tested. He also stressed the point that mystical experiences are not transferable, so, science should have no expectation as to the result. Moreover, he raised the point on our acceptance of truth, that we, as critical thinkers should not recognize things/events as true without sufficient evidence and has not passed the intra- and inter- subjectivity tests. However, this can also be contradicted by mystics by saying that science should be neutral and should view theirs on their procedures. Furthermore, he stated that the chief argument in favor of the mystics is their agreement with each other. However, mystics vary in the way they give verbal expressions to their experiences, and so he enumerated three things that successful mystics maintain. First, all division and separateness is unreal, and that the universe is a highly indivisible unity. Second, the evil is illusionary, and the illusion arises through falsely regarding a part of self-subsident. And lastly, the time is unreal, and that reality is eternal, not in the sense of being everlasting, but in the sense of being wholly outside time. These traits, however, according to him are just representative sample of the whole. Russell built further arguments by instructing the readers to image that they are in a law-court, seeking to decide on the credibility of the witnesses who claims to assert these three assertions. He demonstrates an argument, makes the possible reaction of both sides, then critics it. He started with the differences of the belief of mystics wherein he cited examples such as the Virgin of the Christians which would be disagreed by Protestants, the Archangel Gabriel and such. Indeed, Christians, Muslims, Buddhist, etc. would discredit and brand each other as untrustworthy. However, he said that mystics would argue that everyone should respect each others belief and wouldnt focus in their differences but instead look unto their similarities to strengthen their claim concentrating on the above mention things they tend to uphold. Then he asks what test can be applied to their unanimous evidence. Russell said that first hand information is vital in order to make someone believe your claim and this is promised by scientific investigations. Nonetheless, this questions yields to various answers such as a receptive frame of the mind, humility, fasting religious mediation, and breathing exercise. And so, if we succeeded, according to Russell, to feel in a certain time that time is unreal and experienced a state of mind that they describe, how then, shall we assess its reliability when we reverse to our normal states? Furthermore, mystics agree about the unreality of time. Russell said that if time is unreal, there would be no sequence of events and the cause and effect relationship of what we do would be nonsense. Our time markers for time such as before, after, tomorrow would become just mere utterances. Therefore, there would be no events; were just lost in the vastness of the cosmos, embracing what is said to be real in the temporal world. And if so, there would be neither improvement nor deterioration, no distinction between sorrow and happiness. And such views, according to Russell exterminate not only science but prudence, hope and effort which does not go along with what is important to religion morality and worldly wisdom. Mystics, however, would not accept this conclusion but urge doctrines which teach such. Russell cited Dean Inges disagreement with the region that focuses on evolution that stresses temporal process. Russell found himself in harmony with Inge, however, sought more than that, more inferences. It is imperative not to distort the doctrine of mysticism, in which the author thinks, there is a core of wisdom. Let us see how it seeks to avoid the extreme consequences which seem to follow from the denial of time, said Russell. The philosophy from Parmenides to Hegel is an example wherein the distinction between what he calls, reality and appearance, the way of truth and opinion. Difficulties could arise, however, at this point because if the relationship between them would become so intimate, all things whether pleasant or not would have their counterparts in reality, and if the relation is too limited, inferences cannot be made about the character of appearance to reality and reality would be vague Unknowable. On the other hand, he said that pantheism would be very difficult to avoid for Christians because if the world is only apparent, God created nothing, and the reality corresponding to the world is a part of God; but if the world is in any degree real and distinct from God, we abandon the wholeness of everything, which is an essential doctrine of mysticism, and we are compelled to suppose that, in so far as the world is real, the evil which it contains is also real. The Bishop of Birminghan also rejected all sorts of pantheism because if a man is actually a part of god, the evil in man is also God. Russell then moves to another argument which is the mystics denial of the world of sense. Assuming that the world reality is used in the context of law-courts, there would be no doubts in rejecting their claims because of the inconsistency of their testimonies and mundane moments. This resulted to the scrutiny of another sense which is emotion. And what Russell claims is that mysticism is an emotion and not a fact which does not assert anything and cannot be confirmed nor contradicted with science. Furthermore, he reiterated that science only demands a person on normal eyesight, normal consciousness, and normal behavior as opposed to religion which demands physical, psychological and mental alteration. He therefore concluded that mystical states which demands abnormal physical condition are just abnormal perceptions while normal perception, which is proved to aid in our life have correspondence with fact. He said that mystical experiences as emotions may have been the one responsible for providing breath, calmness and profundity wherein self-centered desires are dead, and the mind serves as a mirror of the infiniteness of the cosmos. And the assertions from these feelings are inessential for he cannot accept any method of arriving at the truth except of science. And that evil and good may have rooted from false beliefs. This article remains too rigid makes it sure that science is the only way of knowing things. Russell, till the very end of his article asserted that he cant accept other ways to verify the truth of a claim. This I disagree. As much as philosophy is concerned, I am deeply inclined of why David Hume included emotions and ideas as source of truth and or knowledge. No one, till now have solved this misery, I guess. Indeed, we are aware of the development of the pragmatic theory of truth which however, failed because of the relativity of human behavior. As the famous quotation goes, Experience is the best teacher. And I believe that there are things which we cannot share or make other people to believe because of the individual differences and experiences we have. We are unique individuals not just in our thoughts but in the biological foundation DNA. We even dont know ourselves much thats why we still use Freuds unconscious mind. Freuds theories were never proven correct; however, it is still used because nothing was used to verify its credibility. Same goes with religion, the metaphysical concepts that they have introduced has affected our lives and thats why we believe in it. It is faith, and we dont question it. Moreover, the contemporary issues that have arisen were about the dispute between evolution and creationism. It is a common misconception that they are contradictory to each other. That one must believe and choose between the two. We must take into account that evolution answers the question HOW and creationism answers the question WHO. Furthermore, I believe on both yet I am more convinced on creationism. Just like mysticism which miracles comes on unexpected times, felt the power and the good feeling it brings, the innate satisfaction and joy which is beyond comprehension is a manifestation that there divine intervention. This I believe on religion that there is divine being who makes all things possible which also depends on the persons beliefs and acts. It is the core of wisdom and knowledge that is applied to do the right thing or the other way around. It is the application of what we learn and experienced that leads us to what we believe and wanted to happen. What we act, do is nothing unless we can discern if it is right or wrong. This is what keeps us moving, changing, and progressing. This, however, when not carefully considered also cause adverse effects. I would like to connect this with Julian Rotters Locus of Control which tests whether individuals are governed by themselves or by faith or destiny. Because of my assertions in this paper, you may say that I have low locus of control, that my philosophies in life are dependent upon external situations.. Actually not, I am in the middle. I believe that I am responsible for my life; I am in control of what happens in my life. However, we cannot deny the fact that we are cultured affected by social interactions. As Plato has said, we are social animals. Furthermore, everything happens for a reason, everything in life is so interconnected. I have met people whom I wasnt connected to for 6 years and now weve become best of friends. Though, I believe that I am the one in control of my life, my beliefs however, are affected by outside forces, I have learned much from Russells argument; however, I am firm with my stand that we are free to choose about our basis of religious belief. He should not be enmeshed in determining if religious experiences might or might not be true, but should determine whether anything practical results from them. Finally, both of the essays have classified religious belief as emotion, and it is. The only difference is that the first accepted it in a humanistic way and the other has done it otherwise. Now, what is my ultimate basis of religious belief? It is subjective spiritual rather than existential. We have our own beliefs but its how we act that matters, how it affect ourselves and the people around us. Its the truth of life that matters. Science itself does not claim that they are the ultimate truth; they only claim that they are presenting the best interpretation of things so far. So does with religion, it is the best way we have interpreted our faith so far.

Accounts: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and Assets Essay

Executive summary This report has been made to evaluate the financial performance of the Mountainarious sporting company for the owner to connect a meeting with the bank for future sanctioning loan. This report offers an assessment and investigation of the present and future profitability’ liquidity and financial stability of ltd. Procedures of study comprise trend of vertical and horizontal analysis as well as ratios such as debt, current and quick ratios. Remaining calculations includes rates of return on shareholders’ equity, total assets and earnings per share to name a few .All calculations have been shown in the appendices. Results of data analysed explains that the ratios are below industry averages .In particular, comparative performance is poor in the areas of profit margins, liquidity credit control and inventory management. This report finds the prospects of the company in its current position are not positive .The major areas of weakness require further investigation and chan ges by the management. See more: Experiment on polytropic process Essay INTRODUCTION Mountanarious Sporting Co. a well-reputed store owned by a sole-owner Steve Donne that has been a high-end specialty seller of branded, exclusive sporting goods and merchandise for the past 11 years. Steven Donnie had always been a fanatic in the field of sports. Donnie as an owner is well-versed in customer-service and product knowledge, expertise in setting his store according to the latest needs and had a great personality. The MSC has always been a popular store at Barron, Ontario and also with the local  sports community and organizations, local gyms coaches and running clubs by promoting the merchandise available in the store by Donnie. With the emergence of new stores like big-box retailers, specialty/boutique and online services the competition increased and hence soft goods were introduced to maintain profitability in the business. Customers frequented the store therefore, Donnie is keen for an expansion of the existing store which will be an exclusive merchandising for both sporting equipment and soft goods. Donnie wants to terminate the leased portion of the store to create a new store with a separate staff, headed by Donnie’s wife Allison who previously worked as part-time at his store and also possess some retail experience in hardware and flower shop. Body of Report â€Å" Financial Statement Analysis is an information processing system designed to provide data for decision making models, such as the portfolio selection model, bank lending decision models, and corporate financial management models.† (Dr. Jawaharlal,2009,p.536) Financial statement analysis or information are not used in a vacuum; there are the part of vast array of information available to investors , creditors, managers and others to assess the past performance, current position, growth prospects and also used by financial institutions or banks to make a sound loan or credit decision.( Trotman & Gibbins,2005) Here we are making a business report which evaluates the performance of Mountainarious Sporting Co. to take loan from Canadian Commercial Bank. With the given basic financial reports by the company we have used few methods of analysis which includes horizontal, vertical and trend analysis as well as ratios such as Debt, Current, Acid Test and Asset Turnover ratios. We also used other ratios such as Return of Total Assets, Return on Equity , net profit margin and so forth. Horizontal and vertical analysis The Financial Statement analyses how sales are increasing and whether the sales are reasonable for the company. The company’s sales and gross profit positively grew from the year 2003 to 2007 with a slight decrease of 15.6% in sales in the year 2005. The gross profit continuously increased with the introduction of soft goods in the store although the merchandise found in the store next door affected his sales considerably. Company’s gross profit was 28.73% of net-sales in 2003 and it increased by 3.12% of net sales in 2007 which is a sign of good financial health and company is able to pay its operating and other expenses and build for future. Operating expenses The company’s total operating expenses continuously raised at a slow rate from 2004-2007 except in 2005 which express company is not maintaining its expenses properly and its vertical analysis also shows operation expenses were highest that were 29.68 %of the total sales in 2006 comparatively other 3 years. Net income The company faced net loss instead of income in the year 2003 and 2004 due to the fire accident and the re-establishment of his store in the new location. Net Income hiked in 2005 and 2006 as Donnie introduced soft goods and promoted them with the local gyms and running clubs. There was a loss again in 2007 Net Income as the company required a new strategy to develop the sales of soft goods as there were strong competitors. The company faced Net Loss of 4.92% of the total sales in 2004 but it gained net income of 2.60% of the total assets in 2007. Here, the overall situation is that company is not so much profitable over the years. Retained earnings  company’s beginning retained earnings records fluctuations in all years,  after added net income and subtracted net loss it shows increasing trend from 2004 to 2007 which seems company reinvest its retained earning where it can creates growth opportunities.that is a positive sign for companies good financial health. Balance sheet Total current assets continuously move upward from 2005 to 2007. it was lowest in 2005 as there was superior competition in the market with the emergence of Big-Box Retailers, Speciality Stores and Online Sales and company needed more assets to fund day to day operations. After 2005 there is a slight increase in the TCA and a sharp increase visible in 2007 by 38%. In 2004 the TCA were 49.09% of the total assets and dropped to 47.50% of the total assets in 2007. The Net Fixed Assets reflects similarities in all the years whereas Total assets were raised from 2005 to 2007 which indicates the positive value of firm’s operations. The Net Fixed Assets were 43.12% of total assets in 2004 and 44.50% of total assets in 2007. The Total Current Liabilities increased in all the years and in 2005 there is a noticeable drop of 101.13% as the online sales increased. The introduction of the soft goods decreased the expenses as the company availed a good deal with better purchasing discounts and longer terms of payments in 2005. The TCL were 56.92% in 2004 and 36.45% in 2007 of the Total Liabilities and Equity of the company. The total long-term liabilities of the company increased due to the fire accident and the re-establishment of the new store in 2003. In 2005 the TLT Liabilities increased due to the shareholder’s loan. In 2007 the TLT Liabilities increased as the owner had taken loan from some family members which was unsecured loan. The TLT Liabilities were 30.50% in 2004 and 31.23% in 2007 of the Total Liabilities and Equity. The Total Liabilities and Equity increased in 2004, decreased in 2005 and gradually increased thereafter. Profitability Gross Profit Margin – The gross profit margin of the company witnesses a significant increment from 2004 to 2006. Predominantly, the Company’s Gross profit produced 26% in 2004 to 32.6% and 36.9% in 2005 and 2006 of net sales growth respectively. On the other hand this ratio experiences a visible fall in 2007 with 31.9%. Hence the situation of the company indicates a rise in cost of goods as there is unplanned purchase management. Net Profit Margin – The Net Profit Margin experiences a drastic fall in 2003 and 2004 i.e. -0.8% and -4.9% respectively and there was increment in the next two years 3.8% to 6.1%. This increasing ratio shows company has better control over its costs. However, in 2007 it again loosed its net profit due to the higher cost of goods sold which create negative image of company. As the Gross Profit Margin dropped so as the Net Profit Margin witnessed a fall. Return on Equity- Mountainarious Sporting Co.’s return on equity was increased in 2005 to 2006 by 34.2% and 40.7% respectively that is the indicator of how much profit company generates with the money shareholders invested. But in 2007 company generated only 15% on the shareholders’ investment which was 25.7% less than the previous year. Return on Average Assets- The return on assets was -8.11% in 2004 then it climbed continuously next two years from 5.7% in 2005 to 10.7% in 2006 which demonstrates that assets had made more benefits and company utilized its assets more effectively. Nonetheless, the company encountered a fall in 2007 to 4.7%. It seems company is not able to handle its assets in a planned manner. Liquidity Liquidity is a measure of the firm’s cash position and it keeps a company in business in the short run. Acid test/ quick ratio- This ratio indicates whether current liabilities could be paid without having to sell inventory. Generally acid test ratio of 1:1 is considered satisfactory as a firm can easily meet all current claims. But in Mountainarious Sporting Co’s case quick ratio from 2003 to 2007 is less than the standard ratio. It seems company would find it difficult to pay its current liabilities. Current ratio- the current ratio which measures the company’s ability to pay current liabilities from its current assets. Current ratio is greater than 1 ( current assets exceeds current liabilities) in all years from 2003 to 2007 but less than industry ratio that is 1.9 . In particularly, company’s current ratio is acceptable when it is more then industry ratio. Therefore, its working capital and financial position is not strong to lower the risk for creditors and owner Solvency Debt ratio- â€Å"The debt ratio tells the proportion of a business assets that it has financed with debt.† (Horngren, Charles T.,7th ed.) Mountainarious sporting co’s highest debt ratio was recorded 87.42% in 2004 which indicates in 2004 company faced more financial risks. Then it started to decline from 2005 to 2007 by 78.53% to 67.69%. It seems now company’s leverage goes downward and financial risk is also decline. Cash Debt Coverage Ratio – cash debt coverage ratio was -11.41% in 2003 while it increased to 26.35% in 2005 which reveals company’s better ability to carry total debts. Nonetheless it dropped to .035% till 2007 which means now company’s ability is not sound to cover total debts with its yearly cash flow from operations. Recommendations The following recommendations have been made in order to the performance of the Mountainarious sporting Co. Profitability: Mountainarious sporting Co. should review their pricing strategy and effectiveness of any advertising campaigns, including scaling back the level of advertising in the short run to minimise costs and improve profit margins. Stricter employment policies can also improve productivity and reduce employee absenteeism without any increase in costs. Efficiency: If labour productivity does not lead to the operation of idle assets, it would be wise for Mountainarious to sell all idle assets to free up cash whilst and from not sacrificing profits. Along with selling its idle assets, Mountainarious have to buy back excess shares from inventors. It should be noted that this decision would likely turn current investors away and encourage them to sell leading to as much larger than intended fall in equity. This could pose financing future investments. Liquidity: Adopting a ‘just in time’ approach for stocking shelves to reduce inventory costs and the risk of attaining unusable stock. A short term solution to free up cash flow would be to sell idle assets as discussed earlier, however  with less assets, revenue and profits are limited. Alternatively Mountainarious can choose to no longer offer store credit, however it must be noted that this conservative approach may limit sales and net profits. Tighten customer credit policies such that the maximum receivable settlement period is at least the duration of the shortest payable settlement period agreed to with suppliers. Solvency: Review product marketing strategy and pricing in order to achieve price premiums and boost sales and profits, reducing their reliance on debt for finance. Sell idle assets to free up cash flow and pay off a portion of current liabilities to improve attractiveness and solvency to a potential lender. Conclusion: From the above analysis horizontal and vertical, we can conclude that the companies performance as compare to the industries average is below par and the current ratio, quick ratio shows that the current assets are not managed properly which further deepen the problem of repayment of the liabilities, secondly there is no cash in flow from the financing activities as shown in cash flow analysis and more over the assets were increasing in 2007 but they were not utilized in the manner so as to maximize the profits. The sales over the five fiscal years were showing the increasing trends still the profits were not as it is expected reason being the cost of good sold is too high and the inventory level is also high of the company, thus to conclude as the company do not have the repayment potential as evident from the above ratios, hence it won’t be a wise decision to grant loan in the present scenario. References Dr. Jawahar Lal, P2009, Accounting Theory and Practice,Himalaya Publishing House PVT.LTD., Mumbai, India. Horngren, Charles T.,7th edition,Financial accounting, Pearson, Australia Ken Trotman & Michael Gibbins,3rd edition, Thomson, Australia.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Chapters 12

â€Å"Tonight you get a taste of what our world wil be like when our competition is out of the picture. Fol ow me!† Riley bounded away; Raoul and his team were right on his heels. Kristie's group started shoving and clawing right through the middle of them to get to the front. â€Å"Don't make me change my mind!† Riley bel owed from the trees ahead. â€Å"You can al go thirsty. I don't care!† Kristie barked an order and her group sul enly fel behind Raoul's. Fred and I waited until the last of them was out of sight. Then Fred did one of those little ladies first sweeps with his arm. It didn't feel like he was afraid to have me at his back, just that he was being polite. I started running after the army. The others were already long gone, but it was nothing to fol ow their smel . Fred and I ran in companionable silence. I wondered what he was thinking. Maybe he was only thirsty. I was burning, so he probably was, too. We caught up to the others after about five minutes, but kept our distance. The army was moving in amazing quiet. They were focused, and more†¦ disciplined. I kind of wished that Riley had started the training sooner. It was easier to be around this group. We crossed over an empty two-lane freeway, another strip of forest, and then we were on a beach. The water was smooth, and we'd gone almost due north, so this must have been the strait. We hadn't passed near any residences, and I was sure that was on purpose. Thirsty and on edge, it wouldn't take too much to dissolve this smal measure of organization into a screaming free-for-al . We'd never hunted al together before, and I was pretty sure that it was not a good idea now. I remembered Kevin and the Spider-Man kid fighting over the woman in the car that first night I'd talked to Diego. Riley had better have a whole lot of bodies for us or people were going to start tearing each other up to get the most blood. Riley paused at the water's edge. â€Å"Don't hold back,† he told us. â€Å"I want you wel fed and strong – at your peak. Now†¦ let's go have some fun.† He dove smoothly into the surf. The others were growling excitedly as they submerged, too. Fred and I fol owed more closely than before because we couldn't fol ow their scent under water. But I could feel that Fred was hesitant – ready to bolt if this was something other than an al -you-can-eat smorgasbord. It seemed like he didn't trust Riley any more than I did. We didn't swim long, and then we saw the others kicking upward. Fred and I surfaced last, and Riley started talking as soon as our heads were out of the water, like he'd been waiting for us. He must have been more aware of Fred than the others were. â€Å"There she is,† he said, waving toward a large ferry chugging south, probably making the last commuter run of the night down from Canada. â€Å"Give me a minute. When the power goes out, she's al yours.† There was an excited murmur. Someone giggled. Riley was off like a shot, and seconds later we saw him fly up the side of the big boat. He headed straight for the control tower on top of the ship. Silencing the radio was my bet. He could say al he wanted about these enemies being our reason for caution, but I was sure there was more to it than that. Humans weren't supposed to know about vampires. At least, not for very long. Just long enough for us to kil them. Riley kicked a big plate-glass window out of his way and disappeared into the tower. Five seconds later, the lights went out. I realized Raoul was already gone. He must have submerged so we wouldn't hear him swimming after Riley. Everyone else took off, and the water churned as if an enormous school of barracuda were attacking. Fred and I swam at a relatively leisurely pace behind them. In a funny way, it was like we were some old married couple. We never talked, but we stil did things at exactly the same time. We got to the boat about three seconds later, and already the air was ful of shrieks and the warm scent of blood. The smel made me realize exactly how thirsty I was, but that was the last thing I realized. My brain shut down completely. There was nothing but fiery pain in my throat and the delicious blood – blood everywhere – promising to put that fire out. When it was over and there wasn't a heart left beating on the whole ship, I wasn't sure how many people I'd personal y kil ed. More than triple the number I'd ever had on a hunting trip before, easy. I felt hot and flushed. I'd drunk long past the point at which my thirst was total y slaked, just for the taste of the blood. Most of the blood on the ferry was clean and luscious – these passengers had not been dregs. Though I ha dn't held back, I was probably at the low end of the kil count. Raoul was so surrounded by mangled bodies that they actual y made a little hil . He sat on top of his pile of the dead and laughed loudly to himself. He wasn't the only one laughing. The dark boat was ful of sounds of delight. I heard Kristie say, â€Å"That was amazing – three cheers for Riley!† Some of her crowd put up a raucous chorus of hurrahs like a bunch of happy drunks. Jen and Kevin swung onto the view deck, dripping wet. â€Å"Got 'em al, boss,† Jen cal ed to Riley. So some people must have tried to swim for it. I hadn't noticed. I looked around for Fred. It took me a while to find him. I final y realized that I couldn't look directly at the back corner by the vending machines, and I headed that way. At first I felt like the rocking ferry was making me seasick, but then I got close enough that the feeling faded and I could see Fred standing by the window. He smiled at me quickly, and then looked over my head. I fol owed his gaze and saw that he was watching Riley. I got the feeling that he'd been doing this for some time. â€Å"Okay, kids,† Riley said. â€Å"You've had a taste of the sweet life, but now we've got work to do!† They al roared enthusiastical y. â€Å"I've got three last things to tel you – and one of those things involves a little dessert – so let's sink this scow and get home!† With laughter mixed in with the snarls, the army went to work dismantling the boat. Fred and I bailed out the window and watched the demo from a short distance. It didn't take long for the ferry to crumple in the middle with a loud groan of metal. The midsection went down first, with both the bow and the stern twisting up to point to the sky. They sank one at a time, the stern beating the bow by a few seconds. The school of barracuda headed toward us. Fred and I started swimming for shore. We ran home with the others – though keeping our distance. A couple of times Fred looked at me like he had something he wanted to say, but each time he seemed to change his mind. Back at the house, Riley let the celebratory mood wind down. Even after a few hours had passed, he stil had his hands ful trying to get everyone serious again. For once it wasn't a fight he was trying to defuse, just high spirits. If Riley's promises were false, as I thought, he was going to have an issue when the a mbush was over. Now that al these vampires had real y feasted, they weren't going to go back to any measure of restraint very easily. For tonight, though, Riley was a hero. Final y – a while after I would have guessed that the sun was up outside – everyone was quiet and paying attention. From their faces, it seemed they were ready to hear just about anything he had to say. Riley stood halfway up the stairs, his face serious. â€Å"Three things,† he began. â€Å"First, we want to be sure we get the right coven. If we accidental y run across another clan and slaughter them, we'l tip our hand. We want our enemies overconfident and unprepared. There are two things that mark this coven, and they're pretty hard to miss. One, they look different – they have yel ow eyes.† There was a murmur of confusion. â€Å"Yel ow?† Raoul repeated in a disgusted tone. â€Å"There's a lot of the vampire world out there that you haven't encountered yet. I told you these vampires were old. Their eyes are weaker than ours – yel owed with age. Another advantage to our side.† He nodded to himself as if to say, one down. â€Å"But other old vampires exist, so there is another way that we'l know them for sure†¦ and this is where the dessert I mentioned comes into play.† Riley smiled slyly and waited a beat. â€Å"This is going to be hard to process,† he warned. â€Å"I don't understand it, but I've seen it for myself. These old vampires have gone so soft that they actual y keep – as a member of their coven – a pet human.† His revelation was met by blank silence. Total disbelief. â€Å"I know – hard to swal ow. But it's true. We'l know it's definitely them because a human girl wil be with them.† â€Å"Like†¦ how?† Kristie asked. â€Å"You mean they carry meals around with them or something?† â€Å"No, it's always the same girl, just the one, and they don't plan to kil her. I don't know how they manage it, or why. Maybe they just like to be different. Maybe they want to show off their self-control. Maybe they think it makes them look stronger. It makes no sense to me. But I've seen her. More than that, I've smel ed her.† Slow and dramatic, Riley reached into his jacket and pul ed out a smal ziplock bag with red fabric wadded up inside. â€Å"I've done some recon in the past few weeks, checking the yel ow-eyes out as soon as they got near the area.† He paused to throw us a paternal look. â€Å"I watch out for my kids. Anyway, when I could tel that they were moving on us, I grabbed this† – he brandished the bag – â€Å"to help us track them. I want you al to get a lock on this scent.† He handed the bag to Raoul, who opened the plastic zipper and inhaled deeply. He glanced up at Riley with a startled look. â€Å"I know,† Riley said. â€Å"Amazing, right?† Raoul handed the bag to Kevin, his eyes narrowing in thought. One by one, each vampire sniffed the bag, and everyone reacted with wide eyes but little else. I was curious enough that I sidled away from Fred until I could feel a hint of the nausea and knew I was outside his circle. I crept forward until I was next to the Spider-Man kid, who seemed to be at the tail end of the line. He sniffed inside the bag when it was his turn and then seemed about to hand it back to the kid who had given it to him, but I held my hand out and hissed quietly. He did a double take – almost like he'd never see me before – and handed me the bag. It looked like the red fabric was a shirt. I stuck my nose in the opening, keeping my eyes on the vampires near me, just in case, and inhaled. Ah. I understood the expressions now and felt a similar one on my face. Because the human who had worn this shirt had seriously sweet blood. When Riley said dessert, he was dead right. On the other hand, I was less thirsty than I'd ever been. So while my eyes widened in appreciation, I didn't feel enough pain in my throat to make me grimace. It would be awesome to taste this blood, but in that exact moment, it didn't hurt me that I couldn't. I wondered how long it would take for me to get thirsty again. Usual y, a few hours after feeding, the pain would start to come back, and then it would just get worse and worse until – after a couple of days – it was impossible to ignore it even for a second. Would the excessive amount of blood I'd just drunk delay that? I guessed I'd see pretty soon. I glanced around to make sure no one was waiting for the bag, because I thought Fred would probably be curious, too. Riley caught my eye, smiled the tiniest bit, and jerked his chin slightly toward the corner where Fred was. Which made me want to do the exact opposite of what I'd just been planning, but whatever. I didn't want Riley to be suspicious of me. I walked back to Fred, ignoring the nausea until it faded and I was right next to him. I handed him the bag. He seemed pleased I'd thought to include him; he smiled and then sniffed the shirt. After a second he nodded thoughtful y to himself. He gave me the bag back with a significant look. The next time we were alone, I thought he would say aloud whatever it was he had seemed to want to share before. I tossed the bag toward Spider-Man, who reacted like it had fal en out of the sky but stil caught it before it hit the ground. Everyone was buzzing about the scent. Riley clapped his hands together twice. â€Å"Okay, so there's the dessert I was talking about. The girl wil be with the yel ow-eyes. And whoever gets to her first gets dessert. Simple as that.† Appreciative growls, competitive growls. Simple, yes, but†¦ wrong. Weren't we supposed to be destroying the yel ow-eyed coven? Unity was supposed to be the key, not a first-come, first-served prize that only one vampire could win. The only guaranteed outcome from this plan was one dead human. I could think of half a dozen more productive ways to motivate this army. The one who kil s the most yel ow-eyes wins the girl. The one who shows the best team cooperation gets the girl. The one who sticks to the plan best. The one who fol ows orders best. MVP, etc. The focus should be on the danger, which was definitely not the human. I looked around at the others and decided that none of them were fol owing the same train of thought. Raoul and Kristie were glaring at each other. I heard Sara and Jen arguing in whispers about the possibility of sharing the prize. Wel, maybe Fred got it. He was frowning, too. â€Å"And the last thing,† Riley said. For the first time there was some reluctance in his voice. â€Å"This wil probably be even harder to accept, so I'l show you. I won't ask you to do anything I won't do. Remember that – I'm with you guys every step of the way.† The vampires got real stil again. I noticed that Raoul had the ziplock back and was gripping it possessively. â€Å"There are so many things you have yet to learn about being a vampire,† Riley said. â€Å"Some of them make more sense than others. This is one of those things that won't sound right at first, but I've experienced it myself, and I'l show you.† He deliberated for a long second. â€Å"Four times a year, the sun shines at a certain indirect angle. During that one day, four times a year, it is safe†¦ for us to be outside in the daylight.† Every tiny movement stopped. There was no breathing. Riley was talking to a bunch of statues. â€Å"One of those special days is beginning now. The sun that is rising outside today won't hurt any of us. And we are going to use this rare exception to surprise our enemies.† My thoughts spun around and turned upside down. So Riley knew it was safe for us to go out in the sun. Or he didn't, and our creator had told him this â€Å"four days a year† story. Or†¦ this was true and Diego and I had lucked into one of those days. Except that Diego had been out in the shade before. And Riley was making this into some kind of solstice-y seasonal thing, while Diego and I had been safe in the daylight just four days ago. I could understand that Riley and our creator would want to control us with the fear of the sun. It made sense. But why tel the truth – in a very limited way – now? I would bet it had to do with those scary dark-cloaks. She probably wanted to get a jump on her deadline. The cloaked ones had not promised to let her live when we kil ed al the yel ow-eyes. I guessed she would be off like a shot the second she'd accomplished her objective here. Kil the yel ow-eyes and then take an extended vacation in Australia or somewhere else on the other side of the world. And I'd bet she wasn't going to send us engraved invitations. I would have to get to Diego quick so we could bail, too. In the opposite direction from Riley and our creator. And I ought to tip Fred off. I decided I would as soon as we had a moment alone. There was so much manipulation going on in this one little speech, and I wasn't sure I was catching it al . I wished Diego were here so we could analyze it together. If Riley was just making up this four-days story on the spot, I guess I could understand why. It's not like he could have just said, Hey, so I've lied to you for your whole lives, but now I'm telling the truth. He wanted us to fol ow him into battle today; he couldn't undermine whatever trust he'd earned. â€Å"It's right for you to be terrified at the thought,† Riley told the statues. â€Å"The reason you are al stil alive is that you paid attention when I told you to be careful. You got home on time, you didn't make mistakes. You let that fear make you smart and cautious. I don't expect you to put that intel igent fear aside easily. I don't expect you to run out that door on my word. But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He looked around the room once. â€Å"I do expect you to follow me out.† His eyes slid away from the audience for just the teensiest fraction of a second, touching very briefly on something over my head. â€Å"Watch me,† he told us. â€Å"Listen to me. Trust me. When you see that I'm okay, believe your eyes. The sun on this one day does have some interesting effects on our skin. You'l see. It won't hurt you in any way. I wouldn't do anything to put you guys in unnecessary danger. You know that.† He started up the stairs. â€Å"Riley, can't we just wait – ,† Kristie began. â€Å"Just pay attention,† Riley cut her off, stil moving up at a measured pace. â€Å"This gives us a big advantage. The yel oweyes know al about this day, but they don't know that we know.† As he was talking, he opened the door and walked out of the basement into the kitchen. There was no light in the wel -shaded kitchen, but everyone stil shied away from the open doorway. Everyone but me. His voice continued, moving toward the front door. â€Å"It takes most young vampires a while to embrace this exception – for good reason. Those who aren't cautious about the daylight don't last long.† I felt Fred's eyes on me. I glanced over at him. He was staring at me urgently, as if he wanted to take off but had nowhere to go. â€Å"It's okay,† I whispered almost silently. â€Å"The sun's not going to hurt us.† You trust him? he mouthed back at me. No way.

Ms Paul - 2146 Words

Bible Among the Myths Malcom College English 093 Ms. Smith 01/23/2012 Introduction The book is an analysis of the Biblical view of the world and compares it other works in the Ancient Near East of that time with the development of the Bible. This is done by an in-depth analysis of the underlying beliefs inherent in mythology and the Biblical text. Of primary significance is the authors portrayal of the Biblical insistence on monotheism and divine transcendence compared to the polytheistic underpinnings of mythology. The author compares the ethically based Biblical view of the divine/human relationship with the ritualistic and magical view of that relationship found in mythology. With these and other comparisons (and†¦show more content†¦In reality, Oswalt concludes, â€Å"Similarities between the Bible and the rest of the literatures of the ancient Near East are superficial, while the differences are essential† (47). Chapter Three The very features common to myths (especially in the ANE) prove the distinct nature of biblical revelation (57-62). The biblical worldview differs diametrically from the views of extrabiblical cultures and their myths (63). The characteristics of biblical thought was defined in this chapter(e.g., monotheism, iconoclasm, the Spirit as first principle). Continuity: The Basis of Mythical Thinking† is a short (15 pages) but impressive analysis of the fundamental aspects of continuity in religious thought. A close study of this chapter alone would stimulate a great deal of thought and would open the eyes of many a reader who has not been able to put their finger on the common elements in pagan world-pictures. Chapter Four There is no conflict in creation, a high view of humanity, God’s reliability and supra-sexuality, etc.) prove the distinction (64-81). Scholars repeatedly appeal to correspondences between ANE literature and the Bible. 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