Biography of King Abdullah, Ruler of Saudi Arabia

Biography of King Abdullah, Ruler of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (August 1, 1924–January 23, 2015) was the king of Saudia Arabia from 2005 to 2015. During his reign, tensions increased between conservative Salafi (Wahhabi) forces and liberal reformers. While the king positioned himself as a relative moderate, he did not promote many substantive reforms; in fact, during Abdullahs tenure, Sauda Arabia was accused of numerous human rights violations. Fast Facts: King Abdullah Known For: King Abdullah was the king of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2015.Also Known As: Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al SaudBorn: August 1, 1924 in Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaParents: King Abdulaziz and  Fahda bint Asi Al ShuraimDied: January 23, 2015 in Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaSpouse(s): 30Children: 35 Early Life Little is known about King Abdullahs childhood. He was born in Riyadh on August 1, 1924, the fifth son of Saudi Arabias founding king, Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud (also known as Ibn Saud). Abdullahs mother, Fahda bint Asi Al Shuraim, was Ibn Sauds eighth wife of 12. Abdullah had between 50 and 60 siblings. At the time of Abdullahs birth, his father Amir Abdulazizs realm included only the northern and eastern sections of Arabia. The Amir defeated Sharif Hussein of Mecca in 1928 and declared himself king. The royal family was quite poor until about 1940,  at which point Saudi oil revenues began to increase. Education Details of Abdullahs education are sparse, but the official Saudi Information Directory states that he had a formal religious education. According to the Directory, Abdullah supplemented his formal schooling with extensive reading. He also spent a long stint living with the desert Bedouin people in order to learn traditional Arab values. Career In August 1962, Prince Abdullah was appointed to lead the Saudi Arabian National Guard. The National Guards duties include providing security for the royal family, preventing coups, and guarding the Muslim Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina. The force includes a standing army of 125,000 men, plus a tribal militia of 25,000. In March 1975, Abdullahs half-brother Khalid succeeded to the throne upon the assassination of another half-brother, King Faisal. King Khalid appointed Prince Abdullah second deputy prime minister. In 1982, the throne passed to King Fahd after Khalids death and Prince Abdullah was promoted once more, this time to deputy prime minister. In this role, he presided over meetings of the kings cabinet. King Fahd also officially named Abdullah the Crown Prince, meaning he was next in line for the throne. Regent In December 1995, King Fahd had a series of strokes that left him more or less incapacitated and unable to fulfill his political duties. For the next nine years, Crown Prince Abdullah acted as regent for his brother, although Fahd and his cronies still wielded considerable influence over public policy. King of Saudi Arabia King Fahd died on August 1, 2005, and Crown Prince Abdullah became king, taking power in name as well as in practice. He inherited a nation torn between fundamentalist Islamists and modernizing reformers. The fundamentalists sometimes used terrorist acts (such as bombing and kidnapping) to express their anger over issues like the stationing of American troops on Saudi soil. The modernizers increasingly used blogs and pressure from international groups to call for increased womens rights, reform of Sharia-based laws, and greater press and religious freedoms. King Abdullah cracked down on the Islamists  but didnt make the significant reforms for which many observers both inside and outside of Saudi Arabia had hoped. Foreign Policy King Abdullah  was known throughout his career as a staunch Arab nationalist, yet he reached out to other countries as well. In 2002, for example, the king put forth a Middle East Peace Plan. It received renewed attention in 2005, but has languished since then and has yet to be implemented. The plan calls for a return to the pre-1967 borders and a right of return for Palestinian refugees. In return, Israel would control the Western Wall and some of the West Bank, and receive recognition from Arab states. To placate Saudi Islamists, the king disallowed U.S. Iraq War forces to use bases in Saudi Arabia. Personal Life King Abdullah had more than 30 wives  and fathered at least 35 children. According to the Saudi Embassys Official Biography of the King, he bred Arabian horses  and founded the Riyadh Equestrian Club. He also loved to read, and established libraries in Riyadh and Casablanca, Morocco. American ham radio operators also enjoyed chatting on the air with the Saudi king. At the time of his death, the king had a personal fortune estimated at $18 billion, making him among the top five richest royals in the world. Death King Abdullah became ill and was taken to the hospital at the beginning of 2015. He died on January 23 at the age of 90. Legacy After King Abdullahs death, his half-brother Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud became the king of Saudi Arabia. Abdullahs legacy is a controversial one. In 2012, the United Nations awarded him a UNESCO Gold Medal for his efforts to promote dialogue and peace in the Middle East. Other groups- including Human Rights Watch- criticized the king for his alleged human rights violations, including the mistreatment of prisoners. Abdullah was also criticized for his policies on religious freedom. In 2012, for example, the Saudi poet Hamza Kashgari was arrested for making several Twitter posts that allegedly denigrated the Islamic prophet Muhammed; he was imprisoned for nearly two years. Humans rights groups such as Amnesty International were highly critical of Saudi Arabias handling of the case. Sources Keyes, David. â€Å"Saudi Writer Hamza Kashgari Faces Charge of Blasphemy after Tweets about Muhammad.† The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 Feb. 2012.Knickmeyer, Ellen, and Ahmed Al Omran. â€Å"Saudi Arabias King Abdullah Dies.† The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Company, 23 Jan. 2015.Rasheed, Madawi al-. Salmans Legacy: the Dilemmas of a New Era in Saudi Arabia. Hurst Company, 2018.

Buffer Definition - Chemistry and Biology

Buffer Definition - Chemistry and Biology A buffer is a  solution containing either a weak acid and its salt or a weak base and its salt, which is resistant to changes in pH. In other words, a buffer is an aqueous solution of either a weak acid and its conjugate base or a weak base and its conjugate acid. A buffer may also be called a pH buffer, hydrogen ion buffer, or buffer solution. Buffers are used to maintain a stable pH in a solution, as they can neutralize small quantities of additional acid of base. For a given buffer solution, there is a working pH range and a set amount of acid or base that can be neutralized before the pH will change.  The amount of acid or base that can be added to a buffer before changing its pH is called its buffer capacity.   The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation may be used to gauge the approximate pH of a buffer.  In order to use the equation, the initial concentration or stoichiometric concentration is entered instead of the equilibrium concentration. The general form of a buffer chemical reaction is: HA â‡Å' H   A− Examples of Buffers blood - contains a bicarbonate buffer systemTRIS bufferphosphate buffer As stated, buffers are useful over specific pH ranges. For example, here is the pH range of common buffering agents: Buffer pKa pH range citric acid 3.13., 4.76, 6.40 2.1 to 7.4 acetic acid 4.8 3.8 to 5.8 KH2PO4 7.2 6.2 to 8.2 borate 9.24 8.25 to 10.25 CHES 9.3 8.3 to 10.3 When a buffer solution is prepared, the pH of the solution is adjusted to get it within the correct effective range. Typically a strong acid, such as hydrochloric acid (HCl) is added to lower the pH of acidic buffers. A strong base, such as sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH), is added to raise the pH of alkaline buffers. How Buffers Work In order to understand how a buffer works, consider the example of a buffer solution made by dissolving sodium acetate into acetic acid. Acetic acid is (as you can tell from the name) an acid: CH3COOH, while the sodium acetate dissociates in solution to yield the conjugate base, acetate ions of CH3COO-. The equation for the reaction is: CH3COOH(aq) OH-(aq) ⇆ CH3COO-(aq) H2O(aq) If a strong acid is added to this solution, the acetate ion neutralizes it: CH3COO-(aq) H(aq) ⇆ CH3COOH(aq) This shifts the equilibrium of the initial buffer reaction, keeping the pH stable. A strong base, on the other hand, would react with the acetic acid. Universal Buffers Most buffers work over a relative narrow pH range. An exception is citric acid because it has three pKa values. When a compound has multiple pKa values, a larger pH range becomes available for a buffer. Its also possible to combine buffers, providing their pKa values are close (differing by 2 or less), and adjusting the pH with strong base or acid to reach the required range. For example, McIvaines buffer is prepared by combining mixtures of Na2PO4 and citric acid. Depending on the ratio between the compounds, the buffer may be effective from pH 3.0 to 8.0. A mixture of citric acid, boric acid, monopotassium phosphate, and diethyl barbituic acid can cover the pH range from 2.6 to 12! Buffer Key Takeaways A buffer is an aqueous solution used to keep the pH of a solution nearly constant.A buffer consists of a weak acid and its conjugate base or a weak base and its conjugate acid.Buffer capacity is the amount of acid or base that can be added before the pH of a buffer changes.An example of a buffer solution is bicarbonate in blood, which maintains the bodys internal pH. Sources Butler, J. N. (1964).  Ionic Equilibrium: A Mathematical Approach. Addison-Wesley. p.  151.Carmody, Walter R. (1961). Easily prepared wide range buffer series. J. Chem. Educ. 38 (11): 559–560. doi:10.1021/ed038p559Hulanicki, A. (1987). Reactions of acids and bases in analytical chemistry. Translated by Masson, Mary R. Horwood. ISBN 0-85312-330-6.Mendham, J.; Denny, R. C.; Barnes, J. D.; Thomas, M. (2000). Appendix 5. Vogels Textbook of Quantitative Chemical Analysis (5th ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education. ISBN 0-582-22628-7.Scorpio, R. (2000). Fundamentals of Acids, Bases, Buffers Their Application to Biochemical Systems. ISBN 0-7872-7374-0.

Healthy eating plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Healthy eating plan - Essay Example This paper will focus on my current eating habits, the nutritional recommendations I received from the Supertracker, and how this tool is vital for us Americans. My food groups and calories reports in the supertracker revealed that I am ‘under’ in the categories of grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy and oils. I am only ‘ok’ as far as my protein intake is concerned. Although my total calorie intake is 1608 which is ‘ok’ as the total calorie limit for a person like me with a weight of 163 lbs. and 5 ‘9’ height is determined to be 2800 calories according to the supertracker. As far as grains are concerned, my intake of whole grains is below the recommended level, which is 1 ½ ounces against a recommendation of 6 ounces, though refined grains intake is over the suggested level. I consumed only 1 cup of vegetables against the recommended level of 3 ½ cups for five days and only  ¼ cup of fruits against the suggested level of 3 ½ c ups. My intake of dairy products is also much below the necessary level (1/2 cup instead of 3 cups) and oils consumption is also lower than the required level. This analysis has revealed that there is a need to increase my level of intake in all the above food categories except protein. To improvise my food and calories intake, I shall include the following in my daily diet:†¢ Intake of whole grains like wheat and reduce the level of refined grains like rice.

Will be provide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Will be provide - Essay Example The steady-state gain and the time constant were determined by performing two trials using variant voltage inputs in the step input part of the experiment. The time constants for the first and the second trial were 0.196s and 0.176s respectively. Through dividing the change in the output voltage by the input voltage, the steady-state gain was determined. The relationship or connection between the natural frequency and the damping ratio could be seen in the position control section of the experiment. There was an increase in the natural frequency and a decrease in the damping ratio as the error feedback increased. When a comparison of the observed data was made to the theoretically obtained values, the difference was approximately double. When the error feedback was more that 90%, the system seemed unstable. Upon the introduction of tacho feedback, while keeping the error feedback constant, a significant increase in the damping ratio was observed. The system was damped and indicated a faster response with the tacho feedback. The experiment proved to be so useful as it enabled the observation of characteristics and relationships of the servo-motor control though the theoretical values differed slightly with the experimental values Calculations involving the steady-state parameters were done in the initial experiment. The tachogenerator and motor speed gains were determined by plotting graphs of tachogenerator voltage vs. motor speed and motor speed vs. input voltage. Tachogenerator gain was found to be 1.6579 V/(rad/s) with the motor speed recording a 12.564 (rad/s)/ V gain. An analysis of graph 4.4.1.2 and Graph 4.4.1.1 depicted a constant linear relationship. With increasing motor speed, the voltage of the tachogenerator increased. An increase in the input voltage also led to an increase in the motor speed. The graphs 4.4.1.3 and graph 4.4.1.4 showed the plot of feedback pot and position pot against the servo angle. The plot of feedback pot

Wuthering Heights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Wuthering Heights - Essay Example Nelly Dean is the housekeeper in Thrushcross Grange and she is a close friend to Lockwood. Lockwood is curious and, thus, he asks Nelly to narrate to him the strange stories about Wuthering Heights and its dwellers. Nelly is in the best position to tell the story about the house and its past dwellers since she has been serving as a servant to a strange family residing in Wuthering Heights (Bronte 7). Her employer, Mr. Earnshaw, has a wife and two children, Hindley and Catherine. Mr. Earnshaw adopts a black son, Heathcliff, while he is travelling to Liverpool. The rest of his family finds it hard to accept Heathcliff. The family members hate him and they really mistreat him in the first few months that he lives with them. After sometime, Catherine grows fond of Heathcliff and their bond gets stronger with time. Hindley, on the other hand, still harbours detest towards Heathcliff. In a sad turn of events, Earnshaw’s wife passes away. Hindley’s cruelty towards Heathcliff c ontinues and his father finds himself loving the adopted son more than his cruel real son. He sends the spoilt son to college to give Heathcliff a conducive environment (Bronte 41). When Mr. Earnshaw passes away, his real son who is the heir of this father’s property returns to take over the Wuthering Height property (Bronte 87). He is married to Frances and together they treat Heathcliff as their slave. Later, when Heathcliff and Catherine are on their fun chasing errands in Thrushcross Grange, Catherine is forced to stay in the house for several weeks to recuperate from a dog bite. During the time that she stays in Thrushcross Grange, Catherine falls for Edgar. Hindley’s wife dies shortly after she gives birth to a son and this causes him to lose his sense of humanity. He buries his sorrows in alcohol and he gets crueler towards Heathcliff. After Catherine’s engagement to Edgar, Heathcliff elopes only to return home to find that Catherine has already married E dgar despite the fact that she was still deeply in love with Heathcliff. Heathcliff accumulates a hefty amount of money while he is away from Wuthering Height and when he comes back he embarks on a revenge mission on his enemies. He lures Hindley into getting into heavy debts and later he dies leaving the property to him. Marrying Isabella Linton places Heathcliff in a position to later inherit Thrushcross Grange. Catherine gives birth to a baby girl and succumbs to her long illness. Heathcliff’s obsession with Catherine turns him into a weird person. He starts urging Catherine spirit to stick with him. Catherine’s daughter is named after her and Nelly acts as her caregiver. Heathcliff later reunites with his son Linton, who he treats very badly. Linton and young Catherine start a romance story secretly. Heathcliff pushes his son to pursue Catherine so that he can be the rightful heir of Thrushcross Grange which will serve as revenge on Edgar. Heathcliff manages to lur e Linton into marrying Catherine and when Edgar and Linton die, he takes over the two houses (Bronte 202). The story from Nelly disgusts Lockwood and he leaves for London only to visit Thrushcross Grange six months later. Nelly continues with the story. Catherine falls in love with Hareton as Heathcliff loses his mind over Catherine. He starts seeing her ghost and he passes away with his sorrow. Meanwhile, Catherine and Hareton plan their marriage after they inherit Wuthering Height and Thrushcross Grange. After the narration by Nelly, Lockwood decides to visit Catherine and Heathcliff’s graves (Bronte 712). Review Wuthering Heights clearly depicts a clear picture of social class differences and the class

Role of the Midwife in Care Interventions

Role of the Midwife in Care Interventions Title: Discuss the following statement in relation to birth. Midwifery expertise is as much about knowing when not to interfere in the physiological process of pregnancy and birth as it is about recognising when and how to intervene in a way that will facilitate and enhance the womans ability to give birth. Essay Women have been giving birth throughout the ages. On the one hand this can be regarded as a normal physiological process which has evolved over the millennia to be a successful method of perpetuating the species and like most evolutionary honed processes, is likely to work well most of the time. On the other hand, as any experienced clinician knows well, any physiological process has the ability to malfunction. A large proportion of professional medical care in any field of medicine is to be able to recognise the normal variations and differentiate them from the abnormal. As a general rule it is only the abnormal that requires treatment or intervention. (Hunt T 1994) Hippocrates is reputed to have said that it is the first rule for a physician that â€Å"one should do no harm†. (Carrick P 2000). In a modern context, this often means â€Å"leave the normal alone† as the ability to produce iatrogenic complications is well known. (Halpern S D 2005) If we restrict ourselves to the consideration of the field of midwifery, the preceding statement can be well illustrated in the writings of Dr Ignaz Semmelweis who was horrified by the levels of puerperal fever that was killing nearly 40% of the pregnant women on his wards. (Semmelweis I P. 1861). Although he discovered the concept of asepsis from his observations, we note that on a simple level, the vast majority of the morbidity and mortality in this case was caused directly by the intervention of the healthcare professionals in what were otherwise normal pregnancies. On a matter of more immediate concern we can consider the issues relating to stress incontinence as being an excellent illustrative example of how midwives can elect to intervene during pregnancy and the birth process in order to facilitate not only the birth process but the whole area of potential morbidity surrounding maternity in general. Pregnancy itself is an independent variable risk factor for stress incontinence (Rortveit et al 2003). Although the midwife is not generally involved in the very early stages of pregnancy, there is good evidence that prenatal involvement in terms of preparation of the woman for the process of childbirth will reduce the incidence of stress incontinence post partum. (Reilly E T C et al. 2002). Instruction in the practice of antenatal pelvic floor exercises has been shown to reduce both the incidence and severity of pelvic floor damage during parturition (Salvesen et al. 2004) At the time of the delivery the midwife can make a number of interventions which will help to reduce the eventual morbidity including having the knowledge that a large birth weight baby is more likely to produce pelvic floor damage and will therefore be more likely to consider doing a prophylactic episiotomy to minimise the potential for pelvic floor damage. Equally, in the time prior to the actual delivery, her intervention to establish the lie and orientation of the baby will help to prevent malpresentations and the associated possibility of instrumentally assisted deliveries with the attendant possibility of resulting morbidity.(Norton C. 1996) Part of the acquisition of professional skill during training is to gain the knowledge which allows the ability not to intervene if the pregnancy and delivery are proceeding smoothly. Unnecessary intervention also has a more subtle downside in that it encourages dependence by the mother on the midwife. On an ethical dimension one can argue that this unnecessary dependence erodes the patient’s autonomy. (Coulter A. 2002). During pregnancy and birth, many women will find it all to easy to be subsumed by the medicalisation of the birth process. The professional midwife should be aware of this phenomenon and try to reduce its effect as far as possible. For many women, the midwife becomes the foremost trusted healthcare professional for the majority of her pregnancy and is the first point of contact with the medical establishment. The woman implicitly comes to trust the midwife’s professional status and believes that the midwife will do what is necessary but not what is unnecessary. The midwife’s professional status is therefore based ultimately on this premise, and a sound professional judgement based on a firm evidence base, is central to her abi lity to produce benefit when she decides that intervention is necessary. (Paine L L et al. 1999). An area where non-intervention is actively practiced is during the third stage of labour where the experienced midwife will observe and allow the fundus to contract rather than immediately intervene to deliver the placenta. There is a delicate line to be drawn between actively delivering the placenta too soon and thereby increasing the risk of uterine haemorrhage or uterine inversion, and not intervening at all and allowing the placenta to become entrapped in the contracting uterus with the implications of having to do a manual removal of the placenta possibly under a general anaesthetic. (Romero R et al. 1999). In conclusion we can consider that the role of the midwife is primarily to assist the pregnant woman through her pregnancy, her delivery and in the immediate post partum period. As we observed at the beginning of this essay, it is quite possible to intervene at virtually every stage of this process, but we would suggest that it is inherent within the role of the professional midwife that she should be able to draw a distinction between those occasions where intervention is mandatory, those when intervention is prudent and those occasions where it is perfectly appropriate to do nothing. References Carrick P (2000) Medical Ethics in the Ancient World. Georgetown University press 2000 ISBN: 0878408495 Coulter A. (2002) The autonomous patient. London : The Nuffield Trust, 2002. Halpern S D (2005) Towards evidence based bioethics. BMJ, Oct 2005 ; 331 : 901 903 Hunt T (1994) Ethical issues in Nursing. London : Routledge 1994 Norton C. (1996) Commissioning comprehensive continence services, Guidance for purchasers. London : Continence Foundation, 1996. Paine L L, J M Lang, D M Strobino, T R Johnson, J F DeJoseph, E R Declercq, D R Gagnon, A Scupholme and A Ross (1999) Characteristics of nurse-midwife patients and visits, American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 89, Issue 6 906 909, Reilly E T C, Freeman R M, Waterfield M R, Waterfield A E, Steggles P, Pedlar F. (2002) Prevention of postpartum stress incontinence in primigravidae with increased bladder neck mobility: a randomised controlled trial of antenatal pelvic floor exercises. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 2002 ;109 : 68 76. Romero R, Y C Hsu, A P Athanassiadis, Z Hagay, et al. (1999) Preterm delivery : a risk factor for retained placenta. Am J Obstet Gynecol, 1999 Rortveit G, Daltveit A K, Hannestad Y S, Hunskaar S. (2003) Urinary incontinence after vaginal delivery or cesarean section. N Engl J Med 2003 ; 348 : 900 – 907. Ryan G L , Quinn T J ,. Syrop C H , Hansen W F, (2002) Placenta Accreta Postpartum Obstetrics Gynecology 2002 ; 100 : 1069 1072 Salvesen, Kjell, Mà ¸rkved, Siv (2004) Randomised controlled trial of pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy. BMJ Volume 329 (7462)14 August 2004pp 378 380 Semmelweis IP. (1861) Die aetiologie, der begriff und die prophylaxis des kindbettfiebers. Pest, Wien und Leipzig : CA Hartlebens Verlags-Expedition 1861.

Procrastination :: Personal Narrative Essays

Procrastination It is Monday morning and I have slept in, thanks to Thanksgiving. In fact, it's twelve o'clock and I am free for the afternoon. As usual, I sit in front of the television after I clean myself up, staring endlessly at the screen with my finger clicking on the remote. I realize that I have a draft due on Thursday, but I justify my procrastination with reasons like: "there is still lots of time." Life is faster now, and people in the 00's are supposed to organize and plan in order to keep up; however, it seems to me that more people are procrastinating than ever before. When I ask people why they procrastinate, they often supply reasons like: this task won't take me a long time; the pressure makes me to work more efficiently; there were emergencies; and there were other important things. Some of these reasons sounds legitimate, but I think these reasons are just excuses for people's fear of failure, fear of lost security, and need for pressure. Back high school, I had a friend, Eric, who dropped out of school because of bad grades. As his friend, I knew he was doing fine until the period of final exams. He was a smart and responsible person which laziness is not a factor of his bad grades. Eric could not pick up the books soon enough before the exam because he was afraid of failure. Since Eric's older brothers had achieved excellence academic records and great careers, Eric' parents expected him to follow his brothers' foot step. As the result, Eric was afraid to try because he feared to fail his parents' expectation. When he realized the problem, it was too late. It is two o'clock in the morning. The computer is on, the coffee maker is cooking, and I am under a lot of stress. "There isn't a lot of time left," I keep telling my self as I watch the blank piece of paper in front of me. "I know I can do it," I keep encouraging my self while my mind generates zero ideas for my essay: which is due six hours from now. Everyone I know procrastinates, my friends, relatives, even people in government. Back in Taipei, the Mayor, Mayor Chen, delayed getting rid of gangs in the city. "I am going to issue a policy that will eventually stop gangs from spreading in our community," promised Mayor Chen of Taipei during his election campaign. Mayor Chen won the election, but he didn*t do anything about the gangs Procrastination :: Personal Narrative Essays Procrastination It is Monday morning and I have slept in, thanks to Thanksgiving. In fact, it's twelve o'clock and I am free for the afternoon. As usual, I sit in front of the television after I clean myself up, staring endlessly at the screen with my finger clicking on the remote. I realize that I have a draft due on Thursday, but I justify my procrastination with reasons like: "there is still lots of time." Life is faster now, and people in the 00's are supposed to organize and plan in order to keep up; however, it seems to me that more people are procrastinating than ever before. When I ask people why they procrastinate, they often supply reasons like: this task won't take me a long time; the pressure makes me to work more efficiently; there were emergencies; and there were other important things. Some of these reasons sounds legitimate, but I think these reasons are just excuses for people's fear of failure, fear of lost security, and need for pressure. Back high school, I had a friend, Eric, who dropped out of school because of bad grades. As his friend, I knew he was doing fine until the period of final exams. He was a smart and responsible person which laziness is not a factor of his bad grades. Eric could not pick up the books soon enough before the exam because he was afraid of failure. Since Eric's older brothers had achieved excellence academic records and great careers, Eric' parents expected him to follow his brothers' foot step. As the result, Eric was afraid to try because he feared to fail his parents' expectation. When he realized the problem, it was too late. It is two o'clock in the morning. The computer is on, the coffee maker is cooking, and I am under a lot of stress. "There isn't a lot of time left," I keep telling my self as I watch the blank piece of paper in front of me. "I know I can do it," I keep encouraging my self while my mind generates zero ideas for my essay: which is due six hours from now. Everyone I know procrastinates, my friends, relatives, even people in government. Back in Taipei, the Mayor, Mayor Chen, delayed getting rid of gangs in the city. "I am going to issue a policy that will eventually stop gangs from spreading in our community," promised Mayor Chen of Taipei during his election campaign. Mayor Chen won the election, but he didn*t do anything about the gangs