Impact of Patient Confidentiality on Carers of People Who Have a Mental Disorder Essay

Patients disclose important information to their attending physician or health care professionals because of this patient-physician confidentiality. This information should not be divulged as much as possible so that the patients would continue trusting their attending physician. With this confidentiality, carers are hindered to get the needed information about their patients. The article, â€Å"Impact of Patient Confidentiality on Carers on People Who Have a Mental Disorder,† authored by Dianne Wynaden and Angelica Orb, is about the effect of absolute confidentiality of patients’ pertinent health information. With the help of 27 carers, the authors were able to justify the not-so-good effects of health care professionals not sharing the health information of patients with mental disorder to their carers. Summary Sharing information is necessary. Health care professionals value the legality of patient-physician confidentiality agreement. However, carers need information about their patients in order to help carers attend to the needs of the patients. Health care professionals and carers must work together in order to assist or guide their patients. Regarding legality, the authors suggested to have the patient-physician confidentiality agreement reviewed in order to include the rights of carers to know the pertinent health information of their patients. Generally, carers find it difficult to ask assistance from health care professionals. Carers are not usually health care professionals. Carers are anyone interested or willing to provide assistance to patients. They can be family members, friends, or neighbors. For this reason, health care professionals must be willing to share information to carers. Analysis Psychosis is one mental disorder. It affects the way an affected person’s perception, cognition, mood, personality, behavior, and movement. Hallucinations or seeing things or hearing sounds that are not really present characterize hallucinations. (Psychosis 2006) Symptoms of psychosis include disconnected thoughts, difficulty in concentrating, mood swings, and having thoughts of death or suicide. (Psychosis Mental Health Fact Sheet 2001) A person with mental disorder needs special care and attention. Normally today, these persons are â€Å"confined† inside their houses and there are carers attending to their needs. Carers could be their family members, friends, or neighbors. Most likely, carers have little or no background at all in providing medical aid to ill persons. So, health care professionals must guide carers in attending the needs of their patients. One help health care professionals could offer is the pertinent health information of the patients. However, due to the existing patient-physician confidentiality agreement, carers could not get the health information they need to know about their patients. To substantiate the effect of not sharing vital information to carers, the authors had interviewed 27 carers. The results of the interview were identical making the findings credible. The carer participants have related almost the same stories in terms of acquiring information from health care professionals. They have experienced difficulty in getting information from health care professionals. Carers believe that there are important pieces of information that should be shared to them in order to perform their tasks well. Because limited bits of information are provided to carers, they could not attend to all the needs of their patients. Worst, their patients’ recovery is at stake because of unshared information. Why is it so hard for health care professionals to share information to carers? Again we go back to patient-physician confidentiality agreement. In legal terms, the parties or persons involved in the confidentiality agreement must abide by it. This means no information must be divulged to anyone, even to carers. No one must breach the agreement, in respect to both parties. This is the reason health care professionals are hesitant in giving information to carers about their patients. In ethical means, not sharing information to carers could worsen the condition of the patients. Since carers have no complete information about the real condition of their patients, carers could miss some important details that could affect the health of their patients. Applying ethics, we need to stand firm on the agreement. No matter what, the parties involved must respect what they have agreed upon. Applying ethics also, both the health care professionals and the carers must consider the recovery of their patients. They must help one another. Conclusion Patient-physician confidentiality agreement is both guarded by legal and ethical issues. But one thing is important—how to help the patients with mental disorder? Since carers have difficulty in acquiring information for their patients due to patient-physician confidentiality agreement, patients must be informed of the importance of sharing information to carers. Health care professionals must work together with carers in order to provide the needs of their patients. The patient-physician confidentiality agreement must be reviewed so that information could also be shared to carers. Patients should be informed that carers could attend best to their needs if they are well-versed of their condition. Also, carers can adapt fast to the patients’ needs when all information are properly accounted for. Patients are important. Sharing information between health care professionals and carers is also important.

Comparison and Contrast of the Movie and the Novel Essay

The following paper gives a comparison and the contrast on the novel â€Å"The Body† by Stephen King and the movie that is based on this novel, i. e. â€Å"Stand by Me† by Rob Reiner. The Body is a short story from Stephen King’s compilation of Different Seasons. Later on a movie was prepared of the story of the novella; called Stand by Me. Comparison and Contrast of the Movie and the Novel: Starting with the screenplay of the movie, as portrayed in the novel, the movie did extreme justice to it. A few differences those were quite noticeable. These include the time of the film which is publicized 1959 rather than 1960, the location of the story which in the book was Maine and in the movie it was Oregon. A number of scenes were edited from the movie. The movie involves more scenes that revolve around the older gang. Scenes likes where Ace stealing Gordie’s cap, the gang plays ‘mailbox baseball’, while discussing the body of Ray Brower when sitting together or racing on the highway are not included in the book. The movie also ignored a few short stories regarding Gordie and adds a few flashbacks which were no where present in the novel. The factors that make the movie a bit boring are the repeating elements such as singing the theme song again and again, Vern’s obsessions, Gordie and Chris showing of their friendship on certain points. Adding further more to this, Gordie’s association with his brother is a lot stronger in the film, where as in the novel, Denny and Gordie were not close to each other. A number of characters are new in the film as compared to the book. A few actions are also there which make the story to go on a different side. In the book, it was Gordie, not Chris, who fought Teddy off the roadway ahead of he possibly will endeavor a train move, whereas in the book it was Chris who dragged away the gun, but Gordie accomplishes it in the picture. In addition, the team member who endangered the boys with a dagger in the book was in fact Jackie Mudgett, and not Ace. A number of appearances of conversation are spoken by diverse characters. In the book, the line â€Å"†¦going to see a dead kid, maybe it shouldn’t be a party† was spoken by Vern, (King, Stephan, Pp 75) and the line â€Å"you won’t mind if we check the seat of your jockies for Hershey squirts† was spoken by Teddy. In the picture, these dialogues are conversed by Gordie. (King, Stephan, Pp 75) The picture presents a number of characters that were not a part of the book and vice versa. For example, in the book there were two extra young men in Gordie’s â€Å"mob name John and Marty DeSpain who were out of town during the story, but they are never mentioned in the movie. Consequently, the book didn’t present a variety of components in the mob throughout the pie competition that the picture categorizes. A number of the distinctiveness of the people in the narration is distorted. For example, both of Teddy’s ears had been flamed in the volume, but in the picture only his left one is. The name of the mongrel dog was Chopper, whereas in the picture he is a golden retriever. The first name of the mayor who hands round as the presenter throughout the pie competition is altered from â€Å"Charbonneau† to â€Å"Grundy† and Vern’s nickname â€Å"Penny† is not at all conveyed up. Gordie was moreover an enormous Red Sox admirer in the volume, and his respect for Ted Williams was renowned. This attribute is in no way affirmed in the picture, and given that Gordie is eager to be dressed in a New York Yankees cap, it is extremely improbable (IMDB, pp. 1). An additional distinguished dissimilarity flanked by the book and the picture is the nature of the store clerk. In the volume, he was an irritable individual who attempts to deceive Gordie of his cash two times and shouted heatedly at him as he left the supermarket. In the picture, he is a mannered and understanding man who is inquisitive about Gordie’s individual existence, and who identifies with with Gordie over Denny’s termination, as he himself misplaced a brother throughout the Korean War. On the other hand, in the film it can be seen that the grocer endeavors to place his thumb on the level, until learning of Gordie’s relation to Denny. The event hands out as an additional illustration of Gordie’s world, wedged among not to be relied on adults and dependence on the reminiscence of his brother Denny. Stand by Me founds a great deal concerning Gordie’s relations than the novel does. In the volume, the era of Gordie’s parents are stated during the instance the boys investigated for the remains and the age of Gordie’s mother was when she happened to be expecting a child with Dennis is also revealed; none of this was revealed in the film. In the volume, Denny was in the armed forces at the instance of his decease. The film doesn’t institute this, even though props in Denny’s area provide the thought that he was almost certainly out of high school and perhaps even in school when the misfortune took place. Considerably, the volume offers an epilogue that murder off not just the character’s best pal, but all of the sustaining characters. In the King’s volume the smallest amount illustrious of destinies are assembled by the two characters whose fortunes are overlooked in the picture. Vern puts in flames when he passes out on a cigarette and Teddy is murdered in a car collide at some stage in a competition although he was sitting in the decease place (passenger side front seat with no airbags). In the manuscript and picture Chris Chambers is the disastrous number. Chris is recognized as supernaturally and fundamentally superior character by King. More for the reason that of his â€Å"diamond in the rough† temperament for his relations was serene of criminals and at that instance and municipality. Chris is rough and well-grown, but makes use of his adulthood to be a negotiator to a certain extent than a fighter. His appeasing propensity and ripeness are well-known constantly: He is all the way through the book and movie the influence of a cause, protecting his friends from equally substantial and affecting damage. Chris’s bereavement is an untimely but appropriate surrender: in a fast food eating place, he impulsively steps among two men who have occupied in a knife-fight. Chris is cracked in the gullet, being contracted an immediate fatality. Gordie is the solitary survivor, a deliberately translucent demonstration of King himself, who exists on and engraves, but with none of his friends. Note that in a vision succession subsequent the notorious parasite progression in the volume King demonstrates his ambivalence to early day’s friends,envisioning his associates as acquisitive to his appendage and covering him, and announcing that acquaintances simply â€Å"hold you down. † The defeat of his best companion Chris take him back that he will â€Å"in no way have associates like that once more. † The final penalty is just exposed in the novel: the destiny of the rival, Ace. To a certain extent than the rapid bereavement decided to Chris, Teddy, and Vern, Ace is observed by Gordie years afterward in a restricted inn: his jagged features become softer by fat, grown-up old earlier than his time. Gordie’s conquest is that of existing well. Conclusion: From the above comparison and contrast, it is quite evident that there were a number of differences in the book and movie that portrayed it. The plot, characters, sequences all had one or another difference. On the whole the movie is an average illustration of the book giving the moral of loving and helping friends and how a group of friends can move on. The book is very near to the life of Stephen King as he sees himself in Gordie and tries to give him such a character in which Stephen King saw him in his life. References IMDB (the Internet movie database) Stand by me, 1986. (2009)Retrieved on 30th January 2009 from : http://www. imdb. com/title/tt0092005/ King, Stephen. The Body. Published by Recorded Books, LLC. Pp75 (1984)

Jason Aldean Night Train Essay

Jason Aldean is an American country music singer who since 2005, has recorded for Broken Bow Records. In his years as an artist he has released five albums and sixteen singles. His 2010 album My Kinda Party is certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His 2005 self-titled debut, 2007 album Relentless and 2009 album Wide Open are all certified platinum. Of his singles, eight have reached the number one position on the Hot Country Songs charts: â€Å"Why†, â€Å"She’s Country†, â€Å"Big Green Tractor†, â€Å"The Truth†, â€Å"Don’t You Wanna Stay† (a duet with Kelly Clarkson), â€Å"Dirt Road Anthem†, â€Å"Fly Over States†, and â€Å"Take a Little Ride†. Seven more have reached top ten on the same chart. Aldean’s latest album titled Night Train debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 charts and number two for the year. Shortly before the release of the album Billboard writer/ reviewer Ray Waddell did a detailed track-by-track review of the album. In this he talked about how originality, pace, musical skill, lyrics, overall impact and production played a part in each of the songs. Overall his review of the album Night Train and Jason Aldean as an artist was very detailed and applauded Aldean on his new album. Before Ray Waddell the reviewer of Jason Aldean’s Night Train album does a track-by-track review he does an overall review and quotes from both Aldean and his producer Michael Knock about the album. In this overall review Waddell talks about the type of music that the album has the instruments used and what as a whole the album has to offer the listeners and fans. The part that stands out most from the Billboard review and that really shines a light on Waddell’s feelings of the album is when Waddell says that â€Å"In the end, the two ended up with a record that stays true to Aldean’s sound and still manages to move that sound forward sonically, vocally and lyrically.† (Waddell) This shows that not only what Jason wanted and tried to get out of and across with this album but also what the producer wanted from this album came true. Both men and the many men and women that they work with put in many hard long hours and in the end it paid off. From Waddell’s review fans can read that Jason Aldean has put out another successful album that is moving into the future in all aspects but is what the fans have grown to love and expect. The first seven tracks on the Night Train album are â€Å"This Nothin’ Town†, â€Å"When She Says Baby†, â€Å"Feel That Again†, â€Å"Wheels Rollin’†, â€Å"Talk†, â€Å"The Only Way I Know†, and â€Å"Take A Little Ride†. Each of these tracks bring something new to the stage but they also contain bits and pieces of the old and the things that work. In the first track â€Å"This Nothin’ Town† review Waddell points out that in the song Jason says â€Å"There’s something to be said when you hear a song for the first time, those visions pop into your head, and you can see it. This is one of those songs† (Aldean) Each of these songs has something special about it and in the review Weddell points out the strong points of each song. Some of the comments that he had about these songs included â€Å"Despite the ringing guitars and an arena-rock sound, this ones harkens back to ’70s rock bands like Kansas or Journey, blended in with a prominent vocal by Aldean and a strong sense of melody, and A great intro leads to a power ballad that sequences perfectly on the record. Add a blistering guitar solo and Aldean’s ownership of the vocal and this one sounds like a hit.† (Weddell) These along with the many others show that this album is really something special and not just another country music album. Weddell looks at every aspect of a song and critiques each of those aspects individually and all together so for this album to have done so well it is really an accomplishment on the part of Aldean and his production crew and band. The last eight tracks of the album are â€Å"I Don’t Do Lonely Well†, â€Å"Night Train†, â€Å"1994†, â€Å"Staring at the Sun†, â€Å"Drink One for Me†, â€Å"Black Tears†, â€Å"Walking Away†, and â€Å"Water Tower†. Just like the first seven Weddell gives high marks for these tracks. He talks about what each track contains both vocal and instrumental wise but also talks to and about Aldean about his reaction to these tracks and the process that he went through when creating them. Some of the many positive review points include â€Å" One of the album’s standout tracks, this funky hick-hop blockbuster is a tribute to Joe Diffie and the ’90s, and The albums most notable ballad and powerful vocal, with the great line, â€Å"She gets under your skin like a tattoo,† a wah-wah guitar solo, and nostalgic feel.† (Waddell) In the last eight tracks are some of the most notable and powerful songs and Waddell points this out to further signify that this album and its tracks are good and have put together work for Aldean and the country music industry. Some may say that this was just another typical Jason Aldean album and that he is just wasting time recording other people’s songs. It is through this review anyone can see that although he may not write the song he makes it his own through the way that he sings performs and records the song. It is apparent that each of the songs means something to him. Included in this review Aldean says that â€Å"Night Train’ was a perfect example of just how far things have come the last few years, going from a bus pulling a trailer to now like a freight train with bus and tractor trailers. The title, more than the song, sums up where we’re at right now.†(Aldean) This is what make the album good and what proves that the review is positive and effective. It does not matter what everyone out there thinks it is what the fans and supporters think. Night Train is an effective album both in that it has true meaning and influence but also in that it effectively show that Jaso n Aldean along with country music are moving forward in all aspects of the music.

Political Theory of Locke and Rousseau Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Political Theory of Locke and Rousseau - Essay Example According to Rousseau, the development in the field of science and arts led to the destruction of human virtue and morality. This is one statement which led many thinkers to contemplate on in the future theoretical world. This thinking of Rousseau, also bestowed upon him fame and recognition. Rousseau claim is that human beings by nature are virtuous but got corrupted during many historical events. He became a prominent figure in history of philosophy due to his unique contribution emphasizing on natural state of human .According to Rousseau, human beings are good by nature, but the social conventions have corrupted them along the history. In his article (Younkins) writes that â€Å"According to Rousseau, in the state of nature, people tended to be isolated, war was absent, and their desires were minimal and circumscribed† Rousseau reestablishes the necessity of a governed body to monitor the social security and needs of human beings. According to him state would have been â⠂¬Å"class state† with no rights to poor and weak in the absence of Government. The Social Contract† one of his controversial work on political philosophy has raised many debates among his counterparts Age of Enlightenment and Locke The Age of enlightenment is a movement in 18th century where all the intellect raised awareness among societies to reform and adapts oneself to natural and liberal state. In the age of enlightenment, the social and political scenario of central European societies was pathetic, as the power was in the hands of rich and elite. When it comes to Locke and Rousseau, both had prominent role to play in reforming the society. One of the philosophers Locke can be considered as pioneer of â€Å"Age of enlightenment† and his book called... Age of Enlightenment and Rousseau The theories of Rousseau had a significant role to play in enhancing the â€Å"Age of enlightenment†. Like Locke, Rousseau believed and put forward the natural rights of human beings and liberty as ideal principles of society. During, the age of enlightenment, Rousseau along with the other thinkers and philosophers questioned the dominating authority of church and state alike. Rousseau is a thinker, who did not believe in an authority, who need better quality of life than other. According to him, all has the right to live on the earth with equal power and freedom. However the government’s role comes in to play to preserve the rights of the property. When these messages were passed on to the society, people got enraged and a revolution broke out. Thinkers like Rousseau have had a majestic role to play during the age of enlightenment. Rousseau’s main statement is that human are basically good by nature but the historical and social conventions corrupt them in the long run. This is where the weak and the less able got awakened and a powerful enlightenment movement started. The age of enlightenment put forward the rationality and reasoning as a major force in human -kind, as nature is not self – ordering. This rational based â€Å"age of enlightenment â€Å"spread to the West from France and ignite awareness among the Americans. This in later times, led to the independence of America. Finally we could analyze that Locke being an advocate of â€Å"liberalism† and Rousseau being the pioneer of the â€Å"Age of Enlightenment† has contributed invaluably for the social upgrading of human rights and freedom in West So it can be well said that Locke and Rousseau are the cornerstone in political theory and age of enlightenment movement.

Develop a framework to summarize the literature in enterprise Essay

Develop a framework to summarize the literature in enterprise architecture - Essay Example This paper introduces three essential domains of the enterprise architecture framework. The domains are: It is oblivious from this definition that Enterprise architecture is not just a group of the component architectures. The interrelationships amongst these architectures and their shared properties are crucial to the enterprise architecture. According to [1], the business architecture describes the basic organization and necessities of the business based on company plan and objectives. It is made of four building blocks business model, process architecture, information architecture and organizational architecture. The business model provides a high level view on the type of the business in terms of goods and services existing in the market, the business partners, the value chain, market channel is used and the combination of property and data for producing value add. The process architecture categorizes and describes all process of the company and their individual value adds. It is the key construction block of the company architecture. The progression architecture is classified in the key business process client relationship management, product life cycle management, supply chain management and the operation and support processes. The application architecture offers a general idea on all applications behind the process of the business with the structure blocks applications, entry and information organization policy, statistics repositories, and EAI Services. The infrastructure or technology architecture is made up of software, hardware and network communications essential for operations of all applications. Infrastructure building blocks are the foundation services, place of work services, storage and server system, and network. Work place services give for presentation and work with facts and for output back up at the work place. They are composed of mobile and permanent

Business Plan Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Plan - Coursework Example The US market share is captured by major players such as Nike, Addidas, Reebok, Fila, Timberland, Asics and Converse and others. Among them, Nike might be considered as the main competitor of 21st Wear as the company also targets the young customers. However, the products of Nike are quite high priced due to its premium brand image as compared to others. This can be treated as an advantage for 21st Wear to enter the market of US. The company can follow penetration pricing strategy by offering the products at lower prices as compared to the main competitors in order to penetrate the market successfully. This can enable 21st Wear to enhance its awareness as well as brand equity among the customers. As 21st Wear mainly centers on the teenage sportswear, it should introduce new trendy designs at a low price and promote through internet considering the fact that majority of the teenage customers are consistent online buyers (Magazine Publishers of America, 2004). Furthermore, as 21st Wear is targeting a particular segment, it should include a strong distribution channel and an effective product positioning strategy by focusing on product features such as quality, color and style to establish its brand name in the growing competitive environment of the industry. The company 21st Wear should introduce numerous stores at renowned places of US along with proper availability of its products and it should follow direct selling of the products to the customers. Moreover, 21 st Wear should use market penetration strategy in order to enter the market of US as it is highly competitive. Thus, these strategies can assist 21st wear to differentiate its products among others in the market (Kotler, 1999). Company Description 21st Wear is a US based sportswear company. It intends to offer high quality sportswear products at a reasonable price, especially focusing on the requirements of the teenage customers. The company renders products in different colors and trendy styles which a re designed by using good quality of fabric and latest techniques. 21st Wear sport products are mainly targeted to the teenage customers under the age group of 13-18. The product line of the company includes varied types of products such as T-shirts for boys and girls, jerseys, sports shoes, shorts, sports sweaters, pants, skirts, athletic shirts, hoodies, track suits and gloves. Notably, the products offered by the company are available in different fashionable designs and colors to attract the targeted customers. The company uses internet facilities to promote its innovative designs and styles to its customers, considering the fact that teenage customers are a major group of online shoppers in the US market. 21st Wear is comparatively a new market player in the sportswear market segment, and therefore, the company needs to plan effective strategies such as proper distribution, promotion, pricing and proper discounts in order to sustain it in the increasingly competitive market. Wi th this concern, 21st Wear intends to provide a wide range of sportswear selection to its targeted consumers at a cheaper price as compared to other competitors in order to penetrate the US sportswear apparel. Core Ethical Principles of Business The ethical principles on which the business of 21st Wear will operate are trust, teamwork, honesty and mutual respect amid the team members. The core corporate ethics will strictly

Literature review (Effectiveness of Web-based Distance Education) Essay

Literature review (Effectiveness of Web-based Distance Education) - Essay Example That is why the web-based distance education has been the first choice to many learners. As web based learning becomes more popular in the modern world, there are issues which must be able to be looked at in order to make sure that learners who use this system are able to learn just as effectively and efficiently as those using he traditional method (Roberts & McInnerney, 2007). Formal education has a very long history and a big part of this history is geared towards the traditional system of learning. In this regard, most of the theories and models of learning which have been developed have been developed around the traditional modes of learning and there is little theory to support the new and upcoming models such as web based learning. In this regard, it is necessary for there to be an understanding of how the web based and other virtual learning systems can be used to deliver knowledge to learners without compromising on the integrity of the education which the learners received. Without doing this, it will be hard to use such learning environments to able to help t he students as well as the tutors to be able to use the system to deliver kind of education required of them. At the same time, it will be necessary to recognize that learning environments are changing and that there is a need to make sure that there are systems as well as theories and models to support the new modes of learning and teaching. The issue of web based learning, or learning as it is referred by some people, is one which has been a major debate. Debate about web based learning or eLearning start from issues as trivial as what can be said to constitute eLearning and how the term should be spelled. However, there are more serious issues which must be looked at. These issues revolve around the credibility and the effectiveness as well as

Information Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Information Security - Essay Example The next morning, Barry McPherson, their EVP, released a statement that was well phrased, but still unapologetic. Again, this was the wrong person to give such an announcement. The public relations and brand management team should have been the first people to make the announcement as it hurt their company’s image. The fact that the announcements were made by a spokesman and the EVP was damaging since their announcements came off as unapologetic, considering the major inconveniences suffered by their clients. The apology eventually came from the EVP, followed closely by the CEO three days after the malfunction of their anti-virus software (Harkins, 2013). This was too late, and the damage to McAfee as a trusted brand had already been done. If the CIO had liaised with the brand and public relations people, the issue would have been solved with less frustration from the clients. In this aspect, while McAfee was able to arrest the situation with relative speed, the communication of the malfunction was more damaging than the malfunction (Harkins, 2013). The effect that the anti-virus malfunction had on ordinary everyday computer users shows that the world is becoming too reliant on information systems. They have taken over the everyday running of organizations, as well as daily planning for individuals. Information systems are now used to store most of the information and transfer the information (Harkins, 2013). The use of cell phones and computers to communicate has gone up tremendously in the last ten years. It is almost impossible to imagine what life was like when one had to use a cell phone or write a letter. Increasingly, enterprises are transacting businesses using technology and most accounting is now information system based. The use of information system has also become indispensable to decision making and logistics for most medium and big organizations (Harkins, 2013). Finally, even government agencies are now reliant on information systems. This shows that, as a society, information systems have begun to define how man interacts with information. The advancement of information systems have been good for society and arguing otherwise overlooks how easy it has made decision making at multiple levels. However, this heightened use has ensured that the law of unintended consequences will apply (Harkins, 2013). In the case of any breach or failure for these systems, the consequences will be far reaching, particularly, if it is on a large scale. Over-reliance on information systems has made society a little more vulnerable. The use of passwords and pin numbers to guard these systems is basic to the threatening vulnerability. Because the society now uses interconnected systems for majority of their activities from banking, to food supply, to power, if anything goes wrong with the systems or they are sabotaged, the effects will be widespread. The collapse of information system networks due to cyber-attacks by terrorists or system f ailures, there would be mild paralysis (Harkins, 2013). As can be seen, the McAfee anti-virus update failure caused a lot of inconveniences to their clients. The reimbursement for reasonable expenses was the right thing to do, particularly for those home clients who were hit by the fault. In fact, McAfee was obligated legally to reimburse its clients (Harkins, 2013). Software is dealt with in the US and EU by the consumer guarantee act and other similar acts These require that, in a situation where

American History since 1865 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American History since 1865 - Essay Example The Founding Fathers of the United States of America, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, were unanimous in their belief that the foreign policy best suited to the interests of the fledgling nation was one of non-intervention in the political affairs of other states. â€Å"(America is) the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own† (John Quincy Adams, cited in Raico, 1995). This policy of free trade and non-intervention led to the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, which insisted on a reciprocal non-interference by the European powers in the Western Hemisphere, and continued until the latter half of the nineteenth century. At this juncture, a call for America to pursue a more proactive role in world affairs, in keeping with her position as a great power, began to gain popularity. Its chief adherents were in the Republican Party, and consisted of Theodore Roosevelt, Admiral Alfred Mahan, John Hay and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, who advocated America’s adoption of â€Å"the large policy,† committed to the expansion of U.S. influence and territory overseas (Raico, 1995). This period saw the birth of American Imperialism. American Imperialism had several causes, led to American intervention in many countries of the world, and irrevocably changed American foreign policy. The causes of American Imperialism were complex and varied. Some intellectuals, like Senator Albert Beveridge, chose to expand the concept of ‘Manifest Destiny,’ which was initially used to justify American expansion on the American continent, to justify overseas expansion. Josiah Strong’s Our Country (1885), predicted a global American empire. Based on ‘Darwinian Socialism,’ it was considered the ‘duty’ of the superior Anglo-Saxon race to spread Christian and Democratic values to ‘backward’ people. This

Revolutionaries and Freemasonry Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Revolutionaries and Freemasonry - Research Paper Example It often calls itself "a strange system of ethics covered in allegory and demonstrated by symbols (Word IQ.com, 2010). As King (1998) asserts, freemasonry is the worlds oldest and leading system. Its customs look back to most basic history. Masonry in its existing structure appeared when the inhabitants of London, England perceived its public incidents in 1717. Although masonry, mainly in its initial days had some aspects of confidentiality, the first publicity of the evidently highly confidential Masonic ceremony essentially emerged in 1696. Tens of thousands of books has been published about this secret organization since then. In spite of the good works done by its members, Freemasonry has repeatedly suffered the slings and arrows of those who seek to use its silent nature in opposition to it for over three hundred years. Freemasonrys singular principle is to make good men better and its bonds of friendship, kindness and brotherly love have survived even the most divisive political, military and religious conflicts through the centuries. Freemasonry is neither a forum nor a place of worship. It i s not a religion nor does it teach a religious philosophy. For almost three hundred years, it has attracted men of high moral character who support the doctrine of self-control, resilience, caution and justice. Great thinkers and revolutionaries were highly influenced by the Masonic dogma and activities. It is asserted that advancing in time from 1789, enormous revolutions were led by Freemasons: Simon Bolivar, Josà © de San Martin and Bernardo O’Higgins in South America; Vicente Guerrero, and later Benito Juarez, in Mexico; Josà © Marti in Cuba, Josà © Rizal in the Philippines, and Giuseppe Garibaldi in Italy. Most remarkably, the Texans who rebelled against the government of Mexico, and fought a triumphant war of secession, were mainly masons, and certainly, all the presidents and vice-presidents of the Republic of Texas were masons too

Multinational Enterprises Essay Example for Free

Multinational Enterprises Essay The needs to fulfill market demands and find new revenue well have driven many corporations in the world to conduct their expansion strategy. One famous way out is to expand into foreign markets while enhancing the brand value in local market. The situation refers to internationalization or globalization in which many companies take the ways in order to boost sales. The situation occurs since nowadays a business operational coverage does not restricted by national boundaries since they can sell their services over the internet under B2B (business-to-business) or B2C (business-to-consumers) schemes. Many factors encourage companies to conduct internationalization; they include the belief that their products are unique and distinctive by any measures, have recognized brands; and possess worldwide distribution channels, technological leadership, and better product value. However, the corporations, often called Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) or Multinational Companies (MNCs), may overlook several considerations when performing internationalization, which in turn prevent the companies to reap the benefits of their foreign market presences. This situation suggests that amidst the attractiveness of providing services or selling products in foreign markets due to their well-recognized brands, companies need to pay attention to external and internal forces in the market since they determine the success of the companies’ international operation. The forces do not only include the technical issue or market knowledge but also supporting issues such as human resources management, cultural issues, and financial issues, to name a few. Concerning business expansion into foreign countries, this paper will discuss several issues relating to marketing Chinese electric bicycle to Perth (Australia). Several issues include economy, technology, legal and political, human resource strategy, and cultural assessment and negotiation, to name a few. 2. Background The background is about the Electric Bicycles that we take from China, import them, and sell the products in Perth (Australia). We also have our own website that we can sell online to people and ship our bicycles to any where in Australia. 3. Economy In CIA Factbook, Australia is regarded as an example of a prosperous Western-style capitalist economy, with a per capita GDP at the level of the four dominant West European economies. Since Australia has many natural resources, the country becomes a major exporter of agricultural products, minerals, metals, and fossil fuels. Commodities account for 57% of the value of total exports, so that a downturn in world commodity prices can have a big impact on the country’s economy. In addition, the report from CIA also notes that Australian government is pushing for increased exports of manufactured goods, but competition in international markets continues to be severe. While Australia has suffered from the low growth and high unemployment characterizing the OECD countries in the early 1990s and during the recent financial problems in East Asia, the economy has expanded at a solid 4% annual growth pace in the last five years. Below is economy figure of Australia.

Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi Book Review Essay Example for Free

Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi Book Review Essay Sook Nyul Choi has written a heart-breaking book about love, brutal, loss, and the agonized life of a little girl, named Sookan, and her family. She has titled it Year of Impossible Goodbyes. The story has a lot of sacrifices and decisions that were hard to make, like this one, â€Å"Please, I beg of you, let’s not waste time talking about my [Aunt Tiger] coming along anymore† (Choi 125). It is a true story based on her experience under the dictatorship of the Japanese Imperial Government during World War II. After the war ended and the Japanese lost, Russia sent troops into Northern Korea to accept the surrender of the Japanese. As the Russian Communists occupy North Korea and threaten Korean civilians, Sookan, the narrator, faces the Japanese, the Russians, and her fight into South Korea. After I read this marvelous novel it reminded me of my family; I assure you it is one of my favorite books, and while I read this book, I learned that I could have different emotions! The novel reminded me of my family because they are always with me while Sookan’s parents, from time to time, were apart from her. Her Grandfather had always reminded them â€Å"Harmony will prevail, after darkness there will be light, yet we cannot have the light without the dark. Better days are bound to come now† as Cabuco 2 some of the family members were away (Choi 46). When I used to be alone at home with my grandfather, he used to tell me something similar to this about always sticking together, but when alone do not lose hope. Inchun reminds me of myself when I was small, because I used to follow my brothers everywhere, and I used to annoy them by whining and crying. This novel became one of my favorite novels because it taught me about pain, sacrifices, and loss. I could feel the pain Sookan went through as I read â€Å"I eard the dogs drawing closer and I thrust my body under the wire. The barbs dug into me. My hair was caught, my clothes ripped, and I could feel the blood pooling in the cuts on my back† (Choi 164). Therefore, they had a lot of sacrifices of leaving their homeland, friends, and the precious things of grandfather. They even lost Kisa, Aunt Tiger, the sock girls, and Unhi. As Sookan says herself â€Å"I wouldnt have lost so much if it werent for the Japanese† (F. , Anna). This statement is actually true because without the sacrifices and losses, they would not have made it for freedom. I also like this book because I think not many books are written about wars whose author has experienced it, but this book was. As I read this novel, I learned that I could have different emotions. At first, I thought it was boring since it had a lot of details and the first chapter was long, but as this story gets to its plot, I got interested as Sookan’s feelings are being expressed. â€Å"Can you blame them? How are they to know there’s anything better? Your Americans aren’t here. I [Aunt Tiger] heard they’re in Japan helping the Japanese! They’re nearby now, but they just don’t care about us,† I felt helpless, annoyed, and disappointed about the situation for being abandoned as I read this quote (Choi 106). I was getting irritated by how brutal the Japanese and Cabuco 3 Russians were treating the Koreans. I felt really annoyed by Inchun’s whining, crying, and complaining. As Sookan and Inchun arrived at their home in South Korea, I felt really lugubrious that they did not find their mother there, as they hoped they would. I felt really happy that they finally reached the South. I also like how the author’s choice of words, as they can really give the reader, like myself, vivid imageries and different emotions. I have no words to explain what I think about this novel, but I can assure that it has become one of my favorite books. As I was reading this novel till the very end, I found myself with different emotions. It reminded me of my parents and I felt so blessed that they were always with me. It is really easy to have a favorite book, but it is hard to know what it has really taught me. This book has really inspired me, that is why it has become one of my favorite books. The author has great choice of words that filled me with different emotions. Above all, I would rate it nine point five out of ten, because ten is reserved for the best book and I was quite bored to it until the novel got to its plot. I really like the part about understanding the life at war from someone, like the author, who has experienced it. I would recommend this book to everyone, especially to the little ones as they know very little about life at war. After reading this novel, the reader will feel really inspired by this wonderful novel from the author who has experienced it all.

Impact of Food Industrialization

Impact of Food Industrialization Nikoleta Koleva The Industrialization of Our Food System: Are We Sacrificing Quality to Quantity? The industrialization of our food supply is something that is becoming more popular amongst farmers and food producers. One of the biggest reasons in the overcrowded conditions in farms and how easy it is for one animal to spread diseases to all, thus ending in our plates. This becomes even more problematic with the rise of globalization – with an infected animal in a farm in Alabama that no one detects, people in China can receive the disease and spread it from there. However, with the rise of industrialized agriculture, other significant problems have arisen. Obesity has skyrocketed as prices for naturally-grown food increase quickly; diseases, both behavioral and physical, have increased in children and many more drawbacks that would be too long to list. As for its history, industrial agriculture arose alongside the Industrial Revolution, something we are also feeling the side-effects of today. It is a fact that by the end of the early nineteenth century, agricultural techn iques had improved so much that the output was many times greater than that seen in the Middle Ages. This was suiting and satisfactory, as the human population was growing at an exponential rate. Later on, as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus were found and properly studied, they had a new purpose as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. With the increased usage of these elements and vitamin supplements, many farm animals face less and less exposure to nature and all that is natural, as they are fully grown indoors. Furthermore, the discovery of antibiotics and vaccines ensured that animal-spread diseases do not occur in crowded facilities. However, as industrial agriculture becomes a more popular method, concerns have arisen over the sustainability of intensive agriculture, which has been related to the decreasing soil quality in key places, such as the US, Australia, India and Asia. One strong proponent of the deindustrialization of the American food system is Al Jazeera. Since its establishment in 2006 as an international news source, it has gained a lot of momentum, due to their wide range of topics and top-notch reporting or world events. The channel itself currently broadcasts to 250 million households across 130 countries. In their article supporting agriculture and the preservation of natural-growth farms, Vandana Shiva, the author of the article, states how many industrialization supporters keep falsifying information about the scale and contribution of organic farming. Many of these advocates claim that organic farming requires too much land grab and uses too many pesticides, when the facts are that industrial agriculture is causing the deforestation of the rainforests in the Amazon and Indonesia, fuelling a land grab in Africa and Europe. In fact, according to the FAO International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources in Leipzig, industrial f arming is the reason for seventy-five per cent biodiversity erosion, seventy-five per cent water destruction, seventy-five per cent land degradation, as well as forty per cent greenhouse gases. These high numbers wound the planet in ways unfixable and long lasting. Not only this, millions of farmers are losing their farms and hard work. Even the food, which is consumed by the population is suffering – animals are put into factory farms and fed grain, as opposed to grass in a natural setting; this is equal to an animal prison. This lack of nutrients affects both the animal and the human consumer, as people are also devoid of these important dietary ingredients. The simple fact is that as industrialized agriculture has gained popularity, the number of hungry people on the planet has also risen. This is an indicator that something is not right; the food system has taken a wrong step. The facts and evidence presented by Vandana Shiva are well informed and presented. I was swayed by her argument and found myself disliking industrialized agriculture much more than previously. It is clear that she did her research and knew what she was talking about all the way through. The article was very well-structured and delivered, with no stray points or unnecessary rants. While I was previously aware of the treatment of animals in industrialized farms, I was ignorant on the impact it had on the planet environmentally. Deforestation one of the most serious problems we face today – whether regarding global warming or the extinction of millions of species, however, the fact that humans are still doing it when we have other, currently available, option is maddening. The facts are, countries that do not consume industrialized-grown food suffer from much lower rates of obesity and other food-related diseases. The problem the United States has is the fact that its organic foo d is much more expensive and harder to get than its industrialized-grown counterpart. It is an unfair race – why should consumers not have an equal access to either type? This disadvantage creates an unescapable cycle: people with less money do not purchase the organic food, thus consuming lower quality food with not enough nutrients. Since it lacks the richness of naturally grown food, people with lesser incomes consume more food, usually one that is unhealthy, cheap and lacking any types of significant nutrients. Thus, obesity begins sprouting up and rapidly spreading around the country. The problem is escaping this poisonous cycle and learning a healthier style of living. Why should we industrialize food, when naturally grown food is tastier, uses less space, does not injure the Earth and its resources and does not aid in the wide-scale release of greenhouse gases? An opponent of the deindustrialization of the food system in the United States is Blake Hurst, published in the American Enterprise Institute. The AEI is an American establishment, focused on research and education on issues of government, politics, economics and social welfare. Started in Washington in 1943, it still runs there and supplies its large readership with thoughtful articles. In his article on why industrialized agriculture is not the enemy, Blake Hurst describes how he got the idea of discussing this topic. Whilst on a plane, he heard an organic farm activist broadcasting about the inhumanity of industrialized farming. Hurst was angered at the ignorance of the reporter and is now on a mission to educate people why industrialized farming is not harmful but beneficial. His first and strongest arguing point is that people who sit in offices all day and stare at computer screens do not know what being a farmer is, yet they demand things they are not well-informed on. Telling someone how to do their work when you have no sensible information on the subject is selfish and may oftentimes be completely wrong. Hurst states that critics of industrial farming spend most of their time complaining about the way the food is raised, in regards to conditions and treatment. As his argument, he describe turkeys and how when they are naturally raised, they are not smart enough to survive long enough to be used as food. Furthermore, as President Obama and his government listen more and more to the public and demand fairer treatment of animals, the farmers cannot do anything to disprove and obey. Indeed, industrial farming conditions for animals are improving drastically. Hurts argues that nature is sometimes even more cruel than farmers, with mother pigs eating their offspring and that life is unfair all-around. Hurst’s article on why industrial farming is not evil was written well but lacked a strong punch that sways the reader to his side. Starting off with a personal story was a nice touch and humanized the writer, making him both relatable and approachable. His point on the fact that people who do not produce food do not really understand what is going on was the strongest out of all the ones later listed. It is true: with no first-hand experience, it is easy to rally for something when one is not aware of the amount of labor that goes into it. Organically-grown food is advertised as healthier and cruelty-less grown, but what do people who live in cities without animals know about how food is truly grown? However, that is where Hurst’s argument begins weakening and losing its initial punch. One big mistake in his article is the lack of focus on the environmental impact the industrial agriculture creates. In fact, most farmers that do not grow organic food fail to mention ho w their crops affect the environment and pollute various sources permanently. It was also scarcely mentioned how the health of the American citizens has significantly gone down after industrial agriculture became more and more popular with farmers and food producers. Hurst does mention that the â€Å"old-fashioned† way of farming is much more demanding and dirty but should food consumers and farmers both eat lower quality food because someone does not want to work? As Shiva mentioned in her article, food is what we are. What we eat is absolutely essential to our overall well-being and happiness. As obesity rates, not only in America but all over the world, continue to exponentially increase, it is important for us to find the source and come up with a solution. When exploring this topic, I realized how ignorant I was on many of these facts and side effects of industrially-grown food. However, when thinking about it, the proponent’s arguments make a lot more sense. As someone from a country that grows all of its food naturally, when moving to the United States, I definitely noticed a decrease in both quality and taste. Everything is larger, unnaturally so, lacking of taste and not as satisfactory. In my country, for less than a dollar, I could get a plentitude of naturally grown fruits and vegetables, while in America, I can get a smaller, industrially-grown, quantity. It is both disappointing and saddening. Humans need these nutrients, why should I pay so much to consume them? I believe the saddest fact is that many countries follow America’s steps and search for easier ways to complete food growing. This can be noted, as obesity begins rising all around the globe, with the spread of fast food American chains, which do not off er any type of nutritionally significant food. Chains, such as McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Wendy’s, etc., sell food for cheap. When families with lower incomes go out to purchase food, it is much easier to get more of one type of food, instead of a few of another, even if the latter is healthier. Food has always been a privilege to our species but at this point in history, when there is an opportunity for most people to easily consume it, why are we settling for the worst of the available choices? Why should organic food, which our bodies need be more expensive and harder to obtain than junk food, something that should not be consumed at a constant rate? Because it is the easy opt-out and costs less for giant corporations to produce.

Abraham Lincoln and Slavery Essay example -- Slavery Essays

Abraham Lincoln and Slavery Many Americans believe that Abraham Lincoln was the â€Å"Great Emancipator,† the sole individual who ended slavery, and the man who epitomizes freedom. In his brief presidential term, Lincoln dealt with an unstable nation, with the South seceding from the country and in brink of leaving permanently. The differing ideologies between the North and South about the economy and slavery quickly lead to civil war. It was now the duty of Lincoln to maintain the unity of the nation. Therefore, Lincoln is not the â€Å"Great Emancipator† because his primary goals throughout his presidency was always to maintain the unity of the nation and not achieve the emancipation of slaves. First of all, by looking at Lincoln’s road to the white house, one can see that Abraham Lincoln was a man undecided on the issue of slavery. He wisely used the issue of slavery to appeal to both the abolitionists and to Negrophobes, Northerners who were afraid of living side-by- side with Negroes and competing with them for jobs. For example, on July 10th of 1959, Lincoln gave a speech in Chicago, a primarily abolitionist town. Lincoln stated that inequality was unnecessary in this country. If all men were created equal then were should look past race, saying, â€Å"Let us discard all these things, and unite as one people throughout this land, until we shall once more stand up declaring that all men are created equal† (Hofstadter, pg. 148). On the other hand, Lincoln gave a speech in Charleston, on September 18, 1858, a primarily pro-slavery town and gave a totally contrary opinion. Lincoln stated that he is not, or has ever been, in favor of freeing slaves and giving them social equality. Lincoln stated... ... he gave conflicting beliefs about slavery to attain the necessary votes to elect him to office. Then, once the Civil War began, he was merely trying to preserve what was left of an unstable union. The true â€Å"Emancipators† of slavery lie in the grass roots people of that time, the abolitionists, Frederick Douglas, and the slaves themselves. The slaves earned their freedom. Lincoln was merely a man who let the events of his era determine his policy. â€Å"I claim not to have controlled events but confess plainly that events controlled me.† Bibliography: ï » ¿ Bibliography 1. John Majewski, History of the American Peoples: 1840-1920 (Dubuque: Kent/Hunt Publishing, 2001). 2. Richard Hofstadter, The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It (New York: Random House Publishing, 1973).

Capital Punishment :: essays research papers

Capital Punishment is the lawful infliction of the death penalty. The three most common death penalties are the gas chamber, lethal injection, and the electric chair. These methods are used to be a deterrent against crimes such as murder. The point given to these people is that they are less likely to commit a crime knowing they’ll receive the ultimate punishment to kill. "No other punishment is to deter man so effectively from committing a crime as the punishment of death". Now many people may agree that this statement is correct, but Criminologists have built a strong case that the threat of death failed to deter murder, anymore effectively than prison. Therefore, to inflict harm to one, is just simply useless. Capital Punishment is meant to deter crimes but at what cost? Capital trials are longer and more expensive at every step than other murder trials. Pre-trial motions, expert witness investigations, jury selection, and the necessity for two trials--one on guilt and one on sentencing--make capital cases extremely costly, even before the appeals process begins. Guilty pleas are almost unheard of when the punishment is death. In addition, many of these trials result in a life sentence rather than the death penalty, so the state pays the cost of life imprisonment on top of the expensive trial. On top of that some states are spending large amounts of money, but murder rates are not going down. For example, the most comprehensive study in the country found that the death penalty costs North Carolina $2.16 million per execution more then life imprisonment. Texas, with over 300 people on death row, is spending an estimated $2.3 million per case, but its murder rate remains one of the highest i n the country. A death penalty case costs an average of $2.3 million, is about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years. The exorbitant costs of capital punishment are actually making America less safe because badly needed financial and legal resources are being diverted from effective crime fighting strategies. Across the country, police are being laid off, prisoners are being released early, the courts are clogged, and crime continues to rise. In Texas, prisoners are serving only 20% of their time and rearrests are common. Now if money was putting men in prison instead of killing them†¦. Also, Georgia is laying off 900 correctional personnel and New Jersey has had to dismiss 500 police officers.

A Story About Love Essay -- essays research papers

In Ray Bradbury’s â€Å"A Story About Love†, a young man in his 30’s, Bill Forrester takes up the acquaintance of an elderly woman, Helen Loomis who is in her 90’s. They meet in an ice cream shop and Bill tells Helen that he was in love with her once. She doesn’t know what this means. Helen invites Bill to join her the next day. Bill goes to Helen’s on a daily basis and she tells him stories about far away places that she has traveled to. In their minds, they are able to â€Å"travel† to these places together. Bill eventually tells Helen what he meant when he said that he was in love with her once. He had seen her picture in the newspaper and thought she was pretty. He was going to attend a ball that she was at but found out that the picture was many years old and she was actually an older woman. T...

Miracles and Science Essay

1. Introduction: Miracles as violations of the laws of nature Unbelievable, isn’t it, that there are still students at this university who believe in stories from the Bible, said Martin, an older colleague, at one of the formal dinners around which the traditional life of Oxford University revolves. But Martin, I answered, their faith probably doesn’t differ much from mine. I can still see his face go pale while he nearly choked on his glass of St. Emilion Grand Cru Classà ©: How can you believe in such things nowadays – Walking on water, a resurrection from the dead? Those are miracles, and aren’t you a scientist? Oh, how interesting, say John and Ruth, a couple that I have just met at the end of a church service. You are a scientist. They look a bit unsure of what to say next and John blurts out, I read recently that we still don’t understand how birds can fly so many miles to the south and yet return to exactly the same place each summer. Scientists can’t explain this; it is a miracle, don’t you think? I never quite know what to say next in such conversations. Perhaps nine years of living in Britain have made me too sensitive to that most cardinal of English social sins – causing embarrassment. But there is more to it than that. Behind these statements lies a tangle of complex intellectual issues related to the definition and scope of science, the nature of God’s action in the world, and the reliability and interpretation of the Bible. These have exercised many of greatest minds in history: The debate between atheism and religious belief has gone on for centuries, and just about every aspect of it has been explored to the point where even philosophers seem bored with it. The outcome is stalemate. 1 So says my Oxford colleague Alister McGrath. Although these subtleties are well known to philosophers and historians of  science, public discourse on science and religion often seems blissfully unaware of them. 2 Everyone brings a set of presuppositions to the table. To make progress, these should first be brought out into the open. Without time for an honest conversation in which we can listen to each other in depth, I won’t know exactly what Martin, John, or Ruth’s presuppositions are. But, for the sake of this essay, I will be a bit presumptuous and venture a guess. My guess would be that, although both seem to be on opposite sides of a vast divide, they are in fact influenced by a similar perspective on science and miracles, one first laid down by the great sceptical Scottish philosopher David Hume, who wrote: A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature, and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined. This language of â€Å"miracles as violations of the laws of nature† has framed the debate ever since. Martin, John and Ruth, perhaps without realizing it, are living under the long shadow of David Hume. Martin may think that science is the only reliable route to gaining knowledge about the world, and that, since belief in miracles is obviously unscientific, such belief must ipso facto be false. John and Ruth may feel a similar tension between science and miracles, and are therefore encouraged by any natural process that seems inexplicable. Weakening the power of science would seem to strengthen the case for God acting in the world: If we know that today God miraculously steers a bird back to its original habitat after a long return flight to the south, then it is easier to believe that 2000 years ago he turned water into wine at a wedding in Cana. Now, as a Christian scientist who believes in the miracles of the Bible, I take issue with both of the views above. But to explain this better, I need to first take a step back and answer two critical questions: What do I mean by science, and what does  the Bible say about miracles? 2. Defining Science The problem of deciding where to draw the lines around science has vexed generations of philosophers. Like many unsolved issues, it has been given its own name—â€Å"the demarcation problem.† Although one can determine with some degree of consensus what the extremes of the science/non-science continuum are, exactly where the boundary lies is fuzzy. This doesn’t mean, however, that we cannot recognize science when we see it4, but rather that a watertight definition is difficult to create. The old fashioned idea (still taught in many schools) that scientific practice follows a well-defined linear process—first make an observation, then state a hypothesis, and then test that hypothesis—is certainly far too simple. Science as a tapestry Rather than attempt to come up with a careful and precise definition of science or scientific practice, I will instead resort to a favorite metaphor of mine. It originates with one of my former teachers at Cornell, the p hysicist David Mermin, who describes science as a â€Å"tapestry† woven together from many threads (experimental results, interpretations, explanations, etc.).5 It is only when one examines the tapestry as a whole that it will (or will not) make a convincing pattern. Creating scientific tapestries is a collective endeavor building on mutual trust and the communal experience of what kinds of arguments and evidence are likely to stand the test of time. In part because the skill of weaving reliable scientific tapestries relies on subtle judgements, a young scientist may work for years as an apprentice of older and more experienced practitioners before branching out on his own. In this process there are many parallels with the guilds of old. I am fond of this metaphor because it describes what I think I experience from the inside as a scientist. Moreover, it also emphasizes the importance of coherence and consistency when I weave together arguments and data to make an â€Å"inference to a best explanation.†6 The strong communal element inherent in scientific practice has at times been seized upon by sociologists of science to argue that s cientific knowledge is just one more type of human construct with no greater  claim on reality than any other form of knowledge. But scientists as a whole have reacted to this proposition in a negative way.7 Although they agree that all kinds of economic, historical and social factors do play a role in the formation of scientific theories, they would argue that, in the long run, the scientific process does lead to reliable knowledge about the world. The view of nature embraced by most scientists that I know could be described as critical realism. They are realists because they believe that there is a world out there that is independent of our making. The adjective â€Å"critical† is added because they recognize that extracting knowledge about that world is not always straightforward. Thus, the primary role of the collective nature of the scientific process is to provide a network of error-correcting mechanisms that prevent us from fooling ourselves. The continual testing against nature refines and filters out competing scientific theories, leading to advances in the strength and reliability of our scien tific knowledge tapestries. Although there are many commonalities in the ways that scientists in distinct fields assemble their tapestry arguments, there can also be subtle differences. These differences are foisted on us in part by the types of problems that each field attempts to address. For example, as a theoretical physicist I’ve been trained in a tradition of what the Nobel Laureate Eugene Wigner called â€Å"the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics:† The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. We should be grateful for it and hope that it will remain valid in future research and that it will extend, for better or for worse, to our pleasure, even though perhaps also to our bafflement, to wide branches of learning.8 We believe, based on a history of spectacular success, that mathematical consistency among threads is a key indicator of strong tapestries.9 These days, I spend much of my time interacting with biologists who tend to view my confidence  in the ability of theoretical models to extract knowledge about the physical world with great suspicion.10 I, on the other hand, am often instinctively sceptical of the huge error bars that can afflict their data.11 To a large degree, these cultural differences are forced on us by the kinds of questions we study. My reaction above arises because physics is self-limiting. As a community we simply don’t deal with problems of the same level of complexity that biology does. If an experiment is too messy we will often define it away by declaring â€Å"that isn’t physics,† and move on. Similarly, molecular biologists can afford to be more selective about their data than medical scientists or psychologists can.12 But, despite these cultural differences, which can lead to heated and sometimes frustrating discussion, we do agree on a number of ground rules for defining what makes a tapestry strong. For example, what we either predict or measure should be repeatable. If I claim to see an effect in an experiment, someone else in a different lab should be able to reliably measure the same effect.13 That simple requirement has many ramifications for the types of problems we are able to address The limits of science There are many questions that simply are not amenable to purely scientific analysis. A very lucid discussion of this issue can be found in the book The Limits of Science by Nobel Prize winner (and atheist) Sir Peter Medawar, who wrote: That there is indeed a limit upon science is made very likely by the existence of questions that science cannot answer and that no conceivable advance of science would empower it to answer†¦ It is not to science, therefore but to metaphysics, imaginative literature or religion that we must turn for answers to questions having to do with first and last things. and Science is a great and glorious enterprise – the most successful, I argue, that human beings have ever engaged in. To reproach it for its inability to answer all the questions we should like to put to it is no more sensible than to reproach a railway locomotive for not flying or, in general, not performing any other operation for which it was not designed.14 Science’s great power derives from its self-imposed limits. It is wrong to ask it to pronounce on issues outside its jurisdiction. In fact, the most important decisions in life cannot be addressed solely by the scientific method, nor do people really live as if they can. In the words of Sir John Polkinghorne, former professor of Mathematical Physics at Cambridge and Anglican priest: We are entitled to require a consistency between what people write in their studies and the way in which they live their lives. I submit that no-one lives as if science were enough. Our account of the world must be rich enough – have a thick enough texture and a sufficiently generous rationality – to contain the total spectrum of human meeting with reality. But just because we don’t live life by the scientific method doesn’t mean that the only alternative is irrationality. For example, if I were to decide to get married, a truly irrational approach would be to pick a random woman off the street. Instead, assuming I find a potentially willing partner, it is wise to go through a period of courtship during which we get to know each other. We may also ask for the opinion of wise friends. There are helpful counseling programs with compatibility lists, etc. that, in fact, often use knowledge that scientific techniques have extracted from our collective experience and wisdom. But at the end of the day I can’t demand scientific certainty before deciding to marry someone. Nor is it wise to perform repeatable experiments! I need to make a volitional step because there are aspects of marriage that I can only see from the inside.15 Another example of a method used to obtain knowledge is the legal process which, although it is a tightly organized system, is not strictly scientific. Similarly, a historian will use a combination of evidence (e.g. manuscripts) and understanding about the thinking patterns of a particular era to make informed judgements about what happened in the past. Clearly, this big question of how to extract reliable  information about the world, how to separate fact from mere opinion, is indeed a very difficult and important one. 3. Miracles and the Bible How can we then judge whether or not the miracles of the Bible are reliable? Since the word miracle has taken on so many different meanings, it is important to first examine the biblical language. The New Testament predominantly uses three words for miracle: ï‚ ·teras, a wonder ï‚ ·dunamis, an act of power ï‚ ·semeion, a sign Sometimes it combines all three, as in Acts 2:22: Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles (dunamis), wonders (teras) and signs (semeion), which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. The word teras (wonder) is almost always used together with one of the other words, emphasizing that the main point of biblical miracles is not to merely elicit amazement but rather to serve a higher theological purpose. For this reason, biblical miracles cannot be understood outside of the theological context within which they occur. They are not anomalous events. This principle provides a key to the proper assessment of their validity. Nature is what God does Miracles happen against a backdrop. In this context, it is illuminating to see how the Bible describes God’s action in the natural world. For example in Psalm 104, that great poem about nature, we read, He makes springs pour water into the ravines, it flows between the mountains The first part of this verse refers to God’s direct action while the second part suggests that water flows through its own natural properties. Read the Psalm for yourself and notice how fluidly the point of view changes back and forth between what we might call the laws of nature and the direct action of God. Such dual descriptions can be found throughout the Bible. The New Testament is even more explicit: The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Hebrews 1:3)  and He is before all things, and in him all th ings hold together (Col 1:17) In other words, if God were to stop sustaining all things by his powerful word, the world would stop existing. That is why, when describing nature, the Bible so easily switches perspectives depending on whether it is emphasizing the regular behavior of natural phenomena, or their origin in God’s providential sustenance. So, as St. Augustine might say, Nature is what [God] does.16 Augustine doesn’t mean that nature is the same as God (pantheism), for, as he also argued, God operates outside of space and time. Nevertheless, and this is a very subtle point, 17 a case can be made for ascribing some independent causal power to the laws of nature. On the other hand, there is no room within a robust biblical theism for the opposite deistic notion that God started the world and then left it to run on its own, completely independently, because descriptions of God’s continuous care for creation are found throughout Scripture: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (Matthew 10:29,30) As Christian thinkers throughout the Middle Ages wrestled with the questions of miracles and God’s action in the world, the following ideas emerged: if the regularities of nature are a manifestation of the sustenance of God then one would expect them to be trustworthy and consistent, rather than capricious. The regular behavior of nature could be viewed as the â€Å"customs of the Creator† as it were. Christians glorify God by studying these â€Å"laws of nature.† A strong case can be made that such theological realizations helped pave the way for the rise of modern science.18 By the time the Royal Society of London, the world’s first scientific society, was founded in 1660, Christian thinkers like the metaphysical poet John Donne, then dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, could write: the ordinary things in Nature, would be greater miracles than the extraordinary, which we  admire most, if they were done but once†¦ only the daily doing takes off the admiration.19 God of the gaps A similar sentiment lies behind a famous exchange between those old adversaries, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Sir Isaac Newton. The latter noticed that the orbits of the planets did not appear to be stable when calculated over long periods, and postulated that the solar system needed occasional â€Å"reformation† by God. Leibniz objected that,  if God had to remedy the defects of His creation, this was surely to demean his craftsmanship. 20 In other words, the regular sustaining activity of God, as evidenced by natural laws, should be sufficient t o explain the regular behaviour of the solar system, without the need for additional ad-hoc interventions. Making it right the first time is more glorious than having to fix it later. In the same context, Leibniz also emphasised the theological nature of miracles: And I hold, that when God works miracles, he does not do it in order to supply the wants of nature, but those of grace. Whoever thinks otherwise, must needs have a very mean notion of the wisdom and power of God.21 A more modern version of Leibniz’s general objection can be found in a famous statement by Charles Coulson, the first Oxford professor of Theoretical Chemistry who wrote, When we come to the scientifically unknown, our correct policy is not to rejoice because we have found God; it is to become better scientists.22 He popularized the phrase â€Å"God of the gaps† for those who, perhaps like John and Ruth, think that God is found primarily in the lacunas of our scientific understanding. Two sorts of miracles Science, as well as tools from historical disciplines, can be brought to bear on biblical miracles. For example they can be split into those that are examples of providential timing (type i miracles) and those that can only be viewed as directly violating physical cause-effect  relationships (type ii miracles). An example of a possible type i miracle would be the crossing of the river Jordan by the people of Israel: Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. (Joshua 3:15,16) Colin Humphreys, Cambridge professor of material science, has studied this miracle in great detail 23 and notes that the text supplies a number of unusual clues, including the fact that the water was blocked up a great distance away at a particular town. He has identified this with a location where the Jordan has been known to temporarily dam up when strong earthquakes cause mudslides (most recently in 1927). For many scientists, the fact that God is working through natural processes makes the miracle more palatable: The scientist, even when he is a believer, is bound to try as far as possible to reduce miracles to regularities: the believer, even when he is a scientist, discovers miracles in the most familiar things.24 Of course this doesn’t take away from the fact that there was remarkable timing involved. Perhaps the attraction of this description comes in part because there is a direct corollary with the very common experience of â€Å"providential timing† of events, which believers attribute to God’s working.25 There are also miracles in the Bible that defy description in terms of current science. Perhaps the most significant of these is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If anything, science has strengthened the case for this not being a type i miracle. For example, in John 19:34 we read: Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. Modern medicine suggests that this is clear evidence that the pericardium, a membrane around the heart, was pierced, confirming that he was in fact dead. The more we know about the processes of decay that set in after death, the less likely it appears that Jesus could have risen from the dead by any natural means. Rather, science strengthens the case that if Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, the event must have occurred through a direct injection of supernatural power into the web of cause and effect that undergirds our physical world – it was a type ii miracle. Of course the resurrection is central to Christian teaching: And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. (I Corinthians 15:14) Given that almost every great Christian thinker in history has emphasized the fact that miracles must be understood within the context of a theological purpose, perhaps one could invert this argument and say that it is not surprising that the central eve nt in history would be miraculous. 26 So where has this argument brought us? I have argued that the precise relationship between miracles and science has been the subject of a long and unresolved debate with strands reaching back to the early Church fathers. Theologians wrestle with questions that concern the differences between God’s regular sustaining action and His special non-repeating actions, i.e. miracles, and how these fit in with redemptive purpose. There is a link to the question of demarcation in science, since within a robust biblical theism the regular working of God’s action, the â€Å"customs of the Creator† (or natural laws) are, almost by design, amenable to scientific analysis. Biblical miracles, in contrast, are always linked to special theological purpose and are therefore, almost by definition, non-repeatable and a-scientific. 4. The decisive significance of worldviews If Martin and I would have time to get this far in conversation, I’m sure we would have swiftly passed th e red herring of natural science being the touchstone upon which to examine biblical miracles. But Martin could point out that Hume made a number of other arguments against miracles, namely: Witness testimony is often suspect. ï‚ ·Stories get exaggerated in the retelling. Miracles are chiefly seen among ignorant and barbarous people. ï‚ ·Rival religions also have miracle stories, so they cancel each other out. These arguments are substantial, and I refer to footnote 3 for an introduction to the voluminous literature they have inspired. However, we can take a little stab at the first two objections. It is true that witness testimony cannot always be trusted and that stories change with time. But these are the same problems that face legal systems and historians. Nonetheless, we can employ the tools of these professions to examine biblical miracles. Take, for example, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is significant extrabiblical historical evidence that he indeed lived. Much has been written about the general trustworthiness of the Gospels. For example, there is much internal evidence, in both the style and content of the narratives, that the writers themselve s were convinced that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead. Tradition holds that 11 of the 12 original apostles were martyred for this belief that turned a group of cowards into a people who â€Å"turned the world upside down.† Although it is well beyond the scope of this essay, a very strong case for the plausibility of the resurrection can be made.27 Similar analysis can be brought to bear on other miracle claims, including those of other religions. After all, every meaningful system of thought must be open to careful scrutiny. But I suspect that often, underneath the surface, it is really the third argument that carries the most persuasive force. In part because history is littered with claims for the miraculous that seem bizarre, or smack of superstition, and in part because the incredible advances of modern science and technology inspire awe, we can intensely feel the attraction of identifying with the latter and not the former. This disposition is exemplified in the following quote by the theologian Rudolph Bultmann, a man famous for his attempts to de-mythologize the New Testament: It is impossible to use electric light and the wireless and to avail ourselves of modern medical and surgical discoveries, and at the same time to believe in the New Testament world of spirits and miracles.28 By getting rid of the miracle stories in the Bible,  Bultmann and his followers hoped to make the Christian story more palatable to modern man. Although I recognize the emotional weight of this sentiment, I am not convinced that it is an intellectually coherent approach, mainly for reasons of self-consistency. If the New Testamentitself asserts, both directly and indirectly, that the historicity of the resurrection is foundational to Christianity, then it would seem to stand or fall by that fact. As a physicist, I have a natural penchant for wanting to see how an idea relates to more basic principles. And to analyze the validity of a quote like the one above, we must take a cold hard look at our fundamental presuppositions. In the words of John Polkinghorne: If we are to understand the nature of reality, we have only two possible starting points: either the brute fact of the physical world or the brute fact of a divine will and purpose behind that physical world.29 Where does each of those two fundamental starting points take us? When we use them to construct a worldview, what kind of sense does it make of experience, morality, truth, beauty, and our place in the world? These are not easy questions. There is so much mystery around us. Perhaps the best way to move forward would be to borrow Mermin’s tapestry analogy and carefully investigate whether the different threads of historical evidence, philosophical consistency, and personal knowledge can be woven together into a worldview that is robust. In particular, does our tapestry posses those qualities of coherence and (surprising) fruitfulness that characterise the best scientific tapestries? If I start from the brute facts of nature, I personally am unable to construct a tapestry that is both rigorous and rich enough to make sufficient sense of the world. By contrast, if I assume a divine will and purpose behind the world I believe that I can construct a much more compelling tapesty that incorporates all of the threads of human  existence. Within that purposeful world, the case for Christianity is much more persuasive. To use a famous quote from C.S. Lewis: I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen-not only because I see it, but because by it, I see everything else.30 It is the sum total of all those arguments that convinces me of the veracity of biblical miracles. Nevertheless, I recognize that no matter how cogent, say, the historical evidence for the resurrection is, if I start from a different worldview, as Martin and Rudolph Bultmann do, then it will be virtually impossible to accept the existence of biblical miracles. (In the end I think this is what Hume is really saying). Miracles cannot be interpreted independently from the theological context in which they function. They are part of a package deal. I don’t know what Martin would make of all that. We would surely need more than one glass of wine to complete this discussion (but wouldn’t it be fun?). 5. Conclusion Finally, what would I say to John and Ruth? If they are like many Christians I know, they might feel a slight uneasiness with science, a subconscious fear fed by the pontifications of some popularizers who seem keen to equate science with atheism.31 So perhaps I would first point out the obvious limits of science. But then I might tell the story of Leibniz and Newton’s exchange, and point out that Newton was a good enough theologian not to turn the alleged instability of the planets into a God of the gaps argument. Similarly, if it is true that we don’t yet understand how birds can navigate so accurately over large distances, then surely it would bring more glory to God to search for the mechanisms by which such remarkable feats are accomplished: It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. Proverbs 25:2 Perhaps because evolution has been a particularly favorite bludgeon of the science = atheism cabal, a Christian mini-industry has sprung up to debunk it. Unfortunately, this only feeds the public misperception that the core of the conflict between science and faith concerns scientific mechanism (evolution did or did not occur) rather than one of the philosophy and interpretation of science. God could, of course, have regularly used miracles to create throughout the time-span of natural history. He is free. But whether he did so in natural history is fundamentally a question of Biblical interpretation. 32 Surely it is even more glorious if God could design a physical system that creates itself through the regularities of his sustaining action. Like many of my Christian scientific colleagues who hold to a high view of Scripture, I believe the biblical text allows itself to be interpreted in this way, that sentient beings arose primarily through the ordinary â€Å"customs of the Creato r,† and that moreover it glorifies God to seek to understand these patterns.33 John and Ruth might then ask: if I emphasize the integrity of the regular action of God in sustaining the universe, and even in creating us, then why should miracles occur at all? Can they occur today? Rather than answer that theological question directly, let me resort to a musical analogy borrowed from Colin Humphreys. Suppose you are watching a pianist play a classical piece. You will notice that there are certain notes that he plays, and certain ones that he never does. The choice of notes is constrained because the music is being played in a particular key signature. But then, occasionally he may break this rule and play an unusual note. Musicians call these accidentals, and a composer can put them in wherever she likes (although if there are too many the music would sound strange). As Humphreys puts it, If he is a great composer, the accidentals will never be used capriciously: they will always make better music. It is the accidentals which contribute to making the piece of music great. The analogy with how God operates is clear: God created and upholds the universe but, like the great composer, he is free to override his own rules. However, if he is a c onsistent God, it must make more sense than less for him to override his rules.34 Notes 1. 2. 3. Alister McGrath, Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes and the Meaning of Life, (Blackwell, Oxford 2005) p 92. A good example of this is Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, (Bantam, London 2006) David Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals, (1748). Hume’s argument has often been criticized for being self-referential. He at first presupposes that no reasonable person can believe that the laws of nature can be violated, and then concludes that miracles cannot occur because he defines them as violations of the laws of nature. Note that this analysis is not accepted by all commentators. Colin Brown, Miracles and the Critical Mind, (Paternoster, Exeter, 1984) provides a lucid overview of the debate. See also John Earman, Hume’s Abject Failure. The Argument against Miracles (Oxford University Press, Oxford 2000) for a critical view, and Peter Harrison, â€Å"Miracles, Early Modern Science, and Rational Religion†, Church History 75 (3) pp. 493-511 (2006) for an interesting historical perspective. I am reminded of a famous quote by US Supreme Court judge Potter Stewart who, when asked to distinguish between art and pornography, noted that although it was hard to define: â€Å"I know it when I see it† (Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964)). N. David Mermin, â€Å"The Golemization of Relativity†, Physics Today 49, 11–13 (1996) Peter Lipton, Inference to the Best Explanation, (Routledge, London, 2004) In the 1990’s this tension between sociologists and the scientific community erupted into the so-called ‘Science Wars’. For a good overview, see e.g. J. A. Labinger and H. Collins (eds), The One Culture? A Conversation about Science, (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2001). Quote from Nobel Prize winner E. Wigner, â€Å"The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences†, Communications in Pure and Applied Mathematics, vol. 13, No. I (February 1960). An iconic example would be Paul Dirac’s 1928 prediction of anti-ma tter, which he showed to be necessary to satisfy the mathematical consistency constraints  imposed by combining quantum mechanics and special relativity for electrons. See P.A.M. Dirac, Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 117, 610 (1928). The cultural differences between more mathematically minded physical scientists and more empirically minded biological scientists are discussed by Evelyn Fox Keller, in a fascinating book: Making Sense of Life: Explaining Biological Development with Models, Metaphors, and Machines, Harvard University Press, Boston (2002). Such instinctive reactions are what make interdisciplinary research so difficult. Clearly biology has been incredibly successful despite its differences with my scientific culture. I also suggest that as the questions we ask become difficult (often the case for applied subjects like medicine), the tapestries, by necessity, become more fragile. I realize that this is more subtle for historical sciences like geology and cosmology (we have, for example, only observed one universe). Nevertheless, even in these fields, parallel concepts apply. P.B. Medawar, The Limits of Science, Oxford University Press, Oxford (1987) . There are interesting analogies here to making a religious commitment. Christians would argue that important aspects of the Christian life can only be understood and experienced from within a relationship with Christ. That is not to say that a step of faith is just a blind leap in the dark. It should be a decision that is informed by careful thinking and weighing of evidence. But it is more than just that. Augustine, Literal Commentary on Genesis, c AD 391 See e.g. C. J. Collins, Science and Faith: Friends or Foes? (Crossway, Wheaton, 2003) ch 11. See e.g. R. Hooykaas, Religion and the Rise of Modern Science, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids,1972) John Donne (Eighty Sermons, #22 published in 1640) John Hedley Brooke, Science and Religion , CUP, Cambridge (1991), p147. Leibniz, as quoted by C. Brown, Miracles and the Critical Mind, (Paternoster, Exeter, 1984), p 75. Charles Coulson, Christianity in an Age of Science, 25th Riddell Memorial Lecture Series, Oxford University Press, Oxford, (1953). Colin Humphreys The Miracles of Exodus: A Scientist’s Discovery of the Extraordinary Natural Causes of the Biblical Stories, (Harper Collins, San Francisco, 2003). R. Hooykaas, op cit One could argue that God must nevertheless employ divine action to set up the conditions necessary for a type i miracle to occur at the right time. In that sense both kinds of miracles may involve violations of normal physical cause-effect relations, but in type i this is more hidden. Note that I am not arguing that miracles  break ultimate cause-effect relationships. Within a divine economy, they may make perfect causal sense. Language like â€Å"violation of physical cause-effect† reflects our limited access to the mind of God.