Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum as motivator Annotated Bibliography

Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum as motivator - Annotated Bibliography Example In the article, he announces that the Dubai’s economy is expected to grow amid 4.5% to 5% in this year. According to the source, the leadership skill shown by Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, is exemplary since the broad results show that inflation in the UAE had risen by index of 0.3%. The article majorly talks about the global economy status of different regions and continents in the world. It highlights the European plans of stabilizing the financial status by concentrating on some of the few individuals working exceptionally hard to advance the lifestyle of citizens (Al-Alawi, 2012). Global Markets has noted Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum as an influential personal with exemplary skills that assist in making his country compete favorably globally. This was seen as a motive to support and empower women in society to emerge and compete favorably with their counter parts in the society. By supporting such organizations and groups motivates all genders to focus on promoting equality wh en conducting business and other significant issues in society. The article begins by stating the different titles Ahmed bin Saeed has in his country and the entire United Arabs Emirates region. Firstly, he is the president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, and holds the chairmanship of various organizations such as Dubai Airports, Airline and Group and Honorary Patron of the Dubai Quality Group. This depicts how important the person is in the society, since he has the ability of influencing and motivating the populace. The article talks about the ceremony that was held in May 2012 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai. Emirates Women Award (EWA) is held annually to appreciate winners and honorees that have achieved in society (Dubai Quality Group, 2011). Almed bin Saeed was thanked for the effort and interest he had on popularizing the EWA, which was assisted in improving and appreciating the personal skills in society. The article is significant since it honors Almed bin Saeed as

Caracass Current Sanitation and Energy Problem Essay

Caracass Current Sanitation and Energy Problem - Essay Example According to the findings, it can, therefore, be said that the concern by scientists that the combustion of fossil fuels has resulted in surplus carbon dioxide gives a reason for examining this problem so that a quick solution can be found and that no devastating effects are created in Caracas. An additional significance for looking into this problem is that, by researching on it, a recognizable power generation technology that is environmentally friendly, mechanically reasonable, and economically profitable can be discovered so that the city can experience a real option for builders of fresh capacity. Further, energy policy can be formulated, basing on a high degree of energy proficiency and more use of renewable energy. This paper will, therefore, look at the problem chronologically, outlining the body in terms of the record of the earlier problems facing the city for a deeper understanding; a collection of possible ideas and solutions; and finally to link the whole research to the energy problem as well as brainstorm suggested improvements for the welfare of the  city.

Mercer Mayer Essay Example for Free

Mercer Mayer Essay Mercer Mayer was born in 1943, and has been writing and illustrating children’s books for almost forty years. As a child Mayor moved all the country with his family, because his father was in the Navy. I believe that this was an influential factor in determining his success. His pictures are drawn without signifying any particular region, which helps children to create an emotional attachment to the story. Mayor’s family settled down in Hawaii when he was a thirteen years old. He had attended the Honolulu Academy of the Arts for a year when he realized that he wanted to illustrate children’s books. He tells, I always liked to draw, and one day I decided I had nothing to lose, so I made a lot of sketches and began to peddle them. Mayer did this against the advice of his professors who believed that he didn’t have enough talent to succeed at it. In 1964, he moved to New York in an attempt to find work as an illustrator. While He received art training from the Arts Students League. After being turned down countless times, he was given advice from a harsh art director, insisting that he throw away his entire portfolio, because it was so terrible. As difficult as this was for Mayer to hear, he eventually took the man’s advice. With an empty portfolio, Mayer began to draw things that he remembered from his childhood, and shortly after he was chosen to illustrate his first book. Mayer’s first solo book was published, in 1967, and it was well-received by critics. It was a wordless book called A Boy, a Dog, and His Frog, and it was the first in a series of five. Mayer is given credit as being one of the creators of the wordless picture book. He continued for a while as an illustrator only, and completed the illustrations for almost 80 books. It was later on when he felt comfortable enough to add his own text to the drawings. One aspect of his style of illustrating is that he always includes humorous objects in the background of his pictures. My favorite example of this is Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo. The Little Critter books have many characters that are present in the background of the story but never mentioned in the text (such as the frog, mouse, and the spider). Frogs actually appear in many of his books, from his wordless series to the Little Critter books. The lines he uses to draw his nature scenes are usually nongeometric curves that convey a harmonious and lifelike feeling. His work has also been recognized for the detailed texture it displays. In Shibumi and the Kitemaker, his use of value to draw extravagant backgrounds and faces that practically glow allows the pictures to seem realistic and three dimensional. In 1973, Mayer and his wife Marianne bought a farm in Connecticut. On the farm they were surrounded by many animals and nature, which significantly influenced his work. All of Mayer’s books feature some part of the outdoors and nature in them. His illustrations routinely feature large trees that are drawn in great detail. All of the characters in his Little Critter series are animals and the main character lives outside the big city in a wooded area. Mayer began publishing with Golden Press after his first divorce, with Marianne, in 1978. With Golden Press he started the Little Critter and the Little Monster series. Children are able to create powerful links between themselves and his books because of all of the familiar situations he writes about, like going to bed (Just Go to Bed), overcoming your fears (There are Monsters Everywhere), or dealing with the frustration of constantly being told what to do and what not to do (When I Get Bigger and I Was So Mad). Mayer married his second wife, Jo, in 1979, and they had two children together. Mayer started working from his home in Bridgewater, Connecticut, surrounded by his two young children. This situation was most likely brought about another major theme in his works, family. Some particular titles in the Little Critter series where he has adventures with only one of his family members are: Just Me and My Dad, Just Grandma and Me, Just Me and My Mom, Just Grandpa and Me, The New Baby, and Just Me and My Cousin. In the other books, Critter usually relies on his family members to help him do things like bake a cake for his teacher (The Best Teacher Ever) or help doing his science fair poster (Just a School Project). Mercer Mayer’s main characters are usually independent, strong willed, and a bit on the rebellious/wild side. His characters aren’t afraid to take action and overcome obstacles in order to do what they know is the right. In The Queen Who Loved to Dance, after the King made it illegal to sing and dance, the Queen had to stop doing those things she enjoyed the most because even a queen must obey the law. In Shibumi and the kitemaker, Princess Shibumi knew that she must give up the comfortable life she led in the palace in order to help the poor people of her city. In There’s a Nightmare in My Closet, the main character is a boy who is absolutely terrified of what might be lurking behind the closet door. One night he decides that it is time to face his nemesis. In full armor and weapon in hand, the boy attacks his monster and makes the poor thing cry. Even though the boy is mad, he understands what it is like to be afraid and decides to let the monster sleep in his bed with him. Mayer received the National Book Festival Artist of the Year award in 2007. Contrary to what his professors thought, Mayer’s illustrations are very popular with all audiences. Mayer currently lives in Roxbury, Connecticut with his third wife Gina, with whom he co-writes many of the popular Little Critter books. He continues to draw inspiration from his grandchildren, who as he says, â€Å"Always remind me what it was like. † I am a big fan of Mercer Mayer’s writing and illustrations. However, the display of gender stereotyping is definitely an unfortunate part of the content in many of Mayer’s picture books. In Mayer’s Little Critter series the mom is almost always shown in the kitchen, doing laundry, or cleaning the house, whereas his dad is rarely depicted in the house. My favorite book of Mayer’s is Just a Mess, because my room is always a disaster. I remember one particular occasion when I was frantically searching for my softball cleats before a Little League game and couldn’t find them anywhere. I have always struggled with what goes along with growing up like being neat and organized, sleeping without the closet light on, going to bed at a decent hour, not juggling eggs, and other un-fun stuff. My favorite quote of Mayer’s is â€Å"It’s real fun to be an old kid. †

Satan Essay -- essays research papers fc

Satan Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Son of the Morning, the Devil has many names. The Devil is a powerful and mysterious being. Who is Satan? Who believes in him? Where did he come from? There are many questions that I had about Satan at the beginning of this report. Where did Satan come from? According to the Christian Bible it is clearly taught that the Devil and the other demons are spiritual or angelic creatures created by God in a state of innocence, and that they became evil by their own act. It is added that man sinned by the suggestion of the Devil, and that in the next world the wicked shall suffer eternal punishment with the Devil. Satan and the other demons are part of an angelic creation, and their natural powers do not differ from those of the angels who remained faithful. Like the other angels, they are pure spiritual beings without any body. What was the fall? Who was Satan before the fall? The biblical book Ezekiel says that Satan was the perfect angel. You (referring to Satan) were the seal of resemblance, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. You were in the pleasures of the paradise of God; every precious stone was thy covering; the Sardis, the topaz, and the jasper, the chrysolite, and the onyx, and the beryl, the sapphire, and the carbuncle, and the emerald; gold the work of your beauty: and your pipes were prepared in the day that you were created. You a cherub stretched out, and protecting, and I set you in the holy mountain of God, you have walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were perfect in your wave from the day of creation, until iniquity was found in you (Ezekiel 28:12-15). The prophets, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, thought that Lucifer held a very high rank in the heavenly hierarchy. God’s right hand man in a sense. Some theologians say that the Devil was the foremost of all the angels. Ezek iel described Satan as the â€Å"model of perfection†, â€Å"full of wisdom†, and â€Å"perfect in beauty.† Why did the Devil fall? As Ezekiel 28:12 tells us, Satan was perfect when he was created. The Bible also tells us that humanity was created a little lower than the angels. Yet neither Satan nor any of the other angels were given rule over the earth. Rather, Adam, a being Satan must have considered less than himself, was given this power. It's easy to see why Sa... ... where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Rev 20:10) Eternal fire beyond the grave was prepared for "the devil and his angels". Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Mat 25:41) (Bryan T. Huie). The same fire that will claim the devil and his angels will also torment people who die in a spiritually lost condition. And so sayeth the Lord. Bibliography W.H. KENT, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV. Copyright  © 1908 by Robert Appleton Company. Britannica, The New Encyclopedia, Chicago: 1989. 15th edition. vol. 7, p. 542. Bryan T. Huie, Revised: March 23, 2001. SATAN, THE ADVERSARY OF MANKIND http://www.aristotle.net/~bhuie/satan.htm. Biblical quotes taken from; NKJV. American Bible Society, Copyright  © 1989.

Financial markets

Financial assets are made up of securities, stocks and derivatives. These are claims to the cash flow generated by real, tangible assets which are the lands, buildings and machineries we use. These pieces of paper are how citizens of highly developed countries increase their wealth. Wealth generation involves risk, for no business activity is certain to provide returns. Financial markets allow investors to participate in money-making ventures without being physically present in the project site.Most risk tolerant individuals prefer stocks, for it has the potential to yield very high returns, while conservative ones go for bonds which provides a steady, fixed income. In this activity, stock trading is the main focus. Objectives Just like any investor, generating cash flow was the primary goal. The amount of cash to be gained from trading should compensate the risk undertaken. The goal was to achieve steady growth. The expected was return is 40%. After setting the required return, a po rtfolio strategy was chosen.Assets were then selected which would comprise the efficient portfolio– provides the highest return for a given level of risk. Fundamental analysis was the method used to pick the stocks. Diversification was another tactic used to maximize return while spreading the risk. Construct a portfolio Portfolio construction was a tedious task. I had to weigh the risk and returns, and sometimes, to trust my gut feel. Stock prices, as studies have shown follow a random walk movement. The approach used was a top-down portfolio construction. A portfolio is basically a collection of investment assets.The type of assets to be held was first determined. It was then followed by security analysis to pick out the stocks deemed profitable. Diversification was one principle used in choosing the stocks. It simply meant that equities from different industries were held in the portfolio so that risk exposure was limited. Shares from the software industry (RIMM, JAVA), ar ms(SWHC), pharmaceutical (GERN), computer (PALM), insurance (HUM), health care(HMA), power (FL), SAM, metals and mining(AUY, AA) ,oil and gas(IEO), index fund(SWPIX), cement(CX),AXP Asset Analysis Fundamental analysis was mainly used in the decisions undertaken.This approach uses earnings and dividend prospects of the firm, expectations of future interest rates, and risk evaluation of the firm to determine proper stock prices. It relies on the company's financial health indicators. The stocks’ annual growth rate, quarterly earnings records, and P/E (price-to-earnings) ratios were measured. Historical data was also used. One such statistic is the EPS, or earnings-per-share ranking. PALM stocks were bought since the firm’s return on investment was stated at 2470. 70%. Also, on the day that it was traded, it was lower priced.Smith and Weson, SWHC had a P/E ratio of 5. 50%, an ROE of 19. 7%. Thus, a total of 4000 shares of SWCH were bought. Alcoa, or AA’s ROE was 16 . 20%. Its EBITDA was 5. 45 B. Meanwhile, its P/E ratio was 11. 60 and its annual dividend was at . 68 per share. Alcoa looks financially healthy, but was expensive, so only 1000 shares were purchased. Similarly, FPL’s ROE was 14. 6%. Its P/E ratio was 12. 7%. Its EBITDA was 4. 47 B. The market values FPL shares highly. But, I found it unsmart to invest in highly valued stocks, because market perceptions fluctuate wildly. Thus, I only acquired 700 shares of FPL.RIMM had an ROE of 30. 60%. Its P/E ratio was 50%. For me, RIMM shares were really costly. In fact, it was has the highest cost per share in my portfolio. But I was attracted to its financial forecast. Furthermore, its 52 week high was at $148 so I found the $80 per share enticing. I thus bought 1000 shares from RIMM. HUM had an ROE of 19. 9% and a P/E ratio of 18. 00. It was quite overpriced, so I only bought 1000 shares. HMA was the lowest priced stock in my portfolio. But, I decided to purchase it believing that dem and for health care services will increase in the near future.CX, compared with its competitor, Heidelberg cement had higher earnings and historically displayed returns higher than the market average. I bought 1000 shares. I also bought SWPIX, an index fund as a comparison for the return of my trading activities. Event Selection One of the most remarkable news was the launching of PALM’s Pre. With the belief that the Pre will be hot in the market, just like Apple’s I-pod, I bought 4,000 shares from PALM. I deem that the future value of PALM will increase more than two-fold once the Pre is introduced. The hype will push the price of its stock.Thereafter, I can sold my shares at a profit. In addition, the popularity of smart phones, or phones which serve more than just talking devices was forecasted to increase steadily in the near future. Aside from purchasing PALM stocks, I decided to buy shares from BlackBerry’s maker, RIMM. News of the global swine flu outbrea k prompted me to purchase HMA shares. HMA , a healthcare provider would have more profits if the flu would become widespread. In addition, Citigroup upgraded HMA shares from hold to buy. Meanwhile, the news on the pending sale of JAVA drove me to sell my 1000 shares.Monster stocks which were identified two weeks in a row included AUY. The information urged me to buy 3000 shares of AUY. Behavioral Finance Even if information processing were perfect, it seemed that investors tend towards irrational decisions. In hindsight, these behavioral biases largely affected how I framed questions of risk versus return. Psychologists have found that individuals blame themselves more when an unconventional decision turned out poorly. Based on regret aversion theory, buying a blue-chip portfolio that declines in value is not as painful as experiencing similar losses on an unknown start-up firm.Losses on the blue-chip stock can be more easily attributed to grim luck rather than bad decision. To avoi d future remorse, I did not include stocks from start up firms. I considered less-well-known firms to be more risky. Even if potential gains can be realized from new firms due to their tremendous growth capacity and often undervalued stocks, I steered clear from such path. Instead, I trudged towards the tried and tested road and concentrated on well-established companies like Alcoa, Smith and Weson and Cemex, and popular companies like JAVA and RIMM.Availability bias is rooted on the concept that people base their decisions on the most recent and meaningful events. The more current or up-to-date the information, the more profound would be its effect on the investor. In the late 1990's, investors got caught up in the internet mania, which caused them to disregard the risks. I suppose that people naturally get lost in the moment. In fact, I purchased HUM stocks based mainly on the news that Humana was named top payer of pay claims. With the positive publicity of Humana, I projected th at its value would also increase in the market, making it an insurance of choice of the public.According to behavioral finance theories, people are overconfident, especially when they experience success. One main source of overconfidence pointed was that, most individuals consider themselves to be above average in terms of skills. This behavior was apparent when even greenhorn investors experienced exceptional growth in technology stocks of the 1990’s. As the stocks continued to climb, investors began to ascribe much of their triumph to their ability to make shrewd investment decisions. Personally, I thought that my projections on the oil and mining industries were more accurate than the foresight of other investors.I thus bought a total of 2000 IEO shares in two different occasions. My rationale was that, oil prices would rise, because it already dipped this year. The same level of smug overconfidence applied to my AUY stock acquisition. In times of crisis, I reasoned, peopl e would splurge on objects which have economic value. In my mind, a woman with money will likely choose a Louis Vuitton bag due to its resale value, than a Prada, even if the former were more expensive. Gold jewelry too, will have high demand, since it can be pawned. Thus, AUY, a gold mining firm was a reasonable buy.Humans have a tendency to seek or interpret information in a way that would confirm one's preconceptions. Conversely, information which contradict prior beliefs would be avoided. This type of selective thinking is called the confirmation bias. With the positive financial data I had gathered about SWHC, I already had a mental picture of its performance. However, since it is mainly an arms company, an industry which I am not well aware of, and less publicized as compared to energy firms, I still had to substantiate my expectations. True enough, the earnings of SWHC grew consistently.The information I needed to verify my previous opinion was made available. I decided to pu rchase 1000 shares at two different occasions. I bought the first share at $5. 68 and the next 500 at $5. 46. My decision turned out bad, since I decided to sell half of my SWHC shares days later, at a lower price of $5. 29. This action of mine is reflective of the loss aversion theory. It refers to the propensity of people to lean towards avoidance of losing a certain amount than gaining the same value. Losses are considered to have heavier emotional impact than do gains.Observing that the price of SWHC is quite going down, I disposed half my shares. I would rather sell at a marginal loss of . 27 per share than wait for the SWHC stock to plunge deeper than lose much more. However, I decided to keep half the shares. Why? Because I wanted to at least break even with my losses, just in case the price goes up, a behavior quite related to gambler’s fallacy. According to the gambler’s fallacy, investors liquidate a position after it has consistently gone up. It is also call ed the Monte Carlo fallacy.It rests on the belief that deviations from expected behavior which occur repeatedly will eventually be countered by opposite movements. For instance, a huge increase in stock price will eventually be corrected by the market, thus the difference should be exploited right away. This belief that high prices are temporary was illustrated in my trading of GERN shares. I bought 4000 shares from GERN at 6. 37 per share. Since the price to book ratio is 2. 02, the stock appeared to be highly valued by the market. But, the return on investment, and EBITDA of GERN is negative, indicating that it is not good for medium term investments.I wanted simply to buy and sell the shares. To take advantage of its high market value, the 1000 shares of the 4000 GERN stocks were sold at $6. 61. In addition, the news regarding the probability of Oracle selling Sun Microsystems prompted me to sell my shares in JAVA. Oracle’s move would mean that JAVA is not performing well. Thus, I had no desire to be part of the lowering of its market value When the news was announced that Palm and Dell lead the technological race,I decided to purchase its stocks. In addition, Palm was about to launch its Pre, a handheld technological device.Palm was a company with huge potential growth, I surmised. I wanted to take advantage of the boom it will undergo once its new product floods the market. Given such information, I bought 4000 shares of the company. Apparently, I wasn’t the only investor clamoring for PALM’s shares. The market over reacted to the statement that Pre is predicted to be the next It thing. This kind of behavior is called overreaction. According to market efficiency, new information should be reflected almost immediately in a security's price. For instance, positive reviews should raise a business' share price.The new share price should not decline even if no fresh information has been released since. Reality, however, tends to challenge this concept. Usually, stock market participants predictably overreact to the most recent information, creating a larger-than-expected effect on the price. In addition, it also appears that this price surge erodes over time. The herding or bandwagon effect simply states that investors move in a certain popular direction. They tend to mimic one another. The huge volume of PALM shares traded enticed me to join in the trend.I had the same mindset with my purchase of IEO shares. The number of subscribers has been increasing since December 2008. Thus, I decided to buy in. Furthermore, on June 1, 2008, IEO was at its 6 month high at more than 900,000 shares. I decided to purchase an additional 1000 shares at $47. 55 . The same theory applied with my purchase of the AUY shares. It was considered hotstock due to its increasing volume in the market. Lastly, the news on CX’s reorganization did not entice me to buy its stocks. It announced that it would restructure its top management ef fective May 15.But, I only decided to buy 1000 shares two weeks after. I did underreact to new information Expected Return I expected a 40% return for my portfolio. But, I was largely disappointed. The portfolio return was a mere 3%. Since the current risk free rate is at 5%, the asset return is 3% and the standard deviation is . 00334, the Sharpe ratio is -5988. 024 . Based on this calculation, I was not successful as an active portfolio manager. I would have done better if I bought an index fund. My trading performance was largely disappointing. I relied too much on fundamental analysis.I could have used technical data more, to incur larger profits. For starters, I depended heavily on P/E ratios. P/E ratios, it turned out are simply market forecasts, but not highly reliable. Also, I should have taken the risk with undervalued, high growth stocks. These start-up firms could have provided me with returns I could have also used the CAPM, where Re=Rf+(Rm-Rf)B. By comparing a stockâ₠¬â„¢s return relative to the market average and risk free rate, I would have a more precise gauge of whether the asset has high yields. Lastly, I wasn’t able to observe the market closely for I only traded at night.

As the saying goes no good deed goes unrewarded....

As the saying goes no good deed goes unrewarded. Coleridge, in his poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, tells a story that no evil deed shall go unpunished. For every action there is an appropriate consequence equal to or greater than the original action. In the poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Coleridge explains this through the crime committed by the ancient Mariner and the consequences forced upon him for his actions as seemed fit by the spiritual world. The albatross had flown to the side of the Mariner’s ship and guided the ship through the fog. â€Å"At lengths did cross an albatross through the fog it came; As if it had been a Christian soul, we hailed it in God’s name.†(64-66). Coleridge tells us that the albatross was a†¦show more content†¦I believe that the events to fall upon the ancient mariner are consequences for blessings he destroyed. The second punishment was more of a physiologic punishment placed upon the Ancient Mariner instead of a physical one. Life and death soon appear and play a game of chance to determine the fortune of the Mariner and his crew. â€Å"the game is done, I’ve won.† (43). Winning the game apparently means survival as death takes the lives of the two hundred men aboard the ship. Life in death nonetheless blesses the Mariner with eternal life. This had become his punishment because the Mariner could no longer pray, sleep, and every day must live with the agonizing loss of his men aboard his now forsaken ship. â€Å"Alone, Alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony.† (236-39). It is clear that the Ancient Mariner is being punished by the divine. In the same way the Mariner killed the Albatross the spiritual forces are in a way killing him. The Albatross is dead and now the Ancient Mariner is metaphorically dead also. This is apparent as the Mariner has been isolated in the middle of the ocean where everything all around him is the same and lifeless. Just as if he were to be dead and buried in the ground, there would be dirt to his left and to his right without a single soul to keep him company. The only way for the Mariner to ease his pain is

Commonly Confused Words Are, Hour, and Our

The short words are, hour, and our sound similar, but their meanings are not the same. Definitions The verb are is a present tense form of to be (as in We are the champions). The noun hour refers to a period of 60 minutes or a particular time of the day or night when an activity takes place (as in Youve yet to have your finest hour). See the idiom alerts below. The adjective (or possessive determiner) our is the possessive form of we (as in These are the days of our lives). Examples There are no happy endings.Endings are the saddest part.(Shel Silverstein, Every Thing On It. HarperCollins, 2011)â€Å"There are some things you cant share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.†(J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, 1997)In the front seat, Kate Merlin sat alone and listened to the stewardess talking with some of the ground crew; their voices were very bright and awake for this hour of the morning.(Martha Gellhorn, Miami--New York. The Atlantic Monthly, 1948)It was a Saturday morning, I remember, of a hot yellow day and it was the hour when my sister and I would ordinarily take to the streets on our wheels.(Tennessee Williams, The Resemblance Between a Violin Case and a Coffin. Flair, 1951)We protect our children, our parents, and our friends by telling them the truth, but not always the full truth.(Frances Jacobson Harris, I Found It on the Internet: Coming of Age Online. ALA, 2011)Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.(President John F. Kennedy)Our problem is that there are very few substances as destructive as Basilisk venom, and theyre all dangerous to carry around with you.(J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 2007)Our hope for the future has waned to such a degree that we risk sneers and snorts of derision when we confess that we are hoping for brighter tomorrows.(Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter. Random House, 2008) Idiom Alerts The expression after hours means some time after normal working or operating hours. Its typically used in reference to bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and the like.In the after-hours joint, everything was served in plastic cups. The customers all understood that in the event of a raid they were expected to immediately throw their cups to the floor, thereby destroying the evidence of serving after hours.(Howie Carr, Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano. Tom Doherty, 2012)The expression eleventh hour means at the latest possible moment before its too late.Alice made another cheese sandwich. She was not abstemious and ate like a stray, like a pound pet  rescued at the eleventh hour.(Joy Williams, The Quick and the Dead, 2000)The expression hour after hour  (or hour upon hour) means a long time.Their real weapon was the merciless questioning that went on and on, hour after hour, tripping him up, laying traps for him, twisting everything that he said, convincing him at every st ep of lies and self-contradiction, until he began weeping as much from shame as from nervous fatigue.(George Orwell,  Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1949) Practice (a) Plans _____ nothing; planning is everything.(Dwight D. Eisenhower)(b) When Mr. Arable returned to the house half an _____ later, he carried a carton under his arm.(E.B. White,  Charlottes Web, 1952)(c) There was a light in mothers room and we heard father going down the hall, down the back stairs, and Caddy and I went into the hall. The floor was cold. _____ toes curled away from the floor while we listened to the sound.(William Faulkner, That Evening Sun Go Down. The American Mercury, 1931) Scroll down for answers below: Answers to Practice Exercises: (a) Plans  are  nothing; planning is everything. (Dwight D. Eisenhower)(b) When Mr. Arable returned to the house half an  hour  later, he carried a carton under his arm.(E.B. White,  Charlottes Web, 1952)(c) There was a light in mothers room and we heard father going down the hall, down the back stairs, and Caddy and I went into the hall. The floor was cold.  Our  toes curled away from the floor while we listened to the sound.(William Faulkner, That Evening Sun Go Down.  The American Mercury, 1931)