The Political Economy of Chinas Development Model Essay

The Political Economy of Chinas Development Model - Essay Example oom is a great of pride from a Chinese perspective, the rapidly growing economic crisis that has besieged world economics calls for a fresh reconsideration of this phenomenal growth. 1While some commentators argue that greedy Wall Street financial firms are to blame, others point fingers much higher at the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board Alan Greenspan. Other scholars with socialist orientations see in the entire crisis as the inherent weaknesses of the capitalist system imploding as it inevitably would. It is some of these views that are sampled in this paper. Certain economic analysts in China are angry. They point out that the cause of this crisis is the irresponsibility of the rich Chinese who have thrown good money after bad with crazy speculative investments of foreign reserves on failed foreign financial organizations. Despite these criticisms China has joined hands with the US, Europe and other countries to spur recovery. The measures it has taken include a rescue package of 4 trillion Yuan and increased investment in American treasury bonds. The International reserve currency, usually measured against American dollars, helps to regulate international trade. All countries involved in international trade reserve some foreign currency for the sake of trade with one another. When supply exceeds demand however, a crisis of international proportions arises as is happening today. The strength of international trade relies on stability in the bigger economies such as the US, the EU and lately China. Most money in these economies is kept in the stock market and banking systems. However, when these very systems of currency storage are hit by a depression, the entire world economy is affected, Jacques Rueff, 1971. The factors playing out in China may therefore be too complex for some of its domestic critics to conjecture. But in very simple terms, their country is now a major player in the world economy and crises of this nature come with the

Market Continuum Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Market Continuum Analysis - Essay Example 51, No. 1, 1973 (pp. 95-124). OECD has 30 member countries in its elite panel and in that survey they have identified that Public spending (5.8 GDP) is almost identical to that of Great Britain or any other countries. It also compared Pharmaceutical spending, Health care spending by the Government and Health care status in the country etc to produce the research. While they have observed that IN U.S the spending more than other countries in Health care it is not producing the desired results. One of the main reasons for this being the relatively greater cost in US of health care services when compared to other countries. This makes Health care services in US to many of its citizens and many others who are working in their country virtually unreachable. During the mid 1990's when there is a software craze going on around the world and In US also, they recognized the need for policy modifications in their Health care systems, which is a result of crisis already existing. The problem with the policy making is that it only reveals what policies need to modified so as to design a suitable policy or them. However the important part that is how to execute these policies is never taken into count. Also in a country like U.S planning a health service suitable for the entire population it self is a big challenge. The reason being the older populations are growing because low mortality rate especially in old people. Also the older people despite the fact they are living for a longer duration are also direly in need of medical supplies. Andersons' Principles of planning: 1. Business ethics 2. Need Vs the demand 3. Economics 4. Equity theory While Anderson discussed at the length about the market penetration and Pricing models the strategies suggested by Anderson had implications on the U.S Social structure, their economy and the people's economy too. The reason for change: One of the prime reasons why the US wanted a change in the health care system is due to the low potential index of the health care system. Quality surveys done by organizations such as OECD reveal exactly these implications. In the sense, the US health care is a victim of poor monitoring and the failure of supply chain mechanism. Like in many other countries the US health care has to cater its services to large middle class section and affordability of the services is a criterion for change. Also the US wanted discrimination to end and the only way to beat it is by furthering the market potential of the health care services. The Transition: However while initiating the change process not enough study has been done according to the writer to nullify the consequences. In one way the consequences are unforeseen, even by the industry experts and to add to the existing woes the weakening of the economy caused further trouble. The Government has taken measures to ensure a certain change is possible and they thought that by maximizing the net returns on the health care can lessen the burden on the already weak and depleted economy. For this they have chosen change agents for continuous and consistent supply of the health care services even in the farthest corners of U.S. More over they have taken steps to cut down on the expenditures to minimize losses the health care is incurring for a period of time. Inorder to ensure that costs are reduced they have

A Study On The Sky X Devices

A Study On The Sky X Devices In todays worlds Connectivity is the most important thing. No matter where ever we are we need to keep ourselves connected with the world to keep ourselves updated. The world around us is changing at a rapid pace so if we dont keep up with it we would be left behind. One of the prime way by which we do this is internet. But there are places where Internet is not available. There are few places where due to terrestrial location or other reasons the internet availability is not possible or its prohibited. In todays world we feel like sharing whatever we can on the network, we share a lot of data on the network. We keep uploading the Videos on Youtube. We keep on adding our photo on the networking websites. Day by day our need for the bandwidth is increasing as our need to share and upload the data keeps on increasing. Here comes an option for this also its the communication using the satellites. The Geo-stationary satellite orbiting at an altitude of 36,000 kms can be used for this. Satellites can be used to carry our data traffic and they could be used to communicate with each other. But the problem with it was that the prevalent TCP protocol at that time did not have enough of technology advances to overcome the disadvantages of satellite communication as compared to its advantages. So the SKY-x technology was introduced, it provided a secure and fast way to transfer data through satellite. It was totally transparent to the users. In place of tcp protocol it used a new XTP protocol (Xpress Transport Protocol) .This new Protocol is optimize for the data transfer over Satellite. Problem with TCP: The data transfer using satellite is facing various problems like large latency rate and high Bit error rate with the Asymmetric design of the bandwidth of all satellite. Satellite is one of the best options in the upcoming days to communicate and transfer data. But there did not exist proper standards or Protocol for the transfer of the data. The currently used TCP Protocol was not optimized for the transfer of data over Satellite, due to which the High bandwidth provided by the Satellite mostly goes unused. This also reduces the throughput of the satellite transmission. So we were not able to fully utilize the benefits provided by the Satellite transmission. Where as the Satellite transmission was more prone to bit error caused due to the environmental changes. The TCP Protocol was designed so that they can give high performance and large throughput over local area network.TCP protocol had various feature for LPV6 which were specialized for the Optical fiber network. So network setup of Optical cables and using the TCP protocol were far more reliable and cheaper than transmission using TCP protocol over satellite. All the benefits which are incurred over the cable network by TCP Protocol are lost on the satellite transmission. TCP had a congestion avoidance algorithm/mechanism which were not suited for satellite transmission because satellite transmission had a long round trip. This long round trip was misinterpreted by the TCP as congestion and hence it reduces the transmission rate. This resulted in the wastage of the bandwidth provided by the Satellite transmission. Hence the Congestion avoidance algorithm used by the TCP is also a big problem in the Satellite transmission. The WINDOW SIZE Problem: The TCP protocol utilizes a sliding window mechanism to limit the total amount of data to be transfer over the network. When the window become full, the sender stops sending the data anymore until it receives the acknowledgment signal from the recevier.As the back channel speed is less on satellite using tcp protocol its very difficult to transfer data on satellite, So to avoid this TCP statically fix the size of window to 100 kb over the T1 satellite, which limits the total amount of bandwidth which we can use as compared to total provided by the satellite. Moreover many of the operating system uses a window size of 8 Kb which only provides us with a speed of 128 kbps per connection, which is very less as compared to bandwidth available over satellite. Thus window sizing mechanics reduces the transfer of the data over the Satellite. While the SK-x technology dose not use a fix window size of 8 Kb it uses the performance enhanced size of the window thus allowing us to fully utilize the bandwidth provided by the Satellite for the data which can be compressed SKY-x technology provides a better throughput rate than the simple cable network. Thus the SKY-x technology is much better than the TCP Protocol for the transfer of data over the satellite. SKY- x Technology: The SKY-x technology was developed by one of the worlds leaders in TCP/IP Protocol developer Mentat.The SKY-x technology Products replace the TCP protocol product to transfer data over Satellite. These Products are transparent to Users they behave the same way as the TCP Protocol product and they provide more security and Less Latency time while giving high throughput over satellite. It consists of SKY-x Gateway, SKY-x Client/Server, SKY-x OEM Products. The SKY-x gateway works in the same way as the TCP Gateway except that the Sky-x gateway intercepts the TCP signal and helps to convert it to the SKY-x protocol so that it can be used to transfer over the satellite. The SKY-x client are the same except that they need to be installed on the pcs of the local user to help them to connect using satellite. The SKY-x technology Protocol replaces the TCP Protocol used on Optical Fiber for the use on the satellite. Adding the SKY-x products into the network helps the user to efficiently use the full bandwidth provided by the satellite. The SKY-x products enhances the performance of the network transparently with out needing to change any thing over the client side or the server side. The SKY-x product increases the overall performance by thrice, while increases the files transfer by 10 to 100 times over the satellite. This product are enhanced version of the otherwise known TCP Performance enhancing (TCPPEP) Or the Satellite spoofer. The XTP protocol used was developed by the XTP forum a non profit organization. The SKY-x products divide the normal TCP connection into three different components: 1. The connection between the TCP client and the SKY-x gateway on the remote side of the network. 2. The Connection between two SKY-x gateway involving XTP protocol for the transfer of the data over the Satellite. 3. The Connection between the SKY-x Gateway and the TCP server on the other side of the network. Unicast versus Multicast: The fiber optic network used the unicast data transfer to send the data to all the clients it used to send the same copy of data to all the clients which a bit time consuming and waste a lot of bandwidth of the network. While the Unicast was not good for the satellite network. But the only multicast protocol available was UDP based. This UDP based protocol did not involve any method to detect the error in data transfer and to check the re-transmission of the data over the network. It even does not provide any mechanism to re-sequences the data packets sent over the network. This problem was overcome by the SKY-x multicast. It provides a reliable and secure way to multicast the data over the satellite. It provides fast efficient, reliable multicast file transfer. Any data that is lost or corrupted during the transmission is re-transmitted, providing transfer reliability rendering the special FEC software as a unnecessary thing. The SKY-x multicast fan out is an important part of the SKY-x Gateway. It transparently converts the TCP unicast data to the SKY-x multicast data. The SKY-x gateway can transfer the file to every remote location with just one multicast. As the SKY-x multicast is transparent to the user any device can transfer the data using the Multicast no matter whatever operating system it has without needing any special software. Below is a graph showing comparison between Unicast traffic and Multicast traffic: As shown in the graph Unicast transmission increases the traffic of the network considerably, whereas using multicast for the same no of users the traffic is 18th of the Unicast transmission. Thus the SKY-x technology also reduces the traffic over the high bandwidth Satellite Network. Thus SKY-x technology has overcome each and every Limitation of the TCP protocol hence providing us with an efficient way to connect using the Satellite. SPEED TCP versus SKY-x: The new technology used in the Sky-x products increases the performance as well as the speed of the network. The SKY-x products use a Fast start feature which enables it to establish new connection at a very fast speed. The HTTP Benchmark by the WEB Stone shows that for an 8 Mbps line having 50 simultaneous connections using a SKY-x gateway has an average response time of 0.7 to 1.1 sec which is much lowered as compared to the 3 sec time on a network using TCP protocol. Increased Throughput: The Sky-x Technology provides a high bandwidth even at a high bit error rate. It does so by compressing the data transmitted over the network. For a 10 Mbps satellite the TCP protocol is able to provide a small bandwidth of 1.5 Mbps while at an error rate of 1* 10-5 its bandwidth drops to as low as 0.03 Mbps. While on the other hand even at the above mentioned error rate the SKY-x products maintains a bandwidth of 5.8 Mbps when the data is not compressible, if the data is compressible it maintains a bandwidth of 15.1 Mbps. THE SKY-x Architecture: The SKY-x products or network have a SKY-x Gateway installed into the system. This gateway provided by the SKY-x helps to make the network transparent to the user, it transparently intercepts the TCP protocol transmitted by the user and convert it into the XTP (Xpress Transport Protocol) which is optimized for the Satellite transmission. Then on the other side it converts back the XTP protocol into the TCP protocol for the Server. So the client and the Server side in the Network remain unaware to all this translation. It requires no special change to be made on the part of the client or the Server in the Network, so all the applications the Program which were used previously keeps functioning on this network also. The XTP protocol also supports the TCP congestion avoidance algorithm to keep the terrestrial network stable and protected. The two Sky-x Gateway pass the data between each other as if there doesnt exists any intermediate link between client and the server. XTP protocol also provides a functionality called as Web pre-fetching. The Web Pre-fetch is used to fetch all the embedded objects in a web page whenever a client sends a request for even a simple html page. Then these embedded objects are made visible to the client as and when it is requested by the client thus avoiding the fetch time required for fetching it from the satellite. Thus the XTP protocol not only provides the security stability on the satellite network but it also considerably increases the speed of data transfer by using the Web Pre-fetch. XTP also provides an Accelerator which helps in speeding up the network traffic. It accelerates the XML and HTTP sessions, database synchronization as well as the transfer of the file Large or small between the client and the Server. Thus it helps in providing a better response time and throughput of the network. It also helps in speeding up the Database backups. It minimizes the re-transmission of data required due to error in it or due to the loss of data. Thus it also helps in the use of Satellite as a communication medium. SKY-x Products: Mentat was the first company to build a product having the sky-x technology. Mentat is leader in developing the products based on the TCP/IP protocol. Renowned Companies like Apple, IBM, Motorola, and Sony depend on the TCP/IP network software provided by Mentat. It launched various product named Mentat SKY-x XR10 Gateway. Mentat SKY-x XH45 Gateway. Mentat SKY-x XH155 Gateway. These products built by Mentat had the in built Accelerator to speed up the network traffic. The XR10 is designed to be used for the satellite which provides a link of 10 Mbps. Or it could also be used in combination with the other Mentat products like the XH45 which supports higher bandwidth links. The XH45 is designed for the satellite providing the link of 45 Mbps or it can also be used as a hub in a network having XR10 products. In the Same way Mentat also provides the SKY-x servers as SS10 SS45. The SKY-x SS10 server is used in the network having 10 Mbps links. While the SKY-x SS45 server is used in the network having the 45 Mbps links. Packeteer Mobiliti Technology: Packeteer is the Global Leader in Wan Application Optimization. In Todays World the users should be able to work from wherever there business demands. On the other hand the Companies should also provide their workers with the facility like LAN no matter wherever they are or they would be at a risk to lose many chances to carry out their business successfully. Packeteer came forward with a solution to this by integrating the SKY-x technology into its Mobility software. So the user can access the LAN from the remote location using there Desktops and Laptops. This Mobiliti software supports TCP file transfer automatic backup. It caches or saves the recently used document on the client side so as that the user can access them whenever needed even if the server is not available. This software is available in various languages like German, French, Chinese and Japanese. It also automatically configures the my document folder also provides and option to choose the location to store the recently used file by the user. Conclusion: Thus the new SKY-x technology is better than the TCP Protocol for Satellite transmission. The Sky-x Technology provides a large bandwidth as well as a fast data transfer on the satellite network. It has removed all the limitations which existed in the use of TCP for satellite transmission. Thus the SKY-x technology has opened a new horizon in the way we used to communicate with each other. Now we can use the Satellite as the medium of communication and remain connected with each other even at the most remote places on the earth. And this new SKY-x Technology also comes as a savior to us for our daily increasing bandwidth requirements. It provides a large bandwidth to transfer data on the network. Thus now we can connect to more places and also share more Data on the network.

Constitution of The United States of America :: essays research papers

Constitution of The United States of America Preamble The Constitution consists of a preamble, 7 articles , and 27 amendments. The first part of the constitution is the Preamble. The Preamble explains the purpose for writing the Constitution and the main ideas to be carried out by the government and the people in order to make a more perfect union. Each purpose of the preamble had a special meaning to statesmen in seventeen eighty nine. The purpose was one, to form a more perfect union of people living together. Two, to establish justice for creditors by given them the right to take away the possessions of people who don't compensate them. Three, to ensure domestic tranquillity, or prevent events such as Shays Rebellion. Four, to provide common defense or to protect the nation from adversaries such Indians and the pirates. Five, to promote general welfare, which relates to the depression the country was in economically (by the way our nations economy is called Capitalism). And lastly six , to secure the blessing of liberty by enforcing the idea of freedom in every way possible. The Seven Articles Article One describes The Legislative Department. Section one states that the congress is based on a two house, or a bicameral system. This type of congress has two legislatures - The House of Representatives and The Senate. Sec.1 - The House of Representatives. The main idea is that all house members are elected for a two year term in their office. It also states the qualifications of a representative, or what you have to have or be to become a representative. A person must be twenty-five years of age and have lived in the united states for seven years, therefore making the person a citizen of our country. The person also must, if running for a position in government in a certain state, be an inhabitant of the state the person is running in. For instance if you were an inhabitant living in California you wouldn't be able to run for governor of Oregon because you wouldn't have the same perception of issues or most likely anything than an Oregonian. Plus Californians aren't that welcome here anyway. Sec.2 - The House Membership is based on state population. The number of representatives is now 435 and goes up with the increase in population. So, if Florida gains another 50,000 Cubans, they will assign another 3 or 4 representatives to stand for them.

Animal Farm: the Story of Animals Were Overworked, Tied and Starved Essay

The attitude you have towards work can be greatly influenced by how the person in charge runs things. This statement is true in George Orwell’s allegorical novella â€Å"Animal Farm.† The attitudes of the animals of Manor Farm (later changed to Animal Farm) change depending on who is in charge of it. Under Mr. Jones’ rule, the animals were overworked, tired and starved, and they did work only to avoid being beaten. Under the reign of Snowball and Napoleon, the animals were tired but they were well fed and happy to do work. This is because the work they did benefited themselves, rather than humans who gave nothing back to them. Finally, under Napoleon’s supremacy, the animals liked work less and less because they were tired, overworked and underfed.. So, as you can see, the person who is in control of animal farm affects the way the animals feel about work. Mr. Jones was the cruel owner of Manor Farm, later changed to Animal Farm. While he was in control he starved, overworked and beat the animals to get them to work harder so he could earn a greater profit. (QUOTE) The animals feel enraged due to the fact that Mr. Jones makes them work so hard for his own gain and then gives nothing back to them. The animals end up revolting against him, running him off the farm and claiming it for themselves. So, since Mr. Jones was such a bad ruler, the animals had a negative attitude towards him and the work he made them do. After the passing of Old Major, Napoleon and Snowball gained control of Animal Farm, formerly known as Manor Farm. Snowball had a persuasive voice, was very intelligent and was an overall good leader.Napoleon, on the otherhand, was not a great public speaker, was not as intelligent as Snowball, nor was he as good a leader. Under their govern, they ran the farm smoothly.All animals were fully fed and the work the animals put into the farm, they got back. (QUOTE) By being able to benefit themselves rather than a greedy human, the animals were glad to get down to work. So, since the animals in control ran the farm smoothly, the working animals were happy to do their work, just as long as it benefited themselves. Napoleon was a cruel, selfish and manipulative pig. He was the sole ruler of Animal Farm after he had gotten Snowball run off the farm.At first, Napoleon lead the animals into thinking that the work they did was to profit themselves. Instead, the only ones who were benefiting were the pigs. (QUOTE) It was not until later that they realized that they were overworked, starved and tired. None of what they put into their work, did they get back. Napoleon, along with taking more than his share, also had his dogs slaughter any person who could turn into a possible opponent. Lastly, Napoleon was a bad leader because he broke all the seven commandments and then tried to cover it up by having Squealer alter them. So, as you can see, due to the fact that Napoleon was such a cruel and selfish leader, the worker’s attitude’s towards work was negative. Depending on who was in govern, the animal’s attitude towards work altered. If someone cruel was in control, such as Mr.Jones or Napolen, the animals would have a negative attitude because they were being overworked,starved, and nothing benefited them. On the otherhand, if someone nice and intellingent was in power, such as Snowball, the animals were happy to go to work due to the fact that they were getting back what they put into it. So as you can see, depending on who is in control will greatly influence the way workers feel towards their jobs.

Spirit Bound Chapter Eleven

WELL. HOW PERFECT. It took us a while to decide our next course of action. We tossed around a few feeble ideas to track Robert and Victor, all of which we eventually shot down. Robert's phone was a cell, and while the CIA could trace those kinds of things, we certainly couldn't. Even if Robert's address was listed in the phone book, I knew Victor wouldn't have let them go back there. And while Adrian and Lissa could spot a spirit user's aura, we could hardly go wandering aimlessly in a city and expect to find something. No, we were out of luck with those two. There was nothing to be done now but head back to Court and face whatever punishment awaited us. We–I–had screwed up. With sunset approaching–and seeing as we no longer had a known criminal to get us in trouble–my group glumly decided to head to the Witching Hour to make our travel plans. Lissa and I had the potential to be recognized over there, but runaway girls weren't quite in the same category as fugitive traitors. We decided to roll the dice (no pun intended) and hang around guardians rather than risk more Strigoi attacks before we could get out of Vegas. The Witching Hour was no different from any of the other casinos we'd been to–unless you knew what to look for. Humans there were too interested in the allure of the games and glitz to notice that a lot of the other patrons were uniformly tall, slim, and pale. As for the dhampirs? Humans couldn't tell that we weren't human. It was only the uncanny sense Moroi and dhampirs had that let us know who was who. Sprinkled throughout the cheering, chattering, and–at times–wailing crowd were guardians. As in demand as guardians were, only a handful could be allocated full-time to a place like this. Fortunately, their numbers were reinforced by the wealthy and powerful who'd come to play. Excited Moroi whooped over slot machines or roulette while silent, watchful guardians hovered behind them, keeping an eye on everything. No Strigoi would come here. â€Å"What now?† asked Lissa, almost yelling over the noise. It was the first time any of us had spoken since deciding to go here. We'd come to a halt near some blackjack tables, right in the thick of everything. I sighed. My mood was so dark, I didn't even need any spirit side effects. I lost Victor, I lost Victor. My own mental accusations were on an endless loop. â€Å"We find their business center and book tickets out of here,† I said. â€Å"Depending on how long until we can catch a flight, we might have to get a room again.† Adrian's eyes were scanning the action around us, lingering longest on one of the many bars. â€Å"Wouldn't kill us to spend a little time here.† I snapped. â€Å"Really? After everything that's happened, that's all you can think about?† His enraptured gaze turned back to me and became a frown. â€Å"There are cameras here. People who may recognize you. Getting hard proof that you were in this casino and not Alaska is a good thing.† â€Å"True,† I admitted. I think Adrian's typical blase air was masking discomfort. Aside from learning why I'd really come to Las Vegas, he'd also run into Strigoi–Dimitri among them. That was never an easy experience for any Moroi. â€Å"Though we've got no alibi for when we were actually in Alaska.† â€Å"So long as Victor doesn't get himself spotted around here, no one's going to make the connection.† Adrian's voice became bitter. â€Å"Which really shows how stupid they all are.† â€Å"We helped put Victor away,† said Lissa. â€Å"No one would think we'd be crazy enough to let him out.† Eddie, staying silent, gave me a pointed look. â€Å"Then it's settled,† said Adrian. â€Å"Somebody go book us tickets. I'm going to get a drink and try my hand at some games. The universe owes me some good luck.† â€Å"I'll get the tickets,† said Lissa, scanning a sign that pointed out the directions for the pool, restrooms–and business center. â€Å"I'll go with you,† said Eddie. Whereas before his expression had been accusatory, he now seemed to be avoiding my eyes altogether. â€Å"Fine,† I said, crossing my arms. â€Å"Let me know when you're done, and we'll find you.† That was to Lissa, meaning she'd tell me through the bond. Convinced he was free, Adrian headed straight for the bar, me trailing after him. â€Å"A Tom Collins,† he told the Moroi bartender. It was like Adrian had a mental cocktail dictionary in his head and just checked them off one by one. I almost never saw him drink the same thing twice. â€Å"You want it spiked?† the bartender asked. He wore a crisp white shirt and black bow tie and hardly appeared older than me. Adrian made a face. â€Å"No.† The bartender shrugged and turned around to make the drink. â€Å"Spiked† was Moroi code for putting a shot of blood into the drink. There were a couple of doors behind the bar, ones that probably led to feeders. Glancing down the bar, I could see happy, laughing Moroi with red-tinged drinks. Some liked the thought of having blood with their alcohol. Most–like Adrian, apparently–wouldn't take blood unless it was â€Å"straight from the source.† It supposedly didn't taste the same. While we waited, an older Moroi standing next to Adrian glanced over at me and nodded with approval. â€Å"You got yourself a good one,† he told Adrian. â€Å"Young, but that's the best way.† The guy, who was either drinking red wine or pure blood, jerked his head toward the others standing at the bar. â€Å"Most of these are used and washed-up.† I followed his shrug, even through there was no need. Interspersed among the humans and Moroi were several dhampir women, dressed very glamorously in silk and velvet dresses that left little to the imagination. Most were older than me. Those who weren't had a weary look in their eyes, despite their flirtatious laughter. Blood whores. I glared at the Moroi. â€Å"Don't you dare talk about them like that, or I'll smash that wineglass in your face.† The guy's eyes widened, and he looked at Adrian. â€Å"Feisty.† â€Å"You have no idea,† said Adrian. The bartender returned with the Tom Collins. â€Å"She's had kind of a bad day.† The asshole Moroi guy didn't look back at me. He apparently didn't take my threat nearly as seriously as he should have. â€Å"Everyone's having kind of a bad day. You hear the news?† Adrian looked relaxed and amused as he sipped his drink, but standing so close to him, I felt him stiffen a little. â€Å"What news?† â€Å"Victor Dashkov. You know, that guy who kidnapped the Dragomir girl and was plotting against the queen? He escaped.† Adrian's eyebrows rose. â€Å"Escaped? That's crazy. I heard he was at some maximum-security place.† â€Å"He was. No one really knows what happened. There were supposedly humans involved†¦ and then the story gets weird.† â€Å"How weird?† I asked. Adrian slipped an arm around me, which I suspected was a silent message to let him do the talking. Whether that was because he believed that was â€Å"proper† blood whore behavior or because he was worried I'd punch the guy, I couldn't say. â€Å"One of the guards was in on it–though he claims he was being controlled. He also conveniently says it's all a haze and he can't remember much. I heard it from some royals who are helping with the investigation.† Adrian laughed, taking down a big gulp of his drink. â€Å"That is convenient. Sounds like an inside job to me. Victor'd have a lot of money. Easy enough to bribe a guard. That's what I think happened.† There was a pleasant smoothness to Adrian's voice, and as a slightly dopey smile came over the other guy's face, I realized Adrian had pulled a little compulsion. â€Å"I bet you're right.† â€Å"You should tell your royal friends,† added Adrian. â€Å"An inside job.† The guy nodded eagerly. â€Å"I will.† Adrian held his gaze a few moments more and then finally glanced down to the Tom Collins. The glaze-eyed look faded from the man, but I knew Adrian's order to spread the â€Å"inside job† story would stick. Adrian gulped down the rest of the drink and set the empty glass on the bar. He was about to speak again when something across the room caught his attention. The Moroi man noticed too, and I followed both of their gazes to see what had them both so starstruck. I groaned. Women, of course. At first I thought they were dhampirs since my kind seemed to be making up most of the eye candy here. A double take revealed a surprise: The women were Moroi. Moroi showgirls, to be precise. There were several of them, clad in similar short, low-cut sequined dresses. Only, each one wore a different jewel-toned color: copper, peacock blue†¦ Feathers and rhinestones glittered in their hair, and they smiled and laughed as they passed through the gaping crowd, beautiful and sexy in a way different from my race. Which wasn't a surprise. I tended to notice Moroi men ogling dhampir girls more often, simply because I was a dhampir. But naturally, Moroi men were attracted to and infatuated with their own women. It was how their race survived, and though Moroi men might want to fool around with dhampirs, they almost always ended up with their own kind in the end. The showgirls were tall and graceful, and their fresh, brilliant appearances made me think they must be on their way to a performance. I could just imagine what a glittering display of dancing they must make. I could appreciate that, but Adrian clearly appreciated it more, judging from his wide-eyed look. I elbowed him. â€Å"Hey!† The last of the showgirls disappeared through the casino crowd, off toward a sign that said THEATER, just as I'd suspected. Adrian looked back at me, turning on a rogue smile. â€Å"Nothing wrong with looking.† He patted my shoulder. The Moroi standing next to him nodded in agreement. â€Å"I think I might take in a show today.† He swirled his drink around. â€Å"All this Dashkov business and that mess with the Dragomirs†¦ makes me sad for poor Eric. He was a good guy.† I put on a dubious look. â€Å"You knew Lissa's fath–Eric Dragomir?† â€Å"Sure.† The Moroi gestured for a refill. â€Å"I've been a manager here for years. He was here all the time. Believe me, he had an appreciation for those girls.† â€Å"You're lying,† I said coolly. â€Å"He adored his wife.† I'd seen Lissa's parents together. Even at a young age, I'd been able to see how crazy in love they were. â€Å"I'm not saying he did anything. Like your boyfriend said, nothing wrong with looking. But a lot of people knew the Dragomir prince liked to party it up wherever he went–especially if there was female company.† The Moroi sighed and lifted his glass. â€Å"Damn shame what happened to him. Here's hoping they catch that Dashkov bastard and leave Eric's little girl alone.† I didn't like this guy's insinuations about Lissa's dad and was grateful she wasn't around. What made me uneasy was that we'd recently found out Lissa's brother Andre had also been kind of a party boy who fooled around and broke hearts. Did that kind of thing run in the family? What Andre had done wasn't right, but there was a big difference between a teenage boy's exploits and those of a married man. I didn't like to admit it, but even the most in-love guys still checked out other women without cheating. Adrian was proof. Still, I didn't think Lissa would like the idea of her dad flirting around with other women. The truth about Andre had been hard enough, and I didn't want anything to shatter the angelic memories of her parents. I shot Adrian a look that said listening to this guy any longer really would come down to a fistfight. I didn't want to be standing here if Lissa came searching for us. Adrian, always more astute than he appeared, smiled down at me. â€Å"Well, my sweet, shall we try our luck? Something tells me you're going to beat the odds–like always.† I cut him a look. â€Å"Cute.† Adrian winked at me and stood up. â€Å"Nice talking to you,† he told the Moroi. â€Å"You too,† the man said. The thrall of compulsion was wearing off. â€Å"You should dress her better, you know.† â€Å"I'm not interested in putting clothes on her,† Adrian called as he steered me away. â€Å"Watch it,† I warned through gritted teeth, â€Å"or you might be the one with a wineglass in your face.† â€Å"I'm playing a part, little dhampir. One that's going to make sure you stay out of trouble.† We stopped near the casino's poker room, and Adrian gave me a head-to-toe assessment. â€Å"That guy was right about the clothes, though.† I gritted my teeth. â€Å"I can't believe he said those things about Lissa's dad.† â€Å"Gossip and rumors never go away–you of all people should know that. Doesn't matter if you're dead. Besides, that conversation was actually to our–by which I mean your–advantage. Somebody else is probably considering the inside-job theory already. If that guy can help get it around even more, it'll ensure no one even thinks the world's most dangerous guardian could have been involved.† â€Å"I suppose.† Forcibly, I pushed my temper down. I had always been trigger-happy, and I knew for sure now that the bits of darkness I'd gleaned from Lissa in the last twenty-four hours were making things worse, as I'd feared. I changed the subject, steering to safer ground. â€Å"You're being pretty nice now, considering how mad you were earlier.† â€Å"I'm not all that happy, but I've done some thinking,† Adrian said. â€Å"Oh? Care to enlighten me? â€Å"Not here. We'll talk later. We've got more important things to worry about.† â€Å"Like covering up a crime and getting out of this city without being attacked by Strigoi?† â€Å"No. Like me winning money.† â€Å"Are you crazy?† Asking Adrian that was never a good idea. â€Å"We just escaped a bunch of bloodthirsty monsters, and all you can think about is gambling?† â€Å"The fact that we're alive means we should live,† he argued. â€Å"Especially if we've got the time, anyway.† â€Å"You don't need any more money.† â€Å"I will if my dad turns me out. Besides, it's really about enjoying the game.† By â€Å"enjoying the game,† I soon realized that Adrian meant â€Å"cheating.† If you considered using spirit cheating. Because there was so much mental power tied into spirit, its users were very good at reading people. Victor had been right. Adrian joked and kept ordering drinks, but I could tell he was paying close attention to the others. And even though he was careful not to say anything explicitly, his expressions spoke for him–confident, uncertain, annoyed. Without words, he was still able to project compulsion and bluff the other players. â€Å"Be right back,† I told him, feeling Lissa's call. He waved me off, unconcerned. I wasn't worried about his safety either, seeing as there were a few guardians in the room. What concerned me was the possibility some casino official would notice his compulsion and throw us all out. Spirit users wielded it the most strongly, but all vampires had it to a certain extent. Using it was considered immoral, so it was banned among Moroi. A casino would definitely have reason to be on the lookout for it. The business center turned out to be near the poker room, and I found Lissa and Eddie quickly. â€Å"What's the report?† I asked as we walked back. â€Å"We've got a flight in the morning,† said Lissa. She hesitated. â€Å"We could have gone out tonight, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She didn't need to finish. After what we'd faced today, no one wanted to risk even the slightest chance of running into a Strigoi. Going to the airport would only require a taxi ride, but even still, that would mean we'd have to risk walking out into the darkness. I shook my head and led them toward the poker room. â€Å"You did the right thing. We've got time to kill now†¦. Do you want to get a room and get some sleep?† â€Å"No.† She shivered, and I felt fear in her. â€Å"I don't want to leave this crowd. And I'm kind of afraid of what I'd dream†¦.† Adrian might be able to act like he didn't care about the Strigoi, but those faces were still haunting Lissa–especially Dimitri's. â€Å"Well,† I said, hoping to make her feel better, â€Å"staying up will help get us back on the Court's schedule. You can also watch Adrian get thrown out by casino security.† As I'd hoped, watching Adrian cheat with spirit did indeed distract Lissa–so much so that she grew interested in trying it herself. Great. I urged her to safer games and recapped how Adrian had planted the idea of an inside job in the Moroi guy's head. I left out the part about Lissa's father. The night miraculously passed without incident–either of the Strigoi or security type–and a couple of people even recognized Lissa, which would help our alibi. Eddie didn't speak to me the entire night. We left the Witching Hour in the morning. None of us were happy about losing Victor or the attack, but the casino had soothed us all a little–at least until we got to the airport. At the casino, we'd been flooded with Moroi news, insulated from the human world. But while waiting for our plane, we couldn't help but watch the TVs that seemed to be everywhere. The headline story that night was all about a mass killing over at the Luxor, one that had left no clues for the police. Most of the casino guards involved had died from broken necks, and no other bodies were found. My guess was that Dimitri had tossed his cronies outside, where the sun would turn them to ash. Meanwhile, Dimitri himself had slipped away, leaving no other witnesses behind. Even the cameras had recorded nothing, which didn't surprise me. If I could disable surveillance at a prison, Dimitri could certainly manage it at a human hotel. Whatever mood-improvement we'd achieved instantly disappeared, and we didn't talk much. I stayed out of Lissa's mind because I didn't need her depressed feelings amplifying my own. We'd arranged a direct flight to Philadelphia and would then catch a commuter flight back to the airport near Court. What we'd face once there†¦ well, that was probably the least of our concerns. I wasn't worried about Strigoi boarding our plane in the daytime, and without any prisoners to watch, I allowed myself to fall into much-needed sleep. I couldn't remember the last time I'd gotten any on this trip. I slept heavily, but my dreams were haunted by the fact that I'd let one of the Moroi's most dangerous criminals escape and allowed a Strigoi to walk free and gotten a bunch of humans killed. I held none of my friends responsible. This disaster was all on me.