Foiled Again!

Foiled Again! Foiled Again! Foiled Again! By Maeve Maddox A line associated with the 19th century mustache-twirling stage villains thwarted by the hero was Curses! Foiled again! Foil as a verb meaning to frustrate the efforts of is popular with headline writers and journalists. Netanyahu makes final push to foil Swedish plan to divide Jerusalem No-shows foil Sunrise mayors payment plan for code violators Police foil plan to kill Dawoods brother The verb originated as a hunting term meaning to spoil a trace or scent by running over it, from Old French fouler, trample. It took on its modern meaning of spoiling someones plans in the 1660s. Foil as a noun meaning a thin sheet of metal, comes from a French word for leaf, modern French feuille. The sense of metallic food wrap dates from 1946. In fiction, a foil character is a secondary character used to point up certain traits in a main character. In Hamlet, for example, Laertes acts as a foil to Hamlet. Whereas Hamlet hesitates to avenge his fathers death, Laertes is quick to seek vengeance for the death of his sister. In Macbeth, the loyal, law-abiding Banquo serves as a foil to ambition-crazed Macbeth. Macbeth murders to win the crown. Banquo does nothing and becomes the father of kings. This idea of the word foil as contrast comes from the practice of backing a gem with metal foil to make it shine more brightly. Shakespeare used it in this sense in Henry IV, Part I. The future Henry V is a dissolute prince. In a soliloquy he anticipates changing his ways when he becomes king. He thinks that his subjects will appreciate his reign more because theyll have his rotten youth to compare it with: My reformation, glittering oer my fault, Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes Than that which hath no foil to set it off. This use of the noun foil to mean contrast is a favorite with political writers: Republicans make President Obama foil in state races Crist Uses His Old Party as a New Foil: He has used the Republican-led state legislature as a conservative foil to increase his appeal among centrist and Democratic voters. Ehrlich welcomes Palin as a foil: Ehrlichs camp is embracing Palins move as an opportunity to emphasize the former governors more moderate profile. Both noun and verb are used playfully here: Mans foil theft plan foiled at Home Depot: A man who tried to foil the theft detection devices at Home Depot with aluminum foil learned Saturday that his scheme would not work. Foil meaning a light fencing weapon is of uncertain origin. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:"Because Of" and "Due To" When to Form a Plural with an ApostropheHow often is "bimonthly"?

The Fujita Scale for Tornado Damage

The Fujita Scale for Tornado Damage Note: The U.S. National Weather Service has updated the Fujita Scale of tornado intensity to a new Enhanced Fujita Scale. The new Enhanced Fujita Scale continues to use F0-F5 ratings (shown below) but is based on a additional calculations of wind and damage. It was implemented in the United States on February 1, 2007. Tetsuya Theodore Ted Fujita (1920-1998) is famous for developing the Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale, a scale used to measure the strength of a tornado based on the damage it produces. Fujita was born in Japan and studied the damage caused by the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. He developed his scale in 1971 while working as a meteorologist with the University of Chicago. The Fujita Scale (also known as the F-Scale) typically consists of six ratings from F0 to F5, with damage rated as light to incredible. Sometimes, an F6 category, the inconceivable tornado is included in the scale. Since the Fujita Scale is based on damage and not really wind speed or pressure, it is not perfect. The primary problem is that a tornado can only be measured in the Fujita Scale after it has occurred. Secondly, the tornado can not be measured if there is no damage when the tornado occurs in an area without any features to be damaged. Nonetheless, the Fujita Scale has proven to be a reliable measurement of the strength of a tornado. Tornado damage needs to be examined by experts in order to assign a Fujita Scale rating to the tornado. Sometimes tornado damage appears worse than it actually is and sometimes, the media may overemphasize certain aspects of the damage tornadoes can cause. For example, straw can be driven into telephone poles at speeds as low as 50 mph. The Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale F0 - Gale With winds of less than 73 miles per hour (116 kph), F0 tornadoes are called gale tornadoes and cause some damage to chimneys, damage sign boards, and break branches off of trees and topple shallow-rooted trees. F1 - Moderate With winds from 73 to 112 mph (117-180 kph), F1 tornadoes are called moderate tornadoes. They peel surfaces off of roofs, push mobile homes off of their foundations or even overturn them, and push cars off of the road. F0 and F1 tornadoes are considered weak; 74% of all measured tornadoes from 1950 to 1994 are weak. F2 - Significant With winds from 113-157 mph (181-253 kph), F2 tornadoes are called significant tornadoes and cause considerable damage. They can tear the roofs off of light frame houses, demolish mobile homes, overturn railroad boxcars, uproot or snap large trees, lift cars off the ground, and turn light objects into missiles. F3 - Severe With winds from 158-206 mph (254-332 kph), F3 tornadoes are called severe tornadoes. They can tear the roofs and walls off of well-constructed houses, uproot the trees in a forest, overturn entire trains, and can throw cars. F2 and F3 tornadoes are considered strong and account for 25% of all tornadoes measured from 1950 to 1994. F4 - Devastating With winds from 207-260 mph (333-416 kph), F4 tornadoes are called devastating tornadoes. They level well-constructed houses, blow structures with weak foundations some distances, and turn large objects into missiles. F5 - Incredible With winds from 261-318 mph (417-509 kph), F5 tornadoes are called incredible tornadoes. They lift and blow strong houses, debark trees, cause car-sized objects to fly through the air, and cause incredible damage and phenomena to occur. F4 and F5 tornadoes are called violent and account for a mere 1% of all tornadoes measured from 1950 to 1994. Very few F5 tornadoes occur. F6 - Inconceivable With winds above 318 mph (509 kph), F6 tornadoes are considered inconceivable tornadoes. No F6 has ever been recorded and the wind speeds are very unlikely. It would be difficult to measure such a tornado as there would be no objects left to study. Some continue to measure tornadoes up to F12 and Mach 1 (the speed of sound) at 761.5 mph (1218.4 kph) but again, this a hypothetical modification of the Fujita Scale.

12-1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

12-1 - Assignment Example The bidding assists us on quality equipment, supplies and services. This will help limit cases of fraud and abuses of office by those who are mandated with ensuring supplies are made to the company. In this particular scenario, one can tell that the contractor and the health facility are the major players in the process of coming up with ways of ensuring transparency in the process. However, patients are the main beneficiaries of supplies since they require the facilities to keep fit. Medicare is the way in which patients will pay for the services they get. The coverage is very important to all because it makes it easier for them to get treatment. Equipment supplied to the facility have to be included in the Medicare program but have to be accounted for before one can look at the probability of benefitting from these services (Michael, 2004). The most fundamental thing that one has to contend with is the fact that the terms and conditions that are set apart by the companies which par ticipate in the agreement, have to adhere to the terms they state in the documents. The parties involved in this agreement are mainly the suppliers and the facility. Many contracts have been cited as being done in fraudulent ways making many institutions to lose a great deal of their financial resources. This is where the competitive bidding comes in to ensure that the best is chosen to conduct the supplies and involve the public in making decisions for effective services. In the long run, patients end up paying for the amount of money spent in handling these processes given that they are charged for services offered. They must be involved in the process and included in making it a routine to use the Medicare program to educate them on ways of identifying the best services and how they can control what goes on in the facility (Michael, 2004). The patient has to make private arrangements between them and the suppliers