Policy Development Paper

Policy Development Paper Policy Development Paper October 07, 2009 Policy Development Paper This paper will be focused on a terrorism security policy for large events. This paper will also include statistical, factual, and public opinion history information which will support my policy claim. All stake holders such as: politicians, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, correctional officers and administrators, law enforcement officers and administrators, victims, law-abiding citizens, will be included in this paper. Furthermore, their opinions as their opinion relates to my proposed policy and how politics may impact my policy implementation. Additionally, I will provide policy recommendations and the rationale for these recommendations and their impact on contemporary criminal justices issues and globalization. Terrorism is violent acts which is used to create fear or terror. Terrorism is very dangerous because the people who use terrorism which are called terrorist do not fear for their own life therefore, they will not care about anybody else life as well. A terrorist is one that engages in unlawful use or threat of violence against the public as a politically motivated means of attack† (Peace takes Courage, 2009). Another thing about terrorism is that terrorism can come from anyone or any where. Terrorism is man made as well so we must also keep that in mind. All through history, there has been threats made about the security of many nations. The threats that were made and carried out have caused a large scale loss of life, destroyed property, wide spread illness and injury, the displacement of large numbers of people, and lastly economic loss. When a country is harmed by terrorism the loss is great rather the loss is of lives or money. Terrorism is a very scary thing and a very serious thing as well because people who are terrorist do not care about anything but power and if they do not have the power they desire they will do what ever, they want until they get the power they want. The attacks of September 11, 2001 showed everyone in the United States that we were vulnerable to terrorist attacks. As a result of the attacks we have now created a way to fight back nd keep ourselves protected from terrorist. The first thing we did was create the Department of Homeland Security. There are three goals that are to prevent terrorist attacks in the United States. Next, they are to lessen the vulnerability to terrorism. The last goal of the Department of Homeland Security is to minimize the damage from potential attacks and natural disasters. The next thing they did to help keep us protected was create tool that is to keep everyone updated about terrorist threats. The tool is the color coded terrorism risk advisory scale. According to (the Department of Homeland Security) â€Å"this scale was created in 2002, with the idea that it would help notify the American population the probability level of terrorist activity and or threat. For the most part seems that the warning stays at elevated and that many people have come to mock the system. † Another thing that was created because of the terrorist attacks was the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act is a set of laws which are suppose to protect us, as a result of September 11, 2001. Another thing about the Patriot Act is that the Patriot Act is a 300 page document. According to (Girl, 2005) â€Å"This is stated in Section 213 of the Patriot Act which allows for the government to delay the notification of search warrants. With the protection of the fourth amendment the authorities are supposed to notify you of the warrant by knocking on the door before entering your home. This does not exist with the Patriot Act. The authorities only need probable cause to search and seize anything within your premises or person. The Patriot Act is good in one way and bad in another way. The next thing that was created as a result of 9/11 is the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA). â€Å"Marked a departure from existing federal catastrophe insurance market policy in several respects† (Lakdawalla, Zanjani, 2005). Terrorism has caused a lot of nations to tighten up on their security which is a good thing because every citizen deserves to feel safe. All of the new se curity we currently have is good because as long as the security is tight we as a nation is safe. Terrorism is all about keeping people scared and feeling unsafe. This new policy will help end that feeling and make everyone feel comfortable. This new policy will be on the federal level because on the federal level more powers can be granted and we need more power when combating terrorism. Here is the policy rules:  · All agencies are to report on a monthly basis to the head quarters.  · When there is a active threat each state must be warned.  · Each state must have some type of security precautions in place.  · All federal agents should be on the watch 24/7. There should be doubled the number of intelligence analysts and also tripled the amount of linguists within the entire agency.  · The agencies should also make sure that the terrorist financing is frozen because with out money their operations will have a very hard time surviving.  · All information must be shared with law enforcement and intelligence partners worldwide because they all need to be informed when t heir lives and their citizens lives are in danger after all that is why we are here in the first place to ensure the safety of everyone. Lastly all agencies should also be on the look out for weapons of mass destructions by getting rid of their weapons they will not have a way to fight back weapons of mass destruction would include guns, bombs, dangerous toxics, missiles, and etc. this policy should be followed because this policy was created to help keep everyone safe. I would first like to say that implementation is the realization of an application, or execution of a plan, idea, model, design, specification, standard, algorithm, or policy. When this policy is about to be implemented politics play a major role because politics will have to approve the policy. Politics will also have to approve funding for this policy without the help of politics my policy will not survive. Politics are needed when ever something has to pass into law. Politics also affect how problems are defined and if they will be on the governmental agenda for action. According to (Dievler, 2009) â€Å"politics also affects the implementation process, not only in terms of coalitions and the media, but through the politics of the administrative or bureaucratic process as well. The next thing that would include the implementation of this policy would be law enforcement officers and administrators. They would be included because local law enforcement officers are needed to help keep the communities under control and to help with law and order. Local law enforcement officers are always needed because their job is to keep everyone safe. They must also enf orce the law therefore they are the perfect candidates to help with my policy. Also the implementation of my policy. If the policy is implemented right there will not be any victims however, if there are some victims then they should follow the rules their government has in place. As well as the law- abiding citizens. If everyone follow procedure then there should not be any problems with the implementation of this policy. The policy which is titled the policy to prevent terrorist attacks was created to help keep everyone safe. This policy was also created to avoid being vulnerable like we were for 9/11. There were not any statistics to help with the implementation of this policy. However, the history of terrorism is a different story. The history of terrorism is very different from terrorism today. In 1944, the terrorists group of Palestine, called the Zionists, were called freedom fighters and if you happened to look in the history there were two Israeli prime ministers, including Menachem begin appearing in wanted posters that said terrorists, reward [this much]. According to (Terrorism- Research, 2009) â€Å"The earliest known organization that exhibited aspects of a modern terrorist organization was the Zealots of Judea. Known to the Romans as sicarii, or dagger-men , they carried on an underground campaign of assassination of Roman occupation forces, as well as any Jews they felt had collaborated with the Romans. Their motive was an uncompromising belief that they could not remain faithful to the dictates of Judaism while living as Roman subjects. † The history of terrorism is very different from the terrorism of today. Also according to (Terrorism- Research, 2009) â€Å"The French Revolution provided the first uses of the words â€Å"Terrorist† and â€Å"Terrorism†. Use of the word â€Å"terrorism† began in 1795 in reference to the Reign of Terror initiated by the Revolutionary government. The agents of the Committee of Public Safety and the National Convention that enforced the policies of â€Å"The Terror† were referred to as ‘Terrorists†. As for public opinion they are all over the place. However, the public is more worried about another terrorist attack more than anything else. Therefore, the public is willing to accept any policy as long as the policy will keep them safe. And because of that politics take advantage mainly because they know that people will make a sacrifice if their safety is in danger. According to (Girl, 2005) â€Å" The events of September 11, 2001 have forever changed the way that we as Americans look at outsiders. We have become skeptical of anyone who is not as we expect them to be. † In short public opinion is driven by fear and if the bigger the fear the more people are terrified. If the terrorist threats are weak the public is not afraid but if the terrorist threats are strong and powerful the public will be very afraid and they will give the terrorist all the power they need. That is the public opinion on terrorism. Now, I will attempt to give policy recommendations and the rationale for these recommendations and their impact on contemporary criminal justices issues and globalization. There are not to many recommendations I can give on policing however, I will try to. One recommendation would be to make a policy that do not harm or rights this is important because our rights are all we have and if they are taken away we will not have anything. Our rights are very important. The next policy recommendation would be to make sure everyone is save safety is very important. Another good policy recommendation would be to create policies that will catch terrorist quicker. As for the first recommendation the rationale is that according to (Girl, 2005) â€Å"There are many violations but one of the most controversial is the violation against our fourth amendment rights. † This recommendation do not interfere with the criminal justice system or globalization. There are not a rationale for the second recommendation and the second recommendation do not effect globalization. There also is not a rationale for the last recommendation as well and the last recommendation do not interfere with the criminal justice and the last recommendation do not effect globalization. Globalization has made way for free trade and business and has communication between various parts of the globe. Therefore, globalization will not have any thing to do with the policy recommendations I have made. In conclusion, I would like to say that terrorism is very bad and very scary as well. Terrorism can cause a lot of damage and harm a lot of people. All major points were talked about in this paper. The policy I created was also included and to me the policy I created was pretty good. Lastly, I discussed the politics a lot more than anything else mainly because politics play a major role in policy making. Well, this concludes my paper I hope you enjoyed reading this paper because I did put a lot of work into this paper. References: Dievler, A. (2009). Politics and Policy Making. Retrieved on: October 08, 2009. From: http://www. pubmedcentral. nih. gov/pagerender. fcgi? artid=1508936&pageindex=1 Girl, M. (2005). Terrorism and Policy. Retrieved on: October 8, 2009. From: http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/14236/terrorism_and_policy. html? cat=37 Lakdawalla, D. , Zanjani, G. (2005). Terrorism insurance policy and the public good. Retrieved on: October 09, 2009. From: http://works. bepress. com/cgi/viewcontent. cgi? article=1032&context=darius_lakdawalla Peace takes Courage. (2009). What is a Terrorist? Retrieved on: October 9, 2009. From: http://www. peacetakescourage. com/terrorist. html Terrorism- Research. (2009). Early history of terrorism. Retrieved on: October 09, 2009. From: http://www. terrorism-research. com/history/early. php

Skepticism †the Foundation of Epistemology

How can we know anything for sure? What’s out there? How can we know that what we   know is â€Å"knowledge† and not just â€Å"belief†? Many mystics and metaphysicians have reported experiencing the world directly – utterly bypassing the senses. But barring such drastic transcendental experiences, the truth of which cannot be objectively ascertained, we are totally bound to experience the world via the medium of our senses and the mind. As a consequence of which, the great epistemological question arises — what is really out there, what is there all around us in reality? Can we know the objective ‘world around us’ at all? The simple definition of the ‘world around us’ is the world that may exist independent of our senses, perception, mind, and our very existence. If human beings did not exist, and no living creatures with sensory perception existed, would the world be still the same? How can we ever know? From whose perspective would we ‘see’ such a world? The ‘world around us’ is an intractably complex concept.   But the approach to it is simple enough. Not to automatically believe whatever we see around is at the heart of the quintessential epistemological enquiry of â€Å"Skepticism.† †Since at least the time of Descartes (First Meditation) in the seventeenth century there has been a philosophical problem about our knowledge of the world around us. Put most simply, the problem is to show how we can have any knowledge of the world at all. The conclusion that we cannot, that no one knows anything about the world around us, is what I call â€Å"scepticism about the external world.† (Stroud 1984 : 1) In a way it was Francis Bacon who started modern philosophical thinking, in a way it was Rene Descartes, and yet in another way it was Immanuel Kant. The three of them marked the beginning of modern skepticism, modern epistemological thinking and modern philosophy as well. Their thought signified a profound break with the dogmatic religious, theological and metaphysical thinking that dominated Western approach to the understanding of the world for numerous dark centuries before them. Truth is not a given thing, which should be accepted on the basis of faith, anymore. It has to be searched. Human enquiry is paramount. Nothing can be taken for granted. Bacon, Descartes, Kant, the three of them were into systematic demolition of traditional beliefs, paving the way to a new kind of thinking that would characterize the modern way of understanding the world. Perhaps Socrates can be regarded as the first skeptical philosopher, since he began from the premise that he knew nothing. Though at one period there was a special school of skeptical philosophers called â€Å"skeptikoi† (among whom Pyrrho of Elis, Arcesilaus, Carneades), skepticism influenced in a pervasive way all Greek and Roman philosophies. With the advent of Christianity however, skepticism and openness of enquiry gave way to fundamentalism and dogmatism (Hooker 1996). But during the ages of Renaissance and Enlightenment (16 – 18 centuries), skepticism was once again in full force. It had to be. Without it, there cannot be any true philosophy or even science, not to mention epistemology. Our beliefs about the external world can possess the certainty of knowledge only when they can be justified by irrefutable evidence. As it is, our knowledge of the external world is purely â€Å"inferential,† derived through our senses and mind. All supposed evidence we have about the external world is provided by our perceptual experience: that is to say, by how things look, sounds, smell, taste and feel to us. Our experiential beliefs, however, can never logically entail anything about the external world, because no intrinsic logical necessity exists for there to be an exact correspondence between our perceptions of the external world and the real world around us. There seems to be no feasible logical inference possible, which can bridge the gap between the world around us and ourselves either. As a result, there is no logical way to justify our core beliefs about the external world. We are not even in a position to assert the existence of an external world, as separate from our own minds. Hence skepticism. The crux of skepticism, which is in fact not just some school of thought but a fundamental reflection about human existence in the universe, is well presented by Descartes in his First Meditation.   Descartes starts with exploring the various grounds of skepticism, in order to arrive at some point of certainty, if possible. Descartes says what if we were all living in a dream? We all must have dreamed dreams that we thought were so absolutely real that not even the faintest suspicion of doubt arose in us as to the reality of our dream experiences until we awoke.   This single argument in itself is enough to cast a heavy shadow of doubt on the reality of our existence. Yet Descartes attacks from various angles the seemingly unshakeable certainty we have in our own existence and the existence of the world around us. Dream, hallucination, illusion, delusion – the very possibility of these things undermines the certainty of our individual existence, and the existence of our world as we perceive it. Descartes goes on even further to refute the certainty of mathematical equations such as two plus two equals four. What if, Descartes asks, the whole world is run by an omnipotent evil Deity who could be having fun deliberately misleading our logic? (Descartes) Thus ultimately even mathematical certainty is ruled out. Dreams are everyday experience to us, as are simple mathematical facts. To Descartes, one could be as illusory, a mere product of mind, as other. Nothing is left. Is there anything at all we can be indubitably certain about? Is any thing that the human mind can know reliable in the ultimate sense of the word? A large part of Kant's work too moves around the question â€Å"What can human mind know?† The answer, according to Kant, is that our knowledge is inherently restricted to mathematics and the science of the natural, empirical world. It is not logically possible to extend the scope of our thinking to comprehend supersensible realm, as it used to be done in speculative metaphysics. There are limits to human knowledge, human perception, and the reach of human mind. Yet it is with this mind we have to unrelentingly seek, to know and comprehend about our world. Kant lived in an age when the scientific spirit of man was freshly abloom. It is impossible to understand modern philosophy without considering the scientific revolution. Kant had to evolve a philosophical framework for newly emerging scientific attitudes. He focused attention on the way scientific theories are shaped by man’s creative investigations into nature. The rational reorientation in Western thinking was introduced by Copernicus (the so-called Copernican revolution), and was developed by Galileo, Bacon, Descartes, Kant, and Hume into a systematic and comprehensive framework to the new, scientific, rational and empirical way of thinking. Though skepticism may be most commonly associated with Cartesian Skepticism, or to the thought of this philosopher or that, just like in the ancient Greece the influence of philosophical and scientific skepticism permeates wide and deep into much of modern thought. The skepticism about the external world is an inevitable consequence of human experience, and perhaps is by its very nature insurmountable. Further, it is not only a question of what is out there – it is also a question of what is in here. We cannot be sure of the outside world, but equally, we cannot be sure of who we are ourselves; the nature of our own existence remains in dark. Rene Descartes asserts â€Å"I think therefore I am,† but on second thoughts he may be only thinking he is. References: Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. Retrieved May 3, 2007 from http://www.classicallibrary.org/descartes/meditations/4.htm Hooker, R. (1996). Skepticism. Retrieved May 3, 2007 Stewart, D. ; Blocker, H. G. (2005). Fundamentals of Philosophy (6th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ : Prentice Hall. Stroud, B. (1984). The Significance of Philosophical Scepticism. New York : Oxford Univesity Press ;

Book Report on Little Princes

Book Report on Little Princes Essay How far would you push your boundaries to follow the insecure passion of altruistic salvation without the dire ability of foreseeing its outcome? One man is audacious enough to fulfill his self-assigned responsibility of family reunion in one of the most remote part of Nepal- Humla – without the apprehension of the imminent complications. Conor who desperately craved for a ‘radical change’ by traveling around the globe and volunteering in a war-torn nation (initially for impressing his colleagues and family); is yet to encounter life’s greatest trial which would later transform him beyond his expectations. ‘Little Princes’ is a compiled memoir of a ‘University of Virginia’; graduate, Conor Grennan ,which entails heart-rending story of those deprived but extremely resilient children; deceitfully contrasting to the title that provides a euphoric outlook. After Conor left East/West Institute where he worked as Deputy Director for Governance program; he ventured to volunteer at ‘Little Princes Children Home’ when Maoist insurgency in the country reached its pinnacle. At the beginning mope and reluctant, Conor constantly questions and fears his competency to cope with the children and circumstances in the country chosen for volunteering. But when Conor is revealed with the unavoidable truth about none of the children being at Little Princes being orphan; the stint volunteering becomes a part of grand-committed journey, never before attempted in the land of mystical mountains. Those children had been cruelly lacerated from their family by child-traffickers demanding hefty cash for their safety at the time of civil war; but later abandoned amidst the chaos of the Kathmandu Valley! Conor without any information of the family members or the relatives of the children ( as they were trafficked at an age when one doesn’t call their relatives with their names); has to tackle the compulsion to rely on faint hope and fate for the accomplishment of his commitment. But back in the capital while Conor risks his life in the breathtaking cliffs and numbing chilliness of Humla, his intimates Farid, Viva and his mentor Anna are operating Next Generation Nepal (NGN) the organization founded by Conor assisting the benevolent cause of combating child trafficking. As the memoir develops, it unfolds the root cause of the trafficking woes i.e. ‘Political Patronizing’ as a prominent theme; which influenced many like Golkka conduct trafficking during civil war. Conor who has managed various projects on Peace and reconciliation in Balkan explicitly criticizes the recruitment ‘One child per family ‘policy in Maoist stronghold places in Nepal. ‘If a five-year-old boy went missing in the United States, it would be front-page news for days. Entire towns would hold vigils. Millions of dollars would be spent†¦In Kathmandu, seven children vanished into thin air and nobody even missed them.’  Not only did the passionate cruise introduced Conor to his future wife but, Liz, who shared congruent ideology of selflessness; but also appeasing little teachers(the children) who rewarded him with the ability of compromising. Conor is spell-bounded by the children who effortlessly contrived happiness from ‘Drinking Jelly’ they ate, co-operatively handling ‘children home’ chores or be it curiously piling upon one another to ensure their faces in the tiny camera screen. All along Conor’s unpredictable journey the children had silently and secretly taught him the lessons of endurance and optimism. Conor, who eventually becomes immune to the monastery bells and habituated to swinging on metal bar of the overcrowded buses. As he mentions in the essay ‘How Taking notes and Living without indoor Plumbing would change my life’ (- published in Amazon): ‘the more time I spent in Nepal, the more normal these â€Å"strange† things became’ which is undoubtedly a tireless struggle of encompassing the love towards the children and their society. READ: Oedipus rex Essay Paper‘Little Princes’ is a solemn story of bridging over the tragic separation of children and their families so profoundly and wittily narrated. With a fair and reader friendly brevity, Conor leaves no stone unturned by vividly illustrating even the minute details; like the flashing of ‘I Love You’ each second in the watch borrowed from a friend by Santosh (a child from Little Princes) or the obscure plucking of blanket repairers with stringed harp around the shoulder, which gives a poetic justice to his life-changing experience in Nepal. Personally, it is a book capable of encapsulating and inspiring every reader to sort out the innate ability of absorbing evenness out of the odds. All in all the audacious adventure, riveting romance and devoted dedication yoked together makes ‘Little Princes’ a quintessential paradigm of how ‘real life can be stranger than fiction’; and guarantees your reading worthwhile till the end.  I have already made a difference in the lives of trafficked children as portion of my purchase is a contribution to Next Generation Nepal (NGN) working for the same altruistic cause; so when are you getting yours!

Environmental Analysis HTC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 17

Environmental Analysis HTC - Essay Example Hence a strategic plan has been suggested in this study which could address this particular issue concerning the organization. The strategic implementation plan has also been recommended which can help HTC revive its position in the market and lead to increased revenue generation and profitability in the long run. This study entails formulating a strategic plan for HTC Corporation. The company engages itself in the business of designing, manufacturing and marketing Smartphone that is based on the Android operating system developed by Google and Windows operating system developed by Microsoft (â€Å"Company Profiles for HTC Corp (2498)†). The strategic plan and its implementation process have been discussed after analyzing the internal and external environmental factors affecting the organization. Environmental analysis of HTC Corp. refers to the various internal and external factors having an impact on the business activities carried out by the company. SWOT analysis can be used as an effective strategic tool to analyze the internal and external factors associated with the organization (Williams, Champion, and Hall 108). The primary objective of using the SWOT analysis is to uncover the opportunities, strengths, threats, and weaknesses of the company. The SWOT analysis of HTC Corp. is presented below: A. Strengths: The research and development (R & D) capabilities of HTC is immense. The company has been involved in investments related to enhancing its R & D capabilities on a consistent basis since its inception. A significant portion of the revenues generated by the company accounts for R & D investments made by the company. Moreover, R & D professionals constitute most of the employees working in the organization.

Individual Reflection paper- Group dynamic Essay

Individual Reflection paper- Group dynamic - Essay Example I have previously worked with different people and therefore learnt that in group there will always be members who are great leaders and others who just greatly contribute to the group’s success. There are also the careless types who do not care at all and are comfortable with just any grade for as long as it is a pass. I therefore understand what it takes for one be a great group leader. Our Group Dynamics team lacked the kind of person who can measure to the standards of a group leader. Nevertheless, have a strong conviction that our group could have been strong even with no strong leadership but it appeared like some of the members only wanted to achieve a passing grade. Registering high scores was not there business for as long as they could proceed to the next level and therefore they put minimal efforts towards the success of the group. The group I worked with this semester had many similarities with other groups on real job sites. It is particularly very had in some instances to bring together different in a group and have them work coherently. In my opinion this explains the high turnover rates that many companies have to struggle with. Corporations have no time and resources to allow employees long periods to learn one another and work as a team; changes are made almost as immediate as it is discovered that there is not fit. On the other hand class work is an opportunity for all to learn and there every member it required to participate and learn as much as possible as to as to become efficient. Conflicts will always arise in groups but quick amicable solutions ensure that the group remains on course; challenges were there in my group just like any other. In my opinion this was a very exciting learning experience as the professor assigned us to groups randomly and this allowed us to learn together with classmates we have not related before. it was almost

Swimming Pool Chemistry Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Swimming Pool Chemistry - Term Paper Example To be more specific, the regular use to which swimming pools are put requires that they be cleaned on a regular basis. Exposed as they are, and frequented by a lot of people, swimming pools are places that are especially prone to infection if neglected. This paper, then, is intended as an explanation of the various measures taken by operators of swimming pools as to how to keep their waters safe, as well as how the public can do their part. The Importance of Swimming Pool Sanitation As detailed in a report by the World Health Organization (2006), swimming pools are vulnerable to pollutants such as bird droppings or even the rain. And while indoor pools are much safer, even they need to be cleaned at least once in a while just to be absolutely sure. Either way, as noted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2009), pathological contaminants often abound in swimming pools, which can cause a myriad of conditions such as diarrhea. A pool that is cleaned regularly is in effect guaranteed to be safe for the public to enjoy – guaranteed safe for them to swim in. ...In the words of the Division for Environmental Health (2011), the only way to maintain safe and consistent swimming pool operation is through proper water chemistry. The exact process involved is often rather varied, not only in the chemicals that may be used but also in the methods employed. For one thing, disinfectants may be used to rid the water of harmful, objectionable or otherwise unwanted microorganisms. Alkalinity and pH adjusters may also be used to ensure that the pool’s pH and acidity levels remain stable, while algaecide and filter aids respectively kill any algae and prevent foreign material from spreading in the water. Swim King’s (2011) official website also tells us that the balance between these chemicals needs to be just right so as to keep the water free of any unwanted ‘lurkers’, yet still be safe for those of us who feel like taking a swim. For instance, free chlorine residual refers to the amount of chlorine which has yet to react with any other substance in the water besides the water itself, and should ideally be anywhere between 1-3 ppm. Secondly, combined chlorine refers to chlorine that fits the opposite description – that is to say, it has already reacted with a foreign substance. This kind of chlorine is no longer a help to the disinfection process, and indeed, only acts as an irritant. And finally, total chlorine residual is the sum of these two variants of chlorine. Besides chlorine, bromine can also be used to fulfill the function of disinfection. In fact, whereas the former is more prevalent in swimming pools (Sweazy, 2001), it is the latter that is the preferred substance among owners of spas and hot tubs (Wilson, 2002).

People & Organisational Management in the Built Environment Essay

People & Organisational Management in the Built Environment - Essay Example The researcher states that the skills, that are acquired by a manager matter a lot when managing people within a built environment. Modern managers are expected to be competent in performing their technical responsibilities as well as in handling the subordinates. Considering the tight competition in the workplace, the need for managers to constantly update their management skills is strongly advised. In relation to people and organizational management, the first part of the study will provide the definition and concept of ‘people and organizational management’ followed by discussing the most important people and organizational management theoretical concept. Right after defining the concept, a literature review will be conducted in determining the importance of the principles behind people and organizational management towards the student’s profession as a manager in a built environment. Eventually, some recommended strategic ways in which management theories cou ld enable us to meet the key challenges of the 21st century will be identified and discussed. For the second part of the study, the student will conduct a self-reflection with regards to the student’s own management competencies as a manager in a built environment. People management alone is not enough in enabling built environment achieve its organizational goals. In conclusion, for the success of a built environment, managers should be able to effectively integrate the important functions of people and organizational management.

THE BUREAUCRACY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

THE BUREAUCRACY - Essay Example In addition, the paycheck legislation was aimed at lobby support from law firm that will support President Campaigns. Therefore, it can be observed that there is a strong interaction between President Obama and democracy. For instance, rules, regulation and hierarchical of command had to be observed in implementation President Obama Paycheck legislation (Rove, paras.2-8). Bureaucracy entails a system of governance that is characterized by hierarchy of commands and directions. Further, it involves adherence to rules and legal procedures. This part has take into consideration the bureaucracy in bustling state; it involves an initiative undertaken to include employees, government agencies to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the employee’s respective working areas. The initiative was aimed at bustling those who do not tell the truth via the social media. The policy was involved in employees working areas in order to enhance efficiency not only to the organization where they are working but also to the entire Michigan government. The head of bureaucracy in this area involve the Michigan government that focuses at ensuring integration of the entire population in order to come up with innovative solutions to address the problems at hand as well as improve the future of the next generations (Michigan.Gov,

ENGLISH LEGAL SYSTEM-2, CASE STUDY Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

ENGLISH LEGAL SYSTEM-2, CASE STUDY - Coursework Example This in turn resulted in the job loss and financial erosion. Moreover, his friend John was killed in the accident. Peter faced more problem from his insurer as it denied the payment of insurance money for his car damage, hospital / medical expenses/ medical expenses of his wife Maria and compensation for John as claimed by Andrea, wife of John. John’s wife and Solicitors acting on behalf of other driver sent formal notices for contemplating legal action against him for his act of negligence. In addition, the Police have filed a charge sheet making him liable for manslaughter, reckless driving and driving with out negligence. However, according to Peter’s version, he was not responsible for the accident as the other driver was involved in faulty driving. Hence, according to him, his driving shouldn’t be treated as reckless. In several of the road accidents, the accidents happen suddenly due to mistake from other people during which one has little scope to escape. Moreover, there was no proof that Peter was driving recklessly and hence he shouldn’t be held responsible for this. The main objective at this moment is to protect Peter in cases of any possible legal proceedings against him. The insurance money should also be paid to him for which he should prove that he has not violated the contract law2. At the same, time, he should also be protected against any Police action under the law of insurance and traffic laws. According to English law and insurance regulations of United Kingdom, if a person is responsible for any road accident and if rash and negligence driving is proven with reasonable facts, there may be a possibility of filing a criminal case against the driver and compensation can also be claimed legally. In case, it is proven that the driver is not responsible for accident, then the insurance company will have to pay the necessary compensation. In the present case, Peter should be protected against the criminal case and clai m for compensation as he is not responsible for the accident and rash driving was not proven in any court or tribunal. Peter must try for obtaining an anticipatory bail under this context. This is required because of the fact that two formal court notices were issued against him by John’s wife and Solicitors on behalf of other driver. The Police may try to arrest him at any time mentioning the cause of accident as negligence driving. He should have a proper representation for explaining the court about the nature of the accident and his reasoning about his non commitment of any mistake. For obtaining justice against the claims of Andrea and other driver, he should submit enough evidence that he was not solely responsible for the accident. Hence, he should claim for anticipatory bail in any local civil court under the context of intentional allegation against him with out any solid proof. In case if Peter is convicted of the matters alleged by the Police, there is a possibilit y that he may be arrested under criminal case3 as his friend died in accident, with the ground of obtaining more material facts required for getting clarity in the case and he would be submitted by the Police in the Court with relevant documents and charge sheet. Hence, anticipatory bail is very much required to be obtained by the Peter before Police initiate any action on their behalf. In case he is convicted in court of law by

Belonging Essay on Strictly Ballroom & the Sisters Anthology Essay Example for Free

Belonging Essay on Strictly Ballroom the Sisters Anthology Essay â€Å"An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging.† The intrinsic nature of mankind strives for a sense of belonging; this sense of belonging is fulfilled when one has reached a physical or emotional affinity with an entity. One’s sense of belonging emerges from positive and negative experiences and notions of identity, relationships, understanding and acceptance. Moreover, positive connections allow one to feel security, acceptance and input meaning into their lives. In contrast, negative connections are the reverse; one may feel alienated, depressed and feel a need to create or deteriorate a personal or cultural identification. Positive and negative interactions, imparting an essential role in influencing one’s sense of personal, familial and social belonging is effectively explored in Baz Luhrmann’s romantic comedy film Strictly Ballroom (1992) and the anthology Sisters. An authority figure, head of an organisation, expectations of conformity by followers negatively affects the followers’ or one’s sense of personal belonging. Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom effectively undertakes the exploration of this idea through the portrayal of the young ‘non-conformist’ Scott Hastings struggle to win the Pan Pacifics competition by the pursuit of his own personal dance; a rebellious action ensured to disrupt the natural order of the Australian Dance federation or ballroom dancing world, operated by the corruptive Barry Fife. As Scott throws his polka dot t-shirt in a corner of the studio revealing a simple shirt underneath, this is a simultaneous suggestion of his ‘breaking away’ from his old ballroom partnership with Liz and reliance on ‘flashy clothes’ to self-express himself in ballroom dance; further suggesting that his sense of belonging towards traditional ballroom dance has been shifted into feeling a sense of belonging towards his own personal dance. An agreement on a partnership ensues when both Scott and Fran, a girl with a Spanish background, share similar desire s to dance non-federation steps at the Pan Pacifics. However, Barry attempts to deceive Scott into dancing the traditional federation steps at the Pan Pacific’s. He asserts: â€Å"We are hoping you will win the trophy that he could not. He wouldn’t want me to do this, but I’m begging you, dance with Liz.† The natural lighting on Scott and his long-sleeved, loose cotton white shirt effectively capturing his youth and grace and illustrating a sense of freedom contrasts to Barry, as a dim light surrounds him and he is wearing a  formal black suit that hints towards self restriction. Lurhmann has intentioned this to foreshadow what style of dance will prevail in the Pan Pacifics and to demonstrate the freedom that follows with choosing not to conform, and, to highlight the imbalance of power, encouraging audience empathy for Scott. After Scott does not see through the deception and familial belonging drives him into agreeing to dance federation steps instead of pursuing his own personal style in the Pan Pacific’s he is inevitably affected in a way, as his sense of personal belonging received through his personal non- federation dancing is limited. An individual who has undertaken a physical transformation into a more appealing image by another individual can positively influence their sense of social and physical belonging. This notion is effectively explored in Lurhmann’s Strictly Ballroom (1992) through the portrayal of Fran’s progression from a meek unattractive woman into the ideal representation of a female ballroom dancer. Luhrmann’s constant use of high power shot when filming her on her parts by herself and the symbolic meaning of her glasses of meekness in comparison to the norm, reflect on her little power. Fran’s unattractiveness as a result of her neglected like state makes her a representation of reality in the ‘unrealistic’ and ‘fake’ world of traditional ballroom dancing reliant on flashy costume and heavy make-up, and is what successfully separates her from it. Therefore, as a result of her appearance, her sense of belonging is limited. However, pressures and expectations placed on her to conform to the ideologies of ballroom dancing women instigate her transition from an unattractive woman into a more appealing woman, where she becomes no longer a representation of reality. Liz compliments Fran’s more appealing appearance: â€Å"You look lovely Fran. You have been using that Buff puff I gave you haven’t you?’’ Second person device and rhetorical question is used to reveal to the responder that her physical transformation was a result of living up to the ballroom dancing pressures and expectations of conformity, and not an act from personal decision. Within this scene, medium shot is simultaneously used to emphasise Fran’s now surpassing beauty than her elders and the shot positioning Fran of equal height to Liz, Les and Doug suggests that since now she is at a higher attractive level the balance of power is equal despite age, rank and gender. As they converse, the positive expressions on Fran’s, Les, Liz and  Doug’s face and Fran’s open and confident stance illustrates that this physical transformation into a more appealing image has enriched Fran’s social and physical belonging. (These two paragraphs and conclusion done all in Biology) The restriction’s placed on an individual due to the unavoidable interactions with others and parts of the world limits their sense of personal belonging and can be dealt with escape and interaction with the wider world. The nonfiction extract from Sisters, an Anthology, undergoes the exploration of this idea through the reflection of a narrator’s relationship with her two sisters, Mary and Phoebe and her best friend, Beth. The narrator articulates that the inevitable differing perspectives of her blood-related sisters lead to an incomprehension which further leads to a state in their relationship where â€Å"too much cannot be spoken† as â€Å"too much hangs on whose version prevails†. Hence, this imperfect relationship is contrasted with her relationship with Beth where â€Å"there is not a sliver of difference between us† and â€Å"where I cannot imagine the life I lived before, a world without the most perfect of sisters† to draw out the imperfection and forced nature in terms of the bonds of sisterhood. She has an exile to enrich her sense of personal belonging that is limited at home and finds it with interaction with the landscape and experiences with the world. â€Å"I had a life brimming over with sparkling stories which I sent to them on the back of postcards of shinny harbours and bright reefs. They had drizzle and guinea pigs to bury, and dogs to drag out of the river.† The positive connotation of â€Å"shinny†, â€Å"sparkling† and â€Å"bright† highlights a key and unforgettable moment of the narrators life to the responder whilst these words contrary to death, indicate her feelings of youth and vitality, and hence belonging, which is further contrary to the negative connotation of ‘drag’; that relates to a restriction of choice and images of death. Also, the great vastness, lighter colour and greater height of water of the ‘reef’s’ and ‘harbours’ juxtaposed with the restrictive nature, dullness of the ‘river’ highlights her feelings of freedom and reiterates her vitality and hence again, greater sense of belonging. Overall, this reflects the narrator’s greater sense of belonging in interaction with the wider world, allowed from her exile, rather than the restricted space of sisterhood or unavoidable interactions with others.  The conception of family, appearance and expectations of conformity by the authorities and the world around them negatively and positively affects an individual’s sense of personal belonging.

English Literature Essays Witchcraft Goodman Brown

English Literature Essays Witchcraft Goodman Brown Witchcraft Goodman Brown Young Goodman Brown The setting of the story is in the 17th century in Salem, Massachusetts where the center of witchcraft occurred in history. As a backgrounder, during those times, most people believed in witchcraft. The belief originated from Europe where 500,000 people were executed for it between 15th and 17th centuries. Before the outbreak of witchcraft, nearly 300 people had been indicted of witchcraft and more than 30 have been hanged. Both men and women have been jailed and executed those times. Almost everyone who was accused of witchcraft were older women who were likely to be independent and eccentric. This hysteria was believed by historians essential because it was the last time in the history of America that allegations of witchcraft would lead to execution. The experience and its aftershocks also marked the conclusion of Puritan authority in New England. During those times, the leaders of the community of Salem, including those young innocent people like Goodman Brown were easily allured by wicked figures to join cults. The story starts in motion with young Brown leaves his three-month wife, Faith home, and meets a stranger, with a staff resembling a snake, in a forest to join undetermined, but evidently unholy ceremony. It is being discussed in the story that his wife, Faith, wears a hat with pink ribbons on it. Hawthorne explains the character of the wife by the symbol of pink ribbons which entails daintiness, fragility and innocence. He also supports the wife’s vulnerable character when Brown tries to hide the purpose of leaving from his wife with the reason that it might break her fragile heart. At the time of meeting of Brown and the man with a staff, the author also gives a briefing of the stranger’s character. He makes the stranger carry a staff which resembles a snake. It is being associated to the rod thrown by Aaron, a biblical character, before the Pharaoh. It also symbolizes lies and deceit which explains the character of the one who uses it. Hence, the staff of Brown’s companion is being linked to evil. As Brown goes on with the journey with his companion deep in the forest, Hawthorne inserts credibility to the character of the stranger. Credibility so to confuse the readers whether the stranger is good or bad†¦whether he is wicked or not. It sets the mood of confusion when the author explains that the stranger’s looks could be mistaken for a father of Brown. He pictures out that the two resembles each other. The author stops not there for the purpose of confusing the readers more. He also tries to puzzle the readers when the stranger utters to the main character that he once, worked with Brown’s parents which gains the stranger credibility so Brown will be comfortable journeying with him. Hawthorne is successful in building the mysterious character of the stranger. At one point of their journey, the stranger offers his staff to Brown to help the main character on their way to the unexplained ceremony. Brown refuses to take it which could be a symbol of the author that the main character is not fully convinced to wickedness yet. As the two moves on, the story shows that Brown begins to realize that a lot of his townsfolk are traveling towards the ceremony which surprises him particularly when he sees the Deacon, the Minister and the woman who taught him catechism whom he considers models of the Christian community. On that note, the author is leading the readers to think about two things; either those people familiar to Brown are really heading towards the ceremony or the stranger, who plays the devil role to those who Hawthorne isn’t able to confuse, just makes a mere imagination for Brown, but both serves the same purpose, to lure him to the ceremony. The ideas are applicable to the story and Hawthorne uses figures like those people whom Brown looks up to like the Deacon, the Minister and the woman who taught him catechism. Noticing all these, he understands that not everyone, who seems to do good things, shows holiness and preaches the good word is sincere to what they do. This realization makes him want to turn back at some point but for some reason, he decides to proceed. Hawthorne could be showing that the main character’s step to wickedness progresses. At some point of Brown’s journey, he is traveling alone when he sees his wife also heading towards the ceremony. That scene gives him mixed emotions. Excitement captures his being because at one point of his journey, he wanted to just go back to his loving Faith, but disappointment overrules his soul. He is disappointed knowing that his wife is to be initiated at the ceremony. He never imagined that his three-month wife, fragile and loving, whom he tried to protect from his own evil, will be corrupted too. Hawthorne is able to support his description of Brown’s three-month marriage with Faith. Being married to someone for such a short time illustrates that there are lots of things to be discovered from each other. There could be lots of surprises. On that note, Brown understands more that even his wife, whom he trusts so much, who seems to be not capable of doing anything immoral, could be wicked too. The author must also have used the word innocent as a hint that this character could easily be deceived by anyone. As the story goes on, Brown stops for a moment, being in deep pain of the knowledge that his wife will also be at the ceremony. He calls the witches and devils and says â€Å"fear this Brown as he fears you.† Hawthorne makes a terrifyingly great scene here. He adds strong winds, sounds coming not from a single man and shadows waving coming from the trees. He pictures the scene well. And as Brown accepts that his wife is also attending the ceremony, he considers just going on. A scene in the story, when Brown sees a pink ribbon falling from the sky that leads him to losing his Faith in two aspects. Brown still goes on to the ceremony. It was shown by the author by his incredible picture-painting talent that Brown was determined to continue his journey in the woods to the ceremony but dragging his feet at the same time. The actor in the motion picture should be very good at doing this, tag with an excellent director in order to show what the author is trying to picture. A trophy for Hawthorne. During the ceremony, Brown sees a lot of newly converted members. Hawthorne paints a clear picture of the ceremony. A fire-lit place in the deepest of a forest, a rocky altar at the middle where a minister preaches and the converts who are being called to come forth the altar to be anointed by blood to seal their souls with wickedness which complete the ceremony picture. Basing the review of the story in old English language, it doesn’t state there if the couple, Brown and Faith, comes forth the altar together. On the other hand, considering the other versions of the story, in modern English language, it states that Brown, behind the tress, sees his wife approaching the altar for the anointing and sobs to her not to accept the communion and look to the heavens. On that note, Hawthorne’s original masterpiece, not the translated one, is vague. Either it is intentional or he overlooks at it. As per the other critics, Hawthorne is inexperienced and lacks at so many areas as a writer. Some writers call it a â€Å"License†, like a poet’s license. But whatever that is, it should be discussed well. If Hawthorne does it intentionally, it should be supported with explanation, not necessarily through words but a mere correlation to the plot. In this case, Hawthorne is not able to supply the missing information. As the story proceeds to the ceremony, it shows there that Brown is definitely not amazed with what is happening. He sees familiar faces like his neighbors and other not mentioned characters but clearly refer to people who never crossed his innocent young mind could be there. One instance there is he sees a figure who has the likeness of his mom trying to stop him from being one with them. Hawthorne at this part, again, wins a trophy for â€Å"imaginational† effects. If the motion picture of this story follows the concepts of the author, it would be a great success. He uses terms likes â€Å"figures† and â€Å"unclear images† to make his readers understand that those people described as figures are those who have been anointed and became wicked. In the story, it shows that these people are imprisoned by the anointing. They are living but unfree, somebody but dead. Imagine what they look like†¦living-dead beings which make the ceremony scarier. Hawthorne’s description of the scene is very essential to make the ceremony spooky. After the scene at the ceremony, Brown finds himself standing beside a big, cold and damp rock. This surely confused the readers. A teleportation from the ceremony back to the woods. He is thinking if the experience at the ceremony is a dream or a reality. Either of the two, it’s a nightmare. Hawthorne is letting his readers think what really transpired. While I was at the ceremony part, I thought I was at the climax of the story. I realized I was wrong. This is the peak. Hawthorne leaves us a question if it really happened, just like Brown’s question to himself. The next morning, back in Salem, Goodman’s view about his neighbors, the leaders of the Christian community, everyone who seems to practice good conduct and even his wife is attached with skepticism. Did the journey really happen or it was a dram in slumber? The author doesn’t tell us and it doesn’t matter. Brown goes back to Salem a changed man. He is never able to see his neighbors the same way like before, and becomes a sour hermit. He never able to see his wife the same way again and becomes an isolated husband. As per a source, Brown despises these people because he sees that same traits in himself. Like the people in his journey, he questions his own religion. However, he projects his own fears onto those around him. The dream is a manifestation of all of the insecurities he has about himself and the choices he has made in life. However, he is too proud to acknowledge his own faults. His life ends alone and miserable because he was never able to look at himself and realize that what he believed were everyone elses faults were his as well. He is completely isolated from his society. Thus, he begins to become jaded and cynical about the things happening around him. The troubled Goodman lives his life with disbelief, uncertainty and doubt. Brown is a changed man after his journey. Hawthorne demonstrates how he, a Puritan, fails the test of his honest and religious being. Hawthorne uses cold drops from the hanging twig which is not a typical baptism in most Christians because they don’t sprinkle on the head. This means that Brown cannot be a true Christian himself. The beginning of the story represents immaturity, goodness and ever man. Brown is a very religious in nature. Not knowing the hurdles lie ahead, he journey to the dark uncertainly forest. Brown is said to be nave because he went to the evil forest in spite of his wife’s warning of the danger that could be encountered. It demonstrates the prototype of the innocent. He becomes irrational optimistic towards his wife’s cautioning him to go to the forester. The use of symbolism in Young Goodman Brown shows that evil is everywhere, which becomes evident in the conclusion of this story. He feels like his father and grandfather committed great sins. We take a journey with him into the awful forest. There is always an association between forests and evil. As per the other critics of the story, the name Goodman refers to everyone. But actually, it perfectly explains the main character Goodman, who happens to be a good guy but also has tendencies to be enticed by wickedness. The name is also accompanied by the word â€Å"Young† which simply explains the word itself†¦young. In the story, it shows that he, Goodman, tries to turn back a couple of times because of his Faith in two aspects, his wife and faith itself. But realizing that his wife is to be initiated at the ceremony, disappointment lives on his face and resumes to his original plan. With uncertainty and anxiety, he declines to be anointed and looks to the heavens above. This simply clarifies the statement above that he has tendencies to be enticed by wickedness. All men can be drawn to such horrifying acts but can also decline the temptation. This typical form of a biblical story shows Browns efforts in grasping the nature of good and evil. He has his communal society and religious values but those were not enough for him. He went on a journey to search and found the answers from the dark side. He then changed into a pessimistic man from an optimistic one. He was once innocent from the reality, and due to his curiosity, he was faced squarely to it. Brown looked for the nature of good and evil and found the answer. The story shows where the line is drawn between good and evil and who are in danger crossing it. Hawthorne skillfully reveals the shadowy area between Good and Evil, where it is hard to determine if something is good or evil. Through his questioning of one moment in his life, his journey, he begins to question the validity of everything and everyone around him. References Hawthorne, Nathaniel Young Goodman Brown. The modern library of the worlds best books. Charlottesville, VA, University of Virginia Library, 1996. Bloom, Harold. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Modern critical views. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. Hawthorne, Nathaniel, Peter George, and Robert Tinnell. Nathaniel Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown. Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities Sciences, 2000. Fox, Donald, William Phelps, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Young Goodman Brown. Santa Monica, CA: Pyramid Media [distributor], 1990s. Young Goodman Brown. Perfection Learning, 1979.

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest Essay -- essays research papers

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This film unlike most others on the same topic had no real event to focus on. There was not just one climax or specific scene that the others built up to or supported. I cannot say that I enjoyed it but I do feel it has to a great extent affected me. The only reason I feel that this film is one worth watching is because of the latent message it holds. It very successfully exposes authority and bureaucracy in society. The characters in this film portray people that are either convinced or have been convinced that are crazy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mac, a man with no real purpose in life but to sail through it somehow, is sent to a mental institution for doctors to determine whether he is crazy. There he makes an enemy of the head nurse in the ward, whose methods of taking care of the patients are harsh and rigid. What intrigues me most about the Ms.Ratched’s (the nurse), character in this film is the fact that even though so much out of the ordinary happens, she returns to her normal self in a matter of seconds. It seems that years of routine and monotony have taken over her and she simply cannot have things any other way. Anything out of the ordinary is repugnant to her, thus her firm resolve to not allow the patient’s to view a ball game during the World Series. Which is why when she encounters Mac, she feels she needs to suppress his â€Å"outrageous† acts in any way possible. She goes to the extent of sendin...

An Ironic Night :: essays research papers

It was Friday night January 12 and Tanya, Heidi, and I were on our way to the movies. We drove in Heidi’s brand new 2000 silver Mustang. We were in the car listening to music and happy to get to see the movie that we have been waiting to see. We were going to see Save the Last Dance at 7:25 at Creve Coeur AMC Theater. Heidi took Lindbergh south to Old Olive until we reached the movie theater. The next exit was Old Olive and we got off at it. At that time it was about 7:10. The movie was going to start in 15 minutes. We didn’t want to rush because we knew that we had to find a parking spot and then get seats as well. As we were driving towards the movie theater we noticed a lot of cars coming out. That meant the theater was probably crowded. We started to slow down and make a left turn into Creve Coeur Cinema. Heidi was at a dead stop in the left lane with her blinker on to turn left. Many cars were coming out of the theater and not letting her enter the parking lot. I turned to Heidi and told her, "Heidi scoot up a lil’ bit so you have a chance to get in." "Ok," replied Heidi. Just then I turned to the right and looked at the people doing clean-ups at Creve Coeur Waterway. Heidi was still waiting for her turn. All of a sudden we hear and feel a huge thud. All at once the air bags flew out and the car jumped into the other lane. As soon as we realized what happened we jumped out of the car. Being that I was so shocked and freaked out I forgot that Tanya was in the back seat. I let her out quickly and then all I could hear after that was Heidi screaming. "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" "What the heck happened," I said. "Look at my car! Look at what they did to my car! You are going to pay for this" Heidi shouted. I turned to look at Tanya and she had just dialed the police with her cell phone. Everything had happened so fast. Within a few minutes the cop showed up. Heidi was still screaming and then she called her mom. Just then Tanya and I called our parents to let them know what happened and that we were ok.

Development Of The Human Zygote Essay -- essays research papers fc

Development of the Human Zygote Hundreds of thousands of times a year a single-celled zygote, smaller than a grain of sand, transforms into an amazingly complex network of cells, a newborn infant. Through cellular differentiation and growth, this process is completed with precision time and time again, but very rarely a mistake in the "blueprint" of growth and development does occur. Following is a description of how the pathways of this intricate web are followed and the mistakes which happen when they are not. The impressive process of differentiation changes a single-cell into a complicated system of cells as distinct as bold and bone. Although embryonic development takes approximately nine months, the greatest amount of cellular differentiation takes place during the first eight weeks of pregnancy. This period is called embryogenesis. During the first week after fertilization, which takes place in the Fallopian tube, the embryo starts to cleave once every twenty-four hours (Fig. 1). Until the eight or sixteen cell stage, the individual cells, or blastomeres, are thought to have the potential to form any part of the fetus (Leese, Conaghan, Martin, and Hardy, April 1993). As the blastomeres continue to divide, a solid ball of cells develops to form the morula (Fig. 1). The accumulation of fluid inside the morula, transforms it into a hollow sphere called a blastula, which implants itself into the inner lining of the uterus, the endometrium (Fig. 1). The inner mass of the blastula will produce the embryo, while the outer layer of cells will form the trophoblast, which eventually will provide nourishment to the ovum (Pritchard, MacDonald, and Gant, 1985). Figure 1:Implantation process and development during embryogenesis (Pritchard, MacDonald and Gant, 1985) During the second week of development, gastrulation, the process by which the germ layers are formed, begins to occur. The inner cell mass, now called the embryonic disc, differentiates into a thick plate of ectoderm and an underlying layer of endoderm. This cellular multiplication in the embryonic disc marks the beginning of a thickening in the midline that is called the primitive streak. Cells spread out laterally from the primiti... ...e a normal infant. When something does go wrong, the embryo or fetus will unfortunately have some type of defect. The amazing accuracy with which a single cell can become something as complex as a newborn infant is a truley incredible feat! Works Cited Baker, David A. "Danger of Varicella-Zoster Virus Infection." Contemporary OB/GYN April 1990: 52. Carlson, Bruce M. Patten's Foundations of Embryology. McGraw-Hill Inc. 1981. Cunningham, MacDonald, and Gant. Williams Obstetrics, Supplement no. 10. 18th ed, Prentice-Hall, Inc. Februay/March 1991: 2,3. "Folic Acid for the Prevetion of Recurrent Neural Tube Defect." Medicine March 1993. Harrison, Ross G. Organization and Develpment of the Embryo. Yale University Press. 1969. Leese, Conaghan, Martin, and Hardy. "Early Human Embryo Metabolism." Bio Essays vol. 15, No. 4 April 1993: 259. Pritchard, MacDonald, and Gant. Williams Obstetrics. 17th ed, Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1985: 139-142, 800. Pritchard, MacDonald, and Gant. Williams Obstetrics, Supplement no. 13. 17th ed, Prentice-Hall, Inc. July/August 1987: 2. "Teratology." ACOG Technical Bulletin February 1985.

Domestic and Community Violence against Women in USA Essay

Domestic violence in the United States is said to be high whereby, it is reported that over 700,000 Americans are victimized by the domestic violence according to the 2000 National Crime Victimization Survey. (Nocav and Bourbonnais, 2002) Domestic violence in the United States is said to come up as a result a result of poverty, gender inequality and even socio-economic factors. In this case we find that, the physical violence is defined as an intentional use of an individuals physical force with an objective of causing injury, harm or death these injuries are usually caused by either using a weapon, hitting or even kicking another person, while sexual violence is known as the physical force used to involve an individual into sexual acts against his will. Psychological violence or commonly known as the emotional violence that include the humiliation of an individual, controlling what an individual can do, it may also be practiced by withholding the victims information this act is usually applied to make the victim embarrassed, isolated and denied the right to enjoy his personal rights. The other type of abuse is the economic violence where we find that an abuser takes a complete control over the victims’ economic materials and resources. (Lupton, 2002) These differences are both biologically and socially determined where the social, cultural, economic and political forces are said to have brought variation in the position of different group of people in different societies globally. According to various research studies conducted we find that these domestic violence are especially caused by; the psychological factors which involve that personality and the characteristics of the stated offender and this may also carry a form of social hypothesis that normally consider the factors that are created externally in the offender’s surroundings, this may include the family structure, stress or even social classifications. (Draper, 1989) In some communities we find that violence comes up as a result of an individual seeking power or control over other members of the society, here we find that the abuser creates a negative impact on the victims, whereby they end up attributed to low self- esteem. An example for this practice in the United States is where women are said to be disadvantaged where they are being isolated in the distribution of income and consumption within the community. Where the share of the national income shows that there is inequality between women and men throughout the world, here women are said to have a significantly lower share of national income than men. Therefore we find that men regard themselves to be given a higher priority they practice gender discrimination where more women and children are forced by men in their families to do most work to produce food for the families in which men are proved to be taking control over family resources and yet they do not participate in their production. Through gender analysis of roles done by many institutions it is said that men contribute less than three hours in a day of their time to activities that is geared towards food production compared to women who do the bulk of the work here we find that the rights of women are being violated. Conclusion The main roles of the civil rights movement is to fight the domestic violence in the American society, under this we find that, the civil rights activists say that there are many ways of handling the domestic violence in our communities whereby the government plays a role of ensuring that commitments to equal rights and opportunities are upheld and delivered, by setting an enabling environment for all members of the American society at the country level and in the global community through the formulation and implementation of conferences and international conformities. Promote an active culture that emphasizes the right to formation and support the developmental activists to demand information from all sectors including government, other Non-Governmental organisations in order to promote local accountability to the victimized members of the community. The government should create an enabling environment which will influence change in policies, laws and institutions at national and international levels. (Draper, 1989) The other method that can be applied in dealing with domestic violence is the safety plan which is usually a plan that directed to the victim where he asked to act quickly so that he may remove himself from the dangers of the violence. This plan involve a specific plan of how to get out of the place, here the victim is advised to carry himself with the basic needs that will be required to be used when out of the place. Although partnerships are strengthening around a based purpose there is still so much for the governments affected by the fight over power to close the gaps in understanding and increase co-operation between the governments, the states and the civil societies. This recommendation is seen to be adversarial instead of being collaborative leading to little sharing of experience and good practice by the prominent people in the American society. References Lupton, R and Power, A. (2002): Social Exclusion & Neighborhoods. In Understanding Social Exclusion† Hills J, Le Grand J. & Piachaud D. Edn pp. 118- 140: Oxford: Oxford University Press. Burgess, R and Draper P. 1989 the explanation of family violence, the role of biological, Behavioral and cultural selection. Ohlin L. and Tonry M. Edn. Family Violence pp. 59-116 Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Black History Essay

â€Å"The events which transpired five thousand years ago; Five years ago or five minutes ago, have determined what will happen five minutes from now; five years from now or five thousand years from now. All history is a current event† (John Henrik Clarke). These were the words of the awe inspiring pan African American writer, professor, and historian John Henrik Clarke. Being that of a well self-educated intellectual, John Henrik Clarke argued for the power of black history as well as of its importance. During Clarke’s time, January 1, 1915 to July 16, 1998, he became a very respected historian for his push for the importance of Africana Studies. The African American community saw him as an influential powerhouse as he portrayed and pioneered the formation of Africana studies in the United States. Many argued that African and African American history was not worthy of being studied but Clarke had his morals set otherwise. His role as an activist drove him to challenge academic historians to alter the way African and African American history was taught and seen throughout the U. S. Though some would dismiss his views and denounce the importance of the black community, he fought back illuminating the biases Eurocentric views has upon our society in the U. S. Clarke was a role model to many afroncentric views because of his leadership in redressing racist suppressions among African and African American history that was taught by traditional scholars. John Henrik Clarke’s accomplishments were great motivations for the advancement of black empowerment with the United States nation. In the film describing the life of Ida B. Wells, â€Å"A Passion for Justice†, Wells was also a teacher in the empowerment of the African culture. Her commonalities with that of John Henrik Clarke’s were one in the same. Both scholars sought for the equality of African American’s through history in a Eurocentric based nation. Wells had power in the press, and was formally known as the â€Å"Princess of the Press†. She had the power to change the ideals and views that African’s and white people had to a more afrocentric based thought. Her journal entries and news articles inspired many African American’s to leave the south and start boycotting for their rights as citizens. Both John Henrik Clarke and Ida B. Wells had one major thing in common, the power of the pen. Both leaders in the Black Power Movement, these two writers knew they could enrich the black culture by validating to them their history, and the way they are treated in society. Wells and Clarke wanted to show their fellow African American’s that they should not be afraid of the nation they live in, and that they should be treated with respect and equality. At one point during her tenure, Wells was forcefully asked to get off a train that she was on. She fought the racism by taking a stand and declining the man’s command. The case was taken to court and although the court was in favor of the white man, Wells exhibited true courage to fight against racist demands. Wells deeds formed her into a role model and praised icon; African American’s started to see how unfairly they are treated and began listening to Wells words of encouragement for the power of the Black culture in the U. S. Likewise, Clarke’s action to form black power through teaching history was also an inspiration to fight for their rights. Another film, â€Å"The Spirit of Allensworth†, was a focus on Lietenant Colonel Allen Allensworth. Allensworth was a very influential African American man who initially was a man born into slavery. His drive to become something rather then a slave pushed him to escape and educate himself illegally. He was then able to join the army and prove that African Americans are worthy of this nation and showed the black culture that their race can furthermore aid to the success of the United States. Just like Clarke’s push for black empowerment, Allensworth wanted to uplift the African American spirits and bring equality. Through this, Allensworth was able to create and establish the town of Allensworth, of course named after himself. Clarke and Allensworth both supported the study of the black culture and had similarities in being the founders of black empowerment. In the book â€Å"Black Women in White America†, by Greta Lerner, Lerner portrays various incidents and situations that mainly black African American women had had to go through in this white based nation. One quote expressed that â€Å"In black women’s liberation we don’t want to be equal with men, just like in black liberation we’re not fighting to be equal with the white man. We’re fighting for the right to be different and not be punished for it. Equal means sameness†, (Black Women in White America, pg. 608). This quote furthermore exhibits that the injustice that black women must tolerate is not just a matter of becoming equal with men and whites, but a symbol of being who we are, and ultimately being accepted for it. It is a portrayal of proving that each and every person is different and not the same, yet in order to live and prosper, we must have different qualities and talents that help our nation thrive. Going back to John Henrik Clarke’s notion, all he wanted was to display how that from learning from our past helps to embellish our American will and culture altogether. By learning history from all different cultures pasts, this can, in the future, help our nation become more advanced. But in turn, there are always those people who do not want to accept others for being different then themselves. Many African American’s, â€Å"Used to think that there was hope, that maybe black and white people together could solve all the problems. But I the recent years I learned it is not true†¦ I think that black people now have to go back to what I call the Reconstruction days in order that black people will be able to stand in dignity and freedom. Because there is no way for the son of a slave to stand up to a son of a master and be two people together- because the psychological position of both parties is still that one is slave and one is master. And it does not change. Black people have to get freedom for themselves; it cannot be given to them† (Black Women in White America, pg.555). As one can see, Clarke’s incentives are expressed throughout this quote. Because some cannot see past one’s ‘book cover’, then others must prove their worth to become accepted. It is not fair to the black culture but if African’s do not step up to the plate and claim their rights, their power will just then be pushed further back. John Henrik Clarke fought for black empowerment, and his accomplishments are an inspiration too many African American’s to take a positive step forward in black power advancement. The book â€Å"From Slavery to Freedom†, by John Hope Franklin, acknowledges â€Å"The treatment of black troops throughout the war reflected how entrapped African Americans were in a Jim Crow society, no matter how vital or brave their service†¦ Blacks were subjected to racial insults†¦ African American soldiers vigorously protested these and other insults to their officers and, through letters to newspapers, to the American public†¦ Most exercised restraint, however, enduring insults and mistreatment in the belief that by demonstrating an indifference to racism, as well as by showing their patriotism, they would strengthen their race’s claims to equal treatment† (From Slavery to Freedom, pg. 331). This relates to Clarke’s approach towards seeking a positive change in the African American society within the United States. Blacks, no matter how good their deeds were, were still subjected to racial insults. The quality of black troops aiding in the American infantry portrays progressing black empowerment within the American culture. By stepping forth, like John Henrik Clarke, and proving their worth, these black soldiers become role models to other blacks and every other race as well to show how through toil and suffrage, they were still helpful in their nation’s success. African American’s were very prominent in the military and, â€Å"Performed all kinds of services in the union army. Organized into raiding parties, they were sent through Confederate lines to destroy fortifications and supplies. Since they knew southern country sides better than most white soldiers and could pass themselves off as slaves, they were extensively used as spies and scouts. White officers relied upon information secured by black spies† (From Slavery to Freedom, pg. 239). Without the help from black soldiers, the confederate army would have had the upper hand in the south. The former slaves knowledge from their past, helped to defeat enemy lines and furthermore help out the north’s prosperity. Because of the assistant from the former African American slaves, their freedom the south and cultural empowerment was escalated. This kind of knowledge helped to determine Clarke’s way of proving African American’s value in their past history. The text by Lawrence Graham, â€Å"Our Kind of People†, engages in the more privileged black community in the U. S. â€Å"Free blacks in the South were generally required to carry papers proving that they were not slaves and were required to register annually in their counties, listing their white guardians. However they were permitted to work for money and to own property, thus creating the first opportunity for blacks to establish their families with some moderate wealth† (Our Kind of People, pg. 8). This furthermore exemplifies the push that former slaves had strived towards in order to gain freedom and obtain financial support for themselves. Though starting at the bottom with nothing, newly freed African Americans were able to establish themselves and their families by working. Like stated before, becoming equal with the whites was not going to come easy or fair, but with work and help from each other, progressing towards African cultural empowerment was going to be inevitable. â€Å"When slaves were brought to Washington, a large concentration of them lived and worked in the Georgetown area. From there, they built roads and erected many of the government buildings and monuments. In the 1790s, Benjamin Banneker, a free black man, surveyed the city and designed the grid for the city’s main avenues and streets† (Our Kind of People, pg. 219). Washington is of much importance to our country, and without the contributions of the freed slaves, many of the nation’s government’s buildings and roads would have not been built during that time. In turn, this also exemplifies the impact even one African American had upon society. Just like everyone else or ever a white person, it was a black man that helped to design the basis of the city’s mainframe. Again, with the knowledge and help from African American history, in the eyes of John Henrik Clarke, more good to this nation is preformed. Though African Americans fought their way to freedom, â€Å"Their incomes, however substantial, and status, however high ranking, did not shield them from the ugly sting of racism, which is likely to never be completely rooted out in this country† (Jason Donovan). As much as racism is a terrible factor to have upon our society, their will always be those who will not let it go; and as black empowerment keeps progressing forward, the American culture will soon phase it out. Looking back in history, â€Å"We as a people, African-American’s, continue to strive and overcome the struggle. With our multicultural race; what you see is not always who we are†¦ You may see an African-American man, woman, boy or girl; each may have a different complexion on their exterior but their image does not define who they are† (Monique Washington). Many are so preoccupied with the color of skin and one’s appearance that they are all blinded by what good everyone is capable of doing. John Henrik Clarke’s aim for African American knowledge is not necessarily just to learn about African’s, but to teach of how many black American’s helped to contribute to America’s good fortune and personality. America is mixed with every kind of culture and without the history of blacks; our nation would not be where it would be today. â€Å"After decades of silently enduring second-class citizenship, blacks in the late 1940s and early 1950s began to challenge the injustices they faced on a daily basis. Although segregation in public facilities other than schools was rarely questioned during this time period, blacks were slowly gaining the resolve to finally stand up to Jim Crow† (Lisa Cozzens). It is a never ending sequence of fighting racism, prejudice, and inequality, but validates that in time, black empowerment will not be overlooked by America anymore. Just like how John Henrik Clarke stood up for the knowledge of African American studies, It was crucial for blacks to stand up to the unfair laws of Jim Crow. By fighting these laws, this gave a passageway to show power and courage in the black community, and that the unjustified rules of society can be overpowered by what is morally right. It is exclaimed that, â€Å"For too many years, black Americans marched and had their heads broken and got shot. They were saying to the country, â€Å"Look, you guys are supposed to be nice guys and we are only going to do what we are supposed to do—why do you beat us up, why don’t you give us what we ask, why don’t you straighten yourselves out? † After years of this, we are at almost the same point—because we demonstrated from a position of weakness. We cannot be expected any longer to march and have our heads broken in order to say to whites: come on, you’re nice guys. For you are not nice guys. We have found you out† (Stokely Carmichael: Black Power). This overall implies the injustice that early whites had put upon the black culture, and the fight back to show strength and not weakness. African’s and African American’s alike had taken so much intolerable pain in the past, and is finally standing up to unfair discrimination. It was implied for the longest time that what the white man was doing was right, but have been found out that their actions were in favor of supporting their own benefits, especially that of the southern states. The slavery exhibited through the southern states were awful and inhuman like, but, â€Å"Despite overall harsh conditions and the absence of freedom, slaves were not just powerless victims of their owners and the slave system†¦ though their lives were circumscribed in many significant ways, they sought to make the best of their circumstances. They succeeded to a remarkable extent, a testimonial to the endurance of the human spirit† (Pre-Civil War African American Slavery). Black empowerment and the spirits of their ancestors were never fully crushed. Even through the torture seen throughout the history of slavery, there was never giving up hope that one day life would get better for blacks, and initially everyone in the nation. As it comes closer to the future, black empowerment still continues to advance in culture, race, history, and throughout the American society, but only if African American keep pushing for their rights. â€Å"Blacks were told that it was up to them to improve their lives. Black Power advocates encouraged blacks to form or join all-black political parties that could provide a formidable power base and offer a foundation for real socioeconomic progress† (Black Power Movement). The Black Power movement instilled a sense of racial pride and self-esteem in blacks. Black empowerment will not advance unless people like John Henrik Clarke stand up and portray their knowledge and integrity. John Henrik Clarke’s main incentive was to merely educate the world about African history and how everything that happened in the past will always affect our nation and how we all live today. It is seen through the past all the injustice that blacks suffered through and endured and that in order for that to change, African American pride must step up to the plate and obtain its place in society. African American’s were first brought here to be used and abused, but in turn have helped the advancement of the America itself as well as its culture. It is only right that blacks have a right to power within the nation as well as within themselves. Works Cited â€Å"Black Power Movement – Blacks, Rights, Whites, Civil, White, and Racial. † Web. 27 Nov. 2010. . Cozzens, Lisa. â€Å"Early Civil Rights Struggles: Introduction. † Www. watson. org. 29 June 1998. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. . Donovan, Jason. â€Å"Idlewild: A ‘Black Eden’ for African Americans. † Michigan Chronicle 13 Oct. 2010: 1-2. ProQuest. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. . Franklin, John Hope, and Alfred A. Moss. â€Å"Chapter 11/Civil War. † From Slavery to Freedom: a History of African Americans. 8th ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. 239. Franklin, John Hope, and Alfred A. Moss. â€Å"Chapter 15/The Color Line. † From Slavery to Freedom: a History of African Americans. 8th ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. 331. Graham, Lawrence O. â€Å"Chapter 1/The Origins of the Black Upper Class. † Our Kind of People: inside America’s Black Upper Class. New York: HarperCollins, 1999. 8. Graham, Lawrence O. â€Å"Chapter 10/Black Elite in Washington, D. C. † Our Kind of People: inside America’s Black Upper Class. New York: HarperCollins, 1999. 219. Lerner, Gerda. â€Å"Chapter 9/Race Pride, The Only Thing You Can Aspire to Is Nationhood. † Black Women in White America; a Documentary History. New York: Pantheon, 1972. 555. Lerner, Gerda. â€Å"Chapter 10/Black Women Speak of Womanhood, I Want the Right to Be Black and Me. † Black Women in White America; a Documentary History. New York: Pantheon, 1972. 608. â€Å"Pre-Civil War African American Slavery. † National Expansion and Reform, 1815-1880. 26 Sept. 2002. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. . â€Å"Stokely Carmichael: Black Power (1966). † Encyclop? dia Britannica. New York Review of Books, 22 Sept. 1966. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. . Washington, Monique. â€Å"Changing History Is Changing Minds. † Los Angeles Sentinel.

Exploring the Mind of Internet Addicts Essay

Addiction is a commonly used word that is mostly associated with a substance(drug or alcohol) and sometimes thought of as an illness. We often hear the word addiction thrown around in conversations. I’ve often used the word addiction when referring to my love of chocolate, but in this case it’s just an expression of speech. For a long time now, though, a lot of controversy has been going on about adding other activities, other than substance use to the word addiction. In this case excessive use of the Internet, Internet Addiction(IA). Many people are wanting to take addiction to a whole new level, by adding Internet Addiction to the DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; in other words the â€Å"psychiatric bible†) but is our need, love, desire, and excessive use of the internet just a compulsion or an addiction? Addiction is when a person is dependent on a behavior or specific substance in order to cope with life. The dependence is so important to the individual that even when it becomes harmful to themselves, their family, work, and other important areas of their life they will persist in using the substance, or engaging in the behavior. Also, â€Å"There are actual changes that occur in the brains of addicts and treatments for addiction must address the biology behind the behavior.† So far addictions have focused on highs that are caused from the use of drugs or other substances that affect the brain’s chemical responses. However it has recently been discovered that a person can receive a similar â€Å"high† from using the Internet. The research for this disorder is scarce and fairly new, but the results leave something to argue about for the supporting side. Overly excessive use of the Internet affects everyone involved with the â€Å"user.† There have been con fessions from individuals who claim to suffer from IAD (Internet Addiction Disorder). A case was, reported in the New York Times, A woman who had been divorced by her husband because of her excessive use of the Internet. Still the woman did not come to her senses and continued to use the internet so much that she forgot to buy food for her children, to take them to doctor appointments, and to buy enough oil to warm her home.(Maria Garcia Duran) Sounds like an addiction, but this still doesn’t fit the whole criteria. Remember you have to experience a chemical effect in the brain when your considering an obsessive need for something to be a diagnose as an addiction. There may be some alternative chemical change in her brain, such as the internet use is causing her to be happy, which means endorphins are being released to the brain. But this article isn’t clear on whether the internet use really makes her happy, or helps her hide from reality which may still leave her with the same mood set, but just in hiding. Most people who think they are addicted may just be suffering from the desire to not want to deal with other problems going on in their lives. Those problems may in fact be a mental disorder like anxiety or depression. It may be a a relationship problem, serious disability or health problem. The internet use is no different than TV use, so you won’t have to â€Å"go out with the boys† for drinks or talking to your spouse. Others who spend to much time online with out any other problems present may just be suffering from compulsive over-use.

Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

I reached for Ki with the part of my mind that had for the last few weeks known what she was wearing, what room of the trailer she was in, and what she was doing there. There was nothing, of course that link was also dissolved. I called for Jo I think I did but Jo was gone, too. I was on my own. God help me. God help us both. I could feel panic trying to descend and fought it off. I had to keep my mind clear. If I couldn't think, any chance Ki might still have would be lost. I walked rapidly back down the hall to the foyer, trying not to hear the sick voice in the back of my head, the one saying that Ki was lost already, dead already. I knew no such thing, couldn't know it now that the connection between us was broken. I looked down at the heap of books, then up at the door. The new tracks had come in this way and gone out this way, too. Lightning stroked the sky and thunder cracked. The wind was rising again. I went to the door, reached for the knob, then paused. Something was caught in the crack between the door and the jamb, something as fine and floaty as a strand of spider's silk. A single white hair. I looked at it with a sick lack of surprise. I should have known, of course, and if not for the strain I'd been under and the successive shocks of this terrible day, I would have known. It was all on the tape John had played for me that morning . . . a time that already seemed part of another man's life. For one thing, there was the time-check marking the point where John had hung up on her. Nine-forty A.M., Eastern Daylight, the robot voice had said, which meant that Rogette had been calling at six-forty in the morning . . . if, that was, she'd really been calling from Palm Springs. That was at least possible; had the oddity occurred to me while we were driving from the airport to Mattie's trailer, I would have told myself that there were no doubt insomniacs all over California who finished their East Coast business before the sun had hauled itself fully over the horizon, and good for them. But there was something else that couldn't be explained away so easily. At one point John had ejected the tape. He did it because, he said, I'd gone as white as a sheet instead of looking amused. I had told him to go on and play the rest; it had just surprised me to hear her again. The quality of her voice. Christ, the reproduction is good. Except it was really the boys in the basement who had reacted to John's tape; my subconscious co-conspirators. And it hadn't been her voice that had scared them badly enough to turn my face white. The underhum had done that. The characteristic underhum you always got on TR calls, both those you made and those you received. Rogette Whitmore had never left TR-90 at all. If my failing to realize that this morning cost Ki Devore her life this afternoon, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I told God that over and over as I went plunging down the railroad-tie steps again, running into the face of a revitalized storm. It's a blue-eyed wonder I didn't go flying right off the embankment. Half my swimming float had grounded there, and perhaps I could have impaled myself on its splintered boards and died like a vampire writhing on a stake. What a pleasant thought that was. Running isn't good for people near panic; it's like scratching poison ivy. By the time I had thrown my arm around one of the pines at the foot of the steps to check my progress, I was on the edge of losing all coherent thought. Ki's name was beating in my head again, so loudly there wasn't room for much else. Then a stroke of lightning leaped out of the sky to my right and knocked the last three feet of trunk out from beneath a huge old spruce which had probably been here when Sara and Kito were still alive. If I'd been looking directly at it I would have been blinded; even with my head turned three-quarters away, the stroke left a huge blue swatch like the aftermath of a gigantic camera flash floating in front of my eyes. There was a grinding, juddering sound as two hundred feet of blue spruce toppled into the lake, sending up a long curtain of spray, which seemed to hang between the gray sky and gray water. The stump was on fire in the rain, burning like a witch's hat. It had the effect of a slap, clearing my head and giving me one final chance to use my brain. I took a breath and forced myself to do just that. Why had I come down here in the first place? Why did I think Rogette had brought Kyra toward the lake, where I had just been, instead of carrying her away from me, up the driveway to Lane Forty-two? Don't be stupid. She came down here because The Street's the way back to Warrington's, and Warrington's is where she's been, all by herself, ever since she sent the boss's body back to California in his private jet. She had sneaked into the house while I was under Jo's studio, finding the tin box in the belly of the owl and studying that scrap of genealogy. She would have taken Ki then if I'd given her the chance, but I didn't. I came hurrying back, afraid something was wrong, afraid someone might be trying to get hold of the kid Had Rogette awakened her? Had Ki seen her and tried to warn me before drifting off again? Was that what had brought me in such a hurry? Maybe. I'd still been in the zone then, we'd still been linked then. Rogette had certainly been in the house when I came back. She might even have been in the north-bedroom closet and peering at me through the crack. Part of me had known it, too. Part of me had felt her, felt something that was not-Sara. Then I'd left again. Grabbed the carry-bag from Slips ‘n Greens and come down here. Turned right, turned north. Toward the birch, the rock, the bag of bones. I'd done what I had to do, and while I was doing it, Rogette carried Kyra down the railroad-tie steps behind me and turned left on The Street. Turned south toward Warrington's. With a sinking feeling deep in my belly, I realized I had probably heard Ki . . . might even have seen her. That bird peeking timidly out from cover during the lull had been no bird. Ki was awake by then, Ki had seen me perhaps had seen Jo, as well and tried to call out. She had managed just that one little peep before Rogette had covered her mouth. How long ago had that been? It seemed like forever, but I had an idea it hadn't been long at all less than five minutes, maybe. But it doesn't take long to drown a child. The image of Kito's bare arm sticking straight out of the water tried to come back the hand at the end of it opening and closing, opening and closing, as if it were trying to breathe for the lungs that couldn't and I pushed it away. I also suppressed the urge to simply sprint in the direction of Warrington's. Panic would take me for sure if I did that. In all the years since her death I had never longed for Jo with the bitter intensity I felt then. But she was gone; there wasn't even a whisper of her. With no one to depend on but myself, I started south along the tree-littered Street, skirting the blowdowns where I could, crawling under them if they blocked my way entirely, taking the noisy branch-breaking course over the top only as a last resort. As I went I issued what I imagine are all the standard prayers in such a situation, but none of them seemed to get past the image of Rogette Whitmore's face rising in my mind. Her screaming, merciless face. I remember thinking This is the outdoor version of the Ghost House. Certainly the woods seemed haunted to me as I struggled along: trees only loosened in the first grand blow were falling by the score in this follow-up cap of wind and rain. The noise was like great crunching footfalls, and I didn't need to worry about the noise my own feet were making. When I passed the Batchelders' camp, a circular prefab construction sitting on an outcrop of rock like a hat on a footstool, I saw that the entire roof had been bashed flat by a hemlock. Half a mile south of Sara I saw one of Ki's white hair ribbons lying in the path. I picked it up, thinking how much that red edging looked like blood. Then I stuffed it into my pocket and went on. Five minutes later I came to an old moss-caked pine that had fallen across the path; it was still connected to its stump by a stretched and bent network of splinters, and squalled like a line of rusty hinges as the surging water lifted and dropped what had been its upper twenty or thirty feet, now floating in the lake. There was space to crawl under, and when I dropped to my knees I saw other knee-tracks, just beginning to fill with water. I saw something else: the second hair ribbon. I tucked it into my pocket with the first. I was halfway under the pine when I heard another tree go over, this one much closer. The sound was followed by a scream not pain or fear but surprised anger. Then, even over the hiss of the rain and the wind, I could hear Rogette's voice: ‘Come back! Don't go out there, it's dangerous!' I squirmed the rest of the way under the tree, barely feeling the stump of a branch which tore a groove in my lower back, got to my feet, and sprinted along the path. If the fallen trees I came to were small, I hurdled them without slowing down. If they were bigger, I scrabbled over with no thought to where they might claw or dig in. Thunder whacked. There was a brilliant stroke of lightning, and in its glare I saw gray barnboard through the trees. On the day I'd first seen Rogette I'd only been able to catch glimpses of Warrington's lodge, but now the forest had been torn open like an old garment this area would be years recovering. The lodge's rear half had been pretty well demolished by a pair of huge trees that seemed to have fallen together. They had crossed like a knife and fork on a diner's plate and lay on the ruins in a shaggy X. Ki's voice, rising over the storm only because it was shrill with terror: ‘Go away! I don't want you, white nana! Go away!' It was horrible to hear the terror in her voice, but wonderful to hear her voice at all. About forty feet from where Rogette's shout had frozen me in place, one more tree lay across the path. Rogette herself stood on the far side of it, holding a hand out to Ki. The hand was dripping blood, but I hardly noticed. It was Kyra I noticed. The dock running between The Street and The Sunset Bar was a long one seventy feet at least, perhaps a hundred. Long enough so that on a pretty summer evening you could stroll it hand-in-hand with your date or your lover and make a memory. The storm hadn't torn it away not yet but the wind had twisted it like a ribbon. I remember newsreel footage at some childhood Saturday matinee, film of a suspension bridge dancing in a hurricane, and that was what the dock between Warring-ton's and The Sunset Bar looked like. It jounced up and down in the surging water, groaning in all its slatted joints like a wooden accordion. There had been a rail presumably to guide those who'd made a heavy night of it safely back to shore but it was gone now. K yra was halfway out along this swaying, dipping length of wood. I could see at least three rectangles of blackness between the shore and where she stood, places where boards had snapped off. From beneath the dock came the disturbed clung-clung-clung of the empty steel drums that were holding it up. Several of these drums had come unanchored and were floating away. Ki had her arms stretched out for balance like a tightrope walker in the circus. The black Harley-Davidson tee-shirt flapped around her knees and sunburned shoulders. ‘Come back!' Rogette cried. Her lank hair flew around her head; the shiny black raincoat she was wearing rippled. She was holding both hands out now, one bloody and one not. I had an idea Ki might have bitten her. ‘No, white nana!' Ki shook her head in wild negation and I wanted to tell her don't do that, Ki-bird, don't shake your head like that, very bad idea. She tottered, one arm pointed up at the sky and one down at the water so she looked for a moment like an airplane in a steep bank. If the dock had picked that moment to take a hard buck beneath her, Ki would have spilled off the side. She regained some precarious balance instead, although I thought I saw her bare feet slide a little on the slick boards. ‘Go away, white nana, I don't want you! Go . . . go take a nap, you look tired!' Ki didn't see me; all her attention was fixed on the white nana. The white nana didn't see me, either. I dropped to my belly and squirmed under the tree, pulling myself along with my clawed hands. Thunder rolled across the lake like a big mahogany ball, the sound echoing off the mountains. When I got to my knees again, I saw that Rogette was advancing slowly toward the shore end of the dock. For every step she took forward, Kyra took a shaky, dangerous step backward. Rogette was holding her good hand out, though for a moment I thought this one had begun to bleed as well. The stuff running through her bunchy fingers was too dark for blood, however, and when she began to talk, speaking in a hideous coaxing voice that made my skin crawl, I realized it was melting chocolate. ‘Let's play the game, Ki-bird,' Rogette cooed. ‘Do you want to start?' She took a step. Ki took a compensatory step backward, tottered, caught her balance. My heart stopped, then resumed racing. I closed the distance between myself and the woman as rapidly as I could, but I didn't run; I didn't want her to know a thing until she woke up. If she woke up. I didn't care if she did or not. Hell, if I could fracture the back of George Footman's skull with a hammer, I could certainly put a hurt on this horror. As I walked, I laced my hands together into one large fist. ‘No? Don't want to start? Too shy?' Rogette spoke in a sugary Romper Room voice that made me want to grind my teeth together. ‘All right, I'll start. Happy! What rhymes with happy, Ki-bird? Pappy . . . and nappy . . . you were taking a nappy, weren't you, when I came and woke you up. And lappy . . . would you want to come and sit on my lappy, Ki-bird? We'll feed each other chocolate, just like we used to . . . I'll tell you a new knock-knock joke . . . ‘ Another step. She had come to the edge of the dock. If she'd thought of it, she could simply have thrown rocks at Kyra as she had at me, thrown until she connected with one and knocked Ki into the lake. But I don't think she got even close to such a notion. Once crazy goes past a certain point, you're on a turnpike with no exit ramps. Rogette had other plans for Kyra. ‘Come on, Ki-Ki, play the game with white nana.' She held out the chocolate again, gooey Hershey's Kisses dripping through crumpled foil. Kyra's eyes shifted, and at last she saw me. I shook my head, trying to tell her to be quiet, but it was no good an expression of joyous relief crossed her face. She cried out my name, and I saw Rogette's shoulders go up in surprise. I ran the last dozen feet, raising my joined hands like a club, but I slipped a little on the wet ground at the crucial moment and Rogette made a kind of ducking cringe. Instead of striking her at the back of the neck as I'd meant to, my joined hands only glanced off her shoulder. She staggered, went to one knee, and was up again almost at once. Her eyes were like little blue arc-lamps, spitting rage instead of electricity. ‘You!' she said, hissing the word over the top of her tongue, turning it into the sound of some ancient curse: Heeyuuuu! Behind us Kyra screamed my name, stagger-dancing on the wet wood and waving her arms in an effort to keep from falling in the lake. Water slopped onto the deck and ran over her small bare feet. ‘Hold on, Ki!' I called back. Rogette saw my attention shift and took her chance she spun and ran out onto the dock. I sprang after her, grabbed her by the hair, and it came off in my hand. All of it. I stood there at the edge of the surging lake with her mat of white hair dangling from my fist like a scalp. Rogette looked over her shoulder, snarling, an ancient bald gnome in the rain, and I thought It's him, it's Devore, he never died at all, somehow he and the woman swapped identities, she was the one who committed suicide, it was her body that went back to California on the jet Even as she turned the other way again and began to run toward Ki, I knew better. It was Rogette, all right, but she'd come by that hideous resemblance honestly. Whatever was wrong with her had done more than make her hair fall out; it had aged her as well. Seventy, I'd thought, but that had to be at least ten years beyond the actual mark. I've known a lot of folks name their kids alike, Mrs M. had told me. They think it's cute. Max Devore must have thought so, too, because he had named a son Roger and his daughter Rogette. Perhaps she'd come by the Whitmore part honestly she might have been married in her younger years but once the wig was gone, her antecedents were beyond argument. The woman tottering along the wet dock to finish the job was Kyra's aunt. Ki began to back up rapidly, making no effort to be careful and pick her footing. She was going into the drink; there was no way she could stay up. But before she could fall, a wave slapped the dock between them at a place where some of the barrels had come loose and the slatted walkway was already partly submerged. Foamy water flew up and began to twist into one of those helix shapes I had seen before. Rogette stopped ankle-deep in the water sloshing over the dock, and I stopped about twelve feet behind her. The shape solidified, and even before I could make out the face I recognized the baggy shorts with their fading swirls of color and the smock top. Only Kmart sells smock tops of such perfect shapelessness; I think it may be a federal law. It was Mattie. A grave gray Mattie, looking at Rogette with grave gray eyes. Rogette raised her hands, tottered, tried to turn. At that moment a wave surged under the dock, making it rise and then drop like an amusement-park ride. Rogette went over the side. Beyond her, beyond the water-shape in the rain, I could see Ki sprawling on the porch of The Sunset Bar. That last heave had flipped her to temporary safety like a human tiddlywink. Mattie was looking at me, her lips moving, her eyes on mine. I had been able to tell what Jo was saying, but this time I had no idea. I tried with all my might, but I couldn't make it out. ‘Mommy! Mommy!' The figure didn't so much turn as revolve; it didn't actually seem to be there below the hem of the long shorts. It moved up the dock to the bar, where Ki was now standing with her arms held out. Something grabbed at my foot. I looked down and saw a drowning apparition in the surging water. Dark eyes stared up at me from beneath the bald skull. Rogette was coughing water from between lips that were as purple as plums. Her free hand waved weakly up at me. The fingers opened . . . and closed. Opened . . . and closed. I dropped to one knee and took it. It clamped over mine like a steel claw and she yanked, trying to pull me in with her. The purple lips peeled back from yellow toothpegs like those in Sara's skull. And yes I thought that this time Rogette was the one laughing. I rocked on my haunches and yanked her up. I didn't think about it; it was pure instinct. I had her by at least a hundred pounds, and three quarters of her came out of the lake like a gigantic, freakish trout. She screamed, darted her head forward, and buried her teeth in my wrist. The pain was immediate and enormous. I jerked my arm up even higher and then brought it down, not thinking about hurting her, wanting only to rid myself of that weasel's mouth. Another wave hit the half-submerged dock as I did. Its rising, splintered edge impaled Rogette's descending face. One eye popped; a dripping yellow splinter ran up her nose like a dagger; the scant skin of her forehead split, snapping away from the bone like two suddenly released windowshades. Then the lake pulled her away. I saw the torn topography of her face a moment longer, upturned into the torrential rain, wet and as pale as the light from a fluorescent bar. Then she rolled over, her black vinyl raincoat swirling around her li ke a shroud. What I saw when I looked back toward The Sunset Bar was another glimpse under the skin of this world, but one far different from the face of Sara in the Green Lady or the snarling, half-glimpsed shape of the Outsider. Kyra stood on the wide wooden porch in front of the bar amid a litter of overturned wicker furniture. In front of her was a waterspout in which I could still see very faintly the fading shape of a woman. She was on her knees, holding her arms out. They tried to embrace. Ki's arms went through Mattie and came out dripping. ‘Mommy, I can't get you!' The woman in the water was speaking I could see her lips moving. Ki looked at her, rapt. Then, for just a moment Mattie turned to me. Our eyes met, and hers were made of the lake. They were Dark Score, which was here long before I came and will remain long after I am gone. I put my hands to my mouth, kissed my palms, and held them out to her. Shimmery hands went up, as if to catch those kisses. ‘Mommy don't go!' Kyra screamed, and flung her arms around the figure. She was immediately drenched and backed away with her eyes squinched shut, coughing. There was no longer a woman with her; there was only water running across the boards and dripping through the cracks to rejoin the lake, which comes up from deep springs far below, from the fissures in the rock which underlies the TR and all this part of our world. Moving carefully, doing my own balancing act, I made my way out along the wavering dock to The Sunset Bar. When I got there I took Kyra in my arms. She hugged me tight, shivering fiercely against me. I could hear the small dicecup rattle of her teeth and smell the lake in her hair. ‘Mattie came,' she said. ‘I know. I saw her.' ‘Mattie made the white nana go away.' ‘I saw that, too. Be very still now, Ki. We're going back to solid ground, but you can't move around a lot. If you do, we'll end up swimming.' She was good as gold. When we were on The Street again and I tried to put her down, she clung to my neck fiercely. That was okay with me. I thought of taking her into Warrington's, but didn't. There would be towels in there, probably dry clothes as well, but I had an idea there might also be a bathtub full of warm water waiting in there. Besides, the rain was slackening again and this time the sky looked lighter in the west. ‘What did Mattie tell you, hon?' I asked as we walked north along The Street. Ki would let me put her down so we could crawl under the downed trees we came to, but raised her arms to be picked up again on the far side of each. ‘To be a good girl and not be sad. But I am sad. I'm very sad.' She began to cry, and I stroked her wet hair. By the time we got to the railroad-tie steps she had cried herself out . . . and over the mountains in the west, I could see one small but very brilliant wedge of blue. ‘All the woods fell down,' Ki said, looking around. Her eyes were very wide. ‘Well . . . not all, but a lot of them, I guess.' Halfway up the steps I paused, puffing and seriously winded. I didn't ask Ki if I could put her down, though. I didn't want to put her down. I just wanted to catch my breath. ‘Mike?' ‘What, doll?' ‘Mattie told me something else.' ‘What?' ‘Can I whisper?' ‘If you want to, sure.' Ki leaned close, put her lips to my ear, and whispered. I listened. When she was done I nodded, kissed her cheek, shifted her to the other hip, and carried her the rest of the way up to the house. ‘T'wasn't the stawm of the century, chummy, and don't you go thinkin that it was. Nossir. So said the old-timers who sat in front of the big Army medics' tent that served as the Lakeview General that late summer and fall. A huge elm had toppled across Route 68 and bashed the store in like a Saltines box. Adding injury to insult, the elm had carried a bunch of spitting live lines with it. They ignited propane from a ruptured tank, and the whole thing went kaboom. The tent was a pretty good warm-weather substitute, though, and folks on the TR took to saying they was going down to the MASH for bread and beer this because you could still see a faded red cross on both sides of the tent's roof. The old-timers sat along one canvas wall in folding chairs, waving to other old-timers when they went pooting by in their rusty old-timer cars (all certified old-timers own either Fords or Chevys, so I'm well on my way in that regard), swapping their undershirts for flannels as the days began to cool toward cider season and spud-digging, watching the township start to rebuild itself around them. And as they watched they talked about the ice storm of the past winter, the one that knocked out lights and splintered a million trees between Kittery and Fort Kent; they talked about the cyclones that touched down in August of 1985; they talked about the sleet hurricane of 1927. Now there was some stawms, they said. There was some stawms, by Gorry. I'm sure they've got a point, and I don't argue with them you rarely win an argument with a genuine Yankee old-timer, never if it's about the weather but for me the storm of July 21, 1998, will always be the storm. And I know a little girl who feels the same. She may live until 2100, given all the benefits of modern medicine, but I think that for Kyra Elizabeth Devore that will always be the storm. The one where her dead mother came to her dressed in the lake. The first vehicle to come down my driveway didn't arrive until almost six o'clock. It turned out to be not a Castle County police car but a yellow bucket-loader with flashing yellow lights on top of the cab and a guy in a Central Maine Power Company slicker working the controls. The guy in the other seat was a cop, though was in fact Norris Ridgewick, the County Sheriff himself. And he came to my door with his gun drawn. The change in the weather the TV guy had promised had already arrived, clouds and storm-cells driven east by a chilly wind running just under gale force. Trees had continued to fall in the dripping woods for at least an hour after the rain stopped. Around five o'clock I made us toasted-cheese sandwiches and tomato soup . . . comfort food, Jo would have called it. Kyra ate listlessly, but she did eat, and she drank a lot of milk. I had wrapped her in another of my tee-shirts and she tied her own hair back. I offered her the white ribbons, but she shook her head decisively and opted for a rubber band instead. ‘I don't like those ribbons anymore,' she said. I decided I didn't, either, and threw them away. Ki watched me do it and offered no objection. Then I crossed the living room to the woodstove. ‘What are you doing?' She finished her second glass of milk, wriggled off her chair, and came over to me. ‘Making a fire. Maybe all those hot days thinned my blood. That's what my mom would have said, anyway.' She watched silently as I pulled sheet after sheet from the pile of paper I'd taken off the table and stacked on top of the woodstove, balled each one up, and slipped it in through the door. When I felt I'd loaded enough, I began to lay bits of kindling on top. ‘What's written on those papers?' Ki asked. ‘Nothing important.' ‘Is it a story?' ‘Not really. It was more like . . . oh, I don't know. A crossword puzzle. Or a letter.' ‘Pretty long letter,' she said, and then laid her head against my leg as if she were tired. ‘Yeah,' I said. ‘Love letters usually are, but keeping them around is a bad idea.' ‘Why?' ‘Because they . . . ‘ Can come back to haunt you was what rose to mind, but I wouldn't say it. ‘Because they can embarrass you in later life.' ‘Oh.' ‘Besides,' I said. ‘These papers are like your ribbons, in a way.' ‘You don't like them anymore.' ‘Right.' She saw the box then the tin box with JO'S NOTIONS written on the front. It was on the counter between the living room and the sink, not far from where old Krazy Kat had hung on the wall. I didn't remember bringing the box up from the studio with me, but I suppose I might not have; I was pretty freaked. I also think it could have come up . . . kind of by itself. I do believe such things now; I have reason to. Kyra's eyes lit up in a way they hadn't since she had wakened from her short nap to find out her mother was dead. She stood on tiptoe to take hold of the box, then ran her small fingers across the gilt letters. I thought about how important it was for a kid to own a tin box. You had to have one for your secret stuff the best toy, the prettiest bit of lace, the first piece of jewelry. Or a picture of your mother, perhaps. ‘This is so . . . pretty,' she said in a soft, awed voice. ‘You can have it if you don't mind it saying JO'S NOTIONS instead of ‘KI'S NOTIONS. There are some papers in it I want to read, but I could put them somewhere else.' She looked at me to make sure I wasn't kidding, saw I wasn't. ‘I'd love it,' she said in the same soft, awed voice. I took the box from her, scooped out the steno books, notes, and clippings, then handed it back to Ki. She practiced taking the lid off and then putting it back on. ‘Guess what I'll put in here,' she said. ‘Secret treasures?' ‘Yes!' she said, and actually smiled for a moment. ‘Who was Jo, Mike? Do I know her? I do, don't I? She was one of the fridgearator people.' ‘She ‘ A thought occurred. I shuffled through the yellowed clippings. Nothing. I thought I'd lost it somewhere along the way, then saw a corner of what I was looking for peeking from the middle of one of the steno notebooks. I slid it out and handed it to Ki. ‘What is it?' ‘A backwards photo. Hold it up to the light.' She did, and looked for a long time, rapt. Faint as a dream I could see my wife in her hand, my wife standing on the swimming float in her two-piece suit. ‘That's Jo,' I said. ‘She's pretty. I'm glad to have her box for my things.' ‘I am too, Ki.' I kissed the top of her head. When Sheriff Ridgewick hammered on the door, I thought it wise to answer with my hands up. He looked wired. What seemed to ease the situation was a simple, uncalculated question. ‘Where's Alan Pangborn these days, Sheriff?' ‘Over New Hampshire,' Ridgewick said, lowering his pistol a little (a minute or two later he holstered it without even seeming to be aware he had done so). ‘He and Polly are doing real well. Except for her arthritis. That's nasty, I guess, but she still has her good days. A person can go along quite awhile if they get a good day every once and again, that's what I think. Mr. Noonan, I have a lot of questions for you. You know that, don't you?' ‘Yes.' ‘First off and most important, do you have the child? Kyra Devore?' ‘Yes.' ‘Where is she?' ‘I'll be happy to show you.' We walked down the north-wing corridor and stood just outside the bedroom doorway, looking in. The duvet was pulled up to her chin and she was sleeping deeply. The stuffed dog was curled in one hand we could just see its muddy tail poking out of her fist at one end and its nose poking out at the other. We stood there for a long time, neither of us saying anything, watching her sleep in the light of a summer evening. In the woods the trees had stopped falling, but the wind still blew. Around the eaves of Sara Laughs it made a sound like ancient music.