Example of a Reflective Writing Essay

An example of good reflective writing – integration of theory with personal experience; justification and explanation of person experience using relevant theory as support; provides insight into the author’s observations of the theory; appropriate use of language; analysis of theory within the context of own experience. Organisational change and development theory suggests that models are a good way of providing change practitioners with strategies to plan, implement and move through various stages of change (Waddell, Cummings & Worley, 2007). While it is arguable that models are useful in providing guidelines for change practitioners, I feel that they are not necessarily an accurate representation of how change is actually experienced in organisations. I have worked in an organisation that has been through repeated change throughout the duration of my employment. My experience of change has been somewhat different from how it is reflected in change models. For example, as an employee I have not been involved in the initial planning stages of change, nor have I been involved in diagnosis at an individual level, therefore I am unclear as to what happens during these stages. From an individual perspective, it feels as though change is planned and implemented in my organisation at the senior levels of management without adequate input or information to and from staff. Further, from my perspective, change is not experienced in a smooth manner as suggested by change models. I have experienced change that has not appeared to move beyond the unfreezing stages (Lewin, 1947), and I have also experienced change that has regressed at different stages rather than move forward. If I were to work with employees as a change practitioner, I would highlight the realities of change so that employees are aware that there are multiple experiences in addition to ‘the prominent way of viewing this process’ (McShane & Travaglione, 2007, p.502) within academic references. An example of poor reflective writing – colloquial/non-academic writing style; opinion-based without justification or explanation; lack of engagement with theory; links to references not made; generalisation of opinion. In my job I have been though a lot of change and there is no way that what the change models say is right. My experiences of change have all been bad and there is no way that anybody could have had a good experience of change. I don’t think change models are useful as they pretend that change is an easy process which is different from my opinion that no change is easy. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that managers don’t manage change properly as I have never seen the stages of any models within my organisation. This might be because my manager is a poor communicator which is what all the staff think. In my opinion, change models shouldn’t be taught to students as they can only teach students to think about change in the wrong way which doesn’t help employees who have to go through it.

What killed audiolingualism

Audiologists is one of the nine 20th century language teaching approaches which was based on contrastive analysis about behaviorism and structuralism, and was created as a reaction to the reading approach that was lacking of emphasis on oral- aural skills. The results of this approach, dialogues approach, were generally regarded a great success. The small groups of learners and high motivation were the caveats that undoubtedly contributed to the success of the approach.However, successful as it was, Audiologists reached its end in the sass and is no longer seed today. There are some reasons as to why this approach collapsed. The first reason was the emergence of error analysis that makes audiologists received attacks from many linguists. Chomsky attack on behaviorism view on which audiologists is based is very well-known. He also proposed that people have innate system- generally known as Universal Grammar- within them that provides them with ability to construct their own grammar.T he error in audiologists was also viewed not as something to be avoided. Error Is a good thing through which learners' mind is shown. There was another attack as well saying this approach, especially in the late sass, failed to follow the learners' needs In a way that the learners needed advanced academic skills more than they need oral skill because of the university requirement for enrollment at U.S and British (grab, 1991). That audiologists banned students from using Al because It will Interfere with their LA acquisition also received critics because some linguists viewed Al not as a hindrance, but as an important resource In decision making In writing Another reason that killed audiologists Is the negligence of the caveat that audiologists be taught In small class with highly motivated students.This negligence occurred because of several reasons; people's amazement toward how successful audiologists was that they Implemented It anywhere hoping to get the same success, and the b oredom that students felt due to the monotonousness for using drilling so often that they lose their motivation. This monotonousness was one thing that led Harmer (1991) to suggest that It not be used too frequently and too long. It Is human nature to get ordered and It Is Inevitable.In Dalton, the level of emergency also became the significant factor In a way that former learners with dialogues method viewed LA as an urgent need. Some needed It for World War 2, some-especially those who lived In one place with two language-needed It to be mediating language because It was the only way to communicate. However, LA learning today Is not because It Is urgently needed. Most of the time, It Is Just learned because It Is In the curriculum. However, despite all reasons mentioned above, It Is not that Audiologists Is a bad teaching approach.The alma of this paper, and also the alma of learning language teaching approach, Is not to Judge any approach. There Is no such thing called the best o r the worst method. Audiologists Itself Is not a bad approach since, at some point In history, It has been very successful. Thus, Audiologists, Just Like any other approaches, Is not for us to discredit. The task for all language teachers Is to find the method that Is most suitable and most effective for the learners. What killed audiologists By realization also viewed not as something to be avoided.Error is a good thing through which especially in the late sass, failed to follow the learners' needs in a way that the audiologists banned students from using Al because it will interfere with their LA but as an important resource in decision making in writing Another reason that killed audiologists is the negligence of the caveat that audiologists be taught in several reasons; people's amazement toward how successful audiologists was that they implemented it anywhere hoping to get the same success, and the boredom suggest that it not be used too frequently and too long.It is human natu re to get bored and it is inevitable. In addition, the level of emergency also became the significant factor in a way that former learners with dialogues method viewed LA as an urgent need. Some needed it for World War 2, some-especially those who lived in one place with two language-needed it to be mediating language because it was the only way to communicate. However, LA learning today is not because it is urgently needed. Most of the time, it is Just learned because it is in the curriculum.However, despite all reasons mentioned above, it is not that Audiologists is a bad teaching approach. The aim of this paper, and also the aim of learning language teaching approach, is not to Judge any approach. There is no such thing called the best or the worst method. Audiologists itself is not a bad approach since, at some point in history, it has been very successful. Thus, Audiologists, Just like any other approaches, is not for us to discredit. The task for all language teachers is to fi nd the method that is most suitable and most effective for the learners.

Public Utility News Articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Public Utility News Articles - Essay Example Due to extraordinary characteristics of natural gas: high concentration of methane, efficiency in heat generation, and ecological safety, the global tendency, despite a higher price, is to use natural gas widely in transportation and electricity generation. The negative economic consequences for private and residential users resulting from gas usage are hoped to be covered through an increase in funding of natural gas technology development and local transportation subsidies. 2. The uniqueness of public utility sector makes it one of the most vulnerable constitutes of national economy, this is the major introduced in the article â€Å"Priority Required for Utility Security† published in Washington Times. US electric, oil, gas, nuclear, water supply systems can turn out to be the primary terrorists’ target. The continuity of service provided by public utility institutions in not questioned by the majority of citizens, however, the supply system might turn out to be the most sensitive part of the national economy. Utility related attacks are a major concern due to the fact that the national well-being depends on it. Also, the fact that water supply system can be used for further spread of bio-chemical weaponry should be considered. Thus, even if the population would still be able to live for a short period of time without water, the consequences of epidemics can hardly be overestimated. Security of public utility sector raises major life depe ndent issues. 3. Sakina Spruell in the article "The Tough Get Going: In a Merciless Business Environment, the B.E. Industrial Service 100 Produced a Number of Casualties-And Winners" provides an overview of the public utility institutions, major means of competition, leaders and the ways the leadership was achieved in a specific sphere of public utility industry. Major aspects of competition are introduced: non-discrimination, just market price and

Safety Operations Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Safety Operations Plan - Essay Example Our mission statement is "Your Safety is our First Priority. Certain principles form the core expectations of the Georgetown ATV company. The employees are expected to adhere to these principles to uphold quality standards provided by the company. These principles include: The overall aspiration for the company is to ensure safety for the customers while on the track and to get value for their money. Safety for all customers will encompass orientation on the track, checking gear and re-training our staff to maintain the international standards set for this sport. This will ensure that the customer is learning and having fun at the same time. The young will be trained on how to command a vehicle at an early age. The company’s target audience is young people between the 15 to 30 years of age. The company is hoping to nurture young talent in the sport. Our hope is that some of the riders could turn professional as we have qualified, experienced trainers and a state of the art equipment to realize this. However, it is paramount that safety is ensured at this stage. Therefore, our objectives will center on ensuring that the riders respect the rules and regulations set by the Georgetown AVG company. The core objectives will be: The company foresees the customer market for the ATV or off-road industry growing significantly in the coming years. Previously, this sport was for experts, but ordinary people are warming up to it because of the thrill and great discipline it nurtures .Many are new to the sport and therefore the Georgetown ATV company hopes to embrace the aspiring talent and lead them to greater heights as far as racing is concerned. Having trained these young generations of riders, the company hopes to sign them on in deals that will provide opportunities to compete with others in this sport. Therefore, in order for the company to gauge its success we will have in house tournaments and meets with other companies. The races should record no to

Chinese history paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Chinese history paper - Essay Example Nonetheless, these twin goals complemented one another because in both cases, there was some form of oppression of one party by a dominant party that needed to be eliminated. In addition, the twin goals were finally achieved and the success of these goals had a great impact on China as a country and has continued to shape it even today. The novel â€Å"The Dragon’s Village† provides an account of the experiences of a young woman who goes out to a remote village in 1950s revolutionary China to participate in implementing land reform program as one of the goals of the Communists. The novel also addresses the role and place of women in China during this period. During her assignment in the village of Longxiang, Ling-ling experiences the positive and negative effects that the revolutionary policies of the Communists had on the cultural practices and attitudes of the people in the village. The cultural practices and beliefs of the people in China at his period of time seemed to have supported the level of oppression of peasants and the subordination of women in the society. However, the Communists are seen to play a critical role as far as these two aspects are concerned. The revolution in China had two major goals, and these can be considered to be liberating in nature. First, there was the goal of initiating land reforms. This was important and had liberation at its centre because the peasants in China at this time were oppressed by the landlords. When Ling-ling visited the village of Longxiang to initialize land reforms in the area, she addressed the villagers and let them know that she had come to help them carry out land reforms. She noted that the villagers worked on the land day and night throughout the year, yet they are always dressed in rags and experience famine (77). Although the peasants worked hard, it was

Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Globalization - Essay Example People belonging to a certain culture share the same language and other beliefs and their behaviour is shaped by culture. As such, I think it is important for people in different countries to know the impacts of globalisation on their culture. This subject is very important because it defines the identity of people and it distinguishes them from other groups. Therefore, there is need to preserve indigenous languages and culture for different communities in order to successfully fight the impacts of globalisation. The development of new information and communication such as the internet has contributed to the growth and development of aspects such as the economy. However, the same technology has also contributed to the erosion of other languages given that English is communicated to other marginalized communities and it is now being treated as the first language. This has caused problems to other languages given that they are slowly being eroded by other powerful languages. Language i s passed from generation to generation through the word of mouth and this communication strategy needs to be preserved if we are to preserve our indigenous languages which are being threatened by English in many societies. The erosion of English also entails the erosion of human knowledge as a result of marginalization of other smaller communities. This makes it difficult for such societies to preserve their knowledge which shapes their behaviour (Ostler, 2006). Language is therefore an important element in the fight against the effects of globalisation in different communities. In Haviland, there are two sections that address this issue of globalization as a result of expanding technology. In â€Å"Language and Communication† and â€Å"Global Changes and the Role of Anthropology,† language is seen as a precious resource that can be easily exploited by the dominant and powerful countries such as the English speaking nations as they are bent on imposing their language a s special over other languages (Haviland et al, 2009, p.162). As a result, the rise of globalisation has caused different reactions from other countries which have realised its threats especially to the survival of their own languages. In many countries, the people have realised the importance of their own language which is facing erosion by English which is now communicated to different countries. For instance, in France, there is a growing concern for preserving the French language and this has led the government to launch a campaign to promote the language such as le hamburger and e-mail (Haviland et al, 2009, p. 170). In the United States, the â€Å"English only† campaign amounts to preservation of their interests where many citizens â€Å"seek to shape or transform not only their towns but also†¦the entire country by electing politicians committed to forging a national culture based on what they see as American patriotism, English-only legislation, and traditional Christian values† (Haviland et al, 2009, p. 334).In other countries, language may be seen as the most important way to maintain a sense of national identity. In either event, Haviland’s examination of language in terms of socio-linguistics, which studies the relationship between language and society as well as ethno-linguistics, whi

Racing to the Bottom Trade, Environmental Governance by Aseem Prakash Article

Racing to the Bottom Trade, Environmental Governance by Aseem Prakash and Matthew Potoski - Article Example The dependent variable, on the other hand can be defined as the observed result, of the independent variable. The voluntary environmental regulations of ISO 14001 in this research can be defined as the dependent variable. The research seeks to define how the independent variable has had a negative or positive impact on the adoption of ISO 14001 environmental regulations (dependent variable). HYPOTHESIS The hypothesis formulated in this report is that, involvement in international trade has caused many international firms to adopt the voluntary ISO 14001 regulations. The other hypothesis is that adoption rates are lower in export dependent countries than in import dependent countries. This hypothesis has come about due to some critiques believe that these ISO 14001 regulations have been adopted to take environmental action to an international level. This research aims at proving this hypothesis. FINDINGS Different governments have different environmental assessment requirements for or ganizations. Within these governments, there are some whose environmental policies seem to be lax. International trade with the organizations from nations having lax environmental standards becomes significantly affected as other organizations seem to avoid trading with them. The international organization for standardization has created a much accepted level of international standards. The standards of ISO are applied to firms irrespective of the country of origin and are independent of the local regulations. The finding of this report is that many firms, seeking to undertake international trade, have resorted into adopting the ISO 14001 regulations together with the local regulations. The research concludes that there are specific aspects of this regulation which make these firms to adopt it, and it is not due to international pressure. The regulation seems to favor international trade EVIDENCE (QUANTIT & QUALITATIVE) The survey conducted in 108 countries, which has, the ISO 14001 certified facilities provides evidence in this research. The information was categorized on the international trade structure which a country mainly depended on. There are those that are export dependent and others import dependent. The research also seeks to define whether the importing county’s regulations have any effect on the exporting c country’s level in adopting these regulations. For the purposes of this research, the other variables which may affect international trade are entirely ignored. The measure applied is that of adoption of the ISO 14001 regulations. MAJOR THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK (LIBERAL, INSTITUTIONAL The major theoretical framework is the adoption of this regulation is favorable to international trade than other regulations. The effects of other controllable variables like international and domestic controls seem to be over come by this regulatory policy. COUNTERARGUMENTS There are many arguments aroused by this research. Globalization critiques ar gue that the adoption of ISO 14001 regulation necessitated by international trade undermines the set government regulation. On the other hand, those in support of globalization argue that the governments should try and standardize their environmental regulation for the purpose of international trade. They further argue that due to the discrepancies in government policies, only the ISO 14001 regulations can be applied internationally in a standard way. They argue

Base Realignment and Closure transfers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Base Realignment and Closure transfers - Essay Example As per taxation department, "other Alabama counties receive $1.8-1.9 million sales and property taxes" (University of Alabama, 2007). The contract expenditure of $1 billion towards BARC 2005 provided "state-wide economic and fiscal impacts of about $2 billion in output, $495 million in earnings, and 10,858 direct and indirect jobs". The regional impacts of BARC 2005 is approximated at "$1.8 billion output, $367 million earnings, and 7,632 jobs". As per estimation, "the average annual income for these jobs is $48,000, but 2,472 of the total jobs impacts are direct jobs that earn $83,000 annually, fiscal impacts are $28.9 million for the state ($19.8 million income, $8.4 million sales, and $0.8 million property), and $10.7-12.6 million for the region comprising $6.2 million sales and $4.5-6.4 million property". The remaining Alabama counties "receive $3.5-4.1 million sales and property taxes, amounting to total annual outcome of $43.2-45.6 million to all jurisdictions" (University of A labama, 2007). It is important to specify that these contracts are not definite, due to the uncertainty of amount associated with projects, "the $1 billion estimate used is based on recent Redstone Arsenal contracts relative to total budget" (Paul, 2007). According to governmental sources, the regional population is expected to soar by 15 percent, "the population will be approximately 652,000 in 2015 and surpass 718,000 by 2030, from the 2000 level, employment is forecast to be 23 percent higher in 2010, 32 percent higher in 2015.

What were the major characteristics of the urban culture that Essay

What were the major characteristics of the urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America - Essay Example Earlier, in the ages of slavery and racial isolation, diversity was far away from the limelight of urban cultural life. But the urban cultural scenario in the late nineteenth-century inculcated diversity to its core by showing acceptance without considering one’s culture, ethnicity, race, color and gender. Besides, diversity is the base of the urban culture of America. The African Americans, people from different parts of Asia makes the American society more diverse. The urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America helped the society to be well prepared for further development in following centuries. Another important characteristic of the urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America was ward politics or importance gained by local politics in national political scenario. As the urban society was more diverse, ward politics helped the diverse population to gain representation in national politics. Besides, restrictions upon voting franchise, like qualification on property and tax were lifted. This helped the people to participate in local, state and national levels without any pressure from the side of major political parties. Popular culture of simply ‘pop culture’ is one of the major characteristics of the urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America. Popular culture originated in 19th century and developed in 20th century. The urban culture in the 19th century provided enough space for popular culture to express emotion, views, ideas and perspectives of lower class people. Still, popular culture deeply influences urban culture in America. Summing, the unique characteristics of urban culture in late nineteenth-century America added a lot to its development in following centuries. The racial, lingual and cultural diversity in the urban culture was helpful to inculcate innovation to the core of American society. Besides, ward politics in local

World Religions Report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

World Religions Report - Assignment Example When looking at individual practices as well as the background of Buddhism, one is able to see specific doctrines and teachings that are applied to one’s life. This is furthered with comparisons of other religions, such as Christianity, the secondary religion investigated, to define the various roles and concepts that are formed with religious beliefs. Background of Buddhism Buddhism is an older religion with origins began in India, Burma and China, where it is still widely practiced. The main principle of Buddhism is to find the Middle Path which consists of the Four Noble Truths. The objective is to see how one can move through this lifetime and reach enlightenment of the spirit. This is followed by the Eightfold Path, which is eight different mechanics which one needs to reach the same enlightenment, or nirvana. Wisdom, morality, right views, resolve, speech, action, effort and mindfulness are the Eightfold Path to obtain enlightenment. The result is that one is able to go through a self – transformation on the intellectual, emotional and moral levels, which is what the Buddhists believe to help one move into enlightenment (Keown, 2009). The spread of Buddhism to the West has not only led to the different components of the main mechanics and teachings. This includes two sectors of Buddhism, including Theravada or Mahayana. The Theravada belief is the ancient belief, stating that the teachings are based on the original teachings for enlightenment. The Mahayana practice also has the main techniques and foundation from the ancient practices. However, this has moved into alternative perspectives and techniques based on practice, such as transformative beliefs, practical solutions for today’s needs and an expansion in the meditation techniques (Fowler, 1999). Interview Summary The interview that was conducted occurred after visiting a Buddhist temple at KSA. The outer area of the temple seems like a regular structure building that was used la ter as a temple. The landscaping has a large amount of greenery and is kept to create a sense of invitation in the building. The internal area of the building has the wheel of Buddhism in various areas, the statue of the laughing Buddha and various paintings and icons that are representative of the religion from the East. An assembly hall is located in the internal area as well as several rooms to the side for worship, meeting and to look into the Buddhist literature. These are each well decorated with the Buddhist symbols and signs, the Buddhist statue and other figurines from the East. A program was being held with the doctrines and beliefs that were associated with the temple, combined with several who were visiting. A Buddhist, by the name of Aaron, was found after the program that agreed to taking the interview and which had time to answer the questions that I required (see Appendix A). Aaron was in his mid – 40s and was a frequent member at the Buddhist temple outside o f his main job as a computer programmer. The information was recorded on an iPhone then transferred to paper later. The individual interviewed had been practicing Buddhism for over 15 years with the basis being in Christianity. The pull toward Buddhism began with the individual not feeling a strong enough basis toward the Christian beliefs while wanting more with the foundation of belief. The individual then decided to visit a Buddhist temple in the area to create a different understanding of religion. The origins of the practice are not practiced by family or relatives while creating an individual approach to the idea of reaching enlightenment. However, the individual also noted that practicing Buddhi

Education system Essay Example for Free

Education system Essay Nowadays almost every country is concerned about developing education system as it can lead to economic growth and individual prosperity. However, substantial amounts of money spent on education not always affect country successfully. Therefore the negative side like unemployment is important to consider. The key problem for many young people is that after graduation they have no possibility to find a job. Furthermore, if only high cost qualification opens doors to better job, families from poorer backgrounds can hardly improve their lives. Otherwise qualification can be powerful instrument for reducing poverty and inequality. In that case, the country must promote opportunities for people from all backgrounds. There are some places in the world, where not everyone has an opportunity to receive formal type of education. In fact, children have to help their parents in factories or do farm work. In other words, some young people can not choose learning even if they want it. It is clearly seen that nations with high standard of living always provide great circumstances to attain desirable education. It seems like the only way for poorer countries to improve their process of economic growth is to pay a lot of attention to development of education system. Moreover, they must be interested in every citizen. The authorities should be interested in every citizen ensuring equal opportunities to gain knowledge. In conclusion, learning and knowledge is a big investment in the future provided that other aspects of life are considered. National well-being is closely linked to education attainment Nowadays almost every country is concerned about developing education system as it can lead to economic growth and individual prosperity. However, substantial amounts of money spent on education not always affect country successfully. Therefore the negative side like unemployment is important to consider. The key problem for many young people is that after graduation they have no possibility to find a job. Furthermore, if only high cost qualification opens doors to better job, families from poorer backgrounds can hardly improve their lives. Otherwise qualification can be powerful instrument for reducing poverty and inequality. In that case, the country must promote opportunities for people from all backgrounds. There are some places in the world, where not everyone has an opportunity to receive formal type of education. In fact, children have to help their parents in factories or do farm work. In other words, some young people can not choose learning even if they want it. It is clearly seen that nations with high standard of living always provide great circumstances to attain desirable education. It seems like the only way for poorer countries to improve their process of economic growth is to pay a lot of attention to development of education system. Moreover, they must be interested in every citizen. The authorities should be interested in every citizen ensuring equal opportunities to gain knowledge. In conclusion, learning and knowledge is a big investment in the future provided that other aspects of life are considered. National well-being is closely linked to education attainment Nowadays almost every country is concerned about developing education system as it can lead to economic growth and individual prosperity. However, substantial amounts of money spent on education not always affect country successfully. Therefore the negative side like unemployment is important to consider. The key problem for many young people is that after graduation they have no possibility to find a job. Furthermore, if only high cost qualification opens doors to better job, families from poorer backgrounds can hardly improve their lives. Otherwise qualification can be powerful instrument for reducing poverty and inequality. In that case, the country must promote opportunities for people from all backgrounds. There are some places in the world, where not everyone has an opportunity to receive formal type of education. In fact, children have to help their parents in factories or do farm work. In other words, some young people can not choose learning even if they want it. It is clearly seen that nations with high standard of living always provide great circumstances to attain desirable education. It seems like the only way for poorer countries to improve their process of economic growth is to pay a lot of attention to development of education system. Moreover, they must be interested in every citizen. The authorities should be interested in every citizen ensuring equal opportunities to gain knowledge. In conclusion, learning and knowledge is a big investment in the future provided that other aspects of life are considered. National well-being is closely linked to education attainment Nowadays almost every country is concerned about developing education system as it can lead to economic growth and individual prosperity. However, substantial amounts of money spent on education not always affect country successfully. Therefore the negative side like unemployment is important to consider. The key problem for many young people is that after graduation they have no possibility to find a job. Furthermore, if only high cost qualification opens doors to better job, families from poorer backgrounds can hardly improve their lives. Otherwise qualification can be powerful instrument for reducing poverty and inequality. In that case, the country must promote opportunities for people from all backgrounds. There are some places in the world, where not everyone has an opportunity to receive formal type of education. In fact, children have to help their parents in factories or do farm work. In other words, some young people can not choose learning even if they want it. It is clearly seen that nations with high standard of living always provide great circumstances to attain desirable education. It seems like the only way for poorer countries to improve their process of economic growth is to pay a lot of attention to development of education system. Moreover, they must be interested in every citizen. The authorities should be interested in every citizen ensuring equal opportunities to gain knowledge. In conclusion, learning and knowledge is a big investment in the future provided that other aspects of life are considered. National well-being is closely linked to education attainment Nowadays almost every country is concerned about developing education system as it can lead to economic growth and individual prosperity. However, substantial amounts of money spent on education not always affect country successfully. Therefore the negative side like unemployment is important to consider. The key problem for many young people is that after graduation they have no possibility to find a job. Furthermore, if only high cost qualification opens doors to better job, families from poorer backgrounds can hardly improve their lives. Otherwise qualification can be powerful instrument for reducing poverty and inequality. In that case, the country must promote opportunities for people from all backgrounds. There are some places in the world, where not everyone has an opportunity to receive formal type of education. In fact, children have to help their parents in factories or do farm work. In other words, some young people can not choose learning even if they want it. It is clearly seen that nations with high standard of living always provide great circumstances to attain desirable education. It seems like the only way for poorer countries to improve their process of economic growth is to pay a lot of attention to development of education system. Moreover, they must be interested in every citizen. The authorities should be interested in every citizen ensuring equal opportunities to gain knowledge. In conclusion, learning and knowledge is a big investment in the future provided that other aspects of life are considered. National well-being is closely linked to education attainment Nowadays almost every country is concerned about developing education system as it can lead to economic growth and individual prosperity. However, substantial amounts of money spent on education not always affect country successfully. Therefore the negative side like unemployment is important to consider. The key problem for many young people is that after graduation they have no possibility to find a job. Furthermore, if only high cost qualification opens doors to better job, families from poorer backgrounds can hardly improve their lives. Otherwise qualification can be powerful instrument for reducing poverty and inequality. In that case, the country must promote opportunities for people from all backgrounds. There are some places in the world, where not everyone has an opportunity to receive formal type of education. In fact, children have to help their parents in factories or do farm work. In other words, some young people can not choose learning even if they want it. It is clearly seen that nations with high standard of living always provide great circumstances to attain desirable education. It seems like the only way for poorer countries to improve their process of economic growth is to pay a lot of attention to development of education system. Moreover, they must be interested in every citizen. The authorities should be interested in every citizen ensuring equal opportunities to gain knowledge. In conclusion, learning and knowledge is a big investment in the future provided that other aspects of life are considered. National well-being is closely linked to education attainment Nowadays almost every country is concerned about developing education system as it can lead to economic growth and individual prosperity. However, substantial amounts of money spent on education not always affect country successfully. Therefore the negative side like unemployment is important to consider. The key problem for many young people is that after graduation they have no possibility to find a job. Furthermore, if only high cost qualification opens doors to better job, families from poorer backgrounds can hardly improve their lives. Otherwise qualification can be powerful instrument for reducing poverty and inequality. In that case, the country must promote opportunities for people from all backgrounds. There are some places in the world, where not everyone has an opportunity to receive formal type of education. In fact, children have to help their parents in factories or do farm work. In other words, some young people can not choose learning even if they want it. It is clearly seen that nations with high standard of living always provide great circumstances to attain desirable education. It seems like the only way for poorer countries to improve their process of economic growth is to pay a lot of attention to development of education system. Moreover, they must be interested in every citizen. The authorities should be interested in every citizen ensuring equal opportunities to gain knowledge. In conclusion, learning and knowledge is a big investment in the future provided that other aspects of life are considered. National well-being is closely linked to education attainment Nowadays almost every country is concerned about developing education system as it can lead to economic growth and individual prosperity. However, substantial amounts of money spent on education not always affect country successfully. Therefore the negative side like unemployment is important to consider. The key problem for many young people is that after graduation they have no possibility to find a job. Furthermore, if only high cost qualification opens doors to better job, families from poorer backgrounds can hardly improve their lives. Otherwise qualification can be powerful instrument for reducing poverty and inequality. In that case, the country must promote opportunities for people from all backgrounds. There are some places in the world, where not everyone has an opportunity to receive formal type of education. In fact, children have to help their parents in factories or do farm work. In other words, some young people can not choose learning even if they want it. It is clearly seen that nations with high standard of living always provide great circumstances to attain desirable education. It seems like the only way for poorer countries to improve their process of economic growth is to pay a lot of attention to development of education system. Moreover, they must be interested in every citizen. The authorities should be interested in every citizen ensuring equal opportunities to gain knowledge. In conclusion, learning and knowledge is a big investment in the future provided that other aspects of life are considered. National well-being is closely linked to education attainment Nowadays almost every country is concerned about developing education system as it can lead to economic growth and individual prosperity. However, substantial amounts of money spent on education not always affect country successfully. Therefore the negative side like unemployment is important to consider. The key problem for many young people is that after graduation they have no possibility to find a job. Furthermore, if only high cost qualification opens doors to better job, families from poorer backgrounds can hardly improve their lives. Otherwise qualification can be powerful instrument for reducing poverty and inequality. In that case, the country must promote opportunities for people from all backgrounds. There are some places in the world, where not everyone has an opportunity to receive formal type of education. In fact, children have to help their parents in factories or do farm work. In other words, some young people can not choose learning even if they want it. It is clearly seen that nations with high standard of living always provide great circumstances to attain desirable education. It seems like the only way for poorer countries to improve their process of economic growth is to pay a lot of attention to development of education system. Moreover, they must be interested in every citizen. The authorities should be interested in every citizen ensuring equal opportunities to gain knowledge. In conclusion, learning and knowledge is a big investment in the future provided that other aspects of life are considered. National well-being is closely linked to education attainment

Debate on a GP Fee Policy

Debate on a GP Fee Policy Essay Question: What do you think about the prospect of a $5 fee to see a GP? The topic of a $5 patient co-payment for GP visits is an ongoing debate that is currently being argued from individuals to health care providers. Under this proposal, pensioners and concession card holders are exempted, and families are allowed 12 bulk billed visits before co-payment applies. So, why would the government slug patients with a $5 co-payment for GP visits? The Australian Centre for Health Research (ACHR, 2013) claims that by implementing this proposal, the government would save an approximate $750 million over 4 years and that the co-payment proposal would: Reduce avoidable demand for GP services Reduce incentives for GPs to over-service Remind people GPs are not free Reduce moral hazard risk by making people consider visiting a GP for minor ailments Remind people that maintaining good health is an individual’s responsibility However in order to take a stance, it is important to first understand Health. Should Health be a right, or is it a privilege? If Health is a privilege, health insurance would only support emergencies and not day-to-day healthcare maintenance, which would be detrimental to those in financial hardship (J L. Marshall, 2011). Hence, Health should be a right, a right â€Å"based on need and not the ability to pay†, where everyone can have equal accessibility and treatment to health care, which is why the $5 co-payment should not proceed (Public Health Association Australia, 2011). Expenditures and efficiency So why does the government intend to cut expenses from the health sector through a co-payment? Are we spending too much? According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare AIHW (2013), total health care expenditure in 2011-2012 amounted to $140.2 billion, which is 7.6% higher compared to the previous year (AIHW, 2013). Since GP visits are covered by Medicare, which is funded by the Government and through a levy, GP visits would be included in this $140.2 billion. However, it was reported that the total Medicare expenditure was $16.3 billion in 2010-2011, â€Å"total† meaning that it included GP visit along with various services covered by Medicare Benefits Schedule – MBS (Australian Government – Department of Human Resources, 2011). Thus, it is reasonable to consider that Medicare is only a small portion of the total expenditure. According to The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Australia’s health expenditure stands at $3800 per person, which is 8.9% of the Gross Domestic Product – GDP. In comparison, USA’s health expenditure per capita was $8508 per person, or 17.7% of GDP. Does this perhaps mean that life expectancy in USA is better due to the extra cost to health care? This does not seem to be the case, but rather statistics demonstrates that the highly privatised health care system is inefficient as shown in Figure 1. From Figure 1, by comparing USA to Australia or Canada, it shows that USA has a slightly lower life expectancy, but the health spending is almost double the figures of Australia and Canada’s. It should be noted that both Australia and Canada have universal health care systems in contrast to the privatised health care in USA. Given that a privatised system is evidently less efficient but yet costs more for individuals, would it then be wise to implement the co-payment, a move seen by many as a means to slowly â€Å"dismantle† Medicare (C King, 2014)? According to Catherine King (2014), the government would reduce expenditure for healthcare by means testing Medicare, but Australians will have to carry the tab. Means testing access to primary healthcare will lead to greater privatisation, which will restrict access to GPs for most Australians, more so on older people, the vulnerable ones in our population and families with children (C King, 2014). King (2014) states that â€Å"GPs are the cheapest within health systems, experts at diagnosis and able to detect potential health issues in their infancy†. Thus, if GPs are restricted, people would end up in hospitals, the expensive side of the health care system, increasing the expenditure rather than saving. Reduce avoidable demand for GP services Besides the intention of cutting costs for health care, one of the reasons provided by the ACHR for the co-payment proposal was to reduce avoidable demand (over usage) of GP services. However, the solution to this issue would not be to introduce a $5 co-payment for GP visits, as there are concerns that the co-payment would â€Å"jeopardise equitable access to clinically appropriate healthcare† (J Swan, 2013). This can be explained with a few questions by considering the targeted audience and the effects of the solution: According to J Swan’s article â€Å"John Glover voices fears GP fee will make poor suffer† (2013), Professor Glover, who led Australias most detailed analysis on the relationship between a persons wealth and their willingness to visit a doctor, states that there is â€Å"very strong† evidence that poorer people are already under using healthcare in proportion to their level of illness. Through his analysis, it is shown that only 5% of residents who lives among Sydney’s wealthiest neighbourhoods – Mosman, Woollahra and Hunters Hill, claimed they had delayed medical consultation due to financial issues. In contrast to less wealthy areas, Penrith had 13.5%; Nambour 23.4% and Ballarat had 17.9% residents claiming they would delay visiting doctors due to cost. From these statistics, it is clear that the poor would be most affected. John Glover, director of the public health information development unit at the University of Adelaide describes that the $5 co-payment for doctor visits would â€Å"discourage the wrong group of people from visiting the doctor while doing nothing to dissuade those who are already over using GP services† (J Swan, 2013). The co-payment would cause those likely to get seriously ill to unreasonably avoid preventative care which is a step towards reducing what we have as a universal healthcare system privatisiation (J Swan, 2013). Disadvantage to certain group of people (delay seeking medical help) Would the $5 co-payment disadvantage certain groups of people? The co-payment would have dangerous consequences for the poorest and sickest This then comes down to the issue of cost and equity. Health Program director of Grattan Institute, Stephen Duckett states that â€Å"In the healthcare system theres a trade-off between costs and equity, the government might save money in the short-term at the cost of equity, but Emergency departments would soon fill up with patients delaying to visit GPs† (J Swan, 2013). Clogging up ED (caused by delay in seeking aid from primary health care) Potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH) have been defined as those hospitalisations which could have been avoided with access to quality primary care and preventative care. Rates of PPH for selected conditions, such as chronic conditions and vaccine preventable conditions are being used nationally and internationally as an indirect measure of problems with access to care and effective primary care. In contrast it is well established that hospital admissions can be prevented by primary care. Australian data show that there are around 33 hospitalisations per 1000 people per year or 10% of hospitalisations could be prevented by effective primary care5. These primary care preventable hospital admissions are increasing in recent years. The ACHR report suggests that the introduction of a co-payment will reduce all GP attendances, both those regarded as necessary, and those that are perceived as unnecessary1. There are inadequate data to know how this will affect hospital admissions. However, the co-payment may increase rather than reduce overall government health expenditure. I support the reasoning provided by ACHR for the introduction of co-payment to remind people that maintaining good health is an individual’s responsibility, which requires investments in comprehensive primary health care (Public Health Association Australia (2011). I also support the overall aim that health care expenditures must be properly managed, to ensure an accessible, equitable, safe, effective and efficient health service provision (Public Health Association Australia, 2011). However, introducing co-payments for GP visits is just one of many solutions available to reduce Health expenditures. Is it a good solution for the reasons provided by ACHR? In my opinion, I do not think it is a good solution. The co-payment would disadvantage the poor, ill and families with children greatly. It is an inefficient method not only to increase health care funding, but ineffective mechanism for reducing demand. The introduction of a co-payment for GP visits is a regressive move toward s a privatised system. Given that a privatised system has been shown to be inefficient, â€Å"means testing and privatisation would only spell the end of Medicare and it’s not how the government should manage health expenditure† (C King, 2014). It is my belief that this proposal has been inadequately investigated and more research would reveal better options to constrain health expenditure while encouraging individual responsibility for health. If further investigation are to be carried out, I would strongly recommend the government look into the management of successful countries with universal health care system such as Canada; or they could make slight adjustments to the Medicare levy, which would help increase health funding as well. References: Jonathan Swan (2013, December 31). â€Å"John Glover voices fears GP fee will make poor suffer†. Retrieved 13 March 2014, from http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/john-glover-voices-fears-gp-fee-will-make-poor-suffer-20131231-304go.html#ixzz2p8w8aZ3vAs Australian Centre for Health Research (2013, October 18). â€Å"A PROPOSAL FOR AFFORDABLE COST SHARING FOR GP SERVICES FUNDED BY MEDICARE† Retrieved March 18, 2014, from http://www.cormorant.net.au/images/18%20oct%202013%20achr%20gp%20copayment%20paper%20final.pdf Sue Dunlevy (2013, December 29). â€Å"Health groups fear $5 GP will hit hospital emergency departments†. News Corp Australia Network. Retrieved 18 March 2014, from http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-groups-fear-5-gp-fee-will-hit-hospital-emergency-departments/story-fneuz9ev-1226791543887 John L. Marshall (2011, February 3). â€Å"Is Healthcare a Right or a Privilege?†. Retrieved 20 March 2014, from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/736705 Public Health Association Australia (2011, September). â€Å"Policy-at-a-glance – Primary Health Care Policy†. Retrieved 20 March 2014, from http://www.phaa.net.au/policyStatementsInterim.php#p Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW, 2013). â€Å"Health expenditure Australia 2011–12†. Health and welfare expenditure series no. 50. Cat. no. HWE 59. Canberra: AIHW. Australian Government – Department of Human Resources (2011, July 8). â€Å"Medicare Australia Annual Report 2010-11†. Retrieved 25 March 2014, from http://www.humanservices.gov.au/spw/corporate/publications-and-resources/annual-report/resources/1011/medicare-australia-annual-report-2010-11-full-report.pdf OECD (2013). â€Å"Health at a Glance 2013: OECD Indicators†. OECD Publishing. Retrieved 5 April 2014, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/health_glance-2013-en Catherine King (2014, February 24). â€Å"GP co-payment would man the end of Medicare†. Retrieved 7 April 2014, from http://www.alp.org.au/gp_co_payment_would_mean_the_end_of_medicare What are the equity arguments against the proposal? Unfair to poor and frequently ill people What are the literatures from overseas on this topic? Supporting evidence: University of Adelaide expert on health inequality Professor John Glover Report: The cost of care One in seven Australians has delayed seeking medical help because of cost, with Queenslanders more than twice as likely to find cost a barrier than people in NSW. Increased Ambulatory Care Copayments and Hospitalizations among the Elderly Amal N. Trivedi (M.D., M.P.H) increasing the patients share of the cost for ambulatory care may not reduce (or may even increase) total health care spending and may result in worse health outcomes. Elderly patients may be particularly sensitive to cost sharing because they have lower incomes, are more likely to be in poor health, and have greater out-of-pocket spending on health care than nonelderly populations In conclusion, increasing copayments for ambulatory care reduced the use of outpatient care among elderly enrollees in managed-care plans, but this decline was offset by an increase in hospitalizations, particularly among enrollees with low socioeconomic status and those with chronic disease. Increasing copayments for ambulatory care among elderly patients may have adverse health consequences and may increase spending for health care. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmsa0904533#t=articleTop accessed date 13/3/2014 intro (250) para 1 (650) para 2 (650) para 3 (650) conclu (350) (2550)

Physics of the Heart

Physics of the Heart Electrocardiography Electrocardiography is the recording of the electrical of the heart by a non-invasive procedure. This is possible because the body is an electrical conductor, the ECG machine acts as a voltmeter and voltage time characteristics are measured by attaching electrodes to the patient`s skin. Electrical impulses created by the conducting tissue of the heart are picked up. The Sino Atrial Node (a small area of heart that triggers muscle contraction, acting as a pacemaker) is located at the top of the right atrium and sends a wave of electrical activity down the right atrium. Another wave of electrical activity is sent by the Atrioventricular node down the Bundle of His once the electrical activity by the SAN is received. There is a small delay before the AVN sends a wave of electrical activity, this is to allow the atria to empty fully before the ventricles contract. The ECG machine detects and amplifies electrical impulses (waves of depolarisation) initiated by the SAN. Each of the heart muscle cells in the body have a negative charge (at rest); this is called the membrane potential. The muscle cells have a negative charge because an active transport mechanism in the cell membrane maintains an excess of cations on the outside, and an excess of anions inside. This means there is a potential difference across the membrane. In the heart it is typically about 70 mV for atrial cells and 90 mV for ventricular cells. Decreasing the negative charge towards zero, via the flooding of cations (Na+ and Ca2+) into the cell, is called ‘depolarisation’ which ultimately causes the cell to contract. A healthy heart will have a distinctive wave of depolarisation that is: initiated by the SAN, spreads out through the atria, reaches the atrioventricular node and spreads all over the ventricles. The potential difference due to the heart`s electrical activity is measured by two electrodes (one positive and one negative). If the electrical impulse travels towards the positive electrode the result is a positive deflection. If the impulse travels way from the positive electrode the result is a negative deflection. Electrodes are typically placed on the arms, left leg and one or more over the heart. This helps to minimise signals from other muscle cells in the body. This can help a cardiologist to understand what is happening in different parts of the heart. The electrical impulses are translated into a waveform. The resulting ECG trace has a distinctive shape with sections that are labelled P, Q, R, S and T. Abnormalities in the shape of the wave are used to identify heart problems such as irregular contractions of the heart. The heart has a zero potential difference across it, the contraction of the atria produces a P wave (The PQ interval represents the delay to allow the ventricles to fill). The contraction of the ventricles then produces the QRS complex. Finally the T wave shows the relaxation of the ventricles. The period (R-R interval) is the time between adjacent peaks in the ECG trace. In a healthy person this varies by up to 10% between each heart beat. Heart rate is determined by averaging over multiple heart beats (Heart rate = 1/average period). The heart rate in beats per minute is equal to the frequency in hertz (Hz) x 60. The Physics of the Artificial Heart In artificial hearts (such as the one made by AbioCor), the electronic kit is implanted in the abdomen of the person receiving the transplant to monitor and regulate the pumping of the artificial electronic heart. Power is supplied from an external battery pack to components inside the patient, without penetrating the skin, using inductive electromagnetic coupling. A principal similar to this is used by transformers in the national grid. The internal battery can provide up to 40 minutes of power when disconnected from the external battery pack, for when the patient may want to have a shower for example. In transformers, an electrical current passes through a wire wound around a core, called the primary coil. Another wire is wound around the same core, this is called the secondary coil. If the two coils have the same number of turns around the core, it allows the primary coil to pass an exact copy of its electrical current to the secondary coil. These types of transformers are normally called ‘isolation transformers’. This allow two circuits to be electrically coupled, without the two circuits actually coming into direct physical contact. The image on the left shows a typical isolation transformer but the one used in this case is considerably smaller in size. The patient is constantly moving so it is quite difficult to keep the two coils aligned. This is important because the correct level of energy needs to be transferred via the wireless energy transfer system so that there is no excess transferred as heat to the surrounding tissue of the patient`s body; this could cause serious damage. Also the components need to be small enough to be carried around without too much discomfort. Furthermore, the artificial heart needs to be able to monitor the flow of blood to maintain its pumping action and make sure the correct amount of blood is being pumped. The rate of the pumping of the blood needs to be altered when the patient requires more or less oxygen, for example more oxygen is required during higher rates of respiration. Blood-flow monitors make use of ultrasound; ultrasound is used because the flow of blood can be monitored without having to be in contact with it. High-frequency sound waves are reflected off red blood cells coming out of the heart. The volume and speed of the blood can be measured using similar principles to those behind radar. The movement of these red blood cells, either towards or away from the transmitted waves, results in a frequency shift (due to the Doppler Effect) that can be measured. This data can help the system to determine the speed and direction of blood flow in the heart. Bibliography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrocardiography http://www.iop.org/education/teacher/resources/teaching-medical-physics/electrocardiograms/page_56316.html http://www.thh.nhs.uk/documents/_departments/undergraduates/year3/ecg.pdf http://faraday.physics.utoronto.ca/IYearLab/EKG.pdf https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090924041312AAJIBOM http://www.iop.org/resources/topic/archive/heart/ http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-inductive-coupling.htm http://www.iop.org/resources/topic/archive/no-fly/index.html http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/everyday-innovations/artificial-heart1.htm http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/doppler-effect3.htm Steve Parker (2009).The Concise Human Body Book. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited. p154-155. Adam Hart-Davis (Editor-in-Chief) (2009).Science, The Definitive Visual Guide. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited. p406-407, p448. Word Count (excluding Bibliography and Headings): 991

Acupuncture: Chinese Medicine Essay -- essays research papers

Acupuncture: Chinese Medicine As with all things we know little about there is quite a bit of mystery surrounding acupuncture. The part people see the most is a person with needles sticking out of their flesh. Understandably being wary of sharp pointed objects being wielded by a complete stranger, this is often an obstacle that needs to be over come. The best way to do this is by becoming educated about how acupuncture is performed, where it came from, what it does, some of the benefits vs. the problems, and the different views about it. Though out the many different texts on acupuncture you find there is room for interpretation on how to perform it, what to use, and even where the pressure is placed. One thing you will find in common among these texts is this, acupuncture works to varying degrees.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The earliest recordings of the use of acupuncture go back 2,000 years. In China it is widely expressed that it has been in use for 4,000 years. The origins go back as early as the Stone Age where abscesses were punctured by sharp stones or bone fragments. ( History ) When you experience pain it is an instinctive reaction to apply pressure to that location. Such as when you get a toothache. Also the body may experience pain where the infection is not localized. Your body naturally sends you warning signals that something is wrong. The Ancient Chinese utilized these warnings, and developed an intricate system of these points over time through observation. It is easy to infer that applying pressure to relive pain with your hands evolved into the use of needles instead.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tortoise shells have been found and dated back to 1500 B.C. – during the Shang Dynasty - recording the use of acupuncture. The first actual written text acclaiming acupuncture is called Nei Ching Su Wen. It is written into two basic sections. The Su Wen, or easy questions and the Lung Shu, or hard questions. This book basically lays out all the different points, but it is mostly a book on concept and theory. The Nei Ching Su Wen lays the basic rules of philosophy and treaties on health. These philosophies branched form two mainstream religions that abounded during the Warring States period in Chinese history. The first is Confucianism. The teachings of this â€Å" religion â€Å" stress that the body is scared and are against dissection or surgery. T... ... You have no nasty side effect of drowsiness, or being groggy. The vomiting and stomach irritation are a thing of the past. This technique is especially being used and experimented with in China.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is also another branch of acupuncture being explored. It involves pressure points specifically I the ear. These points are being found to be connected to all other organs of the body. Although there are arguments that acupuncture is purely suggestion, they can be proven wrong. Suggestion cannot allow for a human being to under surgery with pain. The discovery of endorphins shows that a chemical process is instigated through pressure points. There is a chemical increase of endorphins when acupuncture is performed. Research being funded in China by the United States, and other Western countries, are going to lead us to a great break through some day. The future looks bright, and everyday we learn more and more. Some day we may learn the secret of why acupuncture works for now we will have to accept that it does work and try to combine old and new philosophies to reach a greater understanding.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Ongoing Injustice: The American Indians Essay examples -- essays resea

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the modern world we are bombarded by others’ teachings. Being constantly surrounded by the ideas of computers, televisions and books we are influenced, we are shaped. We accept what we’ve been told and avoid discovering the truth because we know no better, and it’s safer. Too often â€Å"We fail to step outside of that safe sanctuary defined by what other’s wish us to know.†1 If the general population of the United States of America were asked what they knew of the Indians, common replies would be of romantic visions of the once free roaming, free spirited peoples of the nine-teenth century, the melodrama of the conflicts between the pioneers and the Indians, the scalpings, painted bodies decorated with feathers, reservations, and other familiarities of their past. Many would speak of the Indians as if their legacy was simply a chapter in the history books. Therefore when â€Å"...they occasionally hear a word or two about the descendants of Sitting Bull and Pocahontas protesting for casino or against Chief Wahoo, in the name of those same arcane treaties, then it is a little saddening to them to see the final deterioration of the memory of the once glorious and romantic and tragic old Chiefs, who were the last real Indians.†2 Many think along the lines of their past being simply an old and unpleasant chapter in the history book that is over and done. They feel it is time to move on. The problem is that they cannot, for the very simple reason being that what is considered to be the past and history, is not really over--it continues. Like salt on an open wound, the revealed horrors replace the horror stories of the past. The injustices that continue throughout this hemisphere, and in the remaining places in the world where indigenous peoples survive are for the most part, unknown. Over and over again the Indians have been forced to struggle with the evil to preserve their rights, culture, environment and people. One question arises-why are there still conflicts concerning the indigenous people still a threat in today’s’ highly â€Å"advanced† society? Unfortunately, the scars of these injustices are ever present and are reopened again and again through more betrayal by the government(s). The memories of the wrong done builds onto one another, and every new injustice creates more distrust and aversion. It’s an ongoing picture of cause and e... ...the immense problems aboriginals confront in trying to assert their rights, particularly when those rights clash with the development objectives of industry.†29   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, the governments’ hand in the massacres of the Indians, the many broken treaties, a disregard for the land and people, the effects of wage labor, education, the effects of Christianity, and the crooked politics that took place are all injustices done to the Indigenous Peoples. Their effects are everlasting and the continuation of injustices builds more and more distrust and aversion. The Indians are simply trying to survive but are overshadowed with the remembrance of their heritage, the atrocities of long past, recently past and today. Chief Abel Bosum of the Ouje-Bougoumou Cree Nation states:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"...Today many indigenous peoples are endangered...Respect for   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  our rights does not threaten existing states, but failure to protect   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  our rights will have disastrous consequences for many indigenous   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  people.†30   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Guide Dogs :: essays research papers

My report is going to be on guide dogs. In this I will show how the guide dogs are used in everyday life. I will show how they are trained to help the blind. I will show you about guide dogs and service dogs. I will also show you the dog breeds used for guide and service dogs. In this I will show you the importance of guide dogs to the disabled.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Guide dogs begin training at just a puppy. The dogs are taught basic things like to sit, stay, wait, down, off, etc. and of course they are taught to be house broken. The social training for the dog is one of the most important of all they will learn. During this training dogs are introduced to sights, smells, sounds, and unusual surfaces. The trainers also keep close attention to their socializing toward dogs, people, and traffic. And this is a basic training for a guide dog.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people refer to these dogs as guide dogs, but there is another way to call a dog that leads, a service dog. They are very alike in ways that they both have to watch out closely to everything that’s going on around them. A service dog are hearing dogs, they are used for the deaf. Another type of service dog is a seizure alert dog, but these dogs are very uncommon to see. And these are the types of service dogs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many breeds of dogs to choose from some of the most common are golden retriever, German shepherd, and Labrador retriever. Many people can pick almost any breed they are looking for though. The common breeds I pointed out are used because of their intelligence, willingness to work, and their mobility. The dogs that help are really filling a hole that these people have.

Roderick Mullen

Chapter 15 The West and the Changing Balance of Power Multiple-Choice Questions 1) Which of the following was NOT a symptom of decline in the Arabic caliphate by 1400? A) The narrowing of intellectual life symbolized by the triumph of religion over literature, philosophy, and science B) Landlords seized power over peasants C) The decline of the Sufis D) Decline of tax revenues for the state E) Landlords ceased to experiment with new agricultural techniques. 2) By what date had the Arabs been virtually excluded from European trade? A) 900 B) 1000 C) 1100 D) 1350 E) 1453 ) Which of the following statements concerning Arabic trade after 1100 is most accurate? A) Arabic control of the seas was strengthened following 1100. B) Although Arabic trade was reduced, Muslims remained active in world markets. C) The total collapse of the Islamic world in the 12th century can best be compared to the fall of the Roman Empire. D) The Arab trading complex was reduced after 1100 to the Middle East. E) Their economic decline could be compared to that of Rome. 4) Which of the following statements concerning the political fragmentation of the Arabic world in the 1400s is most accurate?A) After the fall of the Abbasid caliphate, the emerging Ottoman Empire soon mastered most of the lands of the old caliphate plus the Byzantine corner. B) The political fragmentation caused by the fall of Baghdad lasted for several centuries under the decentralized administration of the Seljuk Turks. C) The Mongol conquests eliminated any form of centralized government in the Middle East until the 17th century. D) Following the fall of the Abbasid caliphate, the Middle East became part of the colonial empire of the emerging feudal states of western Europe.E) The political system was chaotic for 300 years until the rise of a new political order under the Ottoman Turks. 5) Which of the following statements concerning the Ottoman Empire is most accurate? A) The rise of the Ottoman Empire restored the ful l international vigor that the Islamic caliphate had possessed. B) Turkish rulers promoted trade more actively than did their Arab predecessors. C) The expansionist power of the Ottoman Empire was very real, but the focus on conquest and administration overshadowed wider commercial ambitions. D) The Ottoman Empire had no expansionist interests or capabilities.E) The Ottomans competed with western Europe for Atlantic trade. 6) What area represented a new conquest for the Ottoman Empire in the late 1400s? A) Asia Minor B) North Africa C) Southeastern Europe D) Mesopotamia E) Russia 7) Which of the following statements concerning the Ottoman Empire is most accurate? A) Turkish rulers did not promote maritime trade as vigorously as had the Arabs. B) Scientific and philosophical investigations reached the level of innovation that they had enjoyed under the Abbasids. C) The Turks refused to patronize the traditional Persian artists and craftsmen who had dominated the later Abbasid court.D ) The Ottomans were more interested in cultural patronage than in military organization. E) The Ottomans never mastered the full territorial extent of the old caliphate. 8) Which of the following civilizations first attempted to fill the commercial vacuum created by the decline in Arabic trade? A) Russia B) Japan C) China D) India E) Sub-Saharan Africa 9) What Chinese dynasty succeeded the Mongol Yuan dynasty in China? A) Chou B) Ming C) Han D) Tang E) Qing 10) What was the innovation launched by the Ming dynasty? A) Receiving tribute payments from Korea and Japan B) Extending their political control over Vietnam and KoreaC) Use of a centralized bureaucracy but under the direct control of the emperor D) Mounting huge, state-sponsored trading expeditions throughout Asia and beyond E) The use of gunpowder weapons on both land and naval vessels 11) In what year did the Ming dynasty halt state-sponsored commercial voyages? A) 1358 B) 1405 C) 1433 D) 1487 E) 1453 12) What admiral command ed China? s great overseas expeditions between 1405 and 1433? A) Zhenghe B) Jung Tzi Lung C) Xun Xi D) Yan Xuanshang E) Chenla Khmer 13) Which of the following was NOTa reason used by the Ming dynasty to halt the trading expeditions?A) The opposition of the scholar-gentry and bureaucracy B) The technological inferiority of Chinese ships and navigation C) The growing military expenses of the campaigns against the Mongols D) The traditional preference of the Chinese for Asian products E) The expense of building the new capital in Beijing 14) Which of the following statements concerning the cessation of state-sponsored trade by the Ming dynasty is most accurate? A) The cessation of trade severely damaged the internal economy of China and produced the inevitable peasant revolutions that overthrew the Ming dynasty.B) The end of international trade signaled a general decentralization of government in Ming China. C) Because of the Chinese dependence on imports from abroad, the decision to end the state-sponsored expeditions was particularly critical in initiating cultural decline. D) In Chinese terms, it was the brief emphasis on trading and commerce that was unusual, not its cessation. E) China had long emphasized internal development at the expense of trade. 15) Which of the following was NOT a drawback to the West? s emergence as a global power? A) Western nations lacked the political coherence and organizing ability of imperial China.B) The West did not begin to establish key maritime and commercial links until after 1600. C) The Catholic church, long one of the organizing institutions of Western civilization, was under attack. D) The lives and economic activities of ordinary Europeans, the artisans and peasants, were in serious disarray. E) Population loss caused further economic disarray and lack of strong leadership. 16) Which of the following was NOT a contributing factor to the economic crises of the 14th century? A) Withdrawal from the global trading networ k B) Bubonic plague C) Lack of technological advance in agriculture D) Recurrent famineE) Labor shortages 17) What proportion of the European population died as a result of the 14th century plague? A) One tenth B) One fourth C) One third D) One half E) One eighth 18) Which of the following was NOT a source of Western dynamism in the 14th and 15th centuries? A) The strengthening of feudal monarchy B) The growth of cities and urban economies C) Advances in metallurgy D) Two centuries of peace among the major European nations E) A cultural reawakening 19) Strong regional monarchies took hold in the decades around 1400 in A) Russia and Poland. B) the Ottoman Empire. C) Spain and Portugal.D) Germany and Austria. E) Italy and Greece. 20) In what region of Europe did the Renaissance begin? A) Germany B) Italy C) France D) England E) Spain 21) In comparison to medieval culture, Renaissance culture was A) more concerned with Aristotelian philosophy. B) more concerned with things of the earth ly world. C) disinterested in classical models. D) based less on urban vitality and expanding commerce. E) more other-worldly and religious. 22) Which of the following was NOT one of the reasons that Italy emerged as the center of the early Renaissance? A) Italy was spared the Black Plague due to its geographic location.B) Italy retained more contact with Roman traditions than did the rest of Europe. C) Italy led the West by the 14th century in banking and trade. D) Italy had closer contacts with foreign scholars, particularly those in late Byzantium. E) Italy was more urbanized than most of Europe. 23) What Florentine painter led the way in the movement toward nature and people as the primary subject matter of Renaissance art? A) Giotto B) Petrarch C) Masaccio D) Fra Angelico E) Boccaccio 24) What Italian city-state was best placed to engage in the new, Western-oriented commercial ventures of the 15th century? A) Rome B) Florence C) GenoaD) Pisa E) Padua 25) Along with Italy, a key center for change in the 14th and 15th centuries was A) France. B) Germany. C) England. D) the Iberian peninsula. E) Austria. 26) What was unique about the development of states in the Iberian peninsula? A) These governments were based on city-states rather than nation-states. B) Based on Castile and Aragon, the Iberian states were unique in their adoption of Islam. C) Spain and Portugal developed effective new governments with a special sense of religious mission and religious support. D) The states of Spain and Portugal were able to develop without emphasis on the military.E) They had never participated in the feudal practices of the Middle Ages which made them more open to change. 27) What was the Western response to the problems of international trade that they experienced in 1400? A) Western nations halted trade with Asia and the East and became more dependent on European-produced commodities. B) Many nations sought to establish alliances with the Ottoman Empire in order to re store the trade routes. C) Overland trade routes through northern Russia were established to the East. D) Western nations began explorations of alternative routes to Asia that would bypass the Middle East and Muslim realms.E) They began to pull back from all but regional trade networks found in the eastern Mediterranean. 28) The key theme of Polynesian culture from the 7th century to 1400 was A) the adoption of Japanese civilization in the island societies. B) the development of a uniform written script. C) contraction as a result of the world-wide epidemic of the 14th century. D) spurts of migration and conquest that spread beyond the initial base in the Society Islands. E) large-scale expeditions of discovery which were aimed at establishing colonies in South America. 29) Which of the following was NOT characteristic of Hawaiian culture? A) UrbanizationB) Animal husbandry featuring swine C) Warlike regional kingdoms D) Highly stratified social structure E) Use of imported animals such as pigs 30) Which of the following represents a significant difference between New Zealand and Hawaii? A) Art based on carved wood B) A cold and harsh climate C) A highly stratified society D) A society based on warfare E) Tribal military leaders 31) The practice of judging other peoples by the standards and practices of one? s own culture of ethnic group is A) ethnocentrism. B) genocide. C) anthropomorphism. D) aversionism. E) localism. 32) Which of the following statements is most accurate?A) Without European intervention, there is no reason to believe that the Inca and Aztec empires could not have survived for several more centuries. B) Without European interference, the likelihood is that the Inca Empire would have overwhelmed the Aztecs and established a unified government in the Americas. C) Because of internal weaknesses, both the Inca and the Aztec empires were receding and might not have survived, even if the Europeans had not arrived. D) Prior to the arrival of the Eu ropeans, both the Inca and the Aztec empires had been replaced by other, indigenous governments.E) Both the Inca and the Aztecs stopped exploiting subject peoples after 1500 due to the intervention of the Black Plague. 33) Which of the following was NOT a result of the European contact with sub-Saharan Africa after 1500? A) Trade patterns in west Africa shifted from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic B) Trade shifted in west Africa from Muslim to European hands C) Seizure of slaves for European use affected many regions deeply D) Regional kingdoms lost all influence in west Africa and were replaced by European governments E) European weapons played an increasing role in the tribal conflicts between north and south.

Head Girl Speech

Today I’ll speak about Some of the reasons for which I believe are the reasons for me to be the head girl. Now, will you want a Head girl who is not enthusiastic or dull not taking an interest in making our school reach it’s best. No, none of them will like. I believe our school is like a tree; we are all different parts of this tree, for example – The teachers are like the roots, which supplement us with knowledge and help us to grow. If I was Head Girl, I would be like the manure which the gardener spreads to enrich the ground, just that little added extra can make a big difference. I realise that, being Head Girl isn’t about being better than anyone else. It’s about having the trust of the student body to organise and represent them with honesty and enthusiasm, whenever called upon. If I was chosen as Head Girl, I would want to represent you, as well as inspire you. I’m friendly and approachable, so if anything is troubling you about school life, or if you have a really good idea, you won’t need to keep it to yourself. I want the student’s voice, that’s your voice, heard at IHS. I know being Head girl is a big responsibility. If given the opportunity, I would take that responsibility seriously, and be a respectable role model for all specially the younger ones of our school. As a team leader, I would want to encourage all of them to e at their best. A challenge and team work both these I do enjoy and I see this as essential to be Head Girl. To pay back something to school is another reason. Over my time at IHS I have taken part in many School activities and events,etc. . Now is my chance to give something back. To serve both pupils and staff is a thing I’d like to do. And yes if am choosen as one I assure you that I’ll put in my best efforts for my school.

Black House Chapter Twenty-three

23 â€Å"ONE MORE !† says the guy from ESPN. It sounds more like an order than a request, and although Henry can't see the fellow, he knows this particular homeboy never played a sport in his life, pro or otherwise. He has the lardy, slightly oily aroma of someone who has been overweight almost from the jump. Sports is perhaps his compensation, with the power to still memories of clothes bought in the Husky section at Sears and all those childhood rhymes like â€Å"Fatty-fatty, two-by-four, had to do it on the floor, couldn't get through the bathroom door.† His name is Penniman. â€Å"Just like Little Richard!† he told Henry when they shook hands at the radio station. â€Å"Famous rock ‘n' roller from back in the fifties? Maybe you remember him.† â€Å"Vaguely,† Henry said, as if he hadn't at one time owned every single Little Richard had ever put out. â€Å"I believe he was one of the Founding Fathers.† Penniman laughed uproariously, and in that laugh Henry glimpsed a possible future for himself. But was it a future he wanted? People laughed at Howard Stern, too, and Howard Stern was a dork. â€Å"One more drink!† Penniman repeats now. They are in the bar of the Oak Tree Inn, where Penniman has tipped the bartender five bucks to switch the TV from bowling on ABC to ESPN, even though there's nothing on at this hour of the day except golf tips and bass fishing. â€Å"One more drink, just to seal the deal!† But they don't have a deal, and Henry isn't sure he wants to make one. Going national with George Rathbun as part of the ESPN radio package should be attractive, and he doesn't have any serious problem with changing the name of the show from Badger Barrage to ESPN Sports Barrage it would still focus primarily on the central and northern areas of the country but . . . But what? Before he can even get to work on the question, he smells it again: My Sin, the perfume his wife used to wear on certain evenings, when she wanted to send a certain signal. Lark was what he used to call her on those certain evenings, when the room was dark and they were both blind to everything but scents and textures and each other. Lark. â€Å"You know, I think I'm going to pass on that drink,† Henry says. â€Å"Got some work to do at home. But I'm going to think over your offer. And I mean seriously.† â€Å"Ah-ah-ah,† Penniman says, and Henry can tell from certain minute disturbances in the air that the man is shaking a finger beneath his nose. Henry wonders how Penniman would react if Henry suddenly darted his head forward and bit off the offending digit at the second knuckle. If Henry showed him a little Coulee Country hospitality Fisherman-style. How loud would Penniman yell? As loud as Little Richard before the instrumental break of â€Å"Tutti Frutti,† perhaps? Or not quite as loud as that? â€Å"Can't go till I'm ready to take you,† Mr. I'm Fat But It No Longer Matters tells him. â€Å"I'm your ride, y'know.† He's on his fourth gimlet, and his words are slightly slurred. My friend, Henry thinks, I'd poke a ferret up my ass before I'd get into a car with you at the wheel. â€Å"Actually, I can,† Henry says pleasantly. Nick Avery, the bartender, is having a kick-ass afternoon: the fat guy slipped him five to change the TV channel, and the blind guy slipped him five to call Skeeter's Taxi while the fat guy was in the bathroom, making a little room. â€Å"Huh?† â€Å"I said, ? ®Actually, I can.' Bartender?† â€Å"He's outside, sir,† Avery tells him. â€Å"Pulled up two minutes ago.† There is a hefty creak as Penniman turns on his bar stool. Henry can't see the man's frown as he takes in the taxi now idling in the hotel turnaround, but he can sense it. â€Å"Listen, Henry,† Penniman says. â€Å"I think you may lack a certain understanding of your current situation. There are stars in the firmament of sports radio, damned right there are people like the Fabulous Sports Babe and Tony Kornheiser make six figures a year just in speaking fees, six figures easy but you ain't there yet. That door is currently closed to you. But I, my friend, am one helluva doorman. The upshot is that if I say we ought to have one more drink, then â€Å" â€Å"Bartender,† Henry says quietly, then shakes his head. â€Å"I can't just call you bartender; it might work for Humphrey Bogart but it doesn't work for me. What's your name?† â€Å"Nick Avery, sir.† The last word comes out automatically, but Avery never would have used it when speaking to the other one, never in a million years. Both guys tipped him five, but the one in the dark glasses is the gent. It's got nothing to do with him being blind, it's just something he is. â€Å"Nick, who else is at the bar?† Avery looks around. In one of the back booths, two men are drinking beer. In the hall, a bellman is on the phone. At the bar itself, no one at all except for these two guys one slim, cool, and blind, the other fat, sweaty, and starting to be pissed off. â€Å"No one, sir.† â€Å"There's not a . . . lady?† Lark, he's almost said. There's not a lark? â€Å"No.† â€Å"Listen here,† Penniman says, and Henry thinks he's never heard anyone so unlike â€Å"Little Richard† Penniman in his entire life. This guy is whiter than Moby Dick . . . and probably about the same size. â€Å"We've got a lot more to discuss here.† Loh more t'dishcush is how it comes out. â€Å"Unless, that is† Unlesh â€Å"you're trying to let me know you're not interested.† Never in a million years, Penniman's voice says to Henry Leyden's educated ears. We're talking about putting a money machine in your living room, sweetheart, your very own private ATM, and there ain't no way in hell you're going to turn that down. â€Å"Nick, you don't smell perfume? Something very light and old-fashioned? My Sin, perhaps?† A flabby hand falls on Henry's shoulder like a hot-water bottle. â€Å"The sin, old buddy, would be for you to refuse to have another drink with me. Even a blindman could see th â€Å" â€Å"Suggest you get your hand off him,† Avery says, and perhaps Penniman's ears aren't entirely deaf to nuance, because the hand leaves Henry's shoulder at once. Then another hand comes in its place, higher up. It touches the back of Henry's neck in a cold caress that's there and then gone. Henry draws in breath. The smell of perfume comes with it. Usually scents fade after a period of exposure, as the receptors that caught them temporarily deaden. Not this time, though. Not this smell. â€Å"No perfume?† Henry almost pleads. The touch of her hand on his neck he can dismiss as a tactile hallucination. But his nose never betrays him. Never until now, anyway. â€Å"I'm sorry,† Avery says. â€Å"I can smell beer . . . peanuts . . . this man's gin and his aftershave . . .† Henry nods. The lights above the backbar slide across the dark lenses of his shades as he slips gracefully off his stool. â€Å"I think you want another drink, my friend,† Penniman says in what he no doubt believes to be a tone of polite menace. â€Å"One more drink, just to celebrate, and then I'll take you home in my Lexus.† Henry smells his wife's perfume. He's sure of it. And he seemed to feel the touch of his wife's hand on the back of his neck. Yet suddenly it's skinny little Morris Rosen he finds himself thinking about Morris, who wanted him to listen to â€Å"Where Did Our Love Go† as done by Dirtysperm. And of course for Henry to play it in his Wisconsin Rat persona. Morris Rosen, who has more integrity in one of his nail-chewed little fingers than this bozo has got in his entire body. He puts a hand on Penniman's forearm. He smiles into Penniman's unseen face, and feels the muscles beneath his palm relax. Penniman has decided he's going to get his way. Again. â€Å"You take my drink,† Henry says pleasantly, â€Å"add it to your drink, and then stick them both up your fat and bepimpled ass. If you need something to hold them in place, why, you can stick your job up there right after them.† Henry turns and walks briskly toward the door, orienting himself with his usual neat precision and holding one hand out in front of him as an insurance policy. Nick Avery has broken into spontaneous applause, but Henry barely hears this and Penniman he has already dismissed from his mind. What occupies him is the smell of My Sin perfume. It fades a little as he steps out into the afternoon heat . . . but is that not an amorous sigh he hears beside his left ear? The sort of sigh his wife sometimes made just before falling asleep after love? His Rhoda? His Lark? â€Å"Hello, the taxi!† he calls from the curb beneath the awning. â€Å"Right here, buddy what're you, blind?† â€Å"As a bat,† Henry agrees, and walks toward the sound of the voice. He'll go home, he'll put his feet up, he'll have a glass of tea, and then he'll listen to the damned 911 tape. That as yet unperformed chore may be what's causing his current case of the heebie-jeebies and shaky-shivers, knowing that he must sit in darkness and listen to the voice of a child-killing cannibal. Surely that must be it, because there's no reason to be afraid of his Lark, is there? If she were to return to return and haunt him she would surely haunt with love. Wouldn't she? Yes, he thinks, and lowers himself into the taxi's stifling back seat. â€Å"Where to, buddy?† â€Å"Norway Valley Road,† Henry says. â€Å"It's a white house with blue trim, standing back from the road. You'll see it not long after you cross the creek.† Henry settles back in the seat and turns his troubled face toward the open window. French Landing feels strange to him today . . . fraught. Like something that has slipped and slipped until it is now on the verge of simply falling off the table and smashing to pieces on the floor. Say that she has come back. Say that she has. If it's love she's come with, why does the smell of her perfume make me so uneasy? So almost revolted? And why was her touch (her imagined touch, he assures himself) so unpleasant? Why was her touch so cold? After the dazzle of the day, the living room of Beezer's crib is so dark that at first Jack can't make out anything. Then, when his eyes adjust a little, he sees why: blankets a double thickness, from the look have been hung over both of the living-room windows, and the door to the other downstairs room, almost certainly the kitchen, has been closed. â€Å"He can't stand the light,† Beezer says. He keeps his voice low so it won't carry across to the far side of the room, where the shape of a man lies on a couch. Another man is kneeling beside him. â€Å"Maybe the dog that bit him was rabid,† Jack says. He doesn't believe it. Beezer shakes his head decisively. â€Å"It isn't a phobic reaction. Doc says it's physiological. Where light falls on him, his skin starts to melt. You ever hear of anything like that?† â€Å"No.† And Jack has never smelled anything like the stench in this room, either. There's the buzz of not one but two table fans, and he can feel the cross-draft, but that stink is too gluey to move. There's the reek of spoiled meat of gangrene in torn flesh but Jack has smelled that before. It's the other smell that's getting to him, something like blood and funeral flowers and feces all mixed up together. He makes a gagging noise, can't help it, and Beezer looks at him with a certain impatient sympathy. â€Å"Bad, yeah, I know. But it's like the monkey house at the zoo, man you get used to it after a while.† The swing door to the other room opens, and a trim little woman with shoulder-length blond hair comes through. She's carrying a bowl. When the light strikes the figure lying on the couch, Mouse screams. It's a horribly thick sound, as if the man's lungs have begun to liquefy. Something maybe smoke, maybe steam starts to rise up from the skin of his forehead. â€Å"Hold on, Mouse,† the kneeling man says. It's Doc. Before the kitchen door swings all the way shut again, Jack is able to read what's pasted to his battered black bag. Somewhere in America there may be another medical man sporting a STEPPENWOLF RULES bumper sticker on the side of his physician's bag, but probably not in Wisconsin. The woman kneels beside Doc, who takes a cloth from the basin, wrings it out, and places it on Mouse's forehead. Mouse gives a shaky groan and begins to shiver all over. Water runs down his cheeks and into his beard. The beard seems to be coming out in mangy patches. Jack steps forward, telling himself he will get used to the smell, sure he will. Maybe it's even true. In the meantime he wishes for a little of the Vicks VapoRub most LAPD homicide detectives carry in their glove compartments as a matter of course. A dab under each nostril would be very welcome right now. There's a sound system (scruffy) and a pair of speakers in the corners of the room (huge), but no television. Stacked wooden crates filled with books line every wall without a door or a window in it, making the space seem even smaller than it is, almost cryptlike. Jack has a touch of claustrophobia in his makeup, and now this circuit warms up, increasing his discomfort. Most of the books seem to deal with religion and philosophy he sees Descartes, C. S. Lewis, the Bhagavad-Gita, Steven Avery's Tenets of Existence but there's also a lot of fiction, books on beer making, and (on top of one giant speaker) Albert Goldman's trash tome about Elvis Presley. On the other speaker is a photograph of a young girl with a splendid smile, freckles, and oceans of reddish-blond hair. Seeing the child who drew the hopscotch grid out front makes Jack Sawyer feel sick with anger and sorrow. Otherworldly beings and causes there may be, but there's also a sick old fuck prowling around who needs to be s topped. He'd do well to remember that. Bear Girl makes a space for Jack in front of the couch, moving gracefully even though she's on her knees and still holding the bowl. Jack sees that in it are two more wet cloths and a heap of melting ice cubes. The sight of them makes him thirstier than ever. He takes one and pops it into his mouth. Then he turns his attention to Mouse. A plaid blanket has been pulled up to his neck. His forehead and upper cheeks the places not covered by his decaying beard are pasty. His eyes are closed. His lips are drawn back to show teeth of startling whiteness. â€Å"Is he † Jack begins, and then Mouse's eyes open. Whatever Jack meant to ask leaves his head entirely. Around the hazel irises, Mouse's eyes have gone an uneasy, shifting scarlet. It's as if the man is looking into a terrible radioactive sunset. From the inner corners of his eyes, some sort of black scum is oozing. â€Å"The Book of Philosophical Transformation addresses most current dialectics,† Mouse says, speaking mellowly and lucidly, â€Å"and Machiavelli also speaks to these questions.† Jack can almost picture him in a lecture hall. Until his teeth begin to chatter, that is. â€Å"Mouse, it's Jack Sawyer.† No recognition in those weird red-and-hazel eyes. The black gunk at the corners of them seems to twitch, however, as if it is somehow sentient. Listening to him. â€Å"It's Hollywood,† Beezer murmurs. â€Å"The cop. Remember?† One of Mouse's hands lies on the plaid blanket. Jack takes it, and stifles a cry of surprise when it closes over his with amazing strength. It's hot, too. As hot as a biscuit just out of the oven. Mouse lets out a long, gasping sigh, and the stench is fetid bad meat, decayed flowers. He's rotting, Jack thinks. Rotting from the inside out. Oh Christ, help me through this. Christ may not, but the memory of Sophie might. Jack tries to fix her eyes in his memory, that lovely, level, clear blue gaze. â€Å"Listen,† Mouse says. â€Å"I'm listening.† Mouse seems to gather himself. Beneath the blanket, his body shivers in a loose, uncoordinated way that Jack guesses is next door to a seizure. Somewhere a clock is ticking. Somewhere a dog is barking. A boat hoots on the Mississippi. Other than these sounds, all is silence. Jack can remember only one other such suspension of the world's business in his entire life, and that was when he was in a Beverly Hills hospital, waiting for his mother to finish the long business of dying. Somewhere Ty Marshall is waiting to be rescued. Hoping to be rescued, at least. Somewhere there are Breakers hard at work, trying to destroy the axle upon which all existence spins. Here is only this eternal room with its feeble fans and noxious vapors. Mouse's eyes close, then open again. They fix upon the newcomer, and Jack is suddenly sure some great truth is going to be confided. The ice cube is gone from his mouth; Jack supposes he crunched it up and swallowed it without even realizing, but he doesn't dare take another. â€Å"Go on, buddy,† Doc says. â€Å"You get it out and then I'll load you up with another hypo of dope. The good stuff. Maybe you'll sleep.† Mouse pays no heed. His mutating eyes hold Jack's. His hand holds Jack's, tightening still more. Jack can almost feel the bones of his fingers grinding together. â€Å"Don't . . . go out and buy top-of-the-line equipment,† Mouse says, and sighs out another excruciatingly foul breath from his rotting lungs. â€Å"Don't . . . ?† â€Å"Most people give up brewing after . . . a year or two. Even dedicated . . . dedicated hobbyists. Making beer is not . . . is not for pussies.† Jack looks around at Beezer, who looks back impassively. â€Å"He's in and out. Be patient. Wait on him.† Mouse's grip tightens yet more, then loosens just as Jack is deciding he can take it no longer. â€Å"Get a big pot,† Mouse advises him. His eyes bulge. The reddish shadows come and go, come and go, fleeting across the curved landscape of his corneas, and Jack thinks, That's its shadow. The shadow of the Crimson King. Mouse has already got one foot in its court. â€Å"Five gallons . . . at least. You find the best ones are in . . . seafood supply stores. And for a fermentation vessel . . . plastic water-cooler jugs are good . . . they're lighter than glass, and . . . I'm burning up. Christ, Beez, I'm burning up!† â€Å"Fuck this, I'm going to shoot it to him,† Doc says, and snaps open his bag. Beezer grabs his arm. â€Å"Not yet.† Bloody tears begin to slip out of Mouse's eyes. The black goo seems to be forming into tiny tendrils. These reach greedily downward, as if trying to catch the moisture and drink it. â€Å"Fermentation lock and stopper,† Mouse whispers. â€Å"Thomas Merton is shit, never let anyone tell you different. No real thought there. You have to let the gases escape while keeping dust out. Jerry Garcia wasn't God. Kurt Cobain wasn't God. The perfume he smells is not that of his dead wife. He's caught the eye of the King. Gorg-ten-abbalah, ee-lee-lee. The opopanax is dead, long live the opopanax.† Jack leans more deeply into Mouse's smell. â€Å"Who's smelling perfume? Who's caught the eye of the King?† â€Å"The mad King, the bad King, the sad King. Ring-a-ding-ding, all hail the King.† â€Å"Mouse, who's caught the eye of the King?† Doc says, â€Å"I thought you wanted to know about â€Å" â€Å"Who?† Jack has no idea why this seems important to him, but it does. Is it something someone has said to him recently? Was it Dale? Tansy? Was it, God save us, Wendell Green? â€Å"Racking cane and hose,† Mouse says confidentially. â€Å"That's what you need when the fermentation's done! And you can't put beer in screw-top bottles! You â€Å" Mouse turns his head away from Jack, nestles it cozily in the hollow of his shoulder, opens his mouth, and vomits. Bear Girl screams. The vomit is pus-yellow and speckled with moving black bits like the crud in the corners of Mouse's eyes. It is alive. Beezer leaves the room in a hurry, not quite running, and Jack shades Mouse from the brief glare of kitchen sunlight as best he can. The hand clamped on Jack's loosens a little more. Jack turns to Doc. â€Å"Do you think he's going?† Doc shakes his head. â€Å"Passed out again. Poor old Mousie ain't getting off that easy.† He gives Jack a grim, haunted look. â€Å"This better be worth it, Mr. Policeman. ‘Cause if it ain't, I'm gonna replumb your sink.† Beezer comes back with a huge bundle of rags, and he's put on a pair of green kitchen gloves. Not speaking, he mops up the pool of vomit between Mouse's shoulder and the backrest of the couch. The black specks have ceased moving, and that's good. To have not seen them moving in the first place would have been even better. The vomit, Jack notices with dismay, has eaten into the couch's worn fabric like acid. â€Å"I'm going to pull the blanket down for a second or two,† Doc says, and Bear Girl gets up at once, still holding the bowl with the melting ice. She goes to one of the bookshelves and stands there with her back turned, trembling. â€Å"Doc, is this something I really need to see?† I think maybe it is. I don't think you know what you're dealing with, even now.† Doc takes hold of the blanket and eases it out from beneath Mouse's limp hand. Jack sees that more of the black stuff has begun to ooze from beneath the dying man's fingernails. â€Å"Remember that this happened only a couple of hours ago, Mr. Policeman.† He pulls the blanket down. Standing with her back to them, Susan â€Å"Bear Girl† Osgood faces the great works of Western philosophy and begins to cry silently. Jack tries to hold back his scream and cannot. Henry pays off the taxi, goes into his house, takes a deep and soothing breath of the air-conditioned cool. There is a faint aroma sweet and he tells himself it's just fresh-cut flowers, one of Mrs. Morton's specialties. He knows better, but wants no more to do with ghosts just now. He is actually feeling better, and he supposes he knows why: it was telling the ESPN guy to take his job and shove it. Nothing more apt to make a fellow's day, especially when the fellow in question is gainfully employed, possessed of two credit cards that are nowhere near the max-out point, and has a pitcher of cold iced tea in the fridge. Henry heads kitchenward now, making his way down the hall with one hand held out before him, testing the air for obstacles and displacements. There's no sound but the whisper of the air conditioner, the hum of the fridge, the clack of his heels on the hardwood . . . . . . and a sigh. An amorous sigh. Henry stands where he is for a moment, then turns cautiously. Is the sweet aroma a little stronger now, especially facing back in this direction, toward the living room and the front door? He thinks yes. And it's not flowers; no sense fooling himself about that. As always, the nose knows. That's the aroma of My Sin. â€Å"Rhoda?† he says, and then, lower: â€Å"Lark?† No answer. Of course not. He's just having the heebie-jeebies, that's all; those world-famous shaky-shivers, and why not? â€Å"Because I'm the sheik, baby,† Henry says. â€Å"The Sheik, the Shake, the Shook.† No smells. No sexy sighs. And yet he's haunted by the idea of his wife back in the living room, standing there in perfumed cerements of the grave, watching him silently as he came in and passed blindly before her. His Lark, come back from Noggin Mound Cemetery for a little visit. Maybe to listen to the latest Slobberbone CD. â€Å"Quit it,† he says softly. â€Å"Quit it, you dope.† He goes into his big, well-organized kitchen. On his way through the door he slaps a button on the panel there without even thinking about it. Mrs. Morton's voice comes from the overhead speaker, which is so high-tech she might almost be in the room. â€Å"Jack Sawyer was by, and he dropped off another tape he wants you to listen to. He said it was . . . you know, that man. That bad man.† â€Å"Bad man, right,† Henry murmurs, opening the refrigerator and enjoying the blast of cold air. His hand goes unerringly to one of three cans of Kingsland Lager stored inside the door. Never mind the iced tea. â€Å"Both of the tapes are in your studio, by the soundboard. Also, Jack wanted you to call him on his cell phone.† Mrs. Morton's voice takes on a faintly lecturing tone. â€Å"If you do speak to him, I hope you tell him to be careful. And be careful yourself.† A pause. â€Å"Also, don't forget to eat supper. It's all ready to go. Second shelf of the fridge, on your left.† â€Å"Nag, nag, nag,† Henry says, but he's smiling as he opens his beer. He goes to the telephone and dials Jack's number. On the seat of the Dodge Ram parked in front of 1 Nailhouse Row, Jack's cell phone comes to life. This time there's no one in the cab to be annoyed by its tiny but penetrating tweet. â€Å"The cellular customer you are trying to reach is currently not answering. Please try your call again later.† Henry hangs up, goes back to the doorway, and pushes another button on the panel there. The voices that deliver the time and temperature are all versions of his own, but he's programmed a random shuffle pattern into the gadget, so he never knows which one he's going to get. This time it's the Wisconsin Rat, screaming crazily into the sunny air-conditioned silence of his house, which has never felt so far from town as it does today: â€Å"Time's four twenty-two P.M.! Outside temperature's eighty-two! Inside temperature's seventy! What the hell do you care? What the hell does anyone care? Chew it up, eat it up, wash it down, it aaall â€Å" comes out the same place. Right. Henry thumbs the button again, silencing the Rat's trademark cry. How did it get late so fast? God, wasn't it just noon? For that matter, wasn't he just young, twenty years old and so full of spunk it was practically coming out of his ears? What That sigh comes again, derailing his mostly self-mocking train of thought. A sigh? Really? More likely just the air conditioner's compressor, cutting off. He can tell himself that, anyway. He can tell himself that if he wants to. â€Å"Is anyone here?† Henry asks. There is a tremble in his voice that he hates, an old man's palsied quaver. â€Å"Is anyone in the house with me?† For a terrible second he is almost afraid something will answer. Nothing does of course nothing does and he swallows half the can of beer in three long gulps. He decides he'll go back into the living room and read for a little while. Maybe Jack will call. Maybe he'll get himself a little more under control once he has a little fresh alcohol in his system. And maybe the world will end in the next five minutes, he thinks. That way you'll never have to deal with the voice on those damned tapes waiting in the studio. Those damned tapes lying there on the soundboard like unexploded bombs. Henry walks slowly back down the hall to the living room with one hand held out before him, telling himself he's not afraid, not a bit afraid of touching his wife's dead face. Jack Sawyer has seen a lot, he's traveled to places where you can't rent from Avis and the water tastes like wine, but he's never encountered anything like Mouse Baumann's leg. Or, rather, the pestilential, apocalyptic horror show that was Mouse Baumann's leg. Jack's first impulse once he's got himself back under something like control is to upbraid Doc for taking off Mouse's pants. Jack keeps thinking of sausages, and how the casing forces them to keep their shape even after the fry pan's sizzling on a red-hot burner. This is an undoubtedly stupid comparison, primo stupido, but the human mind under pressure puts on some pretty odd jinks and jumps. There's still the shape of a leg there sort of but the flesh has spread away from the bone. The skin is almost completely gone, melted to a runny substance that looks like a mixture of milk and bacon fat. The interwoven mat of muscle beneath what remains of the skin is sagging and undergoing the same cataclysmic metamorphosis. The infected leg is in a kind of undisciplined motion as the solid becomes liquid and the liquid sizzles relentlessly into the couch upon which Mouse is lying. Along with the almost insupportable stench of decay, Jack can smell scorching cloth and melting fabric. Poking out of this spreading, vaguely leglike mess is a foot that looks remarkably undamaged. If I wanted to, I could pull it right off . . . just like a squash off a vine. The thought gets to him in a way the sight of the grievously wounded leg hasn't quite been able to, and for a moment Jack can only bow his head, gagging and trying not to vomit down the front of his shirt. What perhaps saves him is a hand on his back. It's Beezer, offering what comfort he can. The rowdy color has completely left the Beez's face. He looks like a motorcyclist come back from the grave in an urban myth. â€Å"You see?† Doc is asking, and his voice seems to come from a great distance. â€Å"This ain't the chicken pox, my friend, although it looked a little like that while it was still getting cranked up. He's already exhibiting red spots on his left leg . . . his belly . . . his balls. That's pretty much what the skin around the bite looked like when we first got him back here, just some redness and swelling. I thought, ? ®Shit, ain't nothin' to this, I got enough Zithromax to put this on the run before sundown.' Well, you see what good the Zithro did. You see what good anything did. It's eating through the couch, and I'm guessing that when it finishes with the couch, it'll go right to work on the floor. This shit is hungry. So was it worth it, Hollywood? I guess only you and Mouse know the answer to that.† â€Å"He still knows where the house is,† Beezer says. â€Å"Me, I don't have a clue, even though we just came from there. You, either. Do you?† Doc shakes his head. â€Å"But Mouse, he knows.† â€Å"Susie, honey,† Doc says to Bear Girl. â€Å"Bring another blanket, would you? This one's damn near et through.† Bear Girl goes willingly enough. Jack gets to his feet. His legs are rubbery, but they hold him. â€Å"Shield him,† he tells Doc. â€Å"I'm going out to the kitchen. If I don't get a drink, I'm going to die.† Jack takes on water directly from the sink, swallowing until a spike plants itself in the center of his forehead and he belches like a horse. Then he just stands there, looking out into Beezer and Bear Girl's backyard. A neat little swing set has been planted there in the weedy desolation. It hurts Jack to look at it, but he looks anyway. After the lunacy of Mouse's leg, it seems important to remind himself that he's here for a reason. If the reminder hurts, so much the better. The sun, now turning gold as it eases itself down toward the Missis-sippi, glares in his eyes. Time hasn't been standing still after all, it seems. Not outside this little house, anyway. Outside 1 Nailhouse Row, time actually seems to have sped up. He's haunted by the idea that coming here was as pointless as detouring to Henry's house; tormented by the thought that Mr. Munshun and his boss, the abbalah, are running him around like a windup toy with a key in its back while they do their work. He can follow that buzz in his head to Black House, so why the hell doesn't he just get back in his truck and do it? The perfume he smells is not that of his dead wife. What does that mean? Why does the idea of someone smelling perfume make him so crazy and afraid? Beezer knocks on the kitchen door, making him jump. Jack's eye fixes on a sampler hung over the kitchen table. Instead of GOD BLESS OUR HOME, it reads HEAVY METAL THUNDER. With a carefully stitched HARLEY-DAVIDSON beneath. â€Å"Get back in here, man,† the Beez says. â€Å"He's awake again.† Henry's on a path in the woods or maybe it's a lane and something is behind him. Each time he turns to see in this dream he can see, but seeing is no blessing there's a little more of that something back there. It appears to be a man in evening dress, but the man is frightfully elongated, with spike teeth that jut over a smiling red lower lip. And he seems is it possible? to have only one eye. The first time Henry looks back, the shape is only a milky blur amid the trees. The next time he can make out the uneasy dark swim of its coat and a floating red blotch that might be a tie or an ascot. Up ahead of him is this thing's den, a stinking hole that only coincidentally looks like a house. Its presence buzzes in Henry's head. Instead of pine, the woods pressing in on either side smell of heavy, cloying perfume: My Sin. It's driving me, he thinks with dismay. Whatever that thing back there is, it's driving me like a steer toward the slaughterhouse. He thinks of cutting off the lane to his left or right, of using the miracle of his new sight to escape through the woods. Only there are things there, too. Dark, floating shapes like sooty scarves. He can almost see the closest. It's some sort of gigantic dog with a long tongue as red as the apparition's tie and bulging eyes. Can't let it drive me to the house, he thinks. I have to get out of this before it can get me there . . . but how? How? It comes to him with startling simplicity. All he has to do is wake up. Because this is a dream. This is just a â€Å"It's a dream!† Henry cries out, and jerks forward. He's not walking, he's sitting, sitting in his very own easy chair, and pretty soon he's going to have a very wet crotch because he fell asleep with a can of Kingsland Lager balanced there, and But there's no spill, because there's no can of beer. He feels cautiously to his right and yep, there it is, on the table with his book, a braille edition of Reflections in a Golden Eye. He must have put it there before first falling asleep and then falling into that horrible nightmare. Except Henry's pretty sure he didn't do any such thing. He was holding the book and the beer was between his legs, freeing his hands to touch the little upraised dots that tell the story. Something very considerately took both the book and the can after he dropped off, and put them on the table. Something that smells of My Sin perfume. The air reeks of it. Henry takes a long, slow breath with his nostrils flared and mouth tightly sealed shut. â€Å"No,† he says, speaking very clearly. â€Å"I can smell flowers . . . and rug shampoo . . . and fried onions from last night. Very faint but still there. The nose knows.† All true enough. But the smell had been there. It's gone now because she's gone, but she will be back. And suddenly he wants her to come. If he's frightened, surely it's the unknown he's frightened of, right? Only that and nothing more. He doesn't want to be alone here, with nothing for company but the memory of that rancid dream. And the tapes. He has to listen to the tapes. He promised Jack. Henry gets shakily to his feet and makes his way to the living-room control panel. This time he's greeted by the voice of Henry Shake, a mellow fellow if ever there was one. â€Å"Hey there, all you hoppin' cats and boppin' kitties, at the tone it's seven-fourteen P.M., Bulova Watch Time. Outside the temp is a very cool seventy-five degrees, and here in the Make-Believe Ballroom it's a very nifty seventy degrees. So why not get off your money, grab your honey, and make a little magic?† Seven-fourteen! When was the last time he fell asleep for almost three hours in the daytime? For that matter, when was the last time he had a dream in which he could see? The answer to that second question, so far as he can remember, is never. Where was that lane? What was the thing behind him? What was the place ahead of him, for that matter? â€Å"Doesn't matter,† Henry tells the empty room if it is empty. â€Å"It was a dream, that's all. The tapes, on the other hand . . .† He doesn't want to listen to them, has never wanted to listen to anything any less in his life (with the possible exception of Chicago singing â€Å"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?†), but he has to. If it might save Ty Marshall's life, or the life of even one other child, he must. Slowly, dreading every step, Henry Leyden makes his blind way to his studio, where two cassettes wait for him on the soundboard. â€Å"In heaven there is no beer,† Mouse sings in a toneless, droning voice. His cheeks are now covered with ugly red patches, and his nose seems to be sinking sideways into his face, like an atoll after an undersea earthquake. â€Å"That's why we drink it here. And when . . . we're gone . . . from here . . . our friends will be drinking all the beer.† It's been like this for hours now: philosophical nuggets, instructions for the beginning beer-making enthusiast, snatches of song. The light coming through the blankets over the windows has dimmed appreciably. Mouse pauses, his eyes closed. Then he starts another ditty. â€Å"Hundred bottles of beer on the wall, one hundred bottles of beer . . . if one of those bottles should happen to fall . . .† â€Å"I have to go,† Jack says. He's hung in there as well as he can, convinced that Mouse is going to give him something, but he can wait no longer. Somewhere, Ty Marshall is waiting for him. â€Å"Hold on,† Doc says. He rummages in his bag and comes out with a hypodermic needle. He raises it in the dimness and taps the glass barrel with a fingernail. â€Å"What's that?† Doc gives Jack and Beezer a brief, grim smile. â€Å"Speed,† he says, and injects it into Mouse's arm. For a moment there's nothing. Then, as Jack is opening his mouth again to tell them he has to go, Mouse's eyes snap wide. They are now entirely red a bright and bleeding red. Yet when they turn in his direction, Jack knows that Mouse is seeing him. Maybe really seeing him for the first time since he got here. Bear Girl flees the room, trailing a single diminishing phrase behind her: â€Å"No more no more no more no more â€Å" â€Å"Fuck,† Mouse says in a rusty voice. â€Å"Fuck, I'm fucked. Ain't I?† Beezer touches the top of his friend's head briefly but tenderly. â€Å"Yeah, man. I think you are. Can you help us out?† â€Å"Bit me once. Just once, and now . . . now . . .† His hideous red gaze turns to Doc. â€Å"Can barely see you. Fuckin' eyes are all weird.† â€Å"You're going down,† Doc says. â€Å"Ain't gonna lie to you, man.† â€Å"Not yet I ain't,† Mouse says. â€Å"Gimme something to write on. To draw a map on. Quick. Dunno what you shot me with, Doc, but the stuff from the dog's stronger. I ain't gonna be compos long. Quick!† Beezer feels around at the foot of the couch and comes up with a trade-sized paperback. Given the heavy shit on the bookcases, Jack could almost laugh the book is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Beezer tears off the back cover and hands it to Mouse with the blank side up. â€Å"Pencil,† Mouse croaks. â€Å"Hurry up. I got it all, man. I got it . . . up here.† He touches his forehead. A patch of skin the size of a quarter sloughs off at his touch. Mouse wipes it on the blanket as if it were a booger. Beezer pulls a gnawed stub of pencil from an inside pocket of his vest. Mouse takes it and makes a pathetic effort to smile. The black stuff oozing from the corners of his eyes has continued to build up, and now it lies on his cheeks like smears of decayed jelly. More of it is springing out of the pores on his forehead in minute black dots that remind Jack of Henry's braille books. When Mouse bites his lower lip in concentration, the tender flesh splits open at once. Blood begins dribbling into his beard. Jack supposes the rotted-meat smell is still there, but Beezer had been right: he's gotten used to it. Mouse turns the book cover sideways, then draws a series of quick squiggles. â€Å"Lookit,† he says to Jack. â€Å"This the Mississippi, right?† â€Å"Right,† Jack says. When he leans in, he starts getting the smell again. Up close it's not even a stench; it's a miasma trying to crawl down his throat. But Jack doesn't move away. He knows what an effort Mouse is making. The least he can do is play his part. â€Å"Here's downtown the Nelson, Lucky's, the Agincourt Theater, the Taproom . . . here's where Chase Street turns into Lyall Road, then Route 35 . . . here's Libertyville . . . the VFW . . . Goltz's . . . ah, Christ â€Å" Mouse begins to thrash on the couch. Sores on his face and upper body burst open and begin leaking. He screams with pain. The hand not holding the pencil goes to his face and paws at it ineffectually. Something inside Jack speaks up, then speaks in a shining, imperative voice he remembers from his time on the road all those years ago. He supposes it's the voice of the Talisman, or whatever remains of it in his mind and soul. It doesn't want him to talk, it's trying to kill him before he can talk, it's in the black stuff, maybe it is the black stuff, you've got to get rid of it Some things can only be done without the mind's prudish interference; when the work is nasty, instinct is often best. So it is without thinking that Jack reaches out, grasps the black slime oozing from Mouse's eyes between his fingers, and pulls. At first the stuff only stretches, as if made of rubber. At the same time Jack can feel it squirming and writhing in his grip, perhaps trying to pinch or bite him. Then it lets go with a twang sound. Jack throws the convulsing black tissue onto the floor with a cry. The stuff tries to slither beneath the couch Jack sees this even as he wipes his hands on his shirt, frantic with revulsion. Doc slams his bag down on one piece. Beezer squashes the other with the heel of a motorcycle boot. It makes a squittering sound. â€Å"What the fuck is that shit?† Doc asks. His voice, ordinarily husky, has gone up into a near-falsetto range. â€Å"What the fuck â€Å" â€Å"Nothing from here,† Jack says, â€Å"and never mind. Look at him! Look at Mouse!† The red glare in Mouse's eyes has retreated; for the moment he looks almost normal. Certainly he's seeing them, and the pain seems gone. â€Å"Thanks,† he breathes. â€Å"I only wish you could get it all that way, but man, it's already coming back. Pay attention.† â€Å"I'm listening,† Jack says. â€Å"You better,† Mouse replies. â€Å"You think you know. You think you can find the place again even if these two can't, and maybe you can, but maybe you don't know quite so much as you . . . ah, fuck.† From somewhere beneath the blanket there is a ghastly bursting sound as something gives way. Sweat runs down Mouse's face, mixing with the black poison venting from his pores and turning his beard a damp and dirty gray. His eyes roll up to Jack's, and Jack can see that red glare starting to haze over them again. â€Å"This sucks,† Mouse pants. â€Å"Never thought I'd go out this way. Lookit, Hollywood . . .† The dying man draws a small rectangle on his makeshift scribble of map. â€Å"This â€Å" â€Å"Ed's Eats, where we found Irma,† Jack says. â€Å"I know.† â€Å"All right,† Mouse whispers. â€Å"Good. Now look . . . over on the other side . . . the Schubert and Gale side . . . and to the west . . .† Mouse draws a line going north from Highway 35. He puts little circles on either side of it. Jack takes these to be representations of trees. And, across the front of the line like a gate: NO TRESPASSING. â€Å"Yeah,† Doc breathes. â€Å"That's where it was, all right. Black House.† Mouse takes no notice. His dimming gaze is fixed solely on Jack. â€Å"Listen to me, cop. Are you listening?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Christ, you better be,† Mouse tells him. As it always has, the work captures Henry, absorbs him, takes him away. Boredom and sorrow have never been able to stand against this old captivation with sound from the sighted world. Apparently fear can't stand against it, either. The hardest moment isn't listening to the tapes but mustering the courage to stick the first one in the big TEAC audio deck. In that moment of hesitation he's sure he can smell his wife's perfume even in the soundproofed and air-filtered environment of the studio. In that moment of hesitation he is positive he isn't alone, that someone (or something) is standing just outside the studio door, looking in at him through the glass upper half. And that is, in fact, the absolute truth. Blessed with sight as we are, we can see what Henry cannot. We want to tell him what's out there, to lock the studio door, for the love of God lock it now, but we can only watch. Henry reaches for the PLAY button on the tape deck. Then his finger changes course and hits the intercom toggle instead. â€Å"Hello? Is anyone out there?† The figure standing in Henry's living room, looking in at him the way someone might look into an aquarium at a single exotic fish, makes no sound. The last of the sun's on the other side of the house and the living room is becoming quite dark, Henry being understandably forgetful when it comes to turning on the lights. Elmer Jesperson's amusing bee slippers (not that they amuse us much under these circumstances) are just about the brightest things out there. â€Å"Hello? Anyone?† The figure looking in through the glass half of the studio door is grinning. In one hand it is holding the hedge clippers from Henry's garage. â€Å"Last chance,† Henry says, and when there's still no response, he becomes the Wisconsin Rat, shrieking into the intercom, trying to startle whatever's out there into revealing itself: â€Å"Come on now, honey, come on now, you muthafukkah, talk to Ratty!† The figure peering in at Henry recoils as a snake might recoil when its prey makes a feint but it utters no sound. From between the grinning teeth comes a leathery old tongue, wagging and poking in derision. This creature has been into the perfume that Mrs. Morton has never had the heart to remove from the vanity in the little powder room adjacent to the master bedroom, and now Henry's visitor reeks of My Sin. Henry decides it's all just his imagination playing him up again oy, such a mistake, Morris Rosen would have told him, had Morris been there and hits PLAY with the tip of his finger. He hears a throat-clearing sound, and then Arnold Hrabowski identifies himself. The Fisherman interrupts him before he can even finish: Hello, asswipe. Henry rewinds, listens again: Hello, asswipe. Rewinds and listens yet again: Hello, asswipe. Yes, he has heard this voice before. He's sure of it. But where? The answer will come, answers of this sort always do eventually and getting there is half the fun. Henry listens, enrapt. His fingers dance back and forth over the tape deck's buttons like the fingers of a concert pianist over the keys of a Steinway. The feeling of being watched slips from him, although the figure outside the studio door the thing wearing the bee slippers and holding the hedge clippers never moves. Its smile has faded somewhat. A sulky expression is growing on its aged face. There is confusion in that look, and perhaps the first faint trace of fear. The old monster doesn't like it that the blind fish in the aquarium should have captured its voice. Of course it doesn't matter; maybe it's even part of the fun, but if it is, it's Mr. Munshun's fun, not its fun. And their fun should be the same . . . shouldn't i t? You have an emergency. Not me. You. â€Å"Not me, you,† Henry says. The mimicry is so good it's weird. â€Å"A little bit of sauerkraut in your salad, mein friend, ja?† Your worst nightmare . . . worst nightmare. Abbalah. I'm the Fisherman. Henry listening, intent. He lets the tape run awhile, then listens to the same phrase four times over: Kiss my scrote, you monkey . . . kiss my scrote, you monkey . . . you monkey . . . monkey . . . No, not monkey. The voice is actually saying munggey. MUNG-ghee. â€Å"I don't know where you are now, but you grew up in Chicago,† Henry murmurs. â€Å"South Side. And . . .† Warmth on his face. Suddenly he remembers warmth on his face. Why is that, friends and neighbors? Why is that, O great wise ones? You're no better'n a monkey on a stick. Monkey on a stick. Monkey â€Å"Monkey,† Henry says. He's rubbing his temples with the tips of his fingers now. â€Å"Monkey on a stick. MUNG-ghee on a stigg. Who said that?† He plays the 911: Kiss my scrote, you monkey. He plays his memory: You're no better'n a monkey on a stick. Warmth on his face. Heat? Light? Both? Henry pops out the 911 tape and sticks in the one Jack brought today. Hello, Judy. Are you Judy today, or are you Sophie? The abbalah sends his best, and Gorg says â€Å"Caw-caw-caw!† [Husky, phlegmy laughter.] Ty says hello, too. Your little boy is very lonely . . . When Tyler Marshall's weeping, terrified voice booms through the speakers, Henry winces and fast-forwards. Derr vill be morrr mur-derts. The accent much thicker now, a burlesque, a joke, Katzenjammer Kids Meet the Wolfman, but somehow even more revealing because of that. Der liddul chull-drun . . . havv-uz-ted like wheed. Like wheed. Havv-uz-ted like . . . â€Å"Harvested like a monkey on a stick,† Henry says. â€Å"MUNG-ghee. HAVV-us-ted. Who are you, you son of a bitch?† Back to the 911 tape. There are whips in hell and chains in Sheol. But it's almost vips in hell, almost chenz in Shayol. Vips. Chenz. MUNG-ghee on a stick. A stigg. â€Å"You're no better'n † Henry begins, and then, all at once, another line comes to him. â€Å"Lady Magowan's Nightmare.† That one's good. A bad nightmare of what? Vips in hell? Chenz in Shayol? Mung-ghees on sticks? â€Å"My God,† Henry says softly. â€Å"Oh . . . my . . . God. The dance. He was at the dance.† Now it all begins to fall into place. How stupid they have been! How criminally stupid! The boy's bike . . . it had been right there. Right there, for Christ's sake! They were all blind men, make them all umps. â€Å"But he was so old,† Henry whispers. â€Å"And senile! How were we supposed to guess such a man could be the Fisherman?† Other questions follow this one. If the Fisherman is a resident at Maxton Elder Care, for instance, where in God's name could he have stashed Ty Marshall? And how is the bastard getting around French Landing? Does he have a car somewhere? â€Å"Doesn't matter,† Henry murmurs. â€Å"Not now, anyway. Who is he and where is he? Those are the things that matter.† The warmth on his face his mind's first effort to locate the Fisherman's voice in time and place had been the spotlight, of course, Symphonic Stan's spotlight, the pink of ripening berries. And some woman, some nice old woman Mr. Stan, yoo-hoo, Mr. Stan? had asked him if he took requests. Only, before Stan could reply, a voice as flat and hard as two stones grinding together I was here first, old woman. had interrupted. Flat . . . and hard . . . and with that faint Germanic harshness that said South Side Chicago, probably second or even third generation. Not vass here first, not old vumman, but those telltale v's had been lurking, hadn't they? Ah yes. â€Å"Mung-ghee,† Henry says, looking straight ahead. Looking straight at Charles Burnside, had he only known it. â€Å"Stigg. Havv-us-ted. Hasta la vista . . . baby.† Was that what it came down to, in the end? A dotty old maniac who sounded a bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger? Who was the woman? If he can remember her name, he can call Jack . . . or Dale, if Jack's still not answering his phone . . . and put an end to French Landing's bad dream. Lady Magowan's Nightmare. That one's good. â€Å"Nightmare,† Henry says, then adjusting his voice: â€Å"Nahht-mare.† Once again the mimicry is good. Certainly too good for the old codger standing outside the studio door. He is now scowling bitterly and gnashing the hedge clippers in front of the glass. How can the blindman in there sound so much like him? It's not right; it's completely improper. The old monster longs to cut the vocal cords right out of Henry Leyden's throat. Soon, he promises himself, he will do that. And eat them. Sitting in the swivel chair, drumming his fingers nervously on the gleaming oak in front of him, Henry recalls the brief encounter at the bandstand. Not long into the Strawberry Fest dance, this had been. Tell me your name and what you'd like to hear. I am Alice Weathers, and . â€Å"Moonglow,† please. By Benny Goodman. â€Å"Alice Weathers,† Henry says. â€Å"That was her name, and if she doesn't know your name, my homicidal friend, then I'm a monkey on a stick.† He starts to get up, and that is when someone something begins to knock, very softly, on the glass upper half of the door. Bear Girl has drawn close, almost against her will, and now she, Jack, Doc, and the Beez are gathered around the sofa. Mouse has sunk halfway into it. He looks like a person dying badly in quicksand. Well, Jack thinks, there's no quicksand, but he's dying badly, all right. Guess there's no question about that. â€Å"Listen up,† Mouse tells them. The black goo is forming at the corners of his eyes again. Worse, it's trickling from the corners of his mouth. The stench of decay is stronger than ever as Mouse's inner workings give up the struggle. Jack is frankly amazed that they've lasted as long as they have. â€Å"You talk,† Beezer says. â€Å"We'll listen.† Mouse looks at Doc. â€Å"When I finish, give me the fireworks. The Cadillac dope. Understand?† â€Å"You want to get out ahead of whatever it is you've got.† Mouse nods. â€Å"I'm down with that,† Doc agrees. â€Å"You'll go out with a smile on your face.† â€Å"Doubt that, bro, but I'll give it a try.† Mouse shifts his reddening gaze to Beezer. â€Å"When it's done, wrap me up in one of the nylon tents that're in the garage. Stick me in the tub. I'm betting that by midnight, you'll be able to wash me down the drain like . . . like so much beer foam. I'd be careful, though. Don't . . . touch what's left.† Bear Girl bursts into tears. â€Å"Don't cry, darlin',† Mouse says. â€Å"I'm gonna get out ahead. Doc promised. Beez?† â€Å"Right here, buddy.† â€Å"You have a little service for me. Okay? Read a poem . . . the one by Auden . . . the one that always used to frost your balls . . .† † ? ®Thou shalt not read the Bible for its prose,' † Beezer says. He's crying. â€Å"You got it, Mousie.† â€Å"Play some Dead . . . ? ®Ripple,' maybe . . . and make sure you're full enough of Kingsland to christen me good and proper into the next life. Guess there won't . . . be any grave for you to piss on, but . . . do the best you can.† Jack laughs at that. He can't help it. And this time it's his turn to catch the full force of Mouse's crimson eyes. â€Å"Promise me you'll wait until tomorrow to go out there, cop.† â€Å"Mouse, I'm not sure I can do that.† â€Å"You gotta. Go out there tonight, you won't have to worry about the devil dog . . . the other things in the woods around that house . . . the other things . . .† The red eyes roll horribly. Black stuff trickles into Mouse's beard like tar. Then he somehow forces himself to go on. â€Å"The other things in those woods will eat you like candy.† â€Å"I think that's a chance I'll have to take,† Jack says, frowning. â€Å"There's a little boy somewhere â€Å" â€Å"Safe,† Mouse whispers. Jack raises his eyebrows, unsure if he's heard Mouse right. And even if he has, can he trust what he's heard? Mouse has some powerful, evil poison working in him. So far he's been able to withstand it, to communicate in spite of it, but â€Å"Safe for a little while,† Mouse says. â€Å"Not from everything . . . there's things that might still get him, I suppose . . . but for the time being he's safe from Mr. Munching. Is that his name? Munching?† â€Å"Munshun, I think. How do you know it?† Mouse favors Jack with a smile of surpassing eeriness. It is the smile of a dying sibyl. Once more he manages to touch his forehead, and Jack notes with horror that the man's fingers are now melting into one another and turning black from the nails down. â€Å"Got it up here, man. Got it alll up here. Told you that. And listen: it's better the kid should get eaten by some giant bug or rock crab over there . . . where he is . . . than that you should die trying to rescue him. If you do that, the abbalah will wind up with the kid for sure. That's what your . . . your friend says.† â€Å"What friend?† Doc asks suspiciously. â€Å"Never mind,† Mouse says. â€Å"Hollywood knows. Don'tcha, Holly-wood?† Jack nods reluctantly. It's Speedy, of course. Or Parkus, if you prefer. â€Å"Wait until tomorrow,† Mouse says. â€Å"High noon, when the sun's strongest in both worlds. Promise.† At first Jack can say nothing. He's torn, in something close to agony. â€Å"It'd be almost full dark before you could get back out Highway 35 anyway,† Bear Girl says quietly. â€Å"And there's bad shit in those woods, all right,† Doc says. â€Å"Makes the stuff in that Blair Witch Project look fuckin' tame. I don't think you want to try it in the dark. Not unless you got a death wish, that is.† â€Å"When you're done . . .† Mouse whispers. â€Å"When you're done . . . if any of you are left . . . burn the place to the ground. That hole. That tomb. Burn it to the ground, do you hear me? Close the door.† â€Å"Yeah,† Beezer says. â€Å"Heard and understood, buddy.† â€Å"Last thing,† Mouse says. He's speaking directly to Jack now. â€Å"You may be able to find it . . . but I think I got something else you need. It's a word. It's powerful to you because of something you . . . you touched. Once a long time ago. I don't understand that part, but . . .† â€Å"It's all right,† Jack tells him. â€Å"I do. What's the word, Mouse?† For a moment he doesn't think Mouse will, in the end, be able to tell him. Something is clearly struggling to keep him from saying the word, but in this struggle, Mouse comes out on top. It is, Jack thinks, very likely his life's last W. â€Å"D'yamba,† Mouse says. â€Å"Now you, Hollywood. You say it.† â€Å"D'yamba,† Jack says, and a row of weighty paperbacks slides from one of the makeshift shelves at the foot of the couch. They hang there in the dimming air . . . hang . . . hang . . . and then drop to the floor with a crash. Bear Girl voices a little scream. â€Å"Don't forget it,† Mouse says. â€Å"You're gonna need it.† â€Å"How? How am I going to need it?† Mouse shakes his head wearily. â€Å"Don't . . . know.† Beezer reaches over Jack's shoulder and takes the pitiful little scribble of map. â€Å"You're going to meet us tomorrow morning at the Sand Bar,† he tells Jack. â€Å"Get there by eleven-thirty, and we should be turning into that goddamned lane right around noon. In the meantime, maybe I'll just hold on to this. A little insurance policy to make sure you do things Mouse's way.† â€Å"Okay,† Jack says. He doesn't need the map to find Chummy Burn-side's Black House, but Mouse is almost certainly right: it's probably not the sort of place you want to tackle after dark. He hates to leave Ty Marshall in the furance-lands it feels wrong in a way that's almost sinful but he has to remember that there's more at stake here than one little boy lost. â€Å"Beezer, are you sure you want to go back there?† â€Å"Hell no, I don't want to go back,† Beezer says, almost indignantly. â€Å"But something killed my daughter my daughter! and it got here from there! You want to tell me you don't know that's true?† Jack makes no reply. Of course it's true. And of course he wants Doc and the Beez with him when he turns up the lane to Black House. If they can bear to come, that is. D'yamba, he thinks. D'yamba. Don't forget. He turns back to the couch. â€Å"Mouse, do you â€Å" â€Å"No,† Doc says. â€Å"Guess he won't need the Cadillac dope, after all.† â€Å"Huh?† Jack peers at the big brewer-biker stupidly. He feels stupid. Stupid and exhausted. â€Å"Nothin' tickin' but his watch,† Doc says, and then he begins to sing. After a moment Beezer joins in, then Bear Girl. Jack steps away from the couch with a thought queerly similar to Henry's: How did it get late so early? Just how in hell did that happen? â€Å"In heaven, there is no beer . . . that's why we drink it here . . . and when . . . we're gone . . . from here . . .† Jack tiptoes across the room. On the far side, there's a lighted Kingsland Premium Golden Pale Ale bar clock. Our old friend who is finally looking every year of his age and not quite so lucky peers at the time with disbelief, not accepting it until he has compared it to his own watch. Almost eight. He has been here for hours. Almost dark, and the Fisherman still out there someplace. Not to mention his otherworldly playmates. D'yamba, he thinks again as he opens the door. And, as he steps out onto the splintery porch and closes the door behind him, he speaks aloud with great sincerity into the darkening day: â€Å"Speedy, I'd like to wring your neck.†