The Twilight Saga 4: Breaking Dawn 33. Forever

â€Å"Charlie, we've still got that strictly need-to-know company situation going. I know it's been more than a week since you saw Renesmee, but a visit is just not a good idea right now. How about I bring Renesmee over to see you?† Charlie was quiet for so long that I wondered if he heard the strain beneath my fagade. But then he muttered, â€Å"Need to know, ugh† and I realized it was just his wariness of the supernatural that made him slow to respond. â€Å"Okay, kid,† Charlie said. â€Å"Can you bring her over this morning? Sue's bringing me lunch. She's just as horrified by my cooking as you were when you first showed up.† Charlie laughed and then sighed for the old days. â€Å"This morning will be perfect.† The sooner the better. I'd already put this off too long. â€Å"Is Jake coming with you guys?† Though Charlie didn't know anything about werewolf imprinting, no one could be oblivious to the attachment between Jacob and Renesmee. â€Å"Probably.† There was no way Jacob would voluntarily miss an afternoon with Renesmee sans bloodsuckers. â€Å"Maybe I should invite Billy, too,† Charlie mused. â€Å"But†¦ hmm. Maybe another time.† I was only half paying attention to Charlie – enough to notice the strange reluctance in his voice when he spoke of Billy, but not enough to worry what that was about. Charlie and Billy were grown-ups; if there was something going on between them, they could figure it out for themselves. I had too many more important things to obsess over. â€Å"See you in a few,† I told him, and hung up. This trip was about more than protecting my father from the twenty-seven oddly matched vampires – who all had sworn not to kill anyone in a three-hundred-mile radius, but still†¦ Obviously, no human being should get anywhere near this group. This was the excuse I'd given Edward: I was taking Renesmee to Charlie so that he wouldn't decide to come here. It was a good reason for leaving the house, but not my real reason at all. â€Å"Why can't we take your Ferrari?† Jacob complained when he met me in the garage. I was already in Edward's Volvo with Renesmee. Edward had gotten around to revealing my after car; as he'd suspected, I had not been capable of showing the appropriate enthusiasm. Sure, it was pretty and fast, but I liked to run. â€Å"Too conspicuous,† I answered. â€Å"We could go on foot, but that would freak Charlie out.† Jacob grumbled but got into the front seat. Renesmee climbed from my lap to his. â€Å"How are you?† I asked him as I pulled out of the garage. â€Å"How do you think?† Jacob asked bitingly. â€Å"I'm sick of all these reeking bloodsuckers.† He saw my expression and spoke before I could answer. â€Å"Yeah, I know, I know. They're the good guys, they're here to help, they're going to save us all. Etcetera, etcetera. Say what you want, I still think Dracula One and Dracula Two are creep-tacular.† I had to smile. The Romanians weren't my favorite guests, either. â€Å"I don't disagree with you there.† Renesmee shook her head but said nothing; unlike the rest of us, she found the Romanians strangely fascinating. She'd made the effort to speak to them aloud since they would not let her touch them. Her question was about their unusual skin and, though I was afraid they might be offended, I was kind of glad she'd asked. I was curious, too. They hadn't seemed upset by her interest. Maybe a little rueful. â€Å"We sat still for a very long time, child,† Vladimir had answered, with Stefan nodding along but not continuing Vladimir's sentences as he often did. â€Å"Contemplating our own divinity. It was a sign of our power that everything came to us. Prey, diplomats, those seeking our favor. We sat on our thrones and thought ourselves gods. We didn't notice for a long time that we were changing – almost petrifying. I suppose the Volturi did us one favor when they burned our castles. Stefan and I, at least, did not continue to petrify. Now the Volturi's eyes are filmed with dusty scum, but ours are bright. I imagine that will give us an advantage when we gouge theirs from their sockets.† I tried to keep Renesmee away from them after that. â€Å"How long do we get to hang out with Charlie?† Jacob asked, interrupting my thoughts. He was visibly relaxing as we pulled away from the house and all its new inmates. It made me happy that I didn't really count as a vampire to him. I was still just Bella. â€Å"For quite a while, actually.† The tone of my voice caught his attention. â€Å"Is something going on here besides visiting your dad?† â€Å"Jake, you know how you're pretty good at controlling your thoughts around Edward?† He raised one thick black brow. â€Å"Yeah?† I just nodded, cutting my eyes to Renesmee. She was looking out the window, and I couldn't tell how interested she was in our conversation, but I decided not to risk going any further. Jacob waited for me to add something else, and then his lower lip pushed out while he thought about what little I'd said. As we drove in silence, I squinted through the annoying contacts into the cold rain; it wasn't quite cold enough for snow. My eyes were not as ghoulish as they had been in the beginning – definitely closer to a dull reddish orange than to bright crimson. Soon they'd be amber enough for me to quit the contacts, i hoped the change wouldn't upset Charlie too much. Jacob was still chewing over our truncated conversation when we got to Charlie's. We didn't talk as we walked at a quick human pace through the falling rain. My dad was waiting for us; he had the door open before I could knock. â€Å"Hey, guys! It seems like it's been years! Look at you, Nessie! Come to Grampa! I swear you've grown half a foot. And you look skinny, Ness.† He glared at me. â€Å"Aren't they feeding you up there?† â€Å"It's just the growth spurt,† I muttered. â€Å"Hey, Sue,† I called over his shoulder. The smell of chicken, tomato, garlic, and cheese issued from the kitchen; it probably smelled good to everyone else. I could also smell fresh pine and packing dust. Renesmee flashed her dimples. She never spoke in front of Charlie. â€Å"Well, come on in out of the cold, kids. Where's my son-in-law?† â€Å"Entertaining friends,† Jacob said, and then snorted. â€Å"You're so lucky you're out of the loop, Charlie. That's all I'm going to say.† I punched Jacob lightly in the kidney while Charlie cringed. â€Å"Ow,† Jacob complained under his breath; well, I'd thought I'd punched lightly. â€Å"Actually, Charlie, I have some errands to run.† Jacob shot a glance at me but said nothing. â€Å"Behind on your Christmas shopping, Bells? You only have a few days, you know.† â€Å"Yeah, Christmas shopping,† I said lamely. That explained the packing dust. Charlie must have put the old decorations up. â€Å"Don't worry, Nessie,† he whispered in her ear. â€Å"I got you covered if your mom drops the ball.† I rolled my eyes at him, but in truth, I hadn't thought about the holidays at all. â€Å"Lunch's on the table,† Sue called from the kitchen. â€Å"C'mon, guys.† â€Å"See you later, Dad,† I said, and exchanged a quick look with Jacob. Even if he couldn't help but think about this near Edward, at least there wasn't much for him to share. He had no idea what I was up to. Of course, I thought to myself as I got into the car, it wasn't like I had much idea, either. The roads were slick and dark, but driving didn't intimidate me anymore. My reflexes were well up to the job, and I barely paid attention to the road. The problem was keeping my speed from attracting attention when I had company. I wanted to be done with today's mission, to have the mystery sorted out so that I could get back to the vital task of learning. Learning to protect some, learning to kill others. I was getting better and better with my shield. Kate didn't feel the need to motivate me anymore – it wasn't hard to find reasons to feel angry, now that I knew that was the key – and so I mostly worked with Zafrina. She was pleased with my extension; I was able to cover almost a ten-foot area for more than a minute, though it exhausted me. This morning she'd been trying to find out if I could push the shield away from my mind altogether. I didn't see what the use of that would be, but Zafrina thought it would help strengthen me, like exercising muscles in the stomach and back rather than just the arms. Eventually, you could lift more weight when all the muscles were stronger. I wasn't very good at it. I had only gotten one glimpse of the jungle river she was trying to show me. But there were different ways to prepare for what was coming, and with only two weeks left, I worried that I might be neglecting the most important. Today I would rectify that oversight. I'd memorized the appropriate maps, and I had no problem finding my way to the address that didn't exist online, the one for J. Jenks. My next step would be Jason Jenks at the other address, the one Alice had not given me. To say that it wasn't a nice neighborhood would be an understatement. The most nondescript of all the Cullens' cars was still outrageous on this street. My old Chevy would have looked healthy here. During my human years, I would have locked the doors and driven away as fast as I dared. As it was, I was a little fascinated. I tried to imagine Alice in this place for any reason, and failed. The buildings – all three stories, all narrow, all leaning slightly as if bowed by the pounding rain – were mostly old houses divided up into multiple apartments. It was hard to tell what color the peeling paint was supposed to be. Everything had faded to shades of gray. A few of the buildings had businesses on the first floor: a dirty bar with the windows painted black, a psychic's supply store with neon hands and tarot cards glowing fitfully on the door, a tattoo parlor, and a daycare with duct tape holding the broken front window together. There were no lamps on inside any of the rooms, though it was grim enough outside that the humans should have needed the light. I could hear the low mumbling of voices in the distance; it sounded like TV. There were a few people about, two shuffling through the rain in opposite directions and one sitting on the shallow porch of a boarded-up cut-rate law office, reading a wet newspaper and whistling. The sound was much too cheerful for the setting. I was so bemused by the carefree whistler, I didn't realize at first that the abandoned building was right where the address I was looking for should exist. There were no numbers on the dilapidated place, but the tattoo parlor beside it was just two numbers off. I pulled up to the curb and idled for a second. I was getting into that dump one way or another, but how to do so without the whistler noticing me? I could park the next street over and come through the back†¦. There might be more witnesses on that side. Maybe the rooftops? Was it dark enough for that kind of thing? â€Å"Hey, lady,† the whistler called to me. I rolled the passenger window down as if I couldn't hear him. The man laid his paper aside, and his clothes surprised me, now that I could see them. Under his long ragged duster, he was a little too well dressed. There was no breeze to give me the scent, but the sheen on his dark red shirt looked like silk. His crinkly black hair was tangled and wild, but his dark skin was smooth and perfect, his teeth white and straight. A contradiction. â€Å"Maybe you shouldn't park that car there, lady,† he said. â€Å"It might not be here when you get back.† â€Å"Thanks for the warning,† I said. I shut off the engine and got out. Perhaps my whistling friend could give me the answers I needed faster than breaking and entering. I opened my big gray umbrella – not that I cared, really, about protecting the long cashmere sweater-dress I wore. It was what a human would do. The man squinted through the rain at my face, and then his eyes widened. He swallowed, and I heard his heart accelerate as I approached. Tm looking for someone,† I began. â€Å"I'm someone,† he offered with a smile. â€Å"What can I do for you, beautiful?† â€Å"Are you J. Jenks?† I asked. â€Å"Oh,† he said, and his expression changed from anticipation to understanding. He got to his feet and examined me with narrowed eyes. â€Å"Why're you looking for J?† â€Å"That's my business.† Besides, I didn't have a clue. â€Å"Are you J?† â€Å"No.† We faced each other for a long moment while his sharp eyes ran up and down the fitted pearl gray sheath I wore. His gaze finally made it to my face. â€Å"You don't look like the usual customer.† â€Å"I'm probably not the usual,† I admitted. â€Å"But I do need to see him as soon as possible.† â€Å"I'm not sure what to do,† he admitted. â€Å"Why don't you tell me your name?† He grinned. â€Å"Max.† â€Å"Nice to meet you, Max. Now, why don't you tell me what you do for the usual?† His grin became a frown. â€Å"Well, J's usual clients don't look a thing like you. Your kind doesn't bother with the downtown office. You just go straight up to his fancy office in the skyscraper.† I repeated the other address I had, making the list of numbers a question. â€Å"Yeah, that's the place,† he said, suspicious again. â€Å"How come you didn't go there?† â€Å"This was the address I was given – by a very dependable source.† â€Å"If you were up to any good, you wouldn't be here.† I pursed my lips. I'd never been much good at bluffing, but Alice hadn't left me a lot of alternatives. â€Å"Maybe I'm not up to any good.† Max's face turned apologetic. â€Å"Look, lady – â€Å" â€Å"Bella.† â€Å"Right. Bella. See, I need this job. J pays me pretty good to mostly just hang out here all day. I want to help you, I do, but – and of course Tm speaking hypothetically, right? Or off the record, or whatever works for you – but if I pass somebody through that could get him in trouble, I'm out of work. Do you see my problem?† I thought for a minute, chewing on my lip. â€Å"You've never seen anyone like me here before? Well, sort of like me. My sister is a lot shorter than me, and she has dark spiky black hair.† â€Å"J knows your sister?† â€Å"I think so.† Max pondered this fora moment.I smiled at him, and his breathing stuttered.†Tell you what I'll do.HI give Ja call and describe you to him. Let him make the decision.† What did J. Jenks know? Would my description mean something to him? That was a troubling thought. â€Å"My last name is Cullen,† I told Max, wondering if that was too much information. I was starting to get irritated with Alice. Did I really have to be quite this blind? She could have given me one or two more words†¦. â€Å"Cullen, got it.† I watched as he dialed, easily picking out the number. Well, I could call J. Jenks myself if this didn't work. â€Å"HeyJ, it's Max. I know I'm never supposed tocall you at this number except in an emergency___† Is there an emergency?1 heard faintly from the other end. â€Å"Well, notexactly. It's this girl who wants to see you___† fail to see the emergency in that Why didn't you follow normal procedure? â€Å"I didn't follow normal procedure 'cause she don't look like any kind of normal – â€Å" Is she a badge?! â€Å"No – â€Å" You can't be sure about that. Does she look like one ofKubarev's – ? â€Å"No – let me talk, okay? She says you know her sister or something.† Not likely. What does she look like? â€Å"She looks like . . .† His eyes ran from my face to my shoes appreciatively. â€Å"Well, she looks like a freaking supermodel, that's what she looks like.† I smiled and he winked at me, then went on. â€Å"Rocking body, pale as a sheet, dark brown hair almost to her waist, needs a good night's sleep – any of this soundingfamiliar?† No, it doesn't I'm not happy that you let your weakness for pretty women interrupt – â€Å"Yeah,so I'ma sucker for the pretty ones, what's wrong with that? I'm sorry I bothered you, man. Just forget it.† â€Å"Name,† I whispered. â€Å"Oh right. Wait,† Max said. â€Å"She says her name is Bella Cullen. That help?† There was a beat of dead silence, and then the voice on the other end was abruptly screaming, using a lot of words you didn't often hear outside of truck stops. Max's whole expression changed; all the joking vanished and his lips went pale. â€Å"Because you didn't ask!† Max yelled back, panicked. There was another pause while J collected himself. Beautiful and pale?J asked, a tiny bit calmer. â€Å"I said that, didn't I?† Beautiful and pale? What did this man know about vampires? Was he one of us himself? I wasn't prepared for that kind of confrontation. I gritted my teeth. What had Alice gotten me into? Max waited for a minute through another volley of shouted insults and instructions and then glanced at me with eyes that were almost frightened. â€Å"But you only meet downtown clients on Thursdays – okay, okay! On it.'7He slid his phone shut. â€Å"He wants to see me?† I asked brightly. Max glowered. â€Å"You could have told me you were a priority client;7 â€Å"I didn't know I was.† â€Å"I thought you might be a cop,† he admitted. â€Å"I mean, you don't look like a cop. But you act kind of weird, beautiful.† I shrugged. â€Å"Drug cartel?† he guessed. â€Å"Who, me?† I asked. â€Å"Yeah. Or your boyfriend or whatever.† â€Å"Nope, sorry. I'm not really a fan of drugs, and neither is my husband. Just say no and all that.† Max cussed under his breath. â€Å"Married. Can't catch a break.† I smiled. â€Å"Mafia?† â€Å"Nope.† â€Å"Diamondsmuggling?† â€Å"Please! Is that the kind of people you usually deal with, Max? Maybe you need a new job.† I had to admit, I was enjoying myself a little. I hadn't interacted with humans much besides Charlie and Sue. It was entertaining to watch him flounder. I was also pleased at how easy it was not to kill him. â€Å"You've got to be involved in something big. And bad,† he mused. â€Å"It's not really like that.† â€Å"That's what they all say. But who else needs papers? Or can afford to pay J's prices for them, I should say. None of my business, anyway,† he said, and then muttered the word married again. He gave me an entirely new address with basic directions, and then watched me drive away with suspicious, regretful eyes. At this point, I was ready for almost anything – some kind of James Bond villain's high-tech lair seemed appropriate. So I thought Max must have given me the wrong address as a test. Or maybe the lair was subterranean, underneath this very commonplace strip mall nestled up against a wooded hill in a nice family neighborhood. I pulled into an open spot and looked up at a tastefully subtle sign that read JASON SCOTT, ATTORNEY AT LAW. The office inside was beige with celery green accents, inoffensive and unremarkable. There was no scent of vampire here, and that helped me relax. Nothing but unfamiliar human. A fish tank was set into the wall, and a blandly pretty blond receptionist sat behind the desk. â€Å"Hello,† she greeted me. â€Å"How can I help you?† â€Å"I'm here to see Mr. Scott.† â€Å"Do you have an appointment?† â€Å"Not exactly.† She smirked a little. â€Å"It could be a while, then. Why don't you have a seat while I – â€Å" April!a man's demanding voice squawked from the phone on her desk. I'm expecting a Ms. Cullen shortly. I smiled and pointed to myself. Send her in immediately. Do you understand? I don't care what it's interrupting. I could hear something else in his voice besides impatience. Stress. Nerves. â€Å"She's just arrived,† April said as soon as she could speak. What? Send her in! What are you waiting for? â€Å"Right away, Mr. Scott!† She got to her feet, fluttering her hands as she led the way down a short hallway, offering me coffee or tea or anything else I might have wanted. â€Å"Here you are,† she said as she ushered me through the door into a power office, complete with heavy wooden desk and vanity wall. â€Å"Close the door behind you,† a raspy tenor voice ordered. I examined the man behind the desk while April made a hasty retreat. He was short and balding, probably around fifty-five, with a paunch. He wore a red silk tie with a blue-and-white-striped shirt, and his navy blazer hung over the back of his chair. He was also trembling, blanched to a sickly paste color, with sweat beading on his forehead; I imagined an ulcer churning away under the spare tire. J recovered himself and rose unsteadily from his chair. He reached his hand across the desk. â€Å"Ms. Cullen. What an absolute delight.† I crossed to him and shook his hand quickly once. He cringed slightly at my cold skin but did not seem particularly surprised by it. â€Å"Mr. Jenks. Or do you prefer Scott?† He winced again. â€Å"Whatever you wish, of course.† â€Å"How about you call me Bella, and HI call you J?† â€Å"Like old friends,† he agreed, mopping a silk handkerchief across his forehead. He gestured for me to have a seat and took his own. â€Å"I must ask, am I finally meeting Mr. Jasper's lovely wife?† I weighed that for a second. So this man knew Jasper, not Alice. Knew him, and seemed afraid of him, too. â€Å"His sister-in-law, actually.† He pursed his lips, as if he were grasping for meanings just as desperately as I was. â€Å"I trust Mr. Jasper is in good health?† he asked carefully. â€Å"I'm sure he is in excellent health. He's on an extended vacation at the moment.† This seemed to clear up some of J's confusion. He nodded to himself and templed his fingers. â€Å"Just so. You should have come to the main office. My assistants there would have put you straight through to me – no need to go through less hospitable channels.† I just nodded. I wasn't sure why Alice had given me the ghetto address. â€Å"Ah, well, you're here now. What can I do for you?† Tapers,† I said, trying to make my voice sound like I knew what I was talking about. â€Å"Certainly,† J agreed at once. â€Å"Are we talking birth certificates, death certificates, drivers' licenses, passports, social security cards†¦ ?† I took a deep breath and smiled. I owed Max big time. And then my smile faded. Alice had sent me here for a reason, and I was sure it was to protect Renesmee. Her last gift to me. The one thing she would know I needed. The only reason Renesmee would need a forger was if she was running. And the only reason Renesmee would be running was if we had lost. If Edward and I were running with her, she wouldn't need these documents right away. I was sure IDs were something Edward knew how to get his hands on or make himself, and I was sure he knew ways to escape without them. We could run with her for thousands of miles. We could swim with her across an ocean. If we were around to save her. And all the secrecy to keep this out of Edward's head. Because there was a good chance that everything he knew, Aro would know. If we lost, Aro would certainly get the information he craved before he destroyed Edward. It was as I had suspected. We couldn't win. But we must have a good shot at killing Demetri before we lost, giving Renesmee the chance to run. My still heart felt like a boulder in my chest – a crushing weight. All my hope faded like fog in the sunshine. My eyes pricked. Who would I put this on? Charlie? But he was so defenselessly human. And how would I get Renesmee to him? He was not going to be anywhere close to that fight. So that left one person. There really had never been anyone else. I'd thought this through so quickly that J didn't notice my pause. â€Å"Two birth certificates, two passports, one driver's license,† I said in a low, strained tone. If he noticed the change in my expression, he pretended otherwise. â€Å"The names?† â€Å"Jacob†¦ Wolfe. And†¦ Vanessa Wolfe.† Nessie seemed like an okay nickname for Vanessa. Jacob would get a kick out of the Wolfe thing. His pen scratched swiftly across a legal pad. â€Å"Middle names?† â€Å"Just put something generic in.† â€Å"If you prefer. Ages?† â€Å"Twenty-seven for the man, five for the girl.† Jacob could pull it off. He was a beast. And at the rate Renesmee was growing, I'd better estimate high. He could be her stepfather†¦. â€Å"I'll need pictures if you prefer finished documents,† J said, interrupting my thoughts. â€Å"Mr. Jasper usually liked to finish them himself.† Well, that explained why J didn't know what Alice looked like. â€Å"Hold on,† I said. This was luck. I had several family pictures shoved in my wallet, and the perfect one – Jacob holding Renesmee on the front porch steps – was only a month old. Alice had given it to me just a few days before†¦ Oh. Maybe there wasn't that much luck involved after all. Alice knew I had this picture. Maybe she'd even had some dim flash that I would need it before she gave it to me. â€Å"Here you go.† J examined the picture for a moment. â€Å"Your daughter is very like you.† I tensed. â€Å"She's more like her father.† â€Å"Who is not this man.† He touched Jacob's face. My eyes narrowed, and new sweat beads popped out on J's shiny head. â€Å"No. That is a very close friend of the family.† â€Å"Forgive me,† he mumbled, and the pen began scratching again. â€Å"How soon will you need the documents?† â€Å"Can I get them in a week?† â€Å"That's a rush order. It will cost twice as – but forgive me. I forgot with whom I was speaking.† Clearly, he knew Jasper. â€Å"Just give me a number.† He seemed hesitant to say it aloud, though I was sure, having dealt with Jasper, he must have known that price wasn't really an object. Not even taking into consideration the bloated accounts that existed all over the world with the Cullens' various names on them, there was enough cash stashed all over the house to keep a small country afloat for a decade; it reminded me of the way there were always a hundred fishhooks in the back of any drawer at Charlie's house. I doubted anyone would even notice the small stack I'd removed in preparation for today. J wrote the price down on the bottom of the legal pad. I nodded calmly. I had more than that with me. I unclasped my bag again and counted out the right amount – I had it all paper-clipped into five-thousand-dollar increments, so it took no time at all. â€Å"There.† â€Å"Ah, Bella, you don't really have to give me the entire sum now. It's customary for you to save half to ensure delivery.† I smiled wanly at the nervous man. â€Å"But I trust you, J. Besides, I'll give you a bonus – the same again when I get the documents.† â€Å"That's not necessary, I assure you.† â€Å"Don't worry about it.† It wasn't like I could take it with me. â€Å"So HI meet you here next week at the same time?† He gave me a pained look. â€Å"Actually, I prefer to make such transactions in places unrelated to my various businesses.† â€Å"Of course. I'm sure I'm not doing this the way you expect.† â€Å"I'm used to having no expectations when it comes to the Cullen family.† He grimaced and then quickly composed his face again. â€Å"Shall we meet at eight o'clock a week from tonight at The Pacifico? It's on Union Lake, and the food is exquisite.† â€Å"Perfect.† Not that I would be joining him for dinner. He actually wouldn't like it much if I did. I rose and shook his hand again. This time he didn't flinch. But he did seem to have some new worry on his mind. His mouth was pinched up, his back tense. â€Å"Will you have trouble with that deadline?† I asked. â€Å"What?† He looked up, taken off guard by my question. â€Å"The deadline? Oh, no. No worries at all. I will certainly have your documents done on time.† It would have been nice to have Edward here, so that I would know what J's real worries were. I sighed. Keeping secrets from Edward was bad enough; having to be away from him was almost too much. â€Å"Then HI see you in one week.†

Educating Slum Children

There are colours and vibrancies in the world of children. Their activities are full of energies and attract attention of others. The mischiefs, dream world, away from worries are very dear memories of childhood that have lasting impact on one’s life. Such happiness doesn’t play its part for some children. Slum children have to face the life’s hardships during early age. These children are compelled to work and have to struggle for their existence. They are easily manipulated because of their docile nature. The plight of slum children is they are forced to do work i. e. to act as slaves, picked up for domestic help, involved in hazardous work, trafficked and even compelled to be part of illegal transactions. For survival they are put into shameless act such as pornography and prostitution. These tortures at an early age not only affect their mental and physical health but they are even exposed to harmful disease such as HIV AIDS. Slum children appearances are deformed, and are enforced to beg to earn for their survival. Cruelties faced during tender years affect their natural growth and they become indifferent towards life. Government and local bodies are running many programmes to raise the status of such children but its outcomes are very less. There is need to do lot of work. To educate slum children many educational institutions and NGOs have shown interest. These institutes face lot of problems in educating slum children and also to cut down the dropout rates. Present requirement is to not only to make the education interesting but also to give basic skills training required for earning. Right to education is now the basic right, according to Article 29 of Indian Constitution. An education cannot be denied to child on caste or creed basis or due to lack of funds. Studies are done by government organisations and NGOs to know the cause of unwillingness towards education and high dropouts from schools by slum children. The studies show that parent’s ignorance and discouragement towards education, fight to meet their basic ends meet and children helping hand in running the household of lower socio income group act as a catalyst in not joining educational process. These people face discrimination of the society which discourages them to be a part of growth factor of society. Various innovative ideas and creative approach developed by government, NGOs, and educational institutions are streamlined to bring about these slum children as an enterprising people. The meaning of education is not only to make them accustomed to 3 R’s but also to give training in basic skills needed for earning a living. Computer education is also provided to prepare them to stand high with the fierce competition of the world. NGO’s and educational institutions assist the slum children in getting enrolled with nearby government schools and help in giving tuitions to cope up with school work. Schools are even run on wheels i. e. mobile schools to educate slum children in various states â€Å"Education for all† is the movement which is spreading with the help of media to educate deprived children. This has inspired lot of citizens to work for the good cause. Right direction is required to trace the slum children potentials.

Three Gorges Dam in China Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Three Gorges Dam in China - Research Paper Example â€Å"The massive project sets records for number of people displaced (more than 1.2 million), number of cities and towns flooded (13 cities, 140 towns, 1,350 villages), and length of reservoir (more than 600 kilometers)† (Three Gorges Dam). its location. China's huge Three Gorges Dam hydro-power project could spark a "catastrophe" unless accumulating environmental threats are quickly defused, senior officials and experts have warned. The dam, which is located in Hubei province in south-western China, is the world's biggest hydro-electric project. Inaugurated in 2006 it began generating electricity in 2003(Chinese government fears Three Gorges Dam â€Å"catastrophe) Three Gorges Dam has caught the headlines of media recently because of the huge concerns about the environmental impacts it may generate in Chinese territory. Environmentalists, not only from China, but also from other parts of the world unanimously opposed this project because of the huge threats it may cause to wild animals and to the environment. At the same time, Chinese authorities describe it as a landmark which has proved the technological advancements or dominance achieved by China. Moreover, Chinese authorities claim that the success of this project was achieved through the careful blending of social, engineering and economic capitals. They also argued that this dam is the greatest victory man achieved over nature because of the complexities involved in the construction of this dam. Amidst all such exaggerated or colourful claims, many people in the world are looking at this project suspiciously because of the environmental impacts it can cause not only to China, but also to the neighbouring nations. Erosion, landslides etc are some of the major threats other than the threats to the habitats of wild animals, as a result of the construction of this dam. This paper analyses the reasons for the construction of this dam, arguments of ecological organizations against it, alternate option s which could have been used, future plans of Chinese authorities to construct such dams etc. Chinese authorities labelled Three Gorges dam as a multipurpose dam because of the multiple utilities it can provide to the public and the nation. The entire world is currently facing severe energy shortages and it is necessary for each country to find out alternate energy sources since most of the energy sources available on earth are non-renewable in nature. For example, bio fuel or petroleum is a non-renewable energy source which is used extensively all over the world. According to some estimates, the available oil stocks may be used up within another 30 or 40 years time and it is necessary to find out alternate energy sources. Solar energy is a non-renewable energy source; however, cheap technologies have not been developed yet to exploit solar energy. Hydroelectric power is a renewable energy source and it is necessary for a big country like China to exploit such power as much as possi ble since alternate options are limited. Another reason for the construction of this dam is the increasing threats of floods. It should be noted that because of global warming and subsequent atmospheric temperature rise, huge ice blocs in the polar region are melting and as a result of that the probabilities of flood increasing day by day. Yangtze River is extremely vulnerable to flood threats and in

The advent of the internet age and mobile technology Essay

The advent of the internet age and mobile technology - Essay Example With this virtual shrinking of distances between people comes the ability to be much more customized in terms of solutions and marketing. To be sure, the ability of companies to remain competitive in today's global business climate depends on their ability to anticipate and meet the personal needs of each individual with whom they conduct transactions. Technology enables businesses to detect various degrees of individual interest in various subjects, and then match marketing campaigns in a way that is most likely to resonate with various categories of people. A more standardized approach may have been necessary back in the day when companies depended on a certain amount of business within a particular defined geography and set of hours in order to deliver goods and services most efficiently within those constraints. Standardization was also a marketing tool designed to reassure potential consumers of a particular product or service that the purchase were making was identical in quality to those of other who are making the same purchase. In the pre-internet age, when product information and research was not as readily available as it is today, such an assurance would have been very important to consumers who would otherwise have little reason to be confident that their purchases would meet their needs. Today, howev

Early or late industrialization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Early or late industrialization - Essay Example Capitalism on the other hand is the belief that the government does not utilize economic resources efficiently as private entities. Therefore, the society would be much better in a free market economy, which determines winners and losers. This topic is important because, essentially, communism and socialism are among the main economic systems, alongside capitalism that have existed since the industrial revolution. Both of these systems have their own merits and demerits. It is therefore, with this reason that the author wishes to conduct an evaluation on what these systems are, plus the merits and demerits associated with them. Since the Soviet Union abandoned the communism, the assumption that capitalism may be the only effective economic system have been aggressively marketed in the capitalist media. This view seems to gain credibility owing to the failure of communism with regard to its aims, corruption, totalitarian, and gross inefficiency. This topic is related to the discipline of economics to the sense that it makes us understand the meaning of economic success. A comparison of the two systems, that is socialism, and capitalism will make us to understand the meaning of economic success. An economic system that is perceives as being unjust and then led to a global poverty would be indeed a dubious achievement. It may be rightly argued that the economic justice is jeopardized when the outcome is peoples ‘that is instigated by poverty. In another spectrum, an economic system that is perceived as being unjust, and which leads to wealth, being concentrated in the hands of a few is a more dubious realization. Further, an economic system that does not motivate individuals and is inefficient cannot be said to be just or capable of producing much wealth. Finally, the ecology can only support much economic entrainment as well as wastes. Most ideologies of communist are derived from the

We are writing a news story or a profile of someone interesting Essay

We are writing a news story or a profile of someone interesting. Perhaps you can interview someone in Saudi Arabia and write a story about them - Essay Example Being an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at a reputed Jeddah hospital, Mr. Karim described how his life had changed since he stepped into the field of psychiatry. I started by asking him what the general responsibilities of his profession were. He replied that his main duty was to provide high quality psychiatric services, which included medication and therapeutic advice and sessions, to patients who came to him with a myriad of psychiatric problems. He worked both as a therapist and a medication advisor for most of the patients; while for some, he was only the medical advisor. He described that a typical shift of a psychiatrist included sessions with psychiatric patients. Each session was 30 minutes long, and he saw around 10 patients in a day. Continuing the interview, Mr. Karim explained that the biggest challenge he faced while working with a hospital was that, in contrast to private practice, he was not able to manage his working hours, which were set by the hospital authority. So, he did not have control over his time and schedule, which he missed when he was working as a solo practitioner in the past. He had to give explanations and put leave applications if he wanted to go on a leave. Also, the hospital demanded that he should be available to patients on phone all the time, 24/7, which was something that he was well managing as a solo practitioner. The hospital would also call him on weekends, on and off. He said that while working with the patients with difficult psychiatric conditions, it was sometimes very stressful for him to deal with stressors. Forgetting one’s own worries and dealing with others’ was what was required of him, which he was doing very well, but at times, he would become stressed out. He described how some patients gave him tough time. Some patients would attack him verbally to let go of their frustrations and anxiety, and it would become very hard for him to keep himself calm. However, he

Issues in Global Warming Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Issues in Global Warming - Research Paper Example The core first surface to be hit by the radiations suffers the most. Such surfaces may include trees in the forest, surfaces of the ocean, ice caps, and deserts. Green house effect causes the atmosphere to absorb more heat energy within the earth’s surface by absorbing and re-emitting long waves of energy; from the re-emitted energy, 90% is captured by the greenhouse gases. A greenhouse gas is a gas in the atmosphere that absorbs as well as, emits radiation inside a thermal infrared range. The primary greenhouse gases that are in the earth atmosphere are mainly water vapor, carbon dioxide which has the, ability to absorb radiation in the long wave, methane its mainly sources are termites, landfills, coal mining as well as, oil extractions its formula, is ch4, another gas is nitrous oxide found in the atmosphere and its sources are fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning as well as application of fertilizers, its formula is N2O. They occur naturally in an atmosphere with a mole cular composition, more than one atom, are loosely bound together to be able to vibrate with the absorption of heat, they act as a blanket for infrared radiation, where they radiate energy close to the surface that escapes directly to space. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is more concentrated today than at any time in at least 171 year back. It is approximately 35% higher than the year 1840. The present carbon dioxide concentration in the earth’s atmosphere is at a concentration of 392ppm by volume or 592 parts/million by mass. The total amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide in mass is about 3000, gigatonnes. Since 1860, there has been an increase of carbon dioxide concentration due to the age of industrialization as well as human interference such as deforestation as well as combustion of fossil fuel. Also about 40% of the carbon dioxide emitting is by volcanoes during eruptions which is approximately 130-230 million tones, another source of carbon dioxide emission is hot springs . Human carbon dioxide production, use of coal, oil as well as, production of cement, is high as 7.g million mass. Interglacial’s caused the rise of temperatures about 30% in carbon dioxide, with this hypothesis is correct then, temperatures rises by about 6 centigrade between 1840 to date. Another reason for an increase in carbon dioxide is through human respiration that produces 0.6 Gt c of carbon dioxide. Increased carbon dioxide increases the level of acidity in seawater, caused by an increase in carbon dioxide absorption in the sea water, which will increase and will result to affecting organism in the sea water also with the increase of acidity, and then there will be a decrease of carbonates for forming shells. Also from the increase of carbon dioxide, there will be acidic rain due to absorption of carbon dioxide by the clouds that will have an effect to the plants as well as trees, from this there will be no forest. Thus, there will be no rainfall resulting to drought as well as hunger. Another thing from the increase of carbon dioxide to the environment is the development of smog’s into the cities contributed mainly by factories. It is paramount to use the results obtained form researches and environmental forecasts, which would help in understanding the real effectiveness of global warming

Distributive justice, position of John Rawls,Robert Nozick, Milton Essay

Distributive justice, position of John Rawls,Robert Nozick, Milton Friedman, James Donaldson(comparing the relationship of state - Essay Example According to Rawls, distributive justice serves to ensure that all is done in a manner that guarantees equality for all; nothing should be done to damage or hurt another person. The principles of the model include that every demographic group should be offered access to the same goods and treatment as all others, where for instance, the poor receive the same healthcare services as the wealthy. Further, the advocates of this model hold that there is a need to change the outlook of our institutions, so as to ensure that they help in improving the lives of the disadvantaged within the community (Lamont, 43). On the other hand, Nozick views that distributive justice would be fair, in the case that it defined three main areas, including the ways that properties not owned by anyone can be acquired; the transfer of goods from one person to the other, and the course of rectifying past injustices – which arose from the violations of acquisition and transfer of goods (Wolff 57). Nozick views that the transfer, acquisition and the rectification of ownership should not necessarily be patterned to anything else. For example, he states that a gift or things acquired by chance can be duly owned and warranted. The distribution of property is fair, as long as it is done according to the rules of acquisition, rectification and transfer. The arguments used by Rawls in supporting his distributive justice include that all goods and liberties should be distributed equally among all people and the opportunities for positions or offices should be advanced in equitable manner (Wolff 57). Thirdly, the more advantaged within the society should contribute towards the betterment of the lives of the disadvantaged. The flaws in Rawls arguments include that he does not regard the entitlement of more goods or opportunities, which may be warranted due to individual traits. Secondly, the arguments do not accommodate for the acquisition of properties that are not claimed by any person, as well as the differences in the views of different people about equitability. Nozick argues that distribution patterns cannot be patterned and can never be representative of all cases requiring the exercise of justice among different individual, which calls for human rationality and differentiated preferences (Wolff 81). Other arguments by Nozik include that the distribution of good within the society arises from the aggregation of decisions about the talents to nurture, the location to live in and what to buy. Unlike in the cases where the model of acquisition or transfer is unjust, according to a theory of justice, the entitlement of property may not be questionable. Some of the ways of acquisition that may be unjust include fraud or stealing. The flaws of Nozick’s model include that the possibility of an unjust central distributor is not ruled out, the injustices of dispersed people are not explored, and the questions about the rights channels of distribution are not explor ed in details. Further, he refutes the paternalistic nature of the justice system, which can be evidenced through the structures of contracts, rights and the taxation structure. 2. The position that best characterizes Friedman’s position is this: B-â€Å"Business and/or corporate decision makers have moral obligations to society in general†. This is the theme behind his arguments; because his libertarian explanation of distributive justice is in favor of an operational free-market where there are

ECO BUS 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ECO BUS 4 - Essay Example 7. The manager expects to be shown the respect due to his position and this will mean that, from a Western perspective, an undue amount of deference may be shown. Respect is given for position held, but age is also worthy of respect. It is difficult, therefore, for older Taiwanese to accept being managed by younger expatriate managers. Equally, a younger western manager on a trade mission is likely to be less well received than a visibly older colleague. 10. Taiwanese will make effective group members, they like working in an harmonious environment but they expect to be given directions by the senior team member, but when working with a Taiwanese team one has try to avoid incidents that may cast a member in bad light in front of other members of the group. Company A is a US based Company, the culture usually followed there is â€Å"democratic management†. The opinions of all concerned parties are considered before the decision is taken unlike in the Taiwan management where dictatorial style is followed and it would not be considered proper if an employee intervenes in the management’s key decision. Therefore while operating there, the most important decision for the A company would be the hiring of the Manager. If a local manager is appointed, he shall have more knowledge of the local markets and will be able to communicate more properly. Company A has to focus its attention to create an environment where the employees will participate in the decision making process and the Manager has to learn to give importance to the ideas generated by the employees even in the lower chain of command. He has to learn to accept that he will gain respect with his abilities as a manager and not because of his position. Company A may also appoint a Manager who does not belong to that culture. For example, he may be transferred here because of his interactive managerial skills and analytical decision making. Such manager will already have an idea of the

Olympic Sport Essay Example for Free

Olympic Sport Essay Any athlete in training will always emphasize the importance of hard work during training and keeping a balanced nutritional diet in an effort to reach his maximum peak during competition. For an Olympic athlete in training, his diet will always spell the difference between winning or losing his sport. The reality of training for an Olympic sport such as swimming is that the speed of the swimmer does not depend on the food intake of the swimmer. What makes him skim through the water much faster is his physical training and physique. Proper diet and nutrition is what will give the body the energy to complete training sessions and become more efficient while performing the trained tasks. This is why a diet analysis is highly important when training a swimmer. The diet analysis is composed of two parts according to the usaswimming. org website: Diet analysis is comprised of two parts, needs and intake. Optimal nutrition is a matter of balance (nutrients-in versus nutrients-out). In other words, a swimmer’s intake of nutrients must match his/her output of nutrients during rest and exercise. In terms of energy (aka calories), if the needs are greater than the intake, the net result is weight loss. Conversely, if the needs are less than the intake, the net result is weight gain. Therefore, an athlete must always be focused on healthy eating and conscious of having to substitute lower fat foods for whole fat foods as well as reducing any snacks that will not contribute to keeping his energy level high. The athlete will best be served by loading up on whole grains, cereals, and legumes with at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables in a day. His protein intake should be limited to lean meats, fish, and poultry. A typical diet for swimmer would be composed of the basic food groups but on a varying scale. For instance, Carbohydrates are used as the fuel of the body and therefore a swimmer should consume about 55-60% of his daily calories from grain and cereal products. Protein in the meantime builds the swimmers muscle tissues and other chemicals needed for body function. So protein intake would be recommended at about 15-20 % calories. Fat in the meantime is the transporter of the body. Swimmers will consume only 30% of fat calories while limiting the intake will result in a desirable fat consumption range for the athlete.

Caryl Churchills Top Girls English Literature Essay

Caryl Churchills Top Girls English Literature Essay Caryl Churchill has a reputation for producing work that examined contemporary issues, often in challenging and confrontational ways and Top girls is no exception. It can be seen in the light of a feminist play due to the reoccurring question that comes up while reading the play of what it means to be a successful woman. Throughout this essay, I will show what is wrong with being a `top girl ´. At the beginning of the play you are introduced to the main character, Marlene, who is a top girl. A top girl being: a woman who is successful in her career. During the play you become aware that Marlene is at the peak of her career and has come a long way from working class to almost upper middle class but that she has made some sacrifices along the way to attain her position. First, she gave her child to her sister, Joyce (p. 80). Next to that, it appears that she has also sacrificed her personal life. She seems to have no real friends to invite to the dinner party and therefor invites historical women. Marlene also has difficulties to find a man that will accept her as the successful woman that she is and that will not try to change her into a `little woman ´ (p. 83). Although Marlene built herself up in her career and is an educated woman, in a different perspective, she is not a top girl. She was not able to manage everything she had and succeed while dealing with it all; hence leaving her child to her sister. According to Marlene she had to choose between her career and being a mother (p. 80). However, Marlenes sister Joyce has sacrificed her personal life and goals to raise her sisters child. Leaving us to question, what good is it being a top girl if its at the expense of other women? According to a feminist view of equality, drive, ambition and ability, Marlene should have been able to juggle her career and her motherhood. She should have not worried about missing out on opportunities. You can conclude at the end of the play that Marlene is not a feminist at all but that she is very much an individualist: `I believe in the individual ´ (p. 84). She worries about herself and her own needs instead of rising to her own personal responsibilities. She believes that everyone creates their own luck because, as she tells her sister Joyce, `Anyone can do anything if they ´ve got what it takes ´ (p. 86). Marlene is a manager at a top girl company and is holding interviews for people to work at the company. During the interviews you notice how ruthless and cold (p. 46) Marlene is in relation to the working world and to who is or is not qualified enough to get the position. You see her take the role of a very business-like male attitude (p. 31). She interrupts the interviewee during their meeting and is very direct in telling them whether they have potential to join the company or not (p. 30). Moreover, Marlene is very aware of her potential and believes that men and woman should have the same rights/opportunities. She makes this clear when she discusses with Howards wife, the man who lost the management position to her, about how the position was given to the most deserving person (p.p 58-59). Howards wife picks up on her male attitude and accuses Marlene of being masculine and unnatural (p. 59). Her co-workers hold the same view as Marlenes, in relation to rejecting the traditional female aspirations of starting a family, and they would rather focus on their careers like Marlene did (p. 58). One co-worker, Nell, does not want to get married (p. 48) and the other, Win, is having an affair with a married man (p. 45). In Act 2, scene 3 you hear Marlenes co-workers talking about their weekend. Win suggests that Nell could get married and continue working. Nells response is a very unnatural one; `or I could go on working and not marry him ´ (p. 48). She is happy to use men for her own pleasure but not to commit to any. When the play was written, in 1982, this response would have been seen more as a male response than a female due to the fact that this was far more a male attitude to have than a woman. All women in this company hold a very professional tone to themselves but they also all adopt very much a male role in relation to their careers and taking care of business (p. 46). Generally women want to settle and start a family, but because they are such business-like women they do not see the need of this and find themselves already fulfilled with their high ranking, successful jobs. Additionally none of the co-workers, like Marlene, are true top girls. They have adopted male behavior instead of developing their own woman inspired role models. They have not excelled in anything besides their career. What is also fallacious about these `top girls ´ is that they do not see men as equals at all and at times discuss their male clients with the term `pretty ´ (p. 50). This presents us with their very degrading view of how they see men in the business environment; however it also shows that they have enough confidence to address men in these terms. One of the aims of the Womans Liberation movement in the 1970s was to change the terminology used to address women such as, baby, sweetie, girl, bird†¦ Interestingly enough these `top girls ´, in the play, use the same terminology to call each other (p. 48, 64). It seems that to them it is ok to call each other these terms but not to have men call them that; which defeats the purpose of female equality and gives a sense of female superiority. You could also say that these top girls do not consider themselves as women but see themselves as successful `people ´ so they do not fall in the category of women fighting for/supporting that issue. Although all woman in the play, after the first act, that are considered as `top girls ´ are woman who have excelled in their career you could argue that Joyce, Marlenes sister, is somewhat a top girl herself. Despite the fact of not having a successful career she is the only character in the play that tries to manage her responsibilities. She has several different jobs, is raising her sisters child and still holds the responsibility of checking on her mother, like she informs Marlene `somebody has to ´ (p. 79). The first scene in the play shows what true top girls were before the feminist movement. It reveals the obstacles that they had to overcome and the freedom that woman nowadays have and take for granted. The women in the first scene are all women who have suffered in some way and have succeeded in being great without the need of going over other women to get there. They succeeded in the dominate-male world they lived in. This is the opposite of how Marlene has succeeded. Marlene succeeded at the expense of other woman. In Act 1 Marlene raises a toast To our courage and the way we changed our lives and our extraordinary achievements ´ (p. 13). The use of `we ´ and `our ´ are very significant; it shows that Marlene considers herself as a woman who has struggled for her success but that has finally gained personal fulfillment. On the contrary, the other women have been through much more than Marlene ever did. These past woman are the true top girls who have been through it all in order for the next generations of woman to be free and independent. It is striking that the only top girl that was obedient to men, Griselda, is the only one who is happy and pleased in her life. You could say that Griselda shows that virtue is its own reward. Marlene never waited for things and made things happen herself; which leads to an intriguing comparison between these characters. Griselda obeyed and waited and in the end is content and happy, while Marlene created her own success but abandoned other important things in her life to get there and is now unsatisfied. You see Marlenes dissatisfaction throughout the whole play, with her drinking, having abortions, not finding a suitable man and trying to make amends with her sister. In conclusion, the title is called `Top girls ´ with an `S ´. The play explores the different versions of `top girls ´ in different eras. These distinct versions of `top girls ´ demonstrates the diversity of womankind. The play demonstrates that women do not have only one quality or one thing that characterizes them like: career women, wives, mothers, daughters or sisters; they are complex individuals like any human being and have to juggle priorities and responsibilities to achieve what they consider to fulfill themselves. These varieties of qualities that women have and that are able to juggle with in life are what should make them a true top girl. Word count:

Flood Stories in Epic of Gilgamesh and the Genesis Flood of the Christian Bible :: Epic Gilgamesh essays

Comparison of the Flood Stories in Gilgamesh and the Bible   Ã‚   The two stories closely parallel each other, though Gilgamesh was written down before 2000 BCE and the version in Genesis was compiled ca. 400 BCE. Biblical writers probably knew of the much older myth but revised it so that it fit with their own history and worldview. They intended it to fit with their own mythology. Despite the many similarities between the two stories, this difference in intention is revealed in a number of motifs that distinguish the biblical story from the ancient myth:   Gilgamesh   Genesis   1. Flood is caused by the fickle nature of the gods We are told in 11.1 lines 14-17 that the gods who were reclining at Shuruppak, "up the constant Euphrates," sent the flood by "intent."   1. Flood is sent by God to destroy his creation, which has become corrupt and evil The humans are so wicked and evil that "it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart" (Gen. 6:6). He says,"I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. . . " (Gen. 6:7)   2. On earth one can still find demi-gods and great heroes, like Gilgamesh This is a Golden Age, like that described by Hesiod, when heroes walked the earth and humans and gods commingled.   2. Earth once had giants and heroes, but they became part of the evil These "giants in the earth" (Gen. 6:4) were the sons of God and of the daughters of men, but they were only men of renown in the old days (Gen. 6:4). There is no Golden Age at the time of the flood. 3. One good man is saved (Utnapishtim), who obeys the god's orders to build a boat   Ea warns Utnapishtim (11.1 lns. 26ff.) to build a covered boat to save himself and the "seed of all [he'll] need" (11.1 ln. 34), to "Reject the corpse-like stench of wealth" (11.1 ln. 28) and live a charitable life of moderation. U. agrees to do this to "honor god" (l1.1 n. 39), but he will tell people he does so because Enlil hates him and he must flee by boat to where Enlil waits to kill him.

Software Piracy and Copyright Laws: United States vs Vietnam Essay

Software Piracy and Copyright Laws: United States versus Vietnam I. Introduction "Software piracy is the unauthorized duplication, distribution or use of computer software". Five main types of software piracy exist: publisher patent and copyright infringement, industrial piracy, corporate piracy, reseller piracy, and home piracy. Software piracy is a large global issue, which has become a more pressing issue due to a number of reasons: software is now easier to distribute on a global scale due to global access to the internet; culturally, people have not been taught that copying software is like stealing; a physical component does not need to be manufactured; and finally individuals state that they cannot afford the high cost of software and state that they would not use the pirated software if they had to pay for it.1 Software piracy is being dealt with on a global level by implementing global copyright laws. However, to date, no completely successful way has been implemented to deal with copyright issues. I believe that software piracy is unethical, but copyright laws need a fine balance between the rights of the copyright holders and the fair use rights of the individual. The Berne convention implements copyright laws that many nations of the world have signed. The US has taken extreme measures to protect copyright with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA not only protects copyright owners, but it has been used to infringe on fair use and has promoted anti-competitive actions. Vietnam is on the other extreme. It has finally started to implement and enforce copyright laws, but due to cultural, economic, and legal views, it still has one of the highest software piracy rates in the world... ...ikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_and_Artistic_Works>. Coping With the Berne Convention, 1989, Sheldon & Mak, May 27 2004, <http://www.usip.com/articles/bernec.htm>. Shelley Warwick, Is Copyright Ethical? An Examination of the Theories, Laws and Practices Regarding the Private Ownership of Intellectual Work in the United States, June 4-5 1999, Intellectual Property and Technology Forum, May 27 2004, <http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/st_org/iptf/commentary/content/1999060505.html>. Moral Rights, March 22 2004, Wikipedia, May 27 2004, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_rights>. Michael C. McFarland, Intellectual Property, Information, and the Common Good, June 4-5 1999, Intellectual Property and Technology Forum, May 27 2004, <http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/st_org/iptf/commentary/content/1999060503.html>.

Children + Violence + Television = Bad Essay -- essays research pape

On September 11th, 2001, millions around the world crowded around televisions across the globe and watched the horrific scenes of terrorism that had struck New York City, Washington, D.C and Pennsylvania on that ill-fated and now infamous morning. Suddenly, in a crowded room everyone felt alone. As the Twin Towers vanished before our very eyes, so did our sense of security and protection. We watched with shock and horror, disbelief and grief as the images were repeatedly flashed before our eyes. There was no escape. Every television channel and every radio station constantly reminded us of the tragedy that we will never forget. Even today, over three years later, I can see the images and remember the desperate pleas for help of people searching for their loved ones in my mind – over and over. Every sympathetic person was captivated by the horror on the television. We felt like we were there. September 11th, 2001 was an unprecedented tragedy that undoubtedly proves that violenc e on television is a very powerful influence. In that crowded room, workplace, classroom, or living room we all felt alone. We could not have been more wrong. We were all probably feeling a lot of the same emotions. Children across the globe were seeing the same events unfold repeatedly too. For the next few days, the major broadcasting stations had twenty-four hour coverage of the â€Å"attack on America.† I remember turning off the television because I watched all I could bare. I laid in bed with my eyes closed, but all I could see were the images replay and all I could feel was the warmth of my tears on my pillow. If we as adults were so affected by the trauma of the events, then what about the children? With an undeveloped capacity to understand the world and the proximity of danger, how can anyone claim that children were not affected by the violence illustrated on television of this tragedy? In the weeks following the tragedy, the images of the attack on the Pentagon and World Trade Center were banned from the media. Government officials and scientific experts agreed that the trauma incited by these images were detrimental to children. President Bush expressed his concern for the welfare of our children who were exposed to violence in the media reports of the attack. It is evident that scientific experts, government officials, and The President of the United States all agree that vio... ... family fun. The worst thing I can remember ever hearing or seeing on that television show was Bart saying, â€Å"Eat my shorts.† That was near ten years ago. Things have certainly changed. That television show now covers a wide range of topics from puberty to pregnancy, from detentions to murder, from injury to death. Television shows on regular television need to rated and placed into appropriate time slots. How can people expect their children not to curse when that’s what they hear on television shows they watch with their parents? The line has to be drawn. Parenting is probably the most important job anyone can have. Unfortunately, it’s also the only job that does not come with training. If our government can regulate television shows to enhance the lives of every citizen by lessening the affects of violent television on children, then they should – and they can. The government just hasn’t done it. In my opinion, three words will always be synonymous with each other: politics, power, and money. If experts believed that this violence has no effects on children, why then would they regulate exposure to the images of violent destruction and terrorism that occurred on September 11th?

Executive Support System

Executive Support Systems (ESS) †¢ supply the necessary tools to senior management. The decisions at this level of the company are usually never structured and could be described as â€Å"educated guesses. † Executives rely as much, if not more so, on external data than they do on data internal to their organization. Decisions must be made in the context of the world outside the organization. The problems and situations senior executives face are very fluid, always changing, so the system must be flexible and easy to manipulate. The Role of ESS in the Organization Executives often face information overload and must be able to separate the chaff from the wheat in order to make the right decision. On the other hand, if the information they have is not detailed enough they may not be able to make the best decision. An ESS can supply the summarized information executives need and yet provide the opportunity to drill down to more detail if necessary. †¢ As technology adva nces, ESS are able to link data from various sources both internal and external to provide the amount and kind of information executives find useful. As common software programs include more options and executives gain experience using these programs, they're turning to them as an easy way to manipulate information. Many executives are also turning to the Web to provide the flexibility they need. Benefits of ESS †¢ As more executives come up through the ranks, they are more familiar with and rely more on technology to assist them with their jobs. Executive Support Systems don't provide executives with ready- made decisions. They provide the information that helps them make their decisions. Executives use that information, along with their experience, knowledge, education, and understanding of the corporation and the business environment as a whole, to make their decisions. Executives are more inclined to want summarized data rather than detailed data (even though the details must be available). ESS rely on graphic presentation of information because it's a much quicker way for busy executives to grasp summarized information †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Simple for high-level executives to use Operations do not require extensive computer experience †¢ Provides timely delivery of company summary information †¢ Provides better understanding of information †¢ Filters data for better time management †¢ Provides system for improvement in information tracking Disadvantages †¢ Computer skills required to obtain results †¢ †¢ Requires preparation and analysis time to get desired information †¢ †¢ Detail oriented Provides detailed analysis of a situation †¢ †¢ Difficult to quantify benefits of DSS How do you quantify a better decision? †¢ Difficult to maintain database integrity †¢ †¢ Provides only moderate support of external data and graphics capabilities Examples of ESS †¢ The Sutter Home Winery uses mostly external data, including information from the Internet, in its ESS. It organizes the information in order to help executives make decisions based on trends in th e marketplace. The information includes data on competitors and information from market research. Sutter uses its system output to determine sales forecasts, marketing campaigns, and investment plans. Managers at the Royal Bank of Canada are able to choose their own criteria (from among 15 choices) to drill down and navigate data through easy-to-use interfaces. They don't have to accept data in formats chosen by someone else who may not understand individual manager's needs. Data analysis is more timely because the information is quicker to obtain and more convenient than before. †¢ Characteristics of ESS †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Degree of use High, consistent, without need of technical assistance Computer skills required Very low -must be easy to learn and use Flexibility High – must fit executive decision making style Principle use Tracking, control Decisions supported Upper level management, unstructured Data supported Company internal and external Output capabilities Text, tabular, graphical, trend toward audio/video in futur e Graphic concentration High, presentation style Data access speed Must be high, fast response ESS Applications †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Manufacturing Medical Government Financial summary †¢ Executive Support Systems meet the needs of corporate executives by providing them with vast amounts of information quickly and in graphical form to help them make effective decisions. ESS must be flexible, easy to use, and contain both internal and external sources of information

Memorandum of Law Instructions

Memorandum of Law Instructions Legal research and writing often manifests Itself In the form of written documents. Some of these documents are for the Internal use of the firm or other entity. Others, such as letters, pleadings, and briefs are for courts and other third parties. A principal document that Is often used Internally, and, at times, transformed Into a letter, brief, or otherwise altered for use with third parties, is the Memorandum of Law. You will draft one of these documents for a large portion of your grade in this class. It will allow you to practice virtually all of the skills that you will learn throughout this course.The Memorandum of Law is covered in chapter 13 of the text. You should probably read that chapter now in planning for this assignment (it will be covered in detail in Module/Week 7). You will complete your memorandum in three parts, and each part will be graded and returned to you in time for you to incorporate what you have learned Into the next step in the assignment. The Memorandum of Law that you will be writing Is an objective document that ill explain what the law Is with regard to the hypothetical fact pattern that will be given to you by your Instructor.Thus, you will not necessarily be attempting to persuade the reader. Rather, you will be reporting to your instructor (who, in this instance, will be like an attorney in a law firm for the purposes of this assignment) what you believe the law is with regard to the situation posed. Thus, you must address authorities that might be helpful and not so helpful to your client's position. You should format your memorandum like the examples in chapter 13 of the text, include the following: Provide a heading with your instructors name in the â€Å"to:† field, your name in the â€Å"from:† field, and the date and topic. SE headings as shown In the text. Use a professional font that Is easy to read. The text should be double-spaced, with page numbers at the bottom of ea ch page and one-inch margins. Case Briefs Conduct research on the hypothetical fact pattern given to you by your instructor. Locate the relevant cases that you will be addressing in your Memorandum of Law (remember, the Memorandum of Law is an objective assignment, so you should include both cases that help and hurt your position).Read and analyze the cases as discussed in chapter 3 of the text. After reading and analyzing the cases that you found, prepare case briefs for what you believe to be the five most important cases that you will rely upon In drafting your Memorandum of Law. You should generally format the case briefs the same way that you will format the Memorandum of Law (see above, chapter 13 as to the Memorandum of Law, and chapter 4 of the text as to briefing cases and the form of the briefs). You may Include all of the briefs In one Word file.Head the file as you will the Memorandum of Law, and then Include each of the five briefs as the text of the file that you will submit through a link provided in Your Case Briefs are due by 1 1 :59 p. M. (ET) on Monday of Module/Week 3. Rough Draft Finish your research and analysis of the hypothetical fact pattern, incorporate the feedback that you receive from your instructor on the Case Briefs, and then complete this part. For this part, you will complete a rough draft of the actual Memorandum of Law. Formatting, research, writing, etc. Loud be as close as possible to what you envision for the final draft. The better the Job you do here, the better grade you will receive on this part of the assignment. But, perhaps even more importantly, the better the Job you do, the more valuable the feedback you receive. Thus, it will benefit you for the final part of the assignment as well.

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 29~30

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE Talking Up the Dead Nate hadn't seen his old teacher, Gerard ;Growl; Ryder, in fourteen years, but except for the fact that he was very pale, the biologist looked exactly the same as Nate remembered him: short and powerful, a jaw like a knife, and a long swoop of gray hair that was always threatening to fall into his pale green eyes. â€Å"You're the Colonel?† Nate asked. Ryder had disappeared twelve years ago. Lost at sea in the Aleutians. â€Å"I toyed with the title for a while. For a week or so I was Man-Meat the Magnificent, but I thought that sounded like I might be compensating for something, so I decided to go with something military-sounding. It was a toss-up between Captain Nemo from Twenty Thousand Leagues and Colonel Kurtz from Heart of Darkness. I finally decided to go with just ‘the Colonel. It's more ominous.† â€Å"That it is.† Once again reality was taking a contextual tilt for Nate, and he was trying to keep from falling. This once brilliant, brilliant man was sitting in a mass of goo talking about choosing his megalomaniacal pseudonym. â€Å"Sorry to keep you waiting for so long before I brought you down here. But now that you're here, how's it feel to stand in the presence of God?† â€Å"Respectfully, sir, you're a fucking squirrel.† â€Å"This doesn't feel right,† Clay whispered to Libby Quinn. â€Å"We shouldn't be having a funeral when Nate's still alive.† â€Å"It's not a funeral,† said Libby. â€Å"It's a service.† They were all there at the Whale Sanctuary. In the front row: Clay, Libby, Margaret, Kona, Clair, and the Old Broad. Moving back: Cliff Hyland and Tarwater with their team, the Count and his research grommets, Jon Thomas Fuller and all of the Hawaii Whale Inc. boat crews, which constituted about thirty people. On back: whale cops, bartenders, and a couple of waitresses from Longee's. From the harbor: live-aboards and charter captains, the harbormaster, booth girls and dive guides, boat hands and a guy who worked the coffee counter at the fuel dock. Also, researchers from the University of Hawaii and, strangely enough, two black-coral divers – all crowded into the lecture hall, the ceiling fans stirring their smells together into the evening breeze. Clay had scheduled the service in the evening so the researchers wouldn't miss a day of the research season. â€Å"Still,† said Clay. â€Å"He was a lion,† said Kona, a tear glistening in his eye. â€Å"A great lion.† This was the highest compliment a Rastafarian can bestow upon a man. â€Å"He's not dead,† said Clay. â€Å"You know that, you doof.† â€Å"Still,† said Kona It was a Hawaiian funeral in that everyone was in flip-flops and shorts, but the men had put on their best aloha shirts, the women their crispest flowered dresses, and many had brought leis and head garlands, which they draped over the wreaths at the front of the room that represented Nathan Quinn and Amy Earhart. A Unity Church minister spoke for ten minutes about God and the sea and science and dedication, and then he opened up the floor to anyone who had something to say. There was a very long pause before the Old Broad, wearing a smiling-whale-print muumuu and a dozen white orchids in her hair, tottered to the podium. â€Å"Nathan Quinn lives on,† she said. â€Å"Can I get an amen!† shouted Kona. Clair yanked his remaining dreadlocks. All the biologists and grad students looked at each other, eyes wide, confused, wondering if any of them had actually brought an amen that they could give up. No one had told them they were going to need an amen, or they would have packed one. All the harbor people and Lahaina citizens were intimidated by the science people, and they were not about to give up an amen in front of all of these eggheads, no way. The whale cops didn't like the fact that Kona was not in jail, and they weren't giving him shit, let alone an amen. Finally one of the black-coral divers who had that night found the perfect cocktail for grieving in a hit of ecstasy, a joint, and a forty of malt liquor, sighed a feeble ;Amen; over the mourners like a sleepy, stinky, morning-breath kiss. â€Å"And I know,† continued the Old Broad, â€Å"that if it were not for his stubbornness in procuring a pastrami on rye for that singer in the channel, he would be here with us today.† â€Å"But if he were here with us – † whispered Clair. â€Å"Shhhhhh,† shushed Margaret Painborne. â€Å"Don't you shush me, or you'll be munching carpet through a straw.† â€Å"Please, honey,† said Clay. The Old Broad rambled on about talking to the whales every day for the last twenty-five years, about how she'd known Nate and Clay and Cliff when they first came to the island and how young and stupid they were then, and how that had changed, as now they weren't that young anymore. She talked about what a thoughtful and considerate man Nate was, but how, if he hadn't been so absentminded, he might have found a decent woman to love him, and how she didn't know where he was, but if he didn't get his bottom back to Maui soon, she would twist his ear off when she saw him. And then she sat down to resounding silence and tittering pity, and everyone looked at Clay, who looked at a ceiling fan. After a long, awkward minute, when the Unity minister had to head-fake to the podium a couple of times, as if he would have to call a conclusion to the service, Gilbert Box – the Count – got up. He wasn't wearing his hat for once, but he still wore his giant wraparound sunglasses, and without the balance of the giant hat, the glasses atop his angular frame made him appear insectlike, a particularly pale praying mantis in khakis. He adjusted the microphone, cleared his throat with great pomp, and said, â€Å"I never liked Nathan Quinn†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And everyone waited for the â€Å"but,† but it never came. Gilbert Box nodded to the crowd and sat back down. Gilbert's grommets applauded. Cliff Hyland spoke next, talking for ten minutes about what a great guy and fine researcher Nate was. Then Libby actually went forward and spoke at length about Nate's Canadianness and how he had once defended the Great Seal of British Columbia as being superior to all the other provincial seals in that it depicted a moose and a ram smoking a hookah, showing a spirit of cooperation and tolerance, while Ontario's seal depicted a moose and an elk trying to eat a bear, and Saskatchewan's showed a moose and a lion setting fire to a fondue pot – both of which clearly exploited the innate Canadian fear of moose – and the seal of Quebec depicted a woman in a toga flashing one of her boobs at a lion, which was just fucking French. He'd named all the provinces and their seals, but those were the ones Libby could remember. Then Libby sniffled and sat down. â€Å"That's what you could come up with?† hissed Clay. â€Å"What, five years of marriage?† Libby whispered in his ear, â€Å"I had to go with something that wouldn't threaten Margaret. I don't see you storming the podium.† â€Å"I'm not going to talk about my dead friend when I don't think he's dead.† And before they knew it, Jon Thomas Fuller was at the podium being thankful for Nate's support for his new project, then going on about how much he appreciated how the whale-research community had gotten behind his new â€Å"dolphin interaction center,† all of which was big news to the whale-research community who was listening. During the short speech, Clair had caught Clay's neck in what appeared to be an embrace of consolation but was in fact a choke hold she'd learned from watching cops on the news. â€Å"Baby, if you try to go after him, I'll have you unconscious on the floor in three seconds. That would be disrespectful to Nate's memory.† But her effort left Kona unattended on the other side, and he managed to cough ;Bullshit; as Jon Thomas took his seat. Next a grad student who worked for Cliff Hyland stood and talked about how Nate's work had inspired her to go into the field. Then someone from the Hawaiian Department of Conservation and Resources talked about how Nate had always been at the forefront of conservation and protection of the humpbacks. Then the harbormaster talked about Nate's being a competent and conscientious boat pilot. All told, an hour had passed, and when it seemed obvious that no one else was going to stand up, the minister moved toward the podium but was beaten to it by Kona, who had slipped from Clair's steely grip and high-stepped his way to the front. â€Å"Like old Auntie say, Nathan is living on. But no one here today say a thing about the Snowy Biscuit, who – Jah's mercy be on her – is feeding fishes in the briny blue about now.† (Sniff.) â€Å"I know her only short time, but I think I can say for all of us, that I always want to see her naked. Truth, mon. And when I think upon the round, firm – ; † – she will be missed,† Clay said, finishing for the faux Hawaiian. He had clamped a hand over Kona's mouth and was dragging him out the door. â€Å"She was a bright kid.† With that, the minister jumped to the podium, thanked everyone for coming, and declared, with a prayer, all respects paid in full. Amen. â€Å"Well, yes, mental health can be a problem,† said Growl Ryder. â€Å"Being God's conscience is a tough job.† Nate looked around, and, as if following his gaze, the Goo receded around them until they were in a chamber about fifteen feet in diameter – a bubble. It was like camping in someone's bladder, Nate thought. â€Å"That better?† Ryder asked. Nate realized that the Colonel was the one controlling the shape of the chamber they were in. â€Å"Someplace to sit would be good.† The Goo behind Nate shaped itself into a chaise longue. Nate touched it tentatively, expecting to pull his hand back trailing strings of slime, but although the Goo glistened as if it were wet, on the chair it felt dry. Warm and icky, but dry. He sat down on the chaise. â€Å"Everyone thinks you're dead,† Nate said. â€Å"You, too.† Nate hadn't thought about it much, but, of course, the Colonel had to be right. They would have thought him long dead. â€Å"You've been here since you disappeared, what, twelve years ago?† â€Å"Yes, they took me with a modified right whale, ate my whole Zodiac, my equipment – everything. They brought me here in a blue whale. I went mad during the trip. Couldn't handle the whole idea of it. They kept me restrained most of the way here. I'm sure that didn't help.† Ryder shrugged. â€Å"I got better, once I accepted the way things are down here. I understood why they took me.† â€Å"And that would be†¦?† â€Å"The same reason they took you. I was about to figure out their existence from what was hidden in the signal of different whale calls. They took both of us to protect the whale ships and, ultimately, the Goo. We should be grateful they didn't just kill us.† Nate had wondered about that before. Why the trouble? â€Å"Okay, why didn't they?† â€Å"Well, they took me alive because the Goo and the people here wanted to know what I knew, and by what path I came to suspect the content in the whale calls. They took you alive because I ordered it so.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"What do you mean, ‘why'? Because we were colleagues, because I taught you, because you're bright and intuitive and I liked you and I'm a decent guy. ‘Why? Fuck you, ‘why?  » â€Å"Growl, you live in a slime lair and maintain an identity as the mysterious overlord of an undersea city, you command a fleet of meat dreadnaughts with crews of humanoid whale people, and you're currently reclining in a pulsating mass of gelatinous goo that looks like it escaped from hell's own Jell-O mold – so excuse the fuck out of me if I question your motives.† â€Å"Okay, good point. Can I get you something to drink?† Like many scientists Nate had known, Ryder had plodded on only to realize midcourse that he'd forgotten certain social niceties practiced by other civilized humans, but in this case he was completely missing the point. â€Å"No, I don't need anything to drink. I need to know how this happened. What is this stuff? You're a biologist, Growl, you have to have been curious about this.† â€Å"I'm still curious. But what I do know is that this stuff makes up everything in Gooville, everything you've seen here, the buildings, the corridors, most of the machinery – although I guess you'd call it biomachinery – all of it is the Goo. One giant, all-encompassing organism. It can form itself into nearly any organism on earth, and it can design new organisms as the need arises. The Goo made the whale ships and the whaley boys. And here's the kicker, Nate: It didn't make them over thirty million years. The entire species isn't more than three hundred years old.† â€Å"That's not possible,† Nate said. There were certain things that you accepted if you were going to be a biologist, and one of them was that complex life was a process of evolution by natural selection, that you got a new species because the genes that favored survival in a certain environment were replicated in that species, selected by being passed on, often a process that took millions of years. You didn't put in your order and pick up a new species at the window. There was no cosmic fry cook, there was no watchmaker, there was no designer. There was only process and time. â€Å"How could you possibly know that anyway?† â€Å"I just know things by being in contact with the Goo, but I'm not far off. It might be less time – two hundred years.† â€Å"Two hundred years? The whaley boys are definitely sentient by any definition, and I don't even know what the whale ships are, but they're definitely alive, too. That kind of complexity doesn't happen in that short a time.† â€Å"No, I'd say the Goo has probably been here as long as three and a half billion years. The rocks around these caves are some of the oldest in the world. I'm just saying the whaley boys and the ships are new. They're only a few hundred years old because that's how long ago the Goo needed them.† â€Å"The Goo needed them, so it made them to serve it? Like it has will?† â€Å"It does have will. It's self-aware, and it knows a lot. In fact, I'd venture to say that the Goo is a repository for every bit of biological knowledge on the planet. This, Nate, this Goo is as close to God as we are ever going to see. It's the perfect soup.† â€Å"As in primordial soup?† â€Å"Precisely. Four billion years ago some big organic molecules grouped up, probably around some deep-sea source of geothermal heat, and they learned how to divide, how to replicate. Since replication is the name of life's game, it very quickly – probably in the span of less than a hundred million years – covered the entire planet. Big organic molecules that couldn't exist now because there are millions of bacteria that would eat them, but back then there were no bacteria. At one time the entire oceanic surface of the earth was populated by one single living thing that had learned to replicate itself. Sure, as the replicators were exposed to different conditions they mutated, they developed into new species, they fed on each other, some colonized each other and turned into complex animals, and then more complex animals, but part of that original living animal pulled back into its original niche. By this time chemical information was being exchanged – fi rst by UNA, then by DNA – and as each new species evolved, it carried on all the information for making the next species, and that information came back to the original animal. But it had its safe niche, pulling energy from the earth's heat, sheltered in the deep ocean and by rock. It took in all the information from the animals that it came in contact with, but it changed only enough to protect itself, replicate itself. While a million million species lived and died in the sea, this original animal evolved very slowly, learning, always learning. Think of it, Nate: Within the cells of your body is not only the blueprint for every living thing on earth but everything that has ever lived. Ninety-eight percent of your DNA is just hitching a ride, just lucky little genes that were smart enough to align themselves to other successful genes, like marrying into money, if you will. But the Goo, not only does it have all of those genes, it has the diagram to turn them on and off. Th at seat you're sitting on may well be three billion years old.† Nate suddenly felt something he'd felt before only when waking up in a hotel with the bedspread pulled up around his face: a deep and earnest hope, motivated by disgust, that in all the time it had been there, someone had cleaned the cast-off genetic material from it. He stood up, just for safety. â€Å"How could you possibly know this, Growl? It goes against everything we know about evolution.† â€Å"No it doesn't. It completely fits. Yes, a complex process like life can develop, given enough time, but we also know that an animal that fits perfectly into its niche isn't pressured to change. Sharks have remained basically the same for a hundred million years, the chambered nautilus for five hundred million. Well, you're just looking at the animal that found its niche first. The first animal, the source.† Nate shook his head at the magnitude of it. â€Å"You might be able to explain the evolutionary path being preserved, but you can't explain consciousness, analytical thought, processes that require a very complex mechanism to perform. You can't pull off that sort of complexity of function with big, fluffy organic molecules.† â€Å"The molecules have evolved, but they remembered. The Goo is a complex, if amorphous, life form; there are no analogs for it. Everything is a model of it, and nothing is a model of it.† Nate stepped back from the Colonel, and the Goo flexed to make room for him. The movement gave him a brief moment of vertigo, and he lost his balance. The Goo caught him, the surface moving forward against his shoulder blades just enough to steady him on his feet. Nate whipped around quickly and the Goo pulled back. â€Å"God, that's creepy!† â€Å"There you go, Nate. Aware. You'd be amazed at what the Goo knows – at what it can tell us. You can have a life here, Nate. You'll see things here you would never see, you'll do things you could never do. And in the process you can help me unravel the greatest biological riddle in the history of the world.† â€Å"I think you're supposed to laugh manically after saying something like that, Colonel.† â€Å"If you help me, I'll give you what you've always wanted.† â€Å"Despite what you think, what I want is to go home.† â€Å"That's not going to happen, Nate. Not ever. You're a bright man, so I won't insult you by pretending the circumstances are any different than they are: You are not ever going to leave these caverns alive, so now you have to make the decision of how you want to spend your life. You can have everything here that you could have on the surface – much more, in fact – but you're not leaving.† â€Å"Well, in that case, Colonel, see if you can get your giant booger to duplicate you so you can go fuck yourself.† â€Å"I know what the whale song means, Nate. I know what it's for.† Nate felt as if he'd been sucker-punched by his own obsession, but he tried not to show the impact. â€Å"Doesn't really matter now, does it?† â€Å"I understand. You take a little time to work into the idea, Nate, but there is some urgency. This isn't just standing back and collecting data – we need to do something. I want your help. We'll talk soon.† The Goo came down and seemed to envelop the Colonel. There was a sound like ripping paper, and a long, pink tunnel opened behind Nate, leading all the way to the iris door through which he'd entered. He took one last look over his shoulder, but there was nothing except Goo, Ryder was gone. Nate was met in the hall by the two big killer whaley boys, who took one look at his face, then looked at each other, then snickered, with big toothy grins. Emily 7 was nowhere to be seen. â€Å"He's a fucking squirrel,† Nate said. The whaley boys went into wheezing fits of laughter, doubling over as they led Nate down the corridor and back to the grotto. Say what you want, Nate thought. The Goo designed these guys to enjoy themselves. As soon as Nate entered the apartment, he knew he wasn't alone. There was a smell there, and not just the ubiquitous ocean smell that permeated the whole grotto, but a sweeter, artificial smell. He quickly checked the main living rooms and the bathroom. When the portal to the bedroom opened, he could see a shape under the covers in his double bed. The biolighting hadn't come on in the bedroom as usual. Nate sighed. The shape under the covers nuzzled into the corner of the bed exactly the way she had on the whale ship. â€Å"Emily 7, you are a lovely – ah – person, really, but I'm – † He was what? He had no idea what he was going to say. He was just trying to get to know himself better? He needed some space? But then he realized that whatever, whoever was under the sheets was too small to be the enamored whaley boy. Nu;ez, he thought. This was going to be worse than Emily 7. Nu;ez was really his only human contact in Gooville, even if she was working for the cause. He didn't want to alienate her. He couldn't afford to. He moved into the room, trying to think of a way that this could possibly not make things worse. â€Å"Look, I know that we've spent a lot of time together, and I like you, I really do –  » â€Å"Good,† said Amy, throwing back the covers. â€Å"I like you, too. You coming in?† CHAPTER THIRTY Motherfluker Clay and Kona had spent the day cleaning the muck out of the raised-from-the-deep Always Confused. Now Clay stood on the breakwater at the Lahaina Harbor, watching the sun bubble red into the Pacific and throw purple fire over the island. He was feeling that particular mix of melancholy and agitation that usually comes with drinking coffee and Irish whiskey at the wake of someone you never knew, and it usually ends in a fight. He felt as if he should do something, but he didn't know what. He needed to move, but he didn't know where. Libby had confirmed that the last message about Nate had been recorded more than a week after he'd disappeared, and it seemed to be more evidence that Nate had survived his ordeal in the channel, but where was he? How do you rush in to save someone when you don't know where he is? All their analysis of the tapes since then had yielded nothing but whale calls. Clay was lost. â€Å"What you doing?† Kona, barefoot and smelling of bleach, came up behind him. â€Å"I'm waiting for the green flash.† He wasn't, really, but sometimes, just as the sun dipped below the horizon, it happened. He needed something to happen. â€Å"Yeah, I seen that. What cause that?† â€Å"Uh, well† – and that was another thing, he didn't have enough of a handle on the natural sciences to keep this whole project going – â€Å"I believe as the sun disappears under the horizon, the residual spectrum bounces off the mucusphere, thus causing the green flash.† â€Å"Yah, mon. The mucusphere.† â€Å"It's science,† said Clay, knowing that it wasn't science. â€Å"When the boat clean, then we going out, record whales and like dat?† Good question, Clay thought. He could collect the data, but he didn't have the knowledge necessary to analyze it. He had hoped that Amy would do that. â€Å"I don't know. If we find Nate, maybe.† â€Å"You think he still living, then? Even after all this time?† â€Å"Yeah. I hope. I guess we should keep up the work until we can find him.† â€Å"Yeah. Nate say them Japanese going to kill our minkes if you don't work hard.† â€Å"Minke whales, yeah. I've been on one of their ships. Norwegians, too.† â€Å"That's some evil fuckery.† â€Å"Maybe. The minke herd is large. They're not endangered. The Japanese and the Norwegians aren't really taking enough of them to hurt the population, so why shouldn't we let them hunt them? I mean, what's the argument for stopping them? Because whales are cute? The Chinese fry kitties – we don't protest them.† â€Å"The Chinese fry kitties?† â€Å"I'm not saying I agree with killing them, but we really don't have a good argument.† â€Å"The Chinese fry kitties?† Kona's voice was getting higher each time he spoke. â€Å"Maybe some of the work we do here can prove that these animals have culture, that they're closer to us than they perceive. Then we'll have an argument.† â€Å"Kitties? Like, little meow kitties? They just fry them?† Clay was musing, watching the sunset and feeling sad and frustrated, and words came out of him like a long, rambling sigh: â€Å"Of course, when I was on the whaling ship, I saw how the Japanese whalers looked at the animals. They see them as fish. No more or less than a tuna. But I was photographing a sperm-whale mother and her calf, and the calf got separated from the pod. The mother came back to get the calf and pushed it away from our Zodiac. The whalers were visibly moved. They recognized that mother/child behavior. It wasn't fish behavior. So it's not a lost cause.† â€Å"Kitties?† Kona sighed, taking on the same tone of resignation that Clay had used. â€Å"Yeah,† said Clay. â€Å"So how we going to find Nate so we can do good work and save them humpies and minkes?† â€Å"Is that what we're doing?† â€Å"No. Not now. Now we just watching for a green flash.† â€Å"I don't know any science, Kona. I made that up, about the green flash.† â€Å"Ah, I didn't know. Science you don't know just looks like magic.† â€Å"I don't believe in magic.† â€Å"Oh, brah, don't say dat. Magic come bite you in the ass for sure. You going to need my help for sure now.† Clay felt some of the weight of his melancholy lift by sharing a moment with the surfer, but his need to act was worrying at him like a flea in the ear. â€Å"Let's take a drive up-country, Kona.† â€Å"They really fry kitties in China?† Kona said, his voice so high now that dogs living around the harbor winced. â€Å"Amy, what, how – what?† The lights had come up, and Nate could see that it was Amy in his bed. It was a lot of Amy that he hadn't seen before. â€Å"They took me, Nate. Just like you. A few days later. It was horrible. Quick, hold me.† â€Å"A whale ship ate you, too?† â€Å"Yes, just like you. Hold me, I'm so afraid.† â€Å"And they brought you all the way here?† â€Å"Yes, just like you, only it's worse for a dame. I feel†¦ so†¦ so naked. Hold me.† † ‘Dame'? No one says ‘dame' anymore.† â€Å"Well, African-American, then.† â€Å"You are not African-American.† â€Å"I can't remember all the politically correct terms. Christ, Nate, what do you need, a diagram? Crawl in.† Amy flapped the covers, threw them back, then struck a cheesecake pose, grinning. But Nate backed away. â€Å"You put your head in the water to listen for the whale. The only other person I ever saw do that was Ryder.† â€Å"Look at my tan line, Nate.† She danced her fingertips over her tan line, which to Nate looked more like a beige line. Nevertheless, she had his attention. â€Å"I've never had a tan line before.† â€Å"Amy!† â€Å"What!† â€Å"You set me up!† â€Å"I'm naked over here. Haven't you thought about that?† â€Å"Yes, but –  » â€Å"Ha! You admit it. I was your research assistant. You had firing power over me. Yet there you are, thinking about me naked.† â€Å"You are naked.† â€Å"Ha! I think I've made my point.† â€Å"That ‘ha' thing is unprofessional, Amy.† â€Å"Don't care. I no longer work for you, and you are not the boss of me anymore, and furthermore, look at this butt.† She rolled over. He did. She looked back over her shoulder and grinned. â€Å"Ha!† â€Å"Stop that.† He looked at the wall. â€Å"You spied on me. You caused all this to happen.† â€Å"Don't be ridiculous. I was just part of it, but all that is forgiven. Look how luscious I am.† Amy did a presentation wave over herself, as if Nate had just won her in a game show. â€Å"Would you stop that?† Nate reached over and pulled the covers up to her chin. â€Å"Lus-cious,† she said, pulling the covers down, revealing a breast with each syllable. Nate walked out of the room. â€Å"Put on some clothes and come out here. I'm not going to try to talk to you like that.† â€Å"Fine, don't talk,† she called after him. â€Å"Just crawl in.† â€Å"You're just bait,† he called from the kitchen. â€Å"Hey, buster, I'm not that young.† â€Å"This conversation is over until you come out here fully dressed.† Nate sat down at his little dining table and tried to will away his erection. â€Å"What are you, some kind of fruitcake, some kind of sissy boy, some kind of fairy, huh?† â€Å"Yes, that's it,† Nate said. For a moment nothing but quiet from the bedroom. Then: â€Å"Oh, my God, I feel like such a maroon.† Her voice was softer now. She came stumbling out of the bedroom, the sheet wrapped around her. â€Å"I'm really sorry, Nate. I had no idea. You seemed so interested. I wouldn't have –  » â€Å"Ha!† Nate said. â€Å"See how it feels.† The Old Broad had given them iced ginger tea and set Kona up at one of her telescopes to look at the moon. She sat down next to Clay on the lanai and they listened to the night for a while. â€Å"It's nice up here,† Clay said. â€Å"I don't think I've been up here at night before.† â€Å"Clay, I'm usually in bed by now, so I hope you don't think me dense if I get things clear in my mind.† â€Å"Of course not, Elizabeth.† â€Å"Thank you. As I see it, for years you and Nate have been telling everyone that I'm a nut job because I said I could communicate with whales. Now you drive up here in a froth – in the middle of the night – to deliver the earth-shattering news that what I've been telling you all along is possible?† She leaned her chin on her fist and looked wide-eyed at Clay. â€Å"That about right?† â€Å"We never called you a nut job, Elizabeth,† Clay said. â€Å"That's an overstatement.† â€Å"Doesn't matter, Clay. I'm not mad.† She sipped her tea. â€Å"And I'm not angry either. I've been in these islands a very long time, Clay, and I've lived on the side of this volcano for most of it. I've spent more time looking down on that channel than most people have spent on the planet, but not once did you or Nate ask me why. Didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, I guess. Easier to think I was just a few bananas short of a bunch than to ask me why I was interested.† Clay felt sweat running down the small of his back. He'd been uncomfortable around the Old Broad before, but in a totally different way – the way one feels when a matron aunt pinches your cheek and starts to ramble inanely about the old days, not like this. This was like getting sandbagged by a prosecutor. â€Å"I don't think that Nate or I could answer that question, Elizabeth, so it's not out of order that we didn't ask you.† â€Å"That's a load a shark balls, old Auntie,† Kona said, not looking away from the eyepiece of the eight-inch mirror telescope. â€Å"He's a sweet boy,† the Old Broad said. â€Å"Clay, you know that Mr. Robinson was in the navy. Did I ever tell you what it was that he did?† â€Å"No, ma'am, I just assumed he was an officer.† â€Å"I can understand how you might think that, but all the money came from my family. No, sweetheart, he was a noncom, a chief petty officer, a sonar man. In fact, I'm told he was the best sonar man in the navy at the time.† â€Å"I'm sure he was, Elizabeth, but – ; â€Å"Shut up, Clay. You came here for help, I'm helping you.† â€Å"Yes, ma'am.† Clay shut up. â€Å"James – that was Mr. Robinson's first name – he loved to listen to the humpbacks. He said they made his job a damn sight harder, but he loved them. We were stationed in Honolulu then, but submarine crews were on and off on hundred-day duty shifts, so when he would have time in port, we would come over to Maui, rent a boat, and go out in the channel. He wanted me to be part of the world he lived in all the time – the world of sound under the sea. You can understand that, can't you, Clay?† â€Å"Of course.† But Clay was getting a not-so-good feeling about this trip down memory lane. He had things he needed to know, but he wasn't sure that this was part of them. â€Å"That's when I bought Papa Lani with some of my father's money. We thought we'd live there full-time eventually, maybe turn it into a hotel. Anyway, one day James and I decided to rent a little powerboat and camp on the ocean side of Lanai. It was a calm day and an easy trip. On our way over, a big humpback came up beside the boat. It even seemed to change course when we did. James slowed down so we could stay with our new friend. There were no rules then about getting close to the whales like there are now. We didn't even know we were supposed to save them back then, but James loved the humpbacks, and I had come to as well. â€Å"There was no one but the pineapple-company workers on Lanai at that time, so we found a deserted beach where we thought we'd build a fire, cook some dinner, drink highballs from tin cups, swim naked, and†¦ you know, make love on the beach. See there, I've shocked you.† â€Å"No you haven't,† said Clay. â€Å"Yes I have. I'm sorry.† â€Å"No you haven't. Really, I'm fine, tell the story.† Old ladies, he thought. â€Å"When the trade winds came up that evening, we pitched the tent a little ways off the beach in a small canyon sheltered from the wind. Well, I gave James my best hummer, and he fell asleep right away.† Clay choked on his iced tea. â€Å"Oh, my dear, did an ice cube go down the wrong pipe? Kona, come here and Heimlich Clay, dear.† â€Å"No, I'm fine.† Clay waved the surfer away. â€Å"Really, I'm okay.† Tears streamed down his cheeks, and he wiped his nose on his shirttail. He was suddenly incredibly grateful he hadn't brought Clair. â€Å"Just need to catch my breath.† Kona sat down cross-legged at their feet, having suddenly found that he was interested in history. â€Å"Go ahead, old Auntie.† â€Å"Well, I got a little bit of a headache. So I decided to go back to the boat to get an aspirin from the first-aid kit. Come to think of it, it must have been from the tension in my neck. I always got a crick in my neck when I did that, but James loved it so.† â€Å"Jesus, Elizabeth, would you get on with the story,† Clay said. â€Å"I'm sorry, dear, I've shocked you, haven't I?† â€Å"No, I'm fine. I'm just curious to find out what happened.† â€Å"Well, as long as I didn't shock you. I suppose I should be more discreet in front of the boy, but it is part of the story.† â€Å"No, please. What happened on the beach?† â€Å"You know, we could fuck like mad monkeys, all night long, and it never gave me a headache, but one –  » â€Å"The beach, please.† â€Å"When I got to the beach, there were two men near the boat. It looked like they were doing something to the engine. I ducked behind a rock before they saw me. I watched them in the moonlight, a short one and the tall one. The tall one seemed to be wearing some sort of helmet or diving suit. But then the short one said something, and the tall one started laughing – snickering, really – and I saw his face in the moonlight. It wasn't a helmet, Clay. It was a face – a smooth, shiny face, with a jaw full of teeth. I could see the teeth even from where I was. It wasn't human, Clay. â€Å"Well, I went back and woke James, told him he had to come see. I took him back to my hiding place. The two men, or the man and that thing were still there, but behind them, right there almost on the beach, was also a humpback, a big one. The water couldn't have been ten feet deep where he was, yet he was sitting there calm as could be. â€Å"Well, all James saw was the two men messing with our boat. We had drunk quite a few cocktails, I guess, and James had his big, strong man act to do. He told me to stay where I was and not to move for anything. Then he went after them – shouting at the top of his lungs for them to get away. The tall one, the nonhuman thing, dove under the water right away, but the man looked around like he'd been trapped. He started wading out toward the whale, and James went right in after him. Then, at last, James saw the whale. He just stopped there in the surf and looked. That's when the thing came up out of the water behind him. Suddenly it was just there, looming behind James. I wanted to yell, but I was so afraid. The thing, it hit James with something, maybe a rock, and he fell forward into the water. Then I screamed for all I was worth, but I'm not sure they even heard me over the noise of the wind and the surf. â€Å"The man took one of James's arms, the thing the other, and they swam to the whale with James in tow. Then, Clay, as crazy as this sounds, this is what happened: That whale rolled over, and they stuffed James into it, back by the genital slit, I think. Then they both crawled into it as well. Then the whale kicked its tail until it was in deeper water and swam away. I never saw my husband again.† The Old Broad took Clay's hand and squeezed it. â€Å"I swear to you, that's how it happened, Clay.† Clay didn't know what to say. Over the years she'd said a lot of crazy-sounding stuff, but this was the mother of all crazy stuff. Yet she was more serious than he'd ever seen her. It didn't matter what he believed – there was only one thing to say to her. â€Å"I believe you, Elizabeth.† â€Å"That's why, Clay. That's why I've helped finance you over the years, it's why I've watched the channel all these years, it's why I own two acres right near the water, yet I've lived up-country for all these years.† â€Å"I don't understand, Elizabeth.† â€Å"They came back, Clay. That night the whale came back, and the thing came back to the beach, but I hid. They came back for me. The next day I didn't even go back to the boat. I hiked my way to the pineapple plantation and got help there. They brought me back to Lahaina on one of their big freighters. I haven't been on the water since. The closest I ever go near the water is when there's an event at the sanctuary, and then there are a lot of people around.† Clay thought about the Japanese soldier they'd found on a Pacific island who'd been hiding from the Americans for twenty years after the war was over. Elizabeth Robinson had obviously been hiding from something that wasn't looking for her. â€Å"Didn't you tell anyone? Surely the navy would have wanted to find out what happened to one of their best sonar men.† â€Å"They asked. I told them. They dismissed it. They said James went swimming at night, he drowned, and I was drunk. They sent some men over there, and so did the Maui police. They found the boat, still on the beach, with everything in working order. They found our camp, and they found an empty bottle of rum. That was the end of it.† â€Å"Why didn't you ever tell me? Or Nate?† â€Å"I wanted you to keep doing the work that you do. Meanwhile, I kept watching. I read all the scientific journals, too, you know. I look for anything that might make sense of it. Come with me.† She got up and went into her house, Clay and Kona following without a word. In the bedroom she opened a cedar chest and took out a large scrapbook. She laid it on the bed and flipped it open to the last page. It was Nate's obituary. â€Å"Nathan was one of the best in the field, and that little girl said that a whale ate him. Then she disappeared at sea.† She flipped a page. â€Å"Twelve years ago this Dr. Gerard Ryder disappeared at sea, also studying whale calls at the time, although blue whales.† She flipped another page. â€Å"This fellow, a Russian sonar expert who defected to England, disappeared off Cornwall in 1973. They said it was probably KGB.† â€Å"Well, it probably was KGB. I'm sorry, Elizabeth, but each of these incidents seems to have a perfectly normal explanation, and they happen over such a long period of time in different places. I don't see what the connection is.† â€Å"It's underwater sound, Clay. And they're not normal. All these men, including my James, were experts at listening to the ocean.† â€Å"Even so, are you saying that someone has trained whales? That creatures have been abducting sonar guys and shoving them up whales' bums?† â€Å"Don't be crude, Clay. You came to me because you wanted help, I'm trying to give it to you. I don't know who they are, but what you've told me about there being language hidden in the whale song – it just confirms in my mind that they took Nate, and James, and all these other people. That's all I know. I'm telling you that I'm sure that Nate is alive, too. It's another piece to the puzzle.† Clay sat down on the bed next to the scrapbook. There were articles from scientific journals on cetacean biology, on underwater acoustics, news items about whale strandings, some that didn't seem connected at all. It was the search path of someone who didn't know what she was looking for. He'd gone so long thinking of her as crazy that he'd never given her credit for how knowledgeable she really was. He was realizing only now what had been driving her. He felt like a shit. â€Å"Elizabeth, what about the call about the sandwich? What about the crystals and the whales talking to you – all of that? I don't understand.† â€Å"I did get the call, Clay. And as for the other, I have dreams of the whales talking to me, and I pay attention to them. Fifty years of searching, I take clues where I can get them. Given what I was looking for, I thought magic and divination as valid a method as any tool in the search.† â€Å"See,† Kona said, â€Å"I told you. Science you don't know? Magic.† â€Å"I guess I was casting my faith around carelessly, I just hope I didn't do something awful.† â€Å"Nah, old Auntie, Jah's love on ye anyway, even if you're trampin' around your faith like a ho.† â€Å"Kona, shut up,† Clay said. â€Å"What do you mean, you might have done something awful, Elizabeth?† She picked up the scrapbook, closed it, then sat down on the bed next to Clay and hung her head. A tear dripped down onto the black pasteboard cover of the book. â€Å"When the call came, and the whale said that he wanted a pastrami on rye, I recognized the voice, Clay. I recognized the voice, and I insisted Nathan go out there and take the sandwich with him.† â€Å"It was probably a prank, Elizabeth, someone you've met. Nate was going out that day anyway. You didn't cause this.† â€Å"No, you don't understand, Clay. Pastrami on rye was my James's favorite. I always had one waiting for him when he came in from submarine duty. The voice on the phone was my James.†