Ku Klux Klan Essays (2430 words) - Reconstruction Era,

Ku Klux Klan Ku Klux Klan Over the years many people havecreated groups to support their beliefs. These groups allow people with the same ideas to gather together and work out plans to advance their ideas. All of the groups that have been established have not necessarily gained a positive image from the public. One example is the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan originated over one hundred years ago and has gone through many eras and changes since its beginning. Although many people know the Ku Klux Klan exists, they do not understand its purpose or how it has changed throughout its life. After the Civil War ended, the Southern states went through a time known as Reconstruction. Ex-Confederate soldiers had returned home now, and they were still upset about the outcome of the war. It is at this point in time that the Ku Klux Klan became a part of everyday life for many Southerners. In the beginning the Ku Klux Klan was started to be a way for people who had the same views to spend time together. The original members meant of the Ku Klux Klan to be a "hilarious social club" that would be full of aimless fun (Invisible Empire, p.9), though in later years the Ku Klux Klan became known for their violence against people outside the white race and people who associated with them. Contrary to what most people believe, the Ku Klux Klan was started because of a few people wanted to have some innocent fun, not because they were intending to start a chain of violence on anyone outside the white race.(The Klan, p.2) The Ku Klux Klan began in Pulaski, Tennessee, a small town south of Nashville. On the night of December 24, 1865 six ex-confederate soldiers were sitting around a fireplace it the law office of Judge Thomas M. Jones.(Invisible Empire, p.9) These six friends were having a discussion and were trying to come up with an idea to cheer themselves up. One of the men suggested that they should start a club and the rest of the men agreed with the idea. After discussing the mew idea, the men decided to meet again and retired for the night. The second meeting was again at Judge Thomas M. Jones' law office and was attended by the same six men. During this meeting the group decided it need a name. After many hours of deliberating they decided on the name derived from the Greek word kuklos, meaning circle Ku Klux.("Intro. to the Knights of the KKK", p.2) The group later added "Klan" to the word to make the phrase complete. At this time the group decided what to call the different ranks of the members, starting with the leader, the Grand Cyclops, all the way down to the ghouls, or members of no rank. When the men had finished organizing, they were overjoyed about their group, and they decided to show everyone their creation. The members wrapped themselves and their horses in sheet and rode through the small town and terrified everyone, especially Negroes. No doubt, this is the harmless little club that later would be taken to extremes by its members. Admittedly, the Ku Klux Klan did become out of control in later years, but when it was first created it had no specific meaning; it was a way just to have fun. After the members saw the effect the group's appearance had on people, they began to use the results to their advantage. Because the Klan resembled ghost, many of the citizens of Pulaski believed them to be dead soldiers of the Confederate Army when they saw them riding on their horses through the small town. While Negroes were busy avoiding the Ku Klux Klan, its purpose changed. The Ku Klux Klan began aiming its violent actions toward Negroes, Jews, Orientals, and various other members of society that did not belong to the white race. Although violence was already occurring against non-whites before the organization of the Ku Klux Klan, the Klan used this fact as a way to keep their "enemies" under control. No one denies that the Ku Klux Klan became a brutal force over the years, but the fact remains that violence was not the reason the group was founded. It is true that all groups and club must go through changes, but many changes of the changes which the Ku Klux Klan endured were not necessarily the best for everyone. Shortly after the Ku Klux Klan's first ride, its members began to cause a major impact on society. Many

The Chrysalids by Thomas M. Wagner Essay Example

The Chrysalids by Thomas M. Wagner Essay Example The Chrysalids by Thomas M. Wagner Paper The Chrysalids by Thomas M. Wagner Paper The Review of â€Å"The Chrysalids†, written by Thomas M. Wagner in the year 2004, explores the elements of the book that made it a memorable reading experience, while also discussing the points that rendered the book’s focal issues moot. Wagner compliments Wyndham’s use of his book to explore the themes of xenophobia, intolerance and bigotry that were prominent in society during the period, but criticizes the climax, involving the Sealander Lady and her justification for her actions during the rescue. The piece involves strengths surrounding Wagner’s use of informal language, his focus on critical themes explored throughout the text, and his discussion of the flawed survival of the fittest trope. The article is not without its weaknesses, failing to deliver topic sentences throughout, and introducing a new point in the concluding paragraph. Informal language tends to be used in situations where writers want to bring across their points in a succinct manner, without complicating the information being delivered. Wagner’s use of informal language is prominent throughout the article, bringing across a particular tone that is used to highlight his view of the piece’s climax. Examples of informal language being used can be found in paragraph 9, ‘So far, so good’ and paragraph 14, ‘I almost needed a crane to hoist my jaw from the floor’. Both examples bring across a more personal tone, and link the writer to the target readers more directly. Because of Wagner’s use of a thesis statement in his introductory paragraph, there was provision of information on the strengths and weaknesses that were present in the text. This thesis statement provides readers with knowledge of what is to be expected. He discusses the themes with the text, that focused on the issues of xenophobia, intolerance and bigotry that were heavily prominent during the period when the text was written. He draws a comparison between the book and the Nazi Par

Business Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words

Business Project - Essay Example In many cases, the solution of transferring part or all the production units in developing countries appears as the most appropriate corporate decision at least for a specific period of time. It has to be noticed that in accordance with the World Economic Outlook (2002, 82) ‘trends and cross-county differences in corporate indicators reflect a variety of country-specific institutional and macroeconomic factors, as well as industrial specialization and firm size’. In other words the decision of ‘relocating’ in a new commercial market has to based on several elements which all must be thoroughly examined before the beginning of any relevant process. The existence of factors that may not have been taken into account when deciding this option can delay the development of the relevant plan and in many cases can even lead to its cancellation. China has proved to be a place that can help the companies to survive – at least on a short term basis – and to develop their level of production while the cost involved is low. Specifically regarding the particular issue MacMurray (1994, 68) stated that ‘as Chinas enterprise reform movement accelerates, MNCs will need to closely monitor the evolution of the industries in which they participate and seek a deeper understanding of the emerging competitors and acquisition candidates in each’. In other words, relocation in China can be an appropriate solution for many corporations however all parameters have to be examined thoroughly in order to assure that in the future the company will continue to have the same benefits or at least that this decision will not be proved to be ‘fatal’ for the firm’s survival. This paper examines the ‘viability’ of a relevant decision which refers to a German automobile company, Omega Motors Gmbh. The company decided to transfer part of its production unit to China at least for a few years in order to examine if suc h a decision could help it to reduce its costs and to

The US Importation Benefits for World Development Term Paper

The US Importation Benefits for World Development - Term Paper Example Countries trade with each other because of the concept of comparative advantage and specialization.   Using the concept of Adams Smith as the basis of the theory it would not able to remember the foundation of having to import or to buy when it would cost more to make. If a foreign country can supply the United States with a commodity which would be cheaper than it can make, then there is a reason to buy from said foreign while at the same time allowing some of the produce of the US industry to be sold. In other words, the US would produce where it has some advantage. The need to specialize and trade for the same reason should govern the behavior of individuals at it meant to result in greater out and income.   A lawyer who is also a skilled painter can benefit to just hire a painter to paint his house. It is assumed that the lawyer can earn $50 dollars per hour and that the painter earns $20 an hour. Although the lawyer is a good painter, he would do best to just specialize in his work as a lawyer by hiring a painted, as he could be saving $20 per hour. That the world economy is benefited by US importation cannot be denied.   Ã‚  One cannot talk about the economy without going back to things about demand and supply of good and services. The demanders are the households, individuals, and entities and the suppliers are the firms. This interaction could result in economic activities that will the cause the continuous production of needs and wants as sustained by the continuing demand.   From the macroeconomic model, the economy of every country is then measured by GDP growth with the necessary components of consumption, investment, government spending, and net export or the result of exports after deducting imports. Imports by the US may result therefore to trade deficit whether the US could actually be consuming more than it produces or exports. It may there have a negative effect on its GDP. However, in business, one’s loss is another’s gain.

Slippery Slope and related Hypothesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Slippery Slope and related Hypothesis - Essay Example The society at large hypothesis was postulated by O.W Wilson (Delattre 69). According to him, the society at large plays a significant role in making public officers such as policemen and policewomen to participate in corruption (Delattre 70). According to the theory, when a citizen offers a gratuity to a police officer for protection he/she virtually helps in the promotion of corruption. By such an action, the citizen opens doors for the police officer to accept even bigger gratuity offers from other citizens with the unyielding being accused of crimes in spite of their innocence (Delattre 26). Police officers are often considered to belong to a special category of public officers and seem to be above the law. As such their actions, according to the masses, cannot be questioned. Taking advantage of this situation, some police officers grant the same special attention to the criminals with whom they partake in crime.   According to the structural hypothesis theory, values trickle d own from the top brass to individuals in lower ranks (Kaplan & Johnson 25). For example, officers become prone to doing certain activities by watching the activities that their seniors do. Most police officers do not start working as corrupt individuals but instead adopt the deviant behavior while in the field (Kelley 34). Given the fact that the veterans and superiors had learnt the behavior earlier, they do not hesitate to pass it on to the younger generation that comes after them.  

Impact of Government Curriculum on Teaching and Learning

Impact of Government Curriculum on Teaching and Learning Governmental Control Over Curriculum and the Impact on Teachers as Skilled  Professionals Introduction Caldwell and Hayward (1998) state that the need for reform in England’s school system was realized in 1976 (p. 1). Yet, it was not until 1988 with the Education Reform Act instituted under Margaret Thatcher that a â€Å"national curriculum, national tests† and control of the schools by the government began to become a reality (Caldwell Hayward 1998, p. 1). Murnane and Steele (2007) contend that national involvement in the public schools was intended to support the learners, as well as the teachers (p. 15). However, because of the continued awareness by governments that Western educational institutions were lagging behind the accomplishments of Eastern schools, continued changes in the area of education and government’s control over it have completely altered the educational landscape (Murnane Steele 2007, p. 15). This is because of an adopted neo-liberalist policy approach that has favored markets over learners and policies over teacher effectiveness (Apple 200 1, p. 182). As a result teachers are becoming â€Å"deskilled† and incapable of maintaining their own control over their effectiveness in the classroom (Hall 2004, p. 3). As this control subsides, therefore, teachers are leaving the profession due to frustration and an inability to maintain their professional capabilities in the schools. This knowledge provides evidence that the neo-liberalist policies that have been adopted in the United Kingdom are not achieving the end results as once forecast and that there is perhaps a need to reconsider these policies in order to ensure that teachers that are the foundation of education retain the skills and knowledge that is necessary to instruct society’s children. Neo-Liberalism Apple (2001) indicates that there was once a â€Å"classical liberalism† that existed in relation to the schools and those policies related to education that impacted teachers and students (p. 182). However, Apple (2001) states that as time has progressed the classical liberalism of the state policies has been altered toward a â€Å"neo-liberalism approach† (p. 182). According to Apple (2001), it is important to understand the differences between these two types of views of education because these differences are at the core of the educational issues that schools in many countries face today (p. 182). Olssen (1996) defines classical liberalism in the schools as a method of â€Å"freeing those within the schools from state control† (p. 337). Olssen (1996), on the other hand, specifies that neo-liberalism supports the state’s role in controlling education by â€Å"creating a market†¦[that involves] the conditions, laws and institutions necessary for its operation† (p. 337). Apple (2001) argues that when an education â€Å"market† is, therefore, created it is a market that seems to suggest â€Å"individualization† (p. 182). However, the individualization of the market is subjected to the controls of the government and the policies that force parents, teachers and students to act in a certain manner, leading to the end results that the state intended from the start (Apple 2001, p. 182). This is because the actions of the entities connected to education are restrained by the boundaries set forth in the policies of the government and as those boun daries become more tightly fixed the actions of the parties are more predictable. Choice and Influence on Teachers Apple (2001) expands on this notion by examining the middle class in society (p. 182). Apple (2001) stipulates that when parents of different nations in the middle class are given the opportunity of school choice the government knows that those parents will naturally begin placing their own criteria and/or expectations on schools (p. 182). Consequently when parents are unhappy with the curriculum at one school the teachers at the school are forced to alter that curriculum in order to meet the demands of the parents or they will loose the students within that school (Apple 2001, p. 182). The loss of students within a school means the loss of government funding, the loss of jobs, the lack of teacher’s ability to provide resources and ultimately the loss of the school itself in the community. Therefore, as Apple (2001) indicates, the government policies may be suggesting that people have a greater choice; yet, what is actually occurring is a more significant control of schools th rough the ability of parents to actively use choice to influence curriculum in relation to the schools (p. 182). As parents influence how the curriculum is created, consequently, teachers are placed under greater scrutiny and are forced to expand their offerings in the classroom – even if these offerings include learning that the teacher is not knowledgeable or skilled in. Brooker (2003) contends that the manner in which parents and private entities are capable of influencing the education of students is evident in the United Kingdom with the inclusion of computer technologies in the elementary classroom (p. 261). Over the past decade there has been such a significant increase in the demand for computer technology training of young students. Yet, those schools that do not conform to this expectation are loosing students (Brooker 2003, p. 261). In general this is because parents, manufacturers and the government insists that if children are not trained in the use of computers at an early age they will not be capable of competing with their peers or those in the outside world later on (Brooker 2003, p. 261). Yet, Brooker (2003) argues that technologies in the classroom has impacted teachers negatively due to the fact that many of today’s teachers are not skilled in the use of computers and they are not capable of acquiring the knowledge needed to instruct their students adequately (p. 261). This is because, in general, many schools fail to provide teachers with new training that will support the increase in the instructional scope and teachers do not have the ability to seek outside skill training and maintain their work schedule at the same time. New Teacher Training The concept of choice and control offered by the government is also being reflected in proposals by government entities associated with initial teacher training (Apple 2000, p. 1). Apple (2000) specifies that in the current educational climate what is being considered is the â€Å"deregulation† of teacher training as a means of promoting competition among institutions of higher learning (p. 1). Essentially what this causes to occur is that colleges and universities are freely allowed to choose their own approaches to teaching and teachers have the choice of training institutions that they prefer. However, as time progresses it becomes apparent to schools and the communities that support them which teachers are trained effectively and which are not (Apple 2001, p. 182). This occurs when standardized test scores are revealed from students, reflecting directly back on the teacher’s abilities to educate (Apple 2001, p. 182). As a result, when enough teachers from a particul ar institution are incapable of developing learners that can pass standardized tests that institution begins to realize a decline in enrollment (Apple 2001, p. 182). Although teachers in training are given the choice of schools to attend and colleges are given freedom in determining how those teachers are training, ultimately it is the governmental control of policies that impacts whether or not the institution of higher learning will survive and what curriculum will be used to teach teachers in society. In the neo-liberalist approach to education there is evidence that the freedoms that are being given to colleges and universities are instead tools that negatively impact teachers entering the profession, often with the new teachers being unaware that they are ultimately slated for failure before they even begin their careers. Able Students Ball, Bowe and Gewirtz (1994) stipulate that governmental control over education further impacts teachers and curriculum due to the fact that teachers and schools begin to attempt to avoid students with special needs and â€Å"seek out able children† (p. 19). This is because special needs students require a greater amount of teacher time, teacher expertise and teacher interaction with students that takes away from the teacher instructing â€Å"able† students who do not have special needs (Ball, Bowe Gewitz 1994, p. 19). In England, Ball, Bowe and Gewitz (1994) state that this intent to encourage able students enrolling in schools by teachers and administrators is directly related to the â€Å"publication of performance indicators such as examination league tables† because schools find it difficult to explain that test scores may be low due to an abundance of special needs students (Ball, Bowe Gewitz 1994, p. 19). Yet, Gerwitz, Ball and Bowe (1995) further argue that control of the curriculum and teacher performance is also related to the students of different cultures (p. 6). For example, in England it is known that African American students traditionally have difficulties in the schools because of the large segment of this population that is impoverished (p. 6). Poverty is correlated to the abilities of the students, with those in the impoverished classes historically performing less successfully on standardized tests (Gerwitz, Ball Bowe 1995, p. 6). Apple (2001), therefore, states that this causes teachers to develop curriculum that targets students who are more capable of learning and ignores those students that standardized testing was intended to support in the first place (p. 182). Fragmentation Allen and Ainley (2007) contend that as time progresses the governmental control over the curriculum in the schools is continuing to expand, impacting how teachers not only teach, but changing what is taught to students, causing a fragmentation of teacher control over their own labor (p. 1). An example of this exists within English schools as education reform is focused on vocational education for students beginning at age 14 (Allen Ainley 2007, p. 1). According to Allen and Ainley (2007) the government came to the conclusion that there was a decline in students graduating from schools with marketable skills and this impacted their success after public schooling (p. 1). The issue, therefore, became less concentrated on a student’s ability to read, write and perform simple math and more on specifically training students to function in specific jobs once they have left academia (Allen Ainley, 2007, p. 1). Allen and Ainley (2007) indicate that this brings about two specific issues. First, while teachers in the United Kingdom have indicated that they do not support this policy, teacher organizations throughout the country have ignored teacher protests and called on educators to ensure that the policies are successful (Allen Ainley 2007, p 1). Second, programs for vocational training are being largely created in schools that instruct low income or impoverished students, with those students in high performing schools working with a traditional curriculum (Allen Ainley 2007, p. 1). What this means is that while governmental policies are once again suggesting that there is choice in relation to education, the policies are ensuring that only those choices that support what the government deems appropriate for education will be made (Allen Ainley 2007, p. 1; Chitty 2004, p. 160). Furthermore, Murnane and Steele (2007) state that this causes teachers to be inundated with having to cope with a curriculum that is ever-changing and that they believe they no longer have control over (p. 15). As a result teachers are leaving the teaching profession in vast numbers and this is creating a greater shortage in the teacher workforce than ever before (Murnane Steele 2007, p. 15). Conclusion Duggan and Pole (1996) suggest that the dissatisfaction in the teacher workforce began to be ever apparent in the 1990s (p. 139). Hall (2004) states that this is an issue that has increased over time because of policies such as â€Å"the Literacy and Numeracy Strategies in primary school and the Key Stage 3 Strategy in secondary schools†, as well as the inclusion of technologies and standardized testing that â€Å"constricts teachers† and their capabilities throughout the curriculum (p. 3). According to Hall (2004) the types of control connected to the schools and the deskilling of teachers are endless (p. 8; Appendix 1). Consequently there is an increased teacher workload, decreased teacher satisfaction and a reduction in the number of teachers that want to or are capable of instructing students in the manner in which government and/or society demands. For the future of education in the Western world this could mean that the attempt by government to regulate education and create more successful outcomes for students in England has the opposite effect, as is indicated by Hall (2004, p. 3). The research indicates that the original intent of education to create students that were capable of being productive citizens after their educational careers ended became extremely complex when it was realized that Western students did not achieve at the same rate as Eastern students. Therefore, a neo-liberalist policy toward education by the government was adopted, suggesting that choice was available to parents, teachers and students and that a greater freedom in education would exist. Yet, the research also demonstrates that the idea of choice was restricted by the policies related to education that were adopted by the government and that these policies minimalized the choices that actually existed. Moreover, these neo-liberalist policies became so intricately woven within education that the choices made by those connected to education could be predicted and manipulated with ease. For teachers this has meant that they are overworked, under-trained and unprepared for the demands o f the modern educational system and given few options as to how they can overcome these issues. This knowledge provides serious implications for the educational system because as teachers continue to become frustrated due to their increasing deskilled status they are leaving the teaching workforce. This knowledge provides evidence that the neo-liberalist policies that have been adopted in the United Kingdom are not achieving the end results as once forecast and that there is perhaps a need to reconsider these policies in order to ensure that teachers that are the foundation of education retain the skills and knowledge that is necessary to instruct society’s children. Appendix 1 (Hall 2004, p. 8). 1. Regulated market control: metaphors of the market and consumer demand are imposed upon schools; success and profits go to those who best meet consumer demand. Teachers’ work is evaluated in terms of measured outputs set against cost. Competition is the key element in relations between schools. (Ball, 1994) 2. Technical control: this is embodied in structures rather than people – in, for example, notionally ‘teacher proof’ teaching materials and text books, and in specified competences (Apple, 1988, 1996) 3. Bureaucratic control: hierarchical power is embedded in the social and organisational structure of institutions – jobs are differently divided and defined, have different salaries, and supervision, evaluation and promotion arrangements. The potential for establishing a career operates as a control mechanism. 4. Corporate control: the focus of the institution is on economic rather than social good. A competitive ethos prevails. Managers focus on economic goals. The head teacher is perceived more as a line manager than as a first among professional equals. 5. Ideological control: hegemonic beliefs – for example, that a good teacher has certain characteristics – become part of the dominant ideology within schools. These ideas and beliefs are reinforced in pre-service and in-service training. Certain conceptions of teachers’ work become naturalised – for example, a move away from child-centred discourse to market based discourse. 6. Disciplinary power: Foucault (1977) shows how, by means of the technologies of power – hierarchical observation, normalising judgment and examination –individuals are ‘disciplined’ into ways of understanding their work. Minor procedures and routines are specified (times, dress, expected responses) in ways that become anonymous and functional within a school; teachers and others within the school regulate their own behaviours to meet these expectations. Smyth describes this as a ‘triumph of technique over questions of purpose’ Bibliography Allen, M. and Ainley, P. (2007) Education make you fick, innit? London: Tufnell Press. Apple, M. (2000). Power, meaning, and identity. New York: Peter Lang. Apple, M. (2001). Markets, standards, teaching and teacher education. Journal of  Teacher Education. 52(3): 182-207. Ball, S., Bowe, R., Gewirtz, S. (1994). Market forces and parental choice. In S. Tomlinson (Ed.), Educational reform and its consequences (pp. 13-25). London: IPPR/Rivers Oram Press. Brooker, L. (2003). Integrating new technologies in the UK classroom. Childhood  Education. 79(5): 261-289. Caldwell, B., and Hayward, D. (1998). The future of schools: Lessons from the reform  of public education. London: Falmer Press. Chitty, C. (2004). Education policy in Britain. London: Palgrave. Duggan, R., and Pole, C. (1996). Reshaping education in the 1990s. New York:  Routledge. Gewirtz, S., Ball, S., Bowe, R. (1995). Markets, choice, and equity in education.  Philadelphia: Open University Press. Hall. C. (2004). Theorizing changes in teacher’s work. Canadian Journal of Education  Administration and Policy. Retrieved January 1, 2009, from http://www.umanitoba.ca/publications/cjeap/pdf_files/hall.pdf Murnane, R., and Steele, J. (2007). What is the problem? The challenge of providing  effective teacher for all children. The Future of Children. 17(1): 15-35. Olssen, M. (1996). In defense of the welfare state and of publicly provided education.  Journal of Education Policy. 11: 337-362.

Passion in Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre :: Jane Eyre Essays

Passion in Jane Eyre It is believed that we are born with a predestined personality. Our spiritual individuality is just as much a product of our genetic makeup as the color of our skin or our eyes. With our soul firmly planted, we can then build upon this basis as we are educated of the world. The social climate and cultural atmosphere shape our personalities, however, it is the people in our lives who have the greatest influence. Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre reveals this idea by the development of the protagonist. Through a series of character foils, Bronte expresses her idea of self- development and growth of the human spirit by contrasting passion with reason. By my interpretation of the novel, Bronte suggests that in one's life time, they will encounter a number of people and experiences that will arouse enough emotion in them to have the power to change their direction in life. St. John Rivers plays one of these life determining foils to Jane Eyre. His confidence, devotion and reason intrigue Jane almost enough to silence her inner passionate spirit, but it is the forces of nature that prove to be stronger than human will. The life path of a Victorian woman was somewhat limited in it's direction and expression of individuality. Jane Eyre strongly adheres to the Victorian morality which was dominated by the Anglican party of the Church of England in which passion and emotion were kept concealed. Jane's instinct for asserting herself was stifled at an early age and could only be expressed through defiance. The defiant declaration of independence from Mrs. Reed , "You are deceitful",(v.i.37) gives Jane the power of freedom and opens up a life of "unhoped-for liberty",(v.i.37). Through the preceding years Jane develops into a highly educated, well spoken and strong willed woman . She is taught to be patient and thoughtful during her years in Lowood , and is introduced to the emotions of the heart and spirit in meeting Rochester. Bronte makes an emphasis on the spiritual and supernatural atmosphere of Thornfield. The reference to the "Gytrash" and the mystical atmosphere she illustrates of their first meeting in the woods (v.i.113) could suggest that she is playing upon natural imagery and allusions to

A Dirty Job Chapter 19

19 We're OKAY, AS LONG AS THINGS DON'T GET WEIRD ALVIN AND MOHAMMED When Charlie arrived home from his mother's funeral, he was met at the door by two very large, very enthusiastic canines, who, undistracted by keeping watch over Sophie's love hostage, were now able to visit the full measure of their affection and joy upon their returning master. It is generally agreed, and in fact stated in the bylaws of the American Kennel Club, that you have not been truly dog-humped until you have been double-dog-humped by a pair of four-hundred-pound hounds from hell (Section 5, paragraph 7: Standards of Humping and Ass-dragging). And despite having used an extra-strength antiperspirant that very morning before leaving Sedona, Charlie found that getting poked repeatedly in the armpits by two damp devil-dog dicks was leaving him feeling less than fresh. â€Å"Sophie, call them off. Call them off.† â€Å"The puppies are dancing with Daddy.† Sophie giggled. â€Å"Dance, Daddy!† Mrs. Ling covered Sophie's eyes to shield her from the abomination of her father's unwilling journey into bestiality. â€Å"Go wash hands, Sophie. Have lunch while you daddy make nasty with shiksas.† Mrs. Ling couldn't help but do a quick appraisal of the monetary value of the slippery red dogwoods currently pummeling her landlord's oxford-cloth shirt like piston-driven leviathan lipsticks. The herbalist in Chinatown would pay a fortune for a powder made from the desiccated members of Alvin and Mohammed. (The men of her homeland would go to any length to enhance their virility, including grinding up endangered species and brewing them in tea, not unlike certain American presidents, who believe there is no stiffy like the one you get from bombing a few thousand foreigners.) Yet it appeared that the desiccated-dog-dick fortune would remain unclaimed. Mrs. Ling had long ago given up on collecting hellhound bits, when after trying to dispatch Alvin with a sharp and ringing blow to the cranium from her cast-iron skillet, he bit the skillet off its handle, crunched it down in a slurry of dog drool and iron filings, and then sat up and begged for seconds. â€Å"Throw some water on them!† Charlie cried. â€Å"Down, doggies. Good doggies. Oh, yuck.† Mrs. Ling was galvanized into action by Charlie's distress call, and timing her move with the oscillating pyramid of man and dog meat in the doorway, dashed by Charlie, into the hallway, and down the steps. LILY Lily came up the stairs and skidded to a stop on the hallway carpet when she saw the hellhounds pounding away at Charlie. â€Å"Oh, Asher, you sick bastard!† â€Å"Help,† Charlie said. Lily pulled the fire extinguisher off the wall, dragged it to the doorway, pulled the pin, and proceeded to unload on the bouncing trio. Two minutes later Charlie was collapsed in a frosty heap on the threshold and Alvin and Mohammed were locked in Charlie's bedroom, where they were joyfully chewing away on the expended fire extinguisher. Lily had lured them in there when they had tried to bite the CO2 stream, seeming to enjoy the freezing novelty of it over the welcome-home humping they were giving Charlie. â€Å"You okay?† Lily said. She was wearing one of her chef coats over a red leather skirt and knee-high platform boots. â€Å"It's been kind of a rough week,† Charlie said. She helped him to his feet, trying to avoid touching the damp spots on his shirt. Charlie did a controlled fall toward the couch. Lily helped him land, ending with one arm pinned awkwardly under his back. â€Å"Thanks,† Charlie said. There was still frost in his hair and eyelashes from the fire extinguisher. â€Å"Asher,† Lily said, trying not to look him in the eye. â€Å"I'm not comfortable with this, but I think, given the situation, that it's time I said something.† â€Å"Okay, Lily. You want some coffee?† â€Å"No. Please shut up. Thank you.† She paused and took a deep breath, but did not extricate her arm from behind Charlie's back. â€Å"You have been good to me over the years, and although I would not admit this to anyone else, I probably wouldn't have finished school or turned out as well as I have if it hadn't been for your influence.† Charlie was still trying to see, blinking away ice crystals on his eyelids, thinking that maybe his eyeballs were frostbitten. â€Å"It was nothing,† he said. â€Å"Please, please, shut up,† Lily said. Another deep breath. â€Å"You have always been decent to me, despite what I would call some of my bitchier moments, and in spite of the fact that you are some dark death dude, and probably had other things to worry about – sorry about your mom, by the way.† â€Å"Thanks,† Charlie said. â€Å"Well, given what I've heard about your night out before your mom died and whatnot, and what I've seen here today, I think – that it's only right – that I do you.† â€Å"Do me?† â€Å"Yes,† she said, â€Å"for the greater good, even though you are a complete tool.† Charlie squirmed away from her on the couch. He looked at her for a second, trying to figure out if she was putting him on, then, deciding that she wasn't, he said, â€Å"That's very sweet of you, Lily, and – â€Å" â€Å"Nothing weird, Asher. You need to understand that I'm only doing this out of basic human decency and pity. You can just take it to the hoes on Broadway if you need to get your freak on.† â€Å"Lily, I don't know what – â€Å" â€Å"And not in the butt,† Lily added. There was a high-pitched little-girl giggle from behind the couch. â€Å"Hi, Daddy,† Sophie said, popping up behind him. â€Å"I missed you.† Charlie swung her up over the back of the couch and gave her a big kiss. â€Å"I missed you, too, sweetie.† Sophie pushed him away. â€Å"How come you have frosting on your hair?† â€Å"Oh, that – Lily had to spray some frost on Alvin and Mohammed to settle them down and it got on me.† â€Å"They missed you, too.† â€Å"I could tell,† Charlie said. â€Å"Honey, could you go play in your room for a bit while I talk to Lily about business?† â€Å"Where are the puppies?† Sophie asked. â€Å"They're having a T.O. in Daddy's room. Can you go play and we'll have some Cheese Newts in a little while?† â€Å"Okay,† Sophie said, sliding to the floor. â€Å"Bye, Lily.† She waved to Lily. â€Å"Bye, Sophie,† Lily said, looking even more pale than usual. Sophie marched away in rhythm to her new chant, â€Å"Not in the butt – not in the butt – not in the butt.† Charlie turned to face Lily. â€Å"Well, that ought to liven up Mrs. Magnussen's first-grade class.† â€Å"Sure, it's embarrassing now,† Lily said, without missing a beat, â€Å"but someday she'll thank me.† Charlie tried to look at his shirt buttons as if he were deep in thought, but instead started to giggle, tried to stop, and ended up snorting a little. â€Å"Jeez, Lily, you're like a little sister to me, I could never – â€Å" â€Å"Oh, fine. I offer you a gift, out of the goodness of my heart, and you – â€Å" â€Å"Coffee, Lily,† Charlie said with a sigh. â€Å"Could I just get you to make me a cup of coffee instead of doing me – and sit and talk to me while I drink it? You're the only one who knows what's going on with Sophie and me, and I need to try to sort things out.† â€Å"Well, that will probably take longer than doing you,† Lily said, looking at her watch. â€Å"Let me call down to the store and tell Ray that I'll be a while.† â€Å"That would be great,† Charlie said. â€Å"I was only going to do you in exchange for information about your Death Merchant thing, anyway,† Lily said, picking up the phone on the breakfast bar. Charlie sighed again. â€Å"That's what I need to sort out.† â€Å"Either way,† Lily said, â€Å"I'm unbending on the butt issue.† Charlie tried to nod gravely, but started giggling again. Lily chucked the San Francisco Yellow Pages at him. THE MORRIGAN â€Å"This soul smells like ham,† said Nemain, wrinkling her nose at a lump of meat she had impaled on one long claw. â€Å"I want some,† said Babd. â€Å"Gimme.† She slashed at the carrion with her own talons, snagging a fist-sized hunk of flesh in the process. The three were in a forgotten subbasement beneath Chinatown, lounging on timbers that had been burned black in the great fire of 1906. Macha, who was starting to manifest the pearl headdress she wore in her woman form, studied the skull of a small animal by the light of a candle she'd made from the fat of dead babies. (Macha was ever the artsy-craftsy one, and the other two were jealous of her skills.) â€Å"I don't understand why the soul is in the meat, but not in a man.† â€Å"Tastes like ham, too, I think,† Nemain said, spitting glowing red bits of soul when she talked. â€Å"Macha, do you remember ham? Do we like it?† Babd ate her bit of meat and wiped her claws on her breast feathers. â€Å"I think ham is new,† she said, â€Å"like cell phones.† â€Å"Ham is not new,† Macha said. â€Å"It's smoked pork.† â€Å"No,† said Babd, aghast. â€Å"Yes,† said Macha. â€Å"Not human flesh? Then how is there a soul in it?† â€Å"Thank you,† Macha said. â€Å"That's what I've been trying to say.† â€Å"I've decided that we like ham,† said Nemain. â€Å"There's something wrong,† Macha said. â€Å"It shouldn't be this easy.† â€Å"Easy?† said Babd. â€Å"Easy? It's taken hundreds – no, thousands of years to get this far. How many thousands of years, Nemain?† Babd looked to the poison sister. â€Å"Many,† said Nemain. â€Å"Many,† said Babd. â€Å"Many thousands of years. That's not easy.† â€Å"Souls coming to us, without bodies, without the soul stealers, that seems too easy.† â€Å"I like it,† Nemain said. They were quiet for a moment, Nemain nibbled at the glowing soul, Babd preened, and Macha studied the animal skull, turning it over in her talons. â€Å"I think it's a woodchuck,† Macha said. â€Å"Can you make ham from woodchuck?† Nemain asked. â€Å"Don't know,† said Macha. â€Å"I don't remember woodchuck,† Nemain said. Babd sighed heavily. â€Å"Things are going so well. Do you two ever think about when we are Above all the time, and Darkness rules all, about, you know, what then?† â€Å"What do you mean, what then?† Macha asked. â€Å"We will hold dominion over all souls, and visit death as we wish until we consume all the light of humanity.† â€Å"Yeah, I know,† Babd said, â€Å"but then what? I mean, you know, dominion and all that is nice, but will Orcus always have to be around, snorting and growling?† Macha put down her skull and sat up on a blackened beam. â€Å"What's this about?† Nemain smiled, her teeth perfectly even, the canines just a little too long. â€Å"She's pining about that skinny soul stealer with the sword.† â€Å"New Meat?† Macha couldn't believe her ears, which had become visible only a few days ago when the first of the gift souls had wandered into their claws, so they hadn't been tested in a while. â€Å"You like New Meat?† â€Å"Like is a little strong,† Babd said. â€Å"I just think he's interesting.† â€Å"Interesting in that you'd like to arrange his entrails in interesting patterns in the dirt?† Macha said. â€Å"Well, no, I'm not talented that way like you.† Macha looked at Nemain, who grinned and shrugged. â€Å"We could probably try to kill Orcus once Darkness rises,† Nemain said. â€Å"I am a little tired of his preaching, and he'll be impossible if the Luminatus doesn't appear.† Macha shrugged a surrender. â€Å"Sure, why not.† THE EMPEROR The Emperor of San Francisco was troubled. He sensed that something very wrong was going on in the City, yet he was at a loss as to what to do. He didn't want to alarm the people unduly, but he did not want them to be unprepared for whatever danger they might face. He believed that a just and benevolent ruler would not use fear to manipulate his people, and until he had some sort of proof that there was an actual threat, it would be criminal to call for any action. â€Å"Sometimes,† he said to Lazarus, the steadfast golden retriever, â€Å"a man must muster all of his courage to simply sit still. How much humanity has been spoiled for the confusion of movement with progress, my friend? How much?† Still, he'd been seeing things, strange things. One late night in Chinatown he'd seen a dragon made of fog snaking through the streets. Then, early one morning, down by the Boudin Bakery at Ghirardelli Square, he saw what looked like a nude woman covered in motor oil crawl out of a storm sewer and grab a tall, half-full latte cup out of the trash, then dive right back in the sewer as a policeman on a bicycle rounded the corner. He knew that he saw these things because he was more sensitive than other people, and because he lived on the streets and could sense the slightest nuance of change there, and largely because he was completely barking-at-the-moon batshit. But none of that relieved him of the responsibility to his people, nor did it ease his mind about the disturbing nature of what he was seeing. The squirrel in the hoop skirt was really bothering the Emperor, but he couldn't exactly say why. He liked squirrels – often took the men to Golden Gate Park to chase them, in fact – but a squirrel walking upright and digging through the trash behind the Empanada Emporium while wearing a pink ball gown from the eighteenth century – well – it was off-putting. He was sure that Bummer, who was curled up sleeping in the oversized pocket of his coat, would agree. (Bummer, being a rat dog at heart, had a less than enlightened outlook upon coexistence with any rodent, no less one dressed for the court of Louis XVI.) â€Å"Not to be critical,† said the Emperor, â€Å"but shoes would be a welcome complement to the ensemble, don't you think, Lazarus?† Lazarus, normally tolerant of all noncookie creatures great and small, growled at the squirrel, who appeared to have the feet of a chicken sticking out from under her skirt, which – you know – was weird. With the growl, Bummer squirmed awake and emerged from the woolen bedchamber like Grendel from his lair. He immediately erupted into an apoplectic barking fit, as if to say, You guys, in case you didn't notice, there's a squirrel in a ball gown going through the trash over there and you're just sitting here like a couple of concrete library lions! The message thus barked, off he went, a furry squirrel-seeking missile, bent on single-minded annihilation of all things rodent. â€Å"Bummer,† called the Emperor. â€Å"Wait.† Too late. The squirrel had tried to take off up the side of the brick building, but snagged her skirt on a gutter and fell back to the alley, just as Bummer was hitting full stride. Then the squirrel snatched up a small board from a broken pallet and swung it at his pursuer, who leapt just in time to miss taking a nail in one of his bug eyes. Growling ensued. The Emperor noticed at that point that the squirrel's hands were reptilian in nature, the fingernails painted a pleasant pink to match her gown. â€Å"You don't see that every day,† the Emperor said. Lazarus barked in agreement. The squirrel dropped the board and took off toward the street, moving nicely on her chicken feet, her skirt held up in her lizard hands. Bummer had recovered from the initial shock of a weapon-wielding squirrel (something he had encountered before only in doggie nightmares brought on by the late-night gift of chorizo pizza from a charitable Domino's guy) and took off after the squirrel, followed closely by the Emperor and Lazarus. â€Å"No, Bummer,† the Emperor called. â€Å"She's not a normal squirrel.† Lazarus, because he did not know how to say â€Å"well, duh,† stopped in his tracks and looked at the Emperor. The squirrel rocketed out of the alley and took a quick turn down the gutter, falling now to all fours as she went. Just as he reached the corner, the Emperor saw the trail of the tiny pink dress disappear down a storm sewer, followed closely by the intrepid Bummer. The Emperor could hear the terrier's bark echoing out of the grate, fading as Bummer pursued his prey into the darkness. RIVERA Nick Cavuto sat down across from Rivera with a plate of buffalo stew roughly the size of a garbage-can lid. They were having lunch at Tommy's Joynt, an old-school eatery on Van Ness that served home-style food like meat loaf, roasted turkey and stuffing, and buffalo stew every day of the year, and featured San Francisco sports teams on the TV over the bar whenever anyone was playing. â€Å"What?† said the big cop, when he saw his partner roll his eyes. â€Å"Fucking what?† â€Å"Buffalo almost went extinct once,† Rivera said. â€Å"You have ancestors on the Great Plains?† â€Å"Special law enforcement portions – protecting and serving and stuff requires protein.† â€Å"A whole bison?† â€Å"Do I criticize your hobbies?† Rivera looked at his half a turkey sandwich and cup of bean soup, then at Cavuto's stew, then at his runt of a sandwich, then at his partner's colossus of a stew. â€Å"My lunch is embarrassed,† he said. â€Å"Serves you right. Revenge for the Italian suits. I love going to every call with people thinking I'm the victim.† â€Å"You could buy a steamer, or I could have my guy find you some nice clothes.† â€Å"Your guy the serial-killing thrift-store owner? No thanks.† â€Å"He's not a serial killer. He's got some weird shit going on, but he's not a killer.† â€Å"Just what we need, more weird shit. What was he really doing when you had that shots-fired report?† â€Å"Just like it said, I was going by and a guy tried to rob him at gunpoint. I drew my weapon and told the perp to halt, he drew down on me, and I fired.† â€Å"Your ass. You never fired eleven shots in your life you didn't hit the ten X ring with nine of them. The fuck happened?† Rivera looked down the long table, made sure the three guys sitting down at the other end were engaged in the game showing on the TV over the bar. â€Å"I hit her with every shot.† â€Å"Her? Perp was a woman?† â€Å"I didn't say that.† Cavuto dropped his spoon. â€Å"Partner? Don't tell me you shot the redhead? I thought that was over.† â€Å"No. This was a new thing – like – Nick, you know me, I'm not going to fire unless it's justified.† â€Å"Just say what happened. I got your back.† â€Å"It was like this bird woman or something. All black. I mean fucking black as tar. Had claws that looked like – I don't know, like three-inch-long silver ice picks or something. My shots took chunks out of her – feathers and black goo and shit everywhere. She took nine in the torso and flew away.† â€Å"Flew?† Rivera sipped his coffee, eyeing his partner's reaction over the edge of the cup. They had been through some extraordinary things working together, but if the situation had been reversed, he wasn't sure he'd believe this story either. â€Å"Yeah, flew.† Cavuto nodded. â€Å"Okay, I can see why you wouldn't put that in the report.† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"So this bird woman,† Cavuto said, like that was settled, he totally believed it, now what? â€Å"She was robbing the Asher guy from the thrift shop?† â€Å"Giving him a hand job.† Cavuto nodded, picked up his spoon, and took a huge bite of stew and rice, still nodding as he chewed. He looked as if he were going to say something, then quickly took another bite, as if to stop himself. He appeared to be distracted by the game on television, and finished his lunch without another word. Rivera ate his soup and sandwich in silence as well. As they were leaving, Cavuto grabbed two toothpicks from the dispenser by the register and gave one to Rivera as they walked out into a beautiful San Francisco day. â€Å"So you were following Asher?† â€Å"I've been trying to keep an eye on him. Just in case.† â€Å"And you shot her nine times for giving the guy a hand job,† Cavuto finally asked. â€Å"I guess,† Rivera said. â€Å"You know, Alphonse, that right there is why I don't hang out with you socially. Your values are fucked up.† â€Å"She wasn't human, Nick.† â€Å"Still. A hand job? Deadly force? I don't know – â€Å" â€Å"It wasn't deadly force. I didn't kill her.† â€Å"Nine to the chest?† â€Å"I saw her – it – last night. On my street. Watching me from a storm sewer.† â€Å"Ever think to ask Asher how he happened to know the flying bulletproof bird woman in the first place?† â€Å"Yeah, I did, but I can't tell you what he said. It's too weird.† Cavuto threw his arms in the air. â€Å"Well, sweet Tidy Bowl Jesus skipping on the blue toilet water, we wouldn't want it to get fucking weird, would we?† LILY They were on their second cup of coffee and Charlie had told Lily about not getting the two soul vessels, about the encounter with the sewer harpy, about the shadow coming out of the mountains in Sedona and the other version of The Great Big Book of Death, and his suspicions that there was a frightening problem with his little girl, the symptoms of which were two giant dogs and an ability to kill with the word kitty. To Charlie's thinking, Lily was reacting to the wrong story. â€Å"You hooked up with a demon from the Underworld and I'm not good enough for you?† â€Å"It's not a competition, Lily. Can we not talk about that? I knew I shouldn't have told you. I'm worried about other stuff.† â€Å"I want details, Asher.† â€Å"Lily, a gentleman doesn't share the details of his amorous encounters.† Lily crossed her arms and assumed a pose of disgusted incredulity, an eloquent pose, because before she said it, Charlie knew what was coming: â€Å"Bullshit. That cop shot pieces off her, but you're worried about protecting her honor?† Charlie smiled wistfully. â€Å"You know, we shared a moment – â€Å" â€Å"Oh my God, you complete man-whore!† â€Å"Lily, you can't possibly be hurt by my – by my response to your generous – and let me say right here – extraordinarily tempting offer. Gee whiz.† â€Å"It's because I'm too perky, isn't it? Not dark enough for you? You being Mr. Death and all.† â€Å"Lily, the shadow in Sedona was coming for me. When I left town, it went away. The sewer harpy came for me. The other Death Merchant said that I was different. They never had deaths happen as a result of their presence like I have.† â€Å"Did you just say ‘gee whiz' to me? What am I, nine? I am a woman – â€Å" â€Å"I think I might be the Luminatus, Lily.† Lily shut up. She raised her eyebrows. As if â€Å"no.† Charlie nodded. As if â€Å"yes.† â€Å"The Big Death?† â€Å"With a capital D,† Charlie said. â€Å"Well, you're totally not qualified for that,† Lily said. â€Å"Thanks, I feel better now.† MINTY FRESH Being two hundred feet under the sea always made Minty uneasy, especially if he'd been drinking sake and listening to jazz all night, which he had. He was in the last car on the last train out of Oakland, and he had the car to himself, like his own private submarine, cruising under the Bay with the echo of a tenor sax in his ear like sonar, and a half-dozen sake-sodden spicy tuna rolls sitting in his stomach like depth charges. He'd spent his evening at Sato's on the Embarcadero, Japanese restaurant and jazz club. Sushi and jazz, strange bedfellows, shacked up by opportunity and oppression. It began in the Fillmore district, which had been a Japanese neighborhood before World War II. When the Japanese were shipped off to internment camps, and their homes and belongings sold off, the blacks, who came to the city to work in the shipyards building battleships and destroyers, moved into the vacant buildings. Jazz came close behind. For years, the Fillmore was the center of the San Francisco jazz scene, and Bop City on Post Street the premier jazz club. When the war ended and the Japanese returned, many a late night might find Japanese kids standing under the windows of Bop City, listening to the likes of Billie Holiday, Oscar Peterson, or Charles Mingus, listening to art happen and dissipate into the San Francisco nights. Sato was one of those kids. It wasn't just historical happenstance – Sato had explained to Minty, late one night after the music had ended and the sake was making him wax eloquent – it was philosophical alignment: jazz was a Zen art, dig? Controlled spontaneity. Like sumi-e ink painting, like haiku, like archery, like kendo fencing – jazz wasn't something you planned, it was something you did. You practiced, you played your scales, you learned your chops, then you brought all your knowledge, your conditioning, to the moment. â€Å"And in jazz, every moment is a crisis,† Sato quoted Wynton Marsalis, â€Å"and you bring all your skill to bear on that crisis.† Like the swordsman, the archer, the poet, and the painter – it's all right there – no future, no past, just that moment and how you deal with it. Art happens. And Minty, taken by the need to escape his life as Death, had taken the train to Oakland to find a moment he could hide in, without the regret of the past or the anxiety of the future, just a pure right now resting in the bell of a tenor sax. But the sake, too much future looming ahead, and too much water overhead had brought on the blues, the moment melted, and Minty was uneasy. Things were going badly. He'd been unable to retrieve his last two soul vessels – a first in his career – and he was starting to see, or hear, the effects. Voices out of the storm sewers – louder and more numerous than ever – taunting him. Things moving in the shadows, on the periphery of his vision, shuffling, scuffling dark things that disappeared when you looked right at them. He'd even sold three discs off the soul-vessels rack to the same person, another first. He hadn't noticed it was the same woman right away, but when things started to go wrong, the faces played back and he realized. She'd been a monk the first time, a Buddhist monk of some kind, wearing gold-and-maroon robes, her hair very short, as if her head had been shaved and was growing out. What he remembered was that her eyes were a crystal blue, unusual in someone with such dark hair and skin. And there was a smile deep in those eyes that made him feel as if a soul had found its rightful place, a good home at a higher level. The next time he'd seen her was six months later and she was in jeans and leather jacket, her hair sort of out of control. She'd taken a CD from the â€Å"One Per Customer† rack, a Sarah McLachlan, which is what he'd have chosen for her if asked, and he barely noticed the crystal-blue eyes other than to think that he'd seen that smile before. Then, last week, it w as her again, with hair down around her shoulders, wearing a long skirt and a belted muslin poet's shirt – like an escapee from a Renaissance fair, not unusual for the Haight, but not quite common in the Castro – still, he thought nothing of it, until she had paid him and glanced over the top of her sunglasses to count the cash out of her wallet. The blue eyes again, electric and not quite smiling this time. He didn't know what to do. He had no proof she was the monk, the chick in the leather jacket, but he knew it was her. He brought all his skills to bear on the situation, and essentially, he folded. â€Å"So you like Mozart?† he asked her. â€Å"It's for a friend† was all she said. He rationalized not confronting her by that simple statement. A soul vessel was supposed to find its rightful owner, right? It didn't say he had to sell it directly to them. That had been a week ago, and since then the voices, the scuffling noises in the shadows, the general creepiness, had been nearly constant. Minty Fresh had spent most of his adult life alone, but never before had he felt the loneliness so profoundly. A dozen times in the last few weeks he'd been tempted to call one of the other Death Merchants under the pretense of warning them about his screwup, but mainly just to talk to someone who had a clue about what his life was like. He stretched his long legs out over three train seats and into the aisle, then closed his eyes and laid his head back against the window, feeling the rhythm of the rattling train coming through the cool glass against his shaved scalp. Oh no, that wasn't going to work. Too much sake and something akin to bed spins. He jerked his head forward and opened his eyes, then noticed through the doors that the train had gone dark two cars up. He sat upright and watched as the lights went out in the next car – no, that's not what happened. Darkness moved through the car like a flowing gas, taking the energy out of the lights as it went. â€Å"Oh, shit,† Minty said to the empty car. He couldn't even stand up inside the train, but stand up he did, staying slumped a little, his head against the ceiling, but facing the flowing darkness. The door at the end of the car opened and someone stepped through. A woman. Well, not exactly a woman. What looked like the shadow of a woman. â€Å"Hey, lover,† it said. A low voice, smoky. He'd heard this voice before, or a voice like it. The darkness flowed around the two floor lights at the far end of the car, leaving the woman illuminated in outline only, a gunmetal reflection against pure blackness. Since he was first tapped as a Death Merchant, Minty had never remembered feeling afraid, but he was afraid now. â€Å"I'm not your lover,† Minty said, his voice as smooth and steady as a bass sax, not giving up a note of fear. A crisis in every moment, he thought. â€Å"Once you've had black, you never go back,† she said, taking a step toward him, her blue-black outline the only thing visible in any direction now. He knew there was a door a few feet behind him that was held shut with powerful hydraulics, and that led to a dark tunnel two hundred feet under the Bay, lined with a deadly electric rail – but for some reason, that sounded like a really friendly place to be right now. â€Å"I've had black,† said Minty. â€Å"No, you haven't, lover. You've had shades of brown, dark cocoa and coffee maybe, but I promise you, you've never had black. Because once you do, you never ever come back.† He watched as she moved toward him – flowed toward him – and long silver claws sprouted from her fingertips, playing in the dim glow from the safety lights, dripping something that steamed when it hit the floor. There were scurrying sounds on either side of him, things moving in the darkness, low and quick. â€Å"Okay, good point,† Minty said.

Humans Are Naturally Evil

HUMANS ARE NATURALLY EVIL The question regarding to the nature of human beings being related to the word evil has been a topic for controversial discussion and debate among scholars and philosophers alike. According to the ardictionary. com, the word evil is defined as Having or exhibiting bad moral qualities; morally corrupt; wicked; wrong; vicious; as, evil conduct, thoughts, heart, words, and the like ,anything which impairs the happiness of a being or deprives a being of any good; anything which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings; injury; mischief; harm; opposed to good.It is natural that criminals and villains are presumed evil by the society as the bad deeds are indicated by their crimes. However, how far is the understanding of the society that actually everyone including priests, monks and even mothers are also evil? The word naturally suggest that evil is present in the human beings by nature and that the evil within someone is not influenced by any other factor s besides the natural existence. In other word, humans are all evil and are inclined to organise evil actions. Incomplete intro) The first proof to support the notion that humans are naturally evil is through the tendencies of human beings to commit crimes. According to Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), who is credited with the development of psychoanalytic theory, all humans have criminal tendencies. Furthermore all humans have natural drives and urges repressed in the unconscious. Through the process of socialisation, however, these tendencies are curbed. http://criminology. wikia. com/wiki/General_Theory_of_CrimeThe primary evidence that people are generally evil is evident by the number of wars. Research discloses not only that the genocide was centrally conceived, planned and directed, but that there were some who worked at providing the intellectual rationale for the genocide and the propaganda which justified and rationalized the slaughter. Most countries have experienced their shar e of wars. World War One was the first war that affected many countries such as Serbia, Germany, Britain, France, and North America.It demonstrated for the first time how brutal people can be to each other. This war was fought because of tension between countries for years that blew up in 1914 with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. The quote, â€Å"Guns don't kill people, people kill people† highlights that machines did not kill all these people, people kill those from different countries in order to further their cause and do not stop unless they are successful. World War One was also known as â€Å"the war to end all wars† obviously this wasn't true. A few years later, another war took place.World War Two demonstrated that people will kill to satisfy themselves. Hitler in World War Two was the main aggressor. He wanted to make his people, the pure Germans, the master race. He was threatened by other countries and wanted his superior to all others. When other coun tries became aware of this, naturally, the war began, killing people by the millions. By the number of wars, we can conclude that the natural human reaction to the threat of war and great power released human evil. Another way to prove the existence of natural evil is via daily activities that humans do.According to Isaac Newton, every action has a reaction. This concept even applies to our daily activities. Humans always disregard the consequences that they consider to be trivial or do not affect them directly. In order to understand this statement, let us take a look at the McDonald – Israel relationship. According to the Chicago Jewish Community Online, McDonalds Corporation whose global headquarters is based just outside Chicago is a major corporate partner of the Jewish United Fund and Jewish Federation.Through its Israel Commission, the Jewish United Fund â€Å"works to maintain American military, economic and diplomatic support for Israel; monitors and, when necessary , responds to media coverage of Israel â€Å". Israel, as the world has already acknowledged, is a nation built illegally on the land of Palestine through wars with the support from United States of America. The rate of consumption of Israel’s product like McDonalds are exceptionally high even though society have acknowledged the evil that the Israeli have triggered upon the Palestinians through the countless wars and discriminations .By refusing to initiate the act of embargoing Israel’s products, the society are directly contributing monetary support for Israel to dominate Palestine and oppressing the Palestinians. People are actually practicing evil because they refuse to conceive the impacts of their actions. As the impacts are not visible, we tend to ignore them. This is clearly unacceptable as by supporting even in a small scale, we are actually permitting evil to be continuously ensued in the world. Humans take Mother Nature for granted. Mankind would take ever ything that she provides beyond their basic needs.In doing so, nature is being stripped to the barren bone in order man could satisfy their undying lust for wealth and power. Man is destroying nature along with the tranquillity and balance of the cosmos. For instance, everyone uses toilet papers. These uses of toilet paper are destroying nature evilly. As more and more companies are going paperless which is a good thing, there is less and less recycled material going into the production of toilet paper. As a result, pulp manufacturing is increasing, requiring the use of more virgin wood – a clean and untreated type that comes straight from forests.With a country using an average of 7 billion rolls of toilet paper a year and a typical tree provides about 1,000 rolls of toilet paper, man is using 7 million trees just to clean after themselves every year. This disaster is never considered as an environmental crime, due to the fact that toilet paper is a claimed necessity. In con trary, toilet paper is not used in required amounts. In fact, the wastage of toilet paper is far beyond the common lay man could comprehend. This monstrous wastage would eventually ravage the earth from its forests.This horrible act is an evil quality mankind towards nature. Some people would still view mankind with hope that man is not naturally inclined to become evil. These idealists would still fight to prove a utopian dream is not entirely impossible. Imagining a world without war, peace in the four corners of the globe and the earth occupied by people who are selfless and pleasant. The claim is that mankind is in fact not naturally evil. Mankind possess a common understanding about positive moral and a natural desire to do what is considered as morally right.Although the interpretation of what is morally good differs from the societies of the world, mankind still stand on common ground to consider that taking a life, lying and stealing is considered as bad. An individual is ob ligated, if not encouraged, to take the necessary precautionary steps to avoid committing such sins. Thus, the consciousness that exists within the social norms of mankind is pure proof that mankind is not naturally evil. However, it is undeniable that evil is still the product of mankind’s nature. A murderer may kill four different victims due to the product of stress and anger.The epic clash between the Trojans and the Greeks were due to the love of Paris, Prince of Troy towards Agamemnon’s sister-in-law. Both World Wars were caused by one man’s ambition to make the world organized under one political administration. The Zionist regime discriminated and denied the Palestinians their due human rights because they claim for compensation of their Jewish ancestors massacred in the Holocaust. The mentioned emotions are actually natural feelings that the common man would experience in everyday life. Many of the sins that man committed throughout history are the prod uct of his natural emotions and instincts.Despite the fact that mankind is capable of doing so much good, human beings are also capable of committing that is far worse. These actions prove that evil is the product of previous evil and genuine human emotions. Determinists have come to the conclusion that we are governed by the laws of science, that there is nothing we can do about ourselves being evil because we naturally are. Evil is simply the act of causing pain. Human beings are born with a natural reaction to â€Å"fear and chaos† to be instinctively evil. We live in a morally fragile world and our moral decisions do not only matter to us.They have consequences for everyone else, and for the world. We have to dig deeper to identify the real world. We are not good as a whole. We are mean to each other. We lie. We cheat. We steal. We don't seem to think this because we just dismiss these things as minor corruptions. Well minor after minor after minor combine, to become majo r. Unless something is changed soon, like we lose our natural instincts, then we always will be. No one wants to hear this, but it needs to be said by someone. Humans are naturally evil. That is what makes humans such fascinating creatures

The Study of Ground Tissue, It essays

The Study of Ground Tissue, It essays In this lab I looked at different tissues of a plant in prepared and freshly prepared slides. Each of these slides showed the various tissues and cell types that make up a plant. I, specifically, looked at the angiosperm plants. I examined these plants by using the naked eye and drew diagrams describing the morphology of the plant. I, also, examined and drew diagrams of the anatomy of the plants by using a light microscope. I observed the ground, dermal, and vascular tissues and all their components. I observed them through the prepared slides and the freshly prepared slides, in which I had to cut a freehand section with a razor blade and stain with toluidine blue O to make. After I was finished with my observations I put away all of the equipment, cleaned my station and everything that needed to be cleaned, and threw away the materials that The purpose of this lab is to be able to identify the basic tissues and cell types, based on their appearance. In this lab I examined prepared slides of a typical dicot stem and sclerenchyma in a pear and a freshly prepared slide of apium graveolens (celery) stem. In these slides I observed ground tissue. The ground, or fundamental, tissue system includes three types of tissues: parenchyma, collenchyma, and sclerenchyma. Parenchyma cells are the most common of the ground tissues. They are found in the cortex of stems and roots, in the pith of stems, in leaf mesophyll, and in the flesh of fruits. There are even some strands of them in the vascular tissue. (Seagull 25) They are the least specialized of all plant cells and are often referred to as typical plant cells. At maturity they are alive and have primary walls that are relatively thin and flexible. Also, they are variable in size. They, mostly, lack secondary walls and the protoplast generally has a large central vacuole. They carry out most of the functions such as photo...

Financial Crisis Impacts on Progress of Employees Essay

Financial Crisis Impacts on Progress of Employees - Essay Example There have been a lot of studies conducted by various scholars since the great depression in 1930’s up to today. Literature obtained from this series of academic studies conducted by the various scholars is still relevant up to today in offering explanations on how and what were the main contributors of the various crisis. This literature has been relied upon by many academicians as well as policy makers in order to make sure that such events do occur again. Theoretical Literature There are two theories, which seem, to be more developed and various scholars have borrowed much from them. These theories are the Minsky’s crisis theory and Marxist crisis theory. Minsky’s crisis theory is named after the Hyman Minky a renowned economic professor who developed this theory. Hyman initial objective was to elucidate the domestic economy crisis. This has since changed as this theory is adopted by various expert and scholars in delineating global financial crisis. The under lying concept in his theory was the fragility observed in the financial system. He elucidates the behavior of both the financial sector and non-financial sector to engage in liabilities with a high level of risk as businesses enlarge was the major contributor to the crisis. From an international front, he argues that the interdependency of economies fundamentally leads to instability of the global financial system. He attributes the instability experienced in the global financial system to lending activities that lend debt accumulation (Davies 2010). The main theme of theories was the concern expanding economy and the emergence of â€Å"a speculative investment bubble†. Hyman argued that as the economy expanded, that is, as the economy experienced tremendous growth, thus resulting to low level of unemployment as the level of investment in the economy increases. Optimism increases and trade between debt and risk changes. As a result of the increases in optimism, there is an in crease in the level of asset prices as well as increase, in speculation. The increase in asset prices in return allowed ponzi borrowers to thrive in an economy (Davies 2010). This also leads changes the attitudes that investors have toward risk thus resulting in, changes in liability portfolio. As a result of changes in risk and liability structure, the financial structure becomes fragile thus resulting into a financial crisis (Davies 2010). In doing this Hyman linked, the fragility experienced in a normal economy to the speculative investment bubble which emerges in the financial market. Minky argued that, when the corporate sector and the economy as a whole are experiencing growth, that is when the cash inflows exceeds the amount need to phase off debts there is a tendency to develop speculation (Davies 2010). When the grows up to appoint where the present assets cannot support the economy when borrowers cannot repay their loans since the cash-inflows are not enough to finance con sumption and to honor debts, this degenerate into a financial crisis. When this occurs, the lenders adopt stringent credit issuance policy; such that even companies with the capability of obtaining loans are not spared; thus, this leads to the contraction of the economy. The movement of a

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Human resource Management - Essay Example The three human resource topics that will be emphasize in this analysis are managing sex and gender issues, employee benefits and compensation, and equal employment opportunities. My father’s company currently has only two employees. I envision tremendous growth for this company and within five years it is highly likely the firm could approach a payroll of over 100 employees. One of the topics that must be emphasized by the managers and the human resource department of the company are sex and gender issues. The civil rights and feminism movements of the 1960’s helped women reached equality in the United States. In the past women served the role of housewives. Today there are as many women in the workforce as men. In the 1900 only 19% of women worked, but by 2007 women composed 46% of the labor force (Lee & Mather, 2008). Due to the importance of women in the workplace the company must protect the rights of its workers and provide equal opportunities for employees of bot h sexes. My father’s business will become a place where people feel secured and happy to work there. The best way to achieve that goal is by complying with labor laws to ensure the employees are provided with a safe working environment. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Right Act prohibits sex discrimination in the workplace. â€Å"Title VII applies to private employers, state and local government employers, labor organizations, employment agencies, and joint employer-union apprenticeship programs with 15 or more employees† (Equalrights, 2011). The company will utilize an ethical framework to ensure all employees are respected. Another problem related with gender is a concept known as glass ceiling. The glass ceiling is an invisible barrier that affects the chances of women and minorities to reach the managerial level in an organization due to prejudice (Businessdictionary, 2011). To prevent the glass ceiling from occurring at the organization the firm must hire women and mi norities to become a part of the managerial team as the firm begins to grow. The company must audit its human resource composition every three months. The manager will compare the ethnic and gender composition to determine if the firm’s human resources have a similar composition as the population of the United States. The second human resource issue that the company must manage well is its employee salary and benefit packages. Employees participating in the U.S. labor force expect to get compensated well. In the United States the average salary is $41,673 (Ssa, 2011). The company must perform adequate research on how much each profession is paying in the United States. The salary the company will pay its employees will be equal or higher than the average salary for the profession based on experience. A website that provides excellent information regarding the salaries of different professions based on work experience is Salary.com (Salary, 2011). The company will be able to m aintain a higher employee retention rate if the firm pays competitive salaries. A second component of a total compensation package is the benefits. In today’s economy sometimes employees value benefit as much if not more than salary. The employees knows that a salary can be replaced by getting a different job, but a job that offers tremendous benefits are hard to