Analysis Of The Poem The Souk - 962 Words

â€Å"The souk selects her identity or particular social order —. Then — shuts the entryway —. To her divine lion s share —. Display no more —†. These lines present the souk similarly as those subject of the sonnet. Clearly, this souk will be feminine, as shown Eventually Tom s perusing the utilization of the expression â€Å"her. † Here, those souk may represent able the self, those individual, alternately those complex substance for constantly. This souk is also subjective; she is a animated liable as opposed a indifferent object, Also depends upon her personal conclusions Also affections. She â€Å"selects,† intending that she picks crazy or chooses, â€Å"her identity or culture. † this accordance cannot be translated done a number about routes. On one†¦show more content†¦ there may be An sense about irrevocability Furthermore emphaticness in this second transport. Those public, described eventually Tom s perusing the Chariots, stop at her low Gate what s more an head a chance to be kneeling/Upon her mat. All around these encounters, those souk is Unmoved. The most recent stanza recognizes that the souk offers itself addition organization:. I ve referred to her - from a plentiful nation/Choose One/Then - close the Valves from claiming her attention/Like Stone-. The Soul, alternately the individual, at last decides herself. The Valves would a anatomical of the heart. She shuts her heart off to others. Like Stone need that could reasonably be expected twofold intending. A stone signifies coldness and immovability. However, it Might additionally make the piece that encloses a tombac. Dickinson s outflow of the narrator s decision should decide herself is vague. Her refusals of the Chariots and the Emperor mean individualistic power, however forlornness appears with make likened for a sort about passing. Person cannot afterward presume that uniqueness may be a subject of commensurate vitality Previously, Dickinson s poems. Her outflow from claiming it will be exhibited through the utilization about various abstract gadgets (e.g. , analogies, metaphors), and the liable might identify with

History of Architecture from Ancient world Free Essays

Discus the early development of urban architecture in the ancient Near East, with specific reference to one or two cities in the ‘Fertile Crescent. ‘ The history of civilization has been one of the most significant fields of study for a very long time. After the agriculture revolution the number of population grow rapidly, civilizations were formed and cities were being built to accommodate the growing populations of the ancient civilization. We will write a custom essay sample on History of Architecture from Ancient world or any similar topic only for you Order Now Architecture has always been a vital part of the civilizations throughout the history of mankind. As Nations become powerful and prosperous their Architecture becomes more dominant by building rater cities, public splendor and religious monuments. From the birth of civilizations until now many civilizations have appeared and disappeared from the face of the earth for various reasons. The ones that have survived and claim their existence have carried out their identity, culture and Architecture from their ancestors. Those civilizations that have vanished due to foreign invasions or other unknown reasons have left us their ancient cities and Architecture that need to be discovered. A great example that we can refer to is the Ancient Near East, where one f the earliest human civilizations were living in. It is told that the Sumerians were the first civilization that once lived in Mesopotamia which is in Ancient near east and worlds first cities also developed in here which includes Summer (Our) and Babylon (Wildfowl Matthews, n. D. ) In this Essay I will be focusing on the urban development and Architecture of the Ancient civilizations which includes the Sumerians and the Babylonians that were based in Mesopotamia the lands of Fertile Crescent. The Ancient Near East which is now known as the Middle East was the birth place of he civilization, It was here in Mesopotamia where the world’s first civilization (Sumerians) claimed their existence (Wildfowl Matthews, n. D. ) The Sumerians lived in Mesopotamia (a fertile land between the Tigris River and Euphrates River in the Ancient Near East). These two rivers were very important for the Sumerian Civilization because of agriculture and trade, since it was one of the main routs of their economy. The Sumerians were the first civilizations that farmed in large scale â€Å"It was here that the first farmers learned to cultivate grain, growing what they needed ether than gathering wild varieties†(Wildfowl Matthews, n. D. ) Following the agriculture revelation and a great increase in population led to the multiplication of large communal centers of an urban character (Lamp, n. D. , BC. 8) As it is still apparent that when a nation becomes powerful and prosperous their architecture becomes more prominent and there cities become more complex. Following the agriculture revelation the Sumerian economy grow rapidly and at the same time cities were taking shape and also public splendor and religious monuments were merging from the middle of the cities. â€Å"For the people of Ancient near east there cities meant more than Just a city for them, it was a complex that only a god could have created it and according to the ideal concept of the people in the ancient near east, cities did not develop in slow growth, to paraphrase the cosmogony: there was time when the city had not been made†¦ And then the city was made† (Lamp, n. D. , p. ) The Sumerians built their cities around a huge monumental religious building with a tower that can be seen from up to km away. They built the high tower (Gujarat) n the middle of the city that the farmers far away could still see their house of God and for the Sumerians the Gujarat was a connection between their city and the havens. The city was enclosed by a wall that was surrounded b y farms and villages. It is very important to understand the history of Architecture and planning before we could make any comment about the relationship between modern Architecture and ancient Architecture. The western Architecture that can be mentioned as a â€Å"modern Architecture† derived from the Architecture of the very first civilizations in Mesopotamia (Watkins, 2005, p. ) The city of Our is one of the most famous Ancient Cities of the Sumerians therefore it can be mentioned as a typical Sumerian Urban Architecture example. Similar to the other Sumerian cities the city of Our also had a Gujarat (a huge religious monumental building) in the middle of the main city, it is estimated that it took at least 1500 men 5 years Just to build its base. The main city of Our that was an enclosed area of 89 hectares with estimated population 34,000 people was surrounded by a huge mud-brick retaining wall that had another wall at the top which was built out of burnt-bricks. The size and population of the Our city including the towns and near suburbs that was situated outside the wall of the city was huge. As the author George R. Collins mentioned in his book (Cities and planning in the Ancient Near East) â€Å"Greater Our with its suburbs, merchant quarters and dependencies might have been a City of a quarter million people. (Lamp, n. D. , p. 15) The Architecture of the houses behind the city wall was very similar to each other; they were built out of mud-brick and they all had low doors and a few air vents in order to keep the interior cool in the summer. None of the houses was aligned with heir neighbors â€Å"the orientation of the buildings is non uniformed, with some designed to face the circular roadways and others positioned i n what appears to be a more ad hoc fashion†(Asana Herrmann, 2010, p. 6) Considering the layout, design and materials of the Mesopotamia cities and houses it becomes clear that the people of Mesopotamia were moderately conservative in terms of their approach to planning their cities and buildings(Lamp, n. D. , p. 17) Babylon the capital of Babylonian situated on the old Euphrates in Mesopotamia which is a part of modern day Iraq is one of the ancient cities that stands equally with Athens and Rome as a culture ancestor of the western civilization. It was one of the large cities of its time that had a population of around half a million people including the suburbs and towns outside the city wall (Sags, 2000, p. 26) The city and its temples were destroyed many times by foreign invaders and were frequently rebuilt because of its religious importance. The city of Babylon too like other cities in the ancient Near East had its own Architecture and planning identity, it was here that brick was widely used for religious and monumental buildings. Excavation in Iraq as revealed the city grid plan with its double walls, towers and canal connecting it to the river, as well as the foundations of brick built Temples, Palaces, fortifications and the famous Gujarat†(Watkins, 2005, up. 18-20) The city had a rectangular shape with an area of 404. 8 Hectares that was surrounded by a double fortification wall approximately mm in width with a mm cavity area in between that were reinforced by strong towers and a moat. The city had 8 main gates that lead to major streets behind the city walls and the main streets that leads to the city are paved â€Å"the main approach to the city was from a wide paved road now known as the processional way’ (Watkins, 2005) The hanging gardens that were arranged around five enormous courtyards and the massive walls of Babylon were once counted amongst the 7 wonders of the ancient world (Watkins, 2005, p. 12) Monumental and Residential buildings of the Ancient Near East As I mentioned above that most of the ancient cities were quite similar to each other in terms planning, the residential housing planning was not very different too. A typical city in the Ancient Near East would have had a monumental building in the middle of the itty with residential buildings surrounding it. According to the excavators there was a planning idea that was followed when building during the fourth millennium B. C. â€Å"The plan shows that there has been great concern for balance and symmetry in the layout of the single buildings and their fades, but there is little regard for the alignment of the temples or their relationship to one another. (Lamp, n. D. , p. 19) This reinforces the idea that the overall compositional principal was undermined as long as the individual buildings were planned considering symmetry, axes and balance. Their concern for formal planning, symmetry and axial approach is never consistently carried trough but is only applied to parts of the building† (Movement, AFAIK, Woodlouse, 2003) Letter the Babylonians adopted the same fundamentals of the Mesopotamia planning without bringing any minor changes t o it. The residential planning on the other hand was very basic, a town or a suburb was growing from a single house, and even the cities were developing in the same manner. The conclusion is that there was no difference between grown cities and planned cities. At the same time there is one principle that has always remained throughout the story of ancient planning which is the orientation of the buildings. Most of the buildings in the Ancient Near East face North West where the most pleasant wind comes from. Following the agriculture revelation for the first time in the ancient Near East, the number of population grow in the region and trade was becoming more common through the Tigris River and Euphrates River. Ancient Near East was home to the world’s first civilization and it was here that city planning and monumental buildings first appeared. Some of the architecture in the ancient Near East was counted amongst the 7 wonders of the ancient world which includes the hanging gardens in the Assyrian city and the massive walls of the Babylon city. How to cite History of Architecture from Ancient world, Papers

Affirmative Action A Program Of Positive Action free essay sample

The purpose of affirmative action is to establish fair access to employment opportunities to create as workforce that is a correct reflection of the anemographic of the qualified available workforce in the relevant Job market. Affirmative Action policies and programs are tools in order to recruit, hire and promote qualified women, minorities and individual with disabilities. Affirmative Action is the set of public policies and initiatives designed to help eliminate past and present discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or natural origin (Minnesota State University 2011).On the other hand, the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 (Public Law 92-261) Instituted the federal Equal Employment Opportunity aerogram, which Is considerate to ensure a fair treatment to every segment of the society without the observation of race, religion, color, national origin, or sex. The principal goal of this law is make the discrimination illegal in the different employment. Equal Employment Opportunity programs consist of affirmative action for employment and decrease the discrimination complaints. We will write a custom essay sample on Affirmative Action: A Program Of Positive Action or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page All level of employees is covered under the present legislation. The Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964, (Equal Employment Opportunity Act 1972). Equal Employment Opportunity is fair treatment in employment, promotion, training, and other personnel activity. The principal false impression about the Equal Employment Opportunity is that it applies to selected groups, but it is not true because Equal Employment Opportunity apply for everyone. The Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1995 Is the more recent laws.This act prohibits discrimination on fourteen titles: (1) Impairment, (2) marital status, (3) political belief or actively, (4) race, 5) religion, (6) sex, (7) societal status as a person,(8) age, (9) role in business dealings, (10) lawful sexual activity, (1 1) physical features, (12) pregnancy, (13) position or past positions held as employment, and (14) association with a person who is identified by reference to any of the thirteen other listed grounds. The act also talks about the prohibition of sexual harassment, to both employers and employees.There is another article of the legislation dealing with equal employment opportunity to Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government. The order supply a uniform policy for the federal government to use in elimination discrimination principally based on sexual orientation In the federal civilian work force, In addition to race, color, religion, sex, national orally, physical disabilities, or age for which delimitation Is prohibited In Executive Order 11478, (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 1995). Sectional origin by recipients of Federal financial assistance. Police departments, herself departments, and other law enforcement agencies receiving assistance from the Department of Justice (DOC) are subject to the civil rights requirements of this and other civil rights laws. Simply stated, all persons must be treated equally without regard to their race, color, or national origin. People may not be excluded from participating in, denied the benefits of, or discriminated against in the programs, services, or activities of an agency receiving DOC assistance.

The Poet in Love, the Poet in Pain

Introduction William Butler Yeats is one of the most renowned figures in British as well as world literature. His poems are full of symbolism and mystery, which are combined with clarity and divine power. The poet touched upon numerous topics. Love was one of the major themes in his works. â€Å"Never Give All the Heart† is one of such poems. It was written in 1905. The poem is a response to the poet’s romantic disappointment.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Poet in Love, the Poet in Pain specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The woman he loved, Maud Gonne, got married and broke Yeats’ heart (Ross 170). This poem is a reflection of the poet’s romantic experience revealed with the help of a number of expressive symbols and literary devices which create the mysterious atmosphere of the world of emotions. The ‘Surface’ of the Poem As has been mentioned above, the poem is a res ult of the poet’s sad romantic experience. The woman he loved broke his heart and the poet warns other people to be more careful. The major theme of the poem is unhappy love and the way to love. The poet claims that a person can never lose one’s head, otherwise he/she is likely to lose his/her heart in the game called ‘love’. Yeats is regarded as a great Symbolist poet who managed to make every word meaningful and symbolic. The poem in question is an example of the poet’s style. The poem is full of symbols and hidden meanings. It is also necessary to note that though the poem was written in 1905 when Modernism was flourishing, the piece under consideration is traditional in form, just like the majority of the poet’s works (Ross 170). Therefore, the poet warns people in a very symbolic but, at the same time, explicit way. The Meaning and Symbolism One of the major symbols in the poem is the symbol of the play, called ‘love’. The p oet warns people that it is dangerous to play the game, especially if a person is completely devoted to the one he/she loves, â€Å"And who could play it well enough / If deaf and dumb and blind with love?† (Yeats 79). The poet compares love to a game. On the one hand, the play means a variety of rules and conventions which people have to follow. Glances, smiles, kisses of â€Å"smooth lips† and â€Å"brief, dreamy, kind delight† can be regarded as different tactics to play the game (Yeats 79). Apart from this, there is another symbol. In the poem, the heart also stands for a stake, â€Å"He that made this knows all the cost, / For he gave all his heart and lost† (Yeats 79). Clearly, the poet compares the heart to a stake. Those, who love with all their hearts, can become miserable (and lose their hearts) like a gambler loses all his money, i.e. everything in the game. Furthermore, heart is also a symbol of selfless love.Advertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The words â€Å"never give all the heart† can be read as follows: always remain sensible (Yeats 79). The poet warns people and stresses that a person should try to critically see the dearest one and his/her behavior. Finally, Yeats claims that love is unlikely to go on forever and he uses the following symbolic line â€Å"it fades out from kiss to kiss† (79). Therefore, Yeats uses symbols to reveal his grief. In his poem, the poet admits that love can be unfair and painful. The Form To have a deeper understanding of the poem, it is important to analyze it in terms of rhythm, meter and literary devices used. Lines in metrical rhythm can be described as tetrameter since there are four feet, â€Å"But a brief, dreamy, kind delight. / O never give the heart outright† (Yeats 79). The meter used is predominantly iambic, â€Å"For he gave all his heart and lo st† (Yeats 79). This adds clarity and expressiveness to the poem. The rhythm is simple and does not distract the reader from perceiving the meaning of each line. As has been mentioned above, the poem is full of meaning and symbols, which are revealed with the help of a variety of literary devices. One of the most apparent devices is repetition of the word â€Å"heart† which is used four times (Yeats 79). This repetition is used to emphasize the importance of being economical with emotions and be less devoted to the dearest one. Besides, the repetition is used as the heart is central to the poem. It has several meanings and functions. Thus, it stands for love, devotion and a stake in a dangerous game. It is but natural that it is used several times. Metonymy is also used to create the image of a beautiful woman, â€Å"smooth lips† (Yeats 79). This device is used to make the poem more expressive. Admittedly, the reader will picture the image of the perfect woman as he/she sees it. Though the device is a bit trivial (lots of poets glorify this part of the woman’s face), it perfectly fits the present poem as it creates the necessary atmosphere of the imagery and somewhat dim world. The dim atmosphere is also created with the help of the following line, â€Å"That it [love] fades out from kiss to kiss† (Yeats 79). Love can easily vanish after several dates. The poet also resorts to quite a common metaphor, â€Å"If deaf and dumb and blind with love?† (Yeats 79). However, in this context, the line creates a very specific image of a gambler who plays his/her game blindfolded. This device supports the poet’s symbol of the game. The reader pictures a gambler who puts everything (own heart) at stake and loses the game. Conclusion To sum up, the poem in question is a majestic reflection of the deepest emotions of the poet in love. Yeats manages to transform his grief into a small literary masterpiece as a love story is told in fourteen lines only. These fourteen lines are full of symbols and meanings. Each line stands for certain stage, i.e. falling in love, giving one’s heart away, disappointment, grief and wisdom. According to Shakespeare, life is a play and people are actors. Yeats makes another important observation which focuses on psychological or spiritual sphere of the human existence.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Poet in Love, the Poet in Pain specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The poet notes that love is a game where people’s hearts are stakes. Yeats stresses that this is a dangerous and painful game which can make people lose the most important, their hearts, i.e. their desire to go on. The poem brings back sad memories to those who have had such experiences. It also warns those who are only about to give their hearts away. In any case, the poem makes the reader feel that love is what makes people ins pired and wise. Works Cited Ross, David A. William Butler Yeats: A Library Reference to His Life and Work. New York, NY: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Print. Yeats, William Butler. The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2010. Print. This essay on The Poet in Love, the Poet in Pain was written and submitted by user Mariah Terry to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on Philosophy

Can Descartes be certain that he is thinking? How? Can he be certain that he exists? How? (And who is he?) Descartes’ statement â€Å"I think therefore I exist† raises questions about the meaning of thought, the meaning of existence but most fundamentally, in what sense he can be certain. The difficulty in establishing the certainty of â€Å"I think† and â€Å"I exist† is that the two concepts are interrelated. Thus, for example, differing interpretations of what it is to think will have a profound impact on the question of whether Descartes can achieve the certainty of his existence. The success of his attempt to achieve certainty can be analysed in relation to how far he overcomes the universal doubt he has introduced in the first meditation. It is in this sphere of meaning that â€Å"I† becomes very relevant as it is possible to argue that his use of â€Å"I† demonstrates that his own interpretation of what is certain is partially based on intrinsically held beliefs. Williams describes the statement â€Å"I think† as indubitable. This is because â€Å"if anyone believes he is thinking or that he exists then necessarily he has a true belief.† Using the Cartesian method, the statement that â€Å"I think† is unique because it is the only premise that has the property of having its truth confirmed by the act of doubting it. Descartes demonstrates that he has found a statement that is not defeated by the possibility of a ‘malicious demon’ when he says â€Å"If I am in doubt, if I am entertaining the possibility that I might be deceived, then the very fact that I am around to entertain that doubt shows that I must exist†. Thus he is already assuming that his ability to entertain doubt, or â€Å"think† is certain, which based on the premise above, is a not unreasonable conclusion. Before further examining his assertion that he is thinking, the question of what Descartes means by thinking must be defined. In the simplest form, possible d... Free Essays on Philosophy Free Essays on Philosophy Philosophy is an interesting subject in the fact that it is not based solely on science, mathematical formulas, and chemical equations, but more on the idea of ethics, morals, and values which in turn is based on perception, interpretation, education, and religion, just to mention a few. Different cultures appear to have different values compared to my own and at times I often wonder whether these different cultural values morals and ethics are good or bad? The interesting fact is that it is not my place to determine whether they are or not, but to accept the difference, and either try to understand them or disregard them. If I do choose to accept them, I have the option of incorporating them into my own beliefs. If we look at Kant’s theory of Good Will, you’ll find that if what you do or believe in is in good faith, meaning done with good intentions, that the outcome is rather irrelevant due to the fact that it was done out of good intention. I personally believe that good intention is something handed down from generation to generation based on parental belief, which could possibly come from religion in some way or form even if they are not religious. The questions posted are, why do different cultures ethics, morals, and values differ? Do I believe in Kant’s theory? And if religion were not to play a role in morals and values where would they come from? In my opinion, different cultures carry different perspectives on life, and yes I do believe in Kant’s theory, and lastly, I’m not sure morals and values cannot come from religion, at the very least, from many years before, when life was more in a barbaric stage of living. Why do different cultures ethics, morals, and values differ? I don’t think there is any one answer to this question because ethics, morals, and values are a compilation of different perspectives and interpretations of what is right and wrong. What may be right here in America, may not seem righ... Free Essays on Philosophy Aristotle Aristotle was born in 384 BC and lived until 322 BC. He was a Greek philosopher and scientist, who shares with Plato being considered the most famous of ancient philosophers. He was born at Stagira, in Macedonia, the son of a physician to the royal court. When he was 17, he went to Athens to study at Plato's Academy. He stayed for about 20 years, as a student and then as a teacher. When Plato died in 347 BC, Aristotle moved to Assos, a city in Asia Minor, where a friend of his named Hermias was the ruler. He counseled Hermias and married his niece and adopted daughter, Pythias (wierd names, huh). After Hermias was captured and executed by the Persians, Aristotle went to Pella, Macedonia's capital, and became the tutor of the king's young son Alexander, later known as Alexander the Great. In 335, when Alexander became king, Aristotle went back to Athens and established his own school, the Lyceum.Since a lot of the lessons happened when teachers and students were walking, it was nicknamed the Peripatetic school (Peripatetic means walking). When Alexander died in 323 BC, strong anti-Macedonian feeling was felt in Athens, and Aristotle went to a family estate in Euboea. He died there the following year. Aristotle, like Plato, used his dialogue in his beginning years at the Academy. Apart from a few fragments in the works of later writers, his dialogues have been wholly lost. Aristotle also wrote some short technical writings, including a dictionary of philosophic terms and a summary of the "doctrines of Pythagoras" (the guy from the Pythagorean Theorem). Of these, only a few short pieces have survived. Still in good shape, though, are Aristotle's lecture notes for carefully outlined courses treating almost every type of knowledge and art. The writings that made him famous are mostly these, which were collected by other editors. Among the writings are short informative lectures on logic, called Organon (which means "inst... Free Essays on Philosophy Can anybody ever truly think outside the box? In our subconscious mind lies everything we were taught growing up and everything we have heard, but maybe not noticed. I am no great scholar and I am barely starting school at Brazosport College in Texas. But, I have many ideas waiting to be written down on paper and I intend to start tonight, on June 16, 2004. As I was saying, today in school, we talked about Benjamin Franklin and Ralph Waldo Emerson. They were two great American writers as well as thinkers. Benjamin Franklin believed you should strive for self excellence and that greatness occurred while serving your country as well as your community. I think just a bit deeper than that. First of all, what is our country? It is many people gathered together trying to maintain stability and hopefully grow. But Why would they want to do this? Many people say that they do it for our future, and for our children’s future. I think that everybody is at some point, selfish. By helping others, these people fill an emptiness inside themselves that I believe was placed intentionally by some divine power. Everything we do has to fill some kind of emptiness inside ourselves. That’s why we help others and try to be â€Å"good† citizens. Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely not anti-government, and if I wasn’t afraid to die, I wouldn’t be writing this right now. In fact, my writing this and jotting some thoughts down is actually filling an emptiness that was placed inside of me. I have no idea why, but for some reason, it is there. I know that the greatest question that philosophers can ask is why. Why did this happen? And why did it have to happen in this way? Even still, I ask you why do we go on with our everyday lives. A typical morning for me would begin with waking up. I would then proceed to the bathroom and brush my teeth. Then, I eat, dress myself, and go to work at Buc-ees, a local convenience store... Free Essays on Philosophy Can Descartes be certain that he is thinking? How? Can he be certain that he exists? How? (And who is he?) Descartes’ statement â€Å"I think therefore I exist† raises questions about the meaning of thought, the meaning of existence but most fundamentally, in what sense he can be certain. The difficulty in establishing the certainty of â€Å"I think† and â€Å"I exist† is that the two concepts are interrelated. Thus, for example, differing interpretations of what it is to think will have a profound impact on the question of whether Descartes can achieve the certainty of his existence. The success of his attempt to achieve certainty can be analysed in relation to how far he overcomes the universal doubt he has introduced in the first meditation. It is in this sphere of meaning that â€Å"I† becomes very relevant as it is possible to argue that his use of â€Å"I† demonstrates that his own interpretation of what is certain is partially based on intrinsically held beliefs. Williams describes the statement â€Å"I think† as indubitable. This is because â€Å"if anyone believes he is thinking or that he exists then necessarily he has a true belief.† Using the Cartesian method, the statement that â€Å"I think† is unique because it is the only premise that has the property of having its truth confirmed by the act of doubting it. Descartes demonstrates that he has found a statement that is not defeated by the possibility of a ‘malicious demon’ when he says â€Å"If I am in doubt, if I am entertaining the possibility that I might be deceived, then the very fact that I am around to entertain that doubt shows that I must exist†. Thus he is already assuming that his ability to entertain doubt, or â€Å"think† is certain, which based on the premise above, is a not unreasonable conclusion. Before further examining his assertion that he is thinking, the question of what Descartes means by thinking must be defined. In the simplest form, possible d... Free Essays on Philosophy For this assignment I decided to report on the bible. I choose this book because it’s something that I’ve grown up learning about and it speaks on everything that this assignment consists of. Growing up in church, I’ve found that reading the bible helps you in everyday life. Life, death, justice, morality, power, society, reason, and divinity are all topics covered in the bible. I’ll start with life because that's where it all began. The first story that comes to mind when speaking of the bible usually is Adam and Eve. This story begins in Genesis, the first chapter, starting at verse 26. God creates man and calls him Adam, and from Adams rib he creates woman and calls her Eve. They lived in perfect peace until Eve was tempted by a serpent and ate from a forbidden tree called the tree of life. After she ate from the tree, she went and had Adam do the same. Before eating from this tree they had no knowledge of being naked, but once they had, they quickly covered themselves with leaves. I’ve always found this story to be interesting because if Eve had never eaten from that tree as she was told, things possibly wouldn’t have changed. The whole world possibly could be walking around naked in peace without knowing. One thing that the bible speaks of a lot is healing power. People often give testimonies or speak of being healed of deadly diseases. Some people have spoken of pronounced dead and they were brought back to life. These are all part of healing power. The bible speaks about Jesus being able to heal the sick and raise the dead. Scriptures like Hosea 12:3, Micah 3:8, and Matthew 9:6-8 all speak of healing power. There’s not just one type of power, besides healing power God gives the power to forgive sins. Just as he forgives us of our sins and wrong doing, he’s gives us the power to do the same. Matthew 9:6 says, â€Å"but that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to ...

Implementing QuickSort Sorting Algorithm in Delphi

Implementing QuickSort Sorting Algorithm in Delphi One of the common problems in programming is to sort an array of values in some order (ascending or descending). While there are many standard sorting algorithms, QuickSort is one of the fastest. Quicksort sorts by employing a divide and conquer strategy to divide a list into two sub-lists. QuickSort Algorithm The basic concept is to pick one of the elements in the array, called a pivot. Around the pivot, other elements will be rearranged. Everything less than the pivot is moved left of the pivot - into the left partition. Everything greater than the pivot goes into the right partition. At this point, each partition is recursive quick sorted. Heres QuickSort algorithm implemented in Delphi: procedure QuickSort(var A: array of Integer; iLo, iHi: Integer) ; var   Ã‚  Lo, Hi, Pivot, T: Integer; begin   Ã‚  Lo : iLo;   Ã‚  Hi : iHi;   Ã‚  Pivot : A[(Lo Hi) div 2];   Ã‚  repeat   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  while A[Lo] Pivot do Inc(Lo) ;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  while A[Hi] Pivot do Dec(Hi) ;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  if Lo Hi then   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  begin   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  T : A[Lo];   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A[Lo] : A[Hi];   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A[Hi] : T;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Inc(Lo) ;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dec(Hi) ;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  end;   Ã‚  until Lo Hi;   Ã‚  if Hi iLo then QuickSort(A, iLo, Hi) ;   Ã‚  if Lo iHi then QuickSort(A, Lo, iHi) ; end; Usage: var   Ã‚  intArray : array of integer; begin   Ã‚  SetLength(intArray,10) ;   Ã‚  //Add values to intArray   Ã‚  intArray[0] : 2007;   Ã‚  ...   Ã‚  intArray[9] : 1973;   Ã‚  //sort   Ã‚  QuickSort(intArray, Low(intArray), High(intArray)) ; Note: in practice, the QuickSort becomes very slow when the array passed to it is already close to being sorted. Theres a demo program that ships with Delphi, called thrddemo in the Threads folder which shows additional two sorting algorithms: Bubble sort and Selection Sort.

Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

Strategy - Essay Example The organization had limited focus on the vision and mission statement and hence was not as effective. Regardless, below are some of the key points discussed by Kaplan and Norton that relate to the excellence of any given organization. Primarily, the main goal of a balanced scorecard is setting the organizational mission and vision statements. These vision and mission statements not only state the various aspects required in the organization but also guide the employees and the entire workforce towards a united goal. As such, the paper argues that the importance of the vision statement is to ensure that a given organization is performing at its best at all given times. A good vision is vital for the success of any given organization. Our organization had a great vision statement but a few employees within the organization only knew the statement. Finally, another key feature discussed in detail by the article is translating the vision. Assessing the progress made by the organization towards the attainment of the set vision is crucial to monitor progress. Consensus between management and the subordinates is crucial for the utmost success of the organization. This was a key feature of the balanced scorecard that was missing from my former organization. The vision was not a key focus of the organization, and the management mostly focused on short-term goals, which rather affected its efficiency greatly. Such additions to the organization structure are crucial for the success any organization in attaining its main

Land Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 3

Land Law - Essay Example In addition, equitable interests bound persons other than bona fide purchases of the estate for value without any notice of equitable rights3. However, Law of Property Act 2002 outlines certain legal rights such as leases for more than seven years that require registration and that will bind the purchaser of the land. Covenants, easements and estate contracts need registration; otherwise, the purchaser will not be bound regardless of whether he had knowledge of such interests. However, the right of beneficiaries under trust is overreaching thus is subject to doctrine of notice4. Estates and tenures stem from common law that dominated the early English law system that eventually evolved to Royal courts in terms of common pleas and exchequer. However, writs of the courts led to injustice in certain cases and principles of equity emerged based on conscience. Equity would prevail over common law in cases of conflict. For instance, common law courts refused to recognize the right of beneficiaries under trust land since it is only the trustees who had legal rights to the land unlike courts of equity that fully recognized the right of beneficiaries to the property5. In this case, equitable rights were not enforceable against a bona fide purchaser of a legal estate for value without any notice of any other attached claim to the estate. On the other hand, common law acts in rem and is enforceable against anybody ‘good against the whole world’ on all legal estates and interests6. According to land law, a bona fide purchaser for value is an innocent party who purchases property without any notice of any other party’s claim to the land. The bona fide purchaser must acquire the land for value rather than being a beneficiary to the land. In this case, the purchaser can acquire title to the land despite the competing claim from other interested parties7. A purchaser

Reflective Statement The Great Gatsby Essay Example for Free

Reflective Statement The Great Gatsby Essay The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is said to be one of the greatest American novels of the last century, not only for it’s tale of hope and disillusion, but also for the way it portrayed the spirit of the 1920s. The information from the presentations made me realize that the characters in the story weren’t just any upperclass; they were the social and cultural upperclass of the world. The presentations also made me develop my understanding of the background of their arrogant and lavish behavior. They were born into the old elite and were stupendously rich in the wealthiest country in the world. They lived extravagant lives in a careless post-war time with mass media covering their lives in the tabloids. Another factor that contributed to this feeling of being superior must have been the lack of authorities and strong politicians. As the economy ran itself and the politicians were incompetent, the cultural elite were literally on top of the world. They distanced themselves from institutions and history and lived their lives in a social bubble, respecting only those who were a part of their class. The dream of being famous and glamourous bloomed in the 1920s and was distributed to the public through the mass media. The dream was available for everyone, and people strived to become a part of the cultural elite. The main characters in The Great Gatsby were already there, as a natural part of the scene. They lived luxurious and careless lives, following the latest trends, listening to the new music and attending extravagant parties. From the presentations I also learned about modernist literature. A significant trait of this genre is the break with traditions and the search for an absolute truth and a meaning of life elsewhere. The upperclass seemed to have lost their meaning in life in their extravagant lifestyle. Previously I had not given the social context too much thought, and without the information from the presentations, I may would just have seen the tragic love story of the book, and not how the book is a picture of and a comment to the 1920s life.

The Untraditional Life of William Faulkner :: Biography Biographies Essays

The Untraditional Life of William Faulkner The South is tradition, in every aspect of the word: family, profession, and lifestyle. The staple to each tradition in the south, and ultimately masculinity, is to be a southern gentleman. William Faulkner, a man with the most southern of blood running through his veins, was everything but a southern gentleman. A southern gentleman is to support his family, to be the sole provider. To support something such as a family is a great responsibility, and it is expected of a southern gentleman to be able to handle that responsibility. Faulkner did not have a secure job or income. He wrote poetry and attempted novels, but had not found success as a writer. He did not aspire to find a different occupation that could bring stability to his financial situation. Though it was not certain that William could support a family, he did have a child with his wife and supported the daughter from his wife’s first marriage. It was not a happy family, as most southern families have been portrayed. Faulkner drank and continued to internalize himself from the rest of the family, as he had always internalized himself from society. The drinking was not and everyday thing, but his family said that it would happen for long periods at a time. He would drink for a few weeks until he wanted to sober himself up. A southern gentleman is to be the father figure in his family, to teach his children right from wrong, but William seemed to be concerned with only himself. When he drank, he was not there for his family. When his daughter asked him not to start drinking because her birthday was coming up, Faulkner said to her â€Å"no one remembers Shakespeare’s daughter.† Tradition in the southern family did encompass â€Å"tough love†, but a southern gentleman is to be an example to his children, with characteristics embodying responsibility and honor. William Faulkner was neither responsible nor honorable. As WWI began, William, who had always been interested in flying, was eager to volunteer in the Royal Canadian Air Force. To protect and defend one’s country is a duty of a southern gentleman, one of the most masculine aspects of the south. Though he did not see any battle first hand, he came back to Mississippi, walking with a limp caused by a supposed metal plate in his head, and elaborate stories of plane crashes and battle.

Amerindian before Columbus and the Physical Geography of the Caribbean

Much of America history is recorded from the time Columbus and his team of explores landed in the Caribbean region.The first reaction to establishment of Spanish in the Caribbean region was the policy of extermination in which millions of the original inhabitants lost their life.   Although it has become controversial on the exact number of inhabitants living in the region before the coming of the Columbus, it remains clear there were a large number of indigenous people and the coming of Columbus really changed their life.The nature of the Native Americans remains a controversial issue since it is argued that on his arrival Christopher Columbus mistook the inhabitants for Indians. This is because he though he had arrived in East Indies since he was seeking sea route to India.The culture of Amerindian before ColumbusThe pre-Columbian civilization in the region is though to have been quite advances more that what was projected at the time. It has been revealed that there was a high l evel of development from social organization to development in agriculture and other sciences which were applied in agriculture and in political expansion.Notably among this civilization was the expansive Maya empire which had flourished and expanded from Mexico to Central American but which later collapsed owing to social and political strife, diseases and other ecological disasters, and man other factors (Mann, 1999).The geography of the region shows a very fertile soil and seasons of heavy rainfall. This means that the area had a very high agricultural potential which was well exploited by the inhabitants.The economic landscape of the people before the coming of Europeans is mixed. While a good number of the indigenous inhabitants were hunters and gatherers, there was also a good number which practiced aquaculture and agriculture.There is evidence that some of the people lived on mixed agriculture keeping animals and growing crops. Therefore we can say that before the coming of C olumbus, the original inhabitants had their own organized social life and varying economic activities in line with the rich agricultural potential of the land.When the European came and conquered the region, there were several changes that took place. First they immediately realized the rich agricultural potential of the land and their settlement pattern was concentrated in rich agricultural areas. What followed was mass extermination of the indigenous inhabitants so as to set up large scale lands for the Europeans.It is in this land that they grew sugar plantations and other cash crops. This led to massive enslavement of the indigenous people in order to provide labor in these large plantations. The setting up of plantations changed the approach that Europeans were using in dealing with the native.The policy of mass extermination  Ã‚   quickly changed to mass enslavement to provide free labor. There was also discovery of mineral like gold which led toe increased trade and setting up of industries. (Mann, 1999)ConclusionIt is still controversial whether Columbus discovered South America or not. However there were original inhabitants in the land who Columbus referred to as Indians.The inhabitants were social organized and they practiced agriculture although a good number were hunters and gatherers. When European came they realized the agricultural potential of the land and immediately set up large plantation where they enslaved the indigenous people to provide free labor.Reference:Mann, C. (1999): New Revelation of the Americans before Columbus. New York: Knopf Publishing

Creative Writing Monologue – How did I end up like this?

How did I end up like this? Slashed up and left to die in a part of Bristol that Tourist Information is in denial as to its existence. Why would I even consider agreeing to such ludicrous terms? How many times has my mother said one of those embarrassing Irish sayings that no-one says or told you: â€Å"Don't talk to stranger,† or â€Å"Don't let your father be your role model or you'll end up dead just like him.† Well I bet my Mum never envisaged me sharing my father's grave before her. It's looking more bloody likely with every minute that goes by. â€Å"Pause† I'm eighteen! I should be with friends on the town, drinking and trying cigarettes, not slowly bleeding to death. In its time this is the kind of road that would be full of tourists who can't afford to go abroad and want a cheap seaside holiday; well Bristol seems to have fallen to bits, now it's nothing more than a grimy alleyway. I'm not even sure if I brought this situation upon myself; just another one of those innocent victims of inner city youth gangs. I can already picture my mother on GMTV, asking pointless question which were unlikely to be answered, but when they are they draw an inevitable dead-end. â€Å"Pause, Splutters† When you're approached by twelve or so older boys you keep your head down, make no eye contact and walk on by. Except on this occasion they closed in on me. I felt trapped like a helpless animal, my legs disacknowledged my brain which was urging them to run. They said they wanted me to perform some sort of task. As the group distributed my duty I remained silent and still, although my brain had commenced a battle I didn't argue. But somehow, without being told, I knew there was extensive danger with the task in hand. They spat threats at me though I had not even considered disobeying my assignment for one moment. â€Å"Pause, Chokes† I gathered I was to be a courier and deliver goods and not under any circumstances was I to be prevented from completing my task, regardless of what crossed my path: be it another gang or the police. I asked no questions as I expected to hear no answers (or if there were any – only deceitful ones). They all implied that the consequence for getting caught would most likely be death. At that I began to panic, taking deeper and deeper breathes, having this premonition of being brutally killed. I should have known at that very moment that this situation that I'm in now was unavoidable. â€Å"Pause, Chokes again† I just wish life was like one of those lame TV shows where the hero is on the brink of death but summons up the strength to save him as well as the good looking girl that invariably accompanies them. I want just a few more minutes with my mother to make up for all that I have done. When I was young, my father gave me an option; he said â€Å"Wayne, are you going to be a Mummy's boy or a Dad's boy?† From that very moment I made a decision that would be my burden for the rest of my life. I was always a Dad's boy and followed a similar youth to that of my older brother Ashley; I would look up to Ashley – he was who I wanted to be. Dad was always showing off his first born, until he walked out at the age of 15 that is. â€Å"Pause, Single Tear† Shortly after his departure my dad committed suicide. My life went downhill and every day seem to be a new low. I blamed my mum for my father's death and taunted and accused her of pushing before he jumped. Although it was not true it gave me great satisfaction hearing my mother's muffled tear and sobs from her room. My mother always loved and cared for me and was very compassionate towards me, both before and after my father's death which is more than I can say for my father. My dad would often abuse me and as I cried he would tell me to man up and do him proud and it was my mother only who questioned the large bruises scattered all over my body. Yet my mum was always there to feed me and put a roof over my head. But my eyes were only for my father so my world seemed to crumble as he made his long ominous decent to the pits of hell. â€Å"Unsteady Raspy Breathing † So as these boys told me my task in hand, ringing in my ears was the sound of my Dad saying, â€Å"so Wayne are you going to be a Mummy's boy or a Daddy's boy. â€Å"So not only did I accept that I had no choice, I agreed, I saw it as a gifted opportunity to do my beloved Dad proud and make up for the fact I could never live up to Ashley. I had my goal in mind and it never occurred to me the magnitude of the danger and I never assumed I would get caught. So I was dismayed to walk into a group of men the gleam in their eyes told me they knew everything. â€Å"Pause† They were smug, the kind of people when dad was alive he was obsessed with surrounding himself with. Those crocked smiles and worn bashed up faces told me they had fought many wars before. But what shocked me the most was the lack of fear and concern in their eyes. They did what they this not because they were forced to like myself, but because they found it them adrenaline and they enjoyed it! As they redrew there knives from their pockets and slashed me I didn't resist or cry; I couldn't stand hearing my dad's voice again, â€Å"Man up Wayne, man up.† I had had enough. â€Å"Pause, Voice fades as he is dying† But as this happened I couldn't help but smile to myself. I had seen who was stabbing me, I smiled at him and he smirked back, mocking me. Ashley, who I had looked up to as a child, had come back; maybe not the way I had hoped, but none the less for the past eight years since he left all I have ever wanted was for him to return. I don't hate him for doing it; he was living my father's dream and had done him proud more than I had ever done. â€Å"Pause† If I shift my weight I could probably see the name of this god forsaken alley. â€Å"Terminal Lane,† it probably refers to the nearly airport but I think it fits. The end of my journey, a short journey, but never the less an eventful one. â€Å"Terminal Lane†. Chuckles â€Å"Closes Eyes, Dies†.

Drugs Abuse And Rehabilitation Among Teenagers Social Work Essays

Drugs Abuse And Rehabilitation Among Teenagers Social Work Essays Drugs Abuse And Rehabilitation Among Teenagers Social Work Essay Drugs Abuse And Rehabilitation Among Teenagers Social Work Essay Due to the earnestness of drugs maltreatment and the authoritiess serious concern on drug trial in school, this research investigates the positions on the grounds of drugs maltreatment and rehabilitation among adolescents in Hong Kong. A questionnaire is collected from 109 adolescents aged from 13 to 22. It focuses on the adolescents sentiment and cognition about drugs maltreatment and rehabilitation. The findings show that adolescents largely know the status of drugs maltreatment in Hong Kong, every bit good as its consequence on drug maltreaters. Apart from the knowledge on drugs maltreatment, the grounds and the ways of drugs maltreatment are besides known good. However, it leads a inquiry Why do adolescent drug maltreaters still take drugs even if they know the consequence of drug maltreatment? It is believed that there are some external and internal influences which are strongly impacting those adolescent drug maltreaters. Besides, the HKSAR authorities should take some actions to cover with such serious job and supply aid to those drug maltreaters. Introduction Drug maltreatment is ever a popular job discussing everyplace, and now it is being more and more serious among adolescents in Hong Kong. Harmonizing to the Hong Kong Legislative Council Secretariat, the figure of reported drug maltreaters has bit by bit increased from 13252 to 14175 between 2006 and 2008 and there are extra one tierce of drug maltreaters with ages lower than 25 in 2008 ( Legislative Council Secretariat 2009 ) . It is a distressing status towards our society. After looking into the job, it is found that there are tonss of factors which make a individual falling into the trap of drug maltreatment. The major grounds of young person to be drug maltreatment included peer influence ( to place with equals ) , wonder, alleviation of boredom/depression/anxiety, seeking euphory or centripetal satisfaction, and avoiding uncomfortableness of its absence ( Legislative Council Secretariat 2009 ) . It seems that the job can non be wholly solved by stamp downing drug traffic merely. At the recent period, due to the earnestness of drug maltreatment in school, HKSAR authorities tries to present schools drug trial in TaiPo territory. It aims at happening out the adolescent drug maltreaters who want to acquire aid from others. After the first phase of the program, Government claims that it is effectual on constructing a no drugs environment inside school, and wants to present this program towards whole Hong Kong. However, this program is criticized that it does non hold complete back uping steps to assist those adolescent drug maltreaters ( China News 2010 ) . It needs non to be uncertainty that covering with the job of drug maltreatment is a long-run program. The grounds and factors must be to the full understand before set up the strategy which truly can assist those adolescent drug maltreaters. Otherwise, drug maltreatment will turn into an endless job in Hong Kong. Methodology Our intent is to analyze the grounds of drugs maltreatment and rehabilitation among adolescents in Hong Kong. The study was conducted at HKUSPACE campus, every bit good as the cyberspace. A entire figure of 109 questionnaires were collected within October. We had indiscriminately selected adolescents aged from 13 to 22 as our respondents. Since the study has been conducted at HKUSPACE campus, hence, the information is chiefly collected from university pupils and senior pupils ( see figure 1.1 ) . As the same ground as above, due to the topographic point where the study takes portion, our respondents largely belong to the group of age from 19 to 22 ( see figure 1.2 ) . It may besides demo that most of our respondents are large plenty to understand the content of study, which can assist the truth of the study consequences. The questionnaire chiefly focuses on the adolescents sentiment and cognition about drugs maltreatment and rehabilitation. There are besides some inquiries which ask about the status of drugs maltreatment in Hong Kong. It helps to understand whether adolescents are paying close attending to their environment. Furthermore, adolescents may non state the truth on some inquiries. For illustration, they may non state genuinely whether they know any their friends or schoolmates have taken drugs, since they may afraid that they will acquire problem if they answer yes . Therefore, those type of inquiries are treated as mention stuff merely which help to analyse the consequences. Beside the study, the information is besides collected from cyberspace and printed books. Due to the assortment of beginning, cyberspace is a great platform to seek for a big sum of information. Inside the books, more accurate and elaborate information can be found. Those are the grounds that why cyberspace and books are chosen to be the database of the research. Discussion Adolescents Positions on the Reasons of drug maltreatment Introduction to Drug Abuse Defined by the WHO ( World Health Organization ) a Drug can be any substance, which can come in a life being and modify one or more of its maps. If the drugs are used for intents other than the prescribed recommendation, it can be called Drug Abuse. The assorted names for Drug maltreatment are Drug dependance, Harmful drug usage, and Psychoactive substance usage upset ( Medindia ) . Addiction is normally defined as the uninterrupted, compulsive use of a drug despite the user and the society may do physical or psychological injury ( Vivek ) . Drug maltreatment is non wholly the duty of the drug nut. The chief factor is drugs itself contain habit-forming chemical that does nt allow you withdrawal from them ( Peloski ) . The effects caused by drug maltreatment can be divided into three chief parts: Physical, Psychological and Social effects. Higher Hazard of undertaking infective disease, Loss of consciousness and destroy relationships with equals or household can be the possible illustrations ( Youth Mental Health Promotion Programme ) . Reasons Our subject is the adolescents positions on the ground of drug maltreatment. However, adolescents may non cognize the existent instance in the grownup society. Therefore, to be more realistic, the study is conducted by inquiring their positions on the factors of youth drug maltreaters and here is the consequence: Peer Pressure Sing the consequence of questionnaire, Figure 2.1, equal force per unit area and wonder are the chief grounds of taking drugs which are voted by 68 and 66 out of 109 respondents severally. Majority of respondents believed that equal force per unit area is the chief ground. It is because equals to a great extent influence the pick of taking drugs ( Rea and Curtis 2008 ) . Teenagers care about their image and besides are disquieted about what others think about themselves. Therefore adolescents will coerce themselves to make something to suit in with the group. If one s equals have drugs abuse, the adolescent who does non take drugs will be labeled as out-of-date and be isolated from them. As the consequence, they take drugs in order to stay or go a member of a group. Curiosity The 2nd highest rated ground in our statistics is wonder. Adolescents are funny and eager to seek new experiences. They besides like to cognize the facts, gustatory sensations and feelings of taking drugs so that they may inquire inquiries about how to utilize drugs and so articulation equals who are utilizing drugs ( Ava 2010 ) . These adolescents are non forced by others but themselves. This factor ever drives adolescents to seek the first drugs. Family Problems Voted by 45 out of the 109 adolescents, the ground of deficiency of fond regard to parents tonss rank three in the statistics. Furthermore, another ground, holding helter-skelter place environment, besides related to job of household hiting rank four with 41 respondents. One of the most common grounds of drug maltreatment is precisely Family jobs ( Davidson 2010 ) . This state of affairs is occurred often particularly in younger coevalss ( Davidson 2010 ) . Since they may non hold the authorization to voice at place and they do nt cognize what they can make, they may seek to utilize drugs to bury about the strivings and adversities that they are traveling through in their households ( Davidson 2010 ) . However, taking drugs can non avoid happening of the jobs ( Melinda Smith, M.A. , and Joanna Saisan 2010 ) . Drugs may convey you a better feeling in short-run, but you will still be low self-esteem, anxiousness, solitariness, or unhappy in household life in long-run. The effects and j obs caused in physical, psychological and societal by drug maltreatment may be extra the original job that you are get awaying from ( Melinda Smith, M.A. , and Joanna Saisan 2010 ) . Decision From the above consequences, grounds of adolescents taking drugs can be separated into three factors which are community, personal and household factors ( Rea and Curtis 2008 ) . Furthermore, our statistics on the grounds of taking drugs are co-occuring to the information from Hong Kong Legislative Council Secretariat. The major grounds are equals influence, wonder and alleviation of anxiousness from household jobs. Rehabilitation of Drug Abuse Presents rehabilitation plans Because of new cognition about drug maltreatment, extra and comprehensive intervention methods have been developed. Identifying addicted single and bar of drug dependance are more focussed in rehabilitation plans. Treatment plans seem to be specialized to different methods for different populations, such as striplings, grownups, persons and groups. Furthermore, plans make usage of a assortment of therapy agents, for illustration, physicians, nurses, psychologists, retrieving nuts or societal workers ( Sussman A ; Ames 212 ) . Figure 2.2.1: A therapy procedure flow chart from Sussman and Ames ( 2001 ) . Cardinal basicss of rehabilitation for striplings and emerging grownups Brannign, Schackman, Falco, A ; Millman ( cited in Sussman A ; Ames 219 ) , created a list of nine cardinal basicss of effectual drug maltreatment intervention for striplings. First, plan should include extended appraisals covering psychological and medical issue, larning disablements, household operation, and other Fieldss of the adolescents lives. Second, plan should cover with all angles of adolescents lives, for case, household, school, and societal activities. Third, Parents are necessary to be involved in the plan. Forth, developmental differences between grownups and adolescents should be considered. Fifth, the plan should set up a clime of believe, which is a important component to prosecute adolescents in intervention. Sixth, the intervention staff should fit with cognition of stripling development, co morbidity issues, and substance maltreatment. Seventh, the plan should be able to manage the different demands of adolescents. Eighth, plan should include aftercare progra ms. Finally, plan should besides include stiff assessments for implementing intervention services. Harm Decrease Erickson ( cited in Sussman A ; Ames 223 ) stated that injury decrease emphasizes to understand a personal s ability to modulate his or her behaviour. The common construct of injury decrease is to relieve harmful effect of substances dependance and diminish person s hazard of injury to self or others ( Duncan et. al. , Marlatt, Somers, A ; Tapert, Pentz, Sussman, A ; Newman, cited in Sussman A ; Ames 223 ) . For illustration, utilizing dolophine hydrochloride alternatively of mistreating drugs is being used as a harm decrease plan in Hong Kong. This intervention is called dolophine hydrochloride intervention which aims to promote drug maltreaters to instance substance maltreatment and avoid the spreading of contagious disease like AIDS during injection. General Rehabilitation in Hong Kong Harmonizing to the information provided from Narcotics Division, Security Bureau, Hong Kong has offered different types installations and plans to different drug maltreater. Basically, reding plan which have medical support service and aid to purchase psychoactive medical specialty and residential drug rehabilitation plan are provided to psychotropic substances Abusers. For diacetylmorphine maltreater, every bit same as psychotropic substances Abusers, authorities besides have reding plan and particularly offer a Out-patient Methadone Treatment Program helping these maltreater to rehabilitate with the aid of societal worker and psychologist. Furthermore, the service and plan mentioned above are voluntary to fall in as the basis of rehabilitation are the maltreater themselves. Apart from Hong Kong authorities, Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers is one of the celebrated rehabilitation centres. It has a plan merely for female or adolescents. They aim to assist drug maltreater to reconstruct their life span and a normal household life. In add-on, the individual who is sentenced or in prison are compulsory to hold placement strategy clasp by Hong Kong Corrections Services. Rehabilitation for adolescent in Hong Kong Adolescent may be a group of being drug addicted easy because of wonder. Actually, the HKSAR have conducted many research about the job of adolescent drug maltreatment and the method of bar and rehabilitation, such as The 2008/09 Survey of Drug Use among Students which to acknowledge the pupil s cognition and attitude of drug maltreatment. The newest is The Fifth Three-year Plan on Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation ServicesA in Hong Kong ( 2009 2011 ) to look into which drug intervention and rehabilitation services should utilize in following three twelvemonth. Except the authorities section, some voluntary organisation or private rehabilitation centre besides have rehabilitation plans. Zheng Sheng College organized by Christian Zheng Sheng Association Limited is one of the organisations assisting the adolescent who had been drug maltreater. During the period of intervention, societal workers and psychologist play an of import function. They improve the patient s psychological wellness as their remedy to assist them to return a normal life. Decision In this research, we chiefly analyze the positions on the grounds of drugs maltreatment and rehabilitation among adolescents in Hong Kong. The study has shown their basic cognition of drugs maltreatment and collected their sentiments on rehabilitation. Through the questionnaire, we know that whether adolescents understand the grounds of taking drugs and the ways to acquire drugs. We besides find out that whether adolescents know the demands when a drug maltreater is under recovery intervention, or if they feel acceptable if a rehab centre is located near them. Harmonizing to the study, adolescents largely think that equal force per unit area and wonder are the chief grounds of drugs maltreatment, after that follow the helter-skelter place environment, deficiency of fond regard to parents, aggression and holding merriment. It is believed that they agree equals to a great extent influence the pick of taking drugs, every bit good as exhilaration seeking. Besides, they can understand that drugs abuse can be related to job of household. For illustration, drug maltreater may desire to utilize drugs to bury about the strivings and adversities. Since drugs abuse becomes a serious long term job today, several recommendations on how authorities can supply aids are given and discussed in the following. Recommendations After look intoing the respondents positions on the grounds of drug maltreatment and rehabilitation, there are several recommendations, which could be good in assisting adolescents to avoid and cover with drug maltreatment in order to obtain a more healthy life. Preventing Drug Abuse Drug maltreatment can be prevented by uncluttering up the factors which may deteriorate to drug maltreatment. Here are some recommendations on those factors: Parents help to battle equal force per unit area From the study, more than half of respondents choose which pushed equal force per unit area as the highest graded ground. In order to avoid the negative effects due to this factor, parents are recommended to prosecute the followers methods which are suggested by Family First Aid of the United States. Communication: Parents should speak with adolescents on a regular basis to understand their psychological province whether teens are depressed under equal force per unit area. Having clear outlooks: Parents should speak with teens about the clear outlook such as promoting them to take positive friends when they were immature. Know adolescents friends and their parents: Parents should cognize the friends parents to allow the adolescents cognizing that they are checked up sometimes by naming the friends parents. Furthermore, parents can besides seek to do their place to be an inviting topographic point for teens. Hence, it can oversee them more easy. The above methods are already plenty for parents to forestall their kid far from peer force per unit area. Parents help to cut down adolescents wonder In add-on to battling peer force per unit area, parents should besides assist striplings to fulfill their wonder. The efficiency methods are the followerss. Stating the serious effects of holding drug maltreatment to take their funny on drugs when adolescents are immature Helping adolescents to develop a good value and attitude to forestall drugs abuse Teaching the right manner for the drug usage, such as obey the physicians order to utilizing drugs Warning the adolescents when they are utilizing the drug by themselves determination Above methods are helpful for adolescents to hold a good wont on drug usage. Schools aid to heighten the instruction on adolescents to forestall drug maltreatment Harmonizing to our study, over 35 % of respondents select No cognition about rehabilitation interventions. Beside, cognition of drugs is besides important for adolescents. Therefore, school or instruction authorization should take a duty for educating adolescents about drugs substances, bar, and intervention. The undermentioned events can be held in order to catch adolescents involvements: Keeping negotiations of ex-drug nut and Adding the moral instruction to be regular lesson Keeping the some competitions about anti-drugs, such as posting and slogan competitions Since there are many adolescents who are taking drugs are misconception on drug maltreatment, school instruction would be an of import character to rectify their misinterpretation. Deal with Family Problems Lack of concern, is a common household jobs that may take to youth drug maltreaters. However, Family jobs are hard to work out by adolescents, since they may non hold much authorization to voice their feelings during the detonation of emotion of their parents. Then, how to cover with household jobs? It s the duty of Parents that continually let the younger coevals cognizing you care about them ( Sherman ) . Furthermore, Adolescents could speak to them in a peace state of affairs in order to allow them hold an rousing to the jobs. Arousal the jobs is the first measure of work outing them. Furthermore, Harmonizing to Jacobs, there are 5 instructions for forestalling and work outing the struggle: Do non respond instantly, but think about the jobs rationally. Do nt state anything, if it would nt assist to better the state of affairs. Do non dish the dirt. Make seek the best to set household foremost. Make non be antagonized by hurtful unfavorable judgment. In dependence, You ca nt pick your household, but you can pick your friends. said Sherman. Adolescents can widen the web of good friends. Social support is really of import when you feel down and dying. But, significantly, Do non run into the friend that may entice or even hale you to take drugs.

A Dirty Job Chapter 6

He’d worked up a furious appetite because breakfast was running late today. The Emperor had slept on a bench by the Maritime Museum, and during the night his arthritic knee had snaked out of his wool overcoat into the damp cold, making the walk to North Beach and the Italian bakery that gave them free day-old a slow and painful ordeal. The Emperor groaned and sat down on an empty milk crate. He was a great rolling bear of a man, his shoulders broad but a little broken from carrying the weight of the city. A white tangle of hair and beard wreathed his face like a storm cloud. As far as he could remember, he and the troops had patrolled the city streets forever, but upon further consideration, it might have just been since Wednesday. He wasn’t entirely sure. The Emperor decided to make a proclamation to the troops about the importance of compassion in the face of the rising tide of heinous fuckery and political weaselocity in the nearby kingdom of the United States. (He found his audience was most attentive to his proclamations when the meat-laced focaccia were still nuzzled in the larder of his overcoat pockets, and presently a pepperoni and Parmesan reposed fragrant in the woolly depths, so the royal hounds were rapt.) But just as he cleared his throat to begin, a cargo van came screeching around the corner, went up on two wheels as it plowed through a row of garbage cans, and slid to a stop not fifty feet away. The driver’s-side door flew open and a thin man in a suit leapt out, carrying a cane and a woman’s fur coat, and made a beeline for the back door of Asher’s. But before he got two steps the man fell to the concrete as if hit from behind, then rolled on his back and began flailing at the air with the cane an d the coat. The Emperor, who knew most everyone, recognized Charlie Asher. Bummer erupted into a fit of yapping, but the more levelheaded Lazarus growled once and took off toward Charlie. â€Å"Lazarus!† the Emperor shouted, but the retriever charged on, followed now by his bug-eyed brother in arms. Charlie was back on his feet and swinging the cane as if he was fencing with some phantom, using the coat like a shield. Living on the street, the Emperor had seen a lot of people battling with unseen demons, but Charlie Asher was apparently scoring some hits. The cane was making a thwacking noise against what appeared to be thin air – but no, there was something there, a shadow of some sort? The Emperor climbed to his feet and limped into the fray, but before he got two steps Lazarus had leapt and appeared to be attacking Charlie, but he soared over the shopkeeper and snapped at a spot above his head – then hung there, his jaws sunk into the substantial neck of thin air. Charlie took advantage of the distraction, stepped back, and swung the cane above the levitating golden retriever. There was a smack, and Lazarus let go, but now Bummer launched himself at the invisible foe. He missed whatever was there, and ended up performing a doggy swish shot into a garbage can. Charlie made for the steel door of Asher’s again, but found it locked, and as he reached for his keys, something caught him from behind. â€Å"Let go, fuckface,† the shade screeched. The fur coat Charlie was holding appeared to be swept out of his hand and was pulled straight up, over the four-story building and out of sight. Charlie turned and held the cane at ready, but whatever had been there seemed to be gone now. â€Å"Aren’t you just supposed to sit above the door and nevermore and be poetic and stuff?!† he shouted at the sky. Then, for good measure, added, â€Å"You evil fuck!† Lazarus barked, then whined. A sharp and metallic yapping rose from Bummer’s garbage can. â€Å"Well, you don’t see that every day,† said the Emperor as he limped up to Charlie. â€Å"You could see that?† â€Å"Well, no, not really. Merely a shadow, but I could see that something was there. There was something there, wasn’t there, Charlie?† Charlie nodded, trying to catch his breath. â€Å"It will be back. It followed me across the city.† He dug into his pocket for his keys. â€Å"You guys should duck into the store with me, Your Majesty.† Of course Charlie knew the Emperor. Every San Franciscan knew the Emperor. The Emperor smiled. â€Å"That’s very kind of you, but we will be perfectly safe. For now I need to free my charge from his galvanized prison.† The big man tipped the garbage can and Bummer emerged snorting and tossing his head as if ready to tear the ass out of any man or beast foolhardy enough to cross him (and he would have, as long as they were knee-high or shorter). Charlie was still having trouble with the key. He knew he should have had the lock replaced, but it worked, if you finessed it a little, so he’d never made it a priority. Who the hell thought you’d ever have to get in quick to escape a giant bird? Then he heard a screech and turned to see not one, but two huge ravens coming over the roof and diving into the alley. The dogs arfed a frantic barking salvo at the avian intruders and Charlie put so much body English into wiggling the key in the lock that he felt an atrophied dancing muscle tear in his hip. â€Å"They’re back. Cover me.† Charlie threw the cane to the Emperor and braced himself for the impact, but as soon as the cane touched the old man’s hand the birds were gone. You could almost hear the pop of the air replacing the space they had taken up. The dogs caught themselves in mid-ruff; Bummer whimpered. â€Å"What?† the Emperor said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"They’re gone.† The Emperor looked at the sky. â€Å"You’re sure?† â€Å"For now.† â€Å"I saw two shadows. Really saw them this time,† the Emperor said. â€Å"Yes, there were two this time.† â€Å"What are they?† â€Å"I have no idea, but when you took the cane they – well, they disappeared. You really saw them?† â€Å"I’m sure of it. Like smoke with a purpose.† Finally the key turned in the lock and the door to Asher’s back room swung open. â€Å"You should come in. Rest. I’ll order something to eat.† â€Å"No, no, the men and I must be on our rounds. I’ve decided to make a proclamation this morning and we need to see the printer. You’ll be needing this.† The Emperor presented the cane to Charlie like he was turning over a sword of the realm. Charlie started to take it, then thought better of it. â€Å"Your Majesty, I think you’d better keep that. It looks as if you might be able to use it.† Charlie nodded toward the Emperor’s creaky knee. The Emperor held the cane steady. â€Å"I am not a worshiper of the material, you know?† â€Å"I understand that.† â€Å"I am a firm believer that desire is the source of most of human suffering, you’re aware, and no culprit is more heinous than desire for material gain.† â€Å"I run my business based on those very principles. Still, I insist you keep the cane – as a favor to me, if you would?† Charlie found himself affecting the Emperor’s formal speech patterns, as if somehow he had been transported to a royal court where a nobleman was distinguished by bread crumbs in his beard and the royal guard were not above licking their balls. â€Å"Well, as a favor, I will accept. It is a fine piece of craftsmanship.† â€Å"But more importantly, it will permit you to make your rounds in good time.† The Emperor now betrayed the desire in his heart as he let fly a wide grin and hugged the cane to his chest. â€Å"It is fine, indeed. Charlie, I must confess something to you, but I ask you to grant me the credulity due a man who has just shared witness, with a friend, of two giant, raven-shaped shades.† â€Å"Of course.† Charlie smiled, when even a moment before he would have thought his smile lost somewhere in the months past. â€Å"I hope you won’t think me base, but the second I touched this, I felt as if I had been waiting for it my whole life.† Then, for no reason that he could think of, Charlie said, â€Å"I know.† A few minutes before, inside the store, Lily had been brooding. It wasn’t her general brood, the reaction to a world where everyone was stupid and life was meaningless and the mere act of living was futile, especially if your mother forgot to get coffee at the store. This one was a more specific brood, that had started out when she arrived at work and Ray had pointed out that it was her turn to wear the vacuuming tiara, and insisted that if she wore the tiara, she actually vacuum the store. (In fact, she liked wearing the rhinestone tiara that Charlie, in a move of blatant bourgeois sneakiness, had designated be worn by whoever did the vacuuming and sweeping each day, and no other time. It was the vacuuming and sweeping she objected to. She felt manipulated, used, and generally taken advantage of, and not in the fun way.) But today, after she’d put the tiara and the vacuum away and had finally gotten a couple of cups of coffee in her system, the brooding had gone on, bu ilding to full-scale angst, when it began to dawn on her that she was going to have to figure out this college-career thing, because despite what The Great Big Book of Death said, she had not been chosen as a dark minion of destruction. Fuck! She stood in the back room looking at all the items that Charlie had piled there the day before: shoes, lamps, umbrellas, porcelain figures, toys, a couple of books, and an old black-and-white television and a painting of a clown on black velvet. â€Å"He said this stuff was glowing?† she asked Ray, who stood in the doorway to the store. â€Å"Yes. He made me check it all with my Geiger counter.† â€Å"Ray, why the fuck do you have a Geiger counter?† â€Å"Lily, why do you have a nose stud shaped like a bat?† Lily ignored the question and picked up the ceramic frog from the night before, which now had a note taped to it that read DO NOT SELL OR DISPLAY in Charlie’s meticulous block-letter printing. â€Å"This was one of the things? This?† â€Å"That was the first one he freaked out about,† said Ray matter-of-factly. â€Å"The truant officer tried to buy it. That started it all.† Lily was shaken. She backed over to Charlie’s desk and sat in the squeaky oak swivel chair. â€Å"Do you see anything glowing or pulsating, Ray? Have you ever?† Ray shook his head. â€Å"He’s under a lot of stress, losing Rachel and taking care of the baby. I think maybe he needs to get some help. I know after I had to leave the force – † Ray paused. There was a commotion going on out in the alley, dogs barking and people shouting, then someone was working a key in the lock of the back door. A second later, Charlie came in, a little breathless, his clothes smudged here and there with grime, one sleeve of his jacket torn and bloodstained. â€Å"Asher,† Lily said. â€Å"You’re hurt.† She quickly vacated his chair while Ray took Charlie by the shoulders and sat him down. â€Å"I’m fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"No big deal.† â€Å"I’ll get the first-aid kit,† Ray said. â€Å"Get that jacket off of him, Lily.† â€Å"I’m fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"Quit talking about me like I’m not here.† â€Å"He’s delirious,† Lily said, trying to pry Charlie out of his jacket. â€Å"Do you have any painkillers, Ray?† â€Å"I don’t need painkillers,† Charlie said. â€Å"Shut up, Asher, they’re not for you,† Lily said, automatically, then she considered the book, Ray’s story, the notes on all the items in the back room, and she shuddered. It appeared that Charlie Asher might not be the hapless geek she always thought him to be. â€Å"Sorry, boss. Let us help you.† Ray came back from the front with a small plastic first-aid kit. He peeled back Charlie’s sleeve and began to clean the wounds with gauze and peroxide. â€Å"What happened?† â€Å"Nothing,† Charlie said. â€Å"I slipped and fell in some gravel.† â€Å"The wound’s pretty clean – no gravel in it. That must have been some fall.† â€Å"Long story.† Charlie sighed. â€Å"Ouch!† â€Å"What was all the noise in the alley?† Lily asked, needing badly to go smoke, but unable to pull herself away. She just couldn’t imagine that Charlie Asher was the one. How could it be him? He was so, so, unworthy. He didn’t understand the dark underbelly of life the way she did. Yet he was the one seeing the glowing objects. He was it. She was crestfallen. â€Å"Just the Emperor’s dogs after a seagull in the Dumpster. No big deal. I fell off a porch in Pacific Heights.† â€Å"The estate,† Ray said. â€Å"How’d that go?† â€Å"Not well. The husband was grief-stricken and had a heart attack while I was there.† â€Å"You’re kidding.† â€Å"No, he just sort of became overwhelmed thinking about his wife and collapsed. I gave him CPR until the EMTs came and took him off to the hospital.† â€Å"So,† Lily said, â€Å"did you get the – uh – did you get anything special?† â€Å"What?† Charlie’s eyes went wide. â€Å"What do you mean, special? There was nothing special.† â€Å"Chill, boss, I just meant will we get the grandma’s clothes?† He’s it, Lily thought. The fucker. Charlie shook his head. â€Å"I don’t know, it’s so strange. The whole thing is so strange.† He shuddered when he said it. â€Å"Strange how?† Lily said. â€Å"Strange in a cool and dark way, or strange because you’re Asher and you’re out of it most of the time?† â€Å"Lily!† Ray snapped. â€Å"Go out front. Dust something.† â€Å"You’re not the boss of me, Ray. I’m just showing my concern.† â€Å"It’s okay, Ray.† Charlie looked like he was considering how, exactly, to define strange, and not coming up with anything that was working. Finally he said, â€Å"Well, for one thing, this woman’s estate is way out of our league. The husband said he called me because we were the first secondhand store in the phone book, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of man to do something like that.† â€Å"That’s not that strange,† Lily said. Just confess, she thought. â€Å"You said that he was grief-stricken,† Ray said, dabbing antibiotic ointment on Charlie’s cuts. â€Å"Maybe he’s doing things differently.† â€Å"Yes, and he was angry at his wife, too, for the way she died.† â€Å"How?† Lily asked. â€Å"She ate silica gel,† Charlie said. Lily looked at Ray for an explanation, because silica gel sounded techno-geeky, which was Ray’s particular field of geekdom. Ray said, â€Å"It’s the antidesiccant that they pack with electronics and other things that are sensitive to humidity.† â€Å"The ‘Do Not Eat’ stuff?!† Lily said. â€Å"Oh my God, that’s so stupid. Everyone knows you don’t eat the ‘Do Not Eat’ stuff.† Charlie said, â€Å"Mr. Mainheart was pretty broken up.† â€Å"Well, I guess so,† Lily said. â€Å"He married a complete fucktard.† Charlie cringed. â€Å"Lily, that’s not appropriate.† Lily shrugged and rolled her eyes. She hated it when Charlie dropped into Dad mode. â€Å"Okay, okay. I’m going outside to smoke.† â€Å"No!† Charlie jumped out of the chair and put himself between Lily and the back door. â€Å"Out front. From now on if you have to smoke you go out front.† â€Å"But you said that I look like a child hooker when I smoke out front.† â€Å"I’ve reassessed. You’ve matured.† Lily closed one eye to see if she could better glimpse into his soul and thus figure out his true agenda. She smoothed over her black vinyl skirt, which made a tortured, squeaking noise at the touch. â€Å"You’re trying to say I have a big butt, aren’t you?† â€Å"I absolutely am saying no such thing,† Charlie insisted. â€Å"I am simply saying that your presence in front of the store is an asset and will probably attract business from the tourists on the cable car.† â€Å"Oh. Okay.† Lily snatched her box of cloves off the desk and headed out past the counter and outside to brood, grieve really, because as much as she had hoped, she was not Death. The book was Charlie’s. That evening Charlie was watching the store, wondering why he had lied to his employees, when he saw a flash of red passing by the front window. A second later, a strikingly pale redhead came through the door. She was wearing a short, black cocktail dress and black fuck-me pumps. She strode up the aisle like she was auditioning for a music video. Her hair cascaded in long curls around her shoulders and down her back like a great auburn veil. Her eyes were emerald green, and when she saw him looking, she smiled, and stopped, some ten feet away. Charlie felt an almost painful jolt that seemed to emanate from somewhere in the area of his groin, and after a second he recognized it as an autonomic lust response. He hadn’t felt anything like that since Rachel had passed, and he felt vaguely ashamed. She was examining him, looking him over like you would examine a used car. He was sure he must be blushing. â€Å"Hi,† Charlie said. â€Å"Can I help you?† The redhead smiled again, just a little, and reached into a small black bag that he hadn’t noticed she’d been carrying. â€Å"I found this,† she said, holding up a silver cigarette case. Something Charlie didn’t see very often anymore, even in the secondhand business. It was glowing, pulsating like the objects in the back room. â€Å"I was in the neighborhood and something made me think that this belonged here.† She moved to the counter opposite Charlie and set the cigarette case down in front of him. Charlie could barely move. He stared at her, not even conscious that to avoid her eyes he was staring at her cleavage, and she appeared to be looking around his head and shoulders as if following the path of insects that were buzzing around him. â€Å"Touch me,† she said. â€Å"Huh?† He looked up, saw she was serious. She held out her hand; her nails were manicured and painted the same deep red as her lipstick. He took her hand. As soon as she touched him she pulled away. â€Å"You’re warm.† â€Å"Thanks.† In that moment he realized that she wasn’t. Her fingers had been ice-cold. â€Å"Then you’re not one of us?† He tried to think of what â€Å"us† might be? Irish? Low blood pressure? Nymphomaniac? Why did he even think that? â€Å"Us? What do you mean, ‘us’?† She backed away a step. â€Å"No. You don’t just take the weak and the sick, do you? You take anyone.† â€Å"Take? What do you mean, ‘take’?† â€Å"You don’t even know, do you?† â€Å"Know what?† Charlie was getting very nervous. As a Beta Male, he found it difficult enough to function under the attention of a beautiful woman, but she was just plain spooky. â€Å"Wait. Can you see this thing glowing?† He held out the cigarette case. â€Å"No glow. It just felt like it belonged here,† she said. â€Å"What’s your name?† â€Å"Charlie Asher. This is Asher’s.† â€Å"Well, Charlie, you seem like a nice guy, and I don’t know exactly what you are, and it doesn’t seem like you know. You don’t, do you?† â€Å"I’ve been going through some changes,† Charlie said, wondering why he felt compelled to share this at all. The redhead nodded, as if confirming something to herself. â€Å"Okay. I know what it’s like to, uh, to find yourself thrown into a situation where forces beyond your control are changing you into someone, something you don’t have an owner’s manual for. I understand what it is to not know. But someone, somewhere, does know. Someone can tell you what’s going on.† â€Å"What are you talking about?† But he knew what she was talking about. What he didn’t know was how she could possibly know. â€Å"You make people die, don’t you, Charlie?† She said it like she had worked up the courage to tell him that he had some spinach in his teeth. More of a service to him than an accusation. â€Å"How do you – ?† How did she – â€Å"Because it’s what I do. Not like you, but it’s what I do. Find them, Charlie. Backtrack and find whoever was there when your world changed.† Charlie looked at her, then at the cigarette case, then at the redhead again, who was no longer smiling, but was stepping backward toward the door. Trying to stay in touch with normal, he focused on the cigarette case and said, â€Å"I suppose I can do an appraisal – â€Å" He heard the bell over the door jingle, and when he looked up she was gone. He didn’t see her moving by the windows on either side of the door; she was just gone. He ran to the front of the store and out the door onto the sidewalk. The Mason Street cable car was just topping the hill up by California Street and he could hear the bell, there was a thin fog coming up from the Bay that threw colorful halos around the neon signs of the other businesses, but there was no striking redhead on the street. He went to the corner and looked down Vallejo, but again no redhead, just the Emperor, sitting against the building with his dogs. â€Å"Good evening, Charlie.† â€Å"Your Majesty, did you see a redhead go by here just now?† â€Å"Oh yes. Spoke to her. I’m not sure you have a chance there, Charlie, I believe she’s spoken for. And she did warn me to stay away from you.† â€Å"Why? Did she say why?† â€Å"She said that you were Death.† â€Å"I am?† Charlie said. â€Å"Am I?† His breath caught in his throat as the day played back in his head. â€Å"What if I am?† â€Å"You know, son,† the Emperor said, â€Å"I am not an expert in dealing with the fairer sex, but you might want to save that bit of information until the third date or so, after they’ve gotten to know you a little.† A Dirty Job Chapter 6 He’d worked up a furious appetite because breakfast was running late today. The Emperor had slept on a bench by the Maritime Museum, and during the night his arthritic knee had snaked out of his wool overcoat into the damp cold, making the walk to North Beach and the Italian bakery that gave them free day-old a slow and painful ordeal. The Emperor groaned and sat down on an empty milk crate. He was a great rolling bear of a man, his shoulders broad but a little broken from carrying the weight of the city. A white tangle of hair and beard wreathed his face like a storm cloud. As far as he could remember, he and the troops had patrolled the city streets forever, but upon further consideration, it might have just been since Wednesday. He wasn’t entirely sure. The Emperor decided to make a proclamation to the troops about the importance of compassion in the face of the rising tide of heinous fuckery and political weaselocity in the nearby kingdom of the United States. (He found his audience was most attentive to his proclamations when the meat-laced focaccia were still nuzzled in the larder of his overcoat pockets, and presently a pepperoni and Parmesan reposed fragrant in the woolly depths, so the royal hounds were rapt.) But just as he cleared his throat to begin, a cargo van came screeching around the corner, went up on two wheels as it plowed through a row of garbage cans, and slid to a stop not fifty feet away. The driver’s-side door flew open and a thin man in a suit leapt out, carrying a cane and a woman’s fur coat, and made a beeline for the back door of Asher’s. But before he got two steps the man fell to the concrete as if hit from behind, then rolled on his back and began flailing at the air with the cane an d the coat. The Emperor, who knew most everyone, recognized Charlie Asher. Bummer erupted into a fit of yapping, but the more levelheaded Lazarus growled once and took off toward Charlie. â€Å"Lazarus!† the Emperor shouted, but the retriever charged on, followed now by his bug-eyed brother in arms. Charlie was back on his feet and swinging the cane as if he was fencing with some phantom, using the coat like a shield. Living on the street, the Emperor had seen a lot of people battling with unseen demons, but Charlie Asher was apparently scoring some hits. The cane was making a thwacking noise against what appeared to be thin air – but no, there was something there, a shadow of some sort? The Emperor climbed to his feet and limped into the fray, but before he got two steps Lazarus had leapt and appeared to be attacking Charlie, but he soared over the shopkeeper and snapped at a spot above his head – then hung there, his jaws sunk into the substantial neck of thin air. Charlie took advantage of the distraction, stepped back, and swung the cane above the levitating golden retriever. There was a smack, and Lazarus let go, but now Bummer launched himself at the invisible foe. He missed whatever was there, and ended up performing a doggy swish shot into a garbage can. Charlie made for the steel door of Asher’s again, but found it locked, and as he reached for his keys, something caught him from behind. â€Å"Let go, fuckface,† the shade screeched. The fur coat Charlie was holding appeared to be swept out of his hand and was pulled straight up, over the four-story building and out of sight. Charlie turned and held the cane at ready, but whatever had been there seemed to be gone now. â€Å"Aren’t you just supposed to sit above the door and nevermore and be poetic and stuff?!† he shouted at the sky. Then, for good measure, added, â€Å"You evil fuck!† Lazarus barked, then whined. A sharp and metallic yapping rose from Bummer’s garbage can. â€Å"Well, you don’t see that every day,† said the Emperor as he limped up to Charlie. â€Å"You could see that?† â€Å"Well, no, not really. Merely a shadow, but I could see that something was there. There was something there, wasn’t there, Charlie?† Charlie nodded, trying to catch his breath. â€Å"It will be back. It followed me across the city.† He dug into his pocket for his keys. â€Å"You guys should duck into the store with me, Your Majesty.† Of course Charlie knew the Emperor. Every San Franciscan knew the Emperor. The Emperor smiled. â€Å"That’s very kind of you, but we will be perfectly safe. For now I need to free my charge from his galvanized prison.† The big man tipped the garbage can and Bummer emerged snorting and tossing his head as if ready to tear the ass out of any man or beast foolhardy enough to cross him (and he would have, as long as they were knee-high or shorter). Charlie was still having trouble with the key. He knew he should have had the lock replaced, but it worked, if you finessed it a little, so he’d never made it a priority. Who the hell thought you’d ever have to get in quick to escape a giant bird? Then he heard a screech and turned to see not one, but two huge ravens coming over the roof and diving into the alley. The dogs arfed a frantic barking salvo at the avian intruders and Charlie put so much body English into wiggling the key in the lock that he felt an atrophied dancing muscle tear in his hip. â€Å"They’re back. Cover me.† Charlie threw the cane to the Emperor and braced himself for the impact, but as soon as the cane touched the old man’s hand the birds were gone. You could almost hear the pop of the air replacing the space they had taken up. The dogs caught themselves in mid-ruff; Bummer whimpered. â€Å"What?† the Emperor said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"They’re gone.† The Emperor looked at the sky. â€Å"You’re sure?† â€Å"For now.† â€Å"I saw two shadows. Really saw them this time,† the Emperor said. â€Å"Yes, there were two this time.† â€Å"What are they?† â€Å"I have no idea, but when you took the cane they – well, they disappeared. You really saw them?† â€Å"I’m sure of it. Like smoke with a purpose.† Finally the key turned in the lock and the door to Asher’s back room swung open. â€Å"You should come in. Rest. I’ll order something to eat.† â€Å"No, no, the men and I must be on our rounds. I’ve decided to make a proclamation this morning and we need to see the printer. You’ll be needing this.† The Emperor presented the cane to Charlie like he was turning over a sword of the realm. Charlie started to take it, then thought better of it. â€Å"Your Majesty, I think you’d better keep that. It looks as if you might be able to use it.† Charlie nodded toward the Emperor’s creaky knee. The Emperor held the cane steady. â€Å"I am not a worshiper of the material, you know?† â€Å"I understand that.† â€Å"I am a firm believer that desire is the source of most of human suffering, you’re aware, and no culprit is more heinous than desire for material gain.† â€Å"I run my business based on those very principles. Still, I insist you keep the cane – as a favor to me, if you would?† Charlie found himself affecting the Emperor’s formal speech patterns, as if somehow he had been transported to a royal court where a nobleman was distinguished by bread crumbs in his beard and the royal guard were not above licking their balls. â€Å"Well, as a favor, I will accept. It is a fine piece of craftsmanship.† â€Å"But more importantly, it will permit you to make your rounds in good time.† The Emperor now betrayed the desire in his heart as he let fly a wide grin and hugged the cane to his chest. â€Å"It is fine, indeed. Charlie, I must confess something to you, but I ask you to grant me the credulity due a man who has just shared witness, with a friend, of two giant, raven-shaped shades.† â€Å"Of course.† Charlie smiled, when even a moment before he would have thought his smile lost somewhere in the months past. â€Å"I hope you won’t think me base, but the second I touched this, I felt as if I had been waiting for it my whole life.† Then, for no reason that he could think of, Charlie said, â€Å"I know.† A few minutes before, inside the store, Lily had been brooding. It wasn’t her general brood, the reaction to a world where everyone was stupid and life was meaningless and the mere act of living was futile, especially if your mother forgot to get coffee at the store. This one was a more specific brood, that had started out when she arrived at work and Ray had pointed out that it was her turn to wear the vacuuming tiara, and insisted that if she wore the tiara, she actually vacuum the store. (In fact, she liked wearing the rhinestone tiara that Charlie, in a move of blatant bourgeois sneakiness, had designated be worn by whoever did the vacuuming and sweeping each day, and no other time. It was the vacuuming and sweeping she objected to. She felt manipulated, used, and generally taken advantage of, and not in the fun way.) But today, after she’d put the tiara and the vacuum away and had finally gotten a couple of cups of coffee in her system, the brooding had gone on, bu ilding to full-scale angst, when it began to dawn on her that she was going to have to figure out this college-career thing, because despite what The Great Big Book of Death said, she had not been chosen as a dark minion of destruction. Fuck! She stood in the back room looking at all the items that Charlie had piled there the day before: shoes, lamps, umbrellas, porcelain figures, toys, a couple of books, and an old black-and-white television and a painting of a clown on black velvet. â€Å"He said this stuff was glowing?† she asked Ray, who stood in the doorway to the store. â€Å"Yes. He made me check it all with my Geiger counter.† â€Å"Ray, why the fuck do you have a Geiger counter?† â€Å"Lily, why do you have a nose stud shaped like a bat?† Lily ignored the question and picked up the ceramic frog from the night before, which now had a note taped to it that read DO NOT SELL OR DISPLAY in Charlie’s meticulous block-letter printing. â€Å"This was one of the things? This?† â€Å"That was the first one he freaked out about,† said Ray matter-of-factly. â€Å"The truant officer tried to buy it. That started it all.† Lily was shaken. She backed over to Charlie’s desk and sat in the squeaky oak swivel chair. â€Å"Do you see anything glowing or pulsating, Ray? Have you ever?† Ray shook his head. â€Å"He’s under a lot of stress, losing Rachel and taking care of the baby. I think maybe he needs to get some help. I know after I had to leave the force – † Ray paused. There was a commotion going on out in the alley, dogs barking and people shouting, then someone was working a key in the lock of the back door. A second later, Charlie came in, a little breathless, his clothes smudged here and there with grime, one sleeve of his jacket torn and bloodstained. â€Å"Asher,† Lily said. â€Å"You’re hurt.† She quickly vacated his chair while Ray took Charlie by the shoulders and sat him down. â€Å"I’m fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"No big deal.† â€Å"I’ll get the first-aid kit,† Ray said. â€Å"Get that jacket off of him, Lily.† â€Å"I’m fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"Quit talking about me like I’m not here.† â€Å"He’s delirious,† Lily said, trying to pry Charlie out of his jacket. â€Å"Do you have any painkillers, Ray?† â€Å"I don’t need painkillers,† Charlie said. â€Å"Shut up, Asher, they’re not for you,† Lily said, automatically, then she considered the book, Ray’s story, the notes on all the items in the back room, and she shuddered. It appeared that Charlie Asher might not be the hapless geek she always thought him to be. â€Å"Sorry, boss. Let us help you.† Ray came back from the front with a small plastic first-aid kit. He peeled back Charlie’s sleeve and began to clean the wounds with gauze and peroxide. â€Å"What happened?† â€Å"Nothing,† Charlie said. â€Å"I slipped and fell in some gravel.† â€Å"The wound’s pretty clean – no gravel in it. That must have been some fall.† â€Å"Long story.† Charlie sighed. â€Å"Ouch!† â€Å"What was all the noise in the alley?† Lily asked, needing badly to go smoke, but unable to pull herself away. She just couldn’t imagine that Charlie Asher was the one. How could it be him? He was so, so, unworthy. He didn’t understand the dark underbelly of life the way she did. Yet he was the one seeing the glowing objects. He was it. She was crestfallen. â€Å"Just the Emperor’s dogs after a seagull in the Dumpster. No big deal. I fell off a porch in Pacific Heights.† â€Å"The estate,† Ray said. â€Å"How’d that go?† â€Å"Not well. The husband was grief-stricken and had a heart attack while I was there.† â€Å"You’re kidding.† â€Å"No, he just sort of became overwhelmed thinking about his wife and collapsed. I gave him CPR until the EMTs came and took him off to the hospital.† â€Å"So,† Lily said, â€Å"did you get the – uh – did you get anything special?† â€Å"What?† Charlie’s eyes went wide. â€Å"What do you mean, special? There was nothing special.† â€Å"Chill, boss, I just meant will we get the grandma’s clothes?† He’s it, Lily thought. The fucker. Charlie shook his head. â€Å"I don’t know, it’s so strange. The whole thing is so strange.† He shuddered when he said it. â€Å"Strange how?† Lily said. â€Å"Strange in a cool and dark way, or strange because you’re Asher and you’re out of it most of the time?† â€Å"Lily!† Ray snapped. â€Å"Go out front. Dust something.† â€Å"You’re not the boss of me, Ray. I’m just showing my concern.† â€Å"It’s okay, Ray.† Charlie looked like he was considering how, exactly, to define strange, and not coming up with anything that was working. Finally he said, â€Å"Well, for one thing, this woman’s estate is way out of our league. The husband said he called me because we were the first secondhand store in the phone book, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of man to do something like that.† â€Å"That’s not that strange,† Lily said. Just confess, she thought. â€Å"You said that he was grief-stricken,† Ray said, dabbing antibiotic ointment on Charlie’s cuts. â€Å"Maybe he’s doing things differently.† â€Å"Yes, and he was angry at his wife, too, for the way she died.† â€Å"How?† Lily asked. â€Å"She ate silica gel,† Charlie said. Lily looked at Ray for an explanation, because silica gel sounded techno-geeky, which was Ray’s particular field of geekdom. Ray said, â€Å"It’s the antidesiccant that they pack with electronics and other things that are sensitive to humidity.† â€Å"The ‘Do Not Eat’ stuff?!† Lily said. â€Å"Oh my God, that’s so stupid. Everyone knows you don’t eat the ‘Do Not Eat’ stuff.† Charlie said, â€Å"Mr. Mainheart was pretty broken up.† â€Å"Well, I guess so,† Lily said. â€Å"He married a complete fucktard.† Charlie cringed. â€Å"Lily, that’s not appropriate.† Lily shrugged and rolled her eyes. She hated it when Charlie dropped into Dad mode. â€Å"Okay, okay. I’m going outside to smoke.† â€Å"No!† Charlie jumped out of the chair and put himself between Lily and the back door. â€Å"Out front. From now on if you have to smoke you go out front.† â€Å"But you said that I look like a child hooker when I smoke out front.† â€Å"I’ve reassessed. You’ve matured.† Lily closed one eye to see if she could better glimpse into his soul and thus figure out his true agenda. She smoothed over her black vinyl skirt, which made a tortured, squeaking noise at the touch. â€Å"You’re trying to say I have a big butt, aren’t you?† â€Å"I absolutely am saying no such thing,† Charlie insisted. â€Å"I am simply saying that your presence in front of the store is an asset and will probably attract business from the tourists on the cable car.† â€Å"Oh. Okay.† Lily snatched her box of cloves off the desk and headed out past the counter and outside to brood, grieve really, because as much as she had hoped, she was not Death. The book was Charlie’s. That evening Charlie was watching the store, wondering why he had lied to his employees, when he saw a flash of red passing by the front window. A second later, a strikingly pale redhead came through the door. She was wearing a short, black cocktail dress and black fuck-me pumps. She strode up the aisle like she was auditioning for a music video. Her hair cascaded in long curls around her shoulders and down her back like a great auburn veil. Her eyes were emerald green, and when she saw him looking, she smiled, and stopped, some ten feet away. Charlie felt an almost painful jolt that seemed to emanate from somewhere in the area of his groin, and after a second he recognized it as an autonomic lust response. He hadn’t felt anything like that since Rachel had passed, and he felt vaguely ashamed. She was examining him, looking him over like you would examine a used car. He was sure he must be blushing. â€Å"Hi,† Charlie said. â€Å"Can I help you?† The redhead smiled again, just a little, and reached into a small black bag that he hadn’t noticed she’d been carrying. â€Å"I found this,† she said, holding up a silver cigarette case. Something Charlie didn’t see very often anymore, even in the secondhand business. It was glowing, pulsating like the objects in the back room. â€Å"I was in the neighborhood and something made me think that this belonged here.† She moved to the counter opposite Charlie and set the cigarette case down in front of him. Charlie could barely move. He stared at her, not even conscious that to avoid her eyes he was staring at her cleavage, and she appeared to be looking around his head and shoulders as if following the path of insects that were buzzing around him. â€Å"Touch me,† she said. â€Å"Huh?† He looked up, saw she was serious. She held out her hand; her nails were manicured and painted the same deep red as her lipstick. He took her hand. As soon as she touched him she pulled away. â€Å"You’re warm.† â€Å"Thanks.† In that moment he realized that she wasn’t. Her fingers had been ice-cold. â€Å"Then you’re not one of us?† He tried to think of what â€Å"us† might be? Irish? Low blood pressure? Nymphomaniac? Why did he even think that? â€Å"Us? What do you mean, ‘us’?† She backed away a step. â€Å"No. You don’t just take the weak and the sick, do you? You take anyone.† â€Å"Take? What do you mean, ‘take’?† â€Å"You don’t even know, do you?† â€Å"Know what?† Charlie was getting very nervous. As a Beta Male, he found it difficult enough to function under the attention of a beautiful woman, but she was just plain spooky. â€Å"Wait. Can you see this thing glowing?† He held out the cigarette case. â€Å"No glow. It just felt like it belonged here,† she said. â€Å"What’s your name?† â€Å"Charlie Asher. This is Asher’s.† â€Å"Well, Charlie, you seem like a nice guy, and I don’t know exactly what you are, and it doesn’t seem like you know. You don’t, do you?† â€Å"I’ve been going through some changes,† Charlie said, wondering why he felt compelled to share this at all. The redhead nodded, as if confirming something to herself. â€Å"Okay. I know what it’s like to, uh, to find yourself thrown into a situation where forces beyond your control are changing you into someone, something you don’t have an owner’s manual for. I understand what it is to not know. But someone, somewhere, does know. Someone can tell you what’s going on.† â€Å"What are you talking about?† But he knew what she was talking about. What he didn’t know was how she could possibly know. â€Å"You make people die, don’t you, Charlie?† She said it like she had worked up the courage to tell him that he had some spinach in his teeth. More of a service to him than an accusation. â€Å"How do you – ?† How did she – â€Å"Because it’s what I do. Not like you, but it’s what I do. Find them, Charlie. Backtrack and find whoever was there when your world changed.† Charlie looked at her, then at the cigarette case, then at the redhead again, who was no longer smiling, but was stepping backward toward the door. Trying to stay in touch with normal, he focused on the cigarette case and said, â€Å"I suppose I can do an appraisal – â€Å" He heard the bell over the door jingle, and when he looked up she was gone. He didn’t see her moving by the windows on either side of the door; she was just gone. He ran to the front of the store and out the door onto the sidewalk. The Mason Street cable car was just topping the hill up by California Street and he could hear the bell, there was a thin fog coming up from the Bay that threw colorful halos around the neon signs of the other businesses, but there was no striking redhead on the street. He went to the corner and looked down Vallejo, but again no redhead, just the Emperor, sitting against the building with his dogs. â€Å"Good evening, Charlie.† â€Å"Your Majesty, did you see a redhead go by here just now?† â€Å"Oh yes. Spoke to her. I’m not sure you have a chance there, Charlie, I believe she’s spoken for. And she did warn me to stay away from you.† â€Å"Why? Did she say why?† â€Å"She said that you were Death.† â€Å"I am?† Charlie said. â€Å"Am I?† His breath caught in his throat as the day played back in his head. â€Å"What if I am?† â€Å"You know, son,† the Emperor said, â€Å"I am not an expert in dealing with the fairer sex, but you might want to save that bit of information until the third date or so, after they’ve gotten to know you a little.†