Biography of Rudolf Diesel, Inventor of the Diesel Engine

History of Rudolf Diesel, Inventor of the Diesel Engine The motor that bears his name set off another part in the Industrial Revolution, yet German architect Rudolf Diesel (1858â€1913), who experienced childhood in France, at first idea his development would support private ventures and craftsmans, not industrialists. In truth, diesel motors are typical in vehicles of various types, particularly those that need to pull substantial burdens (trucks or prepares) or do a ton of work, for example, on a ranch or in a force plant. For this one improvement to a motor, his effect on the world is clear today. However, his demise over a century back stays a secret. Quick Facts: Rudolf Diesel Occupation: EngineerKnown For: Inventor of the Diesel engineBorn: March 18, 1858, in Paris, FranceParents: Theodor Diesel and Elise StrobelDied: September 29 or 30, 1913, in the English ChannelEducation: Technische Hochschule (Technical High School), Munich, Germany; Industrial School of Augsburg, Royal Bavarian Polytechnic of Munich (Polytechnic Institute)Published Works: Theorie und Konstruktion eines rationellen Wremotors (Theory and Construction of a Rational Heat Motor), 1893Spouse: Martha Flasche (m. 1883)Children: Rudolf Jr. (b. 1883), Heddy (b. 1885), and Eugen (b. 1889)Notable Quote: I am immovably persuaded that the car motor will come, and afterward I consider my life’s work total. Early Life Rudolf Diesel was conceived in Paris, France, in 1858. His folks were Bavarian migrants. At the episode of the Franco-German War, the family was expelled to England in 1870. From that point, Diesel went to Germany to learn at the Munich Polytechnic Institute, where he exceeded expectations in building. After graduation he was utilized as a cooler specialist in Paris, at Linde Ice Machine Company, starting in 1880. He had contemplated thermodynamics under Carl von Linde, leader of the organization, in Munich. His genuine affection lay in motor structure, be that as it may, and throughout the following scarcely any years he started investigating various thoughts. One concerned figuring out how to enable private ventures to contend with large businesses, which had the cash to outfit the intensity of steam motors. Another was the means by which to utilize the laws of thermodynamics to make a progressively productive motor. In his psyche, constructing a superior motor would support the little person, the autonomous craftsmans, and business visionaries. In 1890 he took a vocation heading the building division of a similar refrigeration firm in its Berlin area, and during his off an ideal opportunity (to keep his licenses) would try different things with his motor structures. He was supported in the advancement of his plans by Maschinenfabrik Augsburg, which is presently MAN Diesel, and Friedrich Krupp AG, which is currently ThyssenKrupp. The Diesel Engine <img information srcset=https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/0fvsAYXZdQ4DpRWcvzCKtpjvtUY=/300x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-463921245-5c64d451c9e77c0001566f39.jpg 300w, https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/kuF4q-9oBjx54OjB83qXBNvYWVs=/1110x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-463921245-5c64d451c9e77c0001566f39.jpg 1110w, https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/yS_k3xpMyxkO6Gi0ZA0qWtshM=/1920x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-463921245-5c64d451c9e77c0001566f39.jpg 1920w, https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/fSWUijn0O7J4W_Gs0E-yBOm5Kpw=/3543x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-463921245-5c64d451c9e77c0001566f39.jpg 3543w information src=https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/dtdQaZmQ5QopvkRUNDL7wQ-MHtk=/4930x3543/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-463921245-5c64d451c9e77c0001566f39.jpg src=//:0 alt=Diesel motor: inward burning motor, shading drawing class=lazyload information click-tracked=true information img-lightbox=true information expand=300 id=mntl-sc-square image_1-0-13 information following container=true /> Print Collector/Getty Images Rudolf Diesel planned many warmth motors, including a sun oriented fueled air motor. In 1892 he applied for a patent and got an advancement patent for his diesel motor. In 1893 he distributed a paper portraying a motor with ignition inside a chamber, the interior burning motor. In Augsburg, Germany, on August 10, 1893, Rudolf Diesels prime model, a solitary 10-foot iron chamber with a flywheel at its base, ran on its own capacity just because. He got a patent there for the motor that equivalent year and a patent for an improvement. Diesel burned through two additional years making enhancements and in 1896 showed another model with the hypothetical proficiency of 75 percent, rather than the 10 percent productivity of the steam motor or other early inward ignition motors. Work proceeded on building up a creation model. In 1898 Rudolf Diesel was conceded U.S. patent #608,845 for an interior ignition engine.â His Legacy Rudolf Diesels innovations share three focuses for all intents and purpose: They identify with heat transference by characteristic physical procedures or laws, they include extraordinarily imaginative mechanical plan, and they were at first spurred by the creators idea of sociological needs-by figuring out how to empower autonomous specialists and craftsmans to rival huge industry. That last objective didn’t precisely work out as Diesel anticipated. His development could be utilized by independent ventures, yet the industrialists held onto it energetically too. His motor took off promptly, with applications far and wide that prodded the Industrial Revolutions fast turn of events. Following his demise, diesel motors got basic in vehicles, trucks (beginning during the 1920s), ships (after World War II), trains (beginning during the 1930s), and that's only the tip of the iceberg they despite everything are. The diesel motors of today are refined and improved variants of Rudolf Diesels unique idea. His motors have been utilized to control pipelines, electric and water plants, cars and trucks, and marine specialty, and not long after were utilized in mines, oil fields, production lines, and transoceanic transportation. Progressively proficient, all the more remarkable motors permitted vessels to be greater and more products to be sold abroad. Diesel turned into a tycoon before the finish of the nineteenth century, yet awful speculations left him in a great deal of obligation toward a mind-blowing finish. His Death In 1913, Rudolf Diesel vanished in transit to London while on a sea liner returning from Belgium to go to the notable of another diesel-motor plant-and to meet with the British naval force about introducing his motor on their submarines, the History Channel says. He is expected to have suffocated in the English Channel. Its suspected by some that he ended it all over substantial obligations, because of terrible ventures and unexpected weakness, data that didnt come out until after his passing. In any case, speculations promptly started that he was helped over the edge. A paper at the time theorized, Inventor Thrown Into the Sea to Stop Sale of Patents to British Government, the BBC noted. World War I was close by, and Diesels motors made it into Allied submarines and ships-however the last were basically for World War II. Diesel was an advocate of vegetable oil as fuel, putting him at chances with the ever-developing oil industry and driving, the BBC says, to the hypothesis that Diesel was Murdered by Agents From Big Oil Trusts. Or then again it could have been coal magnates, yet others conjectured, in light of the fact that steam motors ran on tons and huge amounts of it. Hypotheses saved his name in the papers for a considerable length of time and even incorporated a death endeavor by German government operatives to forestall his sharing insights concerning the improvement of the U-vessel. Sources Daimler. Rudolf Diesel and His Invention. Daimler.com.Harford, Tim. How Rudolf Diesels Engine Changed the World. BBC News, 19 December 2016.History.com Editors. Innovator Rudolf Diesel Vanishes. History.com.Lemelson-MIT. Rudolf Diesel. Lemelson-MIT Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Lewis, Danny. At the point when the Inventor of the Diesel Engine Disappeared. Smithsonian Magazine. 29 September 2016.

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How to Write a Leadership Essay

How to Write a Leadership Essay When students of high school apply for college, they are often required to create a leadership writing. We know that for most students making any kind of essay is the worst nightmare, thats why we have created our leadership essay writing guide to help you in writing a bright and interesting work that will help you to be accepted in college. Needless to say that writing about leadership is not a simple task. It requires a lot of work, time, patience and good skills in writing. In our article, you will find many useful tips and examples about creating a successful work. Keep reading and make a bright paper with our little help! Goals of a leadership essay Millions of students question themselves about how to write a essay on leadership. First of all, you need to define what is leadership essay and what purpose it has. Understanding this point will bring you closer to success. This type of essay usually makes two things: defines a leadership, and shows the author in a leadership position. This work is quite different from other essays you write on books, literature or events; here you need to focus on your own qualities and characteristics. Of course, its pretty hard to write this essay if you didnt do it before, but we are going to dive deeper in writing and review the main points of creating this paper. At the start, you have to define what is leadership. Its obvious that a leader is a person with strong personal characteristics that can motivate and influence other people to achieve aims. You may think how to write a good leadership essay when you have nothing to write about, you are just a student that didnt have any work experience to show your leader qualities. Its not necessary to write about work! Here are some ideas you can bring to your essay: Define a leadership, and discuss characteristics a good leader must have. Create a work about leadership styles. Make an essay about some person you can call a leader. Write about a famous person who has a strong leadership. Make a work about your own skills in leadership, and how you are going to develop these skills in the future. Making a structure of your future paper Your paper should be written according to the certain structure. We suggest organizing your future work in accordance with this scheme: Introduction â€" this part shouldnt be very long, here you need to introduce to readers the topic of your paper and also bring the main idea of your work (thesis statement). A body part â€" this is the main part of your essay that can be divided into three paragraphs. Each paragraph should contain a different argument supported by evidence. Conclusion â€" this is a final paragraph of your essay that finishes your paper logically. This should be a short part without placing any new information here. How to write a leadership paper outline? The outline is a skeleton of your future paper. Some people may think this is not necessary to create an outline, but they are wrong in it. You surely wouldnt travel to some unknown place without a map. The same is with writing this essay! Without a clear outline, you would never know how to start and where to end, and what to write here and there. When you have a detailed outline, you know what to write, how to write, and where to write. Thats why we suggest spending some time for making a good outline, and this will definitely save your time on writing a leadership essay. Here is an example of standard outline: Introduction Hook Thesis statement Body part First paragraph of body part (argument1 + evidence) Second paragraph of body part (argument2 + evidence) Third paragraph of body part (argument3 + evidence) Conclusion A hook is getting your readers attention from the first sentence of your work. If you are writing an essay for the admission committee, make sure your introduction really attracts people attention, and they want to read the entire paper. There are many ways to make a good hook: starting your work from a quote, anecdote, keeping your readers intrigued, or making them curious about something. Your thesis statement tells the main idea of your essay. Remember that each and every sentence of your future paper should be connected to the thesis. When writing body paragraphs, you need to use good examples from your own/other people experience, and also provide readers with detailed and vivid descriptions. In the conclusion, you need to write what you have learned being on a leader position, or how someones leadership impact you. How to write a leadership essay step-by-step? So, you know much more things about a leadership essay but still, need more details about writing? Follow this plan and create a successful paper without any difficulties: Brainstorm your ideas for writing this essay. Choose a bright topic for your future paper. Make a thesis statement of your work. Create a detailed outline of your essay. Write the first draft of your paper according to the plan. Revise your paper and rewrite it as many times as you need. Proofread your finished essay to find and correct errors. More tips how to write a leadership essay about yourself When you are creating this type of essay, keep in your mind that a leadership writing is connected to yourself. Even if you write about another person on leader position, you need to explain why you think he or she is a leader and analyze what kind of characteristics of the leadership you have got. We want to share more tips that will help you to make a strong and interesting paper: Your writing should be focused on you. Of course, as we said above, you can mention some other leaders and describe their personal characteristics, but dont forget to mention about your own leadership. Try to be honest. You can be creative and artsy, but never try to lie about yourself. We suggest writing only truthful things, even if it may seem to you not so great as you want. Write only about those skills you are going to discuss and describe in your essay. You may bring a long list of leadership characteristics, but then explain only a couple of them in your essay. Make sure you listed only those you are going to write about. Your essay should be logical. Dont jump from one thing to another suddenly; try to make transition sentences to connect various paragraphs. Your work should sound like an entire story, but not like a set of different paragraphs gathered into the one story. This type of essay can be written from the first person. Its a work about you, so its normal to make it personal. Good examples of a leadership essay When you are thinking about your future paper about leadership, its good to find and read other leadership essays on the Internet. Of course, we dont want you to copy those papers, but you may get a lot of new ideas about your own writing. You can analyze other authors essays to see how they built their papers, and how they created all parts of their works. Reading develops your writing skills too, so its very useful! Here we would like to share an example of a leadership paper. What does it mean to be a good leader? This is a person that can gather a group of people to work and operate in the one team to reach their goals. Of course, not every person is born to be a leader, but I think we all are able to develop leadership characteristics. In school, I was always a shy person, so its not possible to say I had any strong leadership abilities. But it changed with time. While studying, English lessons were my favorite. I always dreamed to attend professional courses, but my family couldnt afford to pay for additional studying. Ive got an idea to organize an English club in school. At the beginning, it seemed to me a weak idea I wouldnt be able to do, but my desire to do it was stronger of any fears inside. I informed my teacher about it, and it took a lot of time. Of course, I got a lot of support and help from the school, teachers, even some parents. They helped to make a plan, define what things we need, solve organizations things. As for now, we have our own English club in my school, It works three times per week, and everyone can come and join after lessons. We share our writing experience, discuss various movies and books, learn the history of English language, do various interesting things all together. I never thought I would be able to get so much leadership experience doing these things. Of course, it was hard to leave my comfort zone on the beginning but eventually, I reached my goal! I became a leader of our English club and developed many skills I didnt have before. Our club has many new goals, and I hope we will be able to achieve them because we are a strong team! We truly hope that our tips for writing a leadership essay were useful, and you created a strong and brilliant paper to impress your readers. Writing successful essay requires a lot of patience, time, and skills. You can only develop your writing skills during making various essays, so we wish you to create a lot of good works to improve yourself!

How to Write a Leadership Essay

How to Write a Leadership Essay When students of high school apply for college, they are often required to create a leadership writing. We know that for most students making any kind of essay is the worst nightmare, thats why we have created our leadership essay writing guide to help you in writing a bright and interesting work that will help you to be accepted in college. Needless to say that writing about leadership is not a simple task. It requires a lot of work, time, patience and good skills in writing. In our article, you will find many useful tips and examples about creating a successful work. Keep reading and make a bright paper with our little help! Goals of a leadership essay Millions of students question themselves about how to write a essay on leadership. First of all, you need to define what is leadership essay and what purpose it has. Understanding this point will bring you closer to success. This type of essay usually makes two things: defines a leadership, and shows the author in a leadership position. This work is quite different from other essays you write on books, literature or events; here you need to focus on your own qualities and characteristics. Of course, its pretty hard to write this essay if you didnt do it before, but we are going to dive deeper in writing and review the main points of creating this paper. At the start, you have to define what is leadership. Its obvious that a leader is a person with strong personal characteristics that can motivate and influence other people to achieve aims. You may think how to write a good leadership essay when you have nothing to write about, you are just a student that didnt have any work experience to show your leader qualities. Its not necessary to write about work! Here are some ideas you can bring to your essay: Define a leadership, and discuss characteristics a good leader must have. Create a work about leadership styles. Make an essay about some person you can call a leader. Write about a famous person who has a strong leadership. Make a work about your own skills in leadership, and how you are going to develop these skills in the future. Making a structure of your future paper Your paper should be written according to the certain structure. We suggest organizing your future work in accordance with this scheme: Introduction â€" this part shouldnt be very long, here you need to introduce to readers the topic of your paper and also bring the main idea of your work (thesis statement). A body part â€" this is the main part of your essay that can be divided into three paragraphs. Each paragraph should contain a different argument supported by evidence. Conclusion â€" this is a final paragraph of your essay that finishes your paper logically. This should be a short part without placing any new information here. How to write a leadership paper outline? The outline is a skeleton of your future paper. Some people may think this is not necessary to create an outline, but they are wrong in it. You surely wouldnt travel to some unknown place without a map. The same is with writing this essay! Without a clear outline, you would never know how to start and where to end, and what to write here and there. When you have a detailed outline, you know what to write, how to write, and where to write. Thats why we suggest spending some time for making a good outline, and this will definitely save your time on writing a leadership essay. Here is an example of standard outline: Introduction Hook Thesis statement Body part First paragraph of body part (argument1 + evidence) Second paragraph of body part (argument2 + evidence) Third paragraph of body part (argument3 + evidence) Conclusion A hook is getting your readers attention from the first sentence of your work. If you are writing an essay for the admission committee, make sure your introduction really attracts people attention, and they want to read the entire paper. There are many ways to make a good hook: starting your work from a quote, anecdote, keeping your readers intrigued, or making them curious about something. Your thesis statement tells the main idea of your essay. Remember that each and every sentence of your future paper should be connected to the thesis. When writing body paragraphs, you need to use good examples from your own/other people experience, and also provide readers with detailed and vivid descriptions. In the conclusion, you need to write what you have learned being on a leader position, or how someones leadership impact you. How to write a leadership essay step-by-step? So, you know much more things about a leadership essay but still, need more details about writing? Follow this plan and create a successful paper without any difficulties: Brainstorm your ideas for writing this essay. Choose a bright topic for your future paper. Make a thesis statement of your work. Create a detailed outline of your essay. Write the first draft of your paper according to the plan. Revise your paper and rewrite it as many times as you need. Proofread your finished essay to find and correct errors. More tips how to write a leadership essay about yourself When you are creating this type of essay, keep in your mind that a leadership writing is connected to yourself. Even if you write about another person on leader position, you need to explain why you think he or she is a leader and analyze what kind of characteristics of the leadership you have got. We want to share more tips that will help you to make a strong and interesting paper: Your writing should be focused on you. Of course, as we said above, you can mention some other leaders and describe their personal characteristics, but dont forget to mention about your own leadership. Try to be honest. You can be creative and artsy, but never try to lie about yourself. We suggest writing only truthful things, even if it may seem to you not so great as you want. Write only about those skills you are going to discuss and describe in your essay. You may bring a long list of leadership characteristics, but then explain only a couple of them in your essay. Make sure you listed only those you are going to write about. Your essay should be logical. Dont jump from one thing to another suddenly; try to make transition sentences to connect various paragraphs. Your work should sound like an entire story, but not like a set of different paragraphs gathered into the one story. This type of essay can be written from the first person. Its a work about you, so its normal to make it personal. Good examples of a leadership essay When you are thinking about your future paper about leadership, its good to find and read other leadership essays on the Internet. Of course, we dont want you to copy those papers, but you may get a lot of new ideas about your own writing. You can analyze other authors essays to see how they built their papers, and how they created all parts of their works. Reading develops your writing skills too, so its very useful! Here we would like to share an example of a leadership paper. What does it mean to be a good leader? This is a person that can gather a group of people to work and operate in the one team to reach their goals. Of course, not every person is born to be a leader, but I think we all are able to develop leadership characteristics. In school, I was always a shy person, so its not possible to say I had any strong leadership abilities. But it changed with time. While studying, English lessons were my favorite. I always dreamed to attend professional courses, but my family couldnt afford to pay for additional studying. Ive got an idea to organize an English club in school. At the beginning, it seemed to me a weak idea I wouldnt be able to do, but my desire to do it was stronger of any fears inside. I informed my teacher about it, and it took a lot of time. Of course, I got a lot of support and help from the school, teachers, even some parents. They helped to make a plan, define what things we need, solve organizations things. As for now, we have our own English club in my school, It works three times per week, and everyone can come and join after lessons. We share our writing experience, discuss various movies and books, learn the history of English language, do various interesting things all together. I never thought I would be able to get so much leadership experience doing these things. Of course, it was hard to leave my comfort zone on the beginning but eventually, I reached my goal! I became a leader of our English club and developed many skills I didnt have before. Our club has many new goals, and I hope we will be able to achieve them because we are a strong team! We truly hope that our tips for writing a leadership essay were useful, and you created a strong and brilliant paper to impress your readers. Writing successful essay requires a lot of patience, time, and skills. You can only develop your writing skills during making various essays, so we wish you to create a lot of good works to improve yourself!

Attention For Traumatic Brain Injury - 3021 Words

TITLE Attention for traumatic brain injury has grown over the years and programs have been created to help try and prevent the injuries. As this is an injury to the brain the literature is vast with insight into what part of the brain injured resulted in what change in the individual. Children and athletics have been the main focus in recent years for studies as research have shown that undiagnosed injuries can have long lasting effects. The area of focus is that of inmates. It is a population that has not received a lot of scientific studying in past years but it is a population that has been steadily growing. This is also a population that seems to be the most at-risk for having such an injury. The subpopulation of inmate does not†¦show more content†¦There are two kinds of head injuries: open and closed. Open-head injuries are the result of some object, like a missile or an apparatus, penetrating the skull. Closed-head injuries are the result of an impact to the head. According to Ponsford, Sloan, and Snow (2012) about 70% of all injuries to the head are closed-head injuries. Traumatic brain injuries have a severity scale range of mild to severe (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). With mild being a brief change and severe being an extended period of time. How an injury to the head can do damage to the brain varies. Brain swelling and disruption of blood supply are some direct causes of da mage (Kolb Whishaw, 2009). However, neurological damage develops after (also known as secondary injuries) the immediate moment of impact (Ghajar, 2000). In other words even minor head injuries can lead to lasting disabilities and that the injuries are amassed. Meaning that a minor injury can result in a major impairment (Ponsford, Sloan, Snow, 2012). TBI and Inmates Unfortunately, TBI and inmates is not a well-established area of study. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007), mild TBI is found within 25% to 87% of inmates. One such that looked at prevalence was done by Diamond, Harzke, Magaletta, Cummins, and Frankowski (2007) where the researchers looked at Minnesota male state prisoners and assessed them using the Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire. What the authors found

Robust Module Based Database Management System - 2517 Words

ROBUST MODULE BASED DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ABSTRACT The present tendency for developing an ontology-based data management system (DMS) is to take advantage of on attempts made to design a preceding well-established DMS (a reference system). The method aggregates to bring out from the mention of DMS a section of schema applicable to the new application requirements – a module –perhaps personalizing it with additional-conditions w.r.t. the application under building, and then directing a dataset using the resulting schema. In this project, we expand the current denotations of modules and we inaugurate novel effects of robustness that furnish means for examine easily that a robust module-based DMS develops safely w.r.t. both the†¦show more content†¦A good implementation is consequently to build on the endeavor made to design citation DMSs whenever we have to build our own DMS with particular needs. A way to do this is to pull out from the reference DMS the section of schema related to our application requirements, possibly to customize it with extra-constraints w.r.t. our application under development, and then to direct our own dataset using the resulting schema. Latest work in description logics provides various results to fulfill such a repeat of a reference ontology-based DMS. Indeed, modern ontological languages – like the W3C advices RDFS, OWL, and OWL2 – are actually XML-based phonological variants of well-known DLs. All those results consist in taking out a section from an existing ontological schema such that all the conditions respecting the relations of absorption for the application under development are captured in the module previous definitions of sections in the literature basically spot to the notion of (deductive) conventional extension of a schema or of uniform introduce of a schema, a.k.a. omitting about non-interesting relations of a schema. Exemplify those two conceptions for schemas written in DLs and debates their connection. Till now, conventional exten sion has been

From The Beauty Of Ashes - 976 Words

From The Beauty of Ashes We Rise Heartbreak tends to be a concept in our lives that we all want to stray away from. We can pretend that we are fine, and put on our mask of false securities, or we can face the truth, no matter how hard that may be. It doesn’t matter if your heartaches happened years ago, or today, you still have the option to lay them down at the foot of the cross. In the midst of all of our sorrows, I believe, that we can learn to rise from the ashes that have fallen. Speaking from experience, I am sure that we have all felt like our heart was broken in two. My senior year of high school was full of heartaches, yet it was also overflowing with multiple blessings. From not getting Salutatorian, to other distraught situations, I certainly had my share of challenges. To be exact, the ashes that I had the most difficulty rising from, involved a friend that I had met a few years back. I met Jay my sophomore year of high school, so from helping me grow as a better Christian, to showing me the gifts I had hidden away, he had a huge impact on my life. However, over the next few years, things would dramatically start to change. I developed feelings for him, and it was pretty obvious that he didn’t feel the same way, but to make it worse, he started avoiding me, and I didn’t know why. My senior year, as mentioned above, was when the real chaos occurred. We were both elected as FCA Captain and Co-Captain, so I was excited to work with him, and achieve greatShow MoreRelatedHow Does Fitzgerald Tell the Story in Chapter 2 of the Great Gatsby?1092 Words   |  5 PagesHow does Fitzgerald tell the story in chapter 2? In chapter 2 Tom takes Nick to meet Myrtle, his lover, in the Valley of Ashes, where her home is. 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Character Sketches of Julius Caesar free essay sample

They enter and begin to chastise commoners for celebrating on a working day. Their first communal trait, arrogance, can be seen here, in the way that they address and respond to the people. It is obvious that the cobbler and carpenter are of lower social status to them, and they speak to them in a somewhat derogatory manner. â€Å"Hence, home, you idle creatures, get you home! † says Flavius in the opening line. They begin to question the cobbler, and he replies in puns, which appears to anger them more. Not only do the puns enrage them, showing their short-temperedness (another trait), but they also confuse them, which is interesting to note. This can be interpreted as simplemindedness, as they seem to misinterpret the cobbler’s puns. â€Å"Nay sir, I beseech you, be not out with me, yet if you be out, sir, I can mend you/What mean’st thou by that? Mend me thou saucy fellow? † When the cobbler explains that he is celebrating the return of Caesar, Murellus begins a long rant about the fickleness of the Roman people. He appears to be ‘anti-caesar’ or opposed to Caesar, perhaps because they supported Pompey. Flavius shares this sentiment since he assists in chasing the commoners and instructing them to take down the images of Caesar. They are used to show that not everyone was in favour of Caesar and he was not truly ‘loved by all’. Also, the long monologue with Murellus about the faithlessness of the Romans can be seen as an allusion to the then current political situation in England. The Queens could not possibly produce an heir to the throne at her age, and everyone was worried as to who would become the new leader. Brutus Brutus is one of the main characters, one of the main conspirators, and also one of the most complex characters. He is a good friend to Caesar, and an honourable man overall, but he values his country and morals above all, and this is a pivotal flaw which Cassius exploits. He is conflicted internally, but externally he is portrayed to be a disciplined and well respected man. He can also be considered naive, because he is unknowingly being manipulated by Cassius. This is specifically seen when Cassius fakes letters to Brutus which state that the Roman people do not want Caesar as king. He moulds his character based on his morals, and this is the only reason he considers to join the conspiracy because them. He believes that if Caesar is to become king, and he does nothing to stop it, it is a worse sin than killing him before he can damage the country of Rome. â€Å"I would not Cassius; yet I love him well. /But wherefore do you hold me so long? /What is it that you would impart to me? / If it be aught toward he general good/Set honour in one eye and death I’th’other/ And I will look indifferently; / For let the Gods so speed me as I love/ the name of honour more than I fear death/† says Brutus in pertinence to Caesar becoming king. He can be seen as a contrast to Cassius, who kills Caesar for power, due to his greed and envy, or lack of morals. Cassius He is the manipulative mastermind of the conspiracy. He is jealous of the power that Caesar has which leads to his wanting to dethrone him. His manipulative nature can be seen when he coerces Brutus into joining the plot to kill Caesar. He is meticulous in his planning, and leaves nothing to chance. This is seen when he fakes the letters that he sends to Brutus. He appears to have no morals, and no personal life, i. e. hings that are important to him, and can be seen as detached from emotional things. He is also perceived to be a knowledgeable, yet devious man. This is noted by Caesar when he speaks to Antony saying â€Å"Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look. / He thinks too much† Perhaps the ‘hungry’ look he is referring to is the hunger for power. By the third scene, Cassius has become somewhat obsessed with the storm. He appears to have lost all humanity and personifies with the storm that ensues. The storm is said to frightening and terrifying, yet he describes it as â€Å"A pleasing night to honest men†. He appears to revel in the dark omens that scare men, showing that he is no longer a man but something of a beast. He says to Casca â€Å"And when the cross blue lightening seemed to open/the breast of heaven, I did present myself/ Even in the aim and very flash of it. † Antony Antony is loyal to Caesar. He obeys Caesar without question and says â€Å"When Caesar says do this it shall be preformed†. He appears to be impulsive, spontaneous and pleasure seeking. Caesar has to warn Antony not to forget â€Å"in his speed† to touch Calpurnia. He also appears trusting of other men as he misjudges Cassius when he say â€Å"Fear him not Caesar, he’s not dangerous. /He is a noble Roman and well given. † Antony is also the one who offers Caesar the crown in the market-place Casca Casca is part of the conspiracy. He is seen to be rough and blunt speaking. When asked if Cierco said anything he said â€Å"aye, he spoke Greek† meaning that he did not understand. He is opposed to Caesar’s ambitions and he believes Caesar would like to be king because of the episode in the marketplace when Caesar was offered the crown. Caesar Caesar is stubborn in his ways, as he chooses to dismiss the warning of the soothsayer. He shows this stubbornness once again when his refuses to listen to his wife who warned him not to go out into the storm. He is sometimes perceptive, but sometimes a little too trusting. He is perceptive when he judges Cassius as â€Å"Lean and hungry† but does nothing about it. He is betrayed by some of his closest friends, and he didn’t see it coming. Caesar eventually lets his ambitions get the better of him with the prospect of being king to alluring, and this leads to his fall.

Eyes Of The Dragon Essays - Novels By Stephen King,

Eyes Of The Dragon The theme of the book, The Eyes of the Dragon, by Stephen King, is to stick to one's beliefs no matter what happens and always do what one knows is right. Don't give up on oneself; anything is possible. King Roland was the noble king of Delain. He was known as Roland the Good. He was, by far, not a bad king, though he was really not a great king. He meant no harm and was successful, but whenever he meant to do great things, he seemed to be unsuccessful. Roland, king of Delain, had two sons and had done his best to raise them without a wife. Peter, the oldest, was much like his father. He was successful at avoiding harm of the kingdom. In addition, he seemed to be more successful at the great things he attempted. Even as a little boy, Peter was loved by the kingdom, and many were looking forward to his reign as king. When Peter was merely a boy, he stood up against grown men for what he believed in. This was why the kingdom loved and appreciated him. In one instance, Peter was passing through the stableyard when he saw a lame horse about to be killed. Peter commanded Yosef, the palace fixture, to stop. After arguing, Peter managed to convince Yosef to give Peter one hour to find a veterinarian. Peter was to prove to Yosef that this horse would not die if taken care of. Just short of an hour later, Peter and the veterinarian returned. The veterinarian listened closely and agreed with Peter. The horse would never be a working horse again, but it would certainly make a great pet for Peter. This was only the beginning of Peter's wisdom and only a hint of the respect he would soon earn. Thomas was a little different. He was very quiet, so no one was really sure of him. He did mysterious things. The citizens of Delain were glad Thomas was the younger son, for no one wanted Thomas as king. Anyone who attempted to, could befriend Thomas and earn his complete reliance. This great weakness caused the downfall of Delain. Roland had become dependent on his magician, Flagg. Roland was a good man, but he wasn't clever. It was not known, but Flagg had come and gone many times through out the years. He had come and gone with one uncompleted goal. It was fortunate for Delain that Flagg tended to be unsuccessful with his plans. Roland the Good was getting old, and it was widely known that he would soon be leaving the crown to Peter. Disappointing news as it was, many strongly believed Peter was going to do great things throughout his reign. Peter soon grew up, and though he knew what was coming to him upon his father's death, Peter still wished his father many years to come. It had become tradition for Peter to take two glasses of wince to his father's room before retiring. Each man, glass in hand, sat together simply enjoying the company. This, among other things, made Thomas unhappy and extremely jealous. Thomas believed that he had no family to love. He had taken the blame for his mother's death and believed his father and brother had also placed the blame on him. It was probably because of this that Thomas had no friends, no confidence, and barely a will to live. Flagg, the brilliant magician that he was, used Thomas' weakness to his advantage. Flagg had attempted many times to destroy Delain. He waited year after year and finally his chance arose. He hadn't completely worked out the details, but he knew things would work out for him. Thomas and Flagg became quite close. Flagg knew he would finally complete his life's work, and Thomas would put his entire soul into getting what he had always wanted, a friend. Thomas confided his every though with Flagg, and Flagg showed great sincerity. Flagg knew all the secrets of the castle because of his coming and going throughout the centuries. Through the eyes of Niner, a dragon Roland had killed, there were peeping holes. Through a back hallway, one could find the hidden passage way that led to the peep holes. Flagg told Thomas of this, and it had meant a lot to Thomas. This was to become Flagg's big mistake. One day, an ingenious plan came to Flagg. The magician used a special poison he had saved for centuries just for

Research Essay Sample on Critique on Donald Duck Presents

Research Essay Sample on Critique on Donald Duck Presents Paper Sample on Critique on Donald Duck Presents Donald Duck presents is a childrens animated television series. It is suitable for toddlers who have not yet already enrolled in school. Created by Dick Lundy and produced by the Walt Disney Company Productions, Donald Duck Presents gives an electrifying and entertaining account of funny yet fun-filled adventures. A single episode may last between 25 to 30 minutes and there are usually 8 to 15 episodes in a given season. Donald Duck Presents? majorly involves the character Donald Duck (McGreal, 2006). Donald is a white duck usually in a sailors shirt, red bow tie and a sailors cap bit no pants. He hardly speaks understandable language but usually mumbles through out the entire episode. Donald though has a few common phrases such as Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy or exclamations such as Aw Phooey. Donald would usually stumble upon other famous characters such as Mickey Mouse, Goofy or some bee. The storyline centers on Donald usually picking on some work or sets out on some adventure and thin gs start going a little bit unexpectedly. What ensues leaves one rolling on the floor with aching ribs. Although more often than not Donald has bad luck, he still manages to keep the story going in a funny and interesting way (IMDb, 2010). Donald first appeared in The Wise Little Hen in 1934. Donald Duck Presents is one among many other great seasons based on the character Donald Duck. Other programs are: Donalds Quack Attack, Quack Pack, and Duck Tales etc.. The language used is usually not understandable and involves a lot of mumbling apart from the times when told throws in his common phrases or the narrator introduces the theme of the given episode (McGreal, 2006). It tries to show the positive yet funny side of Donald as he goes through so much trouble and endures quite a lot to get what he has set his mind to. Donald Duck would go on tours in different parts of the world and this is significant in inculcating early knowledge of places in the world for infants e.g. if a child hears the word Honolulu, they would probably recall the place with much ease the next time they get to hear of the word, say in class or church. Other educative skills honed in the program are reading and writing skills, young children learn quickly. Display of words such as honey jar on screen during the program fosters learning in the kids. On the downside, Donald usually mumbles words than actually clearly speak out the words. This may not be suitable for a toddler who is just learning how to speak especially their first words. But the story line usually flows even with the mumbling as Donalds gestures and visual clues and cues are usually on point. Even when singing, only if you know the words you can sing along to the song, but some of the tunes are very clear in ones mind when Donald starts belting the out. The length of a single episode which may last between 20 to 30 minutes is just perfect for the young children (McGreal, 2006). Given the adventures incorporated in the episodes, and the story line, a child may comfortably follow the storyline while paying a lot of attention to the program. The plot of a given episode is well distributed within the allowed minutes so as to incorporate different facets of the program. It is also very imperative to state at this point that a toddler needs not to watch the episode from the first minute to the last so as to get the flow of the story; Donalds episodes try to build on a story but in a way that current details do not depend or carry on from previous ones. Although the program hardly involves engaging activities with its audience such as questions, the deeds of the characters are easy to identify with not to mention the really cartoonish nature of Donald gets so many infants wanting to see what happens next. Parents too will find the program quite exciting as one learns new facts especially situations that they can identify with or they have been in before, and Donald just makes a funny scenario out of it by playing stupid and comical, thus making light of the situation. The program definitely gives a great learning experience and discovery to the children. For those who love adventure, they will also find the program to be quite a lot of fun. But there are a few adjustments that can be made to enhance the program. Apart from giving scenarios where Donald ends up giving a surreally funny performance, the producers could also incorporate other educational disciplines such as arithmetic, science as well as general knowledge so as to foster quick learning among the kids as they relate with the words at quite an early stage and this improves their cognitive abilities. They could also try to involve different children to give an opinion or idea on how they can help Donald go through a given situation. The more engaging the program is, the better the childs development will be. Donald Duck Presents has been criticized as being both aneducational and entertainment program. I think it is more of an entertainment program than educational. For infants who have just enrolled in preparatory school, the program will serve as more of an entertainment. The program Donald Duck Presents involves a lot of factual information and thus is very fascinating especially to an audience that appreciates facts. The intuitive nature of the program also fosters learning among the children. Parents will also find the mumbling language to be quite a challenge but no vulgar words or hard phrases are used. There are also several seasons that have been released over the years that diversify the different aspects that the producers try show in the program as they strive to enhance the entertaining and a little bit of the educative nature of the program.

Implementation, Strategic Controls, and Contingency Plans Term Paper - 1

Implementation, Strategic Controls, and Contingency Plans - Term Paper Example The threat that the organization is the stigma associated with people with mental health disability. The main objectives of the organization are the expansion of mental health facility in order to meet the demand of accommodating more elderly people with mental health disorders. Many elderly people are experiencing mental health disability and in order to overcome this problem, the organization needs to expand the capacity of the organization to accommodate more patients as well as educating the general public to reduce the rate at which the elderly are stigmatized due to their conditions. Wheelan, Hunger and Wicks (2005) point out that the functional tactics within the organization are the general processes undertaken within the organization so as to meet the goals. Two main areas will be discussed and they include the operations and service delivery. Operations involve an ongoing training among the organizational employees that fosters innovation within the organization. Through training, employees will be able to come up with new ways of improving service delivery to the elderly people. It is also recommended that the organization should adopt a performance based incentive that will motivate employees to put more effort in their working thus improving on quality and output. In service delivery it is important that the organization provide training to the staff in order to adapt to changes that occur in the organizational management system like the introduction of information technology would require that the organization are aware of the changes and that they can i ntegrate these changes and be able to work effectively with the introduced change. Refresher training is also important as it helps employees to remember various aspects of work that might not be achieved easily through practice. The action items that the organization is going to undertake will include the solicitation of funds that will enable the institution to

WRITE-UP ON CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTIVITY AWARDS Essay

WRITE-UP ON CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTIVITY AWARDS - Essay Example As our organization has grown, we've thought about it not like a challenge but as just another thing to plan and construct. Most companies worry about growth: Idealistic founders are afraid that, as the company grows, their influence will decline or their values will be forgotten or that they will become the new Enron. But we at TeamBuild think that this is an engineering problem just like building a house. A solid foundation is one that can endure building across all sorts of sizes, and our business and organizational model makes us capable of that challenge. TeamBuild prioritizes teamwork and camaraderie at every stage of its processes and every part of its internal culture. This is the most important way we enhance productivity: By making sure that every single one of our members is providing their own unique skill set, we guarantee that the whole is far, far greater than the sum of its parts. Our corporate social responsibility initiatives are a source of great pride, and we also think that they're just good business. Our team-building philosophies are integrity, teamwork, environmental care, commitment and quality. Our recent changes to our business model demonstrate this ability to change, adapt and create new options for growth. In 2006, we formed a High Performance Team or HPT with senior management and top members. The idea was to expand our organizational house by dividing into three teams and embrace three initiatives: Strategic alliances, people and in-house subcontractors. Top management set the stage by putting down the vision, the mission to complete it, the goals to complete that mission and to provide benchmarks to measure that success, and a model (attached as the figure, 'Teambuild House'). Our vision is to become a leading integrated service provider through process innovation and strategic alliances. For the communities we serve, the customers who seek out our assistance, and the people who will end up living in or working in the buildings we provide, we feel that we owe being as integrated as possible and providing as many different services as possible: A one-stop-shop. Our work on projects like Cerelia Vista, the Canadian International School and the Marina Bay Golf Course show that appeal of that mission. By being integrated service providers, we were able to create architecturally appealing designs. We were able to make sure that each of our customers got the exact solution for their needs and organization. Productivity is guaranteed when the producer is capable of handling every element of a project in-house. We avoid the â€Å"mythical man-hour† this way too: All of our team members are up to date on all of our projects. We are proud that we were able to design complex buildings for complex needs without needing to bring in excessive outside help. By aiming to be the best integrated service provider, we guarantee long-term productivity and profitability. Why hire many companies when you can hire one? Why risk worrying about each new contractor and sub-contractor being qualified, bonded, and ready for the task? If one company can handle the task, how much easier is that for the customer? We feel that, when the customer only needs to worry about one thing, providing us with the information to complete their goals, we serve their needs to the utmost. Our mission is threefold. First: We aim to deliver quality products and services to our customers. Many people think of construction and project design as a â€Å"hard† task, with very little need for interpersonal skills. We instead think that the process of providing products, the completed building, is inextricable from and intertwined with the process of providing services. We provide our customer many services. We give them ease of mind. People don't just want a good

Social work theory

Social work theory Title: ‘Framework for practice, exploring social work theory.’ The case throws up several interconnected issues. The essay will examine these through the lens of two different theories, on one hand the ecological theory of human development by Bronfenbrenner (1979), and on the other hand, the social model of disability as it has been proposed by social work theorists over the last three decades (Oliver 1996). The case demands a decision to be made and theories at best have a contributory role to play in the decision making process (Banks 2006: 27). A brief list of the issues involved in the case should heighten the awareness for the complexity of the case. First, there is the question about the levels of parental competence and capacity for effective parenting given that both parents suffer from learning disabilities. Second, social workers need to evaluate the chances that Stan and Cassie will be able to provide a stable parental environment that has significant advantages over that provided by Cassie’s parents Marian and Bill. There are further issues surrounding the rights of parents and the rights of the child which may be perceived as mutually exclusive. Additionally, social workers will have to assess the impact of changes in location and in providing a generally supportive and protective environment which a relocation of the child to her natural parents may precipitate. Bronfenbrenner was concerned to construct a theory of human development that recognised the dynamic interconnectedness of environmental and biological factors. He envisaged this theory to ‘lie at the point of convergence among the disciplines of the biological, psychological. and social sciences’ (Bronfenbrenner 1979:13). In a later article he elaborated his notion of the role of external environments and called for a new focus of psychological research in human development. His theory, so he argued, was uniquely suited to map out the various factors that influence child development as they were encapsulated in the institution of the family (Bronfenbrenner 1986). Bronfenbrenner suggests that there are three dimensions which represent the units of psychological inquiry. There is, firstly, what he calls the immediate environment of human engagements (mesosystems) in which the child as well as the parents ‘actively participate’ (Bronfenbrenner 1979: 25). It comprises the entire range of activities, roles and interpersonal relations that are ‘experienced by the developing person’ (Bronfenbrenner 1979: 22) and the interconnections amongst several of these patterned behavioural structures. Bronfenbrenner proposed that mesosystems are only the intermediate structures that connect the individual to the next highest level of environmental contexts. He calls this the exosystem which characteristically does ‘not involve the developing person as an active participant, but in which events occur that affect†¦ what happens’( Bronfenbrenner 1979: 25) in the mesosystem. Yet, how does this contribute to a more grounded and fairer decision in the given case? Bronfenbrenner’s main thesis, implicit in the model of ecological development, is that external events do have a direct impact on child development even if they seem to be initially non-quantifiable to an outside observer and within static models. Meso- exo- and chrono-systems influence the family context, of which the chronological and exogenous dimensions are most relevant in the given context of this case. In a detailed article in which he defends his ecological model of human development and supports it with research evidence, he singles out several aspects of family existence which determine directly and noticeably child development (Bronfenbrenner 1986). Amongst others he dwells on employment (maternal and paternal), schooling, community involvement and parental networks of assistance as well as peer group involvement and pressure for the child. We may usefully add case worker-parent relationships as well as the wider policy context in which social workers operate in assessing child care cases (Calder 2003). Bronfenbrenner analyses research evidence within his theoretical framework and against the background of social work objectives such as educational and occupational achievement of children (in later life) as well as stability of living environments (Bronfenbrenner 1986: 726). Within the UK context that is framed by the DDA and the Code of Practice one would have to add the respect for individual human beings, justice and individual rights to lead a fulfilled life, self-determination, as well as the eradication of discrimination on grounds of ethnic differences or disability which has been part of the policy agenda of New Labour (Garrett 2003; Banks 2006). Bronfenbrenner’s model now allows a social worker to theorise the following aspects in the adjudication of opposing claims to raise Rebecca. First, they may assess the chances that Cassie or Stan find/remain in employment which evidently has a positive impact on child development (Parsons 1982). Second they may take into account the resources of support that are available to Stan and Cassie within their own family as well as the wider community (Hall 1997, Bronfenbrenner 1986). Thirdly, they would like to assess the relevance of being raised by their biological parents or by the grandparents. And social workers may look at the wider family context in which crucial activities such as schooling and after school care provision may be provided when Rebecca lives either with Stan and Cassie or her grandparents. Additionally, they may consider that parents often provide role models for children and that this may positively influence the child’s self-esteem and confidence in s ocial settings (Parsons 1982). Furthermore, Bronfenbrenner’s theory allows social workers to conceptualise singular events as having a long term impact on child development. The ecological theory of human development urges assessors to consider the influence that disruptions to the normal life of a child, such as the relocation to Rebecca’s natural parents may have on her chances to future educational achievement (cf. also Olsen 2003). Bronfenbrenner subsumes these factors under the chrono-system which conceptualises sudden alterations in the child’s environment in its long term effects (Bronfenbrenner 1986). Bronfenbrenner argues that child development needs to be understood in a ‘life course perspective’ in which sequences of developmental transitions can have cumulative effects (Bronfenbrenner 1979). Like all guiding theories of psychological development that are supposed to assist in decision making, however, Bronfenbrenner’s model fails to provide a ranking of values which could help determine the eventual outcome of decisions in the long run. He points in his work to convincing evidence that parental employment is a significant factor in normal child development, as well as the importance of social networks on which parents can rely for support in raising the child (Bronfenbrenner 1986). What his model cannot do is to contrast meaningfully these indisputably desirable factors of child development with the equally valuable wider goals of public policy such as reinstating parental rights to people with disabilities. The social model of disability represented a major landmark in changing the theoretical assumptions that informed public attitudes to disabilities (Oliver 1992; Hedlund 2000). Articulated by social scientists such as Finckelstein in the 1970s, the social model was proposed in contradistinction to the medical model of disability which located the origin of disability in a lack of conformity to normal functioning (Oliver 1992). Theorists who challenged this model prevalent in disability theory and practice argued that there are two dimensions to disability. On one side there is a physical impairment, while on the other hand society is structured and organised in such a way as to disallow disabled people to carry out certain functions which they are certainly capable of (Oliver 1992; Olsen 2003; Morris 1993). The social model thus places the onus of change on society which hitherto has prevented people from functioning to their full abilities. The critical edge of the social model is apparent (Hughes 1997). Disabled people certainly have the capacity to being a parent if society removes the obstacles to effective parenting that is has erected over centuries and provides the support to disabled parents that they are entitled to. Parental competence is something that should be assumed on the side of disabled parents rather than working on the presumption that a physical impairment renders disabled people incapable to exercising certain functions in society. This model thus shifts the burden of proof to society and therefore stipulates that fundamental rights of individuals, such as having the chance of being a parent, can only be infringed if it can be shown that significant harm comes to the child through neglect, injury or considerably diminishing of the opportunities for the child. Once again, this must be judged not against the capacities of disabled parents to raise a child under circumstances of prevalent discrimination against them by society but under conditions of equality with able bodied persons (Morris 1993). In this framework the tables are turned. Arguments in favour of Rebecca being raised by her grandparents must show a significant violation of her rights to have a fulfilled life when living with her biological parents or the chance that effective parenting is not possible in a household that comprises a father and mother both suffering from learning disabilities. Although the child’s welfare is paramount this principle cannot be assumed to contradict and ultimately to override the right to raise your own children simply because society may not provide an environment free from discrimination against disabled people which may impinge on the abilities of the Stan and Cassie to provide a stable and caring family setting. There exists a comprehensive assessment framework for child welfare cases like this and one of the first principles is that the natural family is the best place in which children develop and grow up (Calder 2003). Doubts about the parenting competence and capacity of Stan and Cassie thus heavily draw on the medical model of disability which, within the policy context of the UK, has been rejected as a valid framework for assessments of disability care. Both theories have advantages and disadvantages for the assessment process in the given case. Bronfenbrenner’s model allows case managers to take into account events that may considerably disrupt Rebecca’s life and, in the long run, impinge on her abilities to perform well in educational and vocational settings. In contrast, the social model of disability raises awareness for the basic principles of equity and fairness in making decisions in a social care context. It urges social workers to understand the particular situation of Stan and Cassie as determined to a large extent by society. Lack of resources and support in raising Rebecca would therefore have to be tackled by the social welfare system in contribution to placing both parents in a profoundly unjust situation in the first place. While Bronfenbrenner’s theory may incline social workers more towards deciding in favour of Rebecca’s grandparents, the social model of disability reiterates strongly the need of the social welfare system to remove all obstacles to disabled parenting so that Stan and Cassie can raise their own child. References Banks, S. (2006). Ethics and Values in Social Work. Third Edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Ecology of the Family as a Context for Human Development: Research Perspectives. Developmental Psychology, 22, 6, 723-742 _______________ (1979). The Ecology of Human Development. Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press Garrett, P. M. (2003). Swimming with Dolphins: The Assessment Framework, New Labour and New Tools for Social Work with Children and Families. British Journal of Social Work, 33, 441-463 Hall, S. K. e.a. (1997). Caseworkers’ Perceptions of Protective Services Clients’ Parental Functioning: Toward an Ecological Integration. Children and Youth Services Review, 19, 3, 179-194 Hedlund, M. (2000). Disability as a Phenomenon: a discourse of social and biological understanding. Disability and Society, 15, 5, 765-780 Hughes, B. and Paterson, K. (1997). The Social Model of Disability and the Disappearing Body: towards a sociology of impairment. Disability and Society, 12, 3, 325-340 Morris, J. (1993). Independent Lives? Community Care and Disabled People. Basingstoke: McMillan Oliver, M. (1996). Understanding Disability. From Theory to Practice. Basingstoke: MacMillan Olsen, R. and Harriet Clarke (2003). Parenting and Disability. Disabled parents’ experiences of raising children. Bristol: The Policy Press Parsons, J. E., Terry F. Adler and Caroline M. Kczala (1982). Socialisation of Achievement Attitudes and Beliefs: Parental Influences. Child Development, 53, 310-321

King Lear - Power Corrupts Essay -- essays research papers

Power is the ability to manipulate and control whatever one desires; to do what one pleases to do without answering to authority. The power that corrupts the characters plays an extensive role throughout Shakespeare’s play, King Lear. Goneril and Regan are corrupted by the power that Lear offers them. Edmund’s corruption comes from the trust of his father. Absolute power corrupts absolutely with the characters, because once have full control, they are so cold that they will do anything to keep the power – or to gain more. The quest for power corrupts, but when absolute power is attained, treachery and deceit is the only path to take. The power that Lear gives to Goneril and Regan makes them treacherous and deceitful. Lear offers his land to his daughters – Goneril and Regan – but in return they must profess their love for him: â€Å"which of you shall we say doth love us most, that we our largest bounty may extend.† (1, 1, 56-57) By doing this, Lear gives an opportunity for his daughters to take advantage of him. Goneril â€Å"loves [him] more than words can wield the matter’ (1, 1, 60) and the same goes for Regan saying, â€Å"[Goneril] comes too short, that [she] profess [herself] an enemy of all other joys.† (1, 1, 79-80) They don’t really love Lear, but instead they love the power that Lear gives them. Once Lear had given the land to his daughters, the power that they have corrupts them. When Lear needs a place to stay, the daughters are not quick to react; Goneril allows him to stay...

A Dirty Job Chapter 21

21 COMMON COURTESY Charlie was torn – he really wanted to take his sword-cane, but he couldn't carry it while using the crutches. He considered duct-taping it to one of the crutches, but he thought that might attract attention. â€Å"You want me to go with you?† Ray asked. â€Å"I mean, you okay to drive, with your leg and all?† â€Å"I'll be fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"Someone needs to watch the store.† â€Å"Charlie, before you go, can I ask you something?† â€Å"Sure.† Don't ask, don't ask, don't ask, Charlie thought. â€Å"Why did you need me to find these two women?† You robot-necked bastard, you had to ask. â€Å"I told you, estate stuff.† Charlie shrugged. No big deal, let it go, nothing to see here. â€Å"Yeah, I know you told me that, and normally that would make sense, but I found out a lot about these two while looking for them – no one in either of their families has died recently.† â€Å"Funny thing,† Charlie said, juggling his keys, the cane, his date book, and his crutches by the back door. â€Å"Both bequests were from nonrelatives. Old friends.† No wonder women don't like you, you just won't leave things alone. â€Å"Uh-huh,† Ray said, unconvinced. â€Å"You know, when people run, when they go as far as faking their own death to get away, they are usually running from something. Are you that something, Charlie?† â€Å"Ray, listen to yourself. Are you back on your serial-killer thing? I thought Rivera explained that.† â€Å"So this is for Rivera?† â€Å"Let's say he's interested,† Charlie said. â€Å"Why didn't you just say so?† Charlie sighed. â€Å"Ray, I'm not supposed to talk about this stuff, you know that. Fourth Amendment and all. I came to you because you're good, and you have contacts. I depend on you and I trust you. I think you know that you can depend on me and trust me, right? I mean, in all these years, I've never put your disability pension in jeopardy by being careless about our arrangement, have I?† It was a threat, however subtle, and Charlie felt bad for doing it, but he just couldn't let Ray continue to push on this, particularly since he was in unexplored territory himself – he didn't even know what kind of bluff he was covering. â€Å"So Mrs. Johnson isn't going to end up dead if I find her for you?† â€Å"I will not lay a hand on Mrs. Johnson or Mrs. Pojo†¦Mrs. Pokojo – or that other woman either. You have my word on it.† Charlie raised his hand as if swearing on a Bible and dropped one of his crutches. â€Å"Why don't you just use the cane?† Ray said. â€Å"Right,† Charlie said. He leaned the crutches on the door and tried his weight on the bad leg and the cane. The doctors had, indeed, said that it was just a flesh wound, so there was no tendon damage, just muscle, but it hurt like hell to put any weight on that foot. The cane would work, he decided. â€Å"I should be back to relieve you before five.† He limped out the door. Ray didn't like being lied to. He'd had quite enough of that from his desperate Filipinas and was becoming sensitive about being taken for a fool. Who did Charlie Asher think he was fooling? As soon as he got the store squared away, he'd give Rivera a call and see for himself. He went out into the store and did a little dusting, then went to Charlie's â€Å"special† rack, where he kept the weird estate items that he made such a fuss about. You were only supposed to sell one to each customer, but Ray had sold five of them to the same woman in the last two weeks. He knew he should have said something to Charlie, but really, why? Charlie wasn't being open with him about anything, it seemed. Besides, the woman who bought the stuff was cute, and she'd smiled at Ray. She had nice hair, a cute figure, and really striking light blue eyes. Plus there was something about her voice – she seemed so, what? Peaceful, maybe. Like she knew that everything was going to be okay and no one needed to worry. Maybe he was projecting. And she didn't have an Adam's apple, which was a big plus in Ray's book lately. He'd tried to get her name, even get a look at something in her wallet, but she'd paid in cash and had been as careful as a poker player covering her cards. If she'd driven, she'd parked too far away for him to see her get into her car from the store, so there was no license number to trace. He resolved to ask her name if she came in today. And she was due to come in. She only came in when he was working alone. He'd seen her check through the window once when he was working with Lily, and only came into the store later when Lily was gone. He really hoped she'd come in. He tried to calm himself down for his call to Rivera. He didn't want to seem like a rube to a guy who was still on the job. He used his own cell phone for the call so Rivera would see it was him calling. Charlie didn't like leaving Sophie for this long, given what had happened a few days ago, but on the other hand, whatever might be threatening her was obviously being caused by his missing these two soul vessels. The quicker he fixed the problem, the quicker the threat would be diminished. Besides, the hellhounds were her best defense, and he'd given express instructions to Mrs. Ling that the dogs and Sophie were not to be separated for any amount of time, for any reason. He took Presidio Boulevard through Golden Gate Park into the Sunset, reminding himself to take Sophie to the Japanese Tea Garden to feed the koi, now that her plague on pets seemed to have subsided. The Sunset district lay just south of Golden Gate Park, bordered by the American Highway and Ocean Beach on the west, and Twin Peaks and the University of San Francisco on the east. It had once been a suburb, until the city expanded to include it, and many of its houses were modest, single-story family dwellings, built en masse in the 1940s and '50s. They were like the mosaics of little boxes that peppered neighborhoods across the entire country in that postwar period, but in San Francisco, where so much had been built after the quake and fire of '06, then again in the economic boom of the late twentieth century, they seemed like anachronisms from both ends of time. Charlie felt like he was driving through the Eisenhower era, at least until he passed a mother with a shaved head and tribal tattoos on her scalp pushing twins in a double stroller. Irena Posokovanovich's sister lived in a small, one-story frame house with a small covered porch that had jasmine vines growing up trellises on either side and springing off into the air like morning-after-sex hair. The rest of the tiny yard was meticulously groomed, from the holly hedge at the sidewalk to the red geraniums that lined the concrete path up to the house. Charlie parked a block away and walked to the house. On the way he was nearly run over by two different joggers, one a young mother pushing a running stroller. They couldn't see him – he was on track. Now, how to go about getting in? And then what? If he was the Luminatus, then perhaps just his presence would take care of the problem. He checked around back and saw that there was a car in the garage, but the shades were drawn on all the windows. Finally he decided on the frontal approach and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later a short woman in her seventies wearing a pink chenille housecoat opened the door. â€Å"Yes,† she said, looking a little suspicious as she eyed Charlie's walking cast. She quickly flipped the lock on the screen door. â€Å"Can I help you?† It was the woman in the picture. â€Å"Yes, ma'am, I'm looking for Irena Posokovanovich.† â€Å"Well, she's not here,† said Irena Posokovanovich. â€Å"You must have the wrong house.† She started to close the door. â€Å"Wasn't there a death notice in the paper a couple of weeks ago?† Charlie said. So far, his awesome presence as the Luminatus wasn't having much of an effect on her. â€Å"Well, yes, I believe there was,† said the woman, sensing an out. She opened the door a little more. â€Å"It was such a tragedy. We all loved Irena so much. She was the kindest, most generous, most loving, attractive – you know, for her age – well-read – â€Å" â€Å"And evidently didn't know that it's considered common courtesy when you publish a death notice to actually die!† Charlie held out the enlarged driver's-license picture. He considered adding aha! but thought that might be a little over-the-top. Irena Posokovanovich slammed the door. â€Å"I don't know who you are, but you have the wrong house,† she said through the door. â€Å"You know who I am,† Charlie said. Actually, she probably had no idea who he was. â€Å"And I know who you are, and you are supposed to have died three weeks ago.† â€Å"You're mistaken. Now go away before I call the police and tell them that there's a rapist at my door.† Charlie gagged a little, then pushed on. â€Å"I am not a rapist, Mrs. Poso†¦Posokev – I'm Death, Irena. That's who I am. And you are overdue. You need to die, this minute if possible. There's nothing to be afraid of. It's like going to sleep, only, well – â€Å" â€Å"I'm not ready,† Irena whined. â€Å"If I was ready I wouldn't have left my home. I'm not ready.† â€Å"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I have to insist.† â€Å"I'm sure you're mistaken. Perhaps another Mrs. Posokovanovich.† â€Å"No, here it is, right here in the calendar, with your address. It's you.† Charlie held his date book turned to the page with her name on it up to the little window in the door. â€Å"And you say that that is Death's calendar?† â€Å"That's correct, ma'am. Notice the date. And this is your second notice.† â€Å"And you are Death?† â€Å"That's right.† â€Å"Well, that's just silly.† â€Å"I am not silly, Mrs. Posokovanovich. I am Death.† â€Å"Aren't you supposed to have a sickle and a long black robe?† â€Å"No, we don't do that anymore. Take my word for it, I am Death.† He tried to sound really ominous. â€Å"Death is always tall in the pictures.† She was standing on tiptoe, he could tell the way she kept bouncing up by the little window to get a look at him. â€Å"You don't seem tall enough.† â€Å"There's no height requirement.† â€Å"Then could I see your business card?† â€Å"Sure.† Charlie took out a card and held it against the glass. â€Å"This says ‘Purveyor of Fine Vintage Clothing and Accessories.'† â€Å"Right! Exactly!† He knew he should have had a second set of business cards printed up. â€Å"And where do you think I get those things? From the dead. You see?† â€Å"Mr. Asher, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.† â€Å"No, ma'am, I'm going to have to insist that you pass away, this instant. You're overdue.† â€Å"Go away! You are a charlatan, and I think you need psychological help.† â€Å"Death! You're fucking with Death! Capital D, bitch!† Well, that was uncalled for. Charlie felt bad the second he said it. â€Å"Sorry,† he mumbled to the door. â€Å"I'm calling the police.† â€Å"You go ahead, Mrs. – uh – Irena. You know what they'll tell you, that you're dead! It was in the Chronicle. They hardly ever print stuff that's not true.† â€Å"Please go away. I practiced for a long time so I could live longer, it's not fair.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Go away.† â€Å"I heard that part, I mean the part about practicing.† â€Å"Never you mind. You just go take someone else.† Charlie actually had no idea what he would do if she let him in. Maybe he had to touch her for his Death abilities to kick in. He remembered seeing an old Twilight Zone as a kid, where Robert Redford was Death, and this old lady wouldn't let him in, so he pretended to be injured, and when she came to help him†¦ALA-KAZAM! She croaked, and he peacefully led her off to Hole in the Wall, where she helped him produce independent movies. Maybe that would work. He did have the cast and the cane going for him. He looked up and down the street to make sure that no one could see him, then he lay down, half on the little porch, half on the concrete steps. He threw his cane against the door and made sure that it clattered loudly on the concrete, then he let out what he thought was a very convincing wail. â€Å"Ahhhhhhhhh, I've broken my leg.† He heard footsteps inside and saw gray hair at the little window, bouncing a little so she could see out. â€Å"Oh, it hurts,† Charlie wailed. â€Å"Help.† More steps, the shade in the window to the right of the door parted and he saw an eye. He grimaced in fake pain. â€Å"Are you all right?† said Mrs. Posokovanovich. â€Å"I need help. My leg was hurt before, but I slipped on your steps. I think I've broken something. There's blood, and a piece of bone sticking out.† He kept his leg below the level where she could see it. â€Å"Oh my,† she said. â€Å"Give me a minute.† â€Å"Help. Please. The pain. So – much – pain.† Charlie coughed the way cowboys do when they are dying in the dirt and things are getting all dark. He heard the latch being thrown, and then the inner door opened. â€Å"You're really hurt bad,† she said. â€Å"Please,† Charlie said, holding his hand out to her. â€Å"Help me.† She unlatched the screen. Charlie suppressed a grin. â€Å"Oh, thank you,† he gasped. She threw open the screen door and blasted him in the face with a stream of pepper spray. â€Å"I saw that Twilight Zone, you son of a bitch!† The doors slammed. The latch was thrown. Charlie's face felt like it was on fire. When he could finally see well enough to walk, as he limped back to his van, he heard a female voice say, â€Å"I'd have let you in, lover.† Then a chorus of spooky-girlish laughter erupted from the storm sewer. He backed against the van, ready to draw the sword from the cane, but then he heard what sounded like a small dog barking in the sewer. â€Å"Where did he come from?† said one of the harpies. â€Å"He bit me! You little fucker!† â€Å"Get him!† â€Å"I hate dogs. When we take over, no dogs.† The barking faded away, followed by the voices of the sewer harpies. Charlie took a deep breath and tried to blink the pain out of his eyes. He needed to regroup, but then he was taking the old lady down, pepper spray or not. It took him the better part of an hour to get into position, but once he was ready, he put down the cinder block, flipped open his cell phone, and dialed the number he'd gotten from information. A woman answered. â€Å"Hello.† â€Å"Ma'am, this is the gas company,† Charlie said in his best gas-company voice. â€Å"My grid is showing pressure loss at your address. We're sending a truck right out, but you need to get everyone out of the house, right now.† â€Å"Well, I'm the only one here right now, but I'm sorry, I don't smell gas.† â€Å"It may be building up under the house,† Charlie said, feeling proud of himself for being quick on his feet. Is there anyone else in the house?† â€Å"No, just me and my kitty, Samantha.† â€Å"Ma'am, please take the cat and go out by the street. Our truck will meet you there. Go right now, okay?† â€Å"Well, all right.† â€Å"Thank you, ma'am.† Charlie clicked off. He could feel movement inside of the house. He moved right to the edge of the porch roof and raised the concrete cinder block over his head. It'll look like an accident, he thought, like a cinder block fell off the porch roof. He was glad that no one could see him up here. He was sweating from the climb, his armpits stained, his trousers wrinkled. He heard the door open and got ready to throw the cinder block as soon as his target emerged from under the roof. â€Å"Good afternoon, ma'am.† A man's voice, out by the street. Charlie looked down to see Inspector Rivera standing at the sidewalk, having just climbed out of an unmarked car. What the hell was he doing here? â€Å"Are you the gas company?† said Mrs. Posokovanovich. â€Å"No, ma'am, I'm from the San Francisco police.† He flashed his badge. â€Å"They told me there was a gas leak,† she said. â€Å"That's been taken care of, ma'am. Could you step back inside and I'll check with you in a minute, okay?† â€Å"Well, okay, then.† Charlie heard the doors open and close again. His arms were trembling from holding the cinder block over his head. He tried to breathe quietly, thinking that the sound of his wheezing might attract Rivera's attention, make him visible. â€Å"Mr. Asher, what are you doing up there?† Charlie nearly lost his balance and went over. â€Å"You can see me?† â€Å"Yes, sir, I certainly can. And I can also see that cinder block you're holding over your head.† â€Å"Oh, this old thing.† â€Å"What were you planning on doing with that?† â€Å"Repairs?† Charlie tried. How could Rivera see him when he was in soul-vessel-retrieval mode? â€Å"I'm sorry, but I don't believe you, Mr. Asher. You're going to have to drop the cinder block.† â€Å"I'd rather not. It was really hard getting it up here.† â€Å"Be that as it may, I'm going to have to insist that you drop it.† â€Å"I was planning on it, but then you showed up.† â€Å"Please. Indulge me. Look, you're sweating. Climb down and you can sit in my air-conditioned car with me. We'll chat – talk about Italian suits, the Giants – I don't know – why you were about to brain that sweet old lady with a cinder block. Air-conditioning, Mr. Asher – won't that be nice?† Charlie brought the cinder block down and rested it on his thigh, feeling his trousers snagging beyond repair as he did so. â€Å"That's not much of an incentive. What am I, some primitive Amazon native? I've had air-conditioning before. I have air-conditioning in my own van.† â€Å"Yes, I'll admit it's not exactly a weekend in Paris, but the next choice was that I shoot you off the roof, and they put you in a body bag, which is going to be sweltering on a warm day like this.† â€Å"Oh, well, yes,† Charlie said. â€Å"That does make air-conditioning sound a lot more inviting. Thanks. I'm going to toss my brick down first, if that's okay?† â€Å"That would be great, Mr. Asher.† Disillusioned with DesperateFilipinas, Ray was browsing through the selection of lonely first-grade teachers with master's degrees in nuclear physics on when she came through the door. He heard the bell and caught her out of the corner of his eye, and forgetting that his neck vertebrae were fused, he sprained the left side of his face trying to turn to see her. She saw him looking and smiled. Ray smiled back, then, out of the corner of his eye, saw the monitor with the photo of the first-grade teacher holding her breasts, and sprained the right side of his face trying to turn in time to punch the power button before she passed the counter. â€Å"Just browsing,† said the love of his life. â€Å"How are you today?† â€Å"Hi,† Ray said. In his mental rehearsals, he started with â€Å"hi,† and it just sort of burped out of him before he realized that it put him behind a beat. â€Å"I mean, fine. Sorry. I was working.† â€Å"I can see that.† Again the smile. She was so understanding, forgiving – and kind, you could just tell that by her eyes. He knew in his heart that he would even sit through a hat movie for this woman. He would watch A Room with a View AND The English Patient, back-to-back, just to share a pizza with her. And she would stop him from eating his service revolver halfway through the second movie, because that's just how she was: compassionate. She made a show of browsing the store, but two minutes hadn't passed before she made for Charlie's special shelf. Even the sign said SPECIAL ITEMS – ONE PER CUSTOMER, but it didn't say if that was a per-day policy, or one per lifetime. Charlie hadn't really specified, now that Ray thought about it. Sure, Lily had yammered on about how important it was that they adhere to the policy, but that was Lily, she might have grown up some, but she was still disturbed. After a short time she picked up an electric alarm clock and brought it over to the counter. This was it. This was it. Ray heard the back door open. â€Å"Will this be everything?† he said. â€Å"Yes,† said the future Mrs. Ray Macy. â€Å"I've been looking for one like this.† â€Å"Yep, you can't beat a Sunbeam,† Ray said. â€Å"That's two-sixteen with tax – aw, heck, call it two even.† â€Å"That's very nice of you,† she said, digging into a small purse woven from colorful Guatemalan cotton thread. â€Å"Hi, Ray,† Lily said, suddenly standing there beside him like some evil phantom who appeared out of nowhere to leech every potentially joyous moment out of his life. â€Å"Hi, Lily,† he said. Lily clicked some keys on the computer. Slowed down by his freshly sprained face, Ray wasn't able to turn before she'd hit the power button on the monitor. â€Å"What's this?† asked Lily. With his free hand, Ray thumped Lily in the thigh under the counter. â€Å"Ouch! Freak!† â€Å"I'm sure you'll enjoy waking up with that,† Ray said, handing the alarm clock to the woman who would be his queen. â€Å"Thank you so much,† said the lovely brunette goddess of all things Ray. â€Å"By the way,† Ray said, pushing on, â€Å"you've been in a couple of times, I was wondering, you know, because I'm curious that way, uh, what's your name?† â€Å"Audrey.† â€Å"Hi, Audrey. I'm Ray.† â€Å"Nice to meet you, Ray. Gotta go. Bye.† She waved over her shoulder and headed out the door. Ray and Lily watched her walk away. â€Å"Nice butt,† Lily said. â€Å"She said my name,† Ray said. â€Å"She's a little bit – I don't know – unimaginary for you.† Ray turned to the nemesis Lily. â€Å"You have to watch the store. I have to go.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"I have to follow her, find out who she is.† Ray began to gather his stuff – phone, keys, baseball cap. â€Å"Yeah, that's healthy, Ray.† â€Å"Tell Charlie I – don't tell Charlie.† â€Å"Okay. So is it okay if I switch the computer from the UGLY Web site?† â€Å"What are you talking about?† Lily stepped back from the screen and pointed to the letters as she read, â€Å"Ukrainian Girls Loving You – U-G-L-Y, ugly.† Lily smiled, a perky, self-satisfied smile, like that kid who won the spelling bee in third grade. Didn't you hate that kid? Ray couldn't believe it. They weren't even being subtle about it anymore. â€Å"Can't talk,† he said. â€Å"Gotta go.† He ran out the door and headed up Mason Street after the lovely and compassionate Audrey. Rivera had driven up to the Cliff House Restaurant overlooking Seal Rocks and forced Charlie to buy him a drink while they watched the surfers down on the beach. Rivera was not a morbid man, but he knew that if he came here enough times, eventually he'd see a surfer get hit by a white shark. In fact, he sorely hoped that it would happen, because otherwise, the world made no sense, there was no justice, and life was just a tangled ball of chaos. Thousands of seals in the water and on the rocks – the mainstay of the white shark diet – hundreds of surfers in the water, dressed like seals, well, it just needed to happen for all to be right with the world. â€Å"I never believed you, Mr. Asher, when you said that you were Death, but since I couldn't explain whatever that thing was in the alley with you, didn't want to explain, in fact, I let it slide.† â€Å"And I appreciate that,† said Charlie, showing a little discomfort at drinking a glass of wine with handcuffs on. His face was candy-apple red from having been burned by the pepper spray. â€Å"Is this normal procedure for interrogations?† â€Å"No,† Rivera said. â€Å"Normally the City is supposed to pay, but I'll have the judge take the drinks off your sentence.† â€Å"Great. Thanks,† Charlie said. â€Å"And you can call me Charlie.† â€Å"Okay, and you can call me Inspector Rivera. Now, braining the old lady with the cinder block – just exactly what were you thinking?† â€Å"Do I need a lawyer?† â€Å"Of course not, you're fine, this bar is full of witnesses.† Rivera had once been a by-the-book kind of cop. That was before the demons, the giant owls, the bankruptcy, the polar bears, the vampires, the divorce, and the saber-clawed woman-thing that turned into a bird. Now, not so much. â€Å"In that case, I was thinking that no one could see me,† Charlie said. â€Å"Because you were invisible?† â€Å"Not really. Just sort of not noticeable.† â€Å"Well, I'll give you that, but I don't think that's any reason to crush a grandmother's skull.† â€Å"You have no proof of that,† Charlie said. â€Å"Of course I do,† Rivera said, holding up his glass to signal to the waitress that he needed another Glenfiddich on the rocks. â€Å"I saw pictures of her grandchildren, she showed me when I went in the house.† â€Å"No, I mean you have no proof that I was going to crush her skull.† â€Å"I see,† said Rivera, who did not see at all. â€Å"How did you know Mrs. Posokovanovich?† â€Å"I didn't. Her name just showed up in my date book, like I showed you.† â€Å"Yes, you did. Yes, you did. But that doesn't really give you a license to kill her, now does it?† â€Å"That's the point, she was supposed to be dead three weeks ago. There was even a death notice in the paper. I was just trying to make sure it was accurate.† â€Å"So in lieu of having the Chronicle print a correction, you thought you'd bash in granny's brains.† â€Å"Well, it was that or have my daughter say ‘kitty' at her, and I refuse to exploit my child in that way.† â€Å"Well, I admire your taking the high ground on that one, Charlie,† Rivera said, thinking, Who do I have to shoot to get a drink around here? â€Å"But let's just say that for one millisecond I believe you, and the old lady was supposed to die, but didn't, and that because of it you were shot with a crossbow and that thing I shot in the alley appeared – let's just say I believe all that, what am I supposed to do about it?† â€Å"You need to be careful,† Charlie said. â€Å"You may be turning into one of us.† â€Å"Pardon?† â€Å"That's how it happened to me. When my wife passed away, in the hospital, I saw the guy that came to collect her soul vessel, and wham, I was a Death Merchant. You saw me today, when no one else could, and you saw the sewer harpy, that night in the alley. Most of the time, I'm the only one who can see them.† Rivera really, really wanted to turn this guy over to a psychiatrist at the hospital and never see him again, but the problem was, he had seen the woman-thing, that night and another time on his own street, and he had seen reports of weird stuff happening in the City over the last two weeks. And not just normal San Francisco weird stuff, but really weird stuff, like a flock of ravens attacking a tourist in Coit Tower, and a guy who slammed his car through a storefront in Chinatown, saying that he had swerved to miss a dragon, and people all over the Mission saying that they'd seen an iguana dressed like a musketeer going through their garbage, tiny sword and all. â€Å"I can prove it,† Charlie said. â€Å"Just take me to the music store in the Castro.† Rivera looked at the sad, naked ice cubes in his glass and said, â€Å"Anyone ever tell you that it's hard to follow your train of thought, Charlie?† â€Å"You need to talk to Minty Fresh.† â€Å"Of course, that clears things up. I'll have a word with Krispy Kreme while I'm there.† â€Å"He's also a Death Merchant. He can tell you that what I'm telling you is true and you can let me go.† â€Å"Get up.† Rivera stood. â€Å"I'm not finished with my wine.† â€Å"Leave the money for the drinks and get up, please.† Rivera hooked his finger in Charlie's handcuffs and pulled him up. â€Å"We're going to the Castro.† â€Å"I don't think I can work my cane with these things on,† Charlie said. Rivera sighed and looked down on the surfers. He thought he saw something large moving in a wave behind one surfer, but as his heart leapt at the prospect, a sea lion poked his whiskered face out of the curl and Rivera's spirits sank again. He threw Charlie the handcuff keys. â€Å"Meet me in the car, I have to take a leak.† â€Å"I could escape.† â€Å"You do that, Charlie – after you pay.†