A Person Who Inspire Me the Most

Songsnumber-onesinglesAndre Hill September 30, 2010 3rd period The person that inspires me most is my mom. The reason I say this is because she’s a strong black woman and she stands independently facing all odds. She inspires me to be the best I can be and to always give my all in whatever I’m doing. Whenever I need something, all I have to do is ask and I know if it’s possible, she’ll provide it. It’s always been like that with her and not with just me, but all of my brothers. I think the reason we may act uncivilized when dealing with authority is because we know we have a mother who’ll bail us out 9 times out of 10.If I didn’t have her, I would probably be a drop out because I wouldn’t have anyone in my ear telling me to get my grades up. My mom tells me what to do and she means just that. She has her flaws like every human does but they aren’t easy to spot in her. We’re not rich or close to it but from everythi ng I have you wouldn’t be able to tell. I never go without anything I need or in a lot of cases, anything I want. I know she would give me her last dollar. For example†¦if my mom and I both wanted a candy bar and she only had two dollars on her, without a doubt she would buy it for me.She thinks of others before herself a lot and that could cause people to try to run over you but not with my mom. My mom is very smart and she pushes education to the max in my household. When I bring home bad grades I know it hurts her just as much as it hurts me, maybe a lot more actually. I always use manners and that’s because she tells me that education and respect will take me far in life. And that it would make people respect me. I want to be an R&B singer when I grow up and my mom tells me I can be anything I want to be.I don’t know if she really believes that or if she’s just saying it because it sounds good, but I know that that’s the kind of motivation I need. If I don’t have any support from anyone else, I know I’ll have some from her. I can count on my mom for anything. If I was to fall from a plane I’m willing to bet any amount of money my mother would be there to catch me, not letting a strand of my hair touch the ground. I’m not Andre Hill September 30, 2010 3rd period saying that she’s a body builder or anything like that. I’m just trying to explain the love she has for me in words.Her love makes me want to be like her and to treat my kids in the future the way my mom treats me. I want to be able to give that type of love to everyone. If the world had that type of love there would be no tears falling or violence. I try to make the right decisions to satisfy my mom and myself. I don’t want to put her thru anything that would cause her to hurt. . I mean she’s wonderful and I wouldn’t trade her for anything or anyone in the world. I love my mom to death and she ins pires me more than any celebrity or person in the past could ever do. Andre Hill

Balancing On-line College Studies, Work, and Personal Relationships

Balancing On-line College Studies, Work, and Personal Relationships On-line college studies bring forth various challenges for a student as the concept of time may easily be disregarded or forgotten along with problems regarding distractions and the sense of presence (â€Å"Online Study Techniques†). In this sense, if a student also takes into consideration pressing issues such as those that stem from work, family, and friends, then the difficulty of successfully completing on-line college studies become even worse.However, the presence of such problems, difficulties, and challenges does not mean that every student going through on-line college studies has a myriad of excuses so as not to excel in their educational pursuit. In fact, given the right mind set and the right approach in decision making, it is most likely that a student will be able to optimally accomplish each task in his or her on-line studies while still being able to perform at work and maintain relations with family and friends.Personally, I incorporate concepts of time management and effective prioritization in order to attain efficient decision making. As mentioned, in decision making, I utilize effective prioritization in order to come up with the best possible options for a given situation. In this sense, I build up a hierarchy of considerations and events which may come up and how I should perceive each and every situation given if such situations overlap. In addition, I also develop a sense of hierarchy in relation to studies, work, friends, and family.Although it may seem that such an approach seems to be quite effective and one may bring up questions as to why even though people tend to have a similar approach but fail at decision making. The answer is quite simple, the reason for the inability to utilize prioritization as a tool for guiding decision making is not strictly followed and such individuals opt to choose the easier or more pleasurable choices instead of selecting the more important tasks.In my case though, I prioritize and decide according to which choice would bring the most positive effects. To expound upon the potential use of effective prioritization in terms of decision making, it is only proper to discuss through the use of specific examples. In this sense, a good example comes in the form of accomplishing additional tasks at work which basically translates into a bigger payout while also considering the progress through on-line studies and coursework.Considering that I already have a stable amount of funds and have a good amount of saving, then working for additional hours even though additional pay is given would not have been an efficient choice since technically my funds are already in excess. On the other hand, in relation to the on-line studies that have progressed slowly, allocating ample amounts of time and effort for such will definitely be not an excess and if I really want to attain my specialized associates' degree through dist ant learning, then I should spend more time to work on my studies.Hence, I chose to accomplish the latter option. However, sometimes one cannot simply choose an option over another especially if one or more of the possible choices are with added urgency. Since it is quite often that I am placed in a situation wherein I have to decide between different possible tasks in which time is of the essence, I have developed a way to incorporate efficient time management aside from effective prioritization into my decision making skills.To expound, efficient time management in my own perspective pertains to how the hours of the day or the days of the week are scheduled effectively in order to progress in my work and studies while still being a significant presence to my family and friends. Also, time management pertains to the reality that some decisions made or tasks accepted may be done on another day while some events cannot simply be accomplished if missed the first time around. In relati on to prioritization though, not every opportunity or task that may not reoccur on a definite time is not always the best option so time management in relation to decision making.A good example for the use of efficient time management in relation to decision making is in terms of choosing between the options of attending the birthday of my beloved niece and continuing my on-line studies. In the situation, it is quite expected that the birthday party, along with the opportunity to greet her and give her a gift in person, would only occur at a specific time and date. Considering that I am lagging behind in terms of my on-line studies, I also thought about using my free time to catch up with the remaining coursework.Of course, thinking that my studies are more important in the long run, and my niece would probably not hate me that much if I miss her birthday, my initial reaction was to just stay at home and continue my studies. Later on, I realized that if I missed the birthday then it might create an unavoidable stress between us. Taking into consideration that on-line studies are characteristically flexible in nature and progress may be made at one's own pace, then I simply went to the birthday, stayed for a while, and later on went back home to finally continue the coursework that should be completed.Hence, both tasks were accomplished. The important aspect of the decision making process in this sense, is the capability to postpone something to be done at a later time but still making sure that the postponed task is accomplished. In addition, it is also important to know which tasks should be conducted first and at the same time realize which tasks can really be set aside initially.In this sense, what works for me personally as discussed, is to utilize both time management and prioritization in deciding which tasks or events should be considered to be done first. Of course, such a method has some negative points as well. In most cases though, from a personal s tandpoint, it is definitely useful to use efficient time management and effective prioritization in relation to decision making as reflected through the stability of my personal relationships with family and friends, as well as good productivity at work and on my studies.

The power of an advertisement

The power of an advertisement lies on its ability to provoke interest from its audience. The moment the audience sees the ad, it should have the capability to lure its audience into becoming its willing consumers and this charm must be strong enough to create a loyal market. Nowadays, however, this has become increasingly difficult to do. With the consumers getting wiser and more critical of what they perceive in society and the environment, advertisers must create more innovative ways to reach them.Advertisements today need a more global reach in such a way that they have to touch every aspect of daily life making new forms of address more essential. The ad by the clothing company Diesel cleverly attains this. At first glance, it immediately demands the attention of the consumer. The mere idea of a young man kneeling to pray evokes a sense of conscious reflection. In a world where everything seems to point to materiality and gratification of worldly desires, it is an ingenious idea to use faith to capture attention.The young man, in casual Italian Diesel jeans and shirt having that look on his face indicating that of an intent plea, creatively portrays a notion of spirituality or probably the ironic lack of it. It appeals to its audience and highlights the role that faith play in society; its importance and meaning. At closer look, the man is apparently praying while on the treadmill. This adds to the intrigue because it symbolizes the culture of the youth and society in general. The words â€Å"live fast† on the bottom, with text effects and all, enhances the appeal of a fast paced world.The fact that the man wears a watch also assumes the idea of a society where time is important and critical use of it must be employed. The identity that the ad has established is easily assumed and related. Combined together, the ad exploits the irony between the fast moving lifestyle of people and the slow realm of reflection and prayer. It is rather difficult to rec oncile engaged prayer into a world that essentially inhibits it. With a lifestyle that seems to promote only stop and go, as to be seen carefully from the â€Å"pray runner† treadmill, the option of pausing for a moment in prayer and faith is unlikely.This striking image attempts to stand out among all the confusion that advertisements bring, and it succeeds. Jacobson et al discusses that most often, â€Å"ads speak directly to our innermost, unarticulated needs, proffering ineffective palliatives for real social and personal problems† (Jacobson et al, 1995). Ads may turn out to be ineffective solutions for real problems but the idea behind it is to create an avenue for deep thought and contemplation, a mode to capture the consumers’ inner reflections and influence and direct them towards the brand. In this the Diesel ad does well.The idea implied in the ad may be seen as to provide a social criticism while introducing a lifestyle geared towards consumerism. The idea commercial appeal and introduction of conflict creates a space for difference and being able to make the two meet means being able to conquer more diverse markets. As Giroux points out, those that shock people have become the most effective means of getting to the consumers. (Giroux, 1994) Moreover, as the ad is intended to promote to consumers its online stores; it effectively relays that fast lifestyles need fast ways of consuming.Thus, through the internet, Diesel provides the conveniences of â€Å"high speed shopping†. It works effectively as a target specific ad but it may be seen as an ad aimed for the general public as well. The impact that it implies and associates with the brand will linger on in the minds of its consumers, and it would not matter whether they purchase online or at the stores. The ad inculcates the idea of living fast on its audiences and thus the modern lifestyle of people today is held in close association to the brand.The ad strives to creat e a sense of relation, a connection to the modern consumers and it reinforces the idea that advertising ingratiates itself to the daily functions of modern life. (Vanderbilt, 1997) In all, the Diesel ad employs an ingenious way to address the consumers’ search for the meaning of public truths. It effectively captures the attention of its audience by creating an image directly intended to evoke human feelings of morals and principles.The ad uses irony to question society and the lifestyle that people currently have. It reminds people of their faith, values and inclinations but does so in a way that is not negative and condemning. At the same time it suggests a solution geared towards complimenting the fast paced world of society, successfully creating an impact for the Diesel brand. The ad becomes a powerful tool for Diesel to connect to its consumers and instill on them an enduring influence that would last even if the ad’s idea of prayer and faith had not.

Compare non agricultural plant management strategies with farming Essay

Compare non agricultural plant management strategies with farming - Essay Example It was estimated that more than two million years, until the end of the Mesolithic period, this occupation continued. Hunter-gatherer social group was the most common one seen during this period. A hunter-gatherer society used to involve in the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild, used to involve in foraging. They also had the habit of hunting and had no interest in domestication. However there was a transition from their phase into the subsequent Neolithic period with the advent of nascent agricultural practices. The domestication was also common practice in the later human groups. It was reported that agriculture began as early as 12000 years ago and it was practiced in almost all the countries of the world. The initial references were available with Asia and Middle East. As it was mentioned in the introductory address that energy is the basis of life, one has to give a serious thought on the various aspects of energy that necessitates the comparison of agricultural plant management with non agricultural energy options. Let us analyse the differences that exist between Hunter-gatherers and Modern farming human groups. The hunter gatherers were hard working human group who used to strive hard for hunting and needed more energy levels and hence they used to consume high energy. When agriculture has become prevalent, modern farming groups used to encourage domestication of animals which in turn helped the agriculture. The agricultural crops, being major food producing crops serve as a major energy suppliers. For example, rice and wheat supply enormous amount of energy in major parts of the world. In some countries, potato and sweet potato along with maize and soyabean supply the required energy levels to different groups of the people. At the same time, agricultural crops face several challenges like the reduction in cultivable area and

Culture Jamming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Culture Jamming - Essay Example Photoshop and interceptions-counter-messages. Over the years, jammers argue that they usually do not alter ad’s message but are exposing, improving, correcting or rather modifying them. A billboard artist, however, said that an excellent jam does not directly rescript a precisely different meaning but drafts the deeper message of substitute advertisement. Jamming is only a productive act if done to the right of the society; Rodriguez de Granada is an example of a jammer with the well-meant intention of the same. Jamming disagrees with marketing as a one-way conveyance of information; people should have the right to respond to images they did not ask for their display. Rodriguez de Granada , one of the founders of jamming was a highly skilled and innovative jammer. Rodriguez, a 31-year-old man, would be seen in the city of New York altering ads in broad daylight. The reason to why he was not arrested was because he would reason out with the police why he did talking them out of arresting him in a couple of incidences. Rodriguez de Granada jammed for a good course, and unlike other artists, he did not fancy the term guerrilla art but termed it as, citizen art. He believed practicing jamming in daylight was a regular mode of communicating with the society democratically. Rodriguez explains his main reason for jamming was to wipe out advertisers habit to glamorize hard alcoholic products and addictive drugs like tobacco on billboards. Ads on beer and cigarettes featured provocative models that create an enticing image in children’s mind especially those living in the ghettos felt compelled to elope. Rodriguez de Granada argued the importance o f jamming was to the culture at large. He intended his work to be a part of the community’s way of life; he wanted people to engage in his work. Children stood to watch as he transformed ads while others participated e.g. holding the ladder for him while he. He wanted

God exists OR God doesn't exist OR We should believe in God OR We Essay

God exists OR God doesn't exist OR We should believe in God OR We shouldn't believe in God - Essay Example The planets, the stars and the suns move in certain direction that their gravitational systems do not collide with each other. In our own solar system, planets revolve around the sun in an orderly and predictable manner which makes us wonder, who created all these things to move in such controlled and orderly manner? If there is no God out there who created the universe and all the creatures that exist on it, then, who created all these things? The universe is so vast and almost impossible to comprehend and it revolves along logical paths that are exact and well defined. Many scientists and scholars suggest that the universe was created through some kind of random engineering design but if we take a close look at the solar system (Peacock, 1999), the planetary system and all of creation, there is nothing random in these things and everything has to be in their right places to achieve balance and harmony. If it was not God who created all the heavenly bodies and set the rules as to how they should move around and produce elements that sustain life, then, who created all these things? If the universe has been created by an accident of nature as some people would like to believe, such accident would have been of phenomenal magnitude that it created order in the universe. Besides, if we go with the idea that the universe and us who live in it, are created by accident of nature, then we are not as special as we are supposed to be. If we do not believe in God, then we do not consider ourselves as made in the image and likeness of God. By believing that we are created by accident is like denying our own divine beginning. On the other hand, by accepting the existence of God, we also accept our divine nature. In arguing against the existence of God, many scientists suggest that at the beginning of time, the chaotic first elements ordered themselves to form a complex system that we now call the universe (Singh,

Afterimages and Token Identity Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Afterimages and Token Identity Theory - Essay Example I have just stared at a bright neon light bulb shaped like a cow for exactly one minute. When I close my eyes, I can see an afterimage of the cow, but it is changing colors and the shape is shifting somewhat. After a while, the image disappears entirely.To answer this question, there seems to be three logical positions for explaining what I see. First, there is the assertion that the afterimage doesn't exist at all. This position makes a certain amount of sense to me, because I understand that seeing requires the use of my eyes and that my eyes respond to light. If my eyes are closed, there is no light hitting them and I shouldn't be able see anything. This view is problematic for me, however, because I can still see the image before me. It may be changing colors and the shape may be shifting, but I can perceive it very clearly. If the image did not exist at all, then I wouldn't be able to see it. Therefore, since I can see it, it has to exist somewhere. The second position is that t he afterimage exists, but it isn't physical. I can accept this idea more easily than the first because it allows me to believe in the reality of what I see without having to prove that it exists in a physical sense. This view is also problematic, however, because it challenges my rationality; I am seeing the image when I shouldn't be able to. I can describe the changes in color and shape. Even though the image eventually goes away, I know that I continued to see it after I closed my eyes. I don't have a good explanation for why I can see it, however, because I know that it isn't physically possible for me to see it. To adopt this position, I have to explain why I can see something that is no longer there; and that isn't very logical. The third and final explanation for the afterimage is that it exists and that it is physical. On its face, this position gives me the most options for believing in the image that I see because I can attribute its reality to a physical process. Even thou gh I may not be able to explain exactly what is happening, this position allows me to assert that the image is real and that there is a rational physical or biological reason for it. Unfortunately, this position has its own difficulty with my understanding of vision. Even though I can describe the afterimage in terms of its shapes and colors, to assert that there is a physical reason violates what I know about the biological process of vision. I see with my eyes because light stimulates the nerves and those nerves transmit the image to my brain. If my eyes are closed, then I shouldn't be able to see anything because there is no light coming into my brain. Once I close my eyes, the neon cow cannot be truly seen because there is no more light being processed by my visual nerves. Determining the answer to this question is difficult because I have to balance what my eyes are seeing with what I know about vision. As Seager states in his discussion of token identity theory, "[t]he essential idea is that mental states are ascribed through the interpretation of behavior under the constraint of rationality" (54). My mental state of seeing the colored cow and interpreting its behavior is constrained by my own rational mind. My position. I will argue for position two, the view that the afterimage exists, but it is not physical. Even though this position has problems, I think this is the best explanation for the afterimage. First, the image exists for me. I see it, so that excludes position one, but there is no real physical reason to do so; which excludes

Interpersonal Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Interpersonal Communication - Essay Example First, I am very opinionated. I do not necessarily have an opinion on every issue, but when I set my opinion on a certain issue, it is most probably because I evaluated the idea carefully and thoroughly. I have always thought that being such, I have the right to force my opinion on other people. I am usually like this with my friends, or those who are around my age bracket. I have no bad intentions in doing so. Usually, I become forceful in talks when I feel like I am doing the other person a favor by correcting his or her mistake. I usually put their opinion on the hot seat, and then point out the areas why that opinion is a mistake. I do it in a matter-of-fact manner that I usually do not care if the other person is getting offended or hurt. I notice that the other person will usually just say yes to me to close the topic, or keep quiet until he or she finds an opportunity to change the subject. Second, I have always believed that when I am right, I need to prove it. Sometimes, I go to lengths such as dissecting the issue just to show the other person that I was right. I do not have an issue in admitting that I am wrong if I am wrong, that is probably why I expect other people to be the same. I usually do this with my parents, especially when I feel that they underestimate my ideas just because I am younger and have lesser experiences than they have.I do not feel, however, like scoring points. ... I do not feel, however, like scoring points. I just want them to realize that there are times when I am right too. However, such conversations would end up either heatedly or with me being forced to shut up, which I do not appreciate. This would make me put a double effort in proving that I am right (usually by bringing up past conversations or arguments) when the next opportunity comes. Third, despite being opinionated and having strong character, I am a very happy person to be with. However, I seem to be very direct, or my sense of humor sometimes offends others who are a bit sensitive. For me, it is usually to break the ice or to encourage a cheerful mood when it gets awkward or dull. I always make it a point to be politically correct, but others still see my sense of humor as insensitive sometimes. While my upbeat personality may draw people to me and make them generally happy to be with me, I want to change some of my communication styles because I do not like offending or hurti ng people unnecessarily, even if they had been unintentional. Research on Self-Analysis of Communication Styles I have recently noticed how easy it is for my conversations with people who are close to me to go around in circles. What starts as a normal conversation would lead to an argument. Looking back to all those times, a big percentage of those arguments were due to trivial matters. I figured out it must have something to do with my communication styles. I remember a famous line that says, â€Å"It is not what you say, but how you say it.† This is the major point of my research regarding interpersonal communication. I believe that what is flawed is not my intention nor my message, but how I express my thoughts. As I have earlier mentioned, I

Question answer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Question answer - Assignment Example mains, and for instance a mathematician can prove the conjecture that bundles of order two are commutative, from the axioms of the group theory, hence an accountant might develop axioms that define how the company grows and functions. These axioms eventually prove that employees health decrease with age. This example and several other tasks can be done by the ATP system, provided there is a suitable formulation of the problem in these three ways; conjecture, axioms and hypotheses. David Wheeler, born in 1927, is widely acknowledged as a significant pioneer in computing having invented the relational database model. According to Hey & PaÃŒ pay 2014, David Wheeler is a British computing pioneer, who made a significant contribution in the construction and programming of the EDSAC computer.   The relational model designed for database management is a model that is founded on the initial order predicate logic, and it is originally developed and presented by David Wheeler. In this model for the database, every data is displayed in the form of tuples, bundled into relations. A database developed in the form of the relational model is the relational database, and the purpose of the relational model is contrived to offer a declarative system for specifying the data and questions. In retrospect, the users directly declare what information the database has and the information they need from the database management system. Subsequently, the software takes care of defi ning the data structures of storing the information and retrieval system for answering the questions. Currently, a number of relational database use the SQL data description and question language, and these systems employ the engineering approximation that is the relational model. Henderson 2009, asserts that Ole-Johan Dahl and Kristen Nyagarard are pioneers in computing and are widely acknowledged for the ideas in object oriented programming through their development of the programming languages Simula 1 and

Integrated Marketing Communication and Information Technology Research Paper

Integrated Marketing Communication and Information Technology - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that with the development of Internet technology consumer’s behavior, lifestyle and expectations have changed dramatically, thus making marketers and other professionals adjust to these changes. All these changes have been transformed into special subject known as Integrated Marketing Communication. Nowadays, in order to be successful, many companies have successfully adopted the principles of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). The American Association of Advertising Agencies defines IMC as a â€Å"concept of marketing communication, which sees the added value in an all-inclusive plan†, whereas the strategic importance of various communication tools (such as advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing) taken into account. This approach allows marketers â€Å"to ensure clarity, consistency and maximum communication impact†. One of the companies who has adopted IMC to its strategy is global com pany Samsung. In October 2011 Samsung rolled out Galaxy Note – the smartphone with a screen diagonal width of 5, 3-inches. These sizes of the smartphone were quite unusual and made it be perceived as a hybrid between the smartphone and tablet. There were many skeptics who were doubtful about the success of this particular product due to its unusual sizes. However, the company has achieved fabulous success having sold five million units of the Galaxy Note in the first five months. The launch of the second version of the Galaxy Note with 5,5-inches screen also has proved to be successful, as global sales have reached 10 million in the second half of 2012. The success formula of the Galaxy Note was comprised of three main factors, including the following: technological advancement, global operations and branding of Samsung, and unique marketing strategy.

How to meet the learning needs of mixed age groups in the home-based setting Essay Example for Free

How to meet the learning needs of mixed age groups in the home-based setting Essay One of the biggest advantages of mixed age groups is that they make us really analyse the individual needs, interests, and temperaments of each child in the group. We can then plan and provide for the next steps in learning, by getting to know our group of children very well, and making careful observations on them, as individuals, what they do and how they interact with others. This knowledge can then be mapped to the EYFS Practice Guidance over the six areas of Learning and Development and used to devise individual learning plans by assessing activities, opportunities and experiences based on their individual development, interests and needs. Careful planning and organisation are critical factors in meeting the learning needs of different age groups. Each play area, including outside, must provide the maximum of learning opportunities for all ages in your care, using barriers e.g. gates and big cushions only where needed for safety so that infants and toddlers feel included whenever possible. A good idea is to go through the house looking at the room from the child’s level. What would the baby see first, what would the toddler or pre-schooler see first? What appeals to the school-age child? You can create small play areas for special activities, e.g. using a sturdy playpen or hallway as an office for older children when they want to colour, do a puzzle, play a board game or do something without help from toddlers. The little ones can then watch without interfering with the activity. A range of open-ended multiple-use resources should be used, that can be played with in different ways according to stage, such as balls and bricks and Lego. Toys that are safe for children of all ages can be kept on low shelves easily accessible, e.g. blocks, board books, dressing-up clothes,  dolls, stuffed animals, materials to play house, and a collection of heuristic play items (plastic containers, measuring spoons, funnels, etc.), which should be changed round frequently. It is possible to use the same activity to support the learning of mixed age groups, with modifications. This is differentiating the curriculum, by extending or adapting the original play into more specific areas of learning, as per the aims and targets set for each child. For example, younger children can handle gloopy paint to explore colour and texture, while older children use the same paint materials to express their feelings and ideas. Each child does the bit of the activity that he is ready and keen to do. If one child in the group is using a schema e.g. ‘Enveloping’, this can be used as the basis of a plan for the whole group e.g. to make a den, dress up or wrap up some ‘presents’. It is important to set up these activities for shared learning, as children develop socially when they have opportunities to observe and play with those who will play differently due to being older or younger. Being at different stages of their learning journey should mean that all will be able to share other viewpoints and richer experiences. This will help them be co-operative, and for the group to ‘gel’. NEC 733.000 08/516573 Ruth Dickerson The older members of the group can help to meet the younger ones’ learning needs, e.g. by ‘communicating’ pulling faces with babies, reading to preschoolers, putting on a play or a puppet show, or teaching a board game. They do often enjoy being valued for their input, but their help should be volunteered, not relied on, and they should have lots of opportunities away from the babies, since being your ‘assistant’ can be a way for older children to avoid their own age group, and a way to escape peer conflicts. Unplanned opportunities are also very useful as they can often spark off the kind of conversations and reminiscences about other experiences, and sharing of ideas, that just wouldn’t have happened unless that event had occurred.  They encourage communication and social skills which the smaller ones can pick up on and everyone can share. We can also help children to think about ways to include each other in their play, e.g. if the older children are playing house you could ask As you are the daddy, could you read Tom and me a book? (710)

My Immigration Research Paper Essay Example for Free

My Immigration Research Paper Essay In this paper I will use the ethical theories of utilitarianism and deontology, as well as the perspective of ethical egoism, as they pertain to the issue of immigration. Living in a state bordering Mexico [New Mexico], this is indeed becoming a pressing issue as tens of thousands of illegal immigrants flood my state and neighboring states. This issue brings up many questions such as: 1 – What is our moral obligation to these immigrants? 2- What is our moral obligation to U. S. citizens that are affected by this influx? 3- Is it morally right for smugglers to profit from the pain of those seeking safety, security, and a better life? 4- Is it morally/ethically right for parents to subject their children to the long, lonely, dangerous journey to the United States. By applying the theories and perspective noted above, I will show that if this issue is not handled immediately, the consequences will be detrimental to both U.S. citizens and the immigrants as well. The desire of the immigrants to obtain a better life does not preclude them from following current laws and processes. While they act from a position of self -interest, their actions impact many others in the process. From October 2012 through September 2013, the Border Patrol has apprehended about 24,000 unaccompanied children at the border. Between October 2013 and the end of June 2014, the number rose to 57,000. It is estimated this number could reach 90,000 by the end of September 2014. Most are coming from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Once the immigrants arrive in the United States, what is our moral obligation to them? Under current law, these children are placed under the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services which works to place them with family members in the U.S. while awaiting a court date. The influx has created the largest backlog in immigration courts. â€Å"In the first half of the year there were 366,724 pending cases. As of March the average wait time for  a case was 578 days, according to the Justice Department records.† Experience has shown many immigrants never show up to these hearings.† Deontology claims an act is to be evaluated in terms of its accordance with a set of rules. Consequently, it is clear that these immigrants have broken the immigration laws of the U.S. both in the way they entered the country and in their refusal to attend court hearings. Their flight to this country clearly is done for the person’s self- interest. They hope to flee the dangers and poverty of their home countries to seek a better life in the United States. However, does the actions of the immigrant outweigh the effect of this influx on the population of the United States? Once here, national, state, local and charitable organizations are being used to house, feed, provide medical care, and other assistance to these immigrants. Meanwhile, United States veterans, homeless, mentally ill, and the elderly go without needed services. Should our own citizens not be our main focus? In my state of New Mexico, one of the poorest in the nation, we are currently housing and processing hundreds, if not thousands of these immigrants. My town of Las Cruces has opened its churches to house and care for the immigrants, even though many of the children here do not have enough to eat or a proper living environment themselves. Once the immigrants arrive at our local shelter, they are given a cot, clean clothes, a shower, hot meals and health checks. After eating, they file into rooms to collect hygiene supplies, diapers, clothes, and suitcases. Children can choose one toy from a large box of donated stuffed animals. Down the hall, volunteers assist the immigrants to call their families across the country and book train, bus, and plane tickets, depending on how much the families can spare. With the system the church shelter has developed, most immigrants will be on their way to relatives within 2 days. President Obama is seeking billions of dollars to increase the number of facilities for these immigrants, to tighten border security, and expand the number of U.S. immigration judges. Should huge amounts of U.S. money be expended to deal with illegal activity or more properly used to alleviate problems of legal U.S. citizens? Governor Rick Perry of Texas has ordered the National Guard to help protect the border because of Congress’s inability to act on this issue. Again, this is taking resources that might be needed elsewhere. While most Americans understand and empathize with the reasons for this influx,  the cost to the American public is substantial. One of the less publicized sides of this immigration issue is the smuggler’s profiting from the distress/fear of others. The smugglers are referred to as ‘coyote’ smugglers. One smuggler described â€Å"shipments of thousands of dollars in human cargo from slums of Honduras and highlands of Guatemala to cities across the United States. It is business; sometimes business is very good.† The vast majority of immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally do so with the help of a network of smugglers. It is a high risk, high yield business estimated to generate $6.6 billion a year. The immigrants pay $4,000 to $10,000 each for this illegal journey. The smugglers in turn pay off government officials, gangs operating on trains, and drug cartels. The experts estimate a profit of $3,500- $4,000 per person if the journey goes as planned. The smugglers are profiting from the rising violence in gang-ridden cities of Central America. Many of the immigrants travel to the U.S. because they believe they will be allowed to stay. The U.S. generally releases children to parents, relatives, or family friends. Their cases take years to go through the immigration courts. This gives rise to rumors of a new law or amnesty for children. The coyote smugglers spread those rumors to drum up business. In a July 23, 2014 issue of the Las Cruces Sun-News it was reported that the Homeland Security Department arrested 192 people along the Mexico border in South Texas on immigration smuggling charges and seized more than $625,000. A crackdown called â€Å"Operation Coyote† took place over the last month, part of the 90 day effort to target smuggling groups. The White House stated that smugglers are exploiting U.S. policies and the crackdown was a message to the smugglers that â€Å"our borders are not open to illegal immigration.† Analyzing this issue from the perspective of ethical egoism, the immigrants and the smugglers are both looking out for themselves, one to seek freedom and a better life, the other to procure as much money as possible. From a deontology perspective, clearly both the immigrants and smugglers are not following the law. The immigrants are entering the U.S. illegally while the smugglers are giving payoffs to drug cartels, gangs, and government leaders. Finally from a utilitarian standpoint the course of action of both the illegal immigrants and the smugglers certainly does not maximize the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. The illegal immigrants may benefit in the short run, but  if eventually returned to their countries may indeed be subject to even greater hardship. The corruption supported/used by the smugglers does nothing to create a better life for the majority of people. And once again the financial and emotional effect on the U.S. is wide spread. Another question/ concern raised by this influx of mostly unaccompanied children is related to their safety, both in their home countries and related to their long journey to the United States. Homicide, extortion, rape, and gang recruitment have risen to epidemic levels in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. â€Å"Immigrants’ rights advocates in the U.S. say they are seeing more children from Central America who are not only fleeing gang recruitment and random violence, but who have been targeted themselves.† This violence is seen as the key reason for driving immigrants north. But let’s look at the very imminent danger of death these immigrants face by not only placing themselves in the hands of smugglers [whose only concern is money] and the desert journey they face. The smugglers receive money from the immigrants and their families [both in their home country and in the U.S.] This in turn places more of a financial burden on these families, while a successful outcome is not assured. Along the journey, these immigrants are still subjected to the threats of gangs, drug cartels, and corrupt government officials. They are subjected to the extreme heat of the desert with little food or water and often just the clothes on their backs. Recent news reports put a face to this crisis when Texas authorities identified a decomposed body found recently near the border with Mexico as that of an 11 year old Guatemalan boy, Gilberto Francisco Ramos Juarez. He was identified by calling a phone number etched into his belt buckle and by family members describing the clothes he was wearing when he left home. A recent interview of a rancher in Brownsville Texas reported him also finding a body on his ranch. He reports having to keep a constant vigil all day and night as illegal immigrants enter his land, approach his house and car, and seek aid. Hector Espinal, the Honduras spokesman for UNICEF, stated â€Å"The message is that governments should do what they need to do to stop the violent conditions that are making these children leave.† How to stop violence in Honduras is a subject of much debate. Two major gangs- The Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18, have grown into transnational criminal organizations. Drug cartels use Honduras as a point to move cocaine into the United States.  First Lady Garcia of Honduras says her country needs its own U.S. funded anticrime program similar to Plan Colombia or Mexico’s Merida Initiative to fight the gangs and cartels. Vice President Joe Biden recently visited Guatemala. To coincide with that trip, President Obama has pledged $93 million in new programs to reduce violence in Central America. This includes $40 million to reduce gang membership in Guatemala, $25 million to build 77 youth outreach centers in El Salvador and $18.5 million to build 77 outreach centers in Honduras. The White House is currently requesting approximately $3.7 billion in emergency funding with $300 million for international programs to aid Central America. However, the House Republicans recently passed legislation to address the crisis. The new $694 million version would send migrant youths back home without hearings, and contained a companion bill that could lead to deporting more than a half a million immigrants to whom the Obama administration granted temporary work permits. This companion bill could prevent more than 700,000 people who’ve already gotten work permits, from renewing them. Lawmakers objected to sending any more money to President Obama without a strong stance against the two-year-old deportation relief program that they blame for causing the current border crisis by creating the perception that once here, young migrants would be allowed to stay. The new GOP border bill adds $35 million more for the National Guard, reimbursing states for guard deployment. It would increase spending for overwhelmed border agencies, add more immigration judges and detention centers, and alter a 2008 anti-trafficking law. We can apply the theories of utilitarianism and deontology and the perspective of ethical egoism to the above question much in the same way as we did before. Once again the immigrants, but also the smugglers, are acting in their own self-interest. One wants freedom, the other seeks money. Both the illegal immigrants and the smugglers are breaking the law, both in their home countries as well as the United States. By focusing on their own interests, the illegal immigrants forget the bigger picture. Would it not benefit the greater number of people to focus on the root problems in Central America? No one doubts the dangerous conditions in these countries. However, other dangerous conditions face the immigrants on the journey to the United States. Is one danger greater than the other? If these immigrants indeed make it to the United States, most will be returned to their home countries  to be placed in the same conditions, disillusioned from the loss of their hopes and dreams. Only by a concerted effort to improve conditions in their home countries, can the greatest benefit result for the greatest number of people. The issue of immigration is perhaps one of the hottest issues facing our country today. As tens of thousands of illegal immigrants make their way into the U nited States, many moral and ethical issues arise. Do the individual rights of the immigrant to seek a better life, outweigh the negative effect their actions place on their own families as well as the citizens of the United States? Do the immigrants have a right to break laws, both in their home countries, as well as the United States, in order to obtain their dream? Is it the ethical/moral responsibility of the United States to care for the illegal immigrants once they arrive? And lastly, is it morally /ethically correct to send children from one dangerous situation into another one, rather than trying to fix the core issues precipitating their illegal journey to the United States? By applying the theories of utilitarianism and deontology, as well as the perspective of ethical egoism, I have attempted to answer these questions. Utilitarianism stresses the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. In the case of illegal immigration that would seem to be that more effort should be aimed at correcting the core issues in Central America. Deontology stresses evaluating an issue in terms of its accordance with a specified set of rules. Obviously, in the case of illegal immigration, the laws are not being followed. And lastly, ethical egoism argues that acts should be done out of a person’s own self –interest. Clearly, this is what drives the immigrants. But the impact in the long run, both to the immigrants, their families, and the citizens of the United States, may be too big a price to pay. References 1 Exporting Mayhem across the Border. [2014]. Bloomberg Businessweek, [4379], 10. [Permalink]:http://search.ebscohost.com.prox-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=truedb=bshAN=96077008site=eds-live 2 Grillo, Ioan [2014]. Honduran Children Deported From U.S. Back to World’s ‘Most Violent City. Time.Com, p1-1. 1p. [Permalink]:http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=truedb=bshAN=97074587site=eds.-live. 3 LaFranchi, H. [2014July]. Border crisis: Kerry asks Central America to help combat ‘false information’. Christian Science Monitor. P.1. [Permalink]: http:// search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=truedb=crhAN=96897036site=eds-live 4 Preston, Julia. The New York Times. U.S. looks to tide illegal border crossings-Biden goes to Central America to discourage illegal immigration- deportations of central americans will be accelerated. Accelerated by the Lexington- Herald [Ky.] [June 2014]. [Permalink]: http:// search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=truedb=edsnbkAn=14E97D7C018E48F0site=eds-live 5 Schearer, M. [2014]. Obama in Political Bind over Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors. Time. Com, 1.[Permalink]: http:// search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=truedb=bshAN=97059415site=eds-li ve 6 Micheal,Shear, W.[2014 July 10]. Obama seeks $4 b for border crisis- United States- Immigration- 150,000 children projected to flee Central America. The Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]. P 17. [Permalink]: http:// search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=truedb=edsnbAN=14EF984EBA4C6788site=eds-live 7 E. Edurado Castillo and Christopher Sherman of the Associated Press. Migration spotlights Mexican ‘coyote’ smugglers retrieved from The Las Cruces Sun – News [2014 July 22]. 8 Christopher Sherman and Will Weissert of the Associated Press. Gov. Rick Perry will send National Guard to border. Retrieved from The Las Cruces Sun –News [2014 July 22]. 9 Kuhnman, Jim The Associated Press. How a flood of kids upended immigration debate. Retrieved from The Las Cruces Sun –News [2014 July 21]. 10 Anderson, Lindsey The Las Cruces Sun News. Cots, Clothes and Compassion [2014 July21]. 11 The Associated Press. Gov’t arrests 192 for smu ggling. Retrieved from The Las Cruces Sun –News [2014 July 23]. 12 Werner, Erica The Associated Press. Hose Oks border crisis bill. Retrieved from The Las Cruces Sun-News [2014 August 2].

Government expenditure and classification in india

Government expenditure and classification in india Classification of Government Expenditure The welfare of the people of India highly depends on the expenditure of the Government of India (GOI). Government expenditure is a very important aspect of the governments budget presented by the finance minister every fiscal. Through it GOI tries to maximise the welfare of the people by appropriately allocating economic resources to various government activities. Government expenditure can be broadly classified into four categories: Functional Classification or Budget Classification: In April 1974, the GOI introduced a new accounting structure in order to serve the requirement of financial control and accountability. Under this structure, a five tier classification has been adopted sectoral, major head, minor head, subhead, and detailed heads of accounts. Sectoral classification has clubbed the government functions into three sectors, namely, General Services, Social and Community Services and Economic services. In the new structure, a major head is assigned to each function and minor head is assigned to each programme. Each minor head include activities or schemes or organizations as subheads. Economic Classification: Economic classification of the government expenditure signifies the way of the allocation of resources to various economic activities. It involves listing the government expenditure by significant economic categories, separating current expenditure from capital expenditure, spending for goods and services from transfers to individuals and institutions, inter-governmental loans from grants etc. This classification provides a record of governments influence in each sector of the economy. Cross Classification or Economic-cum-functional Classification: Cross classification provides the break-up of government expenditure both by economic and by functional heads. For example, expenditure on medical facilities, a functional head, is split as current expenditure, capital expenditure, transfers and loans. Accounting Classification: Accounting classification of the government expenditure can be presented under (i) Revenue and Capital (ii) Developmental and Non-Developmental and (iii) Plan and Non-Plan. Each classification of expenditure has an objective associated with it. For instance, Revenue and Capital expenditure indicates the creation of assets by government expenditure and unproductive expenditure. Further, the developmental and non-developmental classification differentiates the government classification as the expenditure on social and community services and economic service from that against general expenditure. Similarly, the Plan and Non-Plan expenditure represents the expenditure on planned schemes of government and non-plan expenditures. The above classification of the government expenditure serves one or more of the purposes of the government, such as, parliamentary control over expenditure, economic development, price stability etc. Analysis of Government Expenditure in India The chart given below shows the division of government expenditure in terms of capital and revenue expenditure for some selected years. The percentage share of revenue expenditure in government expenditure has increased over time due to increase in expenditure in society welfare. A percentage distribution of the plan and non plan expenditure for a representative year of the post and pre reform period each is provided below: The chart above shows there is a increase in the plan expenditure over a period of a decade from 1989-90 to 2008-09. Sector wise percentage distribution of the composition of the government expenditure is provided in the table below: The growth story of the India can be said in terms of five year plans which give an account of government expenditure during the plans. The first five year plan (1951-56) laid emphasis on agriculture, including irrigation and power, wherein the government had spent 36% of its subject on these heads. The second five year plan (1956-61) marks the foray towards industrialization with an increased government spending in transport and communication sector with an contribution of 28.9% of its expenditure. The urge for industrialization continues even during the third five year pan (1961-66) with 24% and 20% public spending on Industry Minerals, and Transport and Communication respectively. Fourth to seventh five year plans have social services of education, health, welfare sharing a majority of the pie with 24% and 26% expenditure in fourth and fifth plan. The eight five year plan (1992-97) commenced the era of fiscal reform and liberalization. There were increased efforts to improve the economic growth and quality of life of the common man. There were high public spending on the sectors like energy (26.6%), Transportation and communication (20.8%) and Social and other services (19.6%). The Ninth five year plan (1997-2002) focussed on the development of infrastructure by allocating 72% of the funds to irrigation, energy, transport and communication and social service. The tenth five year had an objective of atleast 8% growth rate by providing a boast to power sector spending (26.56%) and increasing social Community services sector spending to 29.27%. COMPARISON OF INFLATION BASED ON CPI AND WPI Consumer Price Index (CPI), is defined as the weighted average change over time in the prices of a basket of the good and services consumed by a consumer. While, Wholesale Price Index is defined as the weighted average change over time in the price of a basket of wholesale goods. Inflation rate is calculated based on the CPI and WPI as the percentage in the respective indices over time, generally a year. The calculation of inflation rates based on CPI and WPI form 1994-95 to 2006-07 is given in the table provided below: WPI WPI Inflation rate CPI IW CPI- IW Food CPI-IW Inflation rate Food Inflation rate WPI inflation rate CPI Inflation rate 1994-95 112.6 12.6 284 304 10.1 11.8 2.5 1995-96 121.6 8.0 313 337 10.2 10.9 -2.2 1996-97 127.2 4.6 342 369 9.3 9.5 -4.7 1997-98 132.8 4.4 366 388 7.0 5.1 -2.6 1998-99 140.7 5.9 414 445 13.1 14.7 -7.2 1999-00 145.3 3.3 428 446 3.4 0.2 -0.1 2000-01 155.7 7.2 444 453 3.7 1.6 3.4 2001-02 161.3 3.6 463 466 4.3 2.9 -0.7 2002-03 166.8 3.4 482 477 4.1 2.4 -0.7 2003-04 175.9 5.5 500 495 3.7 3.8 1.7 2004-05 187.3 6.5 520 506 4.0 2.2 2.5 2005-06 195.5 4.4 542 527 4.2 4.2 0.1 2006-07 206.1 5.4 579 575 6.8 9.1 -1.4 Base Year for WPI is 1993-94 Base Year for CPI for 1994-95 and 1995-96 is 1982 and from 1996-97 onward it is 1986-87 CPI and WPI differ in terms of their weights assigned to their respective constituent basket goods and services. Food has been assigned a higher weight in CPI (46% in CPI-IW) as compared to a weight of only 27% in WPI. As a result, the CPI changes more with the change in the food process as compared to the WPI. Further, the fuel group has a much lower weight in CPI (7% on an average) relative to that in the WPI (14.2%). Consequently, the variations in international crude process affect the WPI more than CPI. Also, services are not included under WPI, but are included in the CPI to different extents. Hence, the CPIs are influenced by the service price inflation. Considering the data provided in the table above, it can be inferred that on an average CPI-IW inflation is higher than that of WPI inflation. Also, in terms of WPI inflation the period from 1994-95 to 1995-94 was of higher inflation, then the inflation decreases and increases again in 2000-01 and then decreases again. It can be seen that the inflation rate, both CPI inflation and WPI inflation, follows a cyclic pattern.

The Last Night Of Ballyhoo - Production Critique Essay -- essays resea

This paper is a critique of a production of The Last Night of Ballyhoo, a play written by Alfred Uhry, which was performed and produced by the Ball State University Theatre. Gilbert L. Bloom directed the production and was very successful with producing a truly entertaining, comedic play with an important message about the personal dilemmas that we as individuals with different beliefs and values must encounter in our daily lives. All elements of the production were wonderfully implemented making The Last Night of Ballyhoo quite a success. The performers were perfect for the roles in which they were cast. For example, Lala’s (Erin Rae Lengkeek) character is supposed to be a romantic dreamer and very childlike. The actress who portrayed Lala did an excellent job even her voice and attitude were quite appropriate for the role. Likewise, the actress who played Sunny (Jennie L. Keller) also did a fabulous job of portraying her character. Sunny’s character had a more mature attitude and therefore presented herself in a more adult manner then her cousin Lala. Her physical features also differed from Lala’s; Sunny was tall, broad and had an assertive voice. Lala on the other hand was shorter, looked to have had a bit of baby fat left on her frame and had a childish voice. The other characters also were well cast for their roles, for example Peachy (Matthew Hickman) was described to the audience a s having bright red hair and was portrayed though his telephone conversation with Lala as having a joking, wisecracking attitude. And sure enough when Peachy made his first appearance all these characteristics could be seen. Lala, Sunny and Peachy are just a few of the characters that were cast in the play. Be assured, however, that all the others were also suitably cast for their roles in the production. Thus, making the character selection only one of the key elements in the production’s success. When it came to the dialogue of the production and the understanding of it the performers again did an excellent job. Their gestures and vocal elements all aided in the production’s success and were all fittingly used by the characters. For example, when Lala was talking on the phone with Peachy she casually twirled the phone cord in her hand, leaned against the banister and childishly flirted with Peachy. When it came to sound quality all characters projected their voices... ... down the stairs, wearing her green Scarlet O’Hara dress and the theme from Gone with the Wind was playing the lighting on the set made it look as if she was in a dream like state. The lighting was also very effectively used to show the coming and going of cars on the set. The reflection of lights on the front door of the house were used resemble those of an automobile. Even the final scene had just enough absence of light that the shadows of the characters could be seen sitting around the dinner table and praying by candlelight. At the very end of the performance the candles were extinguished consuming the set in blackness in turn signifying the end of the production. My mother went and viewed the performance of The Last Night of Ballyhoo the night before I did. She acquainted me with the meaning of Ballyhoo and the plot of the play. She stated that the play was well done and I would enjoy it. I don’t believe I have seen I better play this year. It was wonderfully put together and very funny and I’m not just saying that because the director is my theatre instructor. I wish I hadn’t seen the play on the last night of the performance, because I would have loved to see it again.

Sperm Selection After Mating :: Biology

A Bit of Background Information What is pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection? From the word copulatory, meaning to engage in sexual intercourse, pre-copulatory sexual selection refers to the female's choice in selecting a mate before sexual intercourse takes place. Post-copulatory sexual selection occurs within the female's reproductive track, and it describes the biological selection (whether due to sperm or the female's biology) that results in the fertilization her eggs. Why are guppies good subjects for research in this topic? The most significant reason for using guppies in sexual selection research is because they casually participate in polyandry. This means that in nature a female guppy will mate (willingly or unwillingly) with numerous males at a time, allowing for experiments to be conducted to see which male's sperm fertilizes the most eggs. Why use artificial insemination? Before the use of artificial insemination, the results of such experiments were obscure and varied greatly. There was no way of controlling the males' ejaculate sizes or thier specific sexual contact with the female guppies. By using artificial insemination techniques, these two variables can be controlled: equal quantities of sperm from each male guppy can be isolated, and no sexual contact need ever take place. The increased control over these variables makes it possible to attain reliable results that are directly related to postcopulatory processes. Introduction Sexual selection is a common facet of evolutionary biology that plays a key role in the mating choices of a variety of different species. Competition between the male’s sperm as well as the choice of mate by the female factor into a successful copulation.This experiment examines the precopulatory and postcopulatory behavior of Poecilia reticulata , the guppy. Artificial insemination was used to separate the factors of sexual selection before and after sexual intercourse. â€Å"Attractive† males in the guppy population—deemed attractive based on the female guppy’s affinity for them—were those with high levels of carotenoid coloration (orange, yellow, and red). Relative statures were also compared. The purpose of this experiment is to demonstrate, through artificial insemination, the role of postcopulatory sexual selection in a population of guppies. If guppy females are partial to specific traits, the propagation of those traits will be e vident. The Methods That Were Used Prior to insemination, the behavior of the guppies involved was analyzed and one adult, non-virgin female and two sexually immature fish were put in observation tanks.

Economic Impact Analysis on a High-Speed Railway System for Central Flo

Economic Impact Analysis on a High-Speed Railway System for Central Florida Introduction High-speed railway (HRL) systems have been used primarily over in such countries as Japan since 1964 and France since 1984. Recently the United States has generated interest in the high-speed railway as well. The proposed system would stretch from Miami through Orlando and end in the St. Petersburg/Tampa area. With bullet trains operating at top speeds of 220 miles an hour, the express travel time from downtown Miami to Orlando would take approximately 2.5 hours. Intercity travelers (trips between metropolitan regions) along with longer-distance commuters would enjoy the benefits of a system designed to connect with existing rail, air, and highway systems. The strategy behind the high-speed railway system would be to relieve highway congestion, air traffic congestion, and help reduce the necessity of expansion of highways and air systems (which is limited due to the inability to build new air space). Also, with this type of system (this system works on magnetic levitation), you would have a significant reduction in air pollution that would result as high-speed captures a large portion of the intercity travel market from automobiles and airlines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Context Tampa  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The chosen locations for the high-speed railway will be three different cities, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa/St.Petersburg area. The economic and industrial structures for Tampa has created more than 22,000 jobs May 2004, ranking the area #1 in Florida and among the best in the nation for job growth. Job gains in the region were largely in professional and business services. Florida is creating jobs faster than any other state in the nation, adding 171,800 jobs from May 2003 to May 2004. Tampa/Hillsborough County with its dynamic and positive business climate is one of the leading business locations in the world. As the economic hub of Hillsborough County and the Tampa Bay region, Tampa enjoys ongoing and remarkable job growth, affordable business and living costs, an able and abundant workforce, excellent educational opportunities, and unmatched weather and amenities. Service, retail, finance, insurance, and real estate sectors lead regional industry. Bioscience and other high-tech industries are expanding, thanks in part to research at university and college campuses throughout the area. Manu... ...rkforce. Reference: 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Keating, O. (2004). Are High Speed Trains are the best form of transport for Consumers and Society? Retrieved April 16, 2005, from http://www.o-keating.com/hsr/best.htm 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  City Overviews (2004). Socio-economic overview. Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.carterusa.com/cityoverview/co_orlando1.html 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Highlights of the economic and business growth in the Tampa Bay region (2004). Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.tampabay.org/admin/editor/upload/PRN_July2004.pdf 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lynch, T (2004). Florida High Speed Ground Transportation Economic Benefit and Cost Impact Study. Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.floridabullettrain.com/content/economics.pdf 5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cox, W. (1997). Evaluation of the FDOT-FOX Miami, Orlando, Tampa High Speed Rail Proposal. Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.hotpolitics.com/hispeedrail.htm 6  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Economic Development of Tampa Bay (2004). Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.tampachamber.com/economic_development.asp 7  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  High Speed Line Study (2004). Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/page/dft_railways_032564.pdf Economic Impact Analysis on a High-Speed Railway System for Central Flo Economic Impact Analysis on a High-Speed Railway System for Central Florida Introduction High-speed railway (HRL) systems have been used primarily over in such countries as Japan since 1964 and France since 1984. Recently the United States has generated interest in the high-speed railway as well. The proposed system would stretch from Miami through Orlando and end in the St. Petersburg/Tampa area. With bullet trains operating at top speeds of 220 miles an hour, the express travel time from downtown Miami to Orlando would take approximately 2.5 hours. Intercity travelers (trips between metropolitan regions) along with longer-distance commuters would enjoy the benefits of a system designed to connect with existing rail, air, and highway systems. The strategy behind the high-speed railway system would be to relieve highway congestion, air traffic congestion, and help reduce the necessity of expansion of highways and air systems (which is limited due to the inability to build new air space). Also, with this type of system (this system works on magnetic levitation), you would have a significant reduction in air pollution that would result as high-speed captures a large portion of the intercity travel market from automobiles and airlines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Context Tampa  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The chosen locations for the high-speed railway will be three different cities, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa/St.Petersburg area. The economic and industrial structures for Tampa has created more than 22,000 jobs May 2004, ranking the area #1 in Florida and among the best in the nation for job growth. Job gains in the region were largely in professional and business services. Florida is creating jobs faster than any other state in the nation, adding 171,800 jobs from May 2003 to May 2004. Tampa/Hillsborough County with its dynamic and positive business climate is one of the leading business locations in the world. As the economic hub of Hillsborough County and the Tampa Bay region, Tampa enjoys ongoing and remarkable job growth, affordable business and living costs, an able and abundant workforce, excellent educational opportunities, and unmatched weather and amenities. Service, retail, finance, insurance, and real estate sectors lead regional industry. Bioscience and other high-tech industries are expanding, thanks in part to research at university and college campuses throughout the area. Manu... ...rkforce. Reference: 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Keating, O. (2004). Are High Speed Trains are the best form of transport for Consumers and Society? Retrieved April 16, 2005, from http://www.o-keating.com/hsr/best.htm 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  City Overviews (2004). Socio-economic overview. Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.carterusa.com/cityoverview/co_orlando1.html 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Highlights of the economic and business growth in the Tampa Bay region (2004). Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.tampabay.org/admin/editor/upload/PRN_July2004.pdf 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lynch, T (2004). Florida High Speed Ground Transportation Economic Benefit and Cost Impact Study. Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.floridabullettrain.com/content/economics.pdf 5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cox, W. (1997). Evaluation of the FDOT-FOX Miami, Orlando, Tampa High Speed Rail Proposal. Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.hotpolitics.com/hispeedrail.htm 6  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Economic Development of Tampa Bay (2004). Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.tampachamber.com/economic_development.asp 7  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  High Speed Line Study (2004). Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/page/dft_railways_032564.pdf

Bag of Bones CHAPTER NINE

At nine o'clock the following morning I filled a squeeze-bottle with grapefruit juice and set out for a good long walk south along The Street. The day was bright and already hot. It was also silent the kind of silence you experience only after a Saturday holiday, I think, one composed of equal parts holiness and hangover. I could see two or three fishermen parked far out on the lake, but not a single power boat burred, not a single gaggle of kids shouted and splashed. I passed half a dozen cottages on the slope above me, and although all of them were likely inhabited at this time of year, the only signs of life I saw were bathing suits hung over the deck rail at the Passendales' and a half-deflated fluorescent-green seahorse on the Batchelders' stub of a dock. But did the Passendales' little gray cottage still belong to the Passendales? Did the Batchelders' amusing circular summer-camp with its Cinerama picture-window pointing at the lake and the mountains beyond still belong to the Batchelders? No way of telling, of course. Four years can bring a lot of changes. I walked and made no effort to think an old trick from my writing days. Work your body, rest your mind, let the boys in the basement do their jobs. I made my way past camps where Jo and I had once had drinks and barbecues and attended the occasional card-party, I soaked up the silence like a sponge, I drank my juice, I armed sweat off my forehead, and I waited to see what thoughts might come. The first was an odd realization: that the crying child in the night seemed somehow more real than the call from Max Devore. Had I actually been phoned by a rich and obviously bad-tempered techno-mogul on my first full evening back on the TR? Had said mogul actually called me a liar at one point? (I was, considering the tale I had told, but that was beside the point.) I knew it had happened, but it was actually easier to believe in The Ghost of Dark Score Lake, known around some campfires as The Mysterious Crying Kiddie. My next thought this was just before I finished my juice was that I should call Mattie Devore and tell her what had happened. I decided it was a natural impulse but probably a bad idea. I was too old to believe in such simplicities as The Damsel in Distress Versus The Wicked Stepfather . . . or, in this case, Father-in-Law. I had my own fish to fry this summer, and I didn't want to complicate my job by getting into a potentially ugly dispute between Mr. Computer and Ms. Doublewide. Devore had rubbed my fur the wrong way and vigorously but that probably wasn't personal, only something he did as a matter of course. Hey, some guys snap bra-straps. Did I want to get in his face on this? No. I did not. I had saved Little Miss Red Sox, I had gotten myself an inadvertent feel of Mom's small but pleasantly firm breast, I had learned that Kyra was Greek for ladylike. Any more than that would be gluttony, by God. I stopped at that point, feet as well as brain, realizing I'd walked all the way to Warrington's, a vast barnboard structure which locals sometimes called the country club. It was, sort of there was a six-hole golf course, a stable and riding trails, a restaurant, a bar, and lodging for perhaps three dozen in the main building and the eight or nine satellite cabins. There was even a two-lane bowling alley, although you and your competition had to take turns setting up the pins. Warrington's had been built around the beginning of World War I. That made it younger than Sara Laughs, but not by much. A long dock led out to a smaller building called The Sunset Bar. It was there that Warrington's summer guests would gather for drinks at the end of the day (and some for Bloody Marys at the beginning). And when I glanced out that way, I realized I was no longer alone. There was a woman standing on the porch to the left of the floating bar's door, watching me. She gave me a pretty good jump. My nerves weren't in their best condition right then, and that probably had something to do with it . . . but I think she would have given me a jump in any case. Part of it was her stillness. Part was her extraordinary thinness. Most of it was her face. Have you ever seen that Edvard Munch drawing, The Cry? Well, if you imagine that screaming face at rest, mouth closed and eyes watchful, you'll have a pretty good image of the woman standing at the end of the dock with one long-fingered hand resting on the rail. Although I must tell you that my first thought was not Edvard Munch but Mrs. Danvers. She looked about seventy and was wearing black shorts over a black tank bathing suit. The combination looked strangely formal, a variation on the ever-popular little black cocktail dress. Her skin was cream-white, except above her nearly flat bosom and along her bony shoulders. There it swam with large brown age-spots. Her face was a wedge featuring prominent skull-like cheekbones and an unlined lamp of brow. Beneath that bulge, her eyes were lost in sockets of shadow. White hair hung scant and lank around her ears and down to the prominent shelf of her jaw. God, she's thin, I thought. She's nothing but a bag of A shudder twisted through me at that. It was a strong one, as if someone were spinning a wire in my flesh. I didn't want her to notice it what a way to start a summer day, by revolting a guy so badly that he stood there shaking and grimacing in front of you so I raised my hand and waved. I tried to smile, as well. Hello there, lady standing out by the floating bar. Hello there, you old bag of bones, you scared the living shit out of me but it doesn't take much these days and I forgive you. How the fuck ya doin? I wondered if my smile looked as much like a grimace to her as it felt to me. She didn't wave back. Feeling quite a bit like a fool THERE'S NO VILLAGE IDIOT HERE, WE ALL TAKE TURNS I ended my wave in a kind of half-assed salute and headed back the way I'd come. Five steps and I had to look over my shoulder; the sensation of her watching me was so strong it was like a hand pressing between my shoulderblades. The dock where she'd been was completely deserted. I squinted my eyes, at first sure she must have just retreated deeper into the shadow thrown by the little boozehaus, but she was gone. As if she had been a ghost herself. She stepped into the bar, hon, Jo said. You know that, don't you? I mean . . . you do know it, right? ‘Right, right,' I murmured, setting off north along The Street toward home. ‘Of course I do. Where else?' Except it didn't seem to me that there had been time; it didn't seem to me that she could have stepped in, even in her bare feet, without me hearing her. Not on such a quiet morning. Jo again: Perhaps she's stealthy. ‘Yes,' I murmured. I did a lot of talking out loud before that summer was over. ‘Yes, perhaps she is. Perhaps she's stealthy.' Sure. Like Mrs. Danvers. I stopped again and looked back, but the right-of-way path had followed the lake around a little bit of curve, and I could no longer see either Warrington's or The Sunset Bar. And really, I thought, that was just as well. On my way back, I tried to list the oddities which had preceded and then surrounded my return to Sara Laughs: the repeating dreams; the sunflowers; the radio-station sticker; the weeping in the night. I supposed that my encounter with Mattie and Kyra, plus the follow-up phone-call from Mr. Pixel Easel, also qualified as passing strange . . . but not in the same way as a child you heard sobbing in the night. And what about the fact that we had been in Derry instead of on Dark Score when Johanna died? Did that qualify for the list? I didn't know. I couldn't even remember why that was. In the fall and winter of 1993 I'd been fiddling with a screenplay for The Red-Shirt Man. In February of '94 I got going on All the Way from the Top, and that absorbed most of my attention. Besides, deciding to go west to the TR, west to Sara . . . ‘That was Jo's job,' I told the day, and as soon as I heard the words I understood how true they were. We'd both loved the old girl, but saying ‘Hey Irish, let's get our asses over to the TR for a few days' had been Jo's job. She might say it any time . . . except in the year before her death she hadn't said it once. And I had never thought to say it for her. Had somehow forgotten all about Sara Laughs, it seemed, even when summer came around. Was it possible to be that absorbed in a writing project? It didn't seem likely . . . but what other explanation was there? Something was very wrong with this picture, but I didn't know what it was. Not from nothin. That made me think of Sara Tidwell, and the lyrics to one of her songs. She had never been recorded, but I owned the Blind Lemon Jefferson version of this particular tune. One verse went: It ain't nuthin but a barn-dance sugar It ain't nuthin but a round-and-round Let me kiss you on your sweet lips sugar You the good thing that I found. I loved that song, and had always wondered how it would have sounded coming out of a woman's mouth instead of from that whiskey-voiced old troubadour. Out of Sara Tidwell's mouth. I bet she sang sweet. And boy, I bet she could swing it. I had gotten back to my own place again. I looked around, saw no one in the immediate vicinity (although I could now hear the day's first ski-boat burring away downwater), stripped to my underpants, and swam out to the float. I didn't climb it, only lay beside it holding onto the ladder with one hand and lazily kicking my feet. It was nice enough, but what was I going to do with the rest of the day? I decided to spend it cleaning my work area on the second floor. When that was done, maybe I'd go out and look around in Jo's studio. If I didn't lose my courage, that was. I swam back, kicking easily along, raising my head in and out of water which flowed along my body like cool silk. I felt like an otter. I was most of the way to the shore when I raised my dripping face and saw a woman standing on The Street, watching me. She was as thin as the one I'd seen down at Warrington's . . . but this one was green. Green and pointing north along the path like a dryad in some old legend. I gasped, swallowed water, coughed it back out. I stood up in chest-deep water and wiped my streaming eyes. Then I laughed (albeit a little doubtfully). The woman was green because she was a birch growing a little to the north of where my set of railroad-tie steps ended at The Street. And even with my eyes clear of water, there was something creepy about how the leaves around the ivory-streaked-with-black trunk almost made a peering face. The air was perfectly still and so the face was perfectly still (as still as the face of the woman in the black shorts and bathing suit had been), but on a breezy day it would seem to smile or frown . . . or perhaps to laugh. Behind it there grew a sickly pine. One bare branch jutted off to the north. It was this I had mistaken for a skinny arm and a bony, pointing hand. It wasn't the first time I'd spooked myself like that. I see things, that's all. Write enough stories and every shadow on the floor looks like a footprint, every line in the dirt like a secret message. Which did not, of course, ease the task of deciding what was really peculiar at Sara Laughs and what was peculiar only because my mind was peculiar. I glanced around, saw I still had this part of the lake to myself (although not for much longer; the bee-buzz of the first power boat had been joined by a second and third), and stripped off my soggy underpants. I wrung them out, put them on top of my shorts and tee-shirt, and walked naked up the railroad-tie steps with my clothes held against my chest. I pretended I was Bunter, bringing breakfast and the morning paper to Lord Peter Wimsey. By the time I got back inside the house I was grinning like a fool. The second floor was stifling in spite of the open windows, and I saw why as soon as I got to the top of the stairs. Jo and I had shared space up here, she on the left (only a little room, really just a cubby, which was all she needed with the studio north of the house), me on the right. At the far end of the hall was the grilled snout of the monster air-conditioning unit we'd bought the year after we bought the lodge. Looking at it, I realized I had missed its characteristic hum without even being aware of it. There was a sign taped to it which said, Mr. Noonan: Broken. Blows hot air when you turn it on & sounds full of broken glass. Dean says the part it needs is promised from Western Auto in Castle Rock. I'll believe it when I see it. B. Meserve. I grinned at that last -it was Mrs. M. right down to the ground and then I tried the switch. Machinery often responds favorably when it senses a penis-equipped human in the vicinity, Jo used to claim, but not this time. I listened to the air conditioner grind for five seconds or so, then snapped it off. ‘Damn thing shit the bed,' as TR folks like to say. And until it was fixed, I wouldn't even be doing crossword puzzles up here. I looked in my office just the same, as curious about what I might feel as about what I might find. The answer was next to nothing. There was the desk where I had finished The Red-Shirt Man, thus proving to myself that the first time wasn't a fluke; there was the photo of Richard Nixon, arms raised, flashing the double V-for-Victory sign, with the caption WOULD YOU BUY A USED CAR FROM THIS MAN? running beneath; there was the rag rug Jo had hooked for me a winter or two before she had discovered the wonderful world of afghans and pretty much gave up hooking. It wasn't quite the office of a stranger, but every item (most of all, the weirdly empty surface of the desk) said that it was the work-space of an earlier-generation Mike Noonan. Men's lives, I had read once, are usually defined by two primary forces: work and marriage. In my life the marriage was over and the career on what appeared to be permanent hiatus. Given that, it didn't seem strange to me that now the space where I'd spent so many days, usually in a state of real happiness as I made up various imaginary lives, seemed to mean nothing. It was like looking at the office of an employee who had been fired . . . or who had died suddenly. I started to leave, then had an idea. The filing cabinet in the corner was crammed with papers bank statements (most eight or ten years out of date), correspondence (mostly never answered), a few story fragments-but I didn't find what I was looking for. I moved on to the closet, where the temperature had to be at least a hundred and ten degrees, and in a cardboard box which Mrs. M. had marked GADGETS, I unearthed it a Sanyo Memo-Scriber Debra Weinstock gave me at the conclusion of our work on the first of the Putnam books. It could be set to turn itself on when you started to talk; it dropped into its PAUSE mode when you stopped to think. I never asked Debra if the thing just caught her eye and she thought, ‘Why, I'll bet any self-respecting popular novelist would enjoy owning one of these babies,' or if it was something a little more specific . . . some sort of hint, perhaps? Verbalize those little faxes from your subconscious while they're still fresh, Noonan? I hadn't known then and didn't now. But I had it, a genuine pro-quality dictating-machine, and there were at least a dozen cassette tapes in my car, home dubs I'd made to listen to while driving. I would insert one in the Memo-Scriber tonight, slide the volume control as high as it would go, and put the machine in its DICTATE mode. Then, if the noise I'd heard at least twice now repeated itself, I would have it on tape. I could play it for Bill Dean and ask him what he thought it was. What if I hear the sobbing child tonight and the machine never kicks on? ‘Well then, I'll know something else,' I told the empty, sunlit office. I was standing there in the doorway with the Memo-Scriber under my arm, looking at the empty desk and sweating like a pig. ‘Or at least suspect it.' Jo's nook across the hall made my office seem crowded and homey by comparison. Never overfull, it was now nothing but a square room-shaped space. The rug was gone, her photos were gone, even the desk was gone. This looked like a do-it-yourself project which had been abandoned after ninety percent of the work had been done. Jo had been scrubbed out of it scraped out of it and I felt a moment's unreasonable anger at Brenda Meserve. I thought of what my mother usually said when I'd done something on my own initiative of which she disapproved: ‘You took a little too much on y'self, didn't you?' That was my feeling about Jo's little bit of office: that in emptying it to the walls this way, Mrs. Meserve had taken a little too much on herself. Maybe it wasn't Mrs. M. who cleaned it out, the UFO voice said. Maybe Jo did it herself. Ever think of that, sport? ‘That's stupid,' I said. ‘Why would she? I hardly think she had a premonition of her own death. Considering she'd just bought ‘ But I didn't want to say it. Not out loud. It seemed like a bad idea somehow. I turned to leave the room, and a sudden sigh of cool air, amazing in that heat, rushed past the sides of my face. Not my body; just my face. It was the most extraordinary sensation, like hands patting briefly but gently at my cheeks and forehead. At the same time there was a sighing in my ears . . . except that's not quite right. It was a susurrus that went past my ears, like a whispered message spoken in a hurry. I turned, expecting to see the curtains over the room's window in motion . . . but they hung perfectly straight. ‘Jo?' I said, and hearing her name made me shiver so violently that I almost dropped the Memo-Scriber. ‘Jo, was that you?' Nothing. No phantom hands patting my skin, no motion from the curtains . . . which there certainly would have been if there had been an actual draft. All was quiet. There was only a tall man with a sweaty face and a tape-recorder under his arm standing in the doorway of a bare room . . . but that was when I first began to really believe that I wasn't alone in Sara Laughs. So what? I asked myself. Even if it should be true, so what? Ghosts can't hurt anyone. That's what I thought then. When I visited Jo's studio (her air-conditioned studio) after lunch, I felt quite a lot better about Brenda Meserve she hadn't taken too much on herself after all. The few items I especially remembered from Jo's little office the framed square of her first afghan, the green rag rug, her framed poster depicting the wildflowers of Maine had been put out here, along with almost everything else I remembered. It was as if Mrs. M. had sent a message I can't ease your pain or shorten your sadness, and I can't prevent the wounds that coming back here may re-open, but I can put all the stuff that may hurt you in one place, so you won't be stumbling over it unexpected or unprepared. I can do that much. Out here were no bare walls; out here the walls jostled with my wife's spirit and creativity. There were knitted things (some serious, many whimsical), batik squares, rag dolls popping out of what she called ‘my baby collages,' an abstract desert painting made from strips of yellow, black, and orange silk, her flower photographs, even, on top of her bookshelf, what appeared to be a construction-in-progress, a head of Sara Laughs herself. It was made out of toothpicks and lollipop sticks. In one corner was her little loom and a wooden cabinet with a sign reading JO'S KNITTING STUFF! NO TRESPASSING! hung over the pull-knob. In another was the banjo she had tried to learn and then given up on, saying it hurt her fingers too much. In a third was a kayak paddle and a pair of Rollerblades with scuffed toes and little purple pompoms on the tips of the laces. The thing which caught and held my eye was sitting on the old roll-top desk in the center of the room. During the many good summers, falls, and winter weekends we had spent here, that desktop would have been littered with spools of thread, skeins of yarn, pincushions, sketches, maybe a book about the Spanish Civil War or famous American dogs. Johanna could be aggravating, at least to me, because she imposed no real system or order on what she did. She could also be daunting, even overwhelming at times. She was a brilliant scatterbrain, and her desk had always reflected that. But not now. It was possible to think that Mrs. M. had cleared the litter from the top of it and plunked down what was now there, but impossible to believe. Why would she? It made no sense. The object was covered with a gray plastic hood. I reached out to touch it, and my hand faltered an inch or two short as a memory of an old dream (give me that it's my dust-catcher) slipped across my mind much as that queer draft ad slipped across my face. Then it was gone, and I pulled the plastic, over off. Underneath it was my old green IBM Selectric, which I hadn't seen or thought of in years. I leaned closer, knowing that the typewriter ball would be Courier my old favorite even before I saw it. What in God's name was my old typewriter doing out here? Johanna painted (although not very well), she took photographs (very good ones indeed) and sometimes sold them, she knitted, she crocheted, she wove and dyed cloth, she could play eight or ten basic chords on the guitar. She could write, of course; most English majors can, which is why they become English majors. Did she demonstrate any blazing degree of literary creativity? No. After a few experiments with poetry as an undergrad, she gave up that particular branch of the arts as a bad job. You write for both of us, Mike, she had said once. That's all yours; I'll just take a little taste of everything else. Given the quality of her poems as opposed to the quality of her silks, photographs, and knitted art, I thought that was probably wise. But here was my old IBM. Why? ‘Letters,' I said. ‘She found it down cellar or something, and rescued it to write letters on.' Except that wasn't Jo. She showed me most of her letters, often urging me to write little postscripts of my own, guilt-tripping me with that old saying about how the shoemaker's kids always go barefoot (‘and the writer's friends would never hear from him if it weren't for Alexander Graham Bell,' she was apt to add). I hadn't seen a typed personal letter from my wife in all the time we'd been married if nothing else, she would have considered it shitty etiquette. She could type, producing mistake-free business letters slowly yet methodically, but she always used my desktop computer or her own Powerbook for those chores. ‘What were you up to, hon?' I asked, then began to investigate her desk drawers. Brenda Meserve had made an effort with these, but Jo's fundamental nature had defeated her. Surface order (spools of thread segregated by color, for instance) quickly gave way to Jo's old dear jumble. I found enough of her in those drawers to hurt my heart with a hundred unexpected memories, but I found no paperwork which had been typed on my old IBM, with or without the Courier ball. Not so much as a single page. When I was finished with my hunt, I leaned back in my chair (her chair) and looked at the little framed photo on her desk, one I couldn't remember ever having seen before. Jo had most likely printed it herself (the original might have come out of some local's attic) and then hand-tinted the result. The final product looked like a wanted poster colorized by Ted Turner. I picked it up and ran the ball of my thumb over the glass facing, bemused. Sara Tidwell, the turn-of-the-century blues shouter whose last known port of call had been right here in TR-90. When she and her folks some of them friends, most of them relatives had left the TR, they had gone on to Castle Rock for a little while . . . then had simply disappeared, like a cloud over the horizon or mist on a summer morning. She was smiling just a little in the picture, but the smile was hard to read. Her eyes were half-closed. The string of her guitar not a strap but a string was visible over one shoulder. In the background I could see a black man wearing a derby at a killer angle (one thing about musicians: they really know how to wear hats) and standing beside what appeared to be a washtub bass. Jo had tinted Sara's skin to a caf? ¦-au-lait shade, maybe based on other pictures she'd seen (there are quite a few knocking around, most showing Sara with her head thrown back and her hair hanging almost to her waist as she bellows out her famous carefree yell of a laugh), although none would have been in color. Not at the turn of the century. Sara Tidwell hadn't just left her mark in old photographs, either. I recalled Dickie Brooks, owner of the All-Purpose Garage, once telling me that his father claimed to have won a teddybear at the Castle County Fair's shooting-pitch, and to have given it to Sara Tidwell. She had rewarded him, Dickie said, with a kiss. According to Dickie the old man never forgot it, said it was the best kiss of his life . . . although I doubt if he said it in his wife's hearing. In this photo she was only smiling. Sara Tidwell, known as Sara Laughs. Never recorded, but her songs had lived just the same. One of them, ‘Walk Me Baby,' bears a remarkable resemblance to ‘Walk This Way,' by Aerosmith. Today the lady would be known as an African-American. In 1984, when Johanna and I bought the lodge and consequently got interested in her, she would have been known as a Black. In her own time she would have been called a Negress or a darkie or possibly an octoroon. And a nigger, of course. There would have been plenty of folks free with that one. And did I believe that she had kissed Dickie Brooks's father a white man in front of half of Castle County? No, I did not. Still, who could say for sure? No one. That was the entrancing thing about the past. ‘It ain't nuthin but a barn-dance sugar,' I sang, putting the picture back on the desk. ‘It ain't nuthin but a round-and-round.' I picked up the typewriter cover, then decided to leave it off. As I stood, my eyes went back to Sara, standing there with her eyes closed and the string which served her as a guitar strap visible over one shoulder. Something in her face and smile had always struck me as familiar, and suddenly it came to me. She looked oddly like Robert Johnson, whose primitive licks hid behind the chords of almost every Led Zeppelin and Yardbirds song ever recorded. Who, according to the legend, had gone down to the crossroads and sold his soul to Satan for seven years of fast living, high-tension liquor, and streetlife babies. And for a jukejoint brand of immortality, of course. Which he had gotten. Robert Johnson, supposedly poisoned over a woman. In the late afternoon I went down to the store and saw a good-looking piece of flounder in the cold-case. It looked like supper to me. I bought a bottle of white wine to go with it, and while I was waiting my turn at the cash register, a trembling old man's voice spoke up behind me. ‘See you made a new friend yes'ty.' The Yankee accent was so thick that it sounded almost like a joke . . . except the accent itself is only part of it; mostly, I've come to believe, it's that singsong tone real Mainers all sound like auctioneers. I turned and saw the geezer who had been standing out on the garage tarmac the day before, watching along with Dickie Brooks as I got to know Kyra, Mattie, and Scoutie. He still had the gold-headed cane, and I now recognized it. Sometime in the 1950s, the Boston Post had donated one of those canes to every county in the New England states. They were given to the oldest residents and passed along from old fart to old fart. And the joke of it was that the Post had gone toes-up years ago. ‘Actually two new friends,' I replied, trying to dredge up his name. I couldn't, but I remembered him from when Jo had been alive, holding down one of the overstuffed chairs in Dickie's waiting room, discussing weather and politics, politics and weather, as the hammers whanged and the air-compressor chugged. A regular. And if something happened out there on Highway 68, eye-God, he was there to see it. ‘I hear Mattie Devore can be quite a dear,' he said heah, Devoah, deeah and one of his crusty eyelids drooped. I have seen a fair number of salacious winks in my time, but none that was a patch on the one tipped me by that old man with the gold-headed cane. I felt a strong urge to knock his waxy beak of a nose off. The sound of it parting company from his face would be like the crack of a dead branch broken over a bent knee. ‘Do you hear a lot, old-timer?' I asked. ‘Oh, ayuh!' he said. His lips dark as strips of liver parted in a grin. His gums swarmed with white patches. He had a couple of yellow teeth still planted in the top one, and a couple more on the bottom. ‘And she gut that little one cunnin, she is! Ayuh!' ‘Cunnin as a cat a-runnin,' I agreed. He blinked at me, a little surprised to hear such an old one out of my presumably newfangled mouth, and then that reprehensible grin widened. ‘Her don't mind her, though,' he said. ‘Baby gut the run of the place, don'tcha know.' I became aware better belated than never that half a dozen people were watching and listening to us. ‘That wasn't my impression,' I said, raising my voice a bit. ‘No, that wasn't my impression at all.' He only grinned . . . that old man's grin that says Oh, ayuh, deah; I know one worth two of that. I left the store feeling worried for Mattie Devore. Too many people were minding her business, it seemed to me. When I got home, I took my bottle of wine into the kitchen it could chill while I got the barbecue going out on the deck. I reached for the fridge door, then paused. Perhaps as many as four dozen little magnets had been scattered randomly across the front vegetables, fruits, plastic letters and numbers, even a good selection of the California Raisins but they weren't random anymore. Now they formed a circle on the front of the refrigerator. Someone had been in here. Someone had come in and . . . Rearranged the magnets on the fridge? If so, that was a burglar who needed to do some heavy remedial work. I touched one of them gingerly, with just the tip of my finger. Then, suddenly angry with myself, I reached out and spread them again, doing it with enough force to knock a couple to the floor. I didn't pick them up. That night, before going to bed, I placed the Memo-Scriber on the table beneath Bunter the Great Stuffed Moose, turning it on and putting it in the DICTATE mode. Then I slipped in one of my old home-dubbed cassettes, zeroed the counter, and went to bed, where I slept without dreams or other interruption for eight hours. The next morning, Monday, was the sort of day the tourists come to Maine for the air so sunny-clean that the hills across the lake seemed to be under subtle magnification. Mount Washington, New England's highest, floated in the farthest distance. I put on the coffee, then went into the living room, whistling. All my imaginings of the last few days seemed silly this morning. Then the whistle died away. The Memo-Scriber's counter, set to 000 when I went to bed, was now at 012. I rewound it, hesitated with my finger over the PLAY button, told myself (in Jo's voice) not to be a fool, and pushed it. ‘Oh Mike,' a voice whispered mourned, almost-on the tape, and I found myself having to press the heel of one hand to my mouth to hold back a scream. It was what I had heard in Jo's office when the draft rushed past the sides of my face . . . only now the words were slowed down just enough for me to understand them. ‘Oh Mike,' it said again. There was a faint click. The machine had shut down for some length of time. And then, once more, spoken in the living room as I had slept in the north wing: ‘Oh Mike.' Then it was gone.