Monday, September 30, 2019

Bank Bailout 2008

Bank Bailout Outline I. Introduction II. Background III. Opposition’s point 1, refute, 1st support for thesis. a. Credit Card Act of 2009 b. No Change at all, Banks still operating the same way IV. Opposition’s point 2, refute, 2nd support for thesis. a. Creation of TARP b. $12. 2 trillion dollars of tax dollars were spent wrong c. TARP allowed many banks to allow credit again d. A majority of banks have paid back TARP money e. After TARP, Economy boosted V. Opposition’s point 3, refute, 3rd support for thesis a. Toxic assets cannot be removed easily b. Government takes more cost, then expects c.Economy will decline with removal of assets VI. 4th support for thesis a. Increased national debt b. Politicians were forced to sign this bill c. No solving of problems â€Å"Let’s hope we are all wealthy and retired by this house of cards falters† (Bloomberg, 2007). The credit crisis is known as the â€Å"House of Cards†, for years the banking indust ry has transformed many American lives, which has resulted in a troublesome economy. Many factors led to the credit crisis, such as the rise and fall of the housing market, and inaccurate credit ratings helped to create the sub-prime mortgage crisis (Issues & Controversies, 2010).Low interest rates developed easy credit, in which people could get a mortgage and credit cards based on inaccurate credit ratings with the creation of sub-prime mortgages. People have the ability to own a home, with no down payment or fixed income. In August of 2007, the United States began a loss of confidence in securitized mortgages, which resulted in the Federal Reserve injecting $20 trillion dollars into the financial markets to ease the situation (â€Å"Obama Sends Warning to Big Banks, 2010).The most important question to be answered in the decade is â€Å"How a loss of $500 billion dollars from the sub-prime mortgage resulted in a $20 trillion dollar loss in equity values and an entire shock to t he world’s financial system† (Woellert & Kopecki, 2007). The United States government should not have given the financial institutions bailout money, because financial institutions using loop holes in the system to take advantage of their clients, financial institutions operations have stayed the same, and the government’s belief of a tree market economy goes against the bailout.The credit crisis is a â€Å"worldwide financial fiasco, which resulting from sub-prime mortgages, Collateralized Debit Obligations, Frozen credit markets, and credit default swaps† (Jarvis, 2009). The credit crisis brings two people together, people on Main Street and investors. The people on Main Street represent their mortgages or houses, while investors represent their money, which also represents big institutions such as pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds; sovereign funds (Jarvis, 2009). These groups brought through the financial system, composed of banks and bro kers on Wall Street.As a result of the September 11th attack, Chairman Allen Greenspan lowered interest rates only to 1%, to allow credit to flow; however, investors have a very low return on investment (Snow, 2008). By lowering interest rates, it allows for banks to only borrow money from the Federal Government for 1% plus the surpluses from the Asian and Middle East market, which makes borrowing money easy for banks and to allow leverage (Adding up the Government’s Total Bailout Tab, 2009). The definition of leverage is, â€Å"borrowing money to amplify the outcome of a deal† and is a major way banks make their money (Princeton University, 2010).Wall Street takes out a majority of loans and uses leverage to their advantage, and a heavy flow of capital comes in. In which return, they pay back their original investment. The investors notice that Wall Street is making money very fast, and they want to create a new product to sell to Wall Street. The mortgage connects th e home buyer with a mortgage lender on Wall Street who gives them a mortgage, which is great because housing prices throughout America have been rising (â€Å"Bailed out banks†, 2010).The mortgage lender gets a call from an investment banker who wants to buy the mortgage; and the lender sells it to him, and the investment brokers buys thousands of mortgages. Every month the investment banker gets the payments from all the mortgages that he purchased from the box and cuts the box into three slices â€Å"Safe, Ok and Risky†, and then he packs the slices into the box and calls it a Collateralized debt obligation or â€Å"CDO† (Woellert & Kopecki, 2007).However, greed has risen to the investment banker and wants’ more mortgages; however, the lender does not have any more mortgages to sell, because everyone who has qualified for a mortgage already has one; and the birth of the sub-prime mortgage is born. With a standard loan, the homeowner had to prove his wor th of a home, such as a job, good standing citizen, and assets. However, with a subprime mortgage, it was basically like free money. The person did not have to state their income, nor prove that you had a job.The investment banker and the lender are taking a risk, because if a home owner defaults on their mortgage, the lender gets the house and sells the house for a profit because home values have been increasing (Issues & Controversies, 2010). While home values have been increasing, American incomes have been plummeting for years; and because of sub-prime mortgages, the person did not have to prove income, a person with a $30 thousand dollar income; could own a $300 thousand dollar home. Many people defaulted on their mortgages, and foreclosures have been on the rise. In the United States, foreclosures were up 81% in 2008 and up 225% from 206†, which equals out to 19 per 1,000 households (CBS News, 2008). Due to there was a huge increase in foreclosures, instead of housing pr ices increasing; the houses values decreased in value very quickly and resulted in more foreclosures. A $300 thousand dollar mortgages was now only worth $75 thousand dollars. So all the mortgages that was in the investment banker CDO, now are worthless, and no one wants’ to take the CDO, and now the CDO is acting like a bomb (Roney, 2007).The investment banker is now panicking because he borrowed millions of dollars to buy the mortgage, and now he cannot get rid of it; however he is not the only one. Thousands of investment bankers throughout the world have CDO’s on their hand (Bailed out banks, 2010). In result the world’s financial system has become frozen, and everyone starts going bankrupt. As a result of the failure, the United States government rolls out a new program called Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to prevent another bank failure.Under the bank bailout, creation of new legislation to protect the consumer has rapidly increased, and supporters of the bank bailout point to the Credit Card Act of 209. Not only were subprime mortgages affected, but due to the freeze in the credit market in the United States government needed a way to regulate the credit card industry, but also to stimulate spending. Under the Credit Card Act of 2009, they require the financial institutions to give the cardholders 45 day’s notice of any interest rate change and financial institutions are prohibited from using misleading terms such as â€Å"prime or fixed rate† (The White House, 2009).With this legislation in place, it protects the consumer from many of the scams that the mortgage industry used as bait to get clients into buying houses they could not afford, using the subprime mortgages (Roney, 2007). But also it allows for Congress to embrace new regulations placed on the financial institutions. The Credit Card Act of 2009 that has become part of the famous bank bailout, however, it has been shown to protect the consumer, and Co ngress will regulate the new rules placed on financial institutions.For example, â€Å"there is no cap on the interest rate the credit card companies can charge†, and while credit card companies cannot increase you interest rate but only if you are late on a payment, â€Å"However future purchases interest rates can be raised with no reason† (White, 2010). The credit card companies have the ability to raise the interest rate on any purchases, while they must still notify you of the higher interest rate, the ballooning of the interest rate can take place at any time.This is exactly the same measures the financial institutions have used to misinform their consumers and â€Å"kick them when they are down† and â€Å"corrupt the middle class of America† (White, 2010). How the subprime mortgage boomed, had to come from the terms that many of the average consumers cannot understand, and a major aftermath of the subprime/credit crisis, occurred when many people d efaulted on their homes and credit cards (Roney, 2007).Then the mortgage and home will not exist for the family any more, and the credit card companies will balloon their interest rate enough so that the card holders will not be able to pay their credit card/mortgage. In which then the financial institution hounds them and attacks them at their core roots and even calls other family members to alert them of the card holder financial problems because they cannot pay their bills. The banking and financial institution have not taken any actions to prevent another credit crisis from happening again.Supporters of the bank bailout, commonly referred to as TARP, argue that the bailout wiped all the bad toxic assets (CDO’s) which were collected as result of the credit crisis and prevented the assets from hurting the financial institutions. The major recipients were Freddie Mac; and Fannie Mae. Both were government owned enterprises which bought a majority of the sub-prime mortgages ( Roney, 2007). Removing the bad assets from the financial institutions will have a positive effect on the economy because it allows banks to start lending again and unfreeze the markets.Under TARP, some mortgages would require the government to rewrite some of the effected loans, effectively putting more Americans into homes that they will be able to afford and by rewriting the loans also increase the standard of living. John Douglas, general counsel at the FDIC, said, â€Å"It doesn’t make sense to give the authority to anybody else but the FDIC†; he goes on to say â€Å"That’s what the FDIC does, it takes the bad assets out of the banks and manages them and sells them† (Vekshin & Schmidt, 2009). However, the supporters of the bank bailout do not represent correct/valid points/facts.In a study by the IMF of the 124 banking crisis, they have concluded: Existing empirical research has shown that providing assistance to banks and their borrowers can be count erproductive, resulting in increased losses to banks, which often abuse forbearance to take unproductive risks at government expense. The typical result of forbearance is a deeper hole in the net worth of banks, crippling tax burdens to finance bank bailouts, and even more severe credit supply contraction and economic decline than would have occurred in the absence of forbearance. Valencia & Laeven, 2008) As a result of the IMF study, it has concluded that removing the bad toxic assets from the banks could actually hurt the financial institutions and a system as a whole could freeze the credit markets again with a result of an economic decline, instead of an economic incline. Also there is no definition of a troubled market or loan. If the government wants to rewrite troubled mortgages or loans, there are no set criteria to say whether a mortgage or loan should be taken by the government and given to the troubled family.Another point, as Steward said, â€Å"The only way for this pr ogram to work is for enough of the bad mortgages/loans to be purchased to connivance lenders that the problem mortgages cannot hurt the system, or to put in simple terms, the government has to purchase enough mortgages/loans to inspire intra- institution (Stewart, 2008) Furthermore, the institutions will sell the assets that will remain depressed in value; and â€Å"no one is going to sell a asset that has a higher chance of making the institution money (Obama Sends Warning to Big Banks, 2010). In result, under TARP the government has a high probability of taking a majority of the loss.With the bank bailout, the economy will decline, and the government will take a great loss of the bank bailout. Supporters of the bank bailout will say that if the government did not step in and inject $20 trillion dollars into the market, an economic collapse could have happened and set America into another Great Depression. A heavy incline of unemployment; foreclosures were through the roof, a majo r decline in incomes (Solomon, Enrich, & Hilsenrath, 2009). America was becoming a very sick nation, and the bank bailout would help the economy and stimulate the financial institutions to help start lending and unfreeze the credit market.As one writer wrote, â€Å"there was at no time better to inject the financial institutions at this time, if they collapse it may be the sign of the apocalypse† (Bailed out banks, 2010)/ If there was no bank bailout, there is a major chance that this will be a sign of the apocalypse because the United States drives the world and if the major financial institutions such as Bank of America or Merrill Lynch fails then the world economy could ultimately send the world in to another Great Depression.The major reason that the American government should not have passed the bank bailout was the cost to the government. Under the Bush administration, the national debit doubled to a record high $10 trillion dollars (Solomon, Enrich, & Hilsenrath, 2009) . There are more programs that the government has to pay for such as Social Security. Many economists call this the â€Å"polluter pays† which is defined as â€Å"polluters must pay for the cost of cleaning it up† (Princeton University, 2010).When the financial industry is bailed out of disasters, which a majority of the time throughout history, they have created those disasters. If the banking industry feels like they can be bailed out every time they make a major mistake, then the American people will pay because the bank bailout is directly connected to the taxpayer’s funds (Obama sends warning to Big Banks, 2010).A price tag of $700 billion dollar bailout has hidden costs which can go high as $3 trillion dollars, which can â€Å"be the shortfall between the economies potential output and its actual output from the crisis† (Issues & Controversies, 2010). Another factor in the bank bailout is the morality, because the banks do not pay the costs that are imposed on a world society, which the tax payers pay directly into the banks and then the banks pay back into the government. Also, the political had a major role in deciding to pass the bank bailout.A senator said, â€Å"We had no choice. We had a gun pointed at our heads. Without the bailout, things would have been even worse† (Woellert & Kopecki, 2007). While politicians did not have an actual gun to their head, figuratively speaking because they had a oversight on â€Å"saving the banks and shareholders† or â€Å"have saved the banks but let the bankers and shareholders go† because of the final tap that American tax payer will have to pay to the bailout the banks that created this mess (Solomon, Enrich, & Hilsenrath, 2009).The bank bailout was a major mistake in the evolution of the financial world because it did not solve any problems; people can still be charged higher interest rates on their credit cards/mortgages. With TARP, there is no true removal of the bad assets that caused the credit crisis to form the bank bailouts; it only hurts the government because it has to take on the debt. Truly, we have stroke the core of the American people with the credit crisis, but at the same time the financial world has been given more powers and in a free market enterprise, the credit crisis can happen again at any moment.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Respiratory System Study Guide

Respiratory System Study guide: Answer the following, submit through the assignments link as an msword document. 1. What percent of air is oxygen? 21% of air is oxygen. 2. What is the entire process of gas exchange between atmosphere and body cells called It is called respiration. 3. What is the waste product of cells? Carbon dioxide is the waste product of cells. 4. What organs are located in the upper respiratory tract? The organs that are located in the upper respiratory tract are the nose, nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, and pharynx. 5.What organs are in the lower respiratory tract? The organs that are located in the lower respiratory tract are the larynx, trachea, bronchial tree, and lungs. 6. What is the function of the nasal cavity? The nasal cavity is where the internal hairs begin to filter air. The primary function is to conduct air to the pharynx, where mucous lining filters and moistens air. 7. What does mucous do? The mucous entraps dust and other small particles that e nter with air. As cilia move, it push mucous with dust towards pharynx, where it is swallowed and digested by stomach. . What is the function of the larynx? The function of larynx is to conduct air in and out of trachea, prevent foreign objects from entering trachea. Also houses the vocal cords. 9. Which lung is larger, the right or the left? The right lung is larger than the left lung. 10. What is laryngitis? Laryngitis is horseness or loss of voice, mucous membrane becomes inflames, can cause obstruction of airway. 11. What is a bronchoscopy? Bronchoscoy is produce used to directly examine the trachea and bronchial tree. 12.The paranasal sinuses are resonant chambers that affect the quality of voice and function to _________. Reduce the weight of skull and resonant chambers that affect quality of voice. 13. What is found within the trachea that prevents it from collapsing and blocking the airway? Within the trachea are 20 â€Å"C† shaped pieces of cartilage that prevent it from collapsing and blocking the airway. 14. What is inspiration? Occurs when pressure inside alveoli decreases and atmospheric pressure is greater. 15. What is tidal volume? The amount of air that enters or leaves the lung.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Knowledge on Nature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Knowledge on Nature - Essay Example Organic machine influences the healthy environment of the natural resources as a result of the technological pollutions, exploitation of the natural resources and the use of chemical substances in the manipulation of the nature. Technology is the only tool man employs in the extortion and exploitation of what he desired to transform the organic machinery of the river, its meanders, hinterland and the river valley as well as the other naturally occurring parts of the environment. In the exploitation of the naturally historical environment, the gender and race are distinctive and major participants (Conrad 102). The race and gender are always disagreeing between those who are for the healthy existence of nature in their own self-image and those who are against the healthy existence of the natural environment. The Colombia River, as an example of nature, emerges mainly from the organic machinery such as a cyborg. These were cultural artefacts including a blend of both human and nature c ontributions. For the conservation to take place, there must be individuals against the healthy being of nature while others are in support of the natural and pure form of the environment. This results into conflicts especially where some individuals resolve into the conservation of the environment while the others manipulate it through the technological knowledge and for their own self-interests.The understanding of nature is normally complex. The built environment has really affected the natural environment.... This results into conflicts especially where some individuals resolve into the conservation of the environment while the others manipulate it through the technological knowledge and for their own self-interests. The understanding of nature is normally complex. The built environment has really affected the natural environment. The wilderness and the geographical area parts of the environment are no longer in existence especially throughout my hometown. The skyscrapers have taken almost the whole environment in which we live. Technology, therefore, even though has improved the lifestyle of the people, greatly undermines nature. The natural underlying rock materials isotactic and biostatic equilibrium, because of the heavily built environment, is greatly affected. This is some of the major causes of tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes. The underground river sources are not in perfect flow because of the heavy earth moving machines which are part of the built environment. The artificial ly modified technological environment has affected the purity of nature beginning with the quality of the air we breathe to the plants and animals life. My understanding of nature, therefore, is based on the healthy conservation of the ecosystem. The built environment should be considerate of the well-being of the plants, animals as well as the underlying organic matter and rock material. My hometown environment is full of technological manipulations, which greatly undermines nature. For the continuity of the natural environment to be upheld, therefore, there is a need for each individual to take part in the natural environment conservation (Sherman 178). This is what is suggested in the Colombia River organic machine conservation. White believes that the cultural

Friday, September 27, 2019

Work, American Dream, Society and Psychological Perspectives Essay

Work, American Dream, Society and Psychological Perspectives - Essay Example n American society in relation to how work, American dream/myth, society and psychological perspectives affect each other with reference to social status, race, and illegal immigrants in America pursuing the American Dream. It is also essential to realize how it plays part in the economical aspect of the nation. Therefore, this paper undertakes a cause-and-effect analysis of work, American dream, society and psychological perspectives with regard to today's economy and society in general. One of the fundamental aspects of this analysis is a clear understanding of the term the American Dream and it was James Truslow Adams who coined the term in his celebrated book The Epic of America. According to him, the American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position." (Adams, 404) Therefore, the original definition of the term had a wider meaning and it has acquired different types of meaning to different classe s of society today. The original meaning of the term referred to the opportunity to accomplish greater material prosperity than what was possible in other nations. It was also realized by groups of immigrants as the opening for their children to mature, obtain education and career opportunities.... This essay focuses on analyzing the meaning of the concept ‘the American Dream’ that has been the result of a long process of evolvement over the course of American history. The researcher mentiones that even today there have been multiple opinions on the validity of the concept. One of the most pertaining debates that were analyzed in the essa concerning the topic has been whether the concept of the American Dream is myth or a reality. The researcher states that it is essential to realize that the American Dream has often been correlated with immigration and the dream of prosperity and freedom has, for several decades, been attracting numerous immigrants from all over the world to the US. In conclusion, the researcher of this essay suggests a cause-and-effect analysis of the American Dream that drives one to comprehend the essential issues related with work, immigration, social status, and race. In the modern American situation, where the hope of rising living standards for each generation of workers has given way to a low-wage economy and where people have little trust in the promises of the American Dream, the issues of work, immigration, social disparity, and economic worries become easily comprehensible. In short, the researcher provides his opinion on the topic and states that the American Dream, which attracted millions of immigrants to the US for several decades, is being eroded and the American society as well as economy has enormously been influenced by the causes and effects of the American Dream.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Three Pillars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Three Pillars - Essay Example Servant leadership entails leading others into achieving organizational objectives whilst incorporating everyone on board. This type of leadership seeks to empower all the involved parties and making them ‘semi-leaders.’ A good servant leader understands the need to serve as a key element to successful management. As a servant leader, the leader carries the corporate vision and then nurtures everybody to realize the vision through tapping of each individual talent. In simple terms, servant leadership aims at walking the walk together with the rest. Successful servant leadership is defined by ethical behavior, charisma, and the desire to inspire and empower others (Boone & Makhani, 2013). It is worth noting that successful servant leaders spend more time listening, understanding and critically analyzing ideas from subordinates. Servant leaders are defined by the ability to scavenge for individual talents and articulating those individual talents towards organizational goa l. As a financial analyst for a health insurance company, I have unlimited opportunity to exercise servant leadership. First, I demonstrate submissiveness to higher leadership and help them tap into my skills and talents. Instead of competing with fellow workmates, I aim at creating a team work where everybody feels appreciated and respected. Whenever I find faults during my financial analysis, I help the affected personnel to identify the problem and then show them how to do it better next time. I have seen this work more often than just scolding and rebuking a person for their mistakes. By serving as an example, others are able to follow willingly. With globalization bringing new array of challenges especially in managing organizations, entrepreneurial skills needed to sustain organizations in 21st century have gone high. Entrepreneurial skills require understanding of complex array of tenets of management. Therefore, entrepreneurship needs to understand the relationship between

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Smartphone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Smartphone - Essay Example The author also addresses future prospects in mobile device technology. The article brings into perspective an important opportunity in the field of education and pedagogy in general. Initially, the use of mobile phones was restricted to communication. However, the author outlines that communication can also involve the sharing of information between teachers and students and thereby acting as an educational tool. Furthermore, the ease in accessibility and portability of mobile devices compounded with advancements in technology has made the adoption of mobile phones in education unavoidable. With the realization of the potential in mobile devices with regard to education, technological advancements can and should concentrate on inventions that will promote the use of mobile devices in education. Furthermore, educational strategies should be adopted to ensure that users have the relevant knowledge and experience with regard to using mobile devices for educational purposes. The article brings into perspective an important step in using technology to promote education. The author provides a history account of mobile learning and the some of the reasons why the use of mobile devices for learning unlike the use of computers has not been exploited effectively. The author defines mobile learning as the use of mobile devices such as PDA and Smart phones in education. Some of the issues the author outlines that have been responsible for the lack of effective exploitation of mobile phones as educational devices, are the perceptions adopted by both manufacturers and end users. The author provides an example of the Sony Ericsson mobile manufacturer where the company confessed that education was not one of its priorities when it came to adopting newer technologies in mobile devices. Furthermore, the author explains that end users have not also been able to relate education with mobile devices that are mostly seen as entertainment devices. The

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Invisibility of Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Invisibility of Nursing - Essay Example Focus of development and adoption of standard clinical terminology is to enhance quality in the field of nursing through terminologies that are established using tried and tested methods; reducing effort through avoidance of wheel reinvention; compatibility by integration of data gathered from different source systems, and great coherence and convergent mechanism between terminologies. The American Nurses Association (ANA) is responsible for standardizing nursing terminologies and coordinating various minimum data sets in the United States of America. Nursing Practice Information Infrastructure (CNPII), a committee for ANA, evaluates the data sets in addition to standardized terminologies that are submitted to them, to check whether they are in accordance to certain criteria (ANA, 2012). This criterion includes, terminology development is clinically useful and that the terms are not ambiguous in addition to being clear. The International Health Terminology Standards Development Organ ization (IHTSDO) is an international organization, which in non-profit and it is based in Denmark. The organization owns, acquires, and administers rights to SNOMED CT in addition to other related standards and health terminologies. IHTSDO purpose is to develop, promote, maintain and enable the correct uptake and use of its terminology products around the world. The organization improves health of human kind through nurturing development and use of standardized clinical terminologies. This enables accurate, safe and effective exchange of health related and clinical information. Several advantages of using standardized terminologies arise for direct care nurses. There is better communication among nurses and other health care providers. Using standardized nursing... This paper approves that various challenges arise in using standardized terminologies. Constraints arise on what is achievable and desirable. A lot of communication is health care will be informal. This includes written comments and conversations that are meant for short term purposes. The challenge here is to draw a line where to justify feasibility and desirability of formalization. Granularity is another issue. The level of details to be used in standardized language is a challenge. Relevance of details in the language is arguable on matters of functionality, for current or future use of the standardized terminologies. This essay makes a conclusion that development and adoption of standard clinical terminology, also adds value in healthy policy decision making. NMDS is essential when it comes to Medical Treatment Effectiveness Program. This is a program that is funded by the federal government and its sole purpose is to demonstrate the procedures that are most effective in production of quality client outcomes. This is enabled through a standardized nursing language through NMDS. The federal government is able to make decisions on healthy policy issues such as, effective nursing care, based on nursing data on NMDS. Another area on decision making on healthy issues is, the prospective payment for home healthcare. Through NMDS, data can be retrieved and used for prospective payment systems that can account for variances in the cost of care providence to clients in home stings.

Monday, September 23, 2019

1. To what extent could the United States between 1776 and 1865 be Essay

1. To what extent could the United States between 1776 and 1865 be described as a house divided against itself - Essay Example Slavery resistance began when people started to deny support, overturn the already established orders and more importantly challenging them. Slavery significantly contributed to division among the US citizen (Lowance 45). Political representation was another cause of the division among the Free States and Slave state. Politicians between the Free states and slave states were concerned about power balance in the Senate. The politicians were appealing that every state should be represented by two members of state and more importantly, there should be an equal number of free states and slave states. Resistance became violent when the population of Free States became more than that of slave states in the House of Representatives (Farmer 213). Abolitionist movements were also a contributing factor to the division Americans. In the year 1830, individuals who wanted to see various institutions abolished within the US started becoming more influential and strident. These individuals claimed they preferred obedience to higher law over having obedience to a constitution. When the constitution was passed, it made some explicit mention of slavery. It allowed slaves to be counted as a third of a person. This activity was meant to determine the representation, as well as the population in the House of Representatives. This Act was not supported by everybody especially individuals residing in slave states. The resistance turned out to be more severe in effort to bring more slave states. For instance, resisters sought after to make Missouri a slave state. Instead of making the region a slave state, a Missouri compromise was developed. Missouri Compromise was as federal law that regulated slavery in the western US territories. The law, passed in 1820 restricted slavery in the north region in the former Louisiana Territory. The only areas that were allowed to conduct slavery were the boundary of Missouri State (Lowance

Sunday, September 22, 2019

American Dream Essay Example for Free

American Dream Essay In the literatures we have read this semester all of the characters have a dream that consists of a plan and multiple goals that sum up to the American Dream, however, there have been obstacles that sometimes hinder these American dreams. These obstacles range from internal conflict to society itself. The question is if it is possible for these characters to struggle with obstacles and overcome them to reach their dream? In â€Å"Step Children of a Nation† Isabel Gonzalez explains how the probabilities for Mexican-Americans in America during the mid 20th century for achieving the American Dream were very slim due to the obstacles that were presented by society (Gonzalez 162). Pedro Pietri details in the â€Å"Puerto Rican Obituary† the personal struggles endured by five Puerto Ricans in New York while attempting to achieve the American Dream (Pietri 212). We have no choice but to accept the standard of the United States and act in accordance with the society expectations as we see Ysreal do in Junot Diaz’ â€Å"No Face† (Diaz 417). Each character in these texts has the opportunity of success and only those who are willing to make a persistent and consistent effort will be able to achieve their dream despite their own personal struggles and the obstacles presented by society. Even though there are many obstacles to achieving this dream, it isn’t impossible for it to become a reality. The Mexican-Americans in Step Children of a nation lacked the ambition needed to achieve the American Dream. The most difficult obstacles to overcome are those presented by society. Isabel Gonzalez states what life was like for Mexican Americans trying to achieve the American Dream in the mid 20th century under poor living conditions and economic exploitation. These characters acculturated to the American lifestyle and the non citizens had the desire to become citizens. In fact they supported World War II (Leal) and Gonzalez noted that: It is a well known fact that the number of war casualties among the Mexican-American soldiers was very high in proportion to the population (Gonzalez , 163). But even after this the Anglo-Saxon society continued to discriminate and pursue segregation from their society. The Mexicans were forced to live in slums. During this time the homes these people lived in were hardly fit for animals and had no repairs in years but yet brought in income from Mexicans far beyond the value of the homes (Gonzalez , 165). They arrived in the United States believing a promise of personal economic growth (Aguilar), but instead came to live in substandard conditions with the hope of a better future for their children. Gonzalez states that industries have succeeded in keeping the Mexican the most underpaid and most oppressed worker so that they will always have a surplus of cheap labor (Gonzalez , 167). This economic exploitation caused the children to also have substandard education and health. These situations forced some of the characters to keep quiet due to fear of deportation and the reality of achieving the American Dream nearly impossible. But if these characters wouldn’t have overlooked the possibility of change and set aside their fear they would have been so much closer to achieving the American Dream. Another obstacle the characters from the texts we reviewed in class had to overcome was their own personal oppressions. In â€Å"Puerto Rican Obituary†, Pietri talks about 5 characters: Juan/ Miguel/ Milagros/ Olga/ Manuel and their daily struggles as a Nuyorican (Monthly Review Foundation) who didn’t accept the standards of the United States. These Nuyoricans were motivated to immigrate to this country by the American dream which turned into a nightmare presented as death. They were divided between two cultures and two languages. Juan/ Miguel/ Milagros/ Olga/ Manuel are attempting to live as a â€Å"gringo†. Their unfortunate situation is that as they attempt to leave behind their language they are also leaving behind their identity (Brook). And as they realize this they are torn between the dream and the nightmare. They feel overworked and underpaid. All died/ dreaming about america/ waking them up in the middle of the night/ screaming: Mira Mira/ your name is on the winning lottery ticket/ for one hundred thousand dollars (Pietri 36-41) The characters in this text believed they can achieve the American Dream by something simpler like winning the lottery. But by believing this almost impossible wish their dream becomes a nightmare which is reflected as their death. They dream of belonging to a community of â€Å"clean-cut lily-white neighborhood/ Puerto Ricanless scenes† and being â€Å"the first spics on the block† where â€Å"gringos want them lynched† (215). By not being able to accomplish this dream the â€Å"puertorriquenos† find themselves shut out of America’s economic opportunities and lifestyle, and realize that they are unemployed, living on welfare, bitter, and degraded. This situation leads to the death of their American dream along with their dignity; therefore the characters in this text do not achieve the American dream. Ysrael is a child with a disfigured face who knows all too well the difference between the nightmare and dream. He is a child that has accepted the fact that he has to wear a mask in public to be accepted in his community. He compares himself to Kaliman. Ysrael’s superpower is the power of INVISBILITY (Diaz , 418). He dreams of escaping Dominican Republic and going â€Å"up north† and has hopes that the doctor will fix him. In the end of the story Ysrael has to make sure to wear his mask when his father comes out but doesn’t have to worry when he’s around his mother. All of this symbolizes the life of an immigrant attempting to achieve the American Dream (Alford). Ysreal’s disfigured face is the life the immigrants have in their country of origin. The surgery that the doctor and the priest promise is the American Dream. The mask is the sacrifices the immigrants make by acculturating to the American society. The superpower of invisibility represents how people are obligated to put themselves out of sight from society when they do not act according to society’s expectations. When Diaz mentions that Ysrael wants to go â€Å"up north† he is referring to the United States. Also the father is stands for the American culture (where Ysrael always has to wear his mask) and the mother represents his own culture or his identity. The boys who throw rocks at him and the cleaning lady represent the obstacles the immigrants must surpass to achieve their dream. In this text Ysrael does achieve the American Dream because he has accepted the fact that he has to wear his mask in front of his father and when he goes out in public. But at the same time he does not lose his identify because those who are around him remind him of how his face became disfigured over and over again (Diaz , 419). Pietri talks about all the obstacles the characters face while attempting to achieve the American dream but if Juan/ Miguel/ Milagros/ Olga/ Manuel would have accepted the standards of society in the United States or if the Mexicans in â€Å"Step Children of a Nation† would have been more ambitious like Ysrael in â€Å"No Face† their nightmare could have converted back to the dream they immigrated to the United States for. So to answer the question if is possible for these characters to struggle with obstacles and overcome them to reach their dream the answer is only if they were all as ambitious, persistent, and committed as Ysrael. The character Ysrael did not let his disfigured face or his father hold him back from achieving his dream. Ysrael had people yell out to him â€Å"No Face† but yet he continues his path to his set goal. He was determined to be persistent and consistent in pursuing his dream. Works Cited Aguilar, Mario E. From Immigrant Ousiders to Indigenous Tribal National Identities. Web. 09 June 2011. Alford, William. Junot Diazs Drown Sex, Race and Power. 10 Feb 2005. Web. 08 June 2011. Brook, Elizabeth. Nuyroican Newness. 2010 11 May. Web. 08 June 2011. Diaz, Junot. No Face. Herencia: The Anthology of Hispanic Literature of the United States. Ed. Nicolas Kanellos. New York: Oxford Press, 2002. 417-420. Print. Gonzalez, Isabel. Step Children of a Nation. Herencia: The Anthology of Hispanic Literature of the United States. Ed. Nicolas Kanellos. New York: Oxford Press, 2002. 162-170. Print. Leal, David A. American Public Opinion. October 2005. webspace. utexas. edu. Web. 08 June 2011. Monthly Review Foundation. Monthly Review: Puerto Rican Obituary. 01 June 2004. Web. 08 June 2011. Pietri, Pedro. Puerto Rican Obituary. Herencia: The Anthology of Hispanic Literature of the United States. Ed. Nicolas Kanellos. New York: Oxford Press, 2002. 212-220. Print.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Disneys Transition into Television and its Effects on Child Actors Essay Example for Free

Disneys Transition into Television and its Effects on Child Actors Essay Disney has expanded their enterprise into many different areas, one of them being television. As Disney has explored the medium of television, they have focused the shows for the audience of children. In 1955, The Mickey Mouse Club was one of the first shows that Disney had on television. In order to appeal to younger audiences, the show had â€Å"young attractive stars performing before a live audience, clowns, magicians, cartoons, guest stars, educational elements, and music written for the show† (Pendergast). Children liked to watch the show because they were watching kids that were about the same age as them, and they could relate to the actors. The children watching the show were heavily influenced by the Mickey Mouse Club because they looked up to and saw the actors as role models (Telotte). They wanted to be like the actors, so Disney profited off this generation of children by putting out merchandise related to the show. In this way, Disney started making more and more money because of these child actors. Many people argue about the effect that watching Disney’s television shows and â€Å"their positive and negative influence on kids† (Hillstrom). However, what about the effect that Disney’s television shows have on the child actors? These children spend their childhood on the sets of television shows, â€Å"being a kid is a full-time job, with scripts to memorize, and tutoring to endure† (Corliss). They are playing the characters of normal kids, without being able to experience a normal childhood themselves, it is no wonder that many child stars get into trouble when they â€Å"start growing up and moving out† (Armstrong, Markovitz) and leave Disney, because they have not been able to experience normal life growing up as a Disney actor. Disney’s â€Å"ability to grow teen talent† year after year is what makes the Disney Channel so successful (Luscombe). While Disney’s other ventures are not making as much money as they used to, â€Å"Disney’s Teen Machine has become a finely tuned profit pump in an industry rife with unpredictability† (Luscombe). Disney seems to have figured out the formula for a great teen star, and they know when they see one. Casting agents at Disney say that â€Å"while they love high-energy kids who can deliver a line and get the humor, they avoid overtrained types† â€Å"they try to cast very real kids who have raw talent† (Armstrong). For most child stars, television is not the endgame, it is just the launchpad that they need to build themselves up until they become big stars. They also cannot just rely on their raw talent to get them though, acting is their job and they are getting paid to film the shows and star in the movies that Disney creates, so they need to not only be â€Å"cute, smart, and quick to learn lines, but also dedicated, focused, and in it for the long haul† (Armstrong). Disney Channel’s stereotypical television character is a teenage girl or boy with a strong family who sometimes gets into funny situations that they learn from in the end. The story lines differ from show to show, but the characters usually have that same background. They always have strong family values with an annoying sibling or two in order to make the show more interesting. Many of Disney’s successful shows have been known to continue for at least four seasons and sometimes more. This is because Disney is a family friendly network so they advertise â€Å"wholesome family entertainment†, and appeal to not only the children, but also their parents (Pendergast). Parents are a very large part of Disney’s enterprise, because they are the ones who are buying all of the merchandise. If they do not think that a certain show is having a positive influence on their children, they will stop letting their children watch the show which leads to less merchandise being bought. In this way, the teen actors also need to be very aware of the decisions that they make. Because they are the stars of these Disney shows, the kids that watch them on television look up to them. They instantly become role models for these children whether they want to be or not. And if they make a bad decision in their everyday lives and it gets into the media, and parents disapprove of the message it sends to their children, they stop being consumers of the actor and the show. Eventually the child and teen actors grow up, and want to leave the Disney Channel and pursue a career as an adult actor. However making the switch from Disney to Hollywood has not been achieved often. Disney has crafted a certain image for their stars, and it is hard for the actors to shake an image that has been associated with them for most of their childhood. The young actors grow out of the Disney shows and want to branch out into more serious roles, and many leave Disney and a lot of money behind to do so, for example Hilary Duff star of the hit Disney show Lizzie McGuire â€Å"famously walked away from a multi-million dollar offer† to start off on her own without Disney (Armstrong, Markovitz). Sometimes the upside for Disney is that when a star moves on, â€Å"the company no longer has to answer for every saucy leaked photo and tabloid scandal† in order to keep up their cookie cutter image (Armstrong, Markovitz). However, Disney would like to keep making money off of the stars, and they do that by â€Å"creating more opportunities so that the talent is more interested in engaging longer with the company† (Luscombe). In trying to keep their young stars, Disney has â€Å"created more opportunities for the stars within the company† (Luscombe). Disney has created many paths that they have their stars take, in wanting them to stay at Disney, they make the stars get involved in all aspects of disney. They make the stars go into no only acting in their television shows, but also getting involved in music and singing. This not only helps the stars gain more fame and fans, but makes Disney much more money than before. Instead of hiring actors and singers and dancers, Disney has shaped their stars so that they do everything with just one person. Disney has also had success in putting all three of these aspects together when they created High School Musical and The Cheetah Girls. They also take stars from their different television shows and put them in special episodes of other shows. This tactic advertises the individual actor and also a new show. Another way Disney gets their stars more involved in the company is if the stars record music and they put it in another movie, it advertises both the actor and the new movie. Disney’s advertising tactics have make their company more successful, and also their stars more famous. However because Disney has incorporated the stars into the company so much and has advertised them and their work as Disney, it is hard for them to branch out, which is exactly what Disney wants. They want to make it hard for the Actors to become disassociated with Disney. However, some stars handle branching away from Disney better than others. For example, Shia LaBeouf became very successful after Disney, starring in many great movies such as the Transformers series. Other former Disney stars handled the Disney branding badly, such as Miley Cyrus. She starred in the very lucrative Disney Channel show Hannah Montana. Where she played a very pure girl who moves for Tennessee to Malibu and has a secret life as a pop star. Miley had an even harder job at getting away from Disney that most other stars because she was not only known for the character Miley Stewart that she played on the show, but also for the character Hannah Montana which was the pop star alter ego on the show. She had two Disney characters to disassociate with and not just one. It was no secret that â€Å"Miley had been publicly testing the waters of adulthood for a few years†, she was taking dramatic and daring Vanity Fair photos and had â€Å"vaguely stripperish dance moves† at an awards show performance (Donahue). She also started to dress differently, less like the character on the show, and more of the short shorts and skin showing clothes. She was trying to change her image from Disney to more dangerous. However, the parents of the children who watched Hannah Montana were angry and made accusations that Miley was now a bad role model for their children and she lost some of her Disney fan base. â€Å"Disney makes you a star, you make them an enormous amount of money, and then you either crash and burn or you go out and stake your claim in the real world† (Donahue). In trying to branch out and get out from under the Disney stereotype, many of the former Disney stars have gotten into trouble with drugs and partying because they go to such drastic measures to change their image. They turn to drug use for the reason that it is so anti-Disney and they feel like that is the only way for people to see them not as their Disney Channel characters but as adults. But because Disney started their careers, they are indebted to them and feel like they owe it to Disney to stay with them for longer than they would want to. They also now have so much money that they could potentially get out of the business all together and be fairly well off. Disney has made a lot of money off of them and their fame, but they have also made a considerable amount off of Disney. Disney has made its young actors so famous that the kids have the world at their feet (Armstrong, Markovitz). But how much has the Disney lifestyle affected the child actors in their development and view of the world around them. They have not grown up like other normal kids did, they act for a living, and it is a full time job. They have to memorize lines and they are on set all day, they do not have time to go to school so they have tutors (Corliss). They play characters that live normal lives, and go to school, but they have not experienced these things themselves first hand. They are sheltered from the outside world while they are being shaped by Disney. They are who many normal children look up to and want to be, but sometimes they might want to just be normal. Having to represent Disney and watch everything that they do and say is a stressful job, and that stress created by Disney’s expectation of them and their fans expectation of them is enough to make anyone want to act out a bit, especially because they are teenagers. Being in the public eye and always being careful of what you do is not how children are supposed to grow up. They are supposed to be able to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes, but these Disney stars do not get the opportunity to make those mistakes because everyone is watching them and if they made even a minuscule mistake, the public would criticize them to no end. They have to live up to the Disney stereotype of the perfect pure child and also try to grow up and learn. Which is why when these stars try to deviate from Disney and to branch out from them, they take the most drastic measures possible because they do not know any other way. These child actors have so many children looking up to them, and so many people watching them that they do not have any room to breath and just be kids, they grow up too fast and then people criticize them for doing things that are too adult like wearing clothes that show ample amounts of skin or going out to clubs and partying, they grew up too fast in Hollywood and in the public spotlight. Disney has made billions off of these child actors and have created many opportunities for them to build their fame and fortune (Armstrong). But is Disney taking these children, shaping them into what they want the stars to be, and then when they are too old and Disney no longer needs them are they throwing these actors out to fend for themselves when they do not really know anything different than Disney? Society expects these children who have had to grow up too quickly in the environment that they were placed in and have not had proper childhoods to be perfect and to not make any mistakes when realistically we should be encouraging them to make mistakes and learn from them. Our society has expectations that are too high for these children and are too high even for adults to meet. We need to put less pressure on these Disney child actors to be perfect and to encourage them to be kids and to have fun. The pressure that they have on them from Disney to be successful, make a lot of money, and to conform to what Disney wants them to be combined with societies expectations for them to be good role models and to always make the right decision is too much pressure for these children to handle. So they turn to drugs and alcohol so that they are no longer expected to be the perfect person. The child actors are sometimes overlooked in the argument of television, but they have also been affected.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Chapter Two: Design

Chapter Two: Design 2.1 Chapter Overview This chapter presents a summary of the the review of literature regarding the subject of design and captures various aspects and thoughts on this. Various thoughts, process and research particularly related to the design process are explored. This chapter encompasses the definitions, characteristics, discussions and applications of design. It is intended that this chapter should give some clear background on the understanding of the design process and its development in todays world of design research. While the literature review provides a useful background of current research in the material, process and RM systems, the literature available on the design aspect for RM products is severely limited. First a review of the literature for definition of the term design is presented. A discussion of the act of designing then follows. Next, the type of knowledge associated with design has been discussed. Finally, various thoughts of process of design have been reviewed. This introduction should provide the reader with a context for interpreting the remaining chapters of this report. The full version of this chapter can be referred to Appendix 3. 2.2 Chapter Summary Design is a complex activity, involving artefacts, people, tools, process, organisations and the environment in which this takes place. This chapter has explored and discussed the subject of design and captures various aspects and thoughts on this. Various thoughts, process and research particularly related to the design are explored. However, the assumption that there exists a set of universally accepted design process is an area that can be further explored. Conclusively, design is seen as a possible but subjective process. This leads to different sets of interpretation being used by different researchers. Whilst there may be some dispute about the precise definition of the term design, it is recognized as a purposeful and creative activity. In summary, design seeks to create things with the purpose of satisfying certain requirements in new ways that improves the quality of lives. In product design, a variety of requirements must be considered ranging from functionality and usability to pleasure. However, design is more than just translating a set of requirements into a product. Also, and more importantly, it involves finding new requirements. Thus, design involves finding problems and solutions simultaneously, and this is where creativity is important. Designing a product involves a constant decision making process that includes problem solving in a sequential fashion and analysis of constraints at each step. Product designers conceptualize and evaluate ideas, making them tangible through products in a more systematic approach. The role of a product designer encompasses many characteristics of the marketing manager, product manager, industrial designer and design engineer. The role of the product designer combines art, science and technology to create tangible three-dimensional goods. This evolving role has been facilitated by digital tools that allow designers to communicate, visualize and analyze ideas in a way that would have taken greater manpower in the past. (This appears in identical form in Wikipedia!) A number of formal structures and frameworks to better understand the design process have been suggested from many different disciplines by many researchers. Most of them have converged upon the general form proposed by Pahl and Beitzs. Pahl and Beitz (1996) outline a model of the design process for mechanical design that considers not only the sequence of stages, but also what the output of each stage. They divided the design process into four phases that includes planning and clarification of the task, conceptual design, embodiment design and detail design. However, this research is concern with the understanding of the design process for Rapid Manufactured products. One of the objectives is to understand how the design process works and how it is learned and performed by professional and expert designers. The aim of the research is to support the design process with the aid of computers. Finally, this chapter has given some background on the understanding of the design process and its development in todays world of design research. Chapter Three: Computer Support Tools for Design 3.1 Chapter Overview This chapter presents an overview of various tools to generate CAD models for RM processes and the decision support systems, tools and techniques used to support the design process. The full document of this chapter can be referred to Appendix 4. 3.2 Chapter Summary Computational tools play an essential role in providing support for the designer, because of their speed and capability for handling huge amounts of information at fairly low costs. There are various methods to aid designer to generate CAD models such as CAD softwares, reverse engineering and haptic devices. CAD traditionally refers to computer tool to visualize, describe, edit and test manufactured artefacts, which are now an essential part of all manufacturing and production processes. CAD systems often involves more than just shapes. CAD has evolved to incorporate several other applications of computer integration with engineering, manufacturing and simulation. CAD now offers the capability of freeform surface modelling and solid modelling operations that allows user to create almost any complex geometry and photo realistic rendered images. Reverse engineering is an important tool to generate CAD models. To reverse engineer a part, the part is measured by a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) or a 3D laser scanner. The use of reverse engineering technology not only increases the overall accuracy, but also improved the productivity of manufacturing process. There are various areas of applications of haptics devices. In manufacturing, haptics can assist design for assembly and for rapid design and prototyping. In computer-aided design, designers can experience real time details with their hands, such as wanted or unwanted artefacts of a design which are difficult to display visually. It is also possible to assess human maintainability of complex systems before they are built . The increasing power of computer has lead to the development of software, tools and techniques to support the design activity particularly to make design decisions. Most of the decision support tools are related to the knowledge base systems or often called as expert system. Expert systems are computer programs that are derived from a branch of computer science research called Artificial Intelligence (AI). AIs scientific goal is to understand intelligence by building computer programs that exhibit intelligent behaviour (Boyle 1989). It is concerned with the concepts and methods of symbolic inference, or reasoning, by a computer, and how the knowledge used to make those inferences will be represented inside the machine. The main characteristics of the Expert Systems can be briefly described as: reduced decision making time, enhancement of problem solving capabilities, a capture of limited expertise and its diffusion, an increased output, productivity and quality; accessibility to know ledge, ability to work with incomplete information and provision of training(Ziemian, Crawn 2001). There are several methods used to support the decision making process such as Case-Based Reasoning (CBR), fuzzy logic, Artificial Neural Network, Rule Base System and Ontology. CBR is a problem solving technique based on the adaptation of previous examples that are similar to the current problem(Maher, Balachandran Zhang 1995). An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is an information processing paradigm that is inspired by the way biological nervous systems, such as the brain, process information (Moridis, Economides, 2009). Fuzzy are developed using the method of fuzzy logic, which deals with uncertainty. This technique, which uses the mathematical theory of fuzzy sets, simulates the process of normal human reasoning by allowing the computer to behave less precisely and logically than conventional computers (Shu-Hsien Liao 2005). Rules are probably the most common form of knowledge representation and they are present in most Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications such as Expert Systems and Decision Support Systems (Obot, Uzoka 2009). Rule base system uses rules as the knowledge representation for knowledge coded into the system i.e. knowledge is stored as rules. Rules typically take the form of if then statement. Ontology in both computer science and information science is a formal representation of a set of concepts within a domain and the relationships between those concepts (Shu-Hsien Liao 2005). Ontology is a system of vocabulary, which is used as a fundamental concept for describing the task/domain knowledge o be identified. This vocabulary is used as a communication basis between domain experts and knowledge engineers. On the other hand, there are a number of selection tool for RP system has been developed since 1993 (Masood, Soo 2002). The selection of the most suitable RM process is dependent on factors such as build envelope, accuracy, material, build speed and other machine related parameters. This chapter has explored and discussed the general overview of the various tools to generate CAD models for RM processes and the decision support systems, tools and techniques to support the design process. Various CAD data development systems and tool have been explored. Furthermore, various expert systems technologies that support the decision making process have also been explored. Conclusively, CAD and reverse engineering technology are the most well known CAD data development systems. In addition, expert systems are the most well known decision support tool that have been used for various applications. Having become widely used for a broad range of applications, some elements of an expert system could be considered to have the capability to be a design aid tool that could realise the DfRM tool. In the context of design support systems for RM technologies, due to the direct manufacturing of products from CAD data, the cost and time are low mainly because complex objects can be generated without the use of conventional machines. So far within the RM field little attention has been given to the product design phase, emphasis is normally on the development of the technology itself (processes, materials, building strategies, system selection, manufacturing parameter optimisation etc). On the other hand the operation and choices which take place during the design phase are crucial for the quality of the product produce.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Revolt Of The Poor - The Demise Of Intellectual Property :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites Three years ago I published a book of short stories in Israel. The publishing house belongs to Israel’s leading (and exceedingly wealthy) newspaper. I signed a contract which stated that I am entitled to receive 8% of the income from the sales of the book after commissions payable to distributors, shops, etc. A few months later, I won the coveted Prize of the Ministry of Education (for short prose). The prize money (a few thousand DMs) was snatched by the publishing house on the legal grounds that all the money generated by the book belongs to them because they own the copyright. In the mythology generated by capitalism to pacify the masses, the myth of intellectual property stands out. It goes like this : if the rights to intellectual property were not defined and enforced, commercial entrepreneurs would not have taken on the risks associated with publishing books, recording records and preparing multimedia products. As a result, creative people will have suffered because they will have found no way to make their works accessible to the public. Ultimately, it is the public which pays the price of piracy, goes the refrain. But this is factually untrue. In the USA there is a very limited group of authors who actually live by their pen. Only select musicians eke out a living from their noisy vocation (most of them rock stars who own their labels – George Michael had to fight Sony to do just that) and very few actors come close to deriving subsistence level income from their profession. All these can no longer be thought of as mostly creative people. Forced to defend thie intellectual property rights and the interests of Big Money, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Schwarzenegger and Grisham are businessmen at least as much as they are artists. Economically and rationally, we should expect that the costlier a work of art is to produce and the narrower its market – the more its intellectual property rights will be emphasized. Consider a publishing house. A book which costs 50,000 DM to produce with a potential audience of 1000 purchasers (certain academic texts are like this) – would have to be priced at a a minimum of 100 DM to recoup only the direct costs. If illegally copied (thereby shrinking the potential market – some people will prefer to buy the cheaper illegal copies) – its price would have to go up prohibitively, thus driving out potential buyers.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Union Essay -- essays research papers

Collective Bargaining: a process in which representatives of Labor & Mgmt negotiate the terms & conditions of employment. Structure: Single Employer Bargaining: a single employer involved w/ a single union (can also bargain w/ more than 1 unit). Boutique is a specialized Taylor agreement b/w employer & unit (usually seen in oligopolistic type market) Pattern Bargaining: Pick a target firm & then form an agreement (Pay, benefits, etc.) called a pattern (i.e. 6% over 2 years). Ex: The Caterpillar Company – United Automobiles Union (DEER) the Union wanted a pattern, company did not so they went on strike, ended up going back to work w/ no agreement, and then went on strike again. They ended up accepting less than the pattern. Bridgestone & United rubber are another example. They stroke because company would not allow ‘em to pattern bargain. Union did not survive strike, now combined w/ steel workers unions. Multi-Employer Bargaining: Employer meets w/ all units & comes up w/ the same agreement (i.e. all athletes, all grocery workers, etc.) They form an employers association & the representative of that negotiates. Book: a behavior theory of Labor Negotiations – Richard Walton & Robert McKenzie. It revolutionized thinking about negotiations. This book was done in both perspectives instead of just one side. There are 4 aspects of negotiation: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Distributive Bargaining: involves $ typically & how $ distributed. Fixed sum is usually how $ is distributed. Union wants a bigger piece of the pie & company wants to hold onto that piece of that pie. Labor & Mgmt view each other as adversaries. Union asks for everything & a lot of it. Mgmt says take away, loss of privileges a little more subtle approach. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Integrative Bargaining: The 2 groups get together & problem solve on ways to make the pie bigger. They get along w/ each other & must be creative. Their view is productivity can never be high enough. In the 1980’s Chrysler Corp. had a lot of problems & were setting records for losing $. They only had big cars that were gas-guzzlers (headed for bankruptcy). Chief Executive, Iakoka wanted to buy a little time so that they would be ok. Company wanted Gov. to bail ‘em out w/ working capital to get the company going again. Gov. did not lend the $, but offe... ...ucation Association, American Nurses Association, Union of American Physicians & Dentist) Law: State & local about  ½ states 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Right to unionize & bargain collectively 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Unfair labor practices for employers & unions 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Procedures for union representation elections 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Administration by a state board (i.e. California Public Employment Relation Board) 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Impasse Resolution procedures (i.e. mediation) 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Allowance for grievance arbitration Strikes: Workers in private industries have the right to strike (Section 7 of NLRA) 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Strikes that imperil the national health or safety 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A no strike clause in the collective bargaining agreement Public Employee Strikes: Law forbids strikes by Fed. & postal workers. Strikes by state & local Gov. employees are prohibited in most jurisdictions (State, Fed, Local, Areas) Only 12 states allow a limited right to strike: Oregon, CA, Idaho, Illinois, Wisconsin, Alaska, Ohio, Vermont, Montana, Hawaii.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Report of Media Deception on children’s Education Essay

With a new technology develops and advances, the debate about their negative impact on society also increases simultaneously. Media has been changed rapidly in last few decades. Today, everyone can see the impact of media in everyone’s life be it home or outside. The role of the media has been changed and because of progress of media the world has become global village. However, the negative side of media, especially its negative influence on children’s education through Television, Internet, and Video games can not be ignored. Discussion According to a study â€Å"American Kids now spend 40% less time with their parents than kids did in the mid-sixties. † They spend more time in watching TV, surfing internet and playing video games. The reason is not just TV and internet. The complexities of life, family size and traditional values, priorities and lifestyle have changed. â€Å"Our kids are living in an entirely different, much more complex media environment than we ever could have imagined at their age. The rule and the risks have changed radically, and many of us have been slow to grasp the difference. † Points out Steyer (2002), the Founder and Chairman of the media production firm JP Kids. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) strongly suggest that kids under two years old should not watch any TV and that those older than two should not watch more than an hour or two and that too quality programs The Initial days of childhood are very crucial for brain development of a child. In that period, a child wants to interact with his parents and play with his toys. A child can learn many things through his interaction with parents and physical activities. Physical activities are very necessary to make a child healthy. Interaction with family members and physical activities are always very important for everyone’s lives at any stage of our life. We can be mentally and physically fit by doing both of the above written activities. Gradually a child gets older, watching TV and using other electronic media will get part of his routine. Too much involvement with any mode of media can be disturbed his normal life and growth. Child would not be able to do his normal routine activities like playing outdoor games with his friends, reading, doing homework etc. even a child will not be interested in spending time with his family members. Research says that those children, who spend more time with TV, get violent and get suspicious about the world and people around. Their confidence level decreased and they imagine that something bad will happen to them. The consequence of involvement of children with media are coming gradually, children of today are more violent as compare to past. Shows and games related to crime are becoming very popular among children. Media violence is very harmful for the growing mind and has negative psychological implications. There is an on going debate on the mass-marketing of such games. Media is selling women as an object, it creates enormous impact on teenagers’ mind and they become sexually violent. Video games with violence and sexually explicit presentations are harmful for the mental growth of the child. According to an article of Kids Health, â€Å"The average American child will witness 200, 000 violent acts on television by age 18. † By seeing violent acts on TV, they get emotionless and gradually they become violent. TV makes children curious about women, sex etc. and internet provides them depth information on the same topic. The provided information makes the situation worst. TV violence, most of the times done by the HEROES, so children take violence as the act of heroism. At the various occasion young kids believed that the TV violence is real and frightened by scary and brutal images. They can not distinguish between real and reel images, as consequence, they can have behaviour problems, nightmare, sleeping disorders, be wetting and other. Older kids can also be affected by horrible programs; parents should not allow for watching those programs. Parental guidance is needed for any violent or mature subject programs. TV is a full of programs and commercials that show risking human behaviour as fun that can include petty crimes to heinous crimes like rape and murder. TV commercial shows children to their ideals (Heroes) are smoking, drinking alcohol on the screen and they try to follow their role models. They can lead to drinking, smoking, drugs or substance abuse after the motivation from screen. Studies have shown that TV programs also motivate children to participate in sexual activities too early. The other drawback of spending time with media is on children is, who watch TV more than four hours more likely to be overweight. Overweight Child becomes public shy and loses their confidence as compare to normal child. Obese child will trap in inferiority complex after that he can not able to do good in academics and the other activities. May be that child will get addicted to take alcohol because of his inferiority complex. The health complexity and risk for obese children are higher. Many psychologists agree on the bad effect of over exposure of media on children, but still there has been an on-going debate whether or not television influences a child’s behavior. Parents have no doubt about the impact of media on their child but they never imagined that how much it can be influence a child until they will not faced the crime done by their child. There is important evidence on link between repeated exposure to media violence and behavioral effect said Dr. Susan Villani (1999). â€Å"A total of 25 Pershing Elementary School students in the before and after school program, participated in this study. They were observed prior, during, and post a Tom & Jerry video clip. After observing their behaviors post the video clip, each child was asked two questions based on their everyday television watching habits. It was found that television does influence a child’s behavior. Although, the results indicate that there wasn’t a significant difference between the pre-video and during-video behaviors. Further implications and limitations of these results are to be found in the paper† Mowers (2003) find out. Media can be very helpful for getting new information, instead of blaming media if parents will make some rules and stick on that, media would be helpful for their children’s growth. Steyer (2002) makes a list of top10 tips for parents. According to Steyer (2002) this is responsibility of parents to limit the exposure of kids to the media and particularly to the negative exposure. Negative exposure should be completely controlled. One can help our the process and understanding of media message among their children Steyer’s (2002) top 10 tips for parents are as follow: Establish good media habits early: Parents should choose, which program child will watch and parents should give accompany to the child while he is watching TV. 2. Location, Location, Location: Location of the TV and Computer is very important. Parents should not install TV or computer in child room. In the past time a computer covered huge area and was visible to everyone but with advancement of technology, size of computer has reduced. Parents can not see what their child is surfing on internet. So location of TV and Computer does matter, if parents want to keep eye on their kids. Set a media diet and stick to it: As a parent, you should make a routine for your kids that how much time they would devote for TV, Internet and video games. And parent should be stick on that. Sometime we give liberty to our child but it is not good for long term. 4. Teach your child to ask permission to use media: Parents should teach to their child to ask before they use internet or watch TV programs. This rule will make a difference. 5. Watch and listen with your kids – then tell them what you like, don’t like, and why: First of all listening to the child is the most important thing for a parent. Listen to the child first; what he wants to say after that parent can instruct him what he wants from his child. Parent should explain to his child that why he has given this instruction. 6. Set clear rules regarding your child’s media use in other homes: Parents should make the clear rule on use of media out of home. Try to not to give permission to use the media out of home, if your child is using for some important reasons like combined study, then supervise your child or make a surprise visit at the place. Have pediatricians review your kids’ media use as part of their annual checkup: Get pediatricians review on your kids’ media use; lets take the action, if pediatricians suggest something serious like vision problem. 8. Teach media literacy in school and at home: Parents should teach their kids about what is happening in around in the world. Parents should not feel shy to educate their children about sex education, because your child will know from the other sources and may be in the negative sense. You can teach your child in a very positive manner. So lets start to talk to your child on every topic, it would boost up your child’s confidence as well as your relationship with him. 9. Read to your child and share positive media experiences. Share the positive media experiences with your child like what you have learnt from internet or TV when you were child. It will divert your child’s mind to learn something positive and creative from the modes of media. 10. Switch the dial to â€Å"OFF. â€Å": When you have spare time, talk to your child instead of watching TV or surfing internet. Conclusion TV and internet are the good things to new thing but over exposure is bad. We can control our TV â€Å"You can easily control habit of TV watching of your child† according to the national PTA, medical experts and child development experts, I to help your family to become â€Å"Media Literate† and also positive media a new â€Å"Children’s digital media culture† is gradually improving on internet. Through some web site children can get important information which would be helpful for their education. Many NGOs are making effort to make media helpful for children ‘Montgomery (2000) concluded in his article. Media has provided us an excellent platform that can support the child development like anything. Children can learn and have fun over the same. This requires proper parental guidance, support and control over the media usage among the children. Reference: â€Å"CIC And PTA partnership†, Control Your TV Its Easy! Retrieved on 14 May 2010 from http://www. controlyourtv. org/#Education. aspx Kids Health, How TV Affects Your Child retrieved on 14 May 2010 from http://kidshealth. org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child. html# â€Å"Montgomery K. C†, 2000. , Children’s Media Culture in the New Millennium: Mapping the Digital Landscape. retrieved on 14 May 2010 from < http://www. jstor. org/pss/1602693> â€Å"Mowers M. M. †, 2003. , Does Media Influence A Child’s Behavior? Retrieved on 14 May 2010 from http://clearinghouse. missouriwestern. edu/manuscripts/402. php â€Å"Stayer P. J. †, 2002. , The Other Parent: The Inside Story of the Media’s Effects on Our Children. Retrieved on 14 May 2010 from < http://www. amazon. com/Other-Parent-Inside-Medias-Children/dp/0743405838#reader_0743405838>

Monday, September 16, 2019

Urbanization Dynamics and Its Impact on Natural Resources

NEWSLETTER ARTICLE URBANISATION DYNAMICS AND ITS IMPACTS ON THE USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN MOSHI – KILIMANJARO, TANZANIA By Isaac Kazungu1 and Maulid Bwabo2 Half the world’s population now live in built-up areas, with an estimated 60 million people being added every year (World Bank population Index report, 2010). This rapid urban growth leads to environmental degradation and excessive demands on services, infrastructure and use of natural resource in rapidly urbanising cities of the world, Moshi inclusive. Resource degradation, energy consumption, conflicts on he use of resources has increased drastically. To address this a three (3) years project titled LUNA (Livelihoods, Urbanisation, Natural Resources in Africa) financed by Volkswagen Foundation of Germany established within Five African Countries, namely Tanzania (Moshi), Cameroon (Bamenda), Botswana (Palapye), Cote d’Ivoire (Tyasale) and South Africa (Phalaborwa-Limpopo, and QueenstownEastern Cape). It sta rted in 2009 and aimed at analysing the impact of urbanisation on the use of natural resources and livelihoods in Africa. 1Isaac Kazungu is Assistant Lecturer and Researchers working with the Department of Marketing at Moshi University College of Cooperative and Business Studies (MUCCoBS). His main areas of interest include Agricultural Marketing, Marketing research, International marketing, Livelihoods and Urbanization. He is a member of LUNA a team of researchers from Five African countries and Germany undertaking a project on Urbanization and its impact on the use of Natural Resources in Africa. 2 Maulid Bwabo is Assistant Lecturer and Researchers in theDepartment of Marketing at Moshi University College of Cooperative and Business Studies (MUCCoBS). Among the other disciplines, he specialises in Food crops marketing, Strategic marketing review and Marketing audit. He is also a member of LUNA a team of researchers from Five African countries and Germany undertaking a project on U rbanization and its impact on the use of Natural Resources in Africa In Tanzania the project was undertaken in Moshi Municipality along the slope of Mountain Kilimanjaro-the highest Mountain in Africa. It explored nine (9) settlements in both rban and peri-urban areas of the city. These settlements include Mweka, Uru, Kibosho, Karanga, Kwa sadala, Pasua Matindigani, Pasua Kanisani, Kiusa, Uchira Mashingia. Livelihoods and settlements characteristics, resource availability and utilisation, settlement growth dynamics and challenges, economic activities and geographical locations are some remarkable areas explored. The result of the project built on what researchers explore about the problem, their insights and values using both evidence based and reflections. The results spin on poor enforcement of urban development policies, rban agricultural product additions and branding, promotion of traditional crops which enhance livelihoods of the poor resource and disadvantaged groups, harassm ent of the city authority, conflicts on the use of water infrastructure, insecurity to land tenure, difficulties in capitalisation of financial institutions mortgages and marketing informations. Others include inadequate horizontal and vertical linkages of local communities, associations and interested parties, compensation considerations, changing of the people’s mindset of farmers in production process and partnerships, fragmentation ofAfrican land use planning system, member based transformation efforts from informality to formality, poor governance. Likely, the question of ill staff in planning department and structural conflicts are some remarkable policy and practical development, which are potential for policy formulation and improvement for our country development. Key issues noted during this investigation calls for policy interventions and alternative on the reality. In additional, networking, capacity building on which young scientists (2 Master students from MUCCo BS) were trained through this project.NEWSLETTER ARTICLE of urbanisation and the use of natural resources within a planned and sustainable way to enhance residents in growth and their development processes. Notwithstanding, the project creates a good link of development cooperation between the North and South, which is among the country’s policy development agenda. LUNA team-Tanzania, left to right; Bwabo, Dr. Wakuru Magigi and Isaac Kazungu (Photo by Takemore Chogomoka) Issues noted during the project exploration are central to different actors interested in Urban development and poverty reduction in rapidly rbanising cities. These actors include government, development partners, local communities/co-operators, non-governmental organisations, higher learning institutions, local government authorities and policy makers. The finding may be addressed for enhancing the link Acknowledgements: Dr. Wakuru Magigi-LUNA country coordinator, Urban planner and Senior Lecturer MUCCoBS, V olkswagen Stiftung Foundation, the management of MZUMBE University and MUCCoBS. Contacts:[email  protected] com, [email  protected] com Web: http://www. luna-project. uni-freiburg. de/ http://www. muccobs. ac. tz

Sunday, September 15, 2019

The Blue Sword CHAPTER FIVE

Corlath was on the ground at once, calling orders that sent long-robed figures scurrying in all directions. Harry sat alone on the big bay horse, who stood quite still; to her tired and befuddled gaze there were dozens of tents and hundreds of people. Men came forward from the mouths of tents and out from shadows, to make their bows to their king – to congratulate him on the success of his venture? Harry thought. Was it successful? Some were sent at once on errands, some faded back into the darkness from which they had emerged. The two men who had ridden with the king dismounted also, and stood a little behind him as he looked around his camp. Harry didn't move. She didn't quite believe that they had arrived – and besides, where was it they were? She didn't feel that she had arrived – or didn't want to. She thought wistfully of her despised bed far away in the Residency, and of fat dull busybody Annie. She wished she were home, and she was so tired she wasn't sur e where home was. When Corlath turned back to her she woke up enough to slither down from the horse's tall back before he tried to help her; this time she did no fancy sliding, but turned to face the horse's shoulder, and kept her hands on the saddle till her feet touched the ground. It was a long way down. She was sure it had gotten longer since the last time she dismounted. Fireheart stood as patiently as the fourposter pony as she leaned against him, and she patted him absently, as she might have patted her own horse, and his nose came round to touch her forearm. She sighed, and thought of Jack Dedham, who would give an arm to ride a Hill horse, even once. Perhaps it didn't count if you were riding double with a Hillman. Harry had her back toward Faran and Innath as they led the horses away. Faran said, â€Å"That was a longer ride than I enjoy, at my age,† and Innath replied laughing: â€Å"Indeed, Grandfather, you had to be tied to your saddle with your long white beard.† Faran, who was a grandfather several times over, but looked forward to being a king's Rider for many years yet, and wore his dark-grey beard short, grinned and said: â€Å"Yes, I long for a featherbed and a plump young girl who will admire an elderly warrior for his scars and his stories.† His eyes slid round, and he looked straight at Harry for the first time since Corlath had carried her, a black-wrapped bundle lying so bonelessly quiet in his arms that it was difficult to believe it contained anything human, to the shadow where two men and three horses awaited him. But Harry was frowning at her dirty feet and did not notice. â€Å"The Outlander girl,† Faran said slowly, with the air of an honest man who will be just at any cost. â€Å"I did not know the Outlanders taught their children such pride. She has done herself honor on this ride.† Innath considered. To do yourself honor is high praise from a Hillman; but as he thought of the last two days, he had to agree. He was almost a generation younger than his fellow Rider, however, and had viewed their adventure differently. â€Å"Do you know, I was most worried that she might weep? I can't bear a woman weeping.† Faran chuckled. â€Å"If I had known that, I would have advised our king – strongly – to choose another Rider. Not that it would have mattered much, I think: she would merely have had the sleep laid on her again.† He pulled a tent flap aside, and they and the horses disappeared from Harry's sight. She had recognized the Hill word for â€Å"Outlander,† and wondered dejectedly what Corlath's companions, who had so pointedly ignored her during their journey together, were saying. She wiggled her grubby toes in the sand. She looked up and noticed that she was standing only a few feet from the – what does one call it on a tent? Door implied hinges and a frame – front of the grandest tent of all. It was white, with two wide black stripes across its peak from opposite directions, meeting and crossing at the center, and extending to the ground like black ribbons. A black-and-white banner flew from the crossed center, the tallest point in the camp, as the tent was the biggest. â€Å"Go in,† said Corlath at her side again; â€Å"they will take care of you. I will join you presently.† As she approached, a man held aside the golden silk rectangle that served the great tent for a door. He stood to attention with as much dignity as if she were a welcome guest, and perhaps a queen in her own country. This amused her, with a stray thought that the Hill-king seemed to have his followers well schooled, and she smiled at him as she went inside; and was gratified by the startled look that crossed his face when she managed to catch his eye. At least they aren't all inscrutable, she thought. One of Dedham's subalterns might have looked like that. It was also comforting to have succeeded at last in catching someone's eye. What she did not know was that the honor guard at the door, who stood to attention because he was an honor guard and it would have been beneath him to be less than courteous to anyone who had the king's grace to enter the king's tent, was saying to himself: She walks and smiles at me as if she were a grand lady in her own home, not a prisoner of – of – He stumbled here, since neither he nor anyone else knew exactly why she had been made a prisoner, or an involuntary guest, or whatever it was that she was, except that it was the king's will. And this after a journey that made even old Faran, who was not flesh at all but iron, look a little weary. This was a story he would tell his friends when he was off duty. Inside Harry looked around her with awe. If the camp from the outside was white and grey and dun-colored, as dull but for the black-and-white banner flying from the king's tent as the sand and scrub around it and brightened only by the robes and sashes some of the men wore, inside this tent – she was sure it was Corlath's own – there was a blaze of color. Tapestries hung on the walls, and between them were gold and silver chains, filigree balls and rods, bright enameled medallions – some of them big enough to be shields. Thick soft rugs were scattered on the floor three or four deep, each of them gorgeous enough to lie at the foot of a throne; and over them were scattered dozens of cushions. There were carved and inlaid boxes of scented red wood, and bone-colored wood, and black wood; the largest of these were pushed against the walls. Lanterns hung on short chains from the four carved ribs that crossed the high white ceiling to meet at the center peak, above whi ch the banner flew outside, and below which a slender jointed pillar ran from floor to ceiling. Like pillars stood at each of the four corners of the tent, and four more braced the ribs at their centers; and from each pillar a short arm extended which held in its carven cupped hand another lantern. All were lit, bathing the riot of deep color, shape, and texture in a golden glow which owed nothing to the slowly strengthening morning light outside. She was staring up at the peak of the roof and feeling impressed at the smooth structure of the tent – her own knowledge of tents was limited to stories of the Homelander military variety, which involved ropes and canvas and much swearing, and leaks when it rained – when a slight noise behind her brought her back again to her presence in a Hill camp. She turned around, nervously, but not so nervously as she might have; for there was a graciousness and – well, humanity, perhaps, if she tried to think of a word for it – to the big white-walled room that set her at ease, even against her own better judgment. Four white-robed men had entered the tent. They brought with them, carrying it by handles set round the rim, an enormous silver basin: bath-sized, she thought. It had a broad base and sides that flared gently. The metal was worked in some fashion, but the play of the lantern light over the patterns prevented her from deciding what the designs might be. The men set the great basin down at one end of the tent, and turned to leave, one after the other; and each, as he passed her standing uncertainly near the center, bowed to her. She was made uneasy by the courtesy, and had to stop herself from taking a step or two backward. She stood with her arms at her sides, but her hands, invisible in the long full sleeves of her battered dressing-gown, closed slowly into fists. As the four men passed in front of her on their way out, several more were coming in, with silver urns on their shoulders; and the urns, she found when the carriers emptied them into the silver bath – it had to be a bath – were full of steaming water. No drop was spilled; and each man bowed to her as he left. She wondered how many of them there were engaged in water-carrying; there were never more than a few in the tent at once, yet as soon as one urn was empty the man behind was there to pour from another. It took only a few soft-footed minutes, the only sound that of the water falling into the basin, for it to be full; and the stream of men stopped likewise. She was alone a moment, watching the surface of the water glint as the last ripples grew still; and she saw that some of the design on the bath was simply the presence of hinges, and she laughed. This was a traveling camp, after all. Then four men entered together and ranged themselves in a line – like horse-herders, she thought, presented with an animal whose temper is uncertain – and looked at her; and she looked at them. She rather thought these were the four who had brought the bath in to begin with; but she wasn't sure. What she did notice was something else, something that hadn't quite registered while the steady shuffle of men and urns had gone past: that each of these men had a little white mark that looked like a scar on his forehead, in the center of the brow, above the eyes. She wondered about this; and then she wondered about what looked like towels lying over the shoulders of three of the men; and then the fourth one came toward her with a motion so swift and polite, and somehow unthreatening, that he slipped the Hill cloak off her shoulders and folded it over his arm before she reacted. She spun around then and backed away a step; and was almost certain that the look on this man's face was surprise. He laid the cloak down very gently on a wooden chest, and motioned toward the bath. She was grateful that at least he didn't bow to her again, which probably would have made her leap like a startled rabbit. It wasn't, she thought, that the gesture held any unpleasant servility. But it felt like an indication that she was somehow in command of the situation – or ought to be. The lack of servility was therefore alarming, because these men were too capable of observing that she didn't feel in the least as if she were in command. They looked at one another a moment longer. She thought then incredulously: Surely they're not expecting to give me a bath? – and noticed with the sides of her eyes that the other three men were standing behind the bath now, and one of the towels when unfolded was revealed as a robe, with a braided gold cord at the waist. The man directly in front of her, who had removed her cloak, reached out and laid his hands on the belt of her dressing-gown, and she suddenly found that she was angry. The last two days had been one indignity after another, however politely each had been offered; and to preserve what self-respect she could – and what courage – she had preferred not to think about them too closely. But that she wasn't even to be allowed to bathe without a guard – that she should be expected to submit tamely to the ministrations of four men – men – like a – like a – Her imagination chose to fail her here, far from home, with the terror of the unknown, and of the captured, only barely kept at bay. She threw off the man's polite fingers with as much violence as she could and said furiously: â€Å"No! Thank you, but no.† There are enough of them, for God's sake, to stand me on my head if they want to force the issue, she thought. But I am not going to cooperate. There was a ripple of golden silk at the sound of her voice, and a new shadow appeared in the lantern light. Corlath, who had been hovering just outside to see how his Outlander was going to behave, entered the tent. He spoke two or three words and the men left at once; each bowing, first to her and then to their king. A corner of Harry's mind, which refused to be oppressed by the dreadfulness of the situation, noticed that the bows were of equal depth and duration; and the same mental corner had the impertinence to think this odd. There was another little silence after the four men had left, only this time it was the king she was facing down. But she was too angry to care. If she said anything she would say too much, and she hadn't quite forgotten that she was at the mercy of strangers, so she bit her tongue and glowered. Why was this all happening? The bit of her mind which had commented about the equality of bows presently observed that anger was preferable to fear, so the anger was encouraged to carry on. Evidently Corlath had already had his bath; his black hair was wet, and even his sun-brown skin was a few shades lighter. He was wearing a long golden robe, stiff with elegant stitching, open at the front to show a loose cream-colored garment that fell almost to his sandaled feet. In her own country she would have been inclined to call it a nightshirt under an odd sort of dressing-gown – although nobody ever wore a scarlet cummerbund over one's nightshirt – but it looked very formal here. She mustn't forget to glower or she might feel awed. And then, inevitably, afraid. She recognized the quality of his silence when at last he spoke: the same feeling she had had when she first spoke to him, at the small campsite between the arms of a sand dune, that he chose and arranged his words very carefully. â€Å"Do you not wish to bathe, then? It is a long ride we had.† He was thinking, So I have managed to offend her immediately. It is done differently where she comes from; she can't know and must not be able to guess – but how could she guess? – that in the Hills it is only the men and women of the highest rank that may be waited on by household servants of both sexes. I feared – but for what good? We know nothing of each other's customs, and my household men have only done as they ought: treated the king's Outlander with the greatest honor. Harry in her turn had unbent slightly at the â€Å"we.† It was friendlier than the accusatory â€Å"you† she'd been expecting. She hadn't unbent so far, though, as to prevent herself from saying coldly, â€Å"I am accustomed to bathe alone.† Ah. Yes. I don't suppose I should mire myself with involved explanations at this point? She doesn't look to be in the mood for them. He said, â€Å"These are men of my household. It was to do you †¦ courtesy.† She glanced away and felt her anger begin to ebb; and so she was unprepared when he took a sudden stride forward as she dropped her eyes. He grabbed her chin and forced it up, turning her face to the light and staring down at her as if amazed. Her abrupt reversion to existence as an object to be bundled about, turned this way and that at another's will, made the anger boil up again at once; and her eyes glittered back at him without a trace of fear. He was staring into those eyes, as the light played full across them, and thinking, That's why. I don't understand it, but this must be why – the first step to why. He had just caught a glimpse, a suspicion, when she turned her head, the way the light fell, and he had put his hand out before he thought. Her eyes, under his gaze, shimmered grey to green with bubbles of amber that flickered like lightning in the depths and floated up to break like stars on the surface: bottomless eyes, that a man or beast fool enough to look at long would fall into and drown. He knew – he was one of the very few who need have no fear – that she did not know. She met his eyes too clearly: there was nothing in her eyes but simple and forthright fury – and he couldn't blame her for that. He wondered if she'd learned by accident not to focus her anger, or whether people she hated had a habit of falling downstairs or choking on fishbones – or if perhaps she had never hated . One doesn't generally look into mirrors when one is especially angry; one has better things to do, like pace the floor, or throw things. Perhaps no one had ever noticed, or been in a position to notice. And the thought came to him vaguely, for no particular reason, that she couldn't ever have been in love. If she had ever turned the full intensity of her kelar-brilliant eyes on any average mortal, they would both have had a shock; and she would never again have had the innocence to meet anyone's eyes as she now met his. He dropped his hand from her chin and turned away. He looked a little ashamed, she thought; and he said, â€Å"Forgive me,† as if he meant it. But he looked more thoughtful than anything else, and, she realized with surprise, relieved, as if he had made – or had made for him – some important decision. What can be wrong with my face? she thought. Has my nose turned green? It has always been crooked, but it never astonished anybody before. He offered her no explanation for his behavior, but after a moment's silence he said, â€Å"You will have your bath alone, as you wish,† glanced at her again as if to be sure she was real, and left her. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered; and then thought, Very well, I do want a bath, the water's cooling off, and how long is a bath expected to take before someone else comes trotting in? She took the fastest bath of her life, and was bright red with scrubbing but quite clean when she tumbled out again, dried off, and slithered into the white robe left for her. The sleeves came to her elbows, and the hem nearly to her ankles. There were long loose trousers to go underneath, but so full as to seem almost a skirt, and they rippled and clung as she moved. The clothing all was made from something adequately opaque, but when she had tied the golden rope around her middle she still felt rather embarrassingly unclad; Homelander garb for its women involved many more layers. She looked at her dusty dressing-gown, but was reluctant to put it back on; and she was still hesitating over this as she dried her hair on the second towel and tried to part the tangle with her fingers, when Corlath returned, carrying a dark red robe very much like his golden one – and a comb. The handle of it was wide and awkward in her hand, but it had familiar teeth, and that was all that counte d. While she watched through her wet hair, the bath was half-emptied as it had been filled, and the rest carried out still in the silver basin. The four men at its handles walked so smoothly the water never offered to slop up the sides. Then there was a pause and one of the men of the household – or so she supposed the forehead mark indicated – entered carrying a mirror in a leather frame and knelt before her on one knee, propped the mirror on the other, and tipped it back till she could see her face in it. She looked down, bemused – the man's eyes were on the floor. Did household servants of the Hills all take lessons in tipping mirrors to just the right angle, relative to the height and posture of the person to be served? Perhaps it was a specialty, known only to a few; and those few, of course, would be preserved for the royal household. She parted her hair gravely and shook it back over her shoulders, where it fell heavily past her hips. The deep red of her robe was very handsome; the shadows it cast were as velvety as rose petals. â€Å"Thank you,† she said in Hill-speech, hoping that she remembered the right phrase; and the man stood up, bowed again, and went away. Meanwhile a long table was being erected under the peak of the tent, next to the central pillar. It consisted of many square sections, with a leg at each corner of each square, set next to each other in a long single row; she wondered how they managed to stand so level on the whimsical layers of carpet. Corlath was pacing up and down the end of the tent opposite her, head bent and hands behind him. Plates were arranged on the table – each setting, she saw, was given a plate, one of the curious flat-bowled spoons, two bowls of different sizes, and a tall mug. The table was very low, and there were no chairs; some of the cushions scattered all over the tent were gathered up and heaped around it. Then large bowls of bread and fruit and – she thought – cheese were brought in, and the lamp that hung from the wooden rib over the table was lowered till it hung only a few feet from the plentiful food. It was just a little above her eye level as she stood watching. The la nterns that hung from the ceiling beams were suspended on fine chains which were attached to slender ropes looped around a row of what looked very much like belaying-pins on a ship lined up against one wall. Corlath had stopped pacing, and his eyes followed the lowering of the lamp; but the expression on his face said that his thoughts were elsewhere. Harry watched him covertly, ready to look away if he should remember her; and as the lamp was fixed in its new position she saw him return to himself with a snap. He walked a few steps forward to stand at one end of the long table; then he looked around for her. She was not in a good position for judging such things, but she felt that he recalled her existence to his mind with something of an effort, as a man will recall an unpleasant duty. She let him catch her eye, and he gestured that she should take her place at his left hand. At that moment the golden silk door was lifted again, and another group of men filed in. She recognized two of them: they were the men who had ridden with Corlath to assist at her †¦ removal. She was a little surprised that she should recognize them so easily, since what she had mostly seen of them was the backs of their heads when they averted their faces, or the tops of their heads or hoods when they stared at the ground. But recognize them she did, and felt no fear about staring at them full-face now, for they showed no more inclination than they ever had for looking back at her. There were eighteen men all told, plus Corlath and herself; and she was sure she could have recognized them as a group, as belonging together and bound together by ties as strong as blood or friendship, even if they had been scattered in a crowd of several hundred. They had an awareness of each other so complete as to be instinctive. She knew something of the working of this sort of camaraderie from watching Dedham and some of his men; but here, with this group of strangers, she could read it as easily as if it were printed on a page before her; and their silence – for none bothered with the kind of greeting Harry was accustomed to, any Hill version of hello and how are you – made it only more plain to her. Rather than finding their unity frightening, and herself all alone and outside, she found it comforting that her presence should so little disturb them. That instinctive awareness seemed to wrap around her too, and accept her: an outsider, an Outlander and a woman, a nd yet here she was and that was that. She sat when everyone else sat, and as bowls and plates were passed she found that hers were filled and returned to her without her having to do anything but accept what was given her. Knives appeared, from up sleeves and under sashes and down boot tops, and Corlath produced an extra one from somewhere and gave it to her. She felt the edge delicately with one finger, and found it very keen; and was faintly flattered that the prisoner should be allowed so sharp an instrument. No doubt because any one of these men could take it away from me at my first sign of rebellion, without even interrupting their chewing, she thought. She began to peel the yellow-skinned fruit on her plate, as the man opposite her was doing. It seemed years since she had faced Sir Charles across the breakfast table. She didn't notice when the conversation began; it proceeded too easily to have had anything so abrupt as a beginning, and she was preoccupied with how to manage her food. From the tone of their voices, these men were reporting to their king, and the substance of the reports was discussed as a matter of importance all around the table. She understood no word of it, for â€Å"yes† and â€Å"no† and â€Å"please† and â€Å"good† are almost impossible to pick out when talk is in full spate, but it was a language she found pleasant to listen to, with a variety of sounds and syllables that she thought would well lend themselves to any mood or mode of expression. Her mind began to wander after a little time. She was exhausted after the long ride, but the tension of her position – I will not say that I am utterly terrified – served admirably to keep her awake and uneasily conscious of all that went on around her. She wondered if any of these men would give it away by look or gesture if the conversation turned to the Outlander in their midst. But after a bath, and clean clothes, even these odd ones, and good food, for the food was very good, and even the company, for their companionship seemed to hold her up like something tangible, her mind insisted on relaxing. But that relaxation was a mixed blessing at best, because as the tension eased even a little, her thoughts unerringly reverted to trying to puzzle out why she was where she found herself. Something to do with that abortive meeting at the Residency, between the Hillfolk and the Outlanders, presumably. But why? Why me? If I could be stolen from my bed – or my window-seat – then they could steal somebody from some other bed – and Sir Charles seems a lot more likely as a political figure. She repressed a grin. Though a very unlikely figure for riding across a saddlebow. There had to be a better reason than that of physical bulk for the choice of herself over †¦ whoever else was available. She had been spirited out of her own house, with the doors locked and the dogs out, and Sir Charles and Lady Amelia asleep only a few steps away. It was as if Corlath – or his minions – could walk through walls: and if they could walk through the Residency walls and over the Residency dogs, probably they could walk through any other walls – at least Homelander walls – that they chose. It was uncanny. She remembered that Dedham, whose judgment she trusted above all others' at the station, and who knew more than any other Homelander about his adopted country, believed in the uncanniness of certain of the Hillfolk's tactics. Which brought her back to square one of this game: Why her? Why Harry Crewe, the Residency's charity case, who had only been in this country at all for a few months? There was one obvious answer, but she discarded it as soon as it arose. It was too silly, and she was convinced that, whatever failings Corlath and his men might be capable of, silliness wasn't one of them. And Corlath didn't look at her the way a man looks at a woman he plans to have share his bed – and his interest would have to be very powerful indeed for him to have gone to so much trouble to steal her. He looked at her rather as a man looks at a problem that he would very much prefer to do without. She supposed it was distinction of a sort to be a harassment to a king. She also swiftly, almost instinctively, discarded the idea that her Homelanders would mount any successful expedition to find her and bring her home again. The Hillfolk knew their desert; the Homelanders did not. And the Residency charity case would not warrant extraordinary efforts. She thought wryly: If Jack guesses where I am, he'll think I don't need rescuing †¦ but poor Dick; he'll manage to convince himself that it's his fault, he brought me out here in the first place †¦ She blinked hastily, and bit her lips. Her crossed legs were asleep, and the small of her back hurt. She was accustomed to sitting in chairs. She began surreptitiously to thump her thighs with her fists till they began to tingle painfully to life again; then she began on her calves. By the time she could feel when she wiggled her toes, the hot stiff feeling around her eyes had ebbed and she could stop blinking. The men of the household entered the royal tent again, and cleared the table. The bread and fruit were replaced by bowls of something dark and slightly shiny. When she was offered a bit of it she discovered it to be sticky and crunchy and very sweet, and by the time she had eaten most of her generous serving, and what remained was adhering to her face and fingers, she noticed that a bowl of water and a fresh napkin had been placed at each person's elbow. There was a momentary lull while everyone sighed and stretched; and Corlath said a few words to the men of the household, which caused one of them to leave the tent and the other three still present to go around the walls extinguishing the lanterns, all except the one lamp that hung low over the table. The heavy woven walls shone in the daylight so the inside was palely lit; and the lamp over the table burned like a small sun, casting half-shadows in the quiet corners of the glowing white walls and in the hollows of eyes. None spoke. Then the man returned, carrying a dark leather bag bound with brass in the shape of a drinking-horn. A thong hung from its neck and base, and this the man had looped over his shoulder. He offered it first to Corlath, who gestured to the man at his right. The man of the household handed it gravely to him, bowed, and left; there were none in the tent now but those twenty who sat round the table. The first man drank – one swallow; she could see him letting it slide slowly down his throat. He balanced the bag on the table and stared at the burning lamp. After a moment an expression passed over his face that was so clear Harry felt she should recognize it immediately; but she did not. She was shaken both by its strength and by her own failure to read it; and then it was gone. The man looked down, smiled, shook his head, said a few words, and passed the horn to the man sitting on his right. Each man took one mouthful, swallowed it slowly, and stared at the lamp. Some of them spoke and some did not. One man, with skin sunburned as dark as cinnamon but for a pale scar on his jaw, spoke for a minute or two, and words of surprise broke from several of his audience. They all looked to Corlath, but he sat silent and inscrutable, chin in hand; and so the drinking-horn was passed on to the next. One man Harry remembered in particular: he was shorter than most of the company, while his shoulders were very broad and his hands large. His hair was grizzled and his expression grim; his face was heavily lined, but whether with age or experience or both she could not guess. He sat near the foot of the table on the side opposite her. He drank, stared at the light, spoke no word, and passed the horn to the man on his right. All the others, even the ones who said nothing, showed something in their faces – something, Harry thought, that was transparent to any who had eyes to see beyond – some strong sensation, whether of sight or feeling – she could not even guess this much. But this man remained impassive, as opaque as skin and blood and bone can be. One could see his eyes move, and his chest heave as he breathed; there was no clue for further speculation. She wondered what his name was, and if he ever smiled. As the leather bag rounded the bottom of the table and started up the other side, and Harry could no longer see the faces of the drinkers, she dropped her eyes to her hands and complimented herself on how quietly they lay, the fingers easy, not gripping each other or whitening their knuckles around her mug. The mug was still half full of a pale liquid, slightly honey-sweet but without (she thought she could by now conclude) the dangers of the gentle-tasting mead it reminded her of. She moved one finger experimentally, tapped it against the mug, moved it back, rearranged her hands as a lady might her knitting, and waited. She was aware when the drinking-horn reached the man on her left, and was aware of the slight shudder that ran through him just before he spoke; but she kept her eyes down and waited for Corlath to reach across her and take the waiting horn. This was not something an Outlander would be expected to join in – and just as well. Whatever the stuff was, watching the men's faces when they drank made her feel a little shaky. And so she was much surprised when one of Corlath's hands entered her range of vision and touched the back of one of her hands with the forefinger. She looked up. â€Å"Take a sip,† he said. She reached out stiffly and took the brass-bound bag from the man who held it, keeping her eyes only on the bag itself. It was warm from all the hands that had held it, and up close she could see the complexity of the twisted brass fittings. It carried a slight odor with it: faintly pungent, obscurely encouraging. She took a deep breath. â€Å"Only a sip,† said Corlath's voice. The weight of the thing kept her hands from trembling. She tipped her head back and took the tiniest of tastes: a few drops only. She swallowed. It was curious, the vividness of the flavor, but nothing she could put a name to †¦ She saw a broad plain, green and yellow and brown with tall grasses, and mountains at the edge of it, casting long shadows. The mountains started up abruptly, like trees, from the flatness of the plain; they looked steep and severe and, with sun behind them, they were almost black. Directly in front of her there was a small gap in those mountains, little more than a brief pause in the march of the mountains' sharp crests, and it was high above the floor of the plain. Up the side of the mountain, already near the summit, was a bright moving ribbon. Horsemen, no more than forty of them, riding as quickly as they could over the rough stony track, the horses with their heads low and thrown forward, watching their feet, swinging with their strides, the riders straining to look ahead, as though fearing they might come too late. Behind the riders were men on foot, bows slung slantwise over their backs, crossed by quivers of arrows; there were perhaps fifty of them, and they followed the horses, with strides as long as theirs. Beside them were long brown moving glints, supple as water, that slid from light to shade too quickly to be identified; four-footed, they looked to be; dogs perhaps. The sunlight bounced off sword hilts, and the metal bindings of leather arms and harness, and shields of many shapes, and the silver strings of bows. The far sides of the mountains were less steep, but no less forbidding. Broken foothills extended a long way, into the hazy distance; a little parched grass or a few stunted trees grew where they could. Below the gap in the mountains by any other path but through the valley would be impossible, at least for horses. The gap was one that a small determined force would be able to defend – for a time. The bright ribbon of horsemen and archers collected in the small flat space behind the gap, and became a pool. Here there was a little irregular plateau, with shallow crevasses, wide enough for small campsites, leading into the rocky shoulders on either side, and with a long low overhanging shelf to one side that was almost a cave. The plateau narrowed to a gap barely the width of two horsemen abreast, where the mountain peaks crowded close together, just before it spilled into the scrub-covered valley, and the rock-strewn descending slopes beyond. The horsemen paused and some dismounted; some rode to the edge and looked out. At the far edge of the foothills something glittered, too dark for grass, too sharply peaked for water. When it spilled into the foothills it became apparent for what it was: an army. This army rode less swiftly than had the small band now arranging themselves in and around the pass, but their urgency was less. The sheer numbers of them were all the tactics they needed. But the little army waiting for them organized itself as seriously as if it had a chance of succeeding in what it set out to do; and perhaps some delay of the immense force opposing it was all that it required. The dust beyond the foothills winked and flashed as rank after rank approached the mountains †¦ †¦ and then time began to turn and dip crazily, and she saw the leader of the little force plunging down into the valley with a company behind him, and he drew a sword that flashed blue in his hand. His horse was a tall chestnut, fair as daylight, and his men swept down the hill behind him. She could not see the archers, but she saw a hail of arrows like rain sweeping from the low trees on either side of the gap. The first company of the other army leaped eagerly toward them, and a man on a white horse as tall as the chestnut and with red ribbons twisted into its long tail met the blue sword with one that gleamed gold †¦ †¦ and Harry found herself back in the tent, her throat hoarse as if from shouting: standing up, with a pair of strong hands clamped on her shoulders; and she realized that without their support she would sag to her knees. The fierce shining of the swords was still in her eyes. She blinked and shook her head, and realized she was staring at the lamp; so she turned her head and looked up at Corlath, who was looking down at her with something – she noticed with a shock – like pity in his face. She could think of nothing to say; she shook her head again, as if to shake out of it all she had just seen; but it stayed where it was. There was a silence, of a moment, or perhaps of half a year. She breathed once or twice; the air felt unnaturally harsh on her dry throat. She began to feel the pile of carpets pressing against her feet, and Corlath's hands slackened their grip. They stood, the two of them, king and captive, facing one another, and all the men at the table looked on. â€Å"I am sorry,† Corlath said at last. â€Å"I did not think it would take you with such strength.† She swallowed with some difficulty: the lovely wild flavor of the mad drink she had just tasted lingered in the corners of her mouth, and in the corners of her mind. â€Å"What is it?† Corlath made some slight gesture – of denigration or of ignorance. â€Å"The drink – we call it Meeldtar – Seeing Water, or Water of Sight.† â€Å"Then – all that I saw – I really saw it. I didn't imagine it.† â€Å"Imagine it? Do you mean did you see what was true? I do not know. One learns, eventually, usually to know, to be able to say if the seeings are to be believed or are †¦ imagined. But imagined as you mean it – no. The Water sends these things, or brings them.† There was a pause again, but nobody relaxed, least of all herself. There was more to it than this, than a simple – simple? – hallucination. She looked at Corlath, frowning. â€Å"What else?† she said, as calmly as if she were asking her doom. Corlath said, â€Å"There is something else,† as if he were putting it off. He hesitated, and then spoke a few words in a language she did not recognize. It wasn't the usual Darian she heard the natives around the Residency speak, or the slightly more careful tongue that Dedham and Mr. Peterson used; nor did it sound like the differently accented tongue the Hillfolk spoke, which was still recognizable to those who were fluent in Darian. This was a rougher, more powerful language to listen to, although many of the sounds – strange to her Homelander ears – were common with the Darian she was accustomed to. She looked at Corlath, puzzled, as he spoke a little further. She knew nothing of this language. â€Å"It is not familiar to you?† Corlath said at last; and when she shook her head, he said, â€Å"No, of course not, how could it be?† He turned around. â€Å"We might sit down again,† and sat down with great deliberateness. She sat down too, waiting. The look she had seen before on his face, that of a man facing a problem he would far rather avoid, had returned, but it had changed. Now his look said that he understood what the problem was, and it was much more serious than he had suspected. â€Å"There are two things,† he said. â€Å"The Water of Sight does not work so on everyone. Most people it merely makes ill. To a few it gives headaches; headaches accompanied by strange colors and queer movements that make them dizzy. There are very few who see clearly – we nineteen, here tonight, all of us have drunk the Water of Sight many times. But even for us, most of us see only a brief abrupt picture – sometimes the scene lasts so little time it is hard to recognize. Often it is of something familiar: one's father, one's wife, one's horse. There is a quality to these pictures, or memories, that is like nothing else, like no voluntary memory you might call up yourself. But often that is all. â€Å"Occasionally one of the people of our Hills sees more. I am one. You have just proven yourself another. I do not know why you saw what you did. You told us something of what you saw as you were seeing it. You may have seen a battle of the past – or one that never happened – or one that may yet happen; it may occur in Damar, or – in some other country.† She heard may yet happen as if those three words were the doom she had asked for; and she remembered the angry brilliance of the yellow-eyed Hill-king as he stood before the Residency far away. â€Å"But – † she said, troubled, hardly realizing she spoke aloud – â€Å"I am not even of your Hills. I was born and bred far away – at Home. I have been here only a few months. I know nothing of this place.† â€Å"Nothing?† said Corlath. â€Å"I said there were two things. I have told you the first. You told us what you saw as you saw it. But this is the second thing: you spoke in the Old Tongue, what we call the Language of the Gods, that none knows any more but kings and sorcerers, and those they wish to teach it to. The language I just spoke to you, that you did not recognize – I was repeating the words you had said yourself, a moment before.†