Food Regulations Essay

1.State the administrative agency which controls the regulation. Explain why this agency and your proposed regulation interest you (briefly). Will this proposed regulation affect you or the business in which you are working? If so, how? Submit a copy of the proposed regulation along with your responses to these five questions. The proposed regulation can be submitted as either a separate Word document (.doc) or Adobe file (.pdf). This means you will submit two attachments to the Week 2 Drop box: (a) a Word document with the questions and your answers and (b) a copy of the proposed regulation you used for this assignment. (10 points) 2.Describe the proposal/change. (10 points) 3.Write the public comment that you would submit to this proposal. If the proposed regulation deadline has already passed, write the comment you would have submitted. Explain briefly what you wish to accomplish with your comment. (10 points) 4.Provide the â€Å"deadline† by which the public comment must be made. (If the date has already passed, please provide when the deadline was). (5 points) 5. Once you have submitted your comment, what will you are legally entitled to do later in the promulgation process (if you should choose to do so)? (See the textbook’s discussion of the Administrative Procedure Act.) If the proposal passes, identify and explain the five legal theories you could use in an attempt to have (any) administrative regulation declared invalid and overturned in court. Which of these challenges would be the best way to challenge the regulation you selected for this assignment if you wanted to have the regulation overturned and why? Answer all of these questions for #5 even if you are in favor of your proposed regulation. The response to question 5 should be a minimum of 2–3 paragraphs long. (15 points) 1-FDA publishes rules that establish or modify the way it regulates foods, drugs, biologics, cosmetics, radiation-emitting electronic products, and medical devices commodities close to the daily lives of all Americans. FDA rules have considerable impact on the nation’s health, industries and economy. My concern is that under the federal law, a claim that a food is intended to diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent disease makes that food a drug, and is unlawful. However, federal law provides for FDA approval of a health claim, which is a statement that characterizes the relationship of any substance to a disease or health-related condition (e.g. a claim that calcium may reduce the risk of osteoporosis). Under the statutory standard for approval, the claim must be supported by significant scientific agreement. (www.iflr.msu.edu/iflr/courses/united_states_food_laws†¦) 2. The adequacy of federal oversight of food safety recently became the subject of intense media and Congressional scrutiny. The issue came to national prominence when contaminated food caused the death and illness of hundreds of people. The episode served to heighten awareness of the fact that an increasing proportion of the food consumed domestically is imported, and much of it from countries that do not have well established food safety systems. It also began to focus attention on the fact that FDA’s funding has not kept up with the responsibilities that have been heaped upon it over the past several years, and that FDA will need additional legal authority to effectively address some problem areas; they have adequate funding and resources. FDA covered the overall food safety systems of the countries, as well as their food safety systems such as specific commodity areas; i.e. seafood, including molluscan shellfish, imported meat products, vegetables and dairy products (exclu ding Grade â€Å"A† pasteurized milk products). (www.fda.gov/Food/InternationalActivities/Imports/default.htm) 3. The controversy over trans-fat offers an example of how one kind of regulation at the federal level can beget other forms of regulation at the state level. In 2006, an FDA regulation went into effect that requires listing the amount of trans-fat present in a packaged food on the label of that food. FDA did not go so far as to ban the use of trans-fat, something that some consumer groups were advocating. However, shortly after the issuance of FDA’s rule, state and local jurisdictions started stepping into the breach. A number of localities have banned the use of trans-fat in restaurant foods, and some states, such as California, have begun to follow suit. Faced with a patchwork of local requirements and the potential for adverse publicity, some major restaurant chains have reformulated their products to eliminate the use of trans-fat, however, nations wide has not complied or just finds a loophole to go around the system in avoiding such regulations. Another issue is the increasing concern of the status of federal regulation of foods and other products that contain nanomaterial. Both proponents and skeptics of nanotechnology hold the view that industry has raced ahead of regulatory authorities in bringing nanotech products to market, thereby increasing the potential for consumer injury and environmental harm. Thus, there is at least some support for stronger regulatory oversight of nanotech products in general, and of nanotech foods, including food additives and dietary supplements in specific. Recently, FDA announced that it will hold a public hearing to seek input on various aspects of its approach to regulation of nanotechnology. FDA likely will follow up on that hearing with the issuance of guidance documents specific to the product categories that it oversees. (www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/146784/Healthcare+Food†¦) 4. By law, anyone should participate in the rule-making process by commenting in writing on rules FDA proposes. FDA routinely allows the public input and carefully considers the comments when it draws up a final rule. Another way to influence the way FDA does business is to petition the agency to issue, change or cancel a regulation, or to take other action. FDA will act to implement a provision of the FDA Amendments Act of 2007 that requires FDA to establish a reportable food registry, and that requires any person who submits a registration for a food facility under the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 to also notify FDA of instances of reportable food. A reportable food is one for which there exists a reasonable probability that use of, or exposure to, the food will cause serious adverse health consequences or death, the same standard that currently applies to Class I recalls, so the practical effect of the new provision should make it mandatory for companies to notify FDA of a Class I recall situation. FDA Petitions require careful preparation by the submitter, they spends considerable time and staff resources processing petitions. Individuals sometimes submit petitions, but most come from regulated industry or consumer groups. For example, a drug company might request a change in labeling for one of its products; a food company might ask that its product be exempted from some provision of a regulation; or a consumer group might petition FDA to tighten regulation of a certain product. (RegistrarCorp.com/FDA-Food) 5. Health claims have been the subject of considerable controversy. After protracted litigation, federal courts ruled that FDA cannot impose an outright ban on claims that have some scientific support but fail to meet the statutory standard of significant scientific agreement. FDA’s strict application of the statutory standard was held to violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects against government infringement of speech that is not false or misleading. In response to those court decisions, FDA should develop a process for approval of qualified health claims; in order to attempt and describe the strength of the scientific evidence that supports a claim. Qualified health claims should be the subject of controversy in their own right. Some observers believe that qualified health claims are as likely to mislead as to inform consumers, and opposition to their use has grown to the point where Congressional representatives have asked FDA to stop approving them altogether. It remains to be seen how the controversy will be resolved, given that FDA’s current approach was essentially forced on it by the judiciary. (www.iflr.msu.edu/iflr/courses/united_states_food_laws) References: FDA gov Homepage – U.S Food and Drug Administration homepage; Retrieved form www.fda.gov January 19th, 2013 US FDA Food Regulations/FDA Beverage Regulations; Retrieved from www.registrarcorp.com/fda-food/index.jsp? January 20, 2013 Importing Food Products into the United States; Retrieved from www.fda.gov/Food/InternationalActivities/Imports/default.htm . January 20, 2013 United States – FDA Food Labeling Regulations; Retrieved from www.ladas.com/BULLETINS/1994/0694Bulletin/US_Food

Pulse Width Modulation Final Year Project

Chapter 1 Introduction 1. 0 Background Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is a type of devices that can be used as a DC motor speed controller or light dimmer. PWM is used extensively for speed controller where power-saving application is needed. This device has been used as a motor speed control for small DC fans, for example in computer power supplies. A PWM circuits works by creating a square wave with a variable on-to-off ratio, the average on time may be varied from 0 to 100 duty cycle.The term duty cycle describes the proportion of ‘on' time to the regular interval or ‘period' of time; a low duty cycle corresponds to low power, because the power is off for most of the time. Duty cycle is expressed in percent, 100% being fully on. From this, a variable amount of power is transferred to the load. The main advantage of PWM is that power loss in the switching devices is very low. When the switch is off there is practically no current, and when it is on, there is almost no vol tage drop across the switch.Power loss, being the product of voltage and current, is thus in both cases close to zero. PWM also works well with digital controls, which, because of their on/off nature, can easily set the needed duty cycle. Additional advantage of PWM is that the pulses reach the full supply voltage and will produce more torque in a motor by being able to overcome the internal motor resistance easily. 1. 1 Objectives The objectives of this project are: 1.To develop the actual circuit of the PWM. 2. To simulate the PWM circuit in simulation software. 3. To use the PWM in order to control the speed of the DC motor. 1. 2 Methodology Start Title consideration, ideas Supervisor approval Components specifications and data sheets Proposal Drafting Proposal Evaluation Project Simulation Project Presentation Progress Report Submission END Figure 1. 2. 1 Flowchart of Methodology 1. 3 Gantt Chart 1. 3. 1 Final Year Project 1 | WEEKS|ACTIVITY| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9| 10| 11| 1 2| 13| 14| 1| Student-supervisor-panel allocation, briefing about FYP, introductions|   |   | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 2| Student-supervisor meeting arrange time, finding ideas discuss ideas, project titles|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 3| Student-supervisor regular meeting|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 4| Proposal preparation|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 5| Proposal evaluation, meet supervisor for evaluation, things to be improved|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 6| Proposal correction correct any mistakes|   |   | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 7| Project Development choose circuit, check availability simulation|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 8| Proposal and progress presentation|   |   | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 9| Progress report writing is based on progress|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 10| Progress report submission submit report|   |   | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 1. 3. 2 Final Year Project 2 Week| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9| 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| Tasks| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Buy Components |   |   |   |   | | | | | | | | | | | Construct circuiton breadboard | | |   |   |   | | | | | | | | | | Troubleshoot| | |   |   |   | |   |   | | | | | | | PCB Layout Design| | | | | |   | | |   | | | | | | PCB Layout Print| | | | | | | | | |   |   | | | | Soldering| | | | | |   |   |   | | | | | | | Final Report| | | | | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | Final Presentation| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1. 3. 2. 1 Aims for Final Year Project 2 1. Prepare the actual circuit diagram 2. Building and programming the PCB circuit diagram 3.Drilling the PCB and soldering the components 4. Testing the PWM circuit 5. Troubleshoot 1. 3. 2. 2 Project planning for Final Year Project 2 For the final year project 2, we have to prepare the actual circuit based on our simulation result. We will create the PCB artwork with PCB programming such as ExpressPCB, which is available for free and is surprisingly functional. Next, we have to print out the PCB artwork on a transparency. Then we cut out the printed portion of the artwork. This will define the size and shape of the PCB.To make PCBs, we can use the UV exposure method, which is only slightly more difficult than and significantly more precise than the toner transfer method. To start out, we must cut the PCB to be the same size as the outline of the PCB positive. First, we drew a rectangle the same dimensions of the PCB on the protective layer of UV Reactiv e copper covered ibreglass board, and then cut it out using a Dremel tool equipped with a diamond wheel. We have to make sure that once we have removed the board from its protective package it will not be exposed to any UV.Fluorescent and halogen lights both output enough UV light that they will expose the board through the protective layer of plastic. Next, after we cut the UV sensitive PCB to size, we are ready to expose the board. Then we remove the protective layer to size, from the PCB right before we place the positive on it, or else dust particles will attach to the board, which will mark the final PCB. To expose the PCB, first remove the protective layer, place the positive transparency on top of the board, and place it in the UV exposure box. An exposure time of 10-11 minutes is recommended.Now we need to drill holes in the PCB for the through-hole components. Finally, we have to solder all the components through-hole components. If the final result is not achieved when tes ting the final circuit, we have to run troubleshooting and find out the problem. Then, we solved the problem based on the troubleshooting after we identify the real problem. Chapter 2 Circuit Design and Operation 2. 1 Schematic diagram Figure 2. 1. 1 Schematic Diagram of Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) To Control DC Motor Speed. 2. 2 Circuit operation 2. 2. 1 Flow Chart and Description Input Signal DC wave) ? IC NE556 Output Signal (Square wave) LM311 Comparator Potentiometer ? IC NE556 Output Signal (Modulated Square wave) IRF 521 DC Motor Figure 2. 2. 1. 1 Circuit Operation Flowchart The input signal is fed into first half of IC NE556. The IC NE556 will generate square wave. The wave will then go to the second half of IC NE556 and been modulated. Potentiometer will control the second half IC to produce the desired output. A modulated square will be generated from the second IC. This wave of current will be amplified by IRF521 and then went to the motor and spin it.The DC motor speed will depends on the magnitude of the current. Chapter 3 Project Progress 3. 0 The Project Progress and the Project Outcomes The first stage of the progress is building the circuit for the Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) circuit. Then, the best circuit diagram is chosen for our project. A preliminary literature review about our circuit had also been done. In this project, two of the LM556, Dual 556 Timer TTL IC were used to simulate the PWM circuit. The first IC allowed the possibility to generate square wave while the second IC allow modulation variation.Other than that, several problems were encountered when simulating some part of the circuit. This is due to incomplete library component of the simulation software such as the lack of LM556 IC in the first place. This was because the wrong type of licence of the software was selected. After a few trials and some changes of the circuit diagram for simulation, and with the right licence for the software, the PWM circuit was successfully simulated. Figure 1. 1 Expected DC square wave (output) Results Input Signal of 1st half of IC NE556 Output Signal of 2nd half of IC NE556Calculation from theory: Thigh= 0. 7(RA+RC)C Thigh= 0. 7(1M+1K) (0. 05 µ) = 0. 035s/35ms Tlow= 0. 7 RB C Tlow= 0. 7 (1K) (0. 05 µ) = 3. 5Ãâ€"10-5s/ 0. 035 ms Values from simulation: Thigh= 38ms Tlow= 42  µs/ 0. 042 m Input Signal of 2nd half of IC NE556 Output Signal of 2nd half IC NE556 (A=0%, B=0%) (A=0%, B=10%) (A=0%, B=50%) (A=0% B=100%) Calculation from theory: Thigh= 1. 1 RA C Rated Current From Simulation (A=0%, B=0%)I=45. 842mA(A=0%, B=10%)I=132. 953mA (A=0%, B=50%)I=406. 541mA(A=0% B=100%)I=4. 121A Table of Motor Speed Slow| Speed| Fast| 0%| Value of Potentiometer B| 100%| 0. 2077ms| T high (ON time)| 7. l79ms| 132. 95mA| Rated Current| 4. 121A| 12V| Rated Voltage (Constant)| 12V| Since voltage is constant, the higher the current supplied, the faster the motor would spin. Chapter 4 4. 0 The Problems Encountered CASE 1 – FIND ING SUITABLE SIMULATION SOFTWARE The PWM circuit uses two of LM556 IC. The first LM556 will convert DC input signal into square wave. Before doing the hardware of the project, the software need to be simulated first to check whether the circuit diagram is correct or need some adjustment.Because of this, finding the suitable simulation software had become a problem encounter to finish the project. List below show example name of other simulation software that can be used to run any the software simulation for the project; 1. TINA 2. OrCAD Capture 3. PROTEUS All of the other simulation software above can be use to run the simulation for this project but some of them were not suitable. As an example the TINA software were not used because of the unfamiliarity and the complexity of the software.The project also cannot be simulated using the OrCAD Capture since there were a large number of library which does not have simulation installed. This make it unsuitable since this project requir ed to be simulated. Meanwhile PROTEUS software was not used because of the difficult interface that complicate the user or in other words not user-friendly. CASE 2 – WRONG LICENCE OF SIMULATION SOFTWARE After MULTISIM had been installed, a situation was encountered where the library components are not complete or some of the components are not available.If this problem prolonged, the circuit cannot be designed in the software. Some measures had been taken to find the solution but the problems still persist. There are some types of licence that accompanied for MULTISIM, which are: 1Power PRO Edition 2Full Edition 3Student Edition 4Education PKG Edition 5Base Edition At first, the Full Edition licence was installed. When the circuit was being designed, a lot of components were unavailable. Every aspect of the software was checked, but no problem related to the software was detected. The MULTISIM software was cleanly installed in the computer. . 1 Solutions for Every Problem CAS E 1 SOLUTION – USE MULTISIM SOFTWARE The simulation can be done by using simulation programmed like TINA, Proteus, or OrCAD Capture. Unfortunately, all of these simulation programmed mentioned above have problems as explained before. Without a proper simulation, it is hard to detect any problems that exist in the design of the circuit. Finally, MULTISIM is chosen as the simulation program. MULTISIM was suitable for simulation of the Pulse Width Modulation circuit. MULTISIM has all the required components in its component library.Hence, all the components can be place in the circuit to complete it. Simulation can be done easily by using MULTISIM. All the results being cleared by using this programmed. Expected results are the PWM wave which will control the motor. CASE 2 SOLUTION – WRONG LICENCE OF SIMULATION SOFTWARE This problem was easily encountered by reinstalling licence of the right type. In this case, PowerPro Edition licence type was required. After it has been reinstalled, all the components are unlocked. Hence, the process of designing the circuit in the simulation software continued, and simulation process succeed.Chapter 5 Conclusion For this semester, the project progress was successful until the simulation. Hence, the simulation needs to be done correctly according to the circuit so that expected result can be obtained. The circuit diagram for PWM to Control DC Motor Speed has been successfully designed. Thus, the first objective has been achieved. The progress of the project works efficiently if the project followed accordingly to the Gantt chart made at the beginning of the project. The Gantt chart contains all the important steps that need to be followed in rder to finish the project successfully. All the steps in the Gantt chart been mentioned with respective date. Hence, there should be no problem during Final Year Project 1 when all works were being done according directly to the Gantt chart. The simulation for PWM to Control DC Motor Speed had been done by using simulation program, MULTISIM. MULTISIM provides all the necessary components to complete the simulation for the PWM circuit. Since the output should be a DC motor or a DC fan, it was replaced with Oscilloscope or Multimeter to observe the changes that occur in the simulation.This shows that choosing MULTISIM is the smart choice to run the simulation because of the advantages and the ease of use that this simulation program has. REFERENCES 1. Motor Speed Controller, retrieved from http://homepages. which. net/~paul. hills/SpeedControl/SpeedControllersBody. html 2. 4QD-TEC: Electronics Circuits Reference Archive : PWM speed control, retrieved from http://www. 4qdtec. com/pwm-01. html 3. PWM Motor Speed Controller / DC Light Dimmer, retrieved from http://www. solorb. com/elect/solarcirc/pwm1/ 4. PWM DC Motor Controller, retrieved from http://picprojects. org. uk/projects/ppc/index. htm

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Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

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Question answer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Jews in Babylon Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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Theology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

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Legal Structure of Business - Research Paper Example There is no limit on the amount of stock a C Corporation can generate and there is a limited personal liability for stockholders which are also beneficial. The Internal Revenue Service lists various approaches to the taxation requirements for a C Corporation, part of the benefits of using the C Corporation is that the profit of a corporation is taxed when earned, and taxed to the shareholders when distributed. (Corporations, 2011 p 1) The elements most necessary in a General Corporation or C Corporation are three tiers of power, stockholders, directors and officers. Clear separation of responsibilities and rights for each position, no limit to size, directors run the company, directors are elected by stockholder vote, stockholders own the company, minority stockholders are not responsible for the company (clarify exactly what reflects a minor stockholder) and can be subchapter S if all the qualifications are met. (Incorporating 101, 2011 np) Being a subchapter S is a positive thing f or companies with fewer than 100 stockholders. They are allowed tax relief in the form of avoiding the double taxation that occurs with many public companies. (Subchapter S, 2011 p 1) This means that instead of the taxes being directed at the C Corporation they are directed at the dividends or earnings of the stockholders.

Is democracy valuable If so, why If not, why not Essay - 1

Is democracy valuable If so, why If not, why not - Essay Example These two principles ensure that people of a given country are treated equally before the law as well as having equal entitlement to access the legislative (Gil 12). This essay will focus on answering the question of whether democracy is valuable or not while providing concise reasons to support the argument. However, the researcher will take a neutral position in this hot debate. Democracy has an extensive past with a classical example of early democracy being the Athens. People in this city would all meet in a market place to pass decisions. In the modern world, various types of democracy are based on different ideologies. They include liberal, guided, consociation, radical as well as socialist democracies (Gil 32). Liberal democracy is termed as the most relevant democracy in today’s world. It ensures that interests of the people are protected and well represented. In this form of democracy state acts as a referee with the political process checking and balancing to ensure that tyranny of the majority does not happen may it be from the presence of larger number of representatives or minorities who have excessive powers. Citizens participate in this type of democracy by means of electoral competition or contestation all people are treated equally (Gil 22). Democracy can be termed as the most superior form of governance even though the statement might be debatable depending on a number of factors such as place of origin, culture, and beliefs among others. First, democracy plays a major role in preventing any form of ruling by vicious and cruel autocrats or dictators. Secondly, countries with this type of governance tend to be more successful that those with non-democratic government. Thirdly, the modern representatives of democracy do not engage in wars or fights amongst themselves since each understands that his or her opponents have a right to disagree with their opinion. Fourthly and the most

Macy’s Inc Case Essay Example for Free

Macy’s Inc Case Essay Analyze the publicly-traded firm Macy’s Inc.; you are to complete a financial analysis. Complete the following steps for this portion of the project: 1. Obtain financial information for your firm for at least a 5 (2008-2012) year time period. This information should include: income statements, balance sheets, cash-flow statements. 2. Provide a brief history of the firm: You will need to do background reading about the firm in order to gain insight into its performance and behavior. Focus this section on the â€Å"who, when, where and what† questions about your firm’s history. 3. Complete financial measures of the firm for a multi-year time period (e.g. 5 years). This should include all measures concerning the income statement, balance sheet, and cash-flow statements. 4. Analysis of the financial performance of the firm. Once all financial measures have been determined, an analysis of this information is crucial to understanding how well the firm is performing and its current state of operations. There will be two components to this analysis: a. End-Point Analysis: Using the end-point methodology described in the document in the Reference Module of the Content Section of the course, compare the firm’s current financial performance to its financial performance in the beginning time frame. Describe, discuss, and analyze the changes you observe. b. Industry Comparison: Obtain current industry data on the various financial measures you have determined for the firm. Compare the performance of the firm to the industry and describe/discuss your results. 5. Summarize your findings. Based on the financial analysis you have just completed, summarize your findings and draw conclusions about the changes in the financial performance/structure of the firm over time and about the current strengths of its operations.

Causes of Deterioration in Buildings

Causes of Deterioration in Buildings In this report Im mainly focusing on deterioration in buildings, needs of planned, cyclical and reactive maintenance, relationship between design, construction, maintenance and cause of dilapidation. Hopefully it is very important report to improve your knowledge. Causes of deterioration in building When we talking about this question there are many reasons for deterioration in buildings, many of them having to do simple with reveal to the elements. Building deterioration is mostly depends on what type of building the time period, building is maintain. The main example we can take is, when we talking about the external walls of the building most of the time this walls get caught to the rain, frost etc. so when we are not doing the maintenance in time period the entire building will deterioration due to the cause. Not only this issue we can discuss for deterioration of building, we can list the primary source and causes of deterioration and decay in structures and buildings such as; Human Chemicals Atmospheric Structural Moisture Fire Faulty design Faulty construction Faulty materials Faulty systems Cleaning Vandalism When we talking about these topics human are the main cause of deterioration in buildings. Talking about one by one, failure to clean and carry out routine maintenance is a cause of deterioration of building. Because most of the sites we can see after finishing their day work they not clean the site. Sometimes when we coming at next day we cannot walk in the site even. Because of that hazards are everywhere in the site. Sometimes when client coming to check whether the works are going on that day every single worker are cleaning the site keep the site looking perfect. But when we going next day site is not clean. Because they not continuing their work, there was no any special plan to clean the site.so this issue will mainly cause for the building. Other thing is failure to employ specialists for cleaning special fittings and equipment. It means some materials and stuffs cannot clean for the normal cleaning worker. We need to provide special people for the cleaning. If we not provid e special workers for this it will be an issue for the building. Other thing is we need use correct cleaning materials and techniques for a building. Because most site supervisors are not works up for these cleaning things. So worker not use correct materials and equipment. Sometimes it also deteriorates the building. The thing is before we starting the project we have to inform or we have to give advice for the workers about keeping the site clean when you are finishing the work. Then we can avoid from this cause. The other thing we can see is ignorance of the causes of deterioration and decay. It means some workers they dont know the effect of the things such as moisture, fire etc. they dont know these things are cause of deterioration in building. Because most of the bass other helpers are not well educated people. They know only the basic stuffs of their professions. So they work without any risks. But some are very ignorance people, means they dont care about those rules stuffs. They do what they like to do. So the thing is site manager or the site supervisor need to handle these problems. Other thing we can see is poor planning for proper maintenance. Some of the site we can see the poor planning all over the project. Because when we starting a project we need to have plan for the entire project and after we finishing the project we need to have a plan for the maintenance. Most of the people dont have any plan after the project. Why we saying like this is for an example when we take a lift. We need to have maintained every 14 months after it fixed. Because when the lift is working the lift cables are ablate. So when we not maintain the lifts again the hazards are over coming. Likewise we need to have proper maintains to the buildings such as we need to paint the house every 6 month time or 1 year time, we need to check the plumbing works we need to checks the electrical works etc. The other thing we see is adopting a negative attitude of waiting until emergency measures are required. It means most people are waiting until accident happen to start their maintenance. Because they are not thinking about the future, if this happens what happens to the whole building. Even in the site also this issue happens like imagine the scaffoldings are not check before starting the work. Everyone knows there was a hazard we can expect. But the supervisor doesnt take any reaction for this issue. Basically what happens is when workers are working on the scaffold, if scaffoldings are not fixed all the workers on the scaffolding in danger. So we need to check before it will cause an accident. We can specify these issues under faulty of construction. Because most of the causes of deteriorations are based on human. When we talking about construction during any construction work we have to do certain things such as excavating trenches, foundation, concrete putting, form work, masonry work etc. we all know these things are doing according to a standard specification. Because when we are not constructing those things including high standard the entire building can deteriorate in 2-3 years. For an example we need to excavate 5m to see the good soil for the construction. But sometimes the workers are excavating 4m and saying these is that selected soil same as for the trenches. So we need to have lack of super vision for these construction periods. Also we can combine the faulty materials under faulty construction and also the faulty systems. Talking about faulty systems it is mainly based on building services engineering. Because sometimes the building engineers are not looking at the drawing they doing with their experience. But most of the time if one single wire is missing the entire electrical work will be jammed and it will be serious accident. Not only for electrical these issues can happens in many services such as gas supply, water supply, has communications etc. so these thing are deteriorated the building. When we talking about faulty materials failure of client, architect, builder, designer reject substandard materials. The other most common issue is in adequate inspection of material by supplier or receiver. For these issues first wrong point is planning. As before we discuss before we starting a project or ongoing a project we need have a plan. Most of the site what the do is when the materials are finished then only them buying the other load of materials. But some sites what they do is they bring up the materials for every one weak. So the wastage or the other issues are not over coming. Other big issue is in site there is no selected place to unload the materials. So most of the time transport cost is very mush of higher. So faulty materials are mainly cause for the building deterioration. When we talking about the moisture atmospheric, they also can harmful for the building can deteriorate the building. Talking about the moisture, penetration of the external fabric or through the ground floor constructions giving to dampness which may create a suitable condition for fungi growth and attack. So it will harmful for the foundations the building materials. So what we can do is keep the building materials in dry states reduce the deterioration in building. Sometimes faulty plumbing also can harmful for building. Because sometimes when the plumbing works do out of copper or steel, chemicals of the soil react with the pipes. Because of that that bearing capacity of the soil reduces it can deteriorate the structure of the building and foundation. Also we know when underground pipe leaks happen that also cause for the structure of the building. When we talking about atmospheric issues wind, rain sun are mainly occur to the reaction of the structural form of the building. It can mainly cause for the structure and mainly for external finishes. Because when rain falls it hit to the external walls and the moisture, water will effect to the wall. The other thing is in foreign counties, the atmospheric condition is cold and snowy weather. So this kind of whether type is mainly cause for the building and for the roofing structure. Talking about faulty design poor detailing at the design stage, insufficient allowance for expansion or contraction, incorrect place damp proof courses, poor jointing between different materials and components, poor specifications, lack of adequate considerations of future maintenance are main issues for deteriorating building. The main thing is after putting the foundation we need to have place damp proof cause. Why we need damp proof cause is when we not putting DPC the water will go through the foundation and rubble work things. So it will mainly cause for the structure of the building. Other thing is when we doing a design we need to have proper detail plan including specifications such as plumbing, electrical works etc. so when there is no proper details on the plan sometimes the workers cannot do their work properly. Sometimes plumbing workers cant do their plumbing things correctly because sometimes when we are doing the plumbing recently we are founding obstracles.so they ca nt do their work properly. So faulty design also deteriorate in building. We can see all these issues mainly cause for the building deteriorations. What we can do is minimize these issues and do our work maintain the building every given period of time. It can keep the building maximum time period. Need of planned, cyclical and reactive maintenance Talking about maintenance, maintenance is a regular expenditure of a small amount of maintenance funds is much better for a building and more cost effective than large injections of capital to carry out major repairs of a building. It means maintenance is defined as continues protective care of fabric and contents of a building. it may be weekly, monthly or yearly according to the building and nature. When we talking about practice of a conservation most of the people think once the building is completed its does not maintain or look for many years. Why they think like this is they spend large amount of money for this project and the through that the contractor do their work well and no need to maintain. But many major repairs to buildings could not have been prevented if buildings are properly maintained. Building maintenance has become major part in construction industry earlier days now a day. Because in earlier taking about historical building they are not such historical buildi ngs, they are building up and as well as they programme the future maintenance also. Because of that we can see the historical building same as past years. Taking about more of building maintenance we can categorized such as cyclical, planned and reactive maintenance. Cyclical maintenance is starting with daily routine and working up with a programme of daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and every 5 years. It means that cyclical maintenance is carried out to preserve the facades of the building and ensure that the fittings and fixtures remaining in good condition. For every five year routine architect and surveyor is responsible to check the defect of the building. The types of cyclical maintenance carried out under local authority. For the surveyors and architects have to look for things and checking such as replacement of water pipes and tanks, replacement of booster and transfer pumps, cleaning out all voids places, checking the electrical installations, checking out whether there is a deterioration sign in the building, cleaning out gutters etc. additionally if the client wants we can do things such as repairing and redecorating, rewir ing, reroofing etc. depending on the nature of the maintenance cyclical maintenance can divide in to two categories such as day to day maintenance and maintenance including builders work. Talking about day to day maintenance, means the things which can do by the building owner without any help of or without any worker employ by outside. Because when contractor hand over the building we need have simple day to day maintenance such as cleaning gutters and leaves, cleaning out downpipes and drainage, removing plant growth for masonry, checking out the timber whether the insect attacks, checking out the windows and doors etc. talking about maintenance including builders work, means the builder have to carry out annual basis such works including replacing of broken tiles, gutters, downpipes; cleaning out air-condition systems, checking out all fire detecting systems etc. these are the thing which we have to do under the cyclical maintenance. Talking about planned maintenance in a building, maintenance of building is most effective thing when carry out on a planned cycle. When we plan the maintenance it will extend the life and preserve the appearance of the building. Planned maintenance is more similar to the historical building which the made out with plan to keep up thousands of years. Planned maintenance is benefits because no need large scale of work when there isnt any plan maintenance. Using planned maintenance programme should be far lesser that the cost resulting using the unplanned maintenance. The thing is before we doing the planned maintenance we need to list out what the task we need to maintenance of the building such as roofs, rainwater disposal systems, external walls, internal structure, building services etc. then we need to carry out who are the people who responsible for this selected tasks such as building contractors, electrical contractors, engineers, unskilled labours etc. then we need to decide w hat kind of maintenance planned we need to have such as occasional plan, regular plan or the cyclical plan. Then we need to carry out maintenance according to the maintenance plans. This will give as easier to do out work according to the plan. Talking about reactive maintenance while a thing breaks down fixing quick as possible is very important for people. This is the day to day work that is required to be correct component failures and ensure that as far as possible. There are some works have to be do according to the reactive maintenance such as repairing a broken pane of glass, leaking taps or unblocking a drain. The thing is occasionally these kind of works are much more expensive including serious incident such as floods, stome damages, unsafe things in the building etc. before we doing the maintenance we have to check whether this work be major or minor in cost. Relationships between design, construction, maintenance and cause of dilapidation. Talking about this question there are close relationship between design, construction maintenance in a building. Because when we are starting a project we need to have design, construction maintenance. Talking about the design of a building the architect, engineering technical applications are mainly based on a building design. The thing is before we starting a project we need to have correct drawing with specifications to take an idea about the selected project which we are going to construct. Because design is the evidence we have how to do the construction according to the correct methods. So we can see design part is combined with the construction part directly. In the planning things there are close relationship between design and construction. Actually design is a systems which creating a new facilities including the specifications detail plans. Talking about the construction, Construction is a process of identifying activities requirement according to the design. Because any type of construction begins with design. According to the design we can starts the project. Imagine without any design what will happen to the project which we are doing. Why Im saying like this is theres no any design or specification we cant build up the project without any single error. Because sometimes there have a standard design, but there will be an error. So we need to have design to construct a building. So we can see there is a special relationship between design construction. Not only the design construction, maintenance also in relationship between these two. Because when we doing any construction project according to the design, after finishing the w hole project we need to have day to day maintenance for the building. Because many kind of causes can happens to the building. So we need to have maintain plan to keep the building for many years and protect the building. Talking about the maintenance, maintenance means to hold, keep, sustain or preserve the building or structure to an acceptable standard. It means which sustain the value of the facility. The thing is when the construction is finished we need to maintain the building. We can maintain the building in three ways such as major repairs or restoration, periodic maintenance and day to day maintenance. The main thing is construction people who do the project want to check the maintenance of the building named as architect and surveyor. Most of the time building owner does the day to day maintenance. Another thing we all know is when we design a plan including specifications we need to have special maintenance plan to maintain the building. But maintain is not depend on the design, its depends on how the people are using the building. When we dont have any plan of maintenance of the building, sonly building will dilapidation in 2-3 years. So there is a special relationship between maintenance and dilapidation. Talking about dilapidation, dilapidation means a building or thing disrepair for many years and the building or thing cant take for any kind of use or it started to decay. Actually for the dilapidation mainly cause the people who owner the building. When talking about the dilapidation there are many causes we can see in a building such as building get unstable, crakes are pointing on the floors, water leaks in the building, crakes is the walls. So we can see these causes are mainly based in maintenance. Sometimes building will dilapidate because of not maintaining the building for several years, not cleaning the building or the area etc. we can see building dilapidation is mainly combined with the maintenance. When we are not doing the maintenance properly the building get caught for the dilapidation. So there are various kind of relationship between design, construction, maintenance and dilapidation. When we are doing a project these things are combining with each other and act like one single entity. So these things are very useful when we are handling a project. Conclusions Above I mentioned that technology is very important thing in our day today life. In this report Im discussing causes of deterioration in buildings and their services. Human Chemicals Atmospheric Structural Moisture Fire Faulty design Faulty construction Faulty materials etc. Then Im discussing what are the needs of planned, cyclical and reactive maintenance. Finally Im discussing about the relationship between design, construction, maintenance and the cause of dilapidation.

The Victim of Victor Frankensteins Persistent Curiosity Essay

In Victor Frankenstein’s pursuit to discover â€Å"the cause of generation and life†, he creates something that becomes the victim of his self-absorption and irrational manner (Segal). Following some insight on the creation of life, scientist Victor Frankenstein decides to take science into his own hands and create a creature out of human cadavers. It is not until the creature comes to life that Victor ponders the perplexing appearance of the creature that is before him. As Victor looks upon the creature he has created, he wonders â€Å"Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence† (Shelley 138). With the recognition that the creature truly looks like a monster, Victor abandons the creature and leaves him to the harsh assumptions of society. Although the creature employs a genuinely empathetic and compassionate manner, society refuses to acknowledge him because of his beastly appearance making him the victim of Victor’s persistent curi osity. The violent behavior the creature portrays never allows him to achieve the sympathy he seeks and therefore never attain the mutual affection he so badly desires. The creature states, â€Å"For while I destroyed his hopes, I did not satisfy my own desires. They were forever ardent and craving; still I desired love and fellowship, and I was still spurned† (Shelley 224). Despite the fact that the creature is compelled to commit violent acts, his violence causes Victor and Walton to believe he is not trustworthy. Therefore, Victor Frankenstein decides against the idea of making the creature a mate and states: "have you not already shewn a degree of malice that should reasonably make me distrust you"" (149). Compassion is almost roused in Walton: "I was at first touched by the expression o... ... to give him this affection, he feels as though he needs to search for it himself. He is never given the opportunity to relate to another being, even if it was another creature such as himself. Despite his efforts to achieve a sense of affection, he fails to do so; therefore, the creature becomes the victim of this novel. Works Cited Bernatchez, Josh. "Monstrosity, Suffering, Subjectivity, and Sympathetic Community in Frankenstein and "The Structure of Torture"" Science Fiction Studies 36.2 (2009): 205-16. Rpt. in 205-16. Academic Search Complete. Web. Segal, Howard. "Victor and Victim." Victor and Victim 412.6850 (2001): 861. Rpt. in Nature. Academic Search Complete. Web. Yadav, Sachdev. "Human Cloning: Perspectives, Ethical Issues and Legal Implications." International Journal of Pharma and Bio Sciences 2.1 (2011): 28-41. Academic Search Complete. Web.

The Fitzgerald Flapper Essay -- Biography Biographies Essays

The Fitzgerald Flapper Which came first, the flapper or the Fitzgerald flapper? This question may prove as difficult as its proverbial counterpart. But it is a question well worth asking in an effort to examine the flapper, a cultural icon of the 1920s. This new woman heralded an end to the traditional Victorian woman, as well as the relatively new Gibson girl. But where did she come from? And what was Fitzgerald's contribution to the creation of such an icon? Fitzgerald's short story Bernice Bobs Her Hair and novel This Side of Paradise will be used to make such an assessment. Finally, one must ask how the flapper, in turn, contributed to Fitzgerald's career, for the good and the bad. Although the flapper may have guaranteed the success of This Side of Paradise and earned Fitzgerald the position of spokesman for a generation, it may have also stifled the progression of his work and confused critics for years to come. First, it would be helpful to establish a working definition of the flapper, prior to Fitzgerald. Coined in England, the flapper was used to describe a somewhat awkward, fledgling-type girl, in the throws of budding womanhood ("Flappers in the Roaring Twenties"). She is still learning how to move in her body, gangly and thin. Another source puts forth a very different definition of the flapper. This definition, found in "Mrs. Stratton of Oak Knoll" asserts that a flapper is English slang for a society girl who has made her debut and hasn't found a husband ("F. Scott Fitzgerald Centenary"). She is an old maid of sorts, gone to seed. The first of these two definitions seems the more likely origin of the Fitzgerald flapper. Prior to World War I, most women in the America still behaved and dr... ...e to adapt to a writer's changing objectives. Works Cited Bruccoli, Matthew J. The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York, NY: Scribner, 1989 Bryer, Jackson. The Critical Reputation of F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Bibliographical Study. USA: Archon Books, 1967 Fryer, Sarah Beebe. Fitzgerald's New Women: Harbingers of Change. Ann Arbor and London: UMI Research Press, 1988. Kitch, Carolyn. The Girl on the Magazine Cover. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2001 Prigozy, Ruth. The Cambridge Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald. UK and USA: Cambridge University Press, 2002 "Flappers in the Roaring Twenties." www.about.com. http://history1900s.about.com/library/weekly/aa022201a.htm "F. Scott Fitzgerald Centenary: University of South Carolina." www.sc.edu. January 2002. www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/index.html

Cultural Communities Essay -- Sociology, Culture

In this essay, I will argue that to understand a person’s behaviour, ways of life and their development, we need to understand their cultural practices and circumstances of their communities. I will also discuss how this can be done and the implication for this in early childhood education. Rogoff (2003) argues that humans are develops as cultural beings: â€Å"people develop as participants in cultural communities. Their development can be understood only in light of the cultural practices and circumstances of their communities- which also change† (p. 3-4) According to Gonzalez- Mena (2003), understanding cultural differences can be confusing and no one can possibly know all about the culture of every family who might come into early childhood centres. So she questions whether this means that should educators ‘throw up their hand’ and give up rather than seek answers by understanding cultural difference, by exploring its broad themes and organising concepts. Everyone’s activities are from their â€Å"universal social-ecological community. Their social relationships, political influences, historical events, movements, economic situation and cultural background affect their activities† (Prout, 2005, p. 25). Understanding deeply the reasons behind their activities is more important than lightly watching their surface activities. By understanding the reasons behind their activities, one gains more knowledge about another’s ethnic context and is less likely to misunderstand the other’s ethnic life meaning. Whether the activity is an everyday chore or academic performance depends in large part on the circumstances that are routine in their community and on the cultural practices they are used to. An example in the Democratic Republic of Con... ...ment the beliefs and the cultural activities in the individual ways. So, I might avoid activities, which against the child’s family’s culture and beliefs, to the child. In Te WhÄ riki (Ministry of Education [MoE], 1996) under Communication strand: the languages and symbols of their own and other cultures are promoted and protected. The curriculum goal states â€Å"children experience an environment where: they experience the stories and symbols of their own and other cultures† (p. 16). In conclusion, understanding reasons behind people’s activities is more important, because the understanding could help us to suspend our own interpretations and values and beliefs in order to make sense of others actions and culture. As well as this, the accurate understanding about young children, family and community could help me to implement early childhood education better.

Black House Chapter Twenty-one

21 â€Å"SOPHIE.† Still holding her hand, he gets to his feet, pulling her up with him. His legs are trembling. His eyes feel hot and too large for their sockets. He is terrified and exalted in equal, perfectly equal, measure. His heart is hammering, but oh the beats are sweet. The second time he tries, he manages to say her name a little louder, but there's still not much to his voice, and his lips are so numb they might have been rubbed with ice. He sounds like a man just coming back from a hard punch in the gut. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Sophie.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Sophie.† â€Å"Yes.† There's something weirdly familiar about this, him saying the name over and over and her giving back that simple affirmation. Familiar and funny. And it comes to him: there's a scene almost identical to this in The Terror of Deadwood Gulch, after one of the Lazy 8 Saloon's patrons has knocked Bill Towns unconscious with a whiskey bottle. Lily, in her role as sweet Nancy O'Neal, tosses a bucket of water in his face, and when he sits up, they â€Å"This is funny,† Jack says. â€Å"It's a good bit. We should be laughing.† With the slightest of smiles, Sophie says, â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Laughing our fool heads off.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Our tarnal heads off.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"I'm not speaking English anymore, am I?† â€Å"No.† He sees two things in her blue eyes. The first is that she doesn't know the word English. The second is that she knows exactly what he means. â€Å"Sophie.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Sophie-Sophie-Sophie.† Trying to get the reality of it. Trying to pound it home like a nail. A smile lights her face and enriches her mouth. Jack thinks of how it would be to kiss that mouth, and his knees feel weak. All at once he is fourteen again, and wondering if he dares give his date a peck good-night after he walks her home. â€Å"Yes-yes-yes,† she says, the smile strengthening. And then: â€Å"Have you got it yet? Do you understand that you're here and how you got here?† Above and around him, billows of gauzy white cloth flap and sigh like living breath. Half a dozen conflicting drafts gently touch his face and make him aware that he carried a coat of sweat from the other world, and that it stinks. He arms it off his brow and cheeks in quick gestures, not wanting to lose sight of her for longer than a moment at a time. They are in a tent of some kind. It's huge many-chambered and Jack thinks briefly of the pavilion in which the Queen of the Territories, his mother's Twinner, lay dying. That place had been rich with many colors, filled with many rooms, redolent of incense and sorrow (for the Queen's death had seemed inevitable, sure only a matter of time). This one is ramshackle and ragged. The walls and the ceiling are full of holes, and where the white material remains whole, it's so thin that Jack can actually see the slope of land outside, and the trees that dress it. Rags flutter from the edges of some of the holes when the wind blows. Directly over his head he can see a shadowy maroon shape. Some sort of cross. â€Å"Jack, do you understand how you â€Å" â€Å"Yes. I flipped.† Although that isn't the word that comes out of his mouth. The literal meaning of the word that comes out seems to be horizon road. â€Å"And it seems that I sucked a fair number of Spiegleman's accessories with me.† He bends and picks up a flat stone with a flower carved on it. â€Å"I believe that in my world, this was a Georgia O'Keeffe print. And that † He points to a blackened, fireless torch leaning against one of the pavilion's fragile walls. â€Å"I think that was a † But there are no words for it in this world, and what comes out of his mouth sounds as ugly as a curse in German: † halogen lamp.† She frowns. â€Å"Hal-do-jen . . . limp? Lemp?† He feels his numb lips rise in a little grin. â€Å"Never mind.† â€Å"But you are all right.† He understands that she needs him to be all right, and so he'll say that he is, but he's not. He is sick and glad to be sick. He is one lovestruck daddy, and wouldn't have it any other way. If you discount how he felt about his mother a very different kind of love, despite what the Freudians might think it's the first time for him. Oh, he certainly thought he had been in and out of love, but that was before today. Before the cool blue of her eyes, her smile, and even the way the shadows thrown by the decaying tent fleet across her face like schools of fish. At this moment he would try to fly off a mountain for her if she asked, or walk through a forest fire, or bring her polar ice to cool her tea, and those things do not constitute being all right. But she needs him to be. Tyler needs him to be. I am a coppiceman, he thinks. At first the concept seems insubstantial compared to her beauty to her simple reality but then it begins to take hold. As it always has. What else brought him here, after all? Brought him against his will and all his best intentions? â€Å"Jack?† â€Å"Yes, I'm all right. I've flipped before.† But never into the presence of such beauty, he thinks. That's the problem. You're the problem, my lady. â€Å"Yes. To come and go is your talent. One of your talents. So I have been told.† â€Å"By whom?† â€Å"Shortly,† she says. â€Å"Shortly. There's a great deal to do, and yet I think I need a moment. You . . . rather take my breath away.† Jack is fiercely glad to know it. He sees he is still holding her hand, and he kisses it, as Judy kissed his hands in the world on the other side of the wall from this one, and when he does, he sees the fine mesh of bandage on the tips of three of her fingers. He wishes he dared to take her in his arms, but she daunts him: her beauty and her presence. She is slightly taller than Judy a matter of two inches, surely no more and her hair is lighter, the golden shade of unrefined honey spilling from a broken comb. She is wearing a simple cotton robe, white trimmed with a blue that matches her eyes. The narrow V-neck frames her throat. The hem falls to just below her knees. Her legs are bare but she's wearing a silver anklet on one of them, so slim it's almost invisible. She is fuller-breasted than Judy, her hips a bit wider. Sisters, you might think, except that they have the same spray of freckles across the nose and the same white line of scar across the back of the left hand. Differ ent mishaps caused that scar, Jack has no doubt, but he also has no doubt that those mishaps occurred at the same hour of the same day. â€Å"You're her Twinner. Judy Marshall's Twinner.† Only the word that comes out of his mouth isn't Twinner; incredibly, dopily, it seems to be harp. Later he will think of how the strings of a harp lie close together, only a finger's touch apart, and he will decide that word isn't so foolish after all. She looks down, her mouth drooping, then raises her head again and tries to smile. â€Å"Judy. On the other side of the wall. When we were children, Jack, we spoke together often. Even when we grew up, although then we spoke in each other's dreams.† He is alarmed to see tears forming in her eyes and then slipping down her cheeks. â€Å"Have I driven her mad? Run her to lunacy? Please say I haven't.† â€Å"Nah,† Jack says. â€Å"She's on a tightrope, but she hasn't fallen off yet. She's tough, that one.† â€Å"You have to bring her Tyler back to her,† Sophie tells him. â€Å"For both of us. I've never had a child. I cannot have a child. I was . . . mistreated, you see. When I was young. Mistreated by one you knew well.† A terrible certainty forms in Jack's mind. Around them, the ruined pavilion flaps and sighs in the wonderfully fragrant breeze. â€Å"Was it Morgan? Morgan of Orris?† She bows her head, and perhaps this is just as well. Jack's face is, at that moment, pulled into an ugly snarl. In that moment he wishes he could kill Morgan Sloat's Twinner all over again. He thinks to ask her how she was mistreated, and then realizes he doesn't have to. â€Å"How old were you?† â€Å"Twelve,† she says . . . as Jack has known she would say. It happened that same year, the year when Jacky was twelve and came here to save his mother. Or did he come here? Is this really the Territories? Somehow it doesn't feel the same. Almost . . . but not quite. It doesn't surprise him that Morgan would rape a child of twelve, and do it in a way that would keep her from ever having children. Not at all. Morgan Sloat, sometimes known as Morgan of Orris, wanted to rule not just one world or two, but the entire universe. What are a few raped children to a man with such ambitions? She gently slips her thumbs across the skin beneath his eyes. It's like being brushed with feathers. She's looking at him with something like wonder. â€Å"Why do you weep, Jack?† â€Å"The past,† he says. â€Å"Isn't that always what does it?† And thinks of his mother, sitting by the window, smoking a cigarette, and listening while the radio plays â€Å"Crazy Arms.† Yes, it's always the past. That's where the hurt is, all you can't get over. â€Å"Perhaps so,† she allows. â€Å"But there's no time to think about the past today. It's the future we must think about today.† â€Å"Yes, but if I could ask just a few questions . . . ?† â€Å"All right, but only a few.† Jack opens his mouth, tries to speak, and makes a comical little gaping expression when nothing comes out. Then he laughs. â€Å"You take my breath away, too,† he tells her. â€Å"I have to be honest about that.† A faint tinge of color rises in Sophie's cheeks, and she looks down. She opens her lips to say something . . . then presses them together again. Jack wishes she had spoken and is glad she hasn't, both at the same time. He squeezes her hands gently, and she looks up at him, blue eyes wide. â€Å"Did I know you? When you were twelve?† She shakes her head. â€Å"But I saw you.† â€Å"Perhaps. In the great pavilion. My mother was one of the Good Queen's handmaidens. I was another . . . the youngest. You could have seen me then. I think you did see me.† Jack takes a moment to digest the wonder of this, then goes on. Time is short. They both know this. He can almost feel it fleeting. â€Å"You and Judy are Twinners, but neither of you travel she's never been in your head over here and you've never been in her head, over there. You . . . talk through a wall.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"When she wrote things, that was you, whispering through the wall.† â€Å"Yes. I knew how hard I was pushing her, but I had to. Had to! It's not just a question of restoring her child to her, important as that may be. There are larger considerations.† â€Å"Such as?† She shakes her head. â€Å"I am not the one to tell you. The one who will is much greater than I.† He studies the tiny dressings that cover the tips of her fingers, and muses on how hard Sophie and Judy have tried to get through that wall to each other. Morgan Sloat could apparently become Morgan of Orris at will. As a boy of twelve, Jack had met others with that same talent. Not him; he was single-natured and had always been Jack in both worlds. Judy and Sophie, however, have proved incapable of flipping back and forth in any fashion. Something's been left out of them, and they could only whisper through the wall between the worlds. There must be sadder things, but at this moment he can't think of a single one. Jack looks around at the ruined tent, which seems to breathe with sunshine and shadow. Rags flap. In the next room, through a hole in the gauzy cloth wall, he sees a few overturned cots. â€Å"What is this place?† he asks. She smiles. â€Å"To some, a hospital.† â€Å"Oh?† He looks up and once more takes note of the cross. Maroon now, but undoubtedly once red. A red cross, stupid, he thinks. â€Å"Oh! But isn't it a little . . . well . . . old?† Sophie's smile widens, and Jack realizes it's ironic. Whatever sort of hospital this is, or was, he's guessing it bears little or no resemblance to the ones on General Hospital or ER. â€Å"Yes, Jack. Very old. Once there were a dozen or more of these tents in the Territories, On-World, and Mid-World; now there are only a few. Mayhap just this one. Today it's here. Tomorrow . . .† Sophie raises her hands, then lowers them. â€Å"Anywhere! Perhaps even on Judy's side of the wall.† â€Å"Sort of like a traveling medicine show.† This is supposed to be a joke, and he's startled when she first nods, then laughs and claps her hands. â€Å"Yes! Yes, indeed! Although you wouldn't want to be treated here.† What exactly is she trying to say? â€Å"I suppose not,† he agrees, looking at the rotting walls, tattered ceiling panels, and ancient support posts. â€Å"Doesn't exactly look sterile.† Seriously (but her eyes are sparkling), Sophie says: â€Å"Yet if you were a patient, you would think it beautiful out of all measure. And you would think your nurses, the Little Sisters, the most beautiful any poor patient ever had.† Jack looks around. â€Å"Where are they?† â€Å"The Little Sisters don't come out when the sun shines. And if we wish to continue our lives with the blessing, Jack, we'll be gone our separate ways from here long before dark.† It pains him to hear her talk of separate ways, even though he knows it's inevitable. The pain doesn't dampen his curiosity, however; once a coppiceman, it seems, always a coppiceman. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because the Little Sisters are vampires, and their patients never get well.† Startled, uneasy, Jack looks around for signs of them. Certainly disbelief doesn't cross his mind a world that can spawn werewolves can spawn anything, he supposes. She touches his wrist. A little tremble of desire goes through him. â€Å"Don't fear, Jack they also serve the Beam. All things serve the Beam.† â€Å"What beam?† â€Å"Never mind.† The hand on his wrist tightens. â€Å"The one who can answer your questions will be here soon, if he's not already.† She gives him a sideways look that contains a glimmer of a smile. â€Å"And after you hear him, you'll be more apt to ask questions that matter.† Jack realizes that he has been neatly rebuked, but coming from her, it doesn't sting. He allows himself to be led through room after room of the great and ancient hospital. As they go, he gets a sense of how really huge this place is. He also realizes that, in spite of the fresh breezes, he can detect a faint, unpleasant undersmell, something that might be a mixture of fermented wine and spoiled meat. As to what sort of meat, Jack is afraid he can guess pretty well. After visiting over a hundred homicide crime scenes, he should be able to. It would have been impolite to break away while Jack was meeting the love of his life (not to mention bad narrative business), so we didn't. Now, however, let us slip through the thin walls of the hospital tent. Outside is a dry but not unpleasant landscape of red rocks, broom sage, desert flowers that look a bit like sego lilies, stunted pines, and a few barrel cacti. Somewhere not too far distant is the steady cool sigh of a river. The hospital pavilion rustles and flaps as dreamily as the sails of a ship riding down the sweet chute of the trade winds. As we float along the great ruined tent's east side in our effortless and peculiarly pleasant way, we notice a strew of litter. There are more rocks with drawings etched on them, there is a beautifully made copper rose that has been twisted out of shape as if by some great heat, there is a small rag rug that looks as if it has been chopped in two by a meat cleaver. There's other stuff as well, stuff that has resisted any change in it s cyclonic passage from one world to the other. We see the blackened husk of a television picture tube lying in a scatter of broken glass, several Duracell AA batteries, a comb, and perhaps oddest a pair of white nylon panties with the word Sunday written on one side in demure pink script. There has been a collision of worlds; here, along the east side of the hospital pavilion, is an intermingled detritus that attests to how hard that collision was. At the end of that littery plume of exhaust the head of the comet, we might say sits a man we recognize. We're not used to seeing him in such an ugly brown robe (and he clearly doesn't know how to wear such a garment, because if we look at him from the wrong angle, we can see much more than we want to), or wearing sandals instead of wing tips, or with his hair pulled back into a rough horsetail and secured with a hank of rawhide, but this is undoubtedly Wendell Green. He is muttering to himself. Drool drizzles from the corners of his mouth. He is looking fixedly at an untidy crumple of foolscap in his right hand. He ignores all the more cataclysmic changes that have occurred around him and focuses on just this one. If he can figure out how his Panasonic minicorder turned into a little pile of ancient paper, perhaps he'll move on to the other stuff. Not until then. Wendell (we'll continue to call him Wendell, shall we, and not worry about any name he might or might not have in this little corner of existence, since he doesn't know it or want to) spies the Duracell AA batteries. He crawls to them, picks them up, and begins trying to stick them into the little pile of foolscap. It doesn't work, of course, but that doesn't keep Wendell from trying. As George Rathbun might say, â€Å"Give that boy a flyswatter and he'd try to catch dinner with it.† â€Å"Geh,† says the Coulee Country's favorite investigative reporter, repeatedly poking the batteries at the foolscap. â€Å"Geh . . . in. Geh . . . in! Gah-damnit, geh in th â€Å" A sound the approaching jingle of what can only be, God help us, spurs breaks into Wendell's concentration, and he looks up with wide, bulging eyes. His sanity may not be gone forever, but it's certainly taken the wife and kids and gone to Disney World. Nor is the current vision before his eyes apt to coax it back anytime soon. Once in our world there was a fine black actor named Woody Strode. (Lily knew him; acted with him, as a matter of fact, in a late-sixties American International stinkeroo called Execution Express.) The man now approaching the place where Wendell Green crouches with his batteries and his handful of foolscap looks remarkably like that actor. He is wearing faded jeans, a blue chambray shirt, a neck scarf, and a heavy revolver on a wide leather gun belt in which four dozen or so shells twinkle. His head is bald, his eyes deep-set. Slung over one shoulder by a strap of intricate design is a guitar. Sitting on the other is what appears to be a parrot. The parrot has two heads. â€Å"No, no,† says Wendell in a mildly scolding voice. â€Å"Don't. Don't see. Don't see. That.† He lowers his head and once more begins trying to cram the batteries into the handful of paper. The shadow of the newcomer falls over Wendell, who resolutely refuses to look up. â€Å"Howdy, stranger,† says the newcomer. Wendell carries on not looking up. â€Å"My name's Parkus. I'm the law 'round these parts. What's your handle?† Wendell refuses to respond, unless we can call the low grunts issuing from his drool-slicked mouth a response. â€Å"I asked your name.† â€Å"Wen,† says our old acquaintance (we can't really call him a friend) without looking up. â€Å"Wen. Dell. Gree . . . Green. I . . . I . . . I . . .† â€Å"Take your time,† Parkus says (not without sympathy). â€Å"I can wait till your branding iron gets hot.† â€Å"I . . . news hawk!† â€Å"Oh? That what you are?† Parkus hunkers; Wendell cringes back against the fragile wall of the pavilion. â€Å"Well, don't that just beat the bass drum at the front of the parade? Tell you what, I've seen fish hawks, and I've seen red hawks, and I've seen goshawks, but you're my first news hawk.† Wendell looks up, blinking rapidly. On Parkus's left shoulder, one head of the parrot says: â€Å"God is love.† â€Å"Go fuck your mother,† replies the other head. â€Å"All must seek the river of life,† says the first head. â€Å"Suck my tool,† says the second. â€Å"We grow toward God,† responds the first. â€Å"Piss up a rope,† invites the second. Although both heads speak equably even in tones of reasonable discourse Wendell cringes backward even farther, then looks down and furiously resumes his futile work with the batteries and the handful of paper, which is now disappearing into the sweat-grimy tube of his fist. â€Å"Don't mind 'em,† Parkus says. â€Å"I sure don't. Hardly hear 'em anymore, and that's the truth. Shut up, boys.† The parrot falls silent. â€Å"One head's Sacred, the other's Profane,† Parkus says. â€Å"I keep 'em around just to remind me that â€Å" He is interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps, and stands up again in a single lithe and easy movement. Jack and Sophie are approaching, holding hands with the perfect unconsciousness of children on their way to school. â€Å"Speedy!† Jack cries, his face breaking into a grin. â€Å"Why, Travelin' Jack!† Parkus says, with a grin of his own. â€Å"Well-met! Look at you, sir you're all grown up.† Jack rushes forward and throws his arms around Parkus, who hugs him back, and heartily. After a moment, Jack holds Parkus at arm's length and studies him. â€Å"You were older you looked older to me, at least. In both worlds.† Still smiling, Parkus nods. And when he speaks again, it is in Speedy Parker's drawl. â€Å"Reckon I did look older, Jack. You were just a child, remember.† â€Å"But â€Å" Parkus waves one hand. â€Å"Sometimes I look older, sometimes not so old. It all depends on â€Å" â€Å"Age is wisdom,† one head of the parrot says piously, to which the other responds, â€Å"You senile old fuck.† † depends on the place and the circumstances,† Parkus concludes, then says: â€Å"And I told you boys to shut up. You keep on, I'm apt to wring your scrawny neck.† He turns his attention to Sophie, who is looking at him with wide, wondering eyes, as shy as a doe. â€Å"Sophie,† he says. â€Å"It's wonderful to see you, darling. Didn't I say he'd come? And here he is. Took a little longer than I expected, is all.† She drops him a deep curtsey, all the way down to one knee, her head bowed. â€Å"Thankee-sai,† she says. â€Å"Come in peace, gunslinger, and go your course along the Beam with my love.† At this, Jack feels an odd, deep chill, as if many worlds had spoken in a harmonic tone, low but resonant. Speedy so Jack still thinks of him takes her hand and urges her to her feet. â€Å"Stand up, girl, and look me in the eye. I'm no gunslinger here, not in the borderlands, even if I do still carry the old iron from time to time. In any case, we have a lot to talk about. This's no time for ceremony. Come over the rise with me, you two. We got to make palaver, as the gunslingers say. Or used to say, before the world moved on. I shot a good brace of grouse, and think they'll cook up just fine.† â€Å"What about † Jack gestures toward the muttering, crouched heap that is Wendell Green. â€Å"Why, he looks right busy,† Parkus says. â€Å"Told me he's a news hawk.† â€Å"I'm afraid he's a little above himself,† Jack replies. â€Å"Old Wendell here's a news vulture.† Wendell turns his head a bit. He refuses to lift his eyes, but his lip curls in a sneer that may be more reflexive than real. â€Å"Heard. That.† He struggles. The lip curls again, and this time the sneer seems less reflexive. It is, in fact, a snarl. â€Å"Gol. Gol. Gol-den boy. Holly. Wood.† â€Å"He's managed to retain at least some of his charm and his joi de vivre,† Jack says. â€Å"Will he be okay here?† â€Å"Not much with ary brain in its head comes near the Little Sisters' tent,† Parkus says. â€Å"He'll be okay. And if he smells somethin' tasty on the breeze and comes for a look-see, why, I guess we can feed him.† He turns toward Wendell. â€Å"We're going just over yonder. If you want to come and visit, why, you just up and do her. Understand me, Mr. News Hawk?† â€Å"Wen. Dell. Green.† â€Å"Wendell Green, yessir.† Parkus looks at the others. â€Å"Come on. Let's mosey.† â€Å"We mustn't forget him,† Sophie murmurs, with a look back. â€Å"It will be dark in a few hours.† â€Å"No,† Parkus agrees as they top the nearest rise. â€Å"Wouldn't do to leave him beside that tent after dark. That wouldn't do at all.† There's more foliage in the declivity on the far side of the rise even a little ribbon of creek, presumably on its way to the river Jack can hear in the distance but it still looks more like northern Nevada than western Wisconsin. Yet in a way, Jack thinks, that makes sense. The last one had been no ordinary flip. He feels like a stone that has been skipped all the way across a lake, and as for poor Wendell To the right of where they descend the far side of the draw, a horse has been tethered in the shade of what Jack thinks is a Joshua tree. About twenty yards down the draw to the left is a circle of eroded stones. Inside it a fire, not yet lit, has been carefully laid. Jack doesn't like the look of the place much the stones remind him of ancient teeth. Nor is he alone in his dislike. Sophie stops, her grip on his fingers tightening. â€Å"Parkus, do we have to go in there? Please say we don't.† Parkus turns to her with a kindly smile Jack knows well: a Speedy Parker smile for sure. â€Å"The Speaking Demon's been gone from this circle many the long age, darling,† he says. â€Å"And you know that such as yon are best for stories.† â€Å"Yet â€Å" â€Å"Now's no time to give in to the willies,† Parkus tells her. He speaks with a trace of impatience, and â€Å"willies† isn't precisely the word he uses, but only how Jack's mind translates it. â€Å"You waited for him to come in the Little Sisters' hospital tent â€Å" â€Å"Only because she was there on the other side â€Å" † and now I want you to come along.† All at once he seems taller to Jack. His eyes flash. Jack thinks: A gunslinger. Yes, I suppose he could be a gunslinger. Like in one of Mom's old movies, only for real. â€Å"All right,† she says, low. â€Å"If we must.† Then she looks at Jack. â€Å"I wonder if you'd put your arm around me?† Jack, we may be sure, is happy to oblige. As they step between two of the stones, Jack seems to hear an ugly twist of whispered words. Among them, one voice is momentarily clear, seeming to leave a trail of slime behind it as it enters his ear: Drudge drudge drudge, oho the bledding foodzies, soon he cummz, my good friend Mun-shun, and such a prize I have for him, oho, oho Jack looks at his old friend as Parkus hunkers by a tow sack and loosens the drawstring at the top. â€Å"He's close, isn't he? The Fisherman. And Black House, that's close, too.† â€Å"Yep,† Parkus says, and from the sack he spills the gutted corpses of a dozen plump dead birds. Thoughts of Irma Freneau reenter Jack's head at the sight of the grouse, and he thinks he won't be able to eat. Watching as Parkus and Sophie skewer the birds on greensticks reinforces this idea. But after the fire is lit and the birds begin to brown, his stomach weighs in, insisting that the grouse smell wonderful and will probably taste even better. Over here, he remembers, everything always does. â€Å"And here we are, in the speaking circle,† Parkus says. His smiles have been put away for the nonce. He looks at Jack and Sophie, who sit side by side and still holding hands, with somber gravity. His guitar has been propped against a nearby rock. Beside it, Sacred and Profane sleeps with its two heads tucked into its feathers, dreaming its no doubt bifurcated dreams. â€Å"The Demon may be long gone, but the legends say such things leave a residue that may lighten the tongue.† â€Å"Like kissing the Blarney Stone, maybe,† Jack suggests. Parkus shakes his head. â€Å"No blarney today.† Jack says, â€Å"If only we were dealing with an ordinary scumbag. That I could handle.† Sophie looks at him, puzzled. â€Å"He means a dust-off artist,† Parkus tells her. â€Å"A hardcase.† He looks at Jack. â€Å"And in one way, that is what you're dealing with. Carl Bier-stone isn't much an ordinary monster, let's say. Which is not to say he couldn't do with a spot of killing. But as for what's going on in French Landing, he has been used. Possessed, you'd say in your world, Jack. Taken by the spirits, we'd say in the Territories â€Å" â€Å"Or brought low by pigs,† Sophie adds. â€Å"Yes.† Parkus is nodding. â€Å"In the world just beyond this borderland Mid-World they would say he has been infested by a demon. But a demon far greater than the poor, tattered spirit that once lived in this circle of stones.† Jack hardly hears that. His eyes are glowing. It sounded something like beer stein, George Potter told him last night, a thousand years ago. That's not it, but it's close. â€Å"Carl Bierstone,† he says. He raises a clenched fist, then shakes it in triumph. â€Å"That was his name in Chicago. Burnside here in French Landing. Case closed, game over, zip up your fly. Where is he, Speedy? Save me some time h â€Å" â€Å"Shut . . . up,† Parkus says. The tone is low and almost deadly. Jack can feel Sophie shrink against him. He does a little shrinking himself. This sounds nothing like his old friend, nothing at all. You have to stop thinking of him as Speedy, Jack tells himself. That's not who he is or ever was. That was just a character he played, someone who could both soothe and charm a scared kid on the run with his mother. Parkus turns the birds, which are now browned nicely on one side and spitting juice into the fire. â€Å"I'm sorry to speak harsh to you, Jack, but you have to realize that your Fisherman is pretty small fry compared to what's really going on.† Why don't you tell Tansy Freneau he's small fry? Why don't you tell Beezer St. Pierre? Jack thinks these things, but doesn't say them out loud. He's more than a little afraid of the light he saw in Parkus's eyes. â€Å"Nor is it about Twinners,† Parkus says. â€Å"You got to get that idea out of your mind. That's just something that has to do with your world and the world of the Territories a link. You can't kill some hardcase over here and end the career of your cannibal over there. And if you kill him over there, in Wisconsin, the thing inside will just jump to another host.† â€Å"The thing ?† â€Å"When it was in Albert Fish, Fish called it the Monday Man. Fellow you're after calls it Mr. Munshun. Both are only ways of trying to say something that can't be pronounced by any earthly tongue on any earthly world.† â€Å"How many worlds are there, Speedy?† â€Å"Many,† Parkus says, looking into the fire. â€Å"And this business concerns every one of them. Why else do you think I've been after you like I have? Sending you feathers, sending you robins' eggs, doing every damned thing I could to make you wake up.† Jack thinks of Judy, scratching on walls until the tips of her fingers were bloody, and feels ashamed. Speedy has been doing much the same thing, it seems. â€Å"Wake up, wake up, you dunderhead,† he says. Parkus seems caught between reproof and a smile. â€Å"For sure you must have seen me in the case that sent you running out of L.A.† â€Å"Ah, man why do you think I went?† â€Å"You ran like Jonah, when God told him to go preach against the wickedness in Nineveh. Thought I was gonna have to send a whale to come and swallow you up.† â€Å"I feel swallowed,† Jack tells him. In a small voice, Sophie says: â€Å"I do, too.† â€Å"We've all been swallowed,† says the man with the gun on his hip. â€Å"We're in the belly of the beast, like it or not. It's ka, which is destiny and fate. Your Fisherman, Jack, is now your ka. Our ka. This is more than murder. Much more.† And Jack sees something that frankly scares the shit out of him. Lester Parker, a.k.a. Speedy, a.k.a. Parkus, is himself scared almost to death. â€Å"This business concerns the Dark Tower,† he says. Beside Jack, Sophie gives a low, desperate cry of terror and lowers her head. At the same time she raises one hand and forks the sign of the Evil Eye at Parkus, over and over. That gentleman doesn't seem to take it amiss. He simply sets to work turning the birds again on their sticks. â€Å"Listen to me, now,† he says. â€Å"Listen, and ask as few questions as you can. We still have a chance to get Judy Marshall's son back, but time is blowing in our teeth.† â€Å"Talk,† Jack says. Parkus talks. At some point in his tale he judges the birds done and serves them out on flat stones. The meat is tender, almost falling off the small bones. Jack eats hungrily, drinking deep of the sweet water from Parkus's waterskin each time it comes around to him. He wastes no more time comparing dead children to dead grouse. The furnace needs to be stoked, and he stokes it with a will. So does Sophie, eating with her fingers and licking them clean without the slightest reserve or embarrassment. So, in the end, does Wendell Green, although he refuses to enter the circle of old stones. When Parkus tosses him a golden-brown grouse, however, Wendell catches it with remarkable adroitness and buries his face in the moist meat. â€Å"You asked how many worlds,† Parkus begins. â€Å"The answer, in the High Speech, is da fan: worlds beyond telling.† With one of the blackened sticks he draws a figure eight on its side, which Jack recognizes as the Greek symbol for infinity. â€Å"There is a Tower that binds them in place. Think of it as an axle upon which many wheels spin, if you like. And there is an entity that would bring this Tower down. Ram Abbalah.† At these words, the flames of the fire seem to momentarily darken and turn red. Jack wishes he could believe that this is only a trick of his overstrained mind, but cannot. â€Å"The Crimson King,† he says. â€Å"Yes. His physical being is pent in a cell at the top of the Tower, but he has another manifestation, every bit as real, and this lives in Can-tah Abbalah the Court of the Crimson King.† â€Å"Two places at once.† Given his journeying between the world of America and the world of the Territories, Jack has little trouble swallowing this concept. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"If he or it destroys the Tower, won't that defeat his purpose? Won't he destroy his physical being in the process?† â€Å"Just the opposite: he'll set it free to wander what will then be chaos . . . din-tah . . . the furnace. Some parts of Mid-World have fallen into that furnace already.† â€Å"How much of this do I actually need to know?† Jack asks. He is aware that time is fleeting by on his side of the wall, as well. â€Å"Hard telling what you need to know and what you don't,† Parkus says. â€Å"If I leave out the wrong piece of information, maybe all the stars go dark. Not just here, but in a thousand thousand universes. That's the pure hell of it. Listen, Jack the King has been trying to destroy the Tower and set himself free for time out of mind. Forever, mayhap. It's slow work, because the Tower is bound in place by crisscrossing force beams that act on it like guy wires. The Beams have held for millennia, and would hold for millennia to come, but in the last two hundred years that's speaking of time as you count it, Jack; to you, Sophie, it would be Full-Earth almost five hundred times over â€Å" â€Å"So long,† she says. It's almost a sigh. â€Å"So very long.† â€Å"In the great sweep of things, it's as short as the gleam of a single match in a dark room. But while good things usually take a long time to develop, evil has a way of popping up full-blown and ready-made, like Jack out of his box. Ka is a friend to evil as well as to good. It embraces both. And, speaking of Jack . . .† Parkus turns to him. â€Å"You've heard of the Iron Age and the Bronze Age, of course?† Jack nods. â€Å"On the upper levels of the Tower, there are those who call the last two hundred or so years in your world the Age of Poisoned Thought. That means â€Å" â€Å"You don't have to explain it to me,† Jack says. â€Å"I knew Morgan Sloat, remember? I knew what he planned for Sophie's world.† Yes, indeed. The basic plan had been to turn one of the universe's sweetest honeycombs into first a vacation spot for the rich, then a source of unskilled labor, and finally a waste pit, probably radioactive. If that wasn't an example of poisoned thought, Jack doesn't know what is. Parkus says, â€Å"Rational beings have always harbored telepaths among their number; that's true in all the worlds. But they're ordinarily rare creatures. Prodigies, you might say. But since the Age of Poisoned Thought came on your world, Jack infested it like a demon such beings have become much more common. Not as common as slow mutants in the Blasted Lands, but common, yes.† â€Å"You speak of mind readers,† Sophie says, as if wanting to be sure. â€Å"Yes,† Parkus agrees, â€Å"but not just mind readers. Precognates. Teleports world jumpers like old Travelin' Jack here, in other words and telekinetics. Mind readers are the most common, telekinetics the rarest . . . and the most valuable.† â€Å"To him, you mean,† Jack says. â€Å"To the Crimson King.† â€Å"Yes. Over the last two hundred years or so, the abbalah has spent a good part of his time gathering a crew of telepathic slaves. Most of them come from Earth and the Territories. All of the telekinetics come from Earth. This collection of slaves this gulag is his crowning achievement. We call them Breakers. They . . .† He trails off, thinking. Then: â€Å"Do you know how a galley travels?† Sophie nods, but Jack at first has no idea what Parkus is talking about. He has a brief, lunatic vision of a fully equipped kitchen traveling down Route 66. â€Å"Many oarsmen,† Sophie says, then makes a rowing motion that throws her breasts into charming relief. Parkus is nodding. â€Å"Usually slaves chained together. They â€Å" From outside the circle, Wendell suddenly sticks his own oar in. â€Å"Spart. Cus.† He pauses, frowning, then tries it again. â€Å"Spart-a-cus.† â€Å"What's he on about?† Parkus asks, frowning. â€Å"Any idea, Jack?† â€Å"A movie called Spartacus,† Jack says, â€Å"and you're wrong as usual, Wendell. I believe you're thinking about Ben-Hur.† Looking sulky, Wendell holds out his greasy hands. â€Å"More. Meat.† Parkus pulls the last grouse from its sizzling stick and tosses it between two of the stones, where Wendell sits with his pallid, greasy face peering from between his knees. â€Å"Fresh prey for the news hawk,† he says. â€Å"Now do us a favor and shut up.† â€Å"Or. What.† The old defiant gleam is rising in Wendell's eyes. Parkus draws his shooting iron partway from its holster. The grip, made of sandalwood, is worn, but the barrel gleams murder-bright. He has to say no more; holding his second bird in one hand, Wendell Green hitches up his robe and hies himself back over the rise. Jack is extremely relieved to see him go. Spartacus indeed, he thinks, and snorts. â€Å"So the Crimson King wants to use these Breakers to destroy the Beams,† Jack says. â€Å"That's it, isn't it? That's his plan.† â€Å"You speak as though of the future,† Parkus says mildly. â€Å"This is happening now, Jack. Only look at your own world if you want to see the ongoing disintegration. Of the six Beams, only one still holds true. Two others still generate some holding power. The other three are dead. One of these went out thousands of years ago, in the ordinary course of things. The others . . . killed by the Breakers. All in two centuries or less.† â€Å"Christ,† Jack says. He is beginning to understand how Speedy could call the Fisherman small-fry. â€Å"The job of protecting the Tower and the Beams has always belonged to the ancient war guild of Gilead, called gunslingers in this world and many others. They also generated a powerful psychic force, Jack, one fully capable of countering the Crimson King's Breakers, but â€Å" â€Å"The gunslingers are all gone save for one,† Sophie says, looking at the big pistol on Parkus's hip. And, with timid hope: â€Å"Unless you really are one, too, Parkus.† â€Å"Not I, darling,† he says, â€Å"but there's more than one.† â€Å"I thought Roland was the last. So the stories say.† â€Å"He has made at least three others,† Parkus tells her. â€Å"I've no idea how that can be possible, but I believe it to be true. If Roland were still alone, the Breakers would have toppled the Tower long since. But with the force of these others added to his â€Å" â€Å"I have no clue what you're talking about,† Jack says. â€Å"I did, sort of, but you lost me about two turns back.† â€Å"There's no need for you to understand it all in order to do your job,† Parkus says. â€Å"Thank God for that.† â€Å"As for what you do need to understand, leave galleys and oarsmen and think in terms of the Western movies your mother used to make. To begin with, imagine a fort in the desert.† â€Å"This Dark Tower you keep talking about. That's the fort.† â€Å"Yes. And surrounding the fort, instead of wild Indians â€Å" â€Å"The Breakers. Led by Big Chief Abbalah.† Sophie murmurs: â€Å"The King is in his Tower, eating bread and honey. The Breakers in the basement, making all the money.† Jack feels a light but singularly unpleasant chill shake up his spine: he thinks of rat paws scuttering over broken glass. â€Å"What? Why do you say that?† Sophie looks at him, flushes, shakes her head, looks down. â€Å"It's what she says, sometimes. Judy. It's how I hear her, sometimes.† Parkus seizes one of the charred greensticks and draws in the rocky dust beside the figure-eight shape. â€Å"Fort here. Marauding Indians here, led by their merciless, evil and most likely insane chief. But over here † Off to the left, he draws a harsh arrow in the dirt. It points at the rudimentary shapes indicating the fort and the besieging Indians. â€Å"What always arrives at the last moment in all the best Lily Cavanaugh Westerns?† â€Å"The cavalry,† Jack says. â€Å"That's us, I suppose.† â€Å"No,† Parkus says. His tone is patient, but Jack suspects it is costing him a great effort to maintain that tone. â€Å"The cavalry is Roland of Gilead and his new gunslingers. Or so those of us who want the Tower to stand or to fall in its own time dare hope. The Crimson King hopes to hold Roland back, and to finish the job of destroying the Tower while he and his band are still at a distance. That means gathering all the Breakers he can, especially the telekinetics.† â€Å"Is Tyler Marshall â€Å" â€Å"Stop interrupting. This is difficult enough without that.† â€Å"You used to be a hell of a lot cheerier, Speedy,† Jack says reproachfully. For a moment he thinks his old friend is going to give him another tongue-lashing or perhaps even lose his temper completely and turn him into a frog but Parkus relaxes a little, and utters a laugh. Sophie looks up, relieved, and gives Jack's hand a squeeze. â€Å"Oh, well, maybe you're right to yank on my cord a little,† Parkus says. â€Å"Gettin' all wound up won't help anything, will it?† He touches the big iron on his hip. â€Å"I wouldn't be surprised if wearin' this thing has given me a few delusions of grandeur.† â€Å"It's a step or two up from amusement-park janitor,† Jack allows. â€Å"In both the Bible your world, Jack and the Book of Good Farming yours, Sophie dear there's a scripture that goes something like ? ®For in my kingdom there are many mansions.' Well, in the Court of the Crimson King there are many monsters.† Jack hears a short, hard laugh bolt out of his mouth. His old friend has made a typically tasteless policeman's joke, it seems. â€Å"They are the King's courtiers . . . his knights-errant. They have all sorts of tasks, I imagine, but in these last years their chief job has been to find talented Breakers. The more talented the Breaker, the greater the reward.† â€Å"They're headhunters,† Jack murmurs, and doesn't realize the resonance of the term until it's out of his mouth. He has used it in the business sense, but of course there is another, more literal meaning. Headhunters are cannibals. â€Å"Yes,† Parkus agrees. â€Å"And they have mortal subcontractors, who work for . . . one doesn't like to say for the joy of it, but what else could we call it?† Jack has a nightmarish vision then: a cartoon Albert Fish standing on a New York sidewalk with a sign reading WILL WORK FOR FOOD. He tightens his arm around Sophie. Her blue eyes turn to him, and he looks into them gladly. They soothe him. â€Å"How many Breakers did Albert Fish send his pal Mr. Monday?† Jack wants to know. â€Å"Two? Four? A dozen? And do they die off, at least, so the abbalah has to replace them?† â€Å"They don't,† Parkus replies gravely. â€Å"They are kept in a place a basement, yes, or a cavern where there is essentially no time.† â€Å"Purgatory. Christ.† â€Å"And it doesn't matter. Albert Fish is long gone. Mr. Monday is now Mr. Munshun. The deal Mr. Munshun has with your killer is a simple one: this Burnside can kill and eat all the children he wants, as long as they are untalented children. If he should find any who are talented any Breakers they are to be turned over to Mr. Munshun at once.† â€Å"Who will take them to the abbalah,† Sophie murmurs. â€Å"That's right,† Parkus says. Jack feels that he's back on relatively solid ground, and is extremely glad to be there. â€Å"Since Tyler hasn't been killed, he must be talented.† † ? ®Talented' is hardly the word. Tyler Marshall is, potentially, one of the two most powerful Breakers in all the history of all the worlds. If I can briefly return to the analogy of the fort surrounded by Indians, then we could say that the Breakers are like fire arrows shot over the walls . . . a new kind of warfare. But Tyler Marshall is no simple fire arrow. He's more like a guided missile. â€Å"Or a nuclear weapon.† Sophie says, â€Å"I don't know what that is.† â€Å"You don't want to,† Jack replies. â€Å"Believe me.† He looks down at the scribble of drawings in the dirt. Is he surprised that Tyler should be so powerful? No, not really. Not after experiencing the aura of strength surrounding the boy's mother. Not after meeting Judy's Twinner, whose plain dress and manner can't conceal a character that strikes him as almost regal. She's beautiful, but he senses that beauty is one of the least important things about her. â€Å"Jack?† Parkus asks him. â€Å"You all right?† There's no time to be anythin' else, his tone suggests. â€Å"Give me a minute,† Jack says. â€Å"We don't have much t â€Å" â€Å"That has been made perfectly clear to me,† Jack says, biting off the words, and he feels Sophie shift in surprise at his tone of voice. â€Å"Now give me a minute. Let me do my job.† From beneath a ruffle of green feathers, one of the parrot's heads mutters: â€Å"God loves the poor laborer.† The other replies: â€Å"Is that why he made so fucking many of them?† â€Å"All right, Jack,† Parkus says, and cocks his head up at the sky. Okay, what have we got here? Jack thinks. We've got a valuable little boy, and the Fisherman knows he's valuable. But this Mr. Munshun doesn't have him yet, or Speedy wouldn't be here. Deduction? Sophie, looking at him anxiously. Parkus, still looking up into the blameless blue sky above this borderland between the Territories what Judy Marshall calls Faraway and the Whatever Comes Next. Jack's mind is ticking faster now, picking up speed like an express train leaving the station. He is aware that the black man with the bald head is watching the sky for a certain malevolent crow. He is aware that the fair-skinned woman beside him is looking at him with the sort of fascination that could become love, given world enough and time. Mostly, though, he's lost in his own thoughts. They are the thoughts of a coppiceman. Now Bierstone's Burnside, and he's old. Old and not doing so well in the cognition department these days. I think maybe he's gotten caught between what he wants, which is to keep Tyler for himself, and what he's promised this Munshun guy. Somewhere there's a fuddled, creaky, dangerous mind trying to make itself up. If he decides to kill Tyler and stick him in the stewpot like the witch in â€Å"Hansel and Gretel,† that's bad for Judy and Fred. Not to mention Tyler, who may already have seen things that would drive a Marine combat vet insane. If the Fisherman turns the boy over to Mr. Munshun, it's bad for everyone in creation. No wonder Speedy said time was blowing in our teeth. â€Å"You knew this was coming, didn't you?† he says. â€Å"Both of you. You must have. Because Judy knew. She's been weird for months, long before the murders started.† Parkus shifts and looks away, uncomfortable. â€Å"I knew something was coming, yes there have been great disruptions on this side but I was on other business. And Sophie can't cross. She came here with the flying men and will go back the same way when our palaver's done.† Jack turns to her. â€Å"You are who my mother once was. I'm sure of it.† He supposes he isn't being entirely clear about this, but he can't help it; his mind is trying to go in too many directions at once. â€Å"You're Laura DeLoessian's successor. The Queen of this world.† Now Sophie is the one who looks uncomfortable. â€Å"I was nobody in the great scheme of things, really I wasn't, and that was the way I liked it. What I did mostly was write letters of commendation and thank people for coming to see me . . . only in my official capacity, I always said ? ®us.' I enjoyed walking, and sketching flowers, and cataloging them. I enjoyed hunting. Then, due to bad luck, bad times, and bad behavior, I found myself the last of the royal line. Queen of this world, as you say. Married once, to a good and simple man, but my Fred Marshall died and left me alone. Sophie the Barren.† â€Å"Don't,† Jack says. He is surprised at how deeply it hurts him to hear her refer to herself in this bitter, joking way. â€Å"Were you not single-natured, Jack, your Twinner would be my cousin.† She turns her slim fingers so that now she is gripping him instead of the other way around. When she speaks again, her voice is low and passionate. â€Å"Put all the great matters aside. All I know is that Tyler Marshall is Judy's child, that I love her, that I'd not see her hurt for all the worlds that are. He's the closest thing to a child of my own that I'll ever have. These things I know, and one other: that you're the only one who can save him.† â€Å"Why?† He has sensed this, of course why else in God's name is he here? but that doesn't lessen his bewilderment. â€Å"Why me?† â€Å"Because you touched the Talisman. And although some of its power has left you over the years, much still remains.† Jack thinks of the lilies Speedy left for him in Dale's bathroom. How the smell lingered on his hands even after he had given the bouquet itself to Tansy. And he remembers how the Talisman looked in the murmuring darkness of the Queen's Pavilion, rising brightly, changing everything before it finally vanished. He thinks: It's still changing everything. â€Å"Parkus.† Is it the first time he's called the other man the other coppiceman by that name? He doesn't know for sure, but he thinks it may be. â€Å"Yes, Jack.† â€Å"What's left of the Talisman is it enough? Enough for me to take on this Crimson King?† Parkus looks shocked in spite of himself. â€Å"Never in your life, Jack. Never in any life. The abbalah would blow you out like a candle. But it may be enough for you to take on Mr. Munshun to go into the furnace-lands and bring Tyler out.† â€Å"There are machines,† Sophie says. She looks caught in some dark and unhappy dream. â€Å"Red machines and black machines, all lost in smoke. There are great belts and children without number upon them. They trudge and trudge, turning the belts that turn the machines. Down in the foxholes. Down in the ratholes where the sun never shines. Down in the great caverns where the furnace-lands lie.† Jack is shaken to the bottom of his mind and spirit. He finds himself thinking of Dickens not Bleak House but Oliver Twist. And, of course he thinks of his conversation with Transy Freneau. At least Irma's not there, he thinks. Not in the furnace-lands, not she. She got dead, and a mean old man ate her leg. Tyler, though . . . Tyler . . . â€Å"They trudge until their feet bleed,† he mutters. â€Å"And the way there . . . ?† â€Å"I think you know it,† Parkus says. â€Å"When you find Black House, you'll find your way to the furnace-lands . . . the machines . . . Mr. Munshun . . . and Tyler.† â€Å"The boy is alive. You're sure of that.† â€Å"Yes.† Parkus and Sophie speak together. â€Å"And where is Burnside now? That information might speed things up a bit.† â€Å"I don't know,† Parkus says. â€Å"Christ, if you know who he was â€Å" â€Å"That was the fingerprints,† Parkus says. â€Å"The fingerprints on the telephone. Your first real idea about the case. The Wisconsin State Police got the Bierstone name back from the FBI's VICAP database. You have the Burnside name. That should be enough.† Wisconsin State Police, FBI, VICAP, database: these terms come out in good old American English, and in this place they sound unpleasant and foreign to Jack's ear. â€Å"How do you know all that?† â€Å"I have my sources in your world; I keep my ear to the ground. As you know from personal experience. And surely you're cop enough to do the rest on your own.† â€Å"Judy thinks you have a friend who can help,† Sophie says unexpectedly. â€Å"Dale? Dale Gilbertson?† Jack finds this a little hard to believe, but he supposes Dale may have uncovered something. â€Å"I don't know the name. Judy thinks he's like many here in Faraway. A man who sees much because he sees nothing.† Not Dale, after all. It's Henry she's talking about. Parkus rises to his feet. The heads of the parrot come up, revealing four bright eyes. Sacred and Profane flutters up to his shoulder and settles there. â€Å"I think our palaver is done,† Parkus says. â€Å"It must be done. Are you ready to go back, my friend?† â€Å"Yes. And I suppose I better take Green, little as I want to. I don't think he'd last long here.† â€Å"As you say.† Jack and Sophie, still holding hands, are halfway up the rise when Jack realizes Parkus is still standing in the speaking circle with his parrot on his shoulder. â€Å"Aren't you coming?† Parkus shakes his head. â€Å"We go different ways now, Jack. I may see you again.† If I survive, Jack thinks. If any of us survive. â€Å"Meantime, go your course. And be true.† Sophie drops another deep curtsey. â€Å"Sai.† Parkus nods to her and gives Jack Sawyer a little salute. Jack turns and leads Sophie back to the ruined hospital tent, wondering if he will ever see Speedy Parker again. Wendell Green ace reporter, fearless investigator, explicator of good and evil to the great unwashed sits in his former place, holding the crumpled foolscap in one hand and the batteries in the other. He has resumed muttering, and barely looks up when Sophie and Jack approach. â€Å"You'll do your best, won't you?† Sophie asks. â€Å"For her.† â€Å"And for you,† Jack says. â€Å"Listen to me, now. If this were to end with all of us still standing . . . and if I were to come back here . . .† He finds he can say no more. He's appalled at his temerity. This is a queen, after all. A queen. And he's . . . what? Trying to ask her for a date? â€Å"Perhaps,† she says, looking at him with her steady blue eyes. â€Å"Perhaps.† â€Å"Is it a perhaps you want?† he asks softly. â€Å"Yes.† He bends and brushes his lips over hers. It's brief, barely a kiss at all. It is also the best kiss of his life. â€Å"I feel like fainting,† she tells him when he straightens up again. â€Å"Don't joke with me, Sophie.† She takes his hand and presses it against the underswell of her left breast. He can feel her heart pounding. â€Å"Is this a joke? If she were to run faster, she'd catch her feet and fall.† She lets him go, but he holds his hand where it is a moment longer, palm curved against that springing warmth. â€Å"I'd come with you if I could,† she says. â€Å"I know that.† He looks at her, knowing if he doesn't get moving now, right away, he never will. It's wanting not to leave her, but that's not all. The truth is that he's never been more frightened in his life. He searches for something mundane to bring him back to earth to slow the pounding of his own heart and finds the perfect object in the muttering creature that is Wendell Green. He drops to one knee. â€Å"Are you ready, big boy? Want to take a trip on the mighty Mississip'?† â€Å"Don't. Touch. Me.† And then, in a nearly poetic rush: â€Å"Fucking Hollywood asshole!† â€Å"Believe me, if I didn't have to, I wouldn't. And I plan to wash my hands just as soon as I get the chance.† He looks up at Sophie and sees all the Judy in her. All the beauty in her. â€Å"I love you,† he says. Before she can reply, he seizes Wendell's hand, closes his eyes, and flips.