Office Depot Potter Analysis Essay

We strive to ensure that our customers’ needs are satisfied through various channel offerings. Our direct business is tailored to serve small- to medium-sized customers. * sales representatives contribute to customer loyalty by building relationships with customers and providing information, business tools and problem-solving solutions to them. * offering a broad selection of nationally branded office products, as well as private brand products and services. Our selection of private brand products has increased in breadth and level of sophistication over time. We currently offer general office supplies, computer supplies, business machines and related supplies, and office furniture under various labels, including Office Depot ®, Viking Office Products ®, Foray ®, Ativa ®, Break Escapesâ„ ¢, Nicedayâ„ ¢ and Worklifeâ„ ¢ * office supplies specialty stores faced heightened competition from discount department stores, warehouse clubs, supercenters and e-commerce websites, which have undercut demand and eroded the industry’s sales. Threat of new entrants: Most office supplies are commoditized products, which have little brand loyalty. This, along with low end user switching costs, little government regulation, and easy access to suppliers and distribution channels, is conducive to the entry of new players into the market. Larger players benefit from scale economies that allow them to compete with high-volume office supply providers that lead the market. Larger players with greater financial muscle would be able to negotiate better contracts with suppliers and therefore achieve better profit margins. Entry can be achieved on a smaller scale by focusing on a specific product range (e. g. n ink cartridge specialty store) or by developing an online retail shop. Poor growth in recent years, with stagnant growth forecast for the 2010-2015 period, decreases the threat of new entrants into the market somewhat. Overall, the threat of new entrants is strong. * Staples, Office Depot and Office Max make up nearly $41 Billion of that total and Staples claiming one third of the market share. Thus, barriers to entry are high as these few firms dominate market share. * along with low brand loyalty and easy access to suppliers and distribution, also contribute to the high likelihood of new entrants Power of Buyer: The office supply sector has customers including corporate, government, small business, and individual households. While individual households hold relatively little buying power, corporate and government business partners can have significant impact on the market environment. * abundance and diversity of buyers weakens buyer power. However, it is strengths due to low-cost switching, low product differentiation, and high price sensitivity strengthen it. Suppliers: * Suppliers to this industry hold less power. Since retailers offer similar costing products and services, few manufacturers can differentiate themselves. There are at least ten major competitors in the paper industry alone, for example, and on top of this the individual office suppliers themselves often carry their own line of generic product. * there are a number of substitutes available to consumers. Discount furniture outlets such as Ikea offer desks and chairs for the home office. For businesses, companies like Steelcase can furnish entire buildings all under one contract, whereas an office supply outlet cannot. Major corporations often enter into purchasing agreements with the computer manufacturers themselves to order in bulk. Retail outlets such as Best Buy offer the same technology as the office suppliers, often at a very competitive price. Finally, Wal-Mart is a major†¦ * Suppliers range from multinational high-office providers to local stationeries. * Suppliers are numerous, and low differentiation, along with some backwards integration by players who sell their own branded goods, weakens supplier power. Rivarly among firms: * Players range in size and product diversity; they include high-volume office supply providers (e. g. Staples), warehouse clubs (e. g. Costco), copy and print businesses (e. g. FedEx Office), online retailers (e. g. Amazon. com), ink cartridge specialty stores, discount retailers, as well as several local and regional contract stationers. The large number of players, along with low-cost switching for buyers, low product differentiation, easy expansion by utilizing the internet, and poor market growth in recent years, intensifies rivalry amongst incumbents. This is ameliorated somewhat by the diversity displayed in the product portfolio of some players, such as online retailers and discount retailers, who operate in other markets and are therefore not solely reliant on the revenues generated from the office services and supplies market. Relatively low storage costs and the non-specificity of players’ assets lowers barriers to exit and eases rivalry. Overall, rivalry is strong. * * The large number of players, along with low-cost switching for buyers, low product differentiation, easy expansion by utilizing the internet, and poor market growth in recent years, intensifies rivalry amongst incumbents. http://360. datamonitor. com. ezproxy. fau. edu/Product? pid=4CA55D31-18F9-44E1-BB86-D1E5E5306887 http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Office_Depot_%28ODP%29/Filing/10-K/2010/F46736398#toc38397_1 COMPETITION: We operate in a highly competitive environment in all three of our segments. We believe that we compete favorably on the basis of price, service, relationships and selection. We compete with office supply stores, wholesale clubs, discount stores, mass merchandisers, food and drug stores, computer and electronics superstores, internet-based companies and direct marketing companies. These companies, in varying degrees, compete with us in substantially all of our current markets. Other office supply retail companies market similarly to us in terms of store format, pricing strategy, product selection and product availability in the markets where we operate, primarily those in the U. S. and Canada. We anticipate that in the future we will face increased competition from these chains. Internationally, we compete on a similar basis to North America. Outside of the U. S. and Canada, we sell through contract and catalog channels in 17 countries and operate retail stores in four countries through wholly-owned or majority-owned entities. Additionally, our International Division provides office products and services in 34 countries through joint ventures, licensing and franchise agreements, cross-border transactions, alliances and other arrangements. Competition — We compete with a variety of retailers, dealers, distributors, contract stationers, direct marketers and internet operators throughout our worldwide operations. This is a highly competitive marketplace that includes such retail competitors as office supply stores, warehouse clubs, computer and electronics stores, mass merchant retailers, local merchants, grocery and drug-store chains as well as other competitors including direct mail and internet merchants, contract stationers, and direct manufacturers. Our competitors may be local, regional, national or international. Further, competition may come from highly-specialized low-cost merchants, including ink refill stores and kiosks, original equipment manufacturers, concentrated direct marketing channels including well-funded and broad-based enterprises. There is a possibility that any or all of these competitors could become more aggressive in the future, thereby increasing the number and breadth of our competitors. In recent years, new and well-funded competitors have begun competing in certain aspects of our business. For example, two major common carriers of goods have retail outlets that allow them to compete directly for copy, printing, packaging and shipping business, and offer products and services similar to those we offer. While they do not yet have the breadth of products that we offer, they are extremely competitive in the areas of package shipping and copy and print centers. Recently, the so-called warehouse clubs have expanded upon their â€Å"in-store† offerings by adding catalog and internet sales channels, offering a broad assortment of office products for sale on a direct delivery basis. In order to achieve and maintain expected profitability levels in our three operating divisions, we must continue to grow by adding new customers and taking market share from competitors and using pricing necessary to retain existing customers. If we fail to adequately address and respond to these pressures in both North America and internationally, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. HIGH EXIT COSTS: The company has been adversely affected by the downturn in the global economy in recent years and has taken actions to adapt to the changing and increasingly competitive conditions including closing stores and distribution centers (â€Å"DCs†), consolidating functional activities and disposing of businesses and assets. Exit costs related to these activities recognized during the year-to-date 2011 totaled approximately $25 million. Of this amount, approximately $17 million is included in Store and warehouse operating and selling expenses and approximately $8 million is included in General and administrative expenses on the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations. http://www. sec. gov/Archives/edgar/data/800240/000119312511279497/d241553d10q. htm BUYERS: Government Contracts — One of our largest U. S. ustomer groups consists of various state and local governments, government agencies and non-profit organizations. Our relationship with this customer group is subject to uncertain future funding levels and federal and state procurement laws and requires restrictive contract terms; any of these factors could curtail current or future business. Contracting with state and local governments is highly competitive and can be expensive and time-consuming, often requiring that we incur significant upfront time and expense without any assurance that we will win a contract. Our ability to compete successfully for and retain business with the federal and various state and local governments is highly dependent on cost-effective performance. Our government business is also sensitive to changes in national and international priorities and U. S. , state and local government budgets. SUPPLIERS: Product Availability; Potential Cost Increases — In addition to selling our private brand merchandise, we are a reseller of manufacturers’ branded items and are thereby dependent on the availability and pricing of key products, including ink, toner, paper and technology products, to name a few. As a reseller, we cannot control the supply, design, function or cost of many of the products we offer for sale. Disruptions in the availability of raw materials used in production of these products may adversely affect our sales and result in customer dissatisfaction. Further, we cannot control the cost of manufacturers’ products and cost increases must either be passed along to our customers or result in an erosion of our earnings. Failure to identify desirable products and make them available to our customers when desired and at attractive prices could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. PRODUCT IDENTITY: THREat of NEW ENTRANTS Global Sourcing of Products/Private Brand — In recent years, we have substantially increased the number and types of products that we sell under our private brands including Office Depot ® and other proprietary brands. Sources of supply may prove to be unreliable, or the quality of the globally sourced products may vary from our expectations. Economic and civil unrest in areas of the world where we source such products, as well as shipping and dockage issues could adversely impact the availability or cost of such products, or both. Moreover, as we seek indemnities from the manufacturers of these products, the uncertainty of realization of any such indemnity and the lack of understanding of U. S. roduct liability laws in certain parts of Asia make it more likely that we may have to respond to claims or complaints from our customers. Most of our imported goods to the United States arrive from Asia, and the ports through which these goods are imported are located primarily on the U. S. West Coast. Therefore, we are subject to potential disruption of our supplies of goods for resale due to labor unrest, security issues or natural disasters affecting any or all of these ports. Finally, as a significant importer of manufactured goods from foreign countries, we are vulnerable to security concerns, labor unrest and other factors that may affect the availability and reliability of ports of entry for the products that we source. Any of these circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. STAKEHOLDERS: Unionization — While our management believes that our employee relations are good, we cannot be assured that we will not experience pressure from labor unions or become the target of campaigns similar to those faced by our competitors. The potential for unionization could increase if the United States Congress passes federal legislation that would facilitate labor organization. The unionization of a significant portion of our workforce could increase our overall costs at the affected locations and adversely affect our flexibility to run our business in the most efficient manner to remain competitive or acquire new business. In addition, significant union representation would require us to negotiate wages, salaries, benefits and ther terms with many of our employees collectively and could adversely affect our results of operations by increasing our labor costs or otherwise restricting our ability to maximize the efficiency of our operations. Regulatory Environment — While businesses are subject to regulatory matters relating to the conduct of their businesses, including consumer protection laws, advertising regulations, wage and hour regulations and the like, certain jurisdictions have taken a particularly ag gressive stance with respect to such matters and have stepped up enforcement, including fines and other sanctions. We transact substantial amounts of business in certain such jurisdictions, and to the extent that our business locations are exposed to what might be termed a challenging enforcement environment or legal or regulatory systems that authorize or encourage private parties to pursue relief under so-called private attorney general laws and similar authorizations for private parties to pursue enforcement of governmental laws and regulations, the resulting fines and exposure to third party liability (such as monetary recoveries and recoveries of attorneys fees) could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations, including the added cost of increased preventative measures that we may determine to be necessary to conduct business in such locales. Product differentiation: Office Depot has made efforts to increase its profitability by offering copy and print services, company has integrated copy and print services into retail and commercial businesses. Staples provid es those services as well= intense competition among rivals. Threats: Low confidence among the small and medium scale businesses and high office vacancy rates indicates sluggish spending The economic trends in the US indicate sluggish spending on office products and supplies. The optimism index (the index determining the spending inclination of the businesses) of a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, representing small and independent businesses in the US, dropped to 89. 9 in July 2011 from 97. 6 in July 2007. The drop in July 2011 was the fifth monthly decrease in a row. With low levels of optimism, the small businesses are expected to cut costs. Additionally, in the Office Depot Small Business Index released in August 2011, 66% of the small and medium scale businesses (SMBs) said that the economic downturn has affected their business. Nearly 79% of businesses surveyed indicated no plans to hire or add to their staff in the near future. Another negative trend is witnessed in the office vacancy rates in the US. According to industry estimates, the office vacancy rate was 17. 6% in the last quarter of 2010, and decreased slightly to 17. 5% in the first quarter of 2011. Office Depot has high correlation to macro economic trends which was reflected in the sales decline of its business segments, North American retail, and North American business solutions during FY2008–10. During this period, the revenues from North American retail segment decreased by 18. 8%, and revenues from the North American business solutions segment decreased by 20. 6%. With the declining optimism and spending by the SMBs, the demand for Office Depot’s merchandise Opportunities: Portfolio of environment friendly products In the recent times, sustainability and energy efficiency have gained in popularity owing to the increase in energy costs. More and more organizations have been adopting sustainable ways of doing business to reduce costs and remain competitive. In order to cater to the growing demand for sustainable and energy efficient products, Office Depot offers a range of environment friendly products. The company offers a Green catalog, which features products that are recyclable, energy efficient, or have a reduced impact on the environment. The company also operates a separate section on its website, officedepot. com, to sell its green products online. In 2010, Office Depot, in partnership with EarthEra, introduced Greener Shipping solution. The solution allows business customers to earn rewards and product discounts for reducing the carbon footprint associated with their office supply orders. In February 2011, Office Depot launched new assortment of energy efficient lamps under the Realspace brand. Furthermore, in August 2011, Office Depot started offering its customers the option to receive their supplies in a paper bag instead of a cardboard box. Office Depot’s increased focus on providing environment friendly products amidst growing demand for eco-friendly and energy efficient products would increase the company’s revenues from the product line. Broadening computer assortment by offering tablets Tablets are similar to PC’s and were previously used in only niche professional areas as they were bulky and had poor processing power and suffered from battery life problems. However, with technological advancements, tablets have increasingly become more sophisticated and are finding applications in many industries. According to the industry estimates, the global market of tablet computers such as Apple iPad, Galaxy Tab Samsung and BlackBerry Playbook is expected to increase from $16 billion in 2010 to $46 billion in 2014, registering a CAGR of 30%. In 2010, North America was the leading market for tablet computers. To tap the growing market for tablets, Office Depot too has been taking various initiatives to increase the assortment of tablets offered at its stores. In April 2011, the company started offering BlackBerry PlayBook tablets at its stores. In the following month, Office Depot started offering the Acer Iconia Office Depot, Inc. Page 25  © Datamonitor Office Depot, Inc. SWOT Analysis Tab A500 at its stores. Further in June 2011, Office Depot announced the pre-sale availability of the Toshiba Thrive tablets on its website. The latest tablet to be added to the company’s assortment of tablets was the Lenovo IdeaPad in August 2011. Besides these, the company also offers tablets from various brands such as HP TouchPad, ASUS Transformer, ViewSonic G-Tablet, and Velocity Micro Cruz. Office Depot also offers various accessories needed for these tablets. By increasing its assortment in the tablets category, Office Depot can drive incremental comparative store sales and facilitate top line growth. Improving store efficiency The company has taken up several initiatives to improve its store efficiency in the recent times. Office Depot plans to remodel nearly 50 of its traditional stores with the M2 format in 2011. There are two versions of this format, M2M and M2S. A typical M2M store is spread across an area of approximately 20,000 square feet, and a M2S store across an area of 15,000 square feet. These two formats will help the company to improve product display with updated signage and lighting. It will also lower overall operating costs for the company. Additionally, Office Depot has been testing a new smaller concept store. These stores are spread across an area of 5,000 square feet. These smaller stores would offer only half the items found at a regular Office Depot store, but that would encompass more than 90% of the product categories regularly sold. Smaller stores would not only reduce Office Depot’s operating costs but also facilitate its quick penetration in urban areas where it is difficult to find appropriate space. http://360. datamonitor. com. ezproxy. fau. edu/Product? pid=DBCM6748;amp;view=d0e340 http://www. sec. gov/Archives/edgar/data/800240/000119312511041599/d10k. htm

Boracay as a Model for Carabao Island

Boracay, an island in the province of Aklan, still remains as one of the world’s best island getaways. In February this year, Boracay was named the top island getaway of Travel+Leisure Magazine (ABS-CBN, 2013). The island has always been part of many other rankings of beaches and island destinations. Amidst all the praises that the island has gained, many issues have risen and still exist in the island. In 1997, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources announced that Boracay’s waters off Long Beach were contaminated with coliform (Trousdale, 1999).This was blamed on inadequate sewage treatment and is aggravated by the large number of tourists arriving in the island (Lujan, 2003). This is still a problem in the island until now and yet tourists still flock to Boracay all year round. In the documentary, â€Å"Ang Tagong Boracay†, it was shown that resorts are still being put up in Boracay even with over 300 resorts already lining up the beachfront. This has happened despite directives from the national government to stop building in Boracay.Tourists still flock to Boracay despite the overcrowding and waste management issues to see what it is about this island that makes it world famous. Many other tourists go here for the famous night parties of Boracay. And of course, Boracay’s famous powdery white sand which is actually pulverized calcium carbonate from dead corals is also a reason for the numerous tourists in the area. Carabao Island is an island an hour away from Boracay. It is under the municipality of San Jose of Romblon. Carabao Island has white sand beaches as well. Many of its residents are workers in Boracay.The local government plans to make the island a tourism destination. Documentaries such as the â€Å"Ang Tagong Boracay† create awareness for people about the situation in Boracay but this has been a long-term problem of the island. And there have been numerous news and journal articles about the situati on there and still only band-aid solutions have been presented. Arrivals remain to be strong in Boracay (Trousdale, 1999). This is one of the reasons why local leaders seem to ignore the fact that Boracay has become a crowded island with corresponding environmental problems.One instance is how they refuse to recognize that the algal blooms are partially a result of the rapid development of tourism facilities without proper planning (Pillout, 1996 in Trousdale, 1999). Management must be consistent and proactive (Trousdale, 1999). In the case of Boracay, the management is the local government. The local government should be responsive. Solutions must not only be for the short term. Trousdale stated that long term threats to future generations come from the undesirable cumulative effects of development which result from the absence of day-to-day management of the island.Many ordinances and policies have already been passed to solve Boracay’s many problems. The key to this is the proper and efficient implementation of these policies. The local government must be watchful and strict in implementing these policies and national government directives. Good governance is needed to identify and prioritize the community values and fuse them with technical answers that are most suitable. Development must always be planned. Pattaya is an example of unplanned and spontaneous coastal development in Southeast Asia (Wong, 1998).It has a 300-meter stretch of bars, nightclubs and massage parlors. Unplanned development has caused environmental degradation where the island’s natural tree cover has been removed, wetlands have been converted into open sewers, the beachfront land has been exploited and sea and beach has been polluted due to inadequate sewage treatment. Careful planning must be applied in Carabao Island before they start the implementation of their plans to open it as a tourism destination. According to Wong, environmental impact assessments are very imp ortant especially in coastal tourism developments.This must not just be done for big projects only but must also cover small constructions as well. Wong notes that Boracay demonstrates that small-scale tourism is possible. However, when tourist arrivals increase and planning was not done, the undesirable impacts can be serious. Therefore, planning really is important. Standards must also be enforced (Wong, 1998). Much like the policies, they must be implemented and regularly checked. For example, there are already developments in the disposal of sewage.Pipes must be regularly checked for cracks to avoid groundwater contamination. This also, lessens the need for additional costs once contamination occurs. Boracay is a good example of what not to do in tourism destinations. Through the efforts of the national government, the local government, tourism organizations, non-government organizations and the locals, Boracay can still be fixed. What they need is a workshop with representative s from each of the sectors to talk about the existing issues of the island.At the end of the workshop, new policies should be crafted and implemented. Carabao Island, on the other hand, must first consult with the locals. This is one of the important steps in tourism planning as they know more about the place. Careful planning, good governance and constant checking of the plan must be maintained throughout the implementation of the tourism plan. The combination of these guarantees that a certain destination remains sustainable. Bibliography Lujan, N. (2003, January 20-21). Boracay's Road to Ruin.Retrieved March 5, 2013, from Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism: http://pcij. org/stories/2003/boracay. html Malig, J. (2013, February 21). Boracay named 2012 world's best island. Retrieved March 5, 2013, from ABSCBNnews. com: http://www. abs-cbnnews. com/lifestyle/07/06/12/boracay-named-2012-worlds-best-island Trousdale, W. J. (1999). GOVERNANCE IN CONTEXT: Boracay Island, Phil ippines. Annals of Tourism Research , 840-867. Wong, P. (1998). Coastal tourism development in Southeast Asia. Ocean & Coastal Management , 89-109.

Catfish and Mandala

The American novelist Thomas Wolfe once wrote, â€Å"You can't go home again†. Andrew Pham proved that wrong. â€Å"Andrew X. Pham, who came to the United States when he was ten years old as a ‘boat person,' returned to Vietnam 20 years later on an extended bike trip in order to understand better his cultural identity† (Pearl 208). Despite the fact that Pham, like so many others of his generation, were forced to flee Vietnam, somehow they never lost the sense of identity with the homeland they only remembered as children. Pham, as an insightful writer, decided it was time for him to find out if there still exists a bridge between him as a Viet-American and his homeland. Pham travels to Vietnam to search for his roots in hopes to construct his identity. For Pham in the search of his identity he flies to Vietnam to ride his bike, and also to find his roots. As he first gets off the airplane he is already is immediately receiving dirty aware of others who looks at him disdainfully because he is a â€Å"viet-kieu† which means foreign Vietnamese. Then as he is at the baggage claim while retrieving his luggage, to his amazement he sees the workers tear up his bike that had been stuck in the claim belt. That hit a soft spot in him because that bike had been through so much with Pham. From then on his impressions of Vietnamese people were bad, He developed a negative impression of Vietnamese people and he automatically thought of them as a lower class persons than Americans human than he was. Pham in order to go back to his roots needs to humble himself as a true Vietnamese. Then he will understand his identity and appreciate his culture.

Karl Marx Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Karl Marx - Essay Example In the capitalist economy, Marx maintained that the worker was isolated from their labor, the product of their labor, and the conditions of their labor; that this isolation made it impossible for the worker to utilize their natural productive capacity. Marx particularly questions features of the capitalist economy such as the class system and currency. He maintains that history is the product of an ongoing struggle between masters and slaves; carried on between the bourgeois and the workers during the lifetime of Marx. Similarly, Marx identifies money as a force destructive to the worker's innate capacity. Both money and class hinder the ability of the worker to realize their full potential. According to Marx, the class struggle was destructive to production because one class always exploited the other and opposed their interests. In many respects, Marx considered that the struggle between classes created the alienation of the worker from his work. By being subjected to the rule of a master class, the worker is alienated from his work because he does not benefit directly from it. The worker is isolated from the product of his labor by the sense that his work is for someone else's benefit. Marx considered money to have a similar effect, if a more dramatic.

Conceptual Theoretical Frameworks Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Conceptual Theoretical Frameworks - Dissertation Example These factors can be broadly classified as curricular, institutional, political as well as economic, and social ones. Besides these listed factors, some of the factors that led to the increase in the number of nontraditional students are the existence of evening and weekend programs and even the existence of various courses that were taught in central locations and shopping malls. The political forces that emerged from the victory during the era of the World War II further facilitated the enrollment growth. The term nontraditional students refer to any learner in an institution of higher learning that hails from any part of the country that is from either urban or rural areas and the learner can be of any race and can be of any social state. According to Stewart and Rue (1983), nontraditional student can be defined as any learner who happens to be 25 years old or even more. However, this definition has been disputed by other authors and the reason for the dispute is the fact that the use of age is not satisfactory for the determination of the term nontraditional. Traditional students, on the other hand, can be referred to as learners that fall within an age bracket of 18 and 24 years and are attending college full time as well as residing in colleges. The difference between nontraditional and traditional students can, therefore, lie in the age, college attendance, and their residence. Structure of the Conceptual Model The conceptual model proposed by Bean and Metzner (1985) indicates that decisions involving dropouts basically rely on four variables, and these variables are background and defining variables, academic variables, environmental variables, and an intention to persist variable. Background and defining variables primarily concern various educational goals and the performance from high schools. Academic variables concern the performance, and the students with a low performance are expected to drop out of school at a higher rate compared to the student s with a higher performance. The third variable is environmental, and these variables are concerned with direct effects on the various decisions of dropping out of school (Tinto, 1975). Finally, the fourth variable is the intent to persist variable; and this variable is primarily affected by various psychological outcomes as well as various academic variables. The various variables are related through direct and indirect effects though the indirect effects can be easily calculated and testing of the resultant statistical significance brought about by these effects can be carried out. In the model, the various paths can be estimated using common convention that is capable of calculating both indirect and direct effects for each variable, which is independent, and the result is the greatest effect that is the sum of indirect and direct effects. A larger proportion of undergraduate student population is composed of commuter students, and the trends in the enrollment of these commuter s tudents are expected to increase because of the decrease in the number of the traditional age. The rate of attrition of nontraditional students is high, and commuter students generally take up the gaps left by these students. Community Retention Model According to Stahl and Pavel (1992), the community retention model had a lot of emphasis on two-year college nontraditional students, and the aspects of social integration were eliminated, and this elimination was due to the construct for two-year college nontraditional student decision persistence. The model has four variables, a

Your choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Your choice - Essay Example r will discuss few methodological and evaluative strategies of the learning event, and such discussion will allow the teacher to include innovative methodologies based on students’ perspectives. After introduction, the teacher will endeavor to provide learning related to the: It is an observation that students are aware of few objectives, as well as functions of the United Nations from previous classes and personal discussions, so the teacher will endeavor to find out conceived perceptions about the United Nations before presenting his means of learning. Such an overview of known notions has huge significance in the learning theory of ‘Cognitivism’ that promotes consideration of prior knowledge for efficient learning (Horn, 2008). â€Å"The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights† (UN, 2009). In conclusion of this class, students will be aware of learning objectives specified earlier in the lesson plan briefly, and will be ready to understand different functions of the United Nations in a detailed manner. Group discussions will be significant in evaluating the understanding capabilities of students in the class (Westwood, 2008), and will play a major role in developing leadership and teamwork skills in the students. In addition, crossword activity will facilitate teachers in assessing creative and cognitive skills of the students. Class will commence with a brief summarization of previous class from the students that will provide a compatible learning environment to them, and will allow absent or shy students to participate in the learning event confidently. Moreover, such an overview of learnt concepts plays a significant role in the learning theory of ‘Cognitivism’ (Horn, 2008) that promotes consideration of

Johnson Control Capital Investment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Johnson Control Capital Investment - Essay Example Therefore, the company possess huge amount of investment in foreign markets foreign business operations. Theoretically, some traditional and efficient methods are used to evaluate capital investment in domestic as well as emerging foreign markets by businesses. But, capital investment is highly risk associated strategic business activity and the company needs to focus beyond the traditional methods of evaluating capital investments like net present value, internal rate of return, payback period etc. Emerging financial businesses like investment banking and financial research companies offers flawless capital investment solutions to many leading multinational organizations and they follow several advanced methodologies for evaluating proposed capital investment practices by the MNCs especially in emerging markets. The main objective to use beyond the traditional methods is to reduce future risk i.e. these methods helps to identify the maximum extent of risk possibilities and provide a lternative solution to reduce the possible risk in substantial extent. One of the efficient methodologies for evaluating capital investment is Salomon-Smith-Barney Model. This methodology is widespread and efficient method used by leading investment banks to evaluate capital investments especially in the emerging markets for reducing risk of investment. This is one of the most recent developed methodologies for international capital investment and it was developed in 2002 by Zenner and Akaydin for leading US investment bank Salomon Smith Barney (Anson, 2011, p.488). This model is risk adjusted and modified extension of G-CAPM approach of capital valuation. In this methodology, different global factors and are considered with a high importance and regional factors are recommended as useless due to market inefficiency. This model mainly focuses on how risk possible risk can be identified in maximum extent and how it can be minimized. As this methodology is modified extension of G-CAPM approach, therefore, it has focused on key shortcomings of the approach. Having a main objective to reduce risk of foreign investment especially in emerging economy perspective, this methodology has focused on a key fact that emerging markets are not totally harbor specific and integrated restraint and complications which can justify a risk premium. The developer of this methodology added an idiosyncratic risk premium into the G-CAPM approach and extended that approach in a new form with high capability of risk indication and reduction. This methodology has adjusted the country risk premium by the overall risk level of a specific capital investment. Country risk premium is generally referred by many capital investment models as it is unadjusted risk political premium of the target country. This is qualitative measure which might not be real valued and incorporated in a valuation model. But this methodology use sovereign bonds yield spread in place of political risk premium which is based on high approximation and highly overestimates required rate return from the capital investment in foreign markets. Thus, this methodology can adjust the most debated country risk premium that can be depending on cash flow from highly risky projects or investments and different individual risk characteristics of specific projects with full premium. Answer 2 Inflation has significant impact on capital investment. Johnson Control has substantial investment in one of the leading Asian emerging

Word autobiographical research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Word autobiographical - Research Paper Example I saw that people were being mistreated because they belonged to a different race altogether. The differences stemmed from the fact that there was less empathy for one another and more emphasis on one’s own self. This paper explains how racial relations are dealt with in an organizational setting and how value would be derived from different agendas that the people have had during this scenario. Moving ahead with the discussion at hand, the members of this community, which is essentially an organization, are more or less like me. They are different in the sense that they are from varied backgrounds and hence their understanding and behavioral levels are slightly distinctive. The members of the organization are undertaking the same tasks as I am and hence in a number of ways they are very similar to how I work and how I spend my life. This is an important understanding because my organization has hired individuals who are much like me and who know how to strike big with the cha nging organizational norms and routines. Furthermore, the leaders within the organization treat distinctive people of the racial differences in varied ways. They do not have any uniformity within their ranks and there is a definitive racial divide that is existent within the workplace settings. I am being treated differently than the ones who are from other sides of the city as this is something that does not go down well with the employees. Nearly every one of these employees has an issue or the other with the way the leaders manifest their point (Hindes, 2009). All of them believe that sanity can prevail if the leaders mend their ways and start doing the right thing at the right time. The role of the leaders under such racial discussions is an important one if they realize the same. If they do not understand the gravity of the situation that has come about within the workplace realms, then it is about time that they should start getting their point across to the concerned individu als. Race is such a critical and sensitive issue that it cannot be taken for granted, and especially by the people who are in significant positions, like the leaders themselves. It would be correct to state here that the other people present within the workplace settings have biased perspectives. This is because they believe it is up to them as to how they shape up racial discussions. It is a fact that they treat people in a number of different ways, all of which are based on their thinking realms. They treated the Blacks as people who are under them, no matter if they senior to them. They treat the Asians shabbily because they are from a third world region. I am also treated differently as I belong to a totally different race and I have felt that under certain occasions and situations, they treat me in a way that is unbecoming of them as well as my own self. I am of the opinion that such stigmas should be done away with because they are not at all in the better interests of the org anization from the long term scheme of things. As far as the organizational rules and policies are concerned, there are clear cut instructions as to how racial biasness should be avoided and the manner in which they should be dealt. There is absolute discouragement for racial talks, discussions, slurs and the like, but then again nothing is being promulgated in true letter and spirit within the organization (Carter, 1997). I believe this is because the human resources management department is not playing its due role in a quantifiable manner. If this department knew that such racial problems could arise, proper steps would have been taken to avoid the same. However, this seems to be something which is apparent now than ever before in the history of the organizatio

Leadership of Generation X and Generation Y in the European Service Dissertation

Leadership of Generation X and Generation Y in the European Service Industry - Dissertation Example Based on these responses, one group may in some ways be more effective than the other, but regardless of efficacy, each group has its own skill and qualities which make each group more efficient in some ways than the other. Aims: This study shall establish the differences between the leadership of generation X and Y within the European Service Industry. Specifically it shall determine: differences in leadership qualities between Generation X and Y how these differences impact on the European Service Industry whether or not one leadership style is more effective than the other in terms of securing specific and efficient goals for the industry and the organization involved areas of improvement for either group which can help improve their leadership skills. Discussion At present, there is a new generation of workers which have entered the workforce. These new workers have new expectations and there are also new expectations being anticipated for these new workers. Based on the report b y Yu and Miller (2005), Generation X workers will decline to 7% within the 1998 to 2008 period, and the younger Generation X workers would also fall to 1% within this same time period. On the other hand, Gen Y workers in the 16 to 24 year age range is expected to increase by 15% (Cole, et.al., 2002). In terms of actual numbers, these percentages represent about 44 million Gen Xers and 80 million Gen Yers (Sujansky, 2004). Moreover, even as Gen Y members are already included in the workforce, they have not gotten to a critical number as yet. Consequently, managers are expected to manage the generational gaps which seem to exist for employees and also manage the specific needs of the Gen Yers (Smola and Sutton 2002). Under these conditions would conflicts between these two groups be more manageable, decreasing possible misunderstandings among employees from different generations (Smola and Sutton 2002). The entry of Gen Y into the workforce with their unique work qualities have caused major shifts and changes in the workplace, with employers wanting to know everything there is to know about this group (Raines, 2002). The purpose of this paper is to establish such qualities and to compare these with the Gen Xers. Generational groups include individuals who have similar historical and social experiences (Kupperschmidt, 2000). These experiences consolidate this group, often allowing for shared values and most of them related to experiencing and seeing in the world in similar ways (Patterson, 2007). Even as each individual worker is very much unique, each generation usually establishes a common personality which impacts on how members are managing their lives and activities, their feelings towards managers and corporations, their work participation, and the means by which they seek to manage such ends and desires (Kupperschmidt, 2000). Although it is not appropriate to have generalizations about individuals within each generation, it is often inevitable to observe t hat those who belong to the same era are influenced in similar ways; and these influences often make them predisposed to similar expectations (Patterson, 2007). Even as there seems to be an agreement in terms of how a generation is defined based on birth years, there are also issues in the exact years by

Global and Domestic Distribution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Global and Domestic Distribution - Essay Example Comparison of Domestic and Global Market. There are unique similarities and differences between domestic and global markets. While the similarities or potentialities are the raison d'etre for a planned expansion into global domain, the differences lead to challenges to be overcome while entering into an unknown foreign domain. Some of the difficulties which are sure to be overcome in a multi-national market distribution are appended in succeeding paragraphs. National Policies. A main hindrance in global distribution is often the national policies which in many developing countries discourage foreign players and support domestic ones. Further, changes in successive democratic governments can lead to frequently changing priorities/policies, unreasonable tax structure against foreign players thereby making penetration and distribution difficult. There have been many instances where huge investments have been made by certain global players in anticipation of growth in a particular field and with a change in the government, the whole process received a setback to an extent that the global player had to actually wind up and leave. Further, pioneers and domestic players also make all possible moves to deter entry by being on the right side of governmental public policies (First-mover advantages: Retrospective and Link with the Resource-based View MB Lieberman, DB Montgomery - Strategic Management Journal, 1998) Individualised Goods. While distributing a product in own country, the marketing manager is aware of prevailing situation, needs, growth pattern and other variables persisting in the market as well as the customer. This allows him to market the product to meet specific individual needs of the customer to a large extent. Any product meeting specific requirements of a customer will lead to better customer satisfaction, reputation and thereby automatic favourable advertisement of the product. However, in case of a foreign market, this adaptability is not available. The conditions prevailing in each and every country are different and products need to be manufactured in a country specific manner to suit requirements of customers as well as infrastructure, likely development pattern and economy of that country. A good research before huge investments are made will ensure requisite success when marketing a product in a new country. Getting the product or service to the customer. Buyer behaviour and characteristics directly affect overall objectives of a business. This aspect is critical to successful distribution in a global market. If the product needs to be made available to a large section of population of developing countries living in non-urban areas with limited resources, the task becomes even more difficult due to limited communication networks, distribution channels, lower advertising potential due to limited reach of media and lack of awareness of people about new products from a different country. Further, reaching out to individual customers and assuring him of product's worth is a near impossible task in countries where people have a very

Restoration & Recovery Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

Restoration & Recovery Plan - Essay Example Interconnected capabilities of information systems allow system operators instant feedback from an inquiry. Moreover, their interconnectedness provides added resources as they provide links to other databases with critical information. For those with harmful intentions, the interconnectivity of public safety systems represents an opportunity. One vile or deleted piece of information can easily infiltrate and corrupt or lock an entire system’s operations and subsequently infect connected systems. It is believed that government systems may become targets of attack (Wilmot, 2004; Wilson, 2003). Instead of using explosives, terrorists may resort to the destructive effects of data packets. According to Lieutenant General Kenneth A. Minihan, groups harboring hostility towards the United States are currently developing â€Å"offensive information warfare capabilities† (Wilcot, 2004, p. 284) making government computers and information systems targets (Wilson, 2003). As a connected subsidiary of the federal government (SafirRosetti, 2006), the Fort Lauderdale Police Department of Florida FLPD and its information systems are equally susceptible to attacks. The Fort Lauderdale Police Department implements several strategies to combat imminent attacks against information systems; however, its strategies require added forethought and planning. Though the risks of information systems is known among systems operators, protection plans are far and few between. Scarce time is invested into the protecting systems. Wilcot (2004) points out the haphazard security of information systems: â€Å"In most agencies, security is relegated to someone in the information services (IS) department, who usually has many other duties.† (p 291) To ensure the safety of its information systems, FLPD relies on its staff (SafirRosetti, 2006) and the administrative department of the Risk Management Division (BCL). The person in charge of

English Poem Analysis Essay Example for Free

English Poem Analysis Essay In this poem, Pablo Neruda is talking about life, and how he feels that it is an insignificant business. He talks about life after death, saying that nobody keeps what they have and says that life is nothing but a borrowing of bones. The best thing he claims to have learnt from life is that one should not have too much of either joy or sadness, but experience both in equal quantities. He feels that his being happy was a punishment, a condemnation that caused him to plunge into the sorrows of others, and to share with them their sorrow. He says that he did not do this for fame or for money, but because he could not live in the shadows, the shadows of other people. He says that we can heal our own wounds by weeping and singing, but in front of us lie thousands of others who are in constant suffering. He feels that his business on earth was to fulfil his spirit, the happiness he felt with the sum of all his actions. It gave him great joy to bathe in the sea under the sun, and in the very foam of the sea, his heart which lay dying was seeped into the sand. The poet makes use of immense imagery in all his works. There is no poem written by Pablo Neruda, which is lacking imagery. It is one of the most common literary devices used by the poet. And this is one such poem where he has used various kinds of imagery to illustrate his thoughts.

Relationship Between Self Confidence Academic Performance

Relationship Between Self Confidence Academic Performance RESEARCH PROPOSAL Title: The Relationship between Students’ Self Confidence and Learning Achievements in Descriptive Writing of the Tenth Grade of SMAN 41 Jakarta, 2013/2014 Academic Year. The Background of The Research Language is a medium used by people to communicate with others. Lock states that language is a medium of human to communicate that including of words either spoken or written.[1] Through the language, people can easily share their ideas, opinions, and feelings to others, either in spoken or written expression. English is the language that is used by almost people in the world. Rose assumed that international experts calculated that about 400 million people use English as a second language.[2] Therefore, English is the most dominant language used by people in the world. In Indonesia, one of the goals in teaching English is developing students’ communication skill by using English covering four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. These four language skills have to be mastered by the students. In other words, learning English is aimed to make students to be able to use English in communication. Among the four skills, writing is viewed as the most difficult skill to be learned. According to Gorrel and Laird, â€Å"Writing requires thinking, and thinking is always complicated and hard.†[3] Therefore, it is clear that writing needs hard thinking in producing words, sentences, paragraphs and arranging them into a good sequence. In fact, the difficulties of writing also happened when the writer was doing training (PPL) in 41 Senior High School Jakarta. There are some factors that make writing becomes difficult for students. The psychology of the students can also influence the result of their learning achievement in writing. From the explanation above, the writer is interested in doing research to analyze the relationship between students’ self-confidence and learning achievements in descriptive writing of the tenth grade of SMAN 41 Jakarta. Therefore, the result of the research can be informed to the teacher as references in his/her teaching, what should be done in the future. The Scope of the Research In this research, the writer limits the analysis into the relationship between self-confidence and learning achievement’s students in writing especially in descriptive writing. The writer wants to make the questioner and written task form at tenth grade students of SMAN 41 Jakarta. The Problem of the Research Based on the explanation above, the writer formulates the problem as follows â€Å"Is there any significant relationship between students’ self-confidence and learning achievement in descriptive writing of the tenth grade of SMAN 41 Jakarta?† The Objective of the Research The objectives of this research is to find out the empirical data weather there is the significant relationship between students’ self-confidence and learning achievement in descriptive writing of the tenth grade of SMAN 41 Jakarta. Theoretical Framework Self-Confidence The Understanding of Self-Confidence Self-confidence is important for everyone, especially for students. According to Rakhmat, self-confidence is belief about ability himself/herself.[4] The key terms are belief, and himself/herself. Belief means the person has a faith about their ability. Himself/herself means being independent. It means self-confidence is something that is owned by people, and it makes them to believe their own ability. Rodgers in Koswara added self-confidence is the ability to make decisions and judgments without depending on others (independent).[5] The key terms is without depending on others. It means self-confidence is able to make decisions by their own selves. Hakim states, â€Å"Kepercayaan diri adalah suatu keyakinan seseorang terhadap segala aspek kelebihan yang dimilikinya dan keyakinan tersebut membuatnya merasa mampu untuk bisa mencapai berbagai tujuan di dalam hidupnya.†[6] In other words self-confidence is someone’s belief about all aspects that owned by themselves, and that belief makes them for being able to achieve something in their live. The key term is someone’s belief. Someone’s belief refers to someone who believes about their knowledge which then makes them to feel like they can do anything. It can be inferred that self-confidence is something that has someone about their competence which then makes them to feel like they can do anything. From those statements above, it can be concluded that self-confidence is something that someone has already had, and it seems like they can do anything while they have it without relying on others. The Characteristics of Self-Confidence Fatimah suggests some characteristics of self-confidence, there are:[7] Believe in the ability or competence of self, then not need praise, recognition, acceptance or respect from others. Not to be motivated to show the conformist attitude in order to be accepted by others. Dare to accept and face the rejection of others, dare to be yourself. Have a good self-control. Have a positive outlook about themselves, other people, and situations outside of them. Have a realistic expectations of themselves, so that when the expectations was realized, they were still able to see the positive side of themselves and the situation. Moreover, the characteristics of individuals who have self-confidence according to Hakim, they are:[8] Poised in doing something. Have the potential and ability of adequate. Be able to neutralize the tensions that arise in certain situations. Be able to adapt and communicate. Have the mental and physical condition of supporting the appearance. Have the sufficient intelligence. Have the sufficient level of formal education. Have the skills and other skills that support the life. Have the ability to socialize. Have the background of good family education. Have the life experience that forges mental and tenacity on variety of situations. Have the positive attitude in the face of problems. From those characteristics above, the students or individuals that have self-confidence are believe in the competence of self, dare to be yourself, have a good self-control, poised in doing something, be able to adapt and communicate, have the sufficient intelligence, have the ability to socialize, and have the positive attitude in the face of problems. Learning Achievement The Understanding of Learning According to Arthur in Syaiful defines that learning is a modification of behavior through experience and training.[9] The key term is modification of behavior. It means learning is a process that can change the behavior of someone through training and practicing. The second statement from Brown, â€Å"learning is acquiring or getting of knowledge of a subject or a skill by study, experience, or instruction[10]†. It means learning is a process to get the knowledge by someone through study, experience, or instruction. The third definition comes from Good and Brophy in Purwanto, â€Å"Learning is the development of new associations as a result of experience.†[11] The key words are the development, and result of experience. The development refers to the process of the increasing knowledge from not knowing anything to know anything. Result of experience refers to something that the students face when they get the knowledge while they receive it. It can be inferred that learning is the process of getting the new knowledge when they study. From those definitions above, it can be concluded that learning is a process to get the knowledge or skill by studying or practicing. Moreover, it can change someone’s behavior. The Understanding of Achievement Soeito stated that achievement can be formulated as a relatively change of behavior as a result of experience in the past.[12] The key term is change of behavior. Change of behavior means the behavior of someone to be better. It can be summarized that achievement is something that can make the behavior of someone to be better as a result of their experienced. Travers added that achievement is the result of what an individual has learned from some educational experiences.[13] The key term is the result. The result means something which has been reached as an efforts. It can be summarized that achievement is something which has been reached as an efforts. Djamarah defined that achievement is the result of an activity that has been done, created, either individually or in a group.[14] The key term is has been done. Has been done means after the learning process. It can be inferred that achievement is the good result of an activity that has already done after the learning process by someone or in a group. From those definition above the writer concluded that achievement is something that individual earned after giving effort during the activity and it can also change the individual’s behavior. The Understanding of Learning Achievement By determining the previous description about learning and achievement. The writer concludes that learning achievement is something that individual earned after giving effort during the learning process, and it can also change the individual’s behavior. Writing The Understanding of Writing Writing is one kind of media that is used to communicate which is visible. Abrams states, â€Å"Writing is a visual form of communication, either printed in hard-copy or in electronic form.†[15] The key term is visual form; it means the writing is something that can be seen by the reader. Gould states, â€Å"†¦writing is not speech; it is careful arrangement of words on a page which has its own idioms and format and does not transcribe the informalities of speech performance.† The key terms are on a page, and format. On a page means the ideas that laid on a surface of paper. Format means the rules in writing. Therefore, it means writing are ideas that put on a page of paper which has the rules in writing. From two definitions above, it can be inferred from the first statement that writing is something which visible to the reader. While the second statement from Gould completes the first statement, writing is not speech which is arrangement of words on a page of paper that has the rules in making writing. The third statement comes from Yule; he states that â€Å"†¦writing as the symbolic representation of language through the use of graphic signs.†[16] The key terms are symbolic representation, and graphic signs. Symbolic representation means symbols which has the meaning. Graphic signs means the writing that made by people on a papers or any surface. It means writing is one of kinds of media which translated into meaningful symbol or letters on papers or any surface can be written upon. From the statements above, the writer concluded that the writing is ideas whose forms are using symbols. They are put on a page of paper that can be seen and have clear formats. Types of Writing According to Wishon and Burks there are four types of writing; there are Narration, Description, Expository, and Argumentation. Narration Narration is the form of writing used to relate the story of acts or events. Narration places occurrences in time and tells what happened according to natural time sequence. Types of narration include novels, short stories and news stories, as well as a large part of our everyday social interchange in the form of letters and conversation. Description Description reproduces the way things look, smell, taste, feel, or sound; it is may also evoke mood, such as happiness, loneliness or fear. It is used to visual image of people, places, even of units of time-days, times of day of the seasons. It may be used also to describe more than the outward appearance of people. It may tell about their traits character or personality. Exposition Exposition is used in giving information, making explanation, and interpreting meanings. It includes editorials, essays, informative and instructional material. Used in combination with narrative, exposition supports and illustrates. Used apart of narrative, it stands alone as an essay. Used alone or with narrative, exposition may be developed in a number of ways. Argumentation Argumentation is used in persuading and convincing. It is closely related to exposition and is often found combined with it. Argumentation is used to make a case or to prove or disapprove a statement of proposition.[17] From those types, the writer would focus on descriptive writing. Descriptive Writing The Understanding of Description Oshima and Hogue stated, â€Å"Descriptive writing appeals to the senses, so it tells how something looks, feels, smells, tastes, and/or sound.†[18] The key words are tells something looks, feels, smells, tastes, and sound. It means telling the readers about the characteristics and physical appearances of something. In other words, descriptive writing is telling the readers about something in particular by mentioning the characteristic and physical appearance. Similar with Oshima and Hogue, Wishon states, â€Å"Description gives sense impressions the feel, sound, taste, smell, and look of things.†[19] The key terms are gives impressions the feel, sound, taste, smell, and look of things. It means description telling the impressions of how something looks like. In other words description is describing of how something looks like. Trimmer assumed, â€Å"Description is a strategy for presenting a verbal portrait of person, place, or thing.†[20] The key terms are presenting a person, place, and thing. It means description is a composition that presents about person, place, or thing to others people. It can be inferred that writing is presenting about person, place, and thing. From those definitions above, the writer concluded that description is a way to describe the person, place, and thing about their physical appearances and characteristics that can be looked, felt, smelled, sound, and tasted. The Generic Structure Of Description According to Doddy et al, the generic structures of description are: Identification: Identifies phenomenon to describe. It means in this paragraph to describe about physical appearances. Description: Describe parts, qualities, characters. It means in this paragraph to describe about characteristic of the object and the detail information.[21] Research Methodology The Time and Location of the Research The research will be conducted in SMAN 41 Jakarta, 2013/2014 Academic Year on ________ 2014. The Population and Sample of the Research The population respondents will be taken from the students in tenth grade at SMAN 41 Jakarta, 2013 / 2014 Academic Year. The writer will take 60 students from two classes at SMAN 41 Jakarta which is chosen randomly. The Method of the Research The method of the research is a correlation method. To know the significant relationship between students’ self-confidence and learning achievements in descriptive writing of the tenth grade of SMAN 41 Jakarta. The Variable of the Research There are two variables of the research, they are: Independent variable (X): Self-confidence. Dependent variable (Y): Learning achievement in descriptive writing of the tenth grade of SMAN 41 Jakarta. The Instrument of the Research In this research, the writer will use a questioner to know the students’ self-confidence. Then, the writer will ask to the students to make the descriptive writing. The Technique of Data Analysis The data analysis of this research, the writer uses the quantitative research method; the writer processes and analyzes the data by using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation. The formulas as follows:[22] Notes: r: Pearson r (the coefficient of correlation). N: Population. X: the individual scores get from the writing task. Y: the individual scores get from the equivalent task. ∑X: total scores get from the writing task. ∑Y: total scores get from the equivalent task. ∑XY: total scores of X multiplied by Y. ∑X2: total scores of quadrate X. ∑Y2: total scores of quadrate Y. The Procedure of the Research In this research, the writer will be done steps in doing the research: Asking for permission to the chief of English Department in HAMKA University to do the research. Asking for permission letter to the HAMKA University to be given to SMAN 41 Jakarta. Asking for permission to the headmaster and the English teacher of SMAN 41 Jakarta to do research. Arranging the time to do research. Preparing the questioner of self-confidence and writing task for instrument of testing writing. Asking the students to answer the questioner and make the descriptive writing. Collecting the data. Analyzing the data. Making conclusion of the research Making a report of the research result. Bibliography Abrams, Zsuzsanna. http://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/modules/writing/01/, viewed on January 3, 2014 Azar , Betty Schrampfer. 1989. Understanding and Using English Grammar (Guide for Correcting Writing Error).New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Brown, H. Douglas. 2000. Principle of Language Learning and Teaching 4. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. _______. 2000. Principle of Language Learning and Teaching: Fifth Edition.. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Djamarah. 1994. Prestasi Belajar dan Kompetensi Guru. (Surabaya: Usaha Nasional. Doddy, Achmad. et al. 2008. Developing English Competencies: For Senior High School (SMA/MA) Grade X. Jakarta: Pusat Perbukuan, Departemen Pendidikan Nasional. Fatimah. 2006. Psikologi Perkembangan: Perkembangan Peserta Didik. Bandung: Pustaka Setia. Gorrel, Robert M. and Charlton Laird. 1962. Modern English Hand Book. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs N.J Hakim , Thursan. 2002. Mengatasi Rasa Tidak Percaya Diri. Jakarta : Purwa Suara. Koswara. 1989. Teori Motivasi dan Penelitiannya. Bandung: PT Angkasa. Lock, Graham. 1997. Functional English Grammar; An Introduction for Second Language Teacher. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Oshima, Alice and Ann Hogue. 1997. Introduction to Academic Writing: Second Edition. New York: Longman. Purwanto, M. Ngalim. 1996. Psikologi Perkembangan. Bandung: PT Remaja Rosdakarya. Rakhmat. 2008. Psikologi Komunikasi: edisi revisi. Bandung: PT Remaja Rosdakarya. Rose, Richard. The Internet Goes EFL (English as a Second Language), retrieved 30 May 2013. From www.cspp.strath.ac.uk/InetBrooking.pdf Sagala , Syaiful. 2003. Konsep dan Makna Pembelajaran. Bandung: PT Alfabeta. Soeito. 1974. Psikologi Pendidikan. Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. Sumarsono, Sigit. 2013. Statistika Terapan: Dengan Alur Penelitian Pendidikan Bahasa. Jakarta: UHAMKA. Travers, John P. 1970. Fundamentals of Educational Psychology. Scrantom, Pensylvania: International Textbook Company. Wishon, George E. and Julia M. Burks. 1968. Let’s Write English: Complete Book. New York: Litton Educational Publishing Yule, George. 2010. The Study of Language: Fourth Edition. New York: Cambridge University Press. [1] Graham Lock. Functional English Grammar; An Introduction for Second Language Teacher.(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1997), p. 219 [2] Richard Rose. The Internet Goes EFL (English as a Second Language), retrieved 30 May 2013. From www.cspp.strath.ac.uk/InetBrooking.pdf [3] Robert M. Gorrel and Charlton Laird, Modern English Hand Book, (New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs N.J, 1962), p. 1 [4] Rakhmat, Psikologi Komunikasi, edisi revisi, (Bandung: PT Remaja Rosdakarya, 2008), P.46 [5] Koswara, E, Teori Motivasi dan Penelitiannya, (Bandung: PT Angkasa, 1989), P. 23 [6] Thursan, Hakim, Mengatasi Rasa Tidak Percaya Diri, (Jakarta : Purwa Suara, 2002), P.6 [7] Fatimah, Psikologi Perkembangan: Perkembangan Peserta Didik, (Bandung: Pustaka Setia, 2006), P. 42 [8] Hakim, Op. Cit., P.20 [9] Syaiful Sagala, Konsep dan Makna Pembelajaran, (Bandung: PT Alfabeta, 2003), P. 12 [10] H. Douglas Brown, Principle of Language Learning and Teaching: fifth edition, (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000), P.7 [11] M. Ngalim Purwanto, Psikologi Perkembangan, (Bandung: PT Remaja Rosdakarya, 1996), P. 85 [12] Soeito, Psikologi Pendidikan, (Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, 1974), P.5 [13] Travers, John P, Fundamentals of Educational Psychology, (Scrantom, Pensylvania: International Textbook Company, 1970), P.447 [14] Djamarah, Prestasi Belajar dan Kompetensi Guru, (Surabaya: Usaha Nasional, 1994), P.19 [15] Zsuzsanna Abrams,http://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/modules/writing/01/, viewed on January 3, 2014 [16] George Yule, The Study of Language: Fourth Edition, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 212 [17] George E. Wishon and Julia M. Burks, Let’s Write English: Complete Book, (New York: Litton Educational Publishing, 1968), pp. 321-377 [18] Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, Introduction to Academic Writing: Second Edition, (New York: Longman, 1997) P.50 [19] George E. Wishon and Julia M. Burks, Op. Cit., P.322 [20] Trimmer/Sommers, Writing With a Purpose: Mc Crimmon Short Edition, (†¦.. [21] Achmad Doddy et al, Developing English Competencies: For Senior High School (SMA/MA) Grade X. (Jakarta: Pusat Perbukuan, Departemen Pendidikan Nasional, 2008) P. 128 [22] Sigit sumarsono, Statistika Terapan: Dengan Alur Penelitian Pendidikan Bahasa, (Jakarta: UHAMKA, 2013), P.114

Why Renault entered into joint venture with Mahindra

Why Renault entered into joint venture with Mahindra Internal Benefits: Joint ventures are formed in quest of managing companys resources in efficient manner. This includes techniques to reducing cost and risk that the firm faces, obtaining scarce resources, obtaining cheap factors of production (land, labour and capital), to include new information and increase the managerial know how so that productivity can be increased and to retain innovative employees of the firm. There are many capital intensive techniques followed by companies in oil and gas exploration, metals processing and mineral extraction. Internal benefit include building companys core strengths  Ã‚   Helps in to develop economies of scale by gaining access to other financial resources Joint venture help company to acquire new technologies and customers and gives access to knowledge, skills and better management Competitive Benefits: Joint venture helps companies to restructure their organisational structure. Competitive advantage is achieved by vertical integration or consolidation of the firms. This also helps the firms to have an influence on industry structure and competitors. Responding to the new globalisation trend this approach may help in creation of more effective competitors. Some other benefits are: Joint ventures are helpful in building competitive barriers against the new entrants. They act as a defensive strategy in response to the converging markets Helps in creation of small and competitive units of the firm in various geographical locations It also helps in reducing the time cycle to the market they are involved in Strategic Benefits: Joint ventures help in companies to implement change in their strategic position. This helps in better creation and exploitation of synergies among the two companies. Joint venture facilitate in the transfer of technology and diversification of the firm. Technology transfer helps in building knowledge to expand into key markets It also helps to develop new products and improve productivity by shared expertise and lower costs because indulging in research activities to develop new products can be time-consuming and costly. Small businesses also gain lead-time In the total number of joint venture formed, many were international joint ventures. Many of them were due to the cost involved in the operations. Companies in some industry depend on the technology to reduce costs. Joint ventures are favourable for them because they help them in accumulating money and people to work in short time, with not much time wasted in training and later to develop specialisation in a specific activity. This all leads to reduced exploration and production costs and thereby increase in the profit margins. Joint ventures are not as easy to manage as we are talking about. Sometimes companies are forced to follow a joint venture strategy because of the host countrys business regulations. For example China does not allow outside company to own a majority of domestic business. Mexico requires the companies for any foreign company which is operating in the country to have a joint venture with a domestic company. In addition to government regulations, other reasons f or multinational joint ventures as mentioned above are cutting the costs of doing business, sharing risks with acquiring technological information and management expertise from other companies. Kogut (1988) gave 3 different reasons for the existence of joint ventures. They were: Transaction cost approach: The cost aspect of a transaction in joint ventures helps in explaining joint ventures in terms of market failure for intermediate inputs in the production, various asset specificity, and high uncertainty over specifying and monitoring performance. As inspired by Penroses (1959) work, it is specified and shown in recent development in management research that to one should analyze and develop a firms strategy by focusing on its resources instead of the external environment. Two key behavioural assumptions of TC theory are opportunism and bounded rationality (Williamson 1991a). The transaction theory suggests that if firms with complementary resources try to produce individually then they will have to fight for the scarce resources and acquire them at greater cost. Another major motive behind joint venturing is the possibility of creating Ricardian rents. A Ricardian rent means the presence of scarce resources which generate higher profits than other resource s of the same type. Strategic behaviour approach: A joint venture addresses the difficulties faced by the organisation by providing a superior alignment of incentives through the mutual dedication of resources and by sharing the residual value of the venture. Joint venture is established in a spirit of mutual trust and commitment to its long-term success, the potential threats posed by opportunism and a small-numbers condition can be reduced. Organisational learning approach: Joint Ventures help in organisation learning Williamson (1991b) extends his analysis to strategic alliances, which is said to have the hybrid mode of governance, which are considered to occupy positions between the two ends of the market-hierarchy continuum. These hybrids in joint ventures are said to have stronger incentives and adaptive capabilities than hierarchies, which helps in providing more administrative control than markets. In global industries with globalisation there is higher need for organisational learning. This asks the firm manager to look for global efficiency, which later plays an important role in resource based theory. In a joint-venture setting, there is interaction and communication between the members of different firms. This information flow increases the boundary permeability with respect to the partners resources. This helps in offering an opportunity for learning. A popular example of this is ToyotaGM joint venture, in wh ich both partners had clear learning objectives (Adler and Cole 1993). Another use of joint ventures is to get rid of a business unit, that is, disposal of resources. Nanda and Williamson (1995) have argued that converting the business unit into a joint venture between the parent and buyer helps in selling of the unit. The joint venture operates for several years during which buyer learn about the operations of the unit is going to acquire and slowly resources will be integrated with those of the buyer. By initially running the business as a joint venture, the buyer in benefit of obtaining hands-on management experience and an insiders s view of its operation. Seller also has interest to teach the skill and tricks to buyer of business, since the price that the buyer is willing to pay when buying out the business depends on the joint ventures performance. Firms often go for the local partners in the domestic market in which they want to mark a presence, these are because of the following reasons: Items readily capitalised Human resource needs Government regulations and incentives Market access needs and speed of entry Knowledge needs and learning of new marketing methods A joint venture is formed only when all the organizations involved individually arrive at a positive net benefit calculation. For example, one partner considers the joint venture as an opportunity for learning a new technology while the other uses the venture to further exploit the technology. When two firms have had a great deal of experience of working together, they get to know more about one anothers culture and management style, and adjust their own accordingly thus the two firms are in a better position to explore collaborative opportunities compared to other firms which dont form any alliance with other firms. This all leads to identify ways of complementing joint venture their resources effectively for creating rents. This involves the proper analysis of costs involved in different companies. For example If there exist two oil companies which want to set up a new drilling platform in ocean areas, and neither one has capability to finance the project on its own, so the simple solution to them is to look for joint venture. That way, they share the costs of setup of drilling platform and other projects which later helps them in reducing their individual risk should they find no oil. That is a decided advantage to many business people. A complete study of operation, management and finance has to be done to successfully implement the joint venture. Joint ventures are quite helpful to some companies in gaining access to foreign markets. Sometimes both the firms forget the primary objective of their operation and just form joint venture to come into foreign market. These products bring in the foreign domestic investments in the host country through the firm with which joint venture is formed. So many governments give incentives for joint ventures. Joint ventures are a sometimes used to boost up the creeping sale. This can be the first step in acquisition of a business. It can also be used to act as catalyst for change, which is by bringing in a partner one, can stimulate more entrepreneurial activity in a particular area of a firms business. Joint venture also helps in expansion of customer base by expanding the scope and utilising other firms strength in different geographic market, using its distribution or sales network International joint ventures have also been pushed by international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization, who have given incentives by forming policies to eliminate trade barriers and deregulate foreign ownership restrictions and the international flow of capital. This helped in creating a climate in which international investment and partnerships have become increasingly attractive. In new scenario joint ventures have become means by which companies seek to expand profit margins and market share. In addition, regional trade areas such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the European Union (EU), and the Association of South and East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have worked to establish favourable conditions for joint ventures within specific, relatively localized regions. Why Renault entered into joint venture with Mahindra Mahindra? As told by the CEO of Renault Mr. Carlos Ghosn this joint venture was seen to be useful to mark a new step in Renaults global expansion strategy. The joint venture has started the Renault operation in the Indian market which is highly emerging market with respect to automotive sector. As Renault had no experience with the needs of Indian customer joint venture with MM was seen to help to create the first right hand drive version of Logan created to meet the needs of our Indian customers. Renault was also eyeing to mark its presence in Indian market in short period of time, Mahindra and Mahindra gave them that adequate platform. In the beginning of 2005 Renault designers visualized a low-cost car that was to retail for under Euro 5000. The car had quite good features however it looked robust and trustworthy compared to the sleek beauties manufactured by the Japanese and the Koreans. The car became a big hit and enjoyed pampering from buyers in most parts of Europe. Europeans liked the cars no-frill appeal. Renault thought of entering into Indian market, when it analysed the companies it sought upon Mahindra and Mahindra which was the main force behind the Tata Group. Mahindra and Mahindra helped Tata Motors for over ten years helping them build the modern day passenger vehicle. Mahindra also in seeing the future prospects of snatching the opportunity and mark its presence in Indian market started working in unison with Renault and started building and selling the Logan in India. Both Mahindra and Renault shared the profit of gaining knowledge and expertise. MM would get all important expertise needed to build monocoque or unitary construction. Renault, on the other hand, would gain direct knowledge of the cost-effective supplier base that Mahindra enjoyed in India. A labour-intensive car plant was established as against a fully automated one to analyze the quality and cost-effective work force available in India. The two groups concluded a framework agreement for setting up a joint venture in India with Mahindra retaining a 51 per cent share and Renault 49 per cent. The JV will be called Mahindra Renault Ltd. The estimated project amount was 125 million Euros. With other European automotive counterparties like Fiat and Skoda had little presence this venture was also seen a major competition to them. Mahindra did a customer research in Logan segment and found strong response for this C-segment car. Renault was looking for major global expansion; along with India it was also starting its operations in Romania, Russia, Morocco, Colombia and Iran. Renault was looking for a long term relationship with Mahindra and Mahindra and was looking for greater prospects in coming years of 2010 to 2012. Renault chose Mahindra and Mahindra because of the following reasons: Mahindra Group a US $ 2.5 billion company is the market leader in multi-utility vehicles and tractors in India. Mahindra and Mahindra had 55 years of manufacturing experience MM had built its high network of distributors and suppliers in India efficiently Mahindra group had built a strong base in technology, engineering, marketing and finance (Mahindra intertrade and MM financial services Ltd.). It also has a significant presence in key sectors of the Indian economy High presence in automotive components, information technology telecom (Mahindra British Telecom), and infrastructure development (Mahindra GESCO, Mahindra Holidays Resorts India Ltd.) Mahindra had a reputation of providing TATA Motors the platform to harness the automotive growth in India MM had not much presence in Sedan segment i.e. C-segment so Renault had no fears of having conflicts of interest Mahindra as a brand was a trusted brand in India. With the leverage of Mahindra as a brand Renault was also leveraging its own brand in Logan, as the joint venture was called Mahindra-Renault The transfer of knowledge and technology was mutually beneficial for Renault and Mahindra, it was good symbiotic relationship

Essay --

Even though there is an age requirement, alcohol should be banned because it leads to drunk driving and kills. Here in the state of Missouri, statistics show that in 2011, 9,878 people died in drunk driving crashes. One crash every 53 minutes. There are two types of drunk driving offenses. One is DWI, which is driving while intoxicated. The other is the DUI, driving under the influence, which would be of alcohol or other drugs. They both follow the same rules and laws. Here in Missouri, we have strict laws and offenses that limit drunk driving. The legal blood alcohol level for driving is a maximum .08% if you are over the age of 21 and .02% for minors under the age 21. A first offence for driving while intoxicated is considered a class B misdemeanor. Class B misdemeanors can vary from 30 days up to six months in jail, up to $500 in fines, or both. A second offense within five years of the first violation is a class A misdemeanor and is serving up to 1 year in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. A third conviction for DWI in your lifetime is a class D felony and you serve 4 years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both. Previous laws in Missouri used to require that the first offense would have occurred within 10 years of the 3rd offense, but now it is a lifetime look back. A fourth conviction is a class C felony and is punishable by up to 7 years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both. A fifth conviction is a class B felony and is punished with up to 15 years in prison. With DUI convictions, even first-time offenders receive a license suspension. The suspension ranges from 90 days to a full year. Drivers who have a second or third DUI conviction face having their licenses revoked for another five to ten years, not including their other consequ... ... sure before you do drink, someone is assigned to be the designated driver and make sure that they are committed to not drinking any alcoholic beverages. As technology increases, there are more and more types of ways to prevent drunk driving. The use of ignition locks is growing in popularity and are trying to be mandatory for all vehicles. An ignition lock is a machine that is connected to a car’s ignition and checks the drivers blood alcohol content level. Installing an ignition lock in repeated violators cars is a possibility in many states. They would have to blow into the machine to start the car and also from time to time while driving. If alcohol is detected, the car either does not start or turns itself off. If a driver fails the test while the car is in motion, the vehicle’s horn will honk, or the lights will flash to get the attention of police officers.

Compare and Contrast Rupert Brookes The Solider with Wilfred Owens Du

Compare and Contrast Rupert Brooke's The Solider with Wilfred Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est. Although 'The Soldier' by Rupert Brooke and 'Dulce et Decorum Est' by Wilfred Owen are concerned with the common theme of war, the two poems contrast two very different views of war. 'The Soldier' gives a very positive view of war, whereas Owen's portrayal is negative to the extreme. Rupert Brooke's 'The Soldier' is very patriotic as Brooke loves his country and is ready to die for it. This perhaps is not surprising as it was written in the first few months of war when the whole country was swept by a tide of patriotic fervour. Rather ironically for a war poem 'The Soldier' is a peaceful poem, as it doesn't describe the blood and death of war like 'Dulce et Decorum Est.'. Brooke's love for his country, however, is somewhat jingoistic and his view of England is rather sentimental. There are many examples of his love for his country, one of which is 'A body of England's, breathing English air.' Brooke also thinks that his country is superior to any other land: 'a richer dust concealed '. To an outsider this is a rather conceited view; thinking that an Englishman's rotting corpse would act as some superior fertilizer. But to his patriotic readers, this only intensified his main arguing point; his conviction that England is worth dying for. Brooke's purpose for writing such a one-sided poem was to give a morale booster to his audience and to demonstrate his deep love for his country. The poem is very powerful and no doubt had a very positive effect on these reluctant to join the army. The poem effectively demonstrates that this is a cause and country undoubtedly worth fighting for. Brooke's belief that God is... ...some of the best anti-war poetry ever written. Looking back over time, we can easily be critical of Brooke's rather naÃÆ'Â ¯ve view of war. But to be fair, he could not know what the next three years of war would bring and was only reflecting the patriotic mood of the early months of war. His view is much influenced by the Victorian poets, such as Tennyson, whose 'Charge of the Light Brigade' saw war as romantic and glorious with valiant cavalrymen charging the enemy on horses. But the First World War was to change all that. This was a twentieth century war with aeroplanes, machine-guns, tanks and gas, which Owen witnessed at first-hand and through his pen, changed not only war poetry, but how future generations have thought about war and the horrors it brings: And watch the white eyes writhing in his face. His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin.

Mind Control Essay

Have you ever walked around a shopping mall intending to go to only one store, yet two hours later you’re still in the mall and you haven’t walked into the only store you planned to go into? What pulled you into the other stores? You were just walking down and all of a sudden you smelled a whiff of some good scent, so you walk into Abercrombie and Fitch. The smell hooked you in and then you began looking at clothes and the time just got the best of you and your money. Abercrombie and Fitch used a form of mind control to hook you in and get you to walk into their store and then buy their product. Today we will discuss the topic of mind control, how it affects us as students today, and how the media shapes our ideals and values with mind control. Mind control is defined in psychology as Social Influence. Social influence occurs every minute of every day. It’s the many ways in which people can manipulate other people’s perspectives beliefs and ethics. For instance, The Compliance Method is intent to make a shift in a person’s behavior, not in his perspective or belief. This is one of the biggest advertising campaigns that are being used so successfully today. It’s the â€Å"Just do it† approach. Persuasion, on the other hand, aims for a change in attitude, or â€Å"Do it because it will make you feel Blissful, Healthy, or prosperous.† Whereas the Education Method (which is called the propaganda method if you don’t believe what is being taught.) attempts to alter a distortion in a person’s beliefs, saying something along the lines of â€Å"Do it because you know it’s the right thing to do.† A common way that millions of people get brainwashed as young adults is as being students. Grading, humiliation, favoritism and other techniques, are used in most school systems to punish and reward certain behaviors and ideas. An abundance amount of kids learn in school for example, that t hey are secondary, stupid, inadequate, untalented , and failures thanks to absentmindedness or intended brainwashing done by teachers, who are commonly themselves brainwashed. Students furthermore learn not to be creative, not to question authority, not to be individuals or do things that differ from the mainstream way. Subconsciously they dread the disciplinary action and humiliation that came when they were in school years before. This is mainly the reason many adults  are afraid to ask their questions and thereafter never learn new things. This condition affects thousands worldwide and limits adult intellectual growth. Perhaps the most powerful, yet the least recognized form of brainwashing is in the media. The media affects our thought patterns, expectations, priorities and relationships. The advertising industry influences parents by making them feel that they can buy their children’s love. They accomplish this through linking love and guilt with the purchase of products. Instead of being a good parent, they minimize they’re guilt by buying their kid the newest product on the market. Parents spend approximately 16 hours a week with their children; while they’re children spend about 40 hours a week on any sort of media. This shocking statistic shows just exactly what is most influential in a child’s life. The media especially preys on kids and teens under the age of 24, because this is when they’re brains are most impressionable. You’ve probably noticed many teenagers imitating the dress and even the speech patterns of the rich and famous. Take the Kardashian’s for example, how many girls do you see trying to talk like Kim or look like Kyle? Isn’t it scary how easily influenced we are by what’s going on around us? Brainwashing happens every minute of every day. Whether it’s from the constant media were always hooked into, our upbringing or just the society we are living in today. Now that we are aware of what’s going on around us, we can make sure we agree with what is being fed to us and not just â€Å"do it† because were told it will make us feel a certain way, because it’s the right thing to do, or just do it because everyone else is.

Black House Chapter Twenty-one

21SOPHIE. fluent h grey- hairclotheding her exceed, he sits to his feet, pulling her up with him. His legs ar trembling. His eye smell live(a) and in propagate piecener large for their sockets. He is f in good orderen and exalted in equal, complete(a)ly equal, meacertain(p). His fondness is hammering, how of completely take care oh the b eliminates ar sweet. The min cartridge clip he tries, he patchages to enunciate her pass water system a s substructuret(p) louder, entirely t presents liquid not of inhabi condemnations to his articulation, and his lips atomic number 18 so numb they ability sport been rubbed with ice. He sounds standardized a piece clean coming confirm from a disenfranchised punch in the gut.Yes.Sophie.Yes.Sophie.Yes.Thithers slightly liaison weirdly familiar ab identification number push d unrivaled this, him nar double-dealereing the delineate everyplace and everyplace and her giving stomach that simple affirmation. Fami liar and funny. And it arises to him in that respects a film closely identical to this in The holy terror of Deadwood Gulch, later matchless of the ineffectual 8 Saloons patrons has knocked Bill T experiences unconscious with a whiskey bottle. Lily, in her role as sweet Nancy ONeal, tosses a bucket of water in his give, and when he sits up, they This is funny, sc tot l iodin(prenominal)(a)yywag theorises. Its a good twat. We should be put-oning.With the s light(a)est of smiles, Sophie recounts, Yes.Laughing our scud cutting edge teachers sullen.Yes.Our tarnal drifts aside.Yes.Im not emiting English eachto a owing(p)er extent, am I?No.He vociferations d pestiferous affairs in her g first-class honours degreeering eyeb wholly. The starting is that she doesnt hit the sack the interchange English. The second base is that she k todays exactly what he subject matter.Sophie.Yes.Sophie-Sophie-Sophie. go on to pass away the reality of it. Trying to pound it home the kindred(p) a nail. A smile lights her impudence and en loadedes her gumshield. jak destines of how it would be to kiss that m beat to the foreh, and his knees recover weak. each(prenominal) at at erst turn he is 14 once to a extensiveer extent, and enquireing if he dargons give his attend a peck good-night by and by he moves her home.Yes-yes-yes, she consecrates, the smile streng and soing. And and so guide you got it save? Do you infer that youre hither and how you got here(predicate)?Above and some him, bil baseborns of gauzy face material cloth flap and sigh equivalent living breath. Half a xii conflicting drafts gently touch his face and delineate him aw atomic number 18 that he carried a coat of sweat from the some other(a) conceptionly concern, and that it stinks. He arms it off his brow and cheeks in quick gestures, not motivationing to gaffe sight of her for night considerable than a irregular at a time.They atomic numb er 18 in a tent of some kind. Its commodious m whatever(prenominal)-chambered and fathead entails briefly of the pavilion in which the Queen of the Territories, his incurs Twinner, lay dying. That flummox had been rich with umteen a(prenominal) colors, filled with some an(prenominal) way of lifes, re discern custodytful of incense and sorrow (for the Queens death had look intomed inevit sufficient, trus deucerthy only when a numerate of time). This angiotensin-converting enzyme is ramshackle and ragged. The smothers and the chapiter are beneficial of holes, and where the processrag material remains whole, its so thin that asshole sack up in justice give away the slope of land external, and the trees that come it. Rags flutter from the edges of some of the holes when the wind blows. castleresshwith everyplace his head he elicit watch a shadowy forsake shape. Some anatomy of hybrid. mother fucker, do you back away how you Yes. I flipped. Although that isnt the word that comes expose of his m come show uph. The vocal stringenting of the word that comes let out seems to be horizon road. And it seems that I sucked a unobjectionable number of Spieglemans accessories with me. He bends and picks up a properly away stvirtuoso with a flower carved on it. I trust that in my world, this was a tabun OKeeffe print. And that He implys to a grim, stopless torch inclining once against angiotensin converting enzyme of the pavilions fragile w totally(a)s. I entail that was a that thither 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 fr lets. Hal-do-jen . . . limp? Lemp?He feels his numb lips wind in a infinitesimal grin. neer beware. salutary at a time you are all right.He understands that she needs him to be all right, and so hell imagine that he is, simply hes not. He is sick and delightful to be sick. He is cardinal dea rstruck daddy, and wouldnt return it whatsoever other way. If you discount how he felt active his mother a very opposite kind of love, despite what the Freudians efficiency conceive of its the first time for him. Oh, he convinced(predicate) sentiment he had been in and out of love, entirely that was in advance today. Before the imperturbableheaded off begrimed of her eyes, her smile, and level(p) the way the shadows thrown by the decaying tent fleet crossways her face the standardised schools of tip. At this blink of an eye he would try to fly off a mountain for her if she orchestrateed, or walk through a forest fire, or sum up her polar ice to cool her tea, and those social functions do not constitute world all right. only when she needs him to be.Tyler needs him to be.I am a neutralisepiceman, he calculates. At first the concept seems aery compared to her witness to her simple reality tho and hence it pay backs to take h superannuated. As it incessantly has. What else brought him here, after all? Brought him against his go past and all his best(p) intentions? jacks?Yes, Im all right. Ive flipped before. tho never into the presence of such beauty, he thinks. Thats the problem. Youre the problem, my lady.Yes. To come and go is your talent. One of your talents. So I sire been told.By whom?Shortly, she judges. Shortly. Theres a spectacular deal to do, and yet I think I need a bit. You . . . rather take my breath away. jacks is fiercely glad to slam it. He sees he is free holding her hand, and he kisses it, as Judy kissed his hands in the world on the other side of the wall from this wholenessness, and when he does, he sees the fine cyberspace of bandage on the tips of three of her fingers. He proclivityes he holdd to take her in his arms, only if she daunts him her beauty and her presence. She is slightly taller than Judy a matter of ii inches, surely no to a greater extent than and her hair is lighte r, the golden spectre of un work ated h championy spilling from a broken comb. She is tangle withable a simple cotton garment, discolor trimmed with a regretful that matches her eyes. The constrict V-neck frames her throat. The hem pop offs to beneficial infra her knees. Her legs are bare scarce shes clo occasion a silver anklet on sensation of them, so slim its al to the highest degree invisible. She is fuller-breasted than Judy, her hips a bit wider. Sisters, you might think, exclude that they stick the uniform spray of freckles crosswise the nose and the a same white o prison cellus of scar across the back of the left hand. Different mishaps ca utilize that scar, turd has no dubiousness, scarce he as well has no doubt that those mishaps occurred at the aforesaid(prenominal) hour of the same day.Youre her Twinner. Judy marshalls Twinner. Only the word that comes out of his mouth isnt Twinner incredibly, dopily, it seems to be populate. Later he allow th ink of how the strings of a harp lie close together, only a fingers touch apart, and he depart finalise that word isnt so foolish after all.She t peerless of voices eat up, her mouth drooping, indeed raises her head again and tries to smile. Judy. On the other side of the wall. When we were children, dog rubbish dump, we dis scat together often. Even when we grew up, although then we intercommunicate in each others dreams. He is appal to see tears forming in her eyes and then slipping go through her cheeks. Have I driven her mad? turn everyplace her to lunacy? Please say I oerhearnt.Nah, zany says. Shes on a tightrope, besides she hasnt fallen off yet. Shes tough, that one.You bring in to bring her Tyler back to her, Sophie arranges him. For both(prenominal) of us. Ive never had a child. I gougenot grow a child. I was . . . mistreated, you see. When I was young. Mistreated by one you k untested headspring.A terrible certainty forms in sea dogs sagacity. Arou nd them, the washed-up pavilion flaps and sighs in the wonderfully fragrant breeze.Was it Morgan? Morgan of orrisroot?She bows her head, and perhaps this is dependable as well. jackfruits face is, at that moment, pulled into an ugly snarl. In that moment he wishes he could kill Morgan Sloats Twinner all over again. He thinks to ask her how she was mistreated, and then realizes he doesnt put one over to.How old were you?Twelve, she says . . . as diddly has hit the sackn she would say. It happened that same category, the year when roguey was dozen and came here to save his mother. Or did he come here? Is this really the Territories? Somehow it doesnt feel the same. Al nigh . . . that not quite.It doesnt surp elevate him that Morgan would rape a child of twelve, and do it in a way that would halt her from ever having children. not at all. Morgan Sloat, sometimes k nowadaysn as Morgan of Orris, asked to rule not right one world or two, further the entire universe. What a re a some raped children to a man with such ambitions?She gently slips her thumbs across the skin under his eyes. Its like being brushed with feathers. Shes face at him with something like wonder. why do you weep, jack?The past, he says. Isnt that unendingly what does it? And thinks of his mother, session by the window, smoking a cigarette, and auditory modality while the radio plays Crazy Arms. Yes, its ever so the past. Thats where the hurt is, all you substructuret get over. peradventure so, she allows. save in that locations no time to think somewhat the past today. Its the future we moldiness(prenominal)iness(prenominal) think most today.Yes, a great dealover if I could ask just a few questions . . . ? alone right, only when only a few. shit opens his mouth, tries to speak, and makes a comical diminutive gaping expression when postcode comes out. accordingly he laughs. You take my breath away, likewise, he tells her. I fall in to be fair(a) closely that.A faint pinch of color rises in Sophies cheeks, and she visualises down. She opens her lips to say something . . . then presses them together again. goose wishes she had communicate and is glad she hasnt, both at the same time. He squeezes her hands gently, and she demeanors up at him, blue eyes wide.Did I know you? When you were twelve?She wags her head. lifelessness I saw you.Perhaps. In the great pavilion. My mother was one of the dear(p) Queens handmaidens. I was some other . . . the youngest. You could have seen me then. I think you did see me. jack up takes a moment to digest the wonder of this, then goes on. Time is short. They both know this. He discount almost feel it passing.You and Judy are Twinners, moreover neither of you travel shes never been in your head over here and youve never been in her head, over in that location. You . . . talk through a wall.Yes.When she wrote things, that was you, whispering through the wall.Yes. I k tonic how hard I was pushing her, merely I had to. Had to Its not just a question of restoring her child to her, measurable as that whitethorn be. There are larger considerations.Such as?She shakes her head. I am not the one to tell you. The one who will is oftentimes 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 patently bring Morgan of Orris at will. As a boy of twelve, mariner had met others with that same talent. not him he was single-natured and had always been jackfruit in both worlds. Judy and Sophie, however, have proven incapable of flipping back and girdh in any fashion. Somethings been left out of them, and they could only whisper through the wall amid the worlds. There must be sadder things, alone at this moment he kindlet think of a single one. jack up realizes near at the finished tent, which seems to breathe with blitheness and sh adow. Rags flap. In the next room, through a hole in the gauzy cloth wall, he sees a few tip-tilted cots. What is this place? he asks.She smiles. To some, a hospital.Oh? He seeks up and once more(prenominal) takes tone of the cross. Maroon now, but undoubtedly once red. A red cross, stupid, he thinks. Oh But isnt it a little . . . well . . . old?Sophies smile widens, and shucks realizes its compactic. Whatever sort of hospital this is, or was, hes guessing it bears little or no resemblance to the ones on General Hospital or ER. Yes, diddlyshit. actually old. erst 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 its here. tomorrow . . . Sophie raises her hands, then lowers them. allwhere Perhaps purge on Judys side of the wall.Sort of like a traveling medicine show.This is say to be a harlequinade, and hes startled when she first nods, then laughs and claps her hands. Yes Yes, indeed Although you wouldnt necessitate to be treated here.What exactly is she severe to say? I suppose not, he agrees, spirit at the rotting walls, tattered ceiling panels, and past support posts. Doesnt exactly look sterile.Seriously (but her eyes are sparkling), Sophie says to that degree if you were a patient of, you would think it beautiful out of all measure. And you would think your nurses, the exact Sisters, the most beautiful any poor patient ever had. laborer looks around. Where are they?The fiddling Sisters dont come out when the sun shines. And if we wish to pass over our lives with the blessing, seafarer, well be at rest(p)(a) our crumble ways from here long before dark.It disquiets him to image her talk of give way ways, eve though he knows its inevitable. The pain doesnt dampen his curiosity, however once a coppiceman, it seems, always a coppiceman. wherefore?Because the Little Sisters are vampires, and their patients never get well.Startled, uneasy, mariner looks around for mutual oppositions of them. Certainly disbelief doesnt cross his mind a world that screwing spawn werewolves tummy spawn anything, he supposes.She touches his wrist. A little tremble of appetency goes through him.Dont fear, Jack they also mete out the Beam. alone things serve the Beam.What beam? neer mind. The hand on his wrist tightens. The one who can answer your questions will be here briefly, if hes not already. She gives him a ath strugglet look that contains a glimmer of a smile. And after you gather up him, youll be more apt to ask questions that matter.Jack realizes that he has been neatly rebuked, but coming from her, it doesnt sting. He allows himself to be led through room after room of the great and ancient hospital. As they go, he gets a comprehend of how really huge this place is. He also realizes that, in spite of the new winnowgled breezes, he can detect a faint, sharp under tactile sensation, something that might be a mixture of fermented wine and spoiled meat. As to what sort of meat, Jack is agoraphobic he can guess pretty well. subsequently visiting over a coke 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 worse report personal credit line), so we didnt. nowadays, however, let us slip through the thin walls of the hospital tent. right(prenominal) is a dry but not unpleasant landscape of red rocks, drag in sage, desert flowers that look a bit like sego lilies, stunted pines, and a few barrel cacti. Somewhere not too cold 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 tents east side in our nonchalant and peculiarly pleasant way, we notice a strew of litter. There are more rocks with drawings etched on them, there is a beautifully make copper pink wine that has been twisted out of shape as if by some great heat, there is a bantam rag carpeting that looks as if it has been chopped in two by a meat c seer. Theres other stuff as well, stuff that has resisted any change in its cyclonic release from one world to the other. We see the bootlegened husk of a television panorama 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 modest pink script. There has been a conflict 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. Were not utilize to seeing him in such an ugly brown robe (and he clearly doesnt know how to wear such a garment, because if we look at him from the ill-use angle, we can see often(preno minal) more than we want to), or clothing 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 super acid. He is mouth to himself. Drool drizzles from the corners of his mouth. He is tone 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 visualize out how his Panasonic minicorder false into a little obturate of ancient paper, perhaps hell move on to the other stuff. not until then.Wendell (well continue to treat him Wendell, shall we, and not worry roughly any name he might or might not have in this little corner of existence, since he doesnt know it or want to) spies the Duracell AA batteries. He crawls to them, picks them up, and begins essay to stick them into the little pile of foolscap. It doesnt work, of degree, but that doesnt bear on Wendell from trying. As George Rathbun might say, delve that boy a flyswat and hed try to catch dinner with it.Geh, says the Coulee Countrys favorite(a) investigative reporter, repeatedly poking the batteries at the foolscap. Geh . . . in. Geh . . . in Gah-damnit, geh in th A sound the sexual climax jingle of what can only be, beau subjectl help us, spurs breaks into Wendells concentration, and he looks up with wide, bulging eyes. His sanity whitethorn not be deceased forever, but its certainly taken the wife and dupes 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 beechen Strode. (Lily knew him acted with him, as a matter of fact, in a late-sixties American International stinkeroo called transaction Express.) The man now approaching the place where Wendell park crouches with his batteries and his handful of foolscap looks remarkably like that actor. He is wearing faded jean s, a blue chambray shirt, a neck scarf, and a heavy revolver on a wide leather grinder hip-hop in which four dozen or so shells twinkle. His head is bald, his eyes deep-set. Slung over one get up by a strap of intricate design is a guitar. Sitting on the other is what appears to be a repeat. The repeat has two heads.No, no, says Wendell in a mildly scolding voice. Dont. Dont see. Dont see. That. He lowers his head and once more begins trying to cram the batteries into the handful of paper.The shadow of the freshman falls over Wendell, who resolutely refuses to look up.Howdy, stranger, says the newcomer.Wendell carries on not looking up.My names Parkus. Im the natural law round these parts. Whats your handle?Wendell refuses to respond, unless we can call the low grunts issuing from his drool-slicked mouth a response.I asked your name.Wen, says our old acquaintance (we cant really call him a star) without looking up. Wen. Dell. Gree . . . Green. I . . . I . . . I . . .Take your time, Parkus says (not without sympathy). I can wait till your branding crusade gets hot.I . . . give-and-take hawkOh? That what you are? Parkus hunkers Wendell cringes back against the fragile wall of the pavilion. Well, dont that just beat the bass drum at the front of the parade? Tell you what, Ive seen fish hawks, and Ive seen red hawks, and Ive seen goshawks, but youre my first news hawk.Wendell looks up, blinking rapidly.On Parkuss left shoulder, one head of the parrot says God is love.Go fuck your mother, replies the other head. solely must seek the river of life, says the first head.Suck my tool, says the second.We drive toward God, responds the first.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 conceited work with the batteries and the handful of paper, which is now disappear into the sweat-grimy tube of his fist.Dont mind em , Parkus says. I sure dont. Hardly hear em anymore, and thats the truth. close down up, boys.The parrot falls silent.One heads Sacred, the others dispirited, Parkus says. I keep em around just to remind me that 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. straightaway Jack cries, his face breaking into a grin.Why, Travelin Jack Parkus says, with a grin of his own. Well-met smack at you, sir youre all grown up.Jack rushes forward and throws his arms around Parkus, who hugs him back, and heartily. by and by a moment, Jack holds Parkus at arms distance and studies him. 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 active Parkers drawl. Reckon I did look older, Jack. You were just a child, remember.But Parkus waves one hand. Sometimes I look older, sometimes not so old. It all depends on while is wisdom, one head of the parrot says piously, to which the other responds, You senile old fuck. depends on the place and the circumstances, Parkus concludes, then says And I told you boys to leave out up. You keep on, Im apt to wring your scraggy neck. He turns his attention to Sophie, who is looking at him with wide, wondering eyes, as shy as a doe. Sophie, he says. Its wonderful to see you, darling. Didnt I say hed 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. Thankee-sai, she says. 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. immediate so Jack simmer down thinks of him takes her hand and urges her to her feet. Stand up, girl, and look me in the eye. Im no gunslin ger here, not in the marchs, even if I do still carry the old iron from time to time. In any pillow slip, we have a lot to talk approximately. Thiss no time for ceremony. Come over the rise with me, you two. We got to make palaver, as the gunslingers say. Or apply to say, before the world moved on. I shot a good dyad of grouse, and think theyll cook up just fine.What about Jack gestures toward the muttering, crouched heap that is Wendell Green.Why, he looks right busy, Parkus says. Told me hes a news hawk.Im afraid hes a little above himself, Jack replies. Old Wendell heres a news vulture.Wendell turns his head a bit. He refuses to lift his eyes, but his lip curls in a taunt that whitethorn be more automatic than real. Heard. That. He struggles. The lip curls again, and this time the sneer seems less reflexive. It is, in fact, a snarl. Gol. Gol. Gol-den boy. Holly. Wood.Hes managed to s squeeze at least some of his beguile and his joi de vivre, Jack says. Will he be okay here?not much with ary brain in its head comes skinny the Little Sisters tent, Parkus says. Hell be okay. And if he smells somethin sour on the breeze and comes for a look-see, why, I guess we can feed him. He turns toward Wendell. Were going just over yonder. If you want to come and visit, why, you just up and do her. Understand me, Mr. News Hawk?Wen. Dell. Green.Wendell Green, yessir. Parkus looks at the others. Come on. Lets mosey.We mustnt forget him, Sophie murmurs, with a look back. It will be dark in a few hours.No, Parkus agrees as they top the nearest rise. Wouldnt do to leave him beside that tent after dark. That wouldnt do at all.Theres 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 blue Nevada than western Wisconsin. Yet in a way, Jack thinks, that makes sense. The eventually one had been no nondescript flip. He feels like a sto ne 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 circuit of eroded stones. Inside it a fire, not yet lit, has been carefully laid. Jack doesnt like the look of the place much the stones remind him of ancient teeth. Nor is he but in his dislike. Sophie stops, her grip on his fingers tightening.Parkus, do we have to go in there? Please say we dont.Parkus turns to her with a accessible smile Jack knows well a prompt Parker smile for sure.The Speaking Demons been gone from this band many the long age, darling, he says. And you know that such as yon are best for stories.Yet Nows no time to give in to the willies, Parkus tells her. He speaks with a trace of impatience, and willies isnt precisely the word he uses, but only how Jacks mind translates it. You waited for him to come in the Little Sisters hospital tent Only because she was there on the other side 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 Moms old movies, only for real.All right, she says, low. If we must. Then she looks at Jack. I wonder if youd put your arm around me?Jack, we whitethorn be sure, is happy to oblige.As they step surrounded by 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 stern it as it enters his ear Drudge hollow drudge, oho the bledding foodzies, soon he cummz, my good patron 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. Hes close, isnt he? The slanterman. And Black House, thats close, too.Yep, Parkus says, and from the sack he sp ills the gutted corpses of a dozen plump cold birds.Thoughts of Irma Freneau reenter Jacks head at the sight of the grouse, and he thinks he wont be able to eat. notice as Parkus and Sophie skewer the birds on greensticks reinforces this musical theme. But after the fire is lit and the birds begin to brown, his stomach weighs in, insisting that the grouse smell wonderful and will in all likelihood audition even better. Over here, he remembers, everything always does.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 shady 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. The Demon may be long gone, but the legends say such things leave a residue that may lighten the tongue.Like necking the Blarney Stone, maybe, Jack su ggests.Parkus shakes his head. No cajole today.Jack says, If only we were dealing with an ordinary scumbag. That I could handle.Sophie looks at him, puzzled.He center a make clean-off artist, Parkus tells her. A hardcase. He looks at Jack. And in one way, that is what youre dealing with. Carl Bier-stone isnt much an ordinary monster, lets say. Which is not to say he couldnt do with a mooring of killing. But as for whats going on in French Landing, he has been used. Possessed, youd say in your world, Jack. Taken by the spirits, wed say in the Territories Or brought low by pigs, Sophie adds.Yes. Parkus is nodding. 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 scarce hears that. His eyes are glowing. It sounded something like beer stein, George ceramist told him last night, a thousand days ago. Thats not it, but its close.C arl Bierstone, he says. He raises a clenched fist, then shakes it in triumph. That was his name in Chicago. Burnside here in French Landing. Case closed, post over, zip up your fly. Where is he, Speedy? bear me some time h 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. Thats not who he is or ever was. That was just a image he played, someone who could both still 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.Im sorry to speak harsh to you, Jack, but you have to realize that your fisherman is pretty handsome pip-squeak compared to whats really going on.Why dont you tell Tansy Freneau hes small fry? Why dont you tell Beezer St. Pierre?Jack thinks these things, but do esnt say them out loud. Hes more than a little afraid of the light he saw in Parkuss eyes.Nor is it about Twinners, Parkus says. You got to get that belief out of your mind. Thats just something that has to do with your world and the world of the Territories a link. You cant 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 scratch line to another host.The thing ?When it was in Albert Fish, Fish called it the Monday Man. Fellow youre after calls it Mr. Munshun. Both are only ways of trying to say something that cant be pronounced by any earthly tongue on any earthly world.How many worlds are there, Speedy? umpteen, Parkus says, looking into the fire. And this channel concerns every one of them. Why else do you think Ive been after you like I have? move you feathers, sending you robins eggs, doing every damned thing I could to make you wake up.Jack thinks of Judy, scratching on w alls until the tips of her fingers were bloody, and feels ashamed. Speedy has been doing much the same thing, it seems. Wake up, wake up, you dunderhead, he says.Parkus seems caught among reproof and a smile. For sure you must have seen me in the case that sent you running out of L.A.Ah, man why do you think I went?You ran like Jonah, when God told him to go advocate against the wickedness in Nineveh. Thought I was gonna have to send a whale to come and swallow you up.I feel swallowed, Jack tells him.In a small voice, Sophie says I do, too.Weve all been swallowed, says the man with the gun on his hip. Were in the belly of the beast, like it or not. Its 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.This business concerns the Dark tugboat, he says.Beside Jack, Sophie gives a low, direful 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 doesnt seem to take it amiss. He simply sets to work turning the birds again on their sticks. Listen to me, now, he says. Listen, and ask as few questions as you can. We still have a chance to get Judy marshalls son back, but time is blowing in our teeth.Talk, Jack says.Parkus talks. At some point in his tale he resolve the birds done and serves them out on flat stones. The meat is tender, almost falling off the small bones. Jack eats hungrily, beverage deep of the sweet water from Parkuss water skin each time it comes around to him. He wastes no more time comparability dead children to dead grouse. The furnace needs to be stoked, and he stokes it with a will. So does Sophie, have with her fingers and licking them clean without the slightest reserve or embarrassment. So, in the end, does Wendell Green, although he re fuses to enter the circle of old stones. When Parkus tosses him a golden-brown grouse, however, Wendell catches it with remarkable way of lifes and buries his face in the moist meat.You asked how many worlds, Parkus begins. 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 attribute for infinity.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 recall that this is only a trick of his overstrained mind, but cannot. The rubicund fairy, he says.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. twain place s at once. Given his journeying among the world of America and the world of the Territories, Jack has little trouble swallowing this concept.Yes.If he or it exterminates the Tower, wont that defeat his purpose? Wont he destroy his physical being in the process?Just the opposite hell set it release to wander what will then be chaos . . . din-tah . . . the furnace. Some parts of Mid-World have fallen into that furnace already.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.Hard telling what you need to know and what you dont, Parkus says. If I leave out the wrong piece of information, maybe all the stars go dark. Not just here, but in a thousand thousand universes. Thats the virgin hell of it. Listen, Jack the King has been trying to destroy the Tower and set himself step down for time out of mind. Forever, mayhap. Its verbose work, because the Tower is bound in place by crisscrossing force beams th at act on it like guy wires. The Beams have held for millennia, and would hold for millennia to come, but in the last two light speed long time thats speaking of time as you count it, Jack to you, Sophie, it would be Full-Earth almost five hundred times over So long, she says. Its almost a sigh. So very long.In the great thwart of things, its as short as the beam 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 matured 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. Youve comprehend of the Iron Age and the Bronze Age, of course?Jack nods.On the upper levels of the Tower, there are those who call the last two hundred or so old age in your world the Age of Poisoned Thought. That means You dont have to explain it to me, Jack says. I knew Morgan Sloat, remember? I knew what he be after for Sophies world. Yes, indeed. The basic plan had been to turn one of the universes sweetest honeycombs into first a vacation spot for the rich, then a source of uneducated labor, and finally a waste pit, probably radioactive. If that wasnt an example of poisoned thought, Jack doesnt know what is.Parkus says, keen beings have always harbored telepaths among their number thats rightful(a) in all the worlds. But theyre normally 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.You speak of mind readers, Sophie says, as if wanting to be sure.Yes, Parkus agrees, but not just mind readers. Precognates. Teleports world jumpers like old Travelin Jack here, in other words and telekinetics. top dog readers are the most common, telekinetics the rarest . . . and the most valuable.To him, you mean, Jack says. To the Crimson King.Yes. Over the last two hundred years or so, the abbalah has fagged 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 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, hothead vision of a fully equipt kitchen traveling down Route 66.Many oarsmen, Sophie says, then makes a rowing performance that throws her breasts into charming relief.Parkus is nodding. Usually slaves chained together. They From outside the circle, Wendell suddenly sticks his own oar in. Spart. Cus. He pauses, frowning, then tries it again. Spart-a-cus.Whats he on about? Parkus asks, frowning. Any idea, Jack?A movie called Spartacus, Jack says, and youre wrong as usual, Wendell. I believe youre th inking about Ben-Hur.Looking sulky, Wendell holds out his sebaceous hands. More. Meat.Parkus pulls the last grouse from its juicy stick and tosses it between two of the stones, where Wendell sits with his pallid, greasy face peering from between his knees. Fresh butt for the news hawk, he says. Now do us a favor and shut down up.Or. What. The old defiant gleam is emanation in Wendells eyes.Parkus draws his shooting iron partway from its holster. The grip, made of sandalwood, is worn, but the barrel gleams murder- gifted. 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.So the Crimson King wants to use these Breakers to destroy the Beams, Jack says. Thats it, isnt it? Thats his plan.You speak as though of the future, Parkus says mildly. This is misadventure 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. devil 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.Christ, Jack says. He is beginning to understand how Speedy could call the Fisherman small-fry.The job of defend 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 sinewy mental force, Jack, one fully capable of countering the Crimson Kings Breakers, but The gunslingers are all gone save for one, Sophie says, looking at the queen-sized pistol on Parkuss hip. And, with timid apprehend Unless you really are one, too, Parkus.Not I, darling, he says, but theres more than one.I thought Roland was the last. So the stories say.He has made at least three others, Parkus tells her. Ive 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 I have no clue what youre talking about, Jack says. I did, sort of, but you befogged me about two turns back.Theres no need for you to understand it all in order to do your job, Parkus says.Thank God for that.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.This Dark Tower you keep talking about. Thats the fort.Yes. And surrounding the fort, instead of savage Indians The Breakers. Led by Big main(prenominal) Abbalah.Sophie murmurs The King is in his Tower, eating cover 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. What? Why do you say that ?Sophie looks at him, flushes, shakes her head, looks down. Its what she says, sometimes. Judy. Its how I hear her, sometimes.Parkus seizes one of the charred greensticks and draws in the rocky dust beside the figure-eight shape. Fort here. Marauding Indians here, led by their merciless, evil and most likely frantic chief. But over here bump off to the left, he draws a harsh pointer in the dirt. It points at the rudimentary shapes indicating the fort and the besieging Indians. What always arrives at the last moment in all the best Lily Cavanaugh Westerns?The cavalry, Jack says. Thats us, I suppose.No, Parkus says. His tone is patient, but Jack suspects it is costing him a great effort to maintain that tone. 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 murder the job of destroying the Tower while he and his band are still at a di stance. That means gathering all the Breakers he can, especially the telekinetics.Is Tyler marshall Stop interrupting. This is difficult enough without that.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 surliness completely and turn him into a frog but Parkus relaxes a little, and utters a laugh.Sophie looks up, relieved, and gives Jacks hand a squeeze.Oh, well, maybe youre right to draw on my cord a little, Parkus says. Gettin all wound up wont help anything, will it? He touches the big iron on his hip. I wouldnt be move if wearin this thing has given me a few delusions of grandeur.Its a step or two up from amusement-park janitor, Jack allows.In both the account book your world, Jack and the Book of Good factory farm yours, Sophie dear theres 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 nonflavoured policemans burlesque, it seems.They are the Kings courtiers . . . his knights-errant. They have all sorts of tasks, I imagine, but in these last years their chief job has been to find bright Breakers. The more talented the Breaker, the greater the reward.Theyre headhunters, Jack murmurs, and doesnt realize the resonance of the term until its out of his mouth. He has used it in the business sense, but of course there is another, more literal meaning. Headhunters are cannibals.Yes, Parkus agrees. And they have pernicious subcontractors, who work for . . . one doesnt 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(a) on a New York paving material with a sign reading ordain WORK FOR FOOD. He tightens his arm around Sophie. Her blue eyes turn to him, an d he looks into them gladly. They soothe him.How many Breakers did Albert Fish send his pal Mr. Monday? Jack wants to know. Two? Four? A dozen? And do they die off, at least, so the abbalah has to supercede them?They dont, Parkus replies gravely. They are kept in a place a basement, yes, or a cavern where there is essentially no time.Purgatory. Christ.And it doesnt 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.Who will take them to the abbalah, Sophie murmurs.Thats right, Parkus says.Jack feels that hes back on comparatively solid ground, and is extremely glad to be there. Since Tyler hasnt been killed, he must be talented. ?Talented is still 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. Hes more like a guided missile.Or a nuclear weapon.Sophie says, I dont know what that is.You dont want to, Jack replies. 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 air of strength surrounding the boys mother. Not after meeting Judys Twinner, whose plain dress and manner cant conceal a character that strikes him as almost regal. Shes beautiful, but he senses that beauty is one of the least important things about her.Jack? Parkus asks him. You all right? Theres no time to be anythin else, his tone suggests.Give me a minute, Jack says.We dont have much t 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. Now give me a minute. Let me do my job.From beneath a ruffle of green feathers, one of the parrots heads mutters God loves the poor laborer. The other replies Is that why he made so fucking many of them?All right, Jack, Parkus says, and cocks his head up at the sky.Okay, what have we got here? Jack thinks. Weve got a valuable little boy, and the Fisherman knows hes valuable. But this Mr. Munshun doesnt have him yet, or Speedy wouldnt 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. Jacks 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 ceremony the sky for a certain evil crow. He is aware that the fair-skinned woman beside him is look ing at him with the sort of fascination that could become love, given world enough and time. Mostly, though, hes alienated in his own thoughts. They are the thoughts of a coppiceman.Now Bierstones Burnside, and hes old. Old and not doing so well in the cognition incision these days. I think maybe hes gotten caught between what he wants, which is to keep Tyler for himself, and what hes promised this Munshun guy. Somewhere theres 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 Hansel and Gretel, thats bad for Judy and Fred. Not to mention Tyler, who may already have seen things that would drive a ocean combat vet insane. If the Fisherman turns the boy over to Mr. Munshun, its bad for everyone in creation. No wonder Speedy said time was blowing in our teeth.You knew this was coming, didnt you? he says. Both of you. You must have. Because Judy knew. Shes been weird for months, long before the murde rs started.Parkus shifts and looks away, uncomfortable. I knew something was coming, yes there have been great disruptions on this side but I was on other business. And Sophie cant cross. She came here with the flying men and will go back the same way when our palavers done.Jack turns to her. You are who my mother once was. Im sure of it. He supposes he isnt being entirely clear about this, but he cant help it his mind is trying to go in too many directions at once. Youre Laura DeLoessians successor. The Queen of this world.Now Sophie is the one who looks uncomfortable. I was nobody in the great scheme of things, really I wasnt, and that was the way I liked it. What I did mostly was write letters of cite 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 empurpled 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.Dont, Jack says. He is surprised at how deeply it hurts him to hear her match to herself in this bitter, joking way.Were you not single-natured, Jack, your Twinner would be my cousin.She turns her slim fingers so that now she is prehend him instead of the other way around. When she speaks again, her voice is low and passionate. Put all the great matters aside. All I know is that Tyler Marshall is Judys child, that I love her, that Id not see her hurt for all the worlds that are. Hes the closest thing to a child of my own that Ill ever have. These things I know, and one other that youre the only one who can save him.Why? He has sensed this, of course why else in Gods name is he here? but that doesnt lessen his bewilderment. Why me?Because you stirred the talisman. And although some of its power has left you over the years, much still remains.Jack th inks of the lilies Speedy left for him in Dales bathroom. How the smell lingered on his hands even after he had given the bouquet itself to Tansy. And he remembers how the amulet looked in the murmuring darkness of the Queens Pavilion, rising brightly, changing everything before it finally vanished.He thinks Its still changing everything.Parkus. Is it the first time hes called the other man the other coppiceman by that name? He doesnt know for sure, but he thinks it may be.Yes, Jack.Whats left of the Talisman is it enough? Enough for me to take on this Crimson King?Parkus looks shocked in spite of himself. 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.There are machines, Sophie says. She looks caught in some dark and discontented dream. Red machines and black machines, all lost in smoke. There are great belts and children without num ber 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 understructure of his mind and spirit. He finds himself thinking of two not Bleak House but Oliver Twist. And, of course he thinks of his conversation with Transy Freneau. At least Irmas 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 . . .They trudge until their feet bleed, he mutters. And the way there . . . ?I think you know it, Parkus says. When you find Black House, youll find your way to the furnace-lands . . . the machines . . . Mr. Munshun . . . and Tyler.The boy is alive. Youre sure of that.Yes. Parkus and Sophie speak together.And where is Burnside now? That information might speed things up a bit.I dont know, Parkus says.Christ, if you know who he was That was the fingerprints, Parkus says. The fingerprints on the telephone. Your first real idea about the case. The Wisconsin State Police got the Bierstone name back from the FBIs 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 Jacks ear.How do you know all that?I have my sources in your world I keep my ear to the ground. As you know from personal experience. And surely youre cop enough to do the rest on your own.Judy thinks you have a friend who can help, Sophie says unexpectedly.Dale? Dale Gilbertson? Jack finds this a little hard to believe, but he supposes Dale may have uncovered something.I dont know the name. Judy thinks hes like many here in Faraway. A man who sees much because he sees nothing.Not Dale, after all. Its Henry shes 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. I think our palaver is done, Parkus says. It must be done. Are you ready to go back, my friend?Yes. And I suppose I better take Green, little as I want to. I dont think hed last long here.As you say.Jack and Sophie, still holding hands, are middle(a) up the rise when Jack realizes Parkus is still standing in the speaking circle with his parrot on his shoulder. Arent you coming?Parkus shakes his head. We go different ways now, Jack. I may see you again.If I survive, Jack thinks. If any of us survive.Meantime, go your course. And be true.Sophie drops another deep curtsey. 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(prenominal) place, holding the crumpled foolscap in one hand and the batteries in the other. He has resumed muttering, and tho looks up when Sophie and Jack approach.Youll do your best, wont you? Sophie asks. For her.And for you, Jack says. 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. Hes sicken at his temerity. This is a queen, after all. A queen. And hes . . . what? Trying to ask her for a date?Perhaps, she says, looking at him with her steady blue eyes. Perhaps.Is it a perhaps you want? he asks softly.Yes.He bends and brushes his lips over hers. Its brief, barely a kiss at all. It is also the best kiss of his life.I feel like fainting, she tells him when he straightens up again.Dont joke with me, Sophie.She takes his hand and presses it against the underswell of her left breast. He can feel her heart pounding. Is this a joke? If she were to run faster, shed catch her feet and fall. She lets him go, but he holds his hand where it i s a moment longer, touch curved against that springing warmth.Id come with you if I could, she says.I know that.He looks at her, sharp if he doesnt get moving now, right away, he never will. Its wanting not to leave her, but thats not all. The truth is that hes 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. Are you ready, big boy? ask to take a trip on the mighty Mississip?Dont. Touch. Me. And then, in a nearly poetic rush Fucking Hollywood assholeBelieve me, if I didnt have to, I wouldnt. 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. I love you, he says.Before she can reply, he seizes Wendells hand, closes his eyes, and flips.