Nature and Popular Culture :: essays research papers

As artwork has become more accepted in popular culture, we begin to see more and more creative artists portray their opinions of what is really going on in today’s society. By the rights granted to us based on the foundation of this country, there is the right to release opinions of how the world is viewed. A major part of this is what goes on in the atmosphere of which we live. The environment plays a vital role in the daily lives of citizens of the world and what happens to our environment in the future will continue to have lasting affects on future generations to come. Through artwork, the advertising industry has been releasing more frequent campaigns of what is going on in the world we live with an aspect of how nature is surviving as people are as well. There is an ongoing relationship that we rely on nature just as nature sometimes would seem to fit into our lives more than we would begin to realize. There are usual two sides to every story and it seems that either on e is of nature or one is against nature. This is evident in some aspects of television, movies, advertising, and music.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have found four particular artifacts that exemplify how modern art is of nature. I believe that a portion of this idea is attracting business. In this age of internet commerce and new technology being released more frequently than in the past, there might be a small fear that people will forget about the importance of nature and rely too heavily on technology. Due to this there has been an increase in the amount of advertisements that use themes of nature to market their products and services.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In a recent advertisement campaign of Nike athletic footwear, there is a portrayal of gazelles sprinting through an empty African field. Through the course of the run the gazelles change into men and women sprinting in a marathon race with Nike shoes on their feet. Nike is trying to sell their running shoes by stating that if you buy their product you will have natural speed like these swift animals.

Black House Chapter Twenty

20 AROUND THE TIME Mouse and Beezer first fail to see the little road and the NO TRESPASSING sign beside it, Jack Sawyer answers the annoying signal of his cell phone, hoping that his caller will turn out to be Henry Leyden with information about the voice on the 911 tape. Although an identification would be wonderful, he does not expect Henry to I.D. the voice; the Fisherman?CBurnside is Potsie's age, and Jack does not suppose the old villain has much of a social life, here or in the Territories. What Henry can do, however, is to apply his finely tuned ears to the nuances of Burnside's voice and describe what he hears in it. If we did not know that Jack's faith in his friend's capacity to hear distinctions and patterns inaudible to other people was justified, that faith would seem as irrational as the belief in magic: Jack trusts that a refreshed, invigorated Henry Leyden will pick up at least one or two crucial details of history or character that will narrow the search. Anything that Henry picks up will interest Jack. If someone else is calling him, he intends to get rid of whoever it is, fast. The voice that answers his greeting revises his plans. Fred Marshall wants to talk to him, and Fred is so wound up and incoherent that Jack must ask him to slow down and start over. â€Å"Judy's flipping out again,† Fred says. â€Å"Just . . . babbling and raving, and getting crazy like before, trying to rip through the walls oh God, they put her in restraints and she hates that, she wants to help Ty, it's all because of that tape. Christ, it's getting to be too much to handle, Jack, Mr. Sawyer, I mean it, and I know I'm running off at the mouth, but I'm really worried.† â€Å"Don't tell me someone sent her the 911 tape,† Jack says. â€Å"No, not . . . what 911 tape? I'm talking about the one that was delivered to the hospital today. Addressed to Judy. Can you believe they let her listen to that thing? I want to strangle Dr. Spiegleman and that nurse, Jane Bond. What's the matter with these people? The tape comes in, they say, oh goody, here's a nice tape for you to listen to, Mrs. Marshall, hold on, I'll be right back with a cassette player. On a mental ward? They don't even bother to listen to it first? Look, whatever you're doing, I'd be eternally grateful if you'd let me pick you up, so I could drive you over there. You could talk to her. You're the only person who can calm her down.† â€Å"You don't have to pick me up, because I'm already on the way. What was on the tape?† â€Å"I don't get it.† Fred Marshall has become considerably more lucid. â€Å"Why are you going there without me?† After a second of thought, Jack tells him an outright lie. â€Å"I thought you would probably be there already. It's a pity you weren't.† â€Å"I would have had the sense to screen that tape before letting her hear it. Do you know what was on that thing?† â€Å"The Fisherman,† Jack says. â€Å"How did you know?† â€Å"He's a great communicator,† Jack says. â€Å"How bad was it?† â€Å"You tell me, and then we'll both know. I'm piecing it together from what I gathered from Judy and what Dr. Spiegleman told me later.† Fred Marshall's voice begins to waver. â€Å"The Fisherman was taunting her. Can you believe that? He said, Your little boy is very lonely. Then he said something like, He's been begging and begging to call home and say hello to his mommy. Except Judy says he had a weird foreign accent, or a speech impediment, or something, so he wasn't easy to understand right away. Then he says, Say hello to your mommy, Tyler, and Tyler . . .† Fred's voice breaks, and Jack can hear him stifling his agony before he begins again. â€Å"Tyler, ah, Tyler was apparently too distressed to do much but scream for help.† A long, uncertain inhalation comes over the phone. â€Å"And he cried, Jack, he cried.† Unable to contain his feelings any longer, Fred weeps openly, unguardedly. His breath rattles in his throat; Jack listens to all the wet, undignified, helpless noises people make when grief and sorrow cancel every other feeling, and his heart moves for Fred Marshall. The sobbing relents. â€Å"Sorry. Sometimes I think they'll have to put me in restraints.† â€Å"Was that the end of the tape?† â€Å"He got on again.† Fred breathes noisily for a moment, clearing his head. â€Å"Boasting about what he was going to do. Dere vill be morrr mur-derts, and morrr afder dat, Choo-dee, we are all goink zu haff sotch fun Spiegleman quoted this junk to me! The children of French Landing will be harvested like wheat. Havv-uz-ted like wheed. Who talks like that? What kind of person is this?† â€Å"I wish I knew,† Jack says. â€Å"Maybe he was putting on an accent to sound even scarier. Or to disguise his voice.† He'd never disguise his voice, Jack thinks, he's too delighted with himself to hide behind an accent. â€Å"I'll have to get the tape from the hospital and listen to it myself. And I'll call you as soon as I have some information.† â€Å"There's one more thing,† Marshall says. â€Å"I probably made a mistake. Wendell Green came over about an hour ago.† â€Å"Anything involving Wendell Green is automatically a mistake. So what happened?† â€Å"It was like he knew all about Tyler and just needed me to confirm it. I thought he must have heard from Dale, or the state troopers. But Dale hasn't made us public yet, has he?† â€Å"Wendell has a network of little weasels that feed him information. If he knows anything, that's how he heard about it. What did you tell him?† â€Å"More or less everything,† Marshall says. â€Å"Including the tape. Oh, God, I'm such a dope. But I thought it'd be all right I thought it would all get out anyhow.† â€Å"Fred, did you tell him anything about me?† â€Å"Only that Judy trusts you and that we're both grateful for your help. And I think I said that you would probably be going in to see her this afternoon.† â€Å"Did you mention Ty's baseball cap?† â€Å"Do you think I'm nuts? As far as I'm concerned, that stuff is between you and Judy. If I don't get it, I'm not going to talk about it to Wendell Green. At least I got him to promise to stay away from Judy. He has a great reputation, but I got the feeling he isn't everything he's cracked up to be.† â€Å"You said a mouthful,† Jack says. â€Å"I'll be in touch.† When Fred Marshall hangs up, Jack punches in Henry's number. â€Å"I may be a little late, Henry. I'm on my way to French County Lutheran. Judy Marshall got a tape from the Fisherman, and if they'll let me have it, I'll bring it over. There's something strange going on here on Judy's tape, I guess he has some kind of foreign accent.† Henry tells Jack there is no rush. He has not listened to the first tape yet, and now will wait until Jack comes over with the second one. He might hear something useful if he plays them in sequence. At least, he could tell Jack if they were made by the same man. â€Å"And don't worry about me, Jack. In a little while, Mrs. Morton is coming by to take me over to KDCU. George Rathbun butters my bread today, baby six or seven radio ads. ‘Even a blind man knows you want to treat your honey, your sweetheart, your lovey-dovey, your wife, your best friend through thick and thin, to a mm-mmm fine dinner tonight, and there's no better place to show your appreciation to the old ball and chain than to take her to Cousin Buddy's Rib Crib on South Wabash Street in beautiful downtown La Riviere!' â€Å" † ‘The old ball and chain'?† â€Å"You pay for George Rathbun, you get George Rathbun, warts and all.† Laughing, Jack tells Henry he will see him later that day, and pushes the Ram up to seventy. What is Dale going to do, give him a speeding ticket? He parks in front of the hospital instead of driving around to the parking lot, and trots across the concrete with his mind filled with the Territories and Judy Marshall. Things are hurtling forward, picking up pace, and Jack has the sense that everything converges on Judy no, on Judy and him. The Fisherman has chosen them more purposefully than he did his first three victims: Amy St. Pierre, Johnny Irkenham, and Irma Freneau were simply the right age any three children would have done but Tyler was Judy Marshall's son, and that set him apart. Judy has glimpsed the Territories, Jack has traveled through them, and the Fisherman lives there the way a cancer cell lives in a healthy organism. The Fisherman sent Judy a tape, Jack a grisly present. At Tansy Freneau's, he had seen Judy as his key and the door it opened, and where did that door lead but into Judy's Faraway? Faraway. God, that's pretty. Beautiful, in fact. Aaah . . . the word evokes Judy Marshall's face, and when he sees that face, a door in his mind, a door that is his and his alone, flies open, and for a moment Jack Sawyer stops moving altogether, and in shock, dread, and joyous expectation, freezes on the concrete six feet from the hospital's entrance. Through the door in his mind pours a stream of disconnected images: a stalled Ferris wheel, Santa Monica cops milling behind a strip of yellow crime-scene tape, light reflected off a black man's bald head. Yes, a bald man's black head, that which he really and truly, in fact most desperately, had not wished to see, so take a good look, kiddo, here it is again. There had been a guitar, but the guitar was elsewhere; the guitar belonged to the magnificent demanding comforting comfortless Speedy Parker, God bless him God damn his eyes God love him Speedy, who touched its strings and sang Travelin' Jack, ole Travelin' Jack, Got a far long way to go, Longer way to come back. Worlds spin around him, worlds within worlds and other worlds alongside them, separated by a thin membrane composed of a thousand thousand doors, if only you know how to find them. A thousand thousand red feathers, tiny ones, feathers from a robin redbreast, hundreds of robin redbreasts, flew through one of those doors, Speedy's. Robin, as in robin's-egg blue, thank you, Speedy, and a song that said Wake up, wake up, you sleepyhead. Or: Wake up, wake up, you DUNDERHEAD! Crazily, Jack hears George Rathbun's now-not-so genial roar: Eeeven a BLIIIND MAAAN coulda seen THIS one coming, you KNOTHEAD! â€Å"Oh, yeah?† Jack says out loud. It is a good thing Head Nurse Jane Bond, Warden Bond, Agent OO Zero, cannot hear him. She's tough, but on the other hand, she's unfair, and if she were to appear beside him now, she would probably clap him in irons, sedate him, and drag him back to her domain. â€Å"Well, I know something you don't know, old buddy: Judy Marshall has a Twinner, and the Twinner has been whispering through the wall for a considerable old time now. It's no surprise she finally started to shout.† A red-haired teenager in an ARDEN H.S. BASEBALL T-shirt shoves open the literal door six feet from Jack and gives him a wary, disconcerted look. Man, grown-ups are weird, the look says; aren't I glad I'm a kid? Since he is a high school student and not a mental-health professional, he does not clap our hero in irons and drag him sedated away to the padded room. He simply takes care to steer a wide course around the madman and keeps walking, albeit with a touch of self-conscious stiffness in his gait. It is all about Twinners, of course. Rebuking his stupidity, Jack raps his knuckles against the side of his head. He should have seen it before; he should have understood immediately. If he has any excuse, it is that at first he refused to think about the case despite Speedy's efforts to wake him up, then became so caught up in concentrating on the Fisherman that until this morning, while watching his mother on the Sand Bar's big TV, he had neglected to consider the monster's Twinner. In Judy Marshall's childhood, her Twinner had spoken to her through that membrane between the two worlds; growing more and more alarmed over the past month, the Twinner had all but thrust her arms through the membrane and shaken Judy senseless. Because Jack is single-natured and has no Twinner, the corresponding task fell to Speedy. Now that everything seems to make sense, Jack cannot believe it has taken him so long to see the pattern. And this is why he has resented everything that kept him from standing before Judy Marshall: Judy is the doorway to her Twinner, to Tyler, and to the destruction of both the Fisherman and his opposite number in the Territories, the builder of the satanic, fiery structure a crow named Gorg showed Tansy Freneau. Whatever happens on Ward D today, it is going to be world-altering. Heart thrumming in anticipation, Jack passes from intense sunlight into the vast ocher space of the lobby. The same bathrobed patients seem to occupy the many chairs; in a distant corner, the same doctors discuss a troublesome case or, who knows, that tricky tenth hole at Arden Country Club; the same golden lilies raise their luxuriant, attentive heads outside the gift shop. This repetition reassures Jack, it hastens his step, for it surrounds and cushions the unforeseeable events awaiting him on the fifth floor. The same bored clerk responds to the proffer of the same password with an identical, if not the same, green card stamped VISITOR. The elevator surprisingly similar to one in the Ritz H?tel on the Place Vend?me obediently trembles upward past floors two, three, and four, in its dowager-like progress pausing to admit a gaunt young doctor who summons the memory of Roderick Usher, then releases Jack on five, where the beautiful ocher light seems a shade or two darker than down there in the huge lobby. From the elevator Jack retraces the steps he took with his guide Fred Marshall down the corridor, through the two sets of double doors and past the way stations of Gerontology and Ambulatory Ophthalmology and Records Annex, getting closer and closer to the unforeseen unforeseeable as the corridors grow narrower and darker, and emerges as before into the century-old room with high, skinny windows and a lot of walnut-colored wood. And there the spell breaks, for the attendant seated behind the polished counter, the person currently the guardian of this realm, is taller, younger, and considerably more sullen than his counterpart of the day before. When Jack asks to see Mrs. Marshall, the young person glances in disdain at his VISITOR card and inquires if he should happen to be a relative or another glance at the card a medical professional. Neither, Jack admits, but if the young person could trouble himself to inform Nurse Bond that Mr. Sawyer wishes to speak to Mrs. Marshall, Nurse Bond is practically guaranteed to swing open the forbidding metal doors and wave him inward, since that is more or less what she did yesterday. That is all well and good, if it happens to be true, the young person allows, but Nurse Bond is not going to be doing any door opening and waving in today, for today Nurse Bond is off duty. Could it be that when Mr. Sawyer showed up to see Mrs. Marshall yesterday he was accompanied by a family member, say Mr. Marshall? Yes. And if Mr. Marshall were to be consulted, say via the telephone, he would urge the young fellow presently discussing the matter in a commendably responsible fashion with Mr. Sawyer to admit the gentleman promptly. That may be the case, the young person grants, but hospital regulations require that nonmedical personnel in positions such as the young person's obtain authorization for any outside telephone calls. And from whom, Jack wishes to know, would this authorization be obtained? From the acting head nurse, Nurse Rack. Jack, who is growing a little hot, as they say, under the collar, suggests in that case that the young person seek out the excellent Nurse Rack and obtain the required authorization, so that things might progress in the manner Mr. Marshall, the patient's husband, would wish. No, the young person sees no reason to pursue such a course, the reason being that doing so would represent a pitiful waste of time and effort. Mr. Sawyer is not a member of Mrs. Marshall's family; therefore the excellent Nurse Rack would under no circumstances grant the authorization. â€Å"Okay,† Jack says, wishing he could strangle this irritating pip-squeak, â€Å"let's move a step up the administrative ladder, shall we? Is Dr. Spiegleman somewhere on the premises?† â€Å"Could be,† the young person says. â€Å"How'm I supposed to know? Dr. Spiegleman doesn't tell me everything he does.† Jack points to the telephone at the end of the counter. â€Å"I don't expect you to know, I expect you to find out. Get on that phone now.† The young man slouches down the counter to the telephone, rolls his eyes, punches two numbered keys, and leans against the counter with his back to the room. Jack hears him muttering about Spiegleman, sigh, then say, â€Å"All right, transfer me, whatever.† Transferred, he mutters something that includes Jack's name. Whatever he hears in response causes him to jerk himself upright and sneak a wide-eyed look over his shoulder at Jack. â€Å"Yes, sir. He's here now, yes. I'll tell him.† He replaces the receiver. â€Å"Dr. Spiegleman'll be here right away.† The boy he is no more than twenty steps back and shoves his hands in his pockets. â€Å"You're that cop, huh?† â€Å"What cop?† Jack says, still irritated. â€Å"The one from California that came here and arrested Mr. Kinderling.† â€Å"Yes, that's me.† â€Å"I'm from French Landing, and boy, that was some shock. To the whole town. Nobody would have guessed. Mr. Kinderling? Are you kidding? You'd never believe that someone like that would . . . you know, kill people.† â€Å"Did you know him?† â€Å"Well, in a town like French Landing, everybody sort of knows everybody, but I didn't really know Mr. Kinderling, except to say hi. The one I knew was his wife. She used to be my Sunday school teacher at Mount Hebron Lutheran.† Jack cannot help it; he laughs at the incongruity of the murderer's wife teaching Sunday school classes. The memory of Wanda Kinderling radiating hatred at him during her husband's sentencing stops his laughter, but it is too late. He sees that he has offended the young man. â€Å"What was she like?† he asks. â€Å"As a teacher.† â€Å"Just a teacher,† the boy says. His voice is uninflected, resentful. â€Å"She made us memorize all the books of the Bible.† He turns away and mutters, â€Å"Some people think he didn't do it.† â€Å"What did you say?† The boy half-turns toward Jack but looks at the brown wall in front of him. â€Å"I said, Some people think he didn't do it. Mr. Kinderling. They think he got put in jail because he was a small-town guy who didn't know anybody out there.† â€Å"That's too bad,† Jack says. â€Å"Do you want to know the real reason Mr. Kinderling went to prison?† The boy turns the rest of the way and looks at Jack. â€Å"Because he was guilty of murder, and he confessed. That's it, that's all. Two witnesses put him at the scene, and two other people saw him on a plane to L.A. when he told everyone he was flying to Denver. After that, he said, Okay, I did it. I always wanted to know what it was like to kill a girl, and one day I couldn't stand it anymore, so I went out and killed two whores. His lawyer tried to get him off on an insanity plea, but the jury at his hearing found him sane, and he went to prison.† The boy lowers his head and mumbles something. â€Å"I couldn't hear that,† Jack says. â€Å"Lots of ways to make a guy confess.† The boy repeats the sentence just loud enough to be heard. Then footsteps ring in the hallway, and a plump, white-coated man with steel-rimmed glasses and a goatee comes striding toward Jack with his hand out. The boy has turned away. The opportunity to convince the attendant that he did not beat a confession out of Thornberg Kinderling has slipped away. The smiling man with the white jacket and the goatee seizes Jack's hand, introduces himself as Dr. Spiegleman, and declares it a pleasure to meet such a famous personage. (Personage, persiflage, Jack thinks.) From one step behind the doctor, a man unnoticed until this moment steps fully into view and says, â€Å"Hey, Doctor, do you know what would be perfect? If Mr. Famous and I interview the lady together. Twice the information in half the time perfect.† Jack's stomach turns sour. Wendell Green has joined the party. After greeting the doctor, Jack turns to the other man. â€Å"What are you doing here, Wendell? You promised Fred Marshall you'd stay away from his wife.† Wendell Green holds up his hands and dances back on the balls of his feet. â€Å"Are we calmer today, Lieutenant Sawyer? Not inclined to use a sucker punch on the hardworking press, are we? I have to say, I'm getting a little tired of being assaulted by the police.† Dr. Spiegleman frowns at him. â€Å"What are you saying, Mr. Green?† â€Å"Yesterday, before that cop knocked me out with his flashlight, Lieutenant Sawyer here punched me in the stomach for no real reason at all. It's a good thing I'm a reasonable man, or I'd have filed lawsuits already. But, Doctor, you know what? I don't do things that way. I believe everything works out better if we cooperate with each other.† Halfway through this self-serving speech, Jack thinks, Oh hell, and glances at the young attendant. The boy's eyes burn with loathing. A lost cause: now Jack will never persuade the boy that he did not mistreat Kinderling. By the time Wendell Green finishes congratulating himself, Jack has had a bellyful of his specious, smarmy affability. â€Å"Mr. Green offered to give me a percentage of his take, if I let him sell photographs of Irma Freneau's corpse,† he tells the doctor. â€Å"What he is asking now is equally unthinkable. Mr. Marshall urged me to come here and see his wife, and he made Mr. Green promise not to come.† â€Å"Technically, that may be true,† Green says. â€Å"As an experienced journalist, I know that people often say things they don't mean and will eventually regret. Fred Marshall understands that his wife's story is going to come out sooner or later.† â€Å"Does he?† â€Å"Especially in the light of the Fisherman's latest communication,† Green says. â€Å"This tape proves that Tyler Marshall is his fourth victim, and that, miraculously, he is still alive. How long do you think that can be kept from the public? And wouldn't you agree that the boy's mother should be able to explain the situation in her own words?† â€Å"I refuse to be badgered like this.† The doctor scowls at Green and gives Jack a look of warning. â€Å"Mr. Green, I am very close to ordering you out of this hospital. I wish to discuss several matters with Lieutenant Sawyer, in private. If you and the lieutenant can work out some agreement between the two of you, that is your affair. I am certainly not going to permit a joint interview with my patient. I am in no way certain that she should talk to Lieutenant Sawyer, either. She is calmer than she was this morning, but she is still fragile.† â€Å"The best way to deal with her problem is to let her express herself,† Green says. â€Å"You will be quiet now, Mr. Green,† Dr. Spiegleman says. The double chins that fold under his goatee turn a warm pink. He glares at Jack. â€Å"What specifically is it that you request, Lieutenant?† â€Å"Do you have an office in this hospital, Doctor?† â€Å"I do.† â€Å"Ideally, I'd like to spend about half an hour, maybe less, talking to Mrs. Marshall in a safe, quiet environment where our conversation would be completely confidential. Your office would probably be perfect. There are too many people on the ward, and you can't talk without being interrupted or having other patients listen in.† â€Å"My office,† Spiegleman says. â€Å"If you're willing.† â€Å"Come with me,† the doctor says. â€Å"Mr. Green, you will please stand back next to the counter while Lieutenant Sawyer and I step into the hallway.† â€Å"Anything you say.† Green executes a mocking bow and moves lightly, with a suggestion of dance steps, to the counter. â€Å"In your absence, I'm sure this handsome young man and I will find something to talk about.† Smiling, Wendell Green props his elbows on the counter and watches Jack and Dr. Spiegleman leave the room. Their footsteps click against the floor tiles until it sounds as though they have gone more than halfway down the corridor. Then there is silence. Still smiling, Wendell about-faces and finds the attendant openly staring at him. â€Å"I read you all the time,† the boy says. â€Å"You write real good.† Wendell's smile becomes beatific. â€Å"Handsome and intelligent. What a stunning combination. Tell me your name.† â€Å"Ethan Evans.† â€Å"Ethan, we do not have much time here, so let's make this snappy. Do you think responsible members of the press should have access to information the public needs?† â€Å"You bet.† â€Å"And wouldn't you agree that an informed press is one of our best weapons against monsters like the Fisherman?† A single, vertical wrinkle appears between Ethan Evans's eyebrows. â€Å"Weapons?† â€Å"Let me put it this way. Isn't it true that the more we know about the Fisherman, the better chance we have of stopping him?† The boy nods, and the wrinkle disappears. â€Å"Tell me, do you think the doctor is going to let Sawyer use his office?† â€Å"Prob'ly, yeah,† Evans says. â€Å"But I don't like the way that Sawyer guy works. He's a police brutality. Like when they hit people to make them confess. That's brutality.† â€Å"I have another question for you. Two questions, really. Is there a closet in Dr. Spiegleman's office? And is there some way you could take me there without going through that corridor?† â€Å"Oh.† Evans's dim eyes momentarily shine with understanding. â€Å"You want to listen.† â€Å"Listen and record.† Wendell Green taps the pocket that contains his cassette recorder. â€Å"For the good of the public at large, God bless 'em one and all.† â€Å"Well, maybe, yeah,† the boy says. â€Å"But Dr. Spiegleman, he . . .† A twenty-dollar bill has magically appeared folded around the second finger of Wendell Green's right hand. â€Å"Act fast, and Dr. Spiegleman will never know a thing. Right, Ethan?† Ethan Evans snatches the bill from Wendell's hand and motions him back behind the counter, where he opens a door and says, â€Å"Come on, hurry.† Low lights burn at both ends of the dark corridor. Dr. Spiegleman says, â€Å"I gather that my patient's husband told you about the tape she received this morning.† â€Å"He did. How did it get here, do you know?† â€Å"Believe me, Lieutenant, after I saw the effect that tape had on Mrs. Marshall and listened to it myself, I tried to learn how it reached my patient. All of our mail goes through the hospital's mailroom before being delivered, all of it, whether to patients, medical staff, or administrative offices. From there, a couple of volunteers deliver it to the addressees. I gather that the package containing the tape was in the hospital mailroom when a volunteer looked in there this morning. Because the package was addressed only with my patient's name, the volunteer went to our general information office. One of the girls brought it up.† â€Å"Shouldn't someone have consulted you before giving the tape and a cassette player to Judy?† â€Å"Of course. Nurse Bond would have done so immediately, but she is not on duty today. Nurse Rack, who is on duty, assumed that the address referred to a childhood nickname and thought that one of Mrs. Marshall's old friends had sent her some music to cheer her up. And there is a cassette player in the nurses' station, so she put the tape in the player and gave it to Mrs. Marshall.† In the gloom of the corridor, the doctor's eyes take on a sardonic glint. â€Å"Then, as you might imagine, all hell broke loose. Mrs. Marshall reverted to the condition in which she was first hospitalized, which takes in a range of alarming behaviors. Fortunately, I happened to be in the hospital, and when I heard what had happened, I ordered her sedated and placed in a secure room. A secure room, Lieutenant, has padded walls Mrs. Marshall had reopened the wounds to her fingers, and I did not want her to do any more damage to herself. Once the sedative had taken effect, I went in and talked to her. I listened to the tape. Perhaps I should have called the police immediately, but my first responsibility is to my patient, and I called Mr. Marshall instead.† â€Å"From where?† â€Å"From the secure room, with my cell phone. Mr. Marshall of course insisted on speaking to his wife, and she wanted to speak to him. She became very distraught during their conversation, and I had to give her another mild sedative. When she calmed down, I went out of the room and called Mr. Marshall again, to tell him more specifically about the contents of the tape. Do you want to hear it?† â€Å"Not now, Doctor, thanks. But I do want to ask you about one aspect of it.† â€Å"Then ask.† â€Å"Fred Marshall tried to imitate the way you had reproduced the accent of the man who made the tape. Did it sound like any recognizable accent to you? German, maybe?† â€Å"I've been thinking about that. It was sort of like a Germanic pronunciation of English, but not really. If it sounded like anything recognizable, it was English spoken by a Frenchman trying to put on a German accent, if that makes sense to you. But really, I've never heard anything like it.† From the start of this conversation, Dr. Spiegleman has been measuring Jack, assessing him according to standards Jack cannot even begin to guess. His expression remains as neutral and impersonal as that of a traffic cop. â€Å"Mr. Marshall informed me that he intended to call you. It seems that you and Mrs. Marshall have formed a rather extraordinary bond. She respects your skill at what you do, which is to be expected, but she also seems to trust you. Mr. Marshall asks that you be allowed to interview his wife, and his wife tells me that she must talk to you.† â€Å"Then you should have no problems with letting me see her in private for half an hour.† Dr. Spiegleman's smile is gone as soon as it appears. â€Å"My patient and her husband have demonstrated their trust in you, Lieutenant Sawyer, but that is not the issue. The issue is whether or not I can trust you.† â€Å"Trust me to do what?† â€Å"A number of things. Primarily, to act in the best interest of my patient. To refrain from unduly distressing her, also from giving her false hopes. My patient has developed a number of delusions centered on the existence of another world somehow contiguous to ours. She thinks her son is being held captive in this other world. I must tell you, Lieutenant, that both my patient and her husband believe you are familiar with this fantasy-world that is, my patient accepts this belief wholly, and her husband accepts it only provisionally, on the grounds that it comforts his wife.† â€Å"I understand that.† There is only one thing Jack can tell the doctor now, and he says it. â€Å"And what you should understand is that in all of my conversations with the Marshalls, I have been acting in my unofficial capacity as a consultant to the French Landing Police Department and its chief, Dale Gilbertson.† â€Å"Your unofficial capacity.† â€Å"Chief Gilbertson has been asking me to advise him on his conduct of the Fisherman investigation, and two days ago, after the disappearance of Tyler Marshall, I finally agreed to do what I could. I have no official status whatsoever. I'm just giving the chief and his officers the benefit of my experience.† â€Å"Let me get this straight, Lieutenant. You have been misleading the Marshalls as to your familiarity with Mrs. Marshall's delusional fantasy-world?† â€Å"I'll answer you this way, Doctor. We know from the tape that the Fisherman really is holding Tyler Marshall captive. We could say that he is no longer in this world, but in the Fisherman's.† Dr. Spiegleman raises his eyebrows. â€Å"Do you think this monster inhabits the same universe that we do?† asks Jack. â€Å"I don't, and neither do you. The Fisherman lives in a world all his own, one that operates according to fantastically detailed rules he has made up or invented over the years. With all due respect, my experience has made me far more familiar with structures like this than the Marshalls, the police, and, unless you have done a great deal of work with psychopathic criminals, even you. I'm sorry if that sounds arrogant, because I don't mean it that way.† â€Å"You're talking about profiling? Something like that?† â€Å"Years ago, I was invited into a special VICAP profiling unit run by the FBI, and I learned a lot there, but what I'm talking about now goes beyond profiling.† And that's the understatement of the year, Jack says to himself. Now it's in your court, Doctor. Spiegleman nods, slowly. The distant glow flashes in the lenses of his glasses. â€Å"I think I see, yes.† He ponders. He sighs, crosses his arms over his chest, and ponders some more. Then he raises his eyes to Jack's. â€Å"All right. I'll let you see her. Alone. In my office. For thirty minutes. I wouldn't want to stand in the way of advanced investigative procedure.† â€Å"Thank you,† Jack says. â€Å"This will be extremely helpful, I promise you.† â€Å"I have been a psychiatrist too long to believe in promises like that, Lieutenant Sawyer, but I hope you succeed in rescuing Tyler Marshall. Let me take you to my office. You can wait there while I get my patient and bring her there by another hallway. It's a little quicker.† Dr. Spiegleman marches to the end of the dark corridor and turns left, then left again, pulls a fat ball of keys from his pocket, and opens an unmarked door. Jack follows him into a room that looks as though it had been created by combining two small offices into one. Half of the room is taken up by a long wooden desk, a chair, a glass-topped coffee table stacked with journals, and filing cabinets; the other half is dominated by a couch and the leather recliner placed at its head. Georgia O'Keeffe posters decorate the walls. Behind the desk stands a door Jack assumes opens into a small closet; the door directly opposite, behind the recliner and at the midpoint between the two halves of the office, looks as though it leads into an adjoining room. â€Å"As you see,† Dr. Spiegleman says, â€Å"I use this space as both an office and a supplementary consulting room. Most of my patients come in through the waiting room, and I'll bring Mrs. Marshall in that way. Give me two or three minutes.† Jack thanks him, and the doctor hurries out through the door to the waiting room. In the little closet, Wendell Green slides his cassette recorder from the pocket of his jacket and presses both it and his ear to the door. His thumb rests on the RECORD button, and his heart is racing. Once again, western Wisconsin's most distinguished journalist is doing his duty for the man in the street. Too bad it's so blasted dark in that closet, but being stuffed into a black hole is not the first sacrifice Wendell has made for his sacred calling; besides, all he really needs to see is the little red light on his tape recorder. Then, a surprise: although Doctor Spiegleman has left the room, here is his voice, asking for Lieutenant Sawyer. How did that Freudian quack get back in without opening or closing a door, and what happened to Judy Marshall? Lieutenant Sawyer, I must speak to you. Pick up the receiver. You have a call, and it sounds urgent. Of course he is on the intercom. Who can be calling Jack Sawyer, and why the urgency? Wendell hopes that Golden Boy will push the telephone's SPEAKER button, but alas Golden Boy does not, and Wendell must be content with hearing only one side of the conversation. â€Å"A call?† Jack says. â€Å"Who's it from?† â€Å"He refused to identify himself,† the doctor says. â€Å"Someone you told you'd be visiting Ward D.† Beezer, with news of Black House. â€Å"How do I take the call?† â€Å"Just punch the flashing button,† the doctor says. â€Å"Line one. I'll bring in Mrs. Marshall when I see you're off the line.† Jack hits the button and says, â€Å"Jack Sawyer.† â€Å"Thank God,† says Beezer St. Pierre's honey-and-tobacco voice. â€Å"Hey man, you gotta get over to my place, the sooner the better. Everything got messed up.† â€Å"Did you find it?† â€Å"Oh yeah, we found Black House, all right. It didn't exactly welcome us. That place wants to stay hidden, and it lets you know. Some of the guys are hurting. Most of us will be okay, but Mouse, I don't know. He got something terrible from a dog bite, if it was a dog, which I doubt. Doc did what he could, but Hell, the guy is out of his mind, and he won't let us take him to the hospital.† â€Å"Beezer, why don't you take him anyway, if that's what he needs?† â€Å"We don't do things that way. Mouse hasn't stepped inside a hospital since his old man croaked in one. He's twice as scared of hospitals as of what's happening to his leg. If we took him to La Riviere General, he'd probably drop dead in the E.R.† â€Å"And if he didn't, he'd never forgive you.† â€Å"You got it. How soon can you be here?† â€Å"I still have to see the woman I told you about. Maybe an hour not much longer than that, anyhow.† â€Å"Didn't you hear me? Mouse is dying on us. We got a whole lot of things to say to each other.† â€Å"I agree,† Jack says. â€Å"Work with me on this, Beez.† He hangs up, turns to the door near the consulting-room chair, and waits for his world to change. What the hell was that all about? Wendell wonders. He has squandered two minutes' worth of tape on a conversation between Jack Sawyer and the dumb SOB who spoiled the film that should have paid for a nice car and a fancy house on a bluff above the river, and all he got was worthless crap. Wendell deserves the nice car and the fancy house, has earned them thrice over, and his sense of deprivation makes him seethe with resentment. Golden Boys get everything handed to them on diamond-studded salvers, people fall all over themselves to give them stuff they don't even need, but a legendary, selfless working stiff and gentleman of the press like Wendell Green? It costs Wendell Green twenty bucks to hide in a dark, crowded little closet just to do his job! His ears tingle when he hears the door open. The red light burns, the faithful recorder passes the ready tape from spool to spool, and whatever happens now is going to change everything: Wendell's gut, that infallible organ, his best friend, warms with the assurance that justice will soon be his. Dr. Spiegleman's voice filters through the closet door and registers on the spooling tape: â€Å"I'll leave you two alone now.† Golden Boy: â€Å"Thank you, Doctor. I'm very grateful.† Dr. Spiegleman: â€Å"Thirty minutes, right? That means I'll be back at, umm, ten past two.† Golden Boy: â€Å"Fine.† The soft closing of the door, the click of the latch. Then long seconds of silence. Why aren't they talking to each other? But of course . . . the question answers itself. They're waiting for fat-ass Spiegleman to move out of hearing range. Oh, this is just delicious, that's what this is! The whisper of Golden Boy's footsteps moving toward that door all but confirms the sterling reporter's intuition. O gut of Wendell Green, O Instrument Marvelous and Trustworthy, once more you come through with the journalistic goods! Wendell hears, the machine records, the inevitable next sound: the click of the lock. Judy Marshall: â€Å"Don't forget the door behind you.† Golden Boy: â€Å"How are you?† Judy Marshall: â€Å"Much, much better, now that you're here. The door, Jack.† Another set of footsteps, another unmistakable sliding into place of a metal bolt. Soon-To-Be-Ruined Boy: â€Å"I've been thinking about you all day. I've been thinking about this.† The Harlot, the Whore, the Slut: â€Å"Is half an hour long enough?† Him With Foot In Bear Trap: â€Å"If it isn't, he'll just have to bang on the doors.† Wendell barely restrains himself from crowing with delight. These two people are actually going to have sex together, they are going to rip off their clothes and have at it like animals. Man, talk about your pay-backs! When Wendell Green is done with him, Jack Sawyer's reputation will be lower than the Fisherman's. Judy's eyes look tired, her hair is limp, and her fingertips wear the startling white of fresh gauze, but besides registering the depth of her feeling, her face glows with the clear, hard-won beauty of the imaginative strength she called upon to earn what she has seen. To Jack, Judy Marshall looks like a queen falsely imprisoned. Instead of disguising her innate nobility of spirit, the hospital gown and the faded nightdress make it all the more apparent. Jack takes his eyes from her long enough to lock the second door, then takes a step toward her. He sees that he cannot tell her anything she does not already know. Judy completes the movement he has begun; she moves before him and holds out her hands to be grasped. â€Å"I've been thinking about you all day,† he says, taking her hands. â€Å"I've been thinking about this.† Her response takes in everything she has come to see, everything they must do. â€Å"Is half an hour long enough?† â€Å"If it isn't, he'll just have to bang on the doors.† They smile; she increases the pressure on his hands. â€Å"Then let him bang.† With the smallest, slightest tug, she pulls him forward, and Jack's heart pounds with the expectation of an embrace. What she does is far more extraordinary than a mere embrace: she lowers her head and, with two light, dry brushes of her lips, kisses his hands. Then she presses the back of his right hand against her cheek, and steps back. Her eyes kindle. â€Å"You know about the tape.† He nods. â€Å"I went mad when I heard it, but sending it to me was a mistake. He pushed me too hard. Because I fell right back into being that child who listened to another child whispering through a wall. I went crazy and I tried to rip the wall apart. I heard my son screaming for my help. And he was there on the other side of the wall. Where you have to go.† â€Å"Where we have to go.† â€Å"Where we have to go. Yes. But I can't get through the wall, and you can. So you have work to do, the most important work there could be. You have to find Ty, and you have to stop the abbalah. I don't know what that is, exactly, but stopping it is your job. Am I saying this right: you are a coppiceman?† â€Å"You're saying it right,† Jack says. â€Å"I am a coppiceman. That's why it's my job.† â€Å"Then this is right, too. You have to get rid of Gorg and his master, Mr. Munshun. That's not what his name really is, but it's what it sounds like: Mr. Munshun. When I went mad, and I tried to rip through the world, she told me, and she could whisper straight into my ear. I was so close!† What does Wendell Green, ear and whirling tape recorder pressed to the door, make of this conversation? It is hardly what he expected to hear: the animal grunts and moans of desire busily being satisfied. Wendell Green grinds his teeth, he stretches his face into a grimace of frustration. â€Å"I love that you've let yourself see,† says Jack. â€Å"You're an amazing human being. There isn't a person in a thousand who could even understand what that means, much less do it.† â€Å"You talk too much,† Judy says. â€Å"I mean, I love you.† â€Å"In your way, you love me. But you know what? Just by coming here, you made me more than I was. There's this sort of beam that comes out of you, and I just locked on to that beam. Jack, you lived there, and all I could do was peek at it for a little while. That's enough, though. I'm satisfied. You and Ward D, you let me travel.† â€Å"What you have inside you lets you travel.† â€Å"Okay, three cheers for a well-examined spell of craziness. Now it's time. You have to be a coppiceman. I can only come halfway, but you'll need all your strength.† â€Å"I think your strength is going to surprise you.† â€Å"Take my hands and do it, Jack. Go over. She's waiting, and I have to give you to her. You know her name, don't you?† He opens his mouth, but cannot speak. A force that seems to come from the center of the earth surges into his body, rolling electricity through his bloodstream, tightening his scalp, sealing his trembling fingers to Judy Marshall's, which also tremble. A feeling of tremendous lightness and mobility gathers within all the hollow spaces of his body; at the same time he has never been so aware of his body's obduracy, its resistance to flight. When they leave, he thinks, it'll be like a rocket launch. The floor seems to vibrate beneath his feet. He manages to look down the length of his arms to Judy Marshall, who leans back with her head parallel to the shaking floor, eyes closed, smiling in a trance of accomplishment. A band of shivery white light surrounds her. Her beautiful knees, her legs shining beneath the hem of the old blue garment, her bare feet planted. That light shivers around him, too. All of this comes from her, Jack thinks, and from A rushing sound fills the air, and the Georgia O'Keeffe prints fly off the walls. The low couch dances away from the wall; papers swirl up from the jittering desk. A skinny halogen lamp crashes to the ground. All through the hospital, on every floor, in every room and ward, beds vibrate, television sets go black, instruments rattle in their rattling trays, lights flicker. Toys drop from the gift-shop shelves, and the tall lilies skid across the marble in their vases. On the fifth floor, light bulbs detonate into showers of golden sparks. The hurricane noise builds, builds, and with a great whooshing sound becomes a wide, white sheet of light, which immediately vanishes into a pinpoint and is gone. Gone, too, is Jack Sawyer; and gone from the closet is Wendell Green. Sucked into the Territories, blown out of one world and sucked into another, blasted and dragged, man, we're a hundred levels up from the simple, well-known flip. Jack is lying down, looking up at a ripped white sheet that flaps like a torn sail. A quarter of a second ago, he saw another white sheet, one made of pure light and not literal, like this one. The soft, fragrant air blesses him. At first, he is conscious only that his right hand is being held, then that an astonishing woman lies beside him. Judy Marshall. No, not Judy Marshall, whom he does love, in his way, but another astonishing woman, who once whispered to Judy through a wall of night and has lately drawn a great deal closer. He had been about to speak her name when Into his field of vision moves a lovely face both like and unlike Judy's. It was turned on the same lathe, baked in the same kiln, chiseled by the same besotted sculptor, but more delicately, with a lighter, more caressing touch. Jack cannot move for wonder. He is barely capable of breathing. This woman whose face is above him now, smiling down with a tender impatience, has never borne a child, never traveled beyond her native Territories, never flown in an airplane, driven a car, switched on a television, scooped ice ready-made from the freezer, or used a microwave: and she is radiant with spirit and inner grace. She is, he sees, lit from within. Humor, tenderness, compassion, intelligence, strength, glow in her eyes and speak from the curves of her mouth, from the very molding of her face. He knows her name, and her name is perfect for her. It seems to Jack that he has fallen in love with this woman in an instant, that he enlisted in her cause on the spot, and at last he finds he can speak her perfect name: Sophie.

Learn French La Bouffe

This French word -- pronounced boof -- is defined as food, grub, or a nosh. Examples Cest lheure de la bouffe - Its time to eatOn va organiser une grande bouffe - Were going to do a big spread Expressions: À la bouffe! - Come and eat! Dinners ready!; faire la bouffe - to get the food ready; se faire une bouffe - to meet up for a bite (to eat)(adj) lopà ©ra bouffe - comic opera Related: bouffer - to eat, nosh

The Grim Sleeper Serial Killer Case

For more than two decades, the Los Angeles Police Department worked to solve a series of 11 murders that occurred between 1985 and 2007 that were linked to the same suspect by DNA and ballistic evidence. Because the killer took an apparent 14-year hiatus between 1988 and 2002, the media dubbed him the Grim Sleeper. Here are the current developments in the trial of Lonnie Franklin Jr. Judge Blocks Defense DNA Evidence Nov. 9, 2015: A proposed witness for the defendant in the Los Angeles Grim Sleeper case is not qualified to testify as an expert, a judge has ruled. Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy said the testimony of a so-called DNA expert could not be used at the upcoming trial of Lonnie Franklin Jr. Lawrence Sowers was prepared to testify that some of the DNA found at the crime scenes of victims attributed to Franklin belonged to convicted serial killer Chester Turner instead. Judge Kennedy ruled that Sowers woefully failed to meet the generally accepted methods of the scientific community in the area of forensic DNA analysis. During a week-long evidentiary hearing, Sowers buckled under fierce cross-examination by Deputy District Attorney Marguerite Rizzo, who challenged him on his education, his calculations, and errors in his findings. When Sowers began to change his finding during the hearing, Franklins defense attorney Seymour Amster asked the judge to postpone the hearing. I do not feel comfortable, Amster told the judge, representing Mr. Franklin at this moment with Dr. Sowers on this case. An obviously frustrated Judge Kennedy denied the request. I’m not suspending this proceeding, Kennedy said. We have been in progress on it for days and days and days and days and days and we’re going to finish it. Franklin is scheduled to go on trial Dec. 15 on 11 counts of murder and other charges. Franklin Questions DNA Evidence May 1, 2015: An attorney for the accused serial killer known as the Grim Sleeper believes DNA evidence in the cases of two women his client is suspected of killing belongs to another serial killer already on death row. Seymour Amster, attorney for Lonnie Franklin Jr., told the court that an expert hired by the defense connected DNA from two of the cases to Chester Turner, who was convicted of killing 14 women in the Los Angeles area in the 1980s and 1990s. At a pretrial hearing, Amster told the judge that the defenses case will revolve around the DNA evidence. He said his experts finding will produce lingering doubt in the minds of the jurors. Prosecutor Beth Silverman called the defense DNA findings outlandish. She said Turners DNA has been in the system for years and if any of the DNA evidence in the Franklin case was Turners it would have produced a match a long time ago. This guys taking it [the DNA] and doing his own abracadabra, Silverman told reporters, and coming up with a conclusion that is outrageous. The defense had requested DNA profiles of everyone who committed a violent felony during the 1980s and 1990s. Judge Kathleen Kennedy denied the motion, calling it a fishing expedition. Grim Sleeper Trial Date Set Feb. 6, 2015: Nearly five years after a suspect was arrested in a series of Los Angeles murders known as the Grim Sleeper case, a trial date has finally been set. Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy said jury selection will begin June 30 in the murder trial of Lonnie Franklin Jr., who is accused of killing 10 women and one man from 1985 to 2007. The setting of the trial date came after members of the families of victims in the case spoke out in court demanding a speedy trial. The family members were able to do so under the provisions of a new California law, known as Marsys Law, which is a voter-approved bill of rights for victims of crime. The law allows family members to address the court and demand a speedy trial. Those who spoke during the hearing blamed Franklins attorney for the delay in justice, saying he has been dragging his feet. Prior to the passing of Marsys Law, it was up to the discretion of the judge if victims families were allowed to speak at court hearings, parole hearings, and sentencing. The prosecution also blamed the defense for the delays in the case. Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said Judge Kennedy has failed to hold the defense to deadlines. Franklins attorney, Seymour Amster, said it was the prosecution who was responsible for delays because they have not turned over evidence in the case for further DNA testing. Amster said a defense expert found DNA from another man and three of the Grim Sleeper crime scenes and wants to run tests on more pieces found at the scenes. There are rumors that Im trying to delay this thing, he said. Im really not. Im a strong proponent of do it once, do it right. Previous Developments 'Grim Sleeper' Evidence Legal, Judge Rules Jan. 8, 2014: DNA evidence that linked a former Los Angeles garbage collector to at least 16 murders was obtained legally, a California judge has ruled. Judge Kathleen Kennedy ruled that DNA from Lonnie Franklin Jr. could be used at his trial in what is known as the Grim Sleeper serial killer case. Death Penalty Sought for 'Grim Sleeper' Aug. 1, 2011: Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a California man accused of the serial killings of women in a case known as the Grim Sleeper murders. Lonnie Franklin Jr. is facing charges in the murder of 10 women and attempted murder of another. More Victims Linked to 'Grim Sleeper?' April 6, 2011: Investigators in Los Angeles believe the Grim Sleeper serial killer, already accused in 10 murders, may be responsible for eight additional deaths. Police are looking for the publics help in identifying three possible victims of Lonnie Franklin Jr. from photos they found hidden at his home. Grim Sleeper Pictures Provide Few Clues Dec. 27, 2010: Suspecting more victims in the Grim Sleeper serial killer case, the Los Angeles Police Department released to the public 160 photographs of women found in the possession of the main suspect, Lonnie David Franklin Jr. Although many of them have been identified, none have turned out to be victims. 'Grim Sleeper' Suspect Pleads Not Guilty Aug. 24, 2010: The man accused of killing ten women in South Los Angeles in the Grim Sleeper case has entered a not guilty plea to 10 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Lonnie Franklin Jr. also faces special circumstance charges making him eligible for the death penalty in California. Arrest Made in 'Grim Sleeper' Serial Killer Case July 7, 2010: Using DNA from his son to identify him as a suspect, the Los Angeles Police Department has arrested a man suspected in 11 serial killings going back to 1985. Lonnie Franklin Jr., who once worked as a police garage attendant, was charged with 10 counts of murder, one count of attempted murder with special circumstances of multiple murders. Police Release Sketch of 'Grim Sleeper' Nov. 24, 2009: The Los Angeles Police Department has released a sketch of a man they suspect in at least 11 deaths since the 1980s in hopes of tracking down the serial killer. The suspect is known only as the Grim Sleeper due to the fact that he apparently took a 14-year hiatus. Reward Set for 'Grim Sleeper' Serial Killer Sept. 5, 2008: Los Angeles detectives hope a $500,000 reward set by the city council last week will produce some new leads in the case of a serial killer they believe is responsible for 11 deaths over a two-decade period. All of the victims, 10 women and a man, were black and were found near South Los Angeles.

The Country Of Belgium An Ambitious King Of The Conquest...

In 1876, no more than 10 percent of Africa was under European rule, but by 1900 more than 90 percent was controlled by a European country. Belgium was about as strong as the three less dominant Western powers of Portugal, Italy, and Germany, but was able to manipulate people, prices, and circumstances to level itself with those major powers above it such as Britain and France, who worked together to draw out their own maps of the â€Å"dark continent† to prevent conflict in the midst of the conquest of Africa. Europeans had been travelling to and trading with this mysterious land for centuries, but had never attempted to conquer the area beyond the ivory and golden coasts until prompted by both great sins and great opportunities. While most†¦show more content†¦In the 1840’s, a British missionary and explorer named David Livingstone made the trek across the blank spaces intricately decorated on his map of Africa and thoroughly documented who and what he experie nced. Not only did he discuss the variety of life, but the variety of cruelties, as well. Particularly focusing on the Arab and African slave trades, Livingstone’s detailed account of his adventures became the hot topic of European conversation, as slavery had been banned in most of Europe by this time. In an underpopulated continent like Africa, a group’s population was what mattered and the leader’s influence was key. Because it was population that seemed to represent a group’s power, the slave trade was dominant and focused on the control of influence. The political leaders of the West though, specifically King Leopold II of Belgium, were attentive to the details regarding the natural and human resources this land offered. Because several different European countries all wanted to control much of Africa, European and US leaders met in Berlin, Germany in 1884 to decide the fate of the continent. These leaders were able to transform the rage of Europe into support of

Strategic Planning Focus and Cost Leadership

Question: Discuss about the Strategic Planningfor Focus and Cost Leadership. Answer: Strategic Planning In 1980, Michael Porter developed a model of basic approaches that has so far had an influence on current thinking in strategy formulation (Ries Trout, 1986). He is the first individual to highlight the significance of opting for and concentrating on one of the three main alternatives, namely differentiation, focus, and cost leadership. Cost leadership is all about an organization getting ahead of the competition by lowering their operational costs beneath those of its rivals. Here, the organization strives to find ways of reducing costs in their organization so that they can offer products at the least possible cost than their rivals (Allen, 1977). According to WCSs global head of consulting services, Kirk Strawser emphasized on the need for the organization to focus more on the companys cost leadership. By developing the WCS cost leadership, the organization would go very far in establishing its own identity, developing its own model for global delivery and committing resources to scale up. Because many customers prefer paying a lower price for their products and services, WCS can gain more audiences and become the cost leader in its industry (Abela, 2006). It might be argued that by lowering their costs, the organization will also lower the value of their products. This is not always true. Research has indicated that many organizations have so far had much victory fulfilling the responsibility as cost leaders while at the same time offering products that consumers desire and acknowledge. One of the main benefits that WCS could enjoy when employing leadership in developing its own model for global delivery is that once they are recognized as a cost leader, it will be hard for new companies to enter the industry and be aggressive (Abela Murphy, 2007). This is because they are more likely to be smaller and struggling to figure out lower operating costs and effectiveness. By engaging in cost leadership strategy, WCS will be seeking to bring together low per-unit profit with large scales to be profitable. A good illustration of an organization that has successfully implemented cost leadership is Wal-Mart, which has utilized this approach to grow into the largest organization globally. It is, therefore, important for WCS to take points from other successful organizations that have managed to use cost leadership to their advantage. Strategic Planning WCS was indeed focusing its strategy on branding and positioning, product differentiation from its rivals and competitors. Product differentiation simply refers to the creation of products that are unique, desirable, and different from its competitors. So far, WCS has concentrated on innovation in search of growth. Organizations that combine cost leadership and product differentiation, aim at luring potential customers (Porter, 1980). Employing cost leadership does not necessarily mean charging the minimum prices in the industry. It simply means charging low prices comparative to other organizations competing within the target market. Product differentiation, on the other hand, requires WCS offering special features that satisfy the demands of a narrow market (Ries Trout, 1986). Some firms use product differentiation by focusing their efforts on specific sales channels, such as selling over the Internet only, while others target specific demographic groups. WCS are considering the i mplementation of higher-level advisory services to complement their IPO services and world-class IT, to meet their customers demands. There has been much discussion in the recent past about the significance of a positioning strategy being a component of the marketing plan. Product positioning is commonly utilized as a marketing communications tool to reach potential customers in an already crowded marketplace (Allen, 1977). Businesses that do not have enough resources aim at establishing a position in the market by pursuing numerous positioning strategies. WCS is currently uniquely positioned to assist clients in laying out the plan for capital effectiveness, strategic cost reduction, and improvement of customer experience in transformation related programs (Abela, 2006). The most appropriate positioning strategies tend to put emphasis on a companys and products strengths, focusing less on weaknesses. WCS has so far taken the necessary steps to establish its position in the industry. The organization has managed to identify its rivals in its market, learn as much about the rivals as possible, and determined how it might establish a distinct position based on its individual marketing attributes. In turn, WCS is now focusing on strengthening and establishing a brand identity designed to affirm that position within its industry (Abela Murphy, 2007). It has also made an effort of influencing consumer perceptions based on price, distribution, product, and promotional components of the marketing mix. Branding requires ongoing efforts to pass on a consistent image to potential customers through all organizational activities, from product attributes to the organizations service. Strategic Planning A global delivery model refers to the most favorable set of processes, quality procedures, and end-to-end methodologies, with resources and high value skills available externally or internally (Porter, 1980). This allows an organization to make the most of the value of their solutions while minimizing the general cost and delivery time of their IT services. By reexamining its global delivery model, WCS was in a better position of driving down costs and hastening implementation of strategic initiatives, and able to compete victoriously in the global economy. The companys special client immediacy model providing for local resources to deliver the quick feedback and local accountability required for success is among its global delivery approach (Ries Trout, 1986). WCS aims at engaging with potential customers who do not have transactional history with the organization. Today, many marketers are experiencing difficult challenges while advocating for website and infrastructure across the world through one team. That is why it is important for companies such as WCS to maintain their websites optimally to ensure they are operational enough to offer better customer experience (Allen, 1977). WCS was reexamining the global delivery model because though it functions effectively with the IT sector, complications tend to arise with the marketing teams, especially when customer experience must be enhanced by the hour. It also took into consideration the various steps involved in employing an effective global delivery model. Defining the engagement model is the initial step which allows an organization to develop flexibility (Abela, 2006). It has proven to be quite successful given the right set of processes. Marketing in todays digital era requires integration with tools and competence in gathering information in addition to deriving insights. Reexamination of the global delivery model is quite significant in that it represents a global presence that enables WCS to react quickly to changing customer needs. Given the diverse workforce in many organizations global delivery model brings down cultural distinctions (Abela Murphy, 2007). To this effect, WCS is planning on hiring young bright MBA graduates from top Indian business schools, offer them training for a year as analysts in India by referring them to consulting teams, and alternate them worldwide on live meeting. Strategic Planning To be successful in their engagement with potential customers who have no transactional history with WCS, the organization needs to come up with a strategy for long term perspective business relationships. Research has indicated that victorious organizations tend to spend more time with their clientele beyond the initial buying transactions, providing worth and establishing commitment and alignment (Porter, 1980). Furthermore, customers acknowledge knowing that an organization expects to be held accountable for their victory once the sale is complete. Notably, a salespersons inability to conduct business the way his/her customers want can destroy long term relationships. One of the main reasons why customers always come back for more of an organizations products and/or services is because of their relationship with the organization. Aiming to be close to their customers is the key strategy for long term perspective business relationships for WCS. Superiority before, during and after a sale requires long term approach which in turn results in continuity, understanding and trust (Ries Trout, 1986). WCS needs to realize that when good service is experienced by its customers, they are more likely to conduct business with them again. Repeat business and referrals are a great way of enhancing an organizations reputation and establishing a positive image when customer anticipations for services are met. Therefore, soon after the initial delivery has been made, WCS sales team should call to find out their customers are experiencing any issues with their products. Not only will these customers see that the organization is honest in its approach, but will also make them feel safe in terms of utilizing its products and services. WCS should make an effort of continuously improving its business in terms of speed to market, reduced costs, flexibility, and customer satisfaction and value. References Abela, A. (2006). Marketing and consumerism. European Journal of Marketing, 40 (1/2). Pp. 5 16. Abela, A., Murphy, P. (2007). Marketing with integrity: Ethics and the service-dominant logic for marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 36(1). Pp. 39 53. Allen, T.J. (1977). Managing the flow of technology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Porter, M.E. (1980). Competitive advantage. New York: Free Press. Ries, A., Trout, J. (1986). Positioning: The battle for your mind. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Position paper on Lament for America by Earl Fry

America has being a super power for a long time after the fall of the Roman Empire. The country has not only been powerful economically, but also politically. However, a critical analysis of the issues that the country is facing especially in the current century indicates that its power is declining. In the book ‘Lament for America’ by Fry, the author clearly illustrates that the super power is on the decline.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Position paper on ‘Lament for America’ by Earl Fry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The situation has been caused by various factors such as the effects of globalization, problems and challenges within the borders of United States as well as the stiff competition arising from other countries and nations within the European region. The signs of decline have already been evident in the first decade of the twenty first century. As much as anyone may wa nt to be optimistic, there is no doubt that the issue of America as a super power will be history. With that background in mind, this paper strongly illustrates that it is true that America is on the decline as illustrated in the book ‘Lament for America’ by Earl H. Fry. As much as the challenges facing United States are from without, studies indicate that there are a lot of domestic problems which are affecting not only its capability to influence other nations but also the country’s ability to support its population and provide a better and comfortable life to the present and the future generation. The economic situation in United States is troubling bearing in mind that the country has always been recognized as a super power in the past. For instance, United States is leading in terms of the government debt. The United States’ public and private sector borrow seventy percent of the world’s savings. Although the private sector is growing tremendou sly, the huge government debt becomes a real obstacle to any type of development. Analysts project that the problem may become worse because during the last three decades, the government debt increased by twelve times. Although United States was the largest creditor after the First World War until 1980s, it is the largest debtor country currently. The citizens, corporations and well as the government have been living far beyond their means and that is why the external debt is on the increase[1].Advertising Looking for report on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The popularity and the importance of the United States dollar is a major contributory factor to the United States popularity. Dollar has been a major currency in the world for long time although Euro and Yean as well as the Swiss franc are replacing it. It is clear that currently, the United States dollar is the chief international currency since it accounts for about sixty percent of the central bank reserves. However, analysts project that in the next decade, the reserves will fall to less than fifty percent. Most the United State’s competitors like Brazil, China and Russia are in the forefront pushing for diversity in the monitory system. Due to such issues and increased government debt, it is clear that it is difficult for United States to remain as a super power. It is the duty of each nation to provide health care to all citizens irrespective of their economic status. As studies of Fry indicate, it is true that United States health care is almost the most costly system in the world and worse still, it lacks equity. Further studies explain that compared to other western countries in the world, United States spends twice as much on health care only. On the same note, it is important to point out that though America spends twice as much, many people in the country lack any medical cover, while those that are already covered lack f ull cover. Due to lack of medical cover, many Americans die every year after succumbing to various sicknesses. While most of the countries western regions spend around twelve percent of their Gross Domestic Product on health care, United States spends around seventeen percent. Families in United State spend more on healthcare more than on any other need. Health care costs have been increasing consistently and as a result, it is expected that the trend will continue in the future decades. Most of the private companies that are operating in United States have been evading provision of medical cover to their workers. In addition, some of the companies have been shifting their operations to other places where the health care is more affordable like Canada. In that case, it is clear that the situation in America will continue to become worse. It is easier to argue that the situation can improve but as the studies of Fry[2] illustrate, viable solutions would only have been applicable abou t two decades ago. Therefore, while focusing on the health care only, it is clear that United States is declining daily and the situation is becoming worse. Moreover, the viable solutions may not be of much help currently, or they may take quite some time before they are implemented.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Position paper on ‘Lament for America’ by Earl Fry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As highlighted in the introductory part and contrary to the views of the majority, America is poorly prepared to support its population especially them that are expected to retire in the current decade as well as in the subsequent decades. Studies indicate that a quarter of the population in the United States was born from the year 1946-1964[3]. The same studies illustrate that the same population is expected to retire in the current and in the following decades. The situation clearly illustrates that the obligations of the programs that are meant to take care of the retirees like the Medicare and Social Security will increase. Although the increased spending of the benefit programs like food stamp and health care are worsened by the economic recession and may reduce once the economic improves, spending by Medicare and Medicaid may not be affected positively. The problem is worsened by the high life expectancy, which ranges from 80 years for women and 75.4 for men. Initially, life expectancy was much lower but due to various reasons, it is on the increase. As a developed nation, America ought to be prepared to take care of the aging population. On the contrary, no program has been put in place cater for the same. Such a situation will continuously deplete the savings, a situation that will contribute to the decline of the country as a super power. Globalization has many benefits in many countries as it has in United States. However, disadvantages of the same are present in most coun tries of the world. To begin with, globalization leads to interdependence not only among states and countries but also among business corporations as well as among different societies. Due to that, domestic affairs are seriously affected by decisions that are made in foreign countries. For instance, United States depends so much on the petroleum products from other countries and the same has a great effect on its industries. In addition, globalization calls for increased international interaction between various countries. Such activities and engagements are serious disadvantages to a super power like United States. For instance, studies of Fry [4] indicate that the government debt of United States was doubled during the time of the George Bush administration. In the view of the fact that United States was actively involved in solving some of the international problems, the money spent on defense increased greatly[5].Advertising Looking for report on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Consequently, foreign countries like Japan and China hold more than half of the public debt after buying various instruments of debt like bonds and shares. Such situation is very dangerous to a super power like United States because the economic status is highly dependent on countries that buy the country’s government debt. The upcoming competitors like China and Japan are challenging the economic and the military power of United States. The economy of China is growing very fast and if the trend can continue for two decades, it can surpass the economy of United States. European Union, which has twenty-seven states, is also becoming stronger, politically and economically. In addition, there is a high possibility that Euro can replace the dollar. Countries like Japan and Brazil are also becoming stronger economically as well as countries from the South East Asia. If such countries can continue with such trend, they will get a voice in making of the international decisions and w ill eventually challenge the international standing of United States. The study has indicated that it is true that United States has been a super power for many years. However, as Fry [6] illustrates, there is a high possibility that the future generation will know a poorer nation and not an economic giant. This is because its economic and political power is on the decline. As much as anyone may want to disagree with the book ‘Lament for America’, reading through the text indicates that valid reasons are used to project the decline of the United States. A critical analysis of issues pertaining to globalization, competitors as well as domestic problems of United States indicates that the current trend is not promising at all. In the view of the fact that implementing changes is not only a long process but also a lengthy process, it is clear that the decline is inevitable. Works Cited Fry, Earl H. Lament for America: decline of the superpower, plan for renewal. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2010. Print. Paterson, Thomas, et al. American foreign relations: a history. Since 1895, Volume 2. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. Footnotes Paterson, Thomas, et al. American foreign relations: a history. Since 1895, Volume 2. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2009 pp. 181. Print. Fry, Earl H. Lament for America: decline of the superpower, plan for renewal. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2010 pp.26. Print. Fry, Earl H. Lament for America: decline of the superpower, plan for renewal. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2010 pp. 33. Print Fry, Earl H. Lament for America: decline of the superpower, plan for renewal. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2010 pp.28. Print Paterson, Thomas, et al. American foreign relations: a history. Since 1895, Volume 2. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2009 pp.. Print. Fry, Earl H. Lament for America: decline of the superpower, plan for renewal. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2010 pp.2. Print This report on Position paper on ‘Lament for America’ by Earl Fry was written and submitted by user A1mee to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.