Public Office And Private Lives Social Policy Essay Essay Example

Public Office And Private Lives Social Policy Essay Essay The development of the media and high velocity information exchange brings private lives of public functionaries to public treatment. Transgress moral boundaries may damage public functionaries calling, particularly elected 1s, badly. The turning attending to private lives among the population makes the subject more of import for the societal scientific disciplines. On one manus politicians use certain facets of their ideal private lives in their election runs in order to derive popularity, on the other manus they require the right for privateness in the things that will impact their lives negatively. Interestingly, the degree of public involvement in private life varies in modern democracies. While USA citizens are interested in every facets of public functionaries ( largely elected 1s ) , and seek to happen relationship between functionary s occupation public presentation with his private life, Grecian people seems to be less caring approximately private lives and prefer to co ncentrate on functionaries occupation public presentation merely. The intent of this paper is to explicate degree of public involvement for private lives of politicians, its grounds, affect on political relations the Greece and the USA relatively. In the first subdivision I will concentrate on the USA instance, in the 2nd on the Greece, in the 3rd subdivision I will give comparing of these two states. The concluding subdivision Privacy in USA We will write a custom essay sample on Public Office And Private Lives Social Policy Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Public Office And Private Lives Social Policy Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Public Office And Private Lives Social Policy Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In past three decennaries boundary lines between private and public life of public figures in USA became more unseeable ; their private lives are brought to public treatment more frequently. Privacy in general considered as freedom from unauthorised invasion: province of being allow entirely and able to maintain certain clairvoyance. personal affairs to oneself. ( Merriam-Webster s ) . Freedom from unauthorised invasion may include media, constabulary, and authorities and so on. Although to specify hat is public is non that easy. Harmonizing to Frederick Schauer in public issue single penchants is non indulged, including a penchant that information non to be disclosed ( Frederick Schauer 2000, 294 ) . In this instance voter s right to whether determination doing public functionary is suited for the occupation, and how his/her policies affect their lives. Having normal childhood, household, and friends seems index of good personality every bit good. Through the history there are s everal instances demoing that public leaders holding abused childhood, leaders who treated their households in opprobrious ways used similar policies in their occupation. For illustration Hitler s abused childhood caused catastrophe for the universe as Alise Millen said Hitler did non invent fascism ; he found it, like so many of his coevalss, prefigured in the totalitarian government of his household ( The Natural Child Project ) . Or another dictator, Joseph Stalin, besides had opprobrious childhood, jobs with his household. Stalins married woman Nadejda Alilulayeva married woman committed self-destruction in 1982 after he spoke her head about Communist Party purgings and the dearth and was met by a inundation of vulgar maltreatment from Stalin ( Nyu York Times, April 14, 1988 ) and another member of his household, his boy Joseph committed self-destruction in 1943. Today household images of politicians play really of import in their calling way and their successful matrimonies brings moral and softer image to them. Possibly its non coincidence that British Prime Minister Gordon Browns workaholic, lonely adult male changed before going premier curate. He is non mentioned as alone adult male but household adult male who loves his household. In USA state of affairs is non that much different than most of the universe, even politicians private lives are more open than other states. While most of the politicians complain about inadequacy of privateness in their private lives, they use their private lives as a agency of advertizement. Since USA presidential election of 1992 politicians started to publicise their private lives more and more. Public involvement for private life increasing, people prefer more entertaining plans, the American electorate are regarded as fed up with Washington politicians, elector want people who are nt political ( Newman, in Schauer 2003, 301, ) . Candidates private life dirts seemed really interesting subject for intelligence plans. Possibly Bill Clinton s adulterous relationship with Monica Lewinsky was one of the biggest dirts in USA history which was on headlines of newspapers for old ages. Although Clinton was elected for office for the 2nd clip after the dirt, some of higher ranked fun ctionaries, had to vacate after dirts, Randall L. Tobias, Deputy Secretary of State, resigned a twenty-four hours after corroborating his use of Washington bodyguard services. Although April 27, 2007 dated imperativeness release of the province section said that he was go forthing for personal grounds. New York governor Eliot Spitzer who besides accused holding adulterous matter with cocotte resigned from his station after dirt. Before his surrender he made a brief public visual aspect during which he apologized for his behaviour, and described it as a private affair. ( New York Times, March 10, 2008 ) . There might be several grounds for this addition, but likely the most of import two grounds which is lessening of involvement to existent political relations as mentioned above peoples being fed up with Washington politicians ( Schauer 2003, 301 ) and media which ever tries to run into popular demand. In the last elections in USA campaigner Barack Obama s race, household, faith was discussed and much as his election platform. Today media is considered as one of most net income conveying countries in the universe. In the competitory market companies are working to maximise their net incomes at any monetary value. American media is called as freest and most commercial media in the universe by Heather Savigny ( 2004, 225 ) . Privacy in Greece Discussions about privateness and public life are non something new for Greece. In ancient Greece private lives and public were separated from each others, private life was called oikos and public life was called as dimos. In Platos Republic Plato and Socrates discuss privateness issue. After reexamining Grecian newspapers headlines in last 25 old ages one might thing that Greeks might look non to be interested in oikos of politicians after over than 2000 old ages from Socrates times or Hellenics are non interested in political relations at all or holding politicians who has really ideal life without any dirts, so that there are merely two good known publicized high ranked public functionaries dirts. Both of these dirts have really similar characteristic. In the first instance Andreas Papandreou, while having infirmary intervention in London, was accompanied by a former air hostess, Ms. Dimitra Liani instead than with his married woman, even friendly imperativeness gave the fact widespread promotion. Subsequently, he was invariably seen with Ms. Liani, most noteworthy on his return to Greece from London, In Autumn 1988 and at the EC Summit in Rhodes in December of that twelvemonth. ( Georgia Chondreleou 2004,5, ) However this instance was non revealed by journalists or person else but Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou himself let rumours to be spread. Grecian premier curates confident action besides indicates that he is non that much concerned about reviews and media force per unit area. Indeed this instance was non discussed in the media that much, so that his wellness and subsequently on corruptness dirts overshadowed this instance. In the Second instance: Christos Zachopoulos, the former secretary general of the Grecian Culture Ministry and president of the Central Archaeological Council, jumped off the balcony of his fourth-floor place here [ December 20, 2007 ] after allegations that he was being blackmailed by his former office helper, with whom he had had an matter. Mr. Zachopoulos, 54, survived the autumn. ( New York Times December 20, 2007 ) This dirts besides mentioned as The juiciest sex dirt in modern Grecian memory ( Times Online January 9, 2008 ) Relatively with the first instance in the 2nd instance General Secretary of the Grecian civilization acquire more attending from the media. Possibly, the thing that forced General Secretary to vacate and try for the self-destruction was non merely related publication of his love matter in the media, but besides his being accused for corruptness. An Athens prosecuting officer [ was ] besides analyzing at least 10 of an estimated 200 instances in which Mr. Zachopoulos, in his capacity as the caput of the Central Archaeological Council, decreed that topographic points could be removed from the list of protected archeological sites. ( New York Times, January 19, 2008 ) . Having merely two politician private life dirt in Greece besides does nt intend that Grecian people are non interested in political relations. Politicss is still one of the most celebrated subjects in Grecian Coffee Shops. But it s besides known that population acquire information what media gives. Although there was freedom of address in media, since the beginning of the 1980s opinion parties ever had impact on TVs, so that most the TVs and large newspapers either belonged to the authorities or survived with the subsidies from the authorities. Even today from clip to clip Grecian authoritiess subsidise media. Possibly it is non happenstance that there is non that much review in media against authorities and high ranked functionaries except the instances which functionaries exposed them or the instances which is already related with some ethical issues. Comparison Even if this two states seems really similar in some points there differences in public attending to their life. However political dirts take topographic point merely in broad democracies because merely there is the separation of public from private domains fundamental to the political system ( Markovitsa nd Silverstei in Betty a. Dobratz and Whitfield, Stephanie 1992, 168 ) . Possibly the degree of the liberalisation and Greeks being under absolutism was besides one of the factors that affect degree of dirts. Plato s Republic abolishes the foundation of any private life for the defenders who the ideal state-eliminating the household and private belongings in order to make integrity in the province . Socrates considers the expostulation that defenders will non be happy if they have to give up pleasances of the private life. Such felicity he replies is mindless and infantile ; the defenders, after all, will bask a better and more honest life than other citizens. Anyhow, the purpose should be to do whole society good, non to do one subdivision of it happy, he besides argues that even if defenders will hold to give up their private lives, they will still bask a better honest life. ( Plato s Republic in Thompson 1987, 124 ) . If we compare USA and Greece with Plato and Socrates doctrine, Plato s theoretical account private and public life is really suited USA attack of privateness so that politicians seems to be all right giving up their privateness in order to enjoy a better honest life . However Greece politicians still can pull off to maintain their private lives from public. The chief difference in the instances of two states is that USA population will acquire more However media besides played important function in publicising the instances. Free and commercialised USA media seems is more likely to run into entertain popular demand of population that the media and imperativeness which is subsidized by authorities. Decision Its obvious that there are still will be a batch of arguments about public and private lives. As much state will acquire liberalized, achieve free media, Mentions: Frederics Schauer 2000, Can Public Figures have private lives? Social Philosophy and Policy, 17:299-306 Dennis F. Tomphson 1987, Political Etics and Public Office. Cabridge Mass. : Harvard University Press Georgia Chondroleou 2004, Public Images and Private Lives: the Grecian Experience Parliamentary Affairs Vol. 57 No. 1, 53-66 Heather Savigny 2004, The Media and the Personal Lifes of Politicians in the Unites States , Parliamentary Affairs Vol. 57 No. 1, 223-235 Betty A. Dobratz and Whitfield, Stephanie Sep. , 1992, Does Scandal Influence Voters Party Preference? The Case of Greece during the Papandreou Era European Sociological Review, Vol. 8, No. 2, 167-180 privateness. Dictionary.com. Merriam-Webster s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster, Inc. hypertext transfer protocol: //dictionary.reference.com/browse/privacy ( accessed: December 11, 2009 ) . hypertext transfer protocol: //dictionary.reference.com/browse/privacy ( accessed: December 05, 2009 ) hypertext transfer protocol: //www.naturalchild.org/alice_miller/adolf_hitler.html, last accessed December 10, 2009 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.nytimes.com/ hypertext transfer protocol: //timesonline.co.uk ( accessed December 10, 2009 )

Motivation Tips For Students

Motivation Tips For Students Do you need motivation for doing your homework? Sometimes we all need a little prodding when it comes to getting our work done. If you ever feel like homework is pointless, you may find inspiration in the following tips. The problems below have been submitted by real students. Get Perspective! You’ve probably heard the old saying â€Å"I’ll never use this knowledge in the real world.† It’s time to set the record straight once and for all- that saying is completely false! When you start feeling like homework is a drag, it might help to start thinking about the reason you’re doing homework in the first place. The work you do now really is important, even though it’s probably hard to see sometimes. In truth, your nightly homework is work that will form the foundation for your future. Right now you are probably being forced to study topics that don’t interest you at all. It may seem cruel and unfair now, but it’s really an important and necessary â€Å"evil.† Why? Because a strong foundation must include a good mix of ingredients. You see, you may not believe that you’ll need your algebra skills later in life, but algebra sets the stage for understanding principles of science, economics, and business. It’s the same for English homework. You’ll need those skills desperately in college, and you’ll certainly need them to succeed in the world. Get an Attitude! Are you a math whiz? A great writer? Are you artistic- or maybe good at solving puzzles? Most students have a special talent in one particular area, so they enjoy doing homework on that topic. The problem comes when they avoid doing the other stuff. Sound familiar? The good news is that you don’t need to love everything. Just pick one area you love and become the self-appointed expert in your school. Get a serious attitude! Think of yourself as the very best on that one topic, and then make it a reality. For inspiration, you can create a web site or perhaps a series of podcasts about your topic. Become a star! Once you become an expert in your field, you will gain confidence in yourself and become more tolerant of the topics you don’t enjoy so much. You’ll start thinking of all your least favorite topics as â€Å"supporting† actors in your quest for a career in the area you love. Get Competitive! This problem could be real or imagined. Either way, this problem is the best kind! If you have a competitive spirit, you can have a lot of fun with this one. If you think you’re at a disadvantage to other students, you can turn things around by getting a competitive attitude. Think of every project as a challenge and set out to do your assignment better than anybody else. Try to surprise everyone- including the teacher- by doing outstanding work. If you feel like you are part of a misfit crowd, then it might help to team up with a friend or two. Put your heads together and plot to outdo the popular crowd. You’ll find that this can be very inspiring! Get Your Eye on the Prize! If you get bored just thinking about homework, then you may need to focus on setting and reaching goals. For instance, if you are having trouble getting started on a big science project, then divide your project into steps. Then, reward yourself each time you finish a step successfully. Your first step could be library research. Set a timeline for visiting the library and completing your research. Think of a good way to reward yourself, like a frothy iced coffee drink or another favorite treat. Then focus on the prize and make it happen! Your parents will probably support you in this endeavor. Just ask! There are many variations to the â€Å"eye on the prize† system. You may want to create a dream box or a bulletin board with pictures of big prizes, like the college of your dreams. Fill the box or board with the objects of your dreams and make a habit of looking at them often. In other words, keep your eyes on those prizes! Get Support! It’s unfortunate but true that some students don’t receive much encouragement or support when it comes to school work. Some students don’t have any encouragement from family or don’t even have any family at all. But that doesn’t mean nobody cares. There are lots of people who care very much that you succeed in school. Just think about it- this web site wouldn’t exist if somebody didn’t want you to succeed. There are many people who care. People in your school have a big stake in your success. They are judged on your performance. If you don’t do well, they don’t do well. Adults from all walks of life are concerned about education and the plight of students just like you. The state of education is a big topic of discussion and debate among adults. If you feel like you don’t get support at home, then find an education forum and talk about it. You’ll find that there are lots of people who are interested and willing to cheer you on!

Advanced Financial Reporting and Regulation Essay - 1

Advanced Financial Reporting and Regulation - Essay Example The problem with this approach arises when the market for the asset becomes illiquid. This sets in the use of complex models that the company must come up with through the help of a specialist. These assets are grouped as Level three assets. During the financial crisis, there was a fall in the prices of mortgage and related securities. The result was illiquid markets for them and banks marked down their assets largely. This made banks have a great problem in meeting up their capital requirement. The critics claim that money could have helped solve the crisis that existed at that time. However, banks obtained cash through the sale of assets that further made a downward trend in the prices of assets. This led to an economic downturn and became a cycle. This is the main reason, critics of fair value accounting claim that it had a hand in the financial crisis that occurred. Most critics have distinguished mark- to-market accounting a mechanism through which fair accounting can contribute to the financial crisis. There is a link between bank regulation and fair value accounting when trying to evaluate how fair value accounting can lead to a crisis. Fair value depends on the market prices, which are not consistent and sometimes can deviate due to some reasons. The distorted prices can cause a bank to write down its assets to match the distorted prices. As a result, the regulatory capital of the bank would be depleted and it may force the bank to sell assets at lower prices. If the lower prices in the distressed bank become relevant to other banks, it can result to regulatory capital problems and write-downs even for sound banks (Laux and Leuz, 2009). Laux and Leuz (2009) found out that by the management paying attention to the company’s earnings might create the contagion problems. The management can sell their assets at relatively low prices that result to a contagion effect to the other banks. This makes other banks price their assets

Career management in business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Career management in business - Essay Example These consequently affect the performance of an organization. These contracts are in a moment of transition. In this way, organizational relationships are turning into transactional contracts. In transitional contract, security of assets is ensured by creating safe returns from uncertain returns. There are examples of these contracts which include intermediaries offer insurance to their customers. Others include commercial paper markets working together with intermediaries likened to money market mutual funds. These changes in relationships have interfered with labour market within organization. Understanding intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships in organizations affects the means through which career management can be understood. It will influence individual career management and organizational career management (Kase and Zupan, 2007, 16-17; Gorton and Pennachi, 1988, 1-3). According to Adekola (2011, p100), a career is a lifelong process that constitute of a pattern of unde rtakings and related perspectives or conducts that happen in the life of a person as long as they are working. It is also perceived as a sequence of experiences during work, such as work related decisions; job positions, duties, and work related events as interpreted subjectively by individuals, for example, values, aspirations, things hope for, needs and feelings work that prevail within the time an individual is working. The plan and execution of organizational processes that facilitate the careers to be intended and controlled in a way that satisfies completely both the what a person prefers as per their capabilities and they are also designed to meet requirement of an organization (Yahya, Othman and Meruda 2004, p75). With the changing nature of work, it has become important for individuals and organisations to manage their careers. This is because every individual is expected to produce results that are meeting the needs of the organization. The realisation that effective usage of skills and knowledge can cause a great improvement in performance has caused many people and organisations to device ways to manage human capital. Career management is a continuous process that involves preparation, development, implementation, and tracking career plans and means to achieve career goals. Career management can be done by an individual or by an organisation. Individual Career Management (ICM) is done personally and it involves data collection about how to solve emerging challenges of the work and plans to develop their career. In this kind of career management, a person is responsible for decision making affecting their career development (Dargham, 2011, p4). Organizational Career Management implies effort an organisation put to improve the quality of life of an individual who is an employee. It involves policies, activities and programmes that are put in place to ensure that an organisation or employers facilitate the development strategies and designs of their e mployees’ careers (Adekola, 2011, p102). Career management requires analysis of the changing trends of jobs and careers in the present time. Both the organization and individual should carry out an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses they have so that they can focus on development (GMP, Not dated, p1-3). In the past, organizations could ensure job security even with changing environment. In the current days because of the competitive nature of the external market,

Tono-Bungay by H.G. Wells Essay Example for Free

Tono-Bungay by H.G. Wells Essay Tono-Bungay narrates the story of George Ponderevo and how his childhood was developed at the Bladesover House and in other places that he went to after his experience at the said house. Chapter 1 showed his relationship with his mother and gave the readers a glimpse of his personality and what the thought of England and London. He also related how his mother went through her job and how she brought up the narrator as he was growing up. Chapter 2 then showed the narrator’s experience at the Bladesover House, particularly his cousin Nicodemus. George Ponderevo gave a critique of religion by depicting his cousin Nicodemus and his wife as a superstitious lot and how Nicodemus lost his spine and how he could not stand up to his wife.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After George’s experience at Bladesover House, his mother brought him to Wimblehurst where he became an apprentice to his uncle. During this time, his worldview developed by his stay at Bladesover House was being changed thanks to his uncle. In the end, however, George became disappointed with his uncle. He saw his uncle as somebody with big promises but with no capability in fulfilling them. The adventures of George continued as he became a student in London. He also witnessed the rise of Tono-Bungay and its money making schemes. As he went through school, he also learns about social norms and the difficulties of relating with the aristocracy. The narrator presents a criticism of the social norms and the lifestyles of the people in London. Yet, as he goes through his education, he also realizes how out of place he was and he thought of ways to improve his lot even with the repeated calls of people that he failed. Work Cited Well, H. G. Tono Bungay. New York: Kessinger Publishing, 2003.

Defining Grace :: Definition Grace Essays

Defining Grace The Dictionary of the Accademia della Crusca, dating from 16th century Italy, defines grace as "belleza... che rapisce altrui ad amore." Grace is beauty which seduces one unto love. Grace is the prayer before nourishment, it is the passing of power through blood, it is a classical muse, it is a verb, it is liberation, it is a head-ransom, it is a gazelle, it is simplicity, it is complexity, it is sanctifying, it is controversial, it is desired, it is metrical, it is ubiquitous, it is rare, it is actual. "Grace is in all, yet beyond all," quotes a medieval anchoress. According to Castiglione, grace springs from "that virtue opposite to affectation," as an unconscious extension of a certain je ne sais quoi within the soul. Grace is the nature of language, of number, of beat, of silence. Grace is pervasively elusive. Grace is fueled by its own roots in the Greek charis, with its shadows of liberality and courtesy forwarded to Latin rhetoric, as the tripartite gratia, functioning as attractiveness, favour, and gratitude. The word flushed the face of Europe in its own blushing migration from tongue to tongue, from Italian gratia to Portuguese graà §a to Spanish gracia to French grà ¢ce. Gliding from thought to pen to heritage, grace seeped over the Channel into Chaucer's father's smalltalk and a pair of listening ears waxed attentive. The patients of his Doctor's Tale questioned, "Goode fader shal I dye? Is ther no grace? is ther no remedye?" Grace is the ripping of change through the fabric of time, loosing the weave to weft in bright, unwashed strands of witty innovation. "Is not great grace to helpe him over past, Or free his feet that in the myre sticke fast?" beats the iambic pentameter of the Spenserian stanza in the Faerie Queene. Is it not grace that proved the continuance of its own exis tence, a linguistic parallel intertwining with the branches of biologic generations to produce the graciousness of freedom in both the fruits of the opposable thumb and the serpent's apple? A rugged, mottled bark of genealogy stretches gracefully into the blue sky of infinity. Grace, the present of the future, the gift of tomorrow, the cornerstone of the past, vaults us forward into the lives of our progeny and the evolution of our species. Born from the randomly graced confluence of organic chemicals in small pockets of lipid bilayers, life sparked and sputtered.

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 32~33

Thirty-two Catfish and Estelle â€Å"That was a good guitar,† Catfish said. He had his arms around Estelle, who had pressed her face to his chest when the monster attacked Winston Krauss. â€Å"I didn't realize,† Estelle said. â€Å"I didn't think it would do that.† Catfish stroked her hair. â€Å"That was a good car too. That car never broke.† Estelle pushed Catfish away and looked in his eyes. â€Å"You knew, didn't you?† â€Å"What I knew is that boy wanted to get up close to a sea monster and that's what he got. Case you didn't notice, he was happy when it happened.† â€Å"What now?† â€Å"I think we ought to get you home, girl. You got some paintings gonna come out of this.† â€Å"Home? Are you coming with me?† â€Å"I ain't got no car to go anywhere. I guess I am.† â€Å"You're going to stay? You're not afraid of losing the Blues and getting content?† Catfish grinned, and there was that gold tooth with the eighth note cut in it, glistening in the morning sunshine. â€Å"Dragon done ate my car, my guitar, my amp – girl, I got me enough Blues to last a good long time. I'm thinkin I'll write me some new songs while you makin your paintings.† â€Å"I'd like that,† Estelle said. â€Å"I'd like to paint the Blues.† â€Å"Long as you don't go cuttin your ear off like old Vincent. A man finds a one-eared woman stone unattractive.† Estelle pulled him tight. â€Å"I'll do my best.† â€Å"Course, there was a woman I knowed down Memphis way, name of Sally, had only one leg. Called her One Leg Sally†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I don't want to hear it.† â€Å"What you wanna hear?† â€Å"I want to hear the door closing behind us, the fire crackling in the stove, and the teakettle just coming to a whistle while my lovin man picks out ‘Walkin' Man's Blues' on a National steel guitar.† â€Å"You easy,† Catfish said. â€Å"I thought you liked that,† she said, and she took his spidery hand in hers and led him up over the bluff to find a ride home. Theo and Molly Theo had never felt quite so overwhelmed in his entire life. He sensed that the excitement and the danger of it all was over, but he still felt as if a beast every bit as intimidating as the one that had just sunk into the sea was looming over him. He didn't know if he had a job, or for that matter a home, since his cabin had been part of his pay. He didn't even have his bong collection and victory garden to crawl into. He was confused and horrified by what had just happened, but not relieved that it was over. He stood there, not ten feet from where Molly Michon was standing in the surf, and he had no idea what the rest of his life had to offer him. â€Å"Hey,† he called. â€Å"You okay?† He watched her nod without turning around. The waves were breaking in front of her and foam and sea-weed was splashing up over her thighs, yet she stood there solid, staring out to sea. â€Å"You going to be okay?† Without turning, she said, â€Å"I haven't been okay for years. Ask anybody.† â€Å"Matter of opinion. I think you're okay.† Now she looked over her shoulder at him, her hair in a tangle from the wind, tear tracks down her face. â€Å"Really?† â€Å"I'm a huge fan.† â€Å"You had never heard of my movies until you came to my trailer, had you?† â€Å"Nope. I'm a huge fan, though.† She turned and walked out of the surf toward him, and a smile was breaking there on her face. A smile with too much history to it, but a smile nonetheless. â€Å"The narrator says you did good,† she said. â€Å"The narrator?† Theo found himself smiling too, as close to crying as he had come since his father had died, but smiling nonetheless. â€Å"Yeah, it's this voice I hear when I don't take my meds for a while. He's kind of a prick, but he's got a better sense of judgment than I do.† She was right there in front of him now – looking up at him, a hand on her hip, a challenge in that movie-star smile – looking more like Kendra the Warrior Babe than she ever had in the posters, the five-inch-long scar standing glorious over her left breast, seawater and grime streaking her body, a look in her eyes that comes from watching your future get nuked – repeatedly. She took his breath away. â€Å"Do you think the three of us could go out to dinner sometime?† â€Å"I'm on the rebound, you know?† His heart sank. â€Å"I understand.† She walked around him and started up the bluff. He followed her, understanding for the first time how the pilgrims had felt following the Sea Beast to the cave. â€Å"I didn't say no,† Molly said. â€Å"I just thought you ought to know. The narrator is warning me not to talk about my ex over dinner.† His heart soared. â€Å"I think a lot of people are going to be talking about your ex.† â€Å"You're not intimidated?† â€Å"Of course. But not by him.† â€Å"The narrator says it's a bad idea. Says the two of us put together might make one good loser.† â€Å"Wow, he is a prick.† â€Å"I'll get some meds from Dr. Val and he'll go away.† â€Å"You're sure that's good idea?† â€Å"Yeah,† she said, turning back to him again before climbing up to where the pilgrims waited. â€Å"I'd like to be alone with you.† Skinner What the man in the driver's seat didn't seem to understand was that as far as this Mercedes was concerned, Skinner was the alpha male. The man smelled of fear and anger and aggression, as well as gunpowder and sweat, and Skinner didn't like him from the moment he got into the car: Skinner's new mobile territory. So Skinner had to show him, and he did so in the traditional way, by clamping his jaws over the Challenger's throat and waiting for him to take a submissive posture. The man had struggled and even hit Skinner, but hadn't said bad-dog, bad-dog, so Skinner just growled and tightened his jaws until he tasted blood and the man was still. Skinner was still waiting for the Challenger to submit when the Tall Guy opened the car door. â€Å"Good dog, Skinner. Good dog,† Theo said. â€Å"Get this fucking animal off me,† the Challenger said. Skinner wagged his tail and tightened his jaws until the Challenger made a gurgling sound. The Tall Guy scratched his ears and put some metal on the Challenger's paws. â€Å"Let go now, Skinner,† the Tall Guy said. â€Å"I've got him.† Skinner let go and licked Theo's face before the constable dragged the sheriff out onto the ground and stood on the back of his neck with one foot. The Tall Guy tasted like lizard spit. That was strange. Skinner considered it a moment, then his doggie attention span ran out and he bounded out of the car to go see what the Food Guy was doing in the back of the truck. The Tall Guy's female was breaking out the back window of the truck with a metal stick. Skinner barked at her, trying to tell her not to hurt the Food Guy. Good Guys â€Å"Is the creature still there?† Gabe asked Molly as he climbed out of the back of the Suburban. Skinner was frisking and jumping on him, and with the handcuffs he couldn't ward off the damp affection. â€Å"Down, boy. Down.† â€Å"No, he's gone,† Molly said as she helped Val and Howard out of the Suburban. She nodded to Val. â€Å"Hi, Doc. I think I've had an episode or something. You'll have to debrief me in session or something.† Valerie Riordan nodded. â€Å"I'll check my calendar.† Theo came around the back of the Mercedes. â€Å"You guys okay?† â€Å"You have your key?† Gabe asked, turning his back to Theo to show the handcuffs. â€Å"We heard shots,† Val said. â€Å"Did†¦?† â€Å"One of the SWAT team is dead. Burton shot him. A few of your patients are scraped and bruised, but they'll be okay. Winston Krauss was eaten.† â€Å"Eaten?† The color ran out of Val's face. â€Å"Long story, Val,† Theo said. â€Å"Mavis set it all up after you guys left. Catfish and Estelle came in and drew the monster out. Winston was sort of the bait.† â€Å"Oh my god!† Val said. â€Å"She said something about my not being in trouble.† Theo held his finger to his lips to shush her, then nodded to where Sheriff Burton lay on the ground. â€Å"It never happened, Val. None of it. I don't know a thing.† He spun her around and unlocked her handcuffs. Then did the same for Gabe and Howard. The gaunt restaurateur seemed more morose than usual. â€Å"I had really hoped to lay eyes on the creature.† â€Å"Me too,† said Gabe, putting his arm around Valerie. â€Å"Sorry,† Theo said. To Val he said, â€Å"The reporters from those helicopters are going to be here in a few minutes. If I were you, I'd get out of here.† He handed her the keys to the Mercedes. â€Å"The district attorney is sending a deputy to pick up Burton, so I'm going to stay here. Will you give Molly a ride back into town?† â€Å"Of course,† Val said. â€Å"What are you going to tell the reporters?† â€Å"I don't know,† Theo said. â€Å"Deny everything, I guess. It depends on what they ask and what they got on tape. Having lived most my life in denial, I may be perfectly suited for dealing with them.† â€Å"I'm sorry I was – I'm sorry I doubted your abilities, Theo.† â€Å"So did I, Val. I'll call you guys and let you know what's going on.† Gabe called Skinner and they loaded into the Mercedes, leaving Theo and Molly facing each other. Theo looked at his shoes. â€Å"I guess I'll be seeing you.† She stretched up and kissed him on the cheek. Then without a word she crawled into the back of the Mercedes with Howard and Skinner and closed the door. Theo watched them back away, then turn and head across the pasture and out of the cattle gate. â€Å"You're going down with me, Crowe!† Burton screamed from the ground. Theo spotted something shiny lying in the grass near the back of the Suburban and went over to it. It was Molly's broadsword. He felt a smile breaking out as he picked it up and went over to where Burton was lying. â€Å"You have the right to remain silent,† Theo said. â€Å"I suggest you exercise that right. Immediately.† Theo plunged the sword into the ground half an inch from Burton's face and watched the sheriff's eyes go wide. Thirty-three Winter Winter in Pine Cove is a pause, a timeout, an extended coffee break. A slowness comes over the town and people stop their cars in the street to talk with a passing neighbor without worrying about a tourist honking his horn so he can get on with his relaxing vacation (damn it!). Waiters and hotel clerks go to part-time shifts and money slows to a creep. Couples spend their nights at home in front of the fireplace as the smell of rain-washed wood smoke fills the air, and single people resolve to move somewhere where life is a full-time sport. Winter near the shore is cold. The wind kicks up a salty mist and elephant seals come to shore to trumpet and rut and birth their pups. Retired people put sweaters on their lap dogs and drag them down the street on retractable leashes in a nightly parade of doggie humiliation. Surfers don their wetsuits against the chill of storm waves and white sharks adjust their diets to in-clude shrink-wrapped dude-snacks on fiberglass crackers. But the chill is crisp and forgiving and settles in a way so that the town's collective metab-olism can slow into semihibernation without a shock. At least that's the way it is most winters. After the coming of the Sea Beast, winter was a juggernaut, a party, an irritation and a windfall. News footage from the helicopters was beamed out over satellites and Pine Cove displaced Roswell, New Mexico, as the number one crackpot travel destination. There wasn't much on the tapes, just a crowd of people gathered on the shore and the fuzzy image of something large in the water, but with the footprints and the eyewitness accounts, it was enough. Shops filled with cheesy ser-pent souvenirs and H.P.'s Cafe added to the menu a sandwich called the Theosaurus, which was the official scientific name of the Sea Beast (coined by biologist Gabriel Fenton). The hotels filled, the streets congested, and Mavis Sand actually had to hire a second bartender to help serve the im-ported wackos. Estelle Boyet opened her own gallery on Cypress Street where she sold her new series of paintings enigmatically entitled Steve, as well as the new Catfish Jefferson CD entitled The What Do I Do Now That I'm Happy? Blues. As the story of the Sea Beast spread and was sensationalized, interest rose in an obscure B-movie actress named Molly Michon. Discs and videocassettes of the Warrior Babe series were remastered and rereleased to an enthusiastic audience, and the Screen Actors Guild came down on the producers like an avenging accountant angel to capture a piece of the profits for Molly. Valerie Riordan's practice stabilized as she struck a balance between therapy and medication and she was able to schedule a sabbatical to join her fianc? ¦, Gabe Fenton, on an oceanographic expedition aboard a Scripps vessel to look for evidence of the Theosaurus in the deep trenches off California. After he testified against John Burton, putting him away for life, winter settled on Theophilus Crowe like a warm blessing. In the second month of his recovery, he realized that his addiction to marijuana had been nothing more than a response to boredom. Like the child who whines away a summer day because there's nothing to do, but makes no effort to actually do anything, Theo had simply lacked the ambition to entertain himself. Sharing his life with Molly solved the problem, and Theo found that although he was often exhausted by the demands of his job and his lover, he was never bored. Molly's trailer was moved to the edge of the ranch by his cabin. Every morning they shared a hearty breakfast pizza at her place. In the evening, they ate dinner on his cable spool table. She answered his calls while he was at work, and he ran interference with the geeky fans who were rabid enough to seek her out at the ranch. Not a day passed that he did not tell Molly how special she was to him, and as time passed, the narrator in her head fell silent and never spoke again. There was no winter in the deep submarine trench off California, two miles down. Everything was as it had been: a dark pressurized sameness where the Sea Beast lay by his black smoker, grieving for love lost. He stopped grazing on deep water worms that grew on the rocks and his great body began to waste away under the weight of the water and the years. He had resolved never to move again – to lie there until his great heart stopped and with it the throb of heartbreak – when sensor cells along his flanks picked up a signal. Something he had not felt for half a century, the signature of a creature he thought he would never feel again. He flipped his tail and shook off the crust of loneliness that had settled over him, and that organ buried deep beneath his reptile brain picked up a message coming from the female. Roughly translated, it said, â€Å"Hey, sailor, want to get lucky?†