Responds a topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Responds a topic - Essay Example treated the same way as the slaves and the children and this means she was by no means greater than them in any way and that was her social level (Lerner 79). The relationship between men and women prior to these ancient societies was one based on equality and cordial behavior. There was division of chores between men and women during the hunting and gathering era where the men who were physically strong hunted and the women gathered. No gender was superior to the other. All this however changed with the incorporation of agriculture and end of the hunting and gathering period and the women’s role in society started being that of subordination and inferiority while that of men become that of superiority and authoritarianism (Diamond 96). It was no longer about physical features and division of labor but became a master and slave kind of relationship with the slave in this case literary being the woman whose rights became non-existence especially with marriage. Virginity became a big issue for the women who were to ensure they stayed pure until they were married off. The husbands on the other hand were not required to be virgins. In fact the more women a man had slept with, the more of a conqueror he was considered to be. The society employed double standards on this issue including the fact that an adulterer women was sentenced to death while the man was simply released to go do as he wishes. Once married, the rules of society dictated that the woman move to go live with her husband and his family and was part of the man’s property from them henceforth to control and do with her as he pleases. The subordination of the women developed at this juncture where she was expected to obey and follow all the demands and commands of the husband without any question as the man was the authority figure. These beliefs and behaviors continued to intensify even after the society started moving from agriculture to other crafts such as engaging in trade with the western

Eastern European Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Eastern European Studies - Essay Example It also has practical implications for the lives of citizens of these countries, whose future depends on the development of democracy backed by a robust judicial system. Constitutional reform or engineering toward this end is a daunting task and early signs of this experiment have shown disappointing results1. This essay will take an in-depth look into factors that are holding back constitutional engineering in the Eastern European bloc; and especially focus on how the Soviet legacy is still influencing crucial areas of reform. The ongoing transformation from state communism to a free-market economic system in Eastern European countries is unprecedented in its scope and wide-ranging in its impact. Given that communism radically altered major institutions in these countries, it should come as no surprise that the early stages of the reform process have not been fruitful. Since economic growth is a key indicator of a stable constitutional structure, it is instructive to look into this facet of a nation's health. It turns out that the degree of economic contraction is larger than what was predicted by analysts. This trend can be observed in the republics of former U.S.S.R as well. For example, â€Å"With the important caveat that the rise in private sector activity may not be fully captured in the official statistics, the drop in output in the region since 1989 is now estimated to have reached 20 percent, and for some countries it has exceeded 35 percent. There has been some progress in the implementation of reforms in Eastern Europe, but the supply response thus far has been limited. Signs of a bottoming out of the contraction can be discerned in some countries, but further output losses may yet be in store. In the republics of the former U.S.S.R., the reform process has barely started.† 2 The transformation from communism to democracy involves radical overhaul of former authoritarian institutions. Hence, political commentators were under no illusion about the turbulences it is going to involve. Already, in the twenty years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, three former communist countries of the union have seen political upheavals. The Rose Revolution threw out Eduard Shevardnadze in Georgia and brought to power a 36-year-old lawyer from New York. The Orange Revolution that followed in 2004 handed power to Viktor Yushchenko, who is known to have the backing of Washington. Yushchenko's election victory was disputed by the opposition party and he narrowly escaped an assassination bid as well. Similarly, the Tulip Revolution of 2005 in Kyrgyzstan removed dictatorial president Askar Akayev (who eventually took refuge in neighbouring Russia) and in his stead brought the opposition leader to power, whose election rhetoric was centred on constitutional reform. These examples show the magnitude of the task of bringing democracy to the region which has not yet come out from the communist hangover. At first these so-called revolutions w ere hailed in the Western press as the beginning of a new era of prosperity and progress for these countries. But the truth is far from this idealization. These three 'revolutions' are now recognized as total failures. In fact, â€Å"no fresh heroes rose from the grass roots, swept into power by a newly robust civil society

Bill of Rights Impact and Causes

Bill of Rights Impact and Causes Brandon Huff The Bill of Rights are the first ten Amendments in the Constitution, and were created for greater constitutional protections of our individual rights. These were written by James Madison, a member of the House of Representatives at the time. There were two parties at the time, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists believed that they did not need a Bill of Rights because the people and states had the powers not given to the government. While the Anti-Federalists believed that it was absolutely necessary to have, and was needed to protect the individuals rights. While Madison was writing these Amendments, it was argued that Congress couldnt change the constitution, so Madison proposed they be added on as Amendments. Madison wrote twenty amendments and of those the House approved seventeen of them. From there they were sent to the Senate where only twelve survived. Of those twelve sent to the states, only ten passed. These amendments are a list of limits on government power. This means that a right that was seen as a natural are protected with this document The Amendments include freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, no soldier shall live in the house of a citizen without consent, the right against unreasonable searches to house, car, self, and effects; the right to not be tried of the same offense twice, the right to a quick trial by an impartial jury, the right of trial by jury of an offense over twenty dollars, no excessive bail or unreasonable punishments, the enumeration of certain rights may not be construed, and the powers not delegated nor given to the states by the Constitution are the rights of the states. These rights given to us will always be ours and nothing can take them away from us. But why did the they choose only these amendments to ratify and use for our Bill of Rights? Each of those who voted and ratified these believed that these were unalienable rights given to us by God and therefore, shouldnt be controlled by the government. These are right that were put on paper to prevent the government from taking over the country and trying to take our rights away.   Each of these amendments protects very specific things, that as a nation we will need in order to keep the big government in check. Lets look at each amendment individually and see why it would be chosen. The first amendment protects our right to exercise our religion, speech, peaceful assembly, and press. This means that no matter what you believe in, you can believe it in the open and not having to fear the government is going to come after you. Next, you can say what you want where you want, though it probably isnt the best idea all the time. You can also write in the papers, or say on the news what you believe about certain things and it wont be taken out or edited. Last, we can gather in protest of something anywhere as long as it is a peaceful and controlled protest. This freedom allows us to keep the government in check and allows us as the people to offer changes or things we believe will help the country. Next, our right to bear arms. This seems pretty self-explanatory, if the need arises we can protect ourselves. Whether that mean from an intruder, or an attacker, or even from the government itself. This is probably one of the most important things given to us as a people, because protecting ourselves is not an option in a lot of other places around the world. Our third right is the right we have to our own house. A soldier cant come and live on our house during a time of war unless given permission. This doesnt really apply to todays world, but when it was made people attacking and fighting on American soil. So, it was only obvious that they would make one stating the privacy you have within your home. Fourth is the right that protects us, our property, and belongings from being unreasonably searched, or without a warrant. This is very important because without it the government could just take and go through whatever they want to without a reason. This protects the right to privacy and ownership. The idea that you own something and have the ability to say no is a very good thing to have. Our fifth right is the right we have to avoid being charged the same offense twice. If we have been accused and proven not guilty, we wont be tried again for the same crime. It also protects our other basic rights listed above, such as the thing of ones property. This is one that is not well known and is underestimated in its importance, but is a crucial part of the Bill of Rights. Next, is the right to a speedy trial and the ability to have someone able represent them in a court of law. It also protects against people that would be trying to influence you as a witness, or someone who wants to do you harm. This protection and help in the courts is very important even now as people still try to change the minds of those involved with trials and so forth. The seventh goes along with the previous two in a sense it involves the courts. Any crime exceeding went dollars must go through a court and have a trial. This helps prevent unjust rulings by one or another in   the sense that they must be a jury to decide what happens. Since most every crime exceeds twenty dollars almost every crime is done through our legal system. This is the best way to do things because our legal system is very through and very good. Next is our right to not have an excessive bail set for our release form jail. It must be appropriate with the crime committed, we dont need to worry about a million dollar bail if all we did was graffiti. This is for us as a people to feel like we can still have some hope of getting out early, whether or not thats what we need is something else entirely. The ninth amendment protects us from having all of our other ones being misinterpreted. Some people will try to pretend they dont know what our rights mean, or will try to violate them even if do not know they are. This will protect us from that and if one is caught misinterpreting our rights they receive and just punishment. Our last right states that any power not delegated to the United States by the Constitution is given to the states. This prevents the government controlling everything in all the states all the time. It gives the states a right to control a more local area and it helps keep an eye on the government. With each state having its own rights they can watch and keep the government in check. Now, of all of the amendments proposed to be in this Bill of Rights, the people chose these ten. They couldnt have chosen better. These are the very things that, if not specifically given to us as the people and the stats themselves; that the government might want to control at a later date. This Bill of Rights is a very important part of the United States and helps keep this country free and allows it to be run by the people. Without the foresight of our early leaders and the compromise they came to in the making of this document, America might be a very different place. I believe that this document helped shape the nation into what it is today. Without these rights given to us we couldnt do some things that we needed to do, nor could we guarantee that we would be safe from corrupt and unlawful people and trials. With these set in place we can have protection from corrupt people, are able to watch the government, and are free to protect ourselves from more upfront threats. These give us security in our nation and knowing that we the people have the power to make this country what it is. We elect our leaders, we elect our representatives, we elect all of the people in any position of power. If they dont do a good job we elect someone else, but it is always our choice who is in charge. That is a luxury that many nations dont have, and we as a people have forgotten how important it truly is. By reading this people can realize what we have in this country and how much we can really do for it. People act like they cant do anything so why bother, or some try to change things that doesnt need to or the have no control over. We need to go back and read what we can do, what we cant and all work together to make this country better for all.

Essay --

Tragedies such as 9/ll has impacted many people when the terrorist attack happened at the world trade center in Manhattan. Thousands and thousands of people died, others were injured, and other civilians cried their hearts out. The nation was in despair, knowing that innocent people have died and their nation has been attacked. The government had noted that the act of 9/11 was an act of terrorism. The question is, what is terrorism and is it permissible or non-permissible? There is no specific definition of terrorism due to the fact that the definition can be viewed differently (p398). Some of the definitions of terrorism is either too broad while others are too neutral (p398). An example that was in the book was the comparison between the London bombing and the bombing in Hiroshima. The London bombing was considered an act of terrorism while the bombing in Hiroshima was considered non-terrorism because it was a response to an act of terrorism that was done at Pearl Harbor (p399). V aughn had defined terrorism as â€Å"...the deliberate use or threat of physical violence against noncombat...

Economics and Ethics

The area of ethics in economics is a divisive one, over which there has been considerable debate. Ethics has many interpretations in the history of philosophy as well as in economic history. Very simply, ethics refers to an understanding of certain forms of behavior as either right or wrong. â€Å"The field of ethics, also called moral philosophy, involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.† (Ethics) However, there are many complex aspects to the understanding of ethics. An early idea of ethics was put forward by the philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill in the 19th Century. They suggested that ethical action was concerned with providing â€Å"†¦ the greatest balance of good over evil.† (Ethics) On the one hand, economics is fundamentally driven in a systems and practical sense by the need to acquire profit and accumulate wealth. On the other hand there is a growing debate about ethical responsibility and integrity in the business and economic world, with respect to aspects and issues that strictly fall outsider the ambit of the pure science of economics per se. Recent controversies, such as the Enron scandal have also highlighted the issue of ethics in economics and business. This leads to a vast array of issues and questions; such as the protection of future resources and the growing debate about the reality of environmental ethics as it relates to purely economic concerns. Questions are asked such as; can there ethically be a case for unconstrained economic adventurism and profiteering without paying attention to the moral and ethical dimensions of these actions? The debate and the dilemma that business faces in terms of ethical practices and views are concisely expressed in the following quotation. While â€Å"Businesses, in some parts of the world, have become integral participants in such causes as protecting the environment and alleviating poverty from economically depressed localities†, this concern with ethics is â€Å"†¦ confronted with the problem that economists have no other way to approach reality without concentrating on questions of utility.† ( Zaratiegui J. 1999) It is this focus on utilitarianism and the profit margin central to the capitalistic mode of economic production, which brings it into conflict with other issues and views and often results in a negative ethical assessment of business and economics. Therefore many critics are of the opinion that in an ethical sense the utilitarian focus of modern capitalism should be criticized. More importantly, theorists note that, â€Å"The nature of modern economics has been substantially impoverished by the distance that has grown between economics and ethics †¦ [economics] can be more productive by paying greater and more explicit attention to the ethical considerations that shape human behaviour and judgement.† (Sen, A. 1987, p 7.) It should also be noted that this debate and the alleged dissociation between economic thought and praxis and various ethical and critical stances, is a fairly recent phenomenon. In its origins modern economics was intimately connected to ethics and ethical motivations. Sen reminds us of the contrast between the â€Å"non-ethical† feature of modern economics and its genesis as an offshoot of ethics. At the time of its inception, then, the language of economics was comprised of normative elements. Nevertheless, over time, economics came to be considered an autonomous science, and its language and value judgments become increasingly more â€Å"positive.† It is this change in economic thought and praxis and the move towards a neutral or † value free† attitude towards ethical issues, with science as the motivating example, that has essentially created the present debate. However the debate about ethical involvement and responsibilities in economics continues to vacillate from one point of view to the other. On the one hand, economists argue that economic praxis and associated analytic techniques are ethically positive in that they help to predict human social and economic growth and development in a consistent way. Economists are also quick to argue and provide examples of the way that economic strategies uplift, develop and form a common basis for world interaction and harmony. â€Å".. it is regarded by some as beneficial, enabling economists to develop analytic techniques and make rational predictions of future human behavior. â€Å"(Zaratiegui J. 1999) On the other side of the argument there are many who interpret the alleged benefits of economics rather as the promotion of profit over ethical norms and principles. However in recent years there has at least ostensibly a reassessment of the ethical parameters of economics from within the economic community. As recently as a decade ago, many companies viewed business ethics only in terms of administrative compliance with legal standards and adherence to internal rules and regulations. Today the situation is different. Attention to business ethics is on the rise across the world and many companies realize that in order to succeed, they must earn the respect and confidence of their customers. This change is still based in the praxis of customer behavior and reaction but nevertheless it does show a change towards a greater awareness of ethical responsibly ion the world. Many of the ethical debates surrounding economics revolve around the complex issue of the interactions of business and commercial concerns and bio-ethics. Bio-ethics refers to the ethical demands and requisites in the interaction between the human and the non-human environment. As such, bio-ethics is difficult to relate to or argue in purely subjective or human terms; which make it all the more difficult to understand and react to from an economic perspective. A case in point which is still under discussion is the intended use of the oil reserves in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. At present the debate about the exploitation of the Arctic National or ANWR has been in process for 20 years. (Endless debate drains political energy) The debate has tended to centre mainly on the exploitation of a sensitive ecological area as opposed to the economic and political value for the country from a potentially rich oil supply. The divergent viewpoints are expressed in the following assessment of the situation. To generalize, people who care most about the wildlife and wilderness don't give a hoot about the oil; folks fixated on the oil think its value outweighs the wildlife and wildland concerns. The two sides are every bit as polarized and only a little less passionate than those battling over abortion rights† The National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska (NPR-A), is situated between the foothills of the Brooks Range and the Arctic coastline, and is about 120 miles from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). (Rosen, Y. 2003. ) The Bureau of Land Management ( BLM) estimates the area will†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ supplement production from the Alpine fields, which hold 429 million barrels and have a daily oil output of about 100,000 barrels.† (US OKs Commercial Drilling in Alaska Oil Reserve) From an economic point of view, the use of this oil reserve will have many positive aspects. Besides the money that would be brought into the economy instead of flowing out in oil purchases, it would have positive internal and political implication as it would obviously mean less reliance on outside oil sources. The Energy Information Agency of the Department of Energy estimates that Alaska oil production averaged 902,000 barrels of oil per day from January through August 2004, about 16 percent of total U.S. oil production during that period, most of which comes from Prudhoe Bay. Opening up even a limited area of ANWR for drilling would offer the prospect of producing from Alaska possibly 40 percent or more of the oil consumed in America. This view can be seen as supporting the idea of an ethical position in the economic exploitation of the region in that it will be for the â€Å"greater good† of the international community to reduce America's oil dependencies. The other side of the argument is that the exploitation of this region for profit will upset the delicate ecological balance and will further have a larger ecological impact. From this point of view the proposed economic actions are unethical. In essence the debate is centered on two very different world views which need an understanding of their underlying biases to be fully comprehended. Many similar points of dissention and lines of argument are formed in the ethical debate that has raged for years about animal experimentation for research. One has the argument for experimentation on the basis of ensuring human safety; while those opposed point out that this view still contravenes basic bio-ethics and the respect for life on this planet. On the one hand business and commerce stress the need to test products before public consumption and on the other hand activists state that many of these tests are simply attempts to placate the public and have no intrinsic scientific worth. Animal rights groups point out that animal experimentation is an extremely cruel endeavor. Among the many different types of animal extermination are the†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ the toxicity and irritation testing of various consumer products, such as foodstuffs and cosmetics†¦extraction of products, and the development of drugs.† (Rollin, 1992, p. 136) One of the most criticized tests in this regard is the Draize eye irritant test. This test involves â€Å"†¦ placing a substance in the eyes of four to six rabbits and evaluating the effect.† (Thompson 1988, p15.) The results for these extremely cruel experiments are used for cautionary labels on various products such as soaps and cosmetics. One of the main arguments against commercial vivisection is that many scientists claim that there is no real scientific purpose to animal experimentation. This is a particularly the case with regard to animals which are used by pharmaceutical and chemical companies to test the toxicity of drugs and other substances, including cosmetics and household cleaners. This practice has been regularly criticized by doctors and scientists who are of the opinion that these experiments are not only unscientific but also flawed in many respects and even dangerous to human health. Countering these assertions the economists point to the many successful trials that have resulted in positive results and benefits for human beings and human health. The economic world is, as has been stated, becoming more aware of its ethical responsibilities. Some critics still see this new found ethical responsiveness in the scientific and economic communities as a reaction only to pubic opinion and customer perception. However there are also those who are more positive and who think that the economic community is becoming more aware and reacting more positively to the important ethical dimensions of their activities.

Practical Demonkeeping Chapter 24-25

24 AUGUSTUS BRINE Augustus Brine was sitting in his pickup, parked a block away from Jenny's house. In the morning twilight he could just make out the outline of Jenny's Toyota and an old Chevy parked in front. The king of the Djinn sat in the passenger seat next to Brine, his rheumy blue eyes just clearing the dashboard. Brine was sipping from a cup of his special secret roast coffee. The thermos was empty and he was savoring the last full cup. The last cup, perhaps, that he would ever drink. He tried to call up a Zen calm, but it was not forthcoming and he berated himself; trying to think about it pushed it farther from his grasp. â€Å"Like trying to bite the teeth,† the Zen proverb went. â€Å"There is not only nothing to grasp, but nothing with which to grasp it.† The closest he was going to get to no-mind was to go home and destroy a few million brain cells with a few bottles of wine – not an option. â€Å"You are troubled, Augustus Brine.† The Djinn had been silent for over an hour. At the sound of his voice Brine was startled and almost spilled his coffee. â€Å"It's the car,† Brine said. â€Å"What if the demon is in the car? There's no way to know.† â€Å"I will go look.† â€Å"Look? You said he was invisible.† â€Å"I will get in the car and feel around. I will sense him if he is that close.† â€Å"And if he's there?† â€Å"I will come back and tell you. He cannot harm me.† â€Å"No.† Brine stroked his beard. â€Å"I don't want them to know we're here until the last minute. I'll risk it.† â€Å"I hope you can move fast, Augustus Brine. If Catch sees you, he will be on you in an instant.† â€Å"I can move,† Brine said with a confidence that he did not feel. He felt like a fat, old man – tired and a little wired from too much coffee and not enough sleep. â€Å"The woman!† The Djinn poked Brine with a bony finger. Jenny was coming out of the house in her waitress uniform. She made her way down the front steps and across the shallow front yard to her Toyota. â€Å"At least she's still alive.† Brine was preparing to move. With Jenny out of the house one of their problems was solved, but there would be little time to act. The demonkeeper could come out at any moment. If their trap was not set, all would be lost. The Toyota turned over twice and died. A cloud of blue smoke coughed out of the exhaust pipe. The engine cranked, caught again, sputtered, and died; blue smoke. â€Å"If she goes back to the house, we have to stop her,† Brine said. â€Å"You will give yourself away. The trap will not work.† â€Å"I can't let her go back in that house.† â€Å"She is only one woman, Augustus Brine. The demon Catch will kill thousands if he is not stopped.† â€Å"She's a friend of mine.† The Toyota cranked again weakly, whining like an injured animal, then fired up. Jenny revved the engine and pulled away leaving a trail of oily smoke. â€Å"That's it,† Brine said. â€Å"Let's go.† Brine started the truck, pulled forward, and stopped. â€Å"Turn off the engine,† the Djinn said. â€Å"You're out of your mind. We leave it running.† â€Å"How will you hear the demon if he comes before you are ready?† Begrudgingly, Brine turned off the key. â€Å"Go!† he said. Brine and the Djinn jumped out of the truck and ran around to the bed. Brine dropped the tailgate. There were twenty ten-pound bags of flour, each with a wire sticking out of the top. Brine grabbed a bag in each hand, ran to the middle of the yard, paying out wire behind him as he went. The Djinn wrestled one bag out of the truck and carried it like a babe in his arms to the far corner of the yard. With each trip to the truck Brine could feel panic growing inside him. The demon could be anywhere. Behind him the Djinn stepped on a twig and Brine swung around clutching his chest. â€Å"It is only me,† the Djinn said. â€Å"If the demon is here, he will come after me first. You may have time to escape.† â€Å"Just get these unloaded,† Brine said. Ninety seconds after they had started, the front yard was dotted with flour bags, and a spider web of wires led back to the truck. Brine hoisted the Djinn into the bed of the truck and handed him two lead wires. The Djinn took the wires and crouched over a car battery that Brine had secured to the bed of the truck with duct tape. â€Å"Count ten, then touch the wires to the battery,† Brine said. â€Å"After they go off, start the truck.† Brine turned and ran across the yard to the front steps. The small porch was too close to the ground for Brine to crawl under, so he crouched beside it, covering his face with his arms, counting to himself, â€Å"seven, eight, nine, ten.† Brine braced himself for the explosion. The seal bombs were not powerful enough to cause injury when detonated one at a time, but twenty at once might produce a considerable shock wave. â€Å"Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, shit!† Brine stood up and tried to see into the bed of the truck. â€Å"The wires, Gian Hen Gian!† â€Å"It is done!† Came the answer. Before Brine could say anything else the explosions began – not a single blast, but a series of blasts like a huge string of firecrackers. For a moment the world turned white with flour. Then storms of flame swirled around the front of the house and mushroomed into the sky as the airborne flour was ignited by successive explosions. The lower branches of the pines were seared and pine needles crackled as they burned. At the sight of the fire storms, Brine dove to the ground and covered his head. When the explosion subsided, he stood and tried to see through the fog of flour, smoke, and soot that hung in the air. Behind him he heard the front door open. He turned and reached up into the doorway, felt his hand close around the front of a man's shirt, and yanked back, hoping he was not pulling a demon down off the steps. â€Å"Catch!† the man screamed. â€Å"Catch!† Unable to see though the gritty air, Brine punched blindly at the squirming man. His meaty fist connected with something hard and the man went limp in his arms. Brine heard the truck start. He dragged the unconscious man across the yard toward the sound of the running engine. In the distance a siren began to wail. He bumped into the truck before he saw it. He opened the door and threw the man onto the front seat, knocking Gian Hen Gian against the opposite door. Brine jumped into the truck, put it into gear, and sped out of the doughy conflagration into the light of morning. â€Å"You did not tell me there would be fire,† the Djinn said. â€Å"I didn't know.† Brine coughed and wiped flour out of his eyes. â€Å"I thought all the charges would go off at once. I forgot that the fuses would burn at different rates. I didn't know that flour would catch fire – it was just supposed to cover everything so we could see the demon coming.† â€Å"The demon Catch was not there.† Brine was on the verge of losing control. Covered in flour and soot, he looked like an enraged abominable snowman. â€Å"How do you know that? If we didn't have the cover of the flour, I might be dead now. You didn't know where he was before. How can you know he wasn't there? Huh? How do you know?† â€Å"The demonkeeper has lost control of Catch. Otherwise you would not have been able to harm him.† â€Å"Why didn't you tell me that before? Why don't you tell me these things in advance?† â€Å"I forgot.† â€Å"I might have been killed.† â€Å"To die in the service of the great Gian Hen Gian – what an honor. I envy you, Augustus Brine.† The Djinn removed his stocking cap, shook off the flour, and held it to his chest in salute. His bald head was the only part of him that was not covered in flour. Augustus Brine began to laugh. â€Å"What is funny?† The Djinn asked. â€Å"You look like a worn brown crayon.† Brine was snorting with laughter. â€Å"King of the Djinn. Give me a break.† â€Å"What's so funny?† Travis said, groggily. Keeping his left hand on the wheel, Augustus Brine snapped out his right fist and coldcocked the demonkeeper. 25 AMANDA Amanda Elliot told her daughter that she wanted to leave early to beat the Monterey traffic, but the truth was that she didn't sleep well away from home. The idea of spending another morning in Estelle's guest room trying to be quiet while waiting for the house to awaken was more than she could stand. She was up at five, dressed and on the road before five-thirty. Estelle stood in the driveway in her nightgown waving as her mother drove away. Over the last few years Amanda's visits had been tearful and miserable. Estelle could not resist pointing out that each moment she spent with her mother might be the last. Amanda responded, at first, by comforting her daughter and assuring her that she would be around for many more years to come. But as time passed, Estelle refused to let the subject lie, and Amanda answered her concern with pointed comparisons between her own energy level and that of Estelle's layabout husband, Herb. â€Å"If it weren't for his finger moving on the remote control you'd never know he was alive at all.† As much as Amanda was irritated by Effrom marauding around the house like an old tomcat, she needed only to think of Herb, permanently affixed to Estelle's couch, to put her own husband in a favorable light. Compared to Herb, Effrom was Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks rolled into one: a connubial hero. Amanda missed him. She drove five miles per hour over the speed limit, changing lanes aggressively, and checking her mirrors for highway patrol cars. She was an old woman, but she refused to drive like one. She made the hundred miles to Pine Cove in just over an hour and a half. Effrom would be in his workshop now, working on his wood carvings and smoking cigarettes. She wasn't supposed to know about the cigarettes any more than she was supposed to know that Effrom spent every morning watching the women's exercise show. Men have to have their secret lives and forbidden pleasures, real or perceived. Cookies snitched from the jar are always sweeter than those served on a plate, and nothing evokes the prurient like puritanism. Amanda played her role for Effrom, staying on his tail, keeping him alert to the possibility of discovery, but never quite catching him in the act. Today she would pull in the driveway and rev the engine, take a long time getting into the house to make sure that Effrom heard her coming so he could take a shot of breath spray to cover the smell of tobacco on his breath. Didn't it occur to the old fart that she was the one who bought the breath spray and brought it home with the groceries each week? Silly old man. When Amanda entered the house, she noticed an acrid, burnt smell in the air. She had never smelled cordite, so she assumed that Effrom had been cooking. She went to the kitchen expecting to see the ruined remains of one of her frying pans, but the kitchen, except for a few cracker crumbs on the counter, was clean. Maybe the smell was coming from the workshop. Amanda usually avoided going near Effrom's workshop when he was working, mainly to avoid the sound of the high-speed drills he used for carving, which reminded her of the unpleasantness of the dentist's office. Today there was no sound coming from the workshop. She knocked on the door, gently, so as not to startle him. â€Å"Effrom, I'm home.† He had to be able to hear her. A chill ran through her. She had imagined finding Effrom cold and stiff a thousand times, but always she was able to push the thought out of her mind. â€Å"Effrom, open this door!† She had never entered the workshop. Except for a few toys that Effrom dragged out at Christmastime to donate to local charities, Amanda never even saw any of the carvings he produced. The workshop was Effrom's sacred domain. Amanda paused, her hand on the doorknob. Maybe she should call someone. Maybe she should call her granddaughter, Jennifer, and have her come over. If Effrom were dead she didn't want to face it alone. But what if he was just hurt, lying there on the floor waiting for help. She opened the door. Effrom was not there. She breathed a sigh of relief, then her anxiety returned. Where was he? The workshop's shelves were filled with carved wooden figures, some only a few inches high, some several feet long. Every one of them was a figure of a nude woman. Hundreds of nude women. She studied each figure, fascinated with this new aspect of her husband's secret life. The figures were running, reclining, crouching, and dancing. Except for a few figures on the workbench that were still in the rough stage, each of the carvings was polished and oiled and incredibly detailed. And they all had something in common: they were studies of Amanda. Most were of her when she was younger, but they were unmistakably her. Amanda standing, Amanda reclining, Amanda dancing, as if Effrom were trying to preserve her. She felt a scream rising in her chest and tears filling her eyes. She turned away from the carvings and left the workshop. â€Å"Effrom! Where are you, you old fart?† She went from room to room, looking in every corner and closet; no Effrom. Effrom didn't go for walks. And even if he'd had a car, he didn't drive anymore. If he had gone somewhere with a friend, he would have left a note. Besides, all his friends were dead: the Pine Cove Poker Club had lost its members, one by one, until solitaire was the only game in town. She went to the kitchen and stood by the phone. Call who? The police? The hospital? What would they say when she told them she had been home almost five minutes and couldn't find her husband? They would tell her to wait. They wouldn't understand that Effrom had to be here. He couldn't be anywhere else. She would call her granddaughter. Jenny would know what to do. She would understand. Amanda took a deep breath and dialed the number. A machine answered the phone. She stood there waiting for the beep. When it came, she tried to keep her voice controlled, â€Å"Jenny, honey, this is Grandma, call me. I can't find your grandfather.† Then she hung up and began sobbing. The phone rang and Amanda jumped back. She picked it up before the second ring. â€Å"Hello?† â€Å"Oh, good, you're home.† It was a woman's voice. â€Å"Mrs. Elliot, you've probably seen the bullet hole in your bedroom door. Don't be frightened. If you listen carefully and follow my instructions, everything will be fine.†