outbreak :: essays research papers

FilovirusesViruses are microscopic intracellular parasites that can only reproduce within a legion cell. Viruses lack the enzymes for the function of metabolism and contain no ribosomes or other parts to make their own proteins. The types of cells a virus can infect are limited to its host range. Filoviruses (Figure 1) belong to a virus family called Filoviridae and can cause severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates. Filovirus virons appear in several shapes these shapes are known as pleomorphism. They may either appear as long, often branched filaments, shorter filaments, or in a circle formation. The filaments can measure up to 14,000 nanometers in length, and have some have a diameter of up to 80 nanometers. to each one is coated in a lipid membrane and contains a molecule of negative-sense RNA. Replication of filoviruses occurs through the production of buds on the surface of the host cell (See Figure 1). The two types of filoviruses that have been identified are the Marburg virus and Ebola virus. in that respect are four different subtypes of the Ebola virus Ivory Coast, Sudan, Zaire, and Reston. Ebola-Reston does not cause any severe disease conditions in humans it can however, be pitch-dark within monkeys.Marburg The Marburg disease (Figure 2) was first seen in the August, 1967 in Marburg, Germany. Three workers that were employed by Behringwerke AG, a vaccine-producing branch from pharmaceutical company, Hoechst AG were suffering from muscle aches and whacky fevers. The conditions the workers had were similar to characteristic of the flu, but it was strange to have the flu in the summer. They were then hospitalized. The following day they became nauseated. Their spleens became enlarged and their eyes became bloodshot. The demeanors grew morose but aggressive. In addition, the nurse and doctor who were taking care of the three patients became ill. By September 23, the number of patients suffering from this Marburg grew to 23. Two o ther outbreaks were occurring in Frankfurt and Yugoslavia. The people gruesome were also employees of pharmaceutical research or were in the field of patient care. Many people feared that this deadly virus was airborne. A great deal of mystery surrounded the illness since no one was aware of how it was transmitted, what an effective treatment might be, or how many more people could potentially get sick. Each patient exhibited the same symptoms and went through the same process before dying.

Essay --

Although when we think of the history of cell call offs we think of the small handheld devices we use daily not long time ago that were in briefcases and were connected to the cigarette lighter in cars. Then in the 1980s they lost the case, but were still twice the size the size of the cellphones we come across today. The cell phones of today are more portable, smaller, and lighter than ever before. If this is the present, imagine the future of the cellular phones, but as we look into the future of cellphones we overly need to take a look back in time to the cellphones of the past. Firstly in 1908, Professor Albert Jahnke developed the first wireless telephones, which lead to the exam of wireless telephones on German military trains in 1918. Although Jahnke was suspected of fraud it didnt seem to hurt his ideas, as they continued to grow through the early 1930s. This is when the public telephone trial began on a train from Berlin to Hamburg. Although Albert Jah nke did not invent the first cellular phone, he did get the ideas flowing for the man who did. merely a household name but the influence of Martin Cooper, or The Father of the Cell Phone, as stated in the economist, has been seen and heard around the world. Marty is the approximately influential person no one has ever heard of, says Robert McDowell, a commissioner with the Federal Communications Commission. Cooper, the engineer for Motorola that looked at car phones in the 1970s and purview that these devices should be small enough to be portable. Hes ideas and inventiveness led to the first prototype in 1973, and the first commercial cell phone in 19830. The first commercial cell phone call was placed using a Motorola DynaTAC mobile phone, the precurso... ...ds with calling, radio, and data technology available at your touch. I do believe, by looking at we have in the works with technology, that these armbands will be equip with a facetime application. This ap plication will allow the exploiter to connect with another, and a hologram of the user will appear in front of you, just as if you were talking face to face. With these future cellphone I do believe we will develop a fifth generation digital phone with more bandwidth and video capability.As you know and can see cell phones are huge part of todays society and will only grow to be more and more important in the future, but these phones of today and of tomorrow wouldnt be possible if not for the past. So while youre sitting there daydreaming about those smartphones of tomorrow you need to think about all the work, and people who have advanced technology this far.

Interpreting American Small Talk :: Essays Papers

Interpreting American Small Talk I believe that every international student will experience distinct kinds of culture shock as soon as he sets foot on the soil of the United States. One problem is interpreting American gnomish talk. As I come from an Oriental country, China, I often find it confusing.When I first came to the United States. I was amazed to hear and felt that it was a task for me to use the haggle, Thank you or Thanks a lot In the grocery store, the clerks would say these words to me after I finished paying for what I had bought. At the loan desk of a library, the librarians would say them to me, as soon as they passed me the books. On these occasions, I sometimes would be a little embarrassed, for I did not know that plurality used these words more to show their politeness than really to thank you. Even when I understood these words, I appease felt uncomfortable when I tried to use them. When I was ready to get off a bus, I would say to the driver,Thank you When ever I verbalised these words, I would have such an uncomfortable feeling. In China, we do not use these words very often. We usually give a grin to the people who have offered us some favor. Normally we say, Thank you only when we really and sincerely appreciate the people who help us a lot. Otherwise, a smile is enough. In the first few weeks after I arrived here, I could not fully get the meaning of How be you? and I am fine. These words whitethorn be the most frequently used words by Americans as a conversational greeting. When you run into an acquaintance somewhere, he would greet you by saying, How are you? In response you would say, I am fine. But actually you might not be fine. You probably wanted to say something else from the heart. Even if you were possibly untune with some illness, or you were going to die, you still said, I am fine. You would not tell people about your sadness or your trouble. Why? I hypothecate that people do not want to know about you. These are just greeting words. In this way, these are quite similar to our greeting words in China. In the morning, on the street or in the hallway, we say, Have you had breakfast?

History Of The Social Security Program :: American History

In 1935, after bank failures and a stock market daunt had wiped out the savings of one million million millions of Americans, the nation turned to their president to guarantee the elderly a decent income. In those days, only a handful of workers had access to pensions from their employers or through State governmental pension programs. Over half of Americas elderly lacked sufficient income to be self-supporting. The kind Security Act was enacted at the urging of chairperson Franklin D. Roosevelt to create a social insurance program that ensures workers would have a source of income after they retired. In the decades that have followed, friendly Security has become unrivalled of the federal governments most popular and essential programs. Despite all our efforts to encourage savings and investment, the private retirement picture has not changed much in late(a) decades. Even today, barely half of all workers have access to retirement plans at work, and millions reach retirement a ge without enough private savings to let an adequate living in retirement. Social Security is still the foundation for most seniors retirement. Without this critical safety-net program, over half of all older Americans would fall into poverty. Social Security does exactly what it was designed to do. It gives retired tribe a secure, basic income for as long as they live. At the end of 2005, more than 48 million people were receiving Social Security benefits 33 million retired workers and their dependents, 7 million survivors of deceased workers, and 8 million disabled workers and their families. Over time, the Democratic Party has implemented changes to the Social Security program in order to adjust to changing times. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson proposed and later signed the legislation to create Medicare. The Medicare program was added to provide universal, affordable health care benefits to retirees. Medicare is the largest health insurance program in the United St ates. At the end of 1966, Medicare served approximately 3.9 million individuals. As of 2003, it serves about 41 million people. There are 5.6 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in managed care programs. Medicare is an entitlement program similar to Social Security and is not based on financial need. Medicare benefits are functional to all American citizens over the age of 65 because they or their spouses have paid Social Security taxes through their working years. Since Medicare is a federal program, the rules for eligibility dwell constant throughout the nation and coverage remains continuous regardless of where an individual receives treatment in the United States.

Imagination, Perception and the Experience of Nature in Literature Essa

Imagination, Perception and the Experience of genius in Literature kit and caboodle Cited MissingI am a psychology student with an English minor. While the combination seems odd at starting signal glance, the two studies actually laudation each other quite nicely. I have al personal manners been fascinated by the way in which writing lot reflect the inner working of an authors mind, by the way it effects the reader in such a profound, defamiliarizing way, as well as by the way that it can be apply to explore the some(prenominal) facets of human nature in a much more effective way than any look study. Because of this thought process I have been particularly interested in several of the poets that we have looked at and their exploration of the effects of the forces of imagination and coarse recognition on their sensing of nature. The contestation over how much of our personal have got is based upon what we see and hear and how much is based on what we feel and intrust is long standing and crosses many fields of study, psychology being only unity of them. William Wordsworths Tintern Abbey, Percy Shelleys Mont Blanc and to an extent Samuel Coleridges Chamouny the Hour Before Sunrise all represent diametrical stances on the issue and hence aid the reader in exploring the effects of perception and of imagination on experience. In Wordsworths Tintern Abbey, the poet explores the experience of nature as collaborationism between imagination and sensual perception. He reflects on how the Wye valley has existed for him in his imagination in the years since he first visited the valley, and how now that he has returned to the said(prenominal) site with gleams of half-extinguished thought, / With many recognitions tedious and faint / And somewhat of a sad perplexity, / The p... ... nature is affected by their attitudes and the degree to which their attitudes are in place because of their experiences with nature. Wordsworth seems to stimulate back from c ommitting himself to any one view of the relationship between experience and attitude, sensual perception and imagination. He seems to best appreciate the two way passage that the aspects of unified perception hold in on. While there can be no conclusions drawn as to the degree to which our experience of anything is based upon sensual perception or upon our imagination, I cerebrate that it is safe to say that our unified perception of the world around us is based upon interplay between the two. Exploration of the nature of experience by the poets discussed in the preliminary paragraphs further highlights the relationship between psychology and literature and helps to explain my fascination with both. Imagination, Perception and the Experience of Nature in Literature EssaImagination, Perception and the Experience of Nature in LiteratureWorks Cited MissingI am a psychology student with an English minor. While the combination seems odd at first glance, the two studie s actually compliment each other quite nicely. I have always been fascinated by the way in which writing can reflect the inner workings of an authors mind, by the way it effects the reader in such a profound, defamiliarizing way, as well as by the way that it can be used to explore the many facets of human nature in a much more effective way than any research study. Because of this thought process I have been particularly interested in several of the poets that we have looked at and their exploration of the effects of the forces of imagination and sensual perception on their perception of nature. The debate over how much of our personal experience is based upon what we see and hear and how much is based on what we feel and believe is long standing and crosses many fields of study, psychology being only one of them. William Wordsworths Tintern Abbey, Percy Shelleys Mont Blanc and to an extent Samuel Coleridges Chamouny the Hour Before Sunrise all represent different stances on the is sue and therefore aid the reader in exploring the effects of perception and of imagination on experience. In Wordsworths Tintern Abbey, the poet explores the experience of nature as collaboration between imagination and sensual perception. He reflects on how the Wye valley has existed for him in his imagination in the years since he first visited the valley, and how now that he has returned to the same site with gleams of half-extinguished thought, / With many recognitions dim and faint / And somewhat of a sad perplexity, / The p... ... nature is affected by their attitudes and the degree to which their attitudes are in place because of their experiences with nature. Wordsworth seems to hold back from committing himself to any one view of the relationship between experience and attitude, sensual perception and imagination. He seems to best appreciate the two way street that the aspects of unified perception operate on. While there can be no conclusions drawn as to the degree to whi ch our experience of anything is based upon sensual perception or upon our imagination, I think that it is safe to say that our unified perception of the world around us is based upon interplay between the two. Exploration of the nature of experience by the poets discussed in the previous paragraphs further highlights the relationship between psychology and literature and helps to explain my fascination with both.

Imagination, Perception and the Experience of Nature in Literature Essa

Imagination, Perception and the Experience of Nature in LiteratureWorks Cited missingI am a psychology student with an English minor. plot the combination seems odd at first glance, the two studies actually compliment all(prenominal) other quite nicely. I allow always been fascinated by the way in which writing cannister contemplate the inner workings of an authors mind, by the way it effects the reader in such a profound, defamiliarizing way, as well as by the way that it can be used to search the many facets of human nature in a much more effective way than any research study. Because of this thinking process I have been particularly interested in several of the poets that we have looked at and their exploration of the effects of the forces of imagination and sensual perception on their perception of nature. The debate everywhere how much of our personal experience is based upon what we see and hear and how much is based on what we feel and believe is yen standing and cr osses many field of study, psychology being only one of them. William Wordsworths Tintern Abbey, Percy Shelleys Mont Blanc and to an extent Samuel Coleridges Chamouny the Hour Before Sunrise all represent different stances on the issue and therefore care the reader in exploring the effects of perception and of imagination on experience. In Wordsworths Tintern Abbey, the poet explores the experience of nature as collaboration surrounded by imagination and sensual perception. He reflects on how the Wye valley has existed for him in his imagination in the years since he first vi settled the valley, and how now that he has returned to the same site with gleams of half-extinguished thought, / With many recognitions dim and black out / And somewhat of a sad perplexity, / The p... ... nature is affected by their attitudes and the degree to which their attitudes are in place because of their experiences with nature. Wordsworth seems to hold okay from committing himself to any one take in of the relationship between experience and attitude, sensual perception and imagination. He seems to best appreciate the two way street that the aspects of merge perception operate on. While there can be no conclusions drawn as to the degree to which our experience of anything is based upon sensual perception or upon our imagination, I think that it is safety to say that our unified perception of the world around us is based upon interplay between the two. Exploration of the nature of experience by the poets discussed in the previous paragraphs get ahead highlights the relationship between psychology and literature and helps to explain my fascination with both. Imagination, Perception and the Experience of Nature in Literature EssaImagination, Perception and the Experience of Nature in LiteratureWorks Cited MissingI am a psychology student with an English minor. While the combination seems odd at first glance, the two studies actually compliment each other qui te nicely. I have always been fascinated by the way in which writing can reflect the inner workings of an authors mind, by the way it effects the reader in such a profound, defamiliarizing way, as well as by the way that it can be used to explore the many facets of human nature in a much more effective way than any research study. Because of this thought process I have been particularly interested in several of the poets that we have looked at and their exploration of the effects of the forces of imagination and sensual perception on their perception of nature. The debate over how much of our personal experience is based upon what we see and hear and how much is based on what we feel and believe is long standing and crosses many fields of study, psychology being only one of them. William Wordsworths Tintern Abbey, Percy Shelleys Mont Blanc and to an extent Samuel Coleridges Chamouny the Hour Before Sunrise all represent different stances on the issue and therefore aid the reader in exploring the effects of perception and of imagination on experience. In Wordsworths Tintern Abbey, the poet explores the experience of nature as collaboration between imagination and sensual perception. He reflects on how the Wye valley has existed for him in his imagination in the years since he first visited the valley, and how now that he has returned to the same site with gleams of half-extinguished thought, / With many recognitions dim and faint / And somewhat of a sad perplexity, / The p... ... nature is affected by their attitudes and the degree to which their attitudes are in place because of their experiences with nature. Wordsworth seems to hold back from committing himself to any one view of the relationship between experience and attitude, sensual perception and imagination. He seems to best appreciate the two way street that the aspects of unified perception operate on. While there can be no conclusions drawn as to the degree to which our experience of anything is bas ed upon sensual perception or upon our imagination, I think that it is safe to say that our unified perception of the world around us is based upon interplay between the two. Exploration of the nature of experience by the poets discussed in the previous paragraphs further highlights the relationship between psychology and literature and helps to explain my fascination with both.

Bureaucracy & Democracy

Democracy is a term with several meanings and this has led to a genuine misconception as to its real meaning. To some, bureaucratism is red tape, to others it is officialdom and to some it is an organisational form (Cole p25). Observation and studies on bureaucracy have been done by many academicians among them Max weber (1864-1920). Weber pauperismed to find out why mountain in many organizations obeyed those in authority over them. Weber observed that people obeyed lucid authority and he identified three types of legitimate authority as traditional authority, charismatic authority and rational-legal authority.It is the rational-legal form of authority that exists in most organizations today and this is the form to which Weber ascribed the term bureaucracy. Weber outlined the main features of bureaucracy as a continuous organization of functions bound by rules, specified spheres of competence, a hierarchical arrangement of offices, appointments to offices made on grounds of techn ical competence, the separation of officials from the ownership of the organization, official positions exist on their own right and finally rules, decisions and actions are formulated and recorded in report (Cole p 26).Weber felt that bureaucracy was indispensable for large organizations and there is no doubt that this form organization has been adopted in one way or a nonher virtually in all forms of enterprises the world over. Government bureaucracy If men were angels, no government would be necessary James Madison and for governments bureaucracy is form of governance that is practicable.However this form of governance has critics and the views of Amy are that bureaucracy is a governance structure that is often perceived negatively by a total of people but he says that most criticisms of government bureaucracy are based more on myths than reality (Amy 2007 p1-8). Amys observation is that people usually associate bureaucracy to massive waste, inefficiency, poor service, ever-gr owing organizations, mindless rules and realms of usageless forms. For these people there is nothing good about bureaucracy as those working in such systems are considered to be lazy, hostile, overpaid, imperious and inflexible.In his arguments, Amy dismisses what he terms the four myths about bureaucracy 1. allegory no 1 Bureaucracies are immensely wasteful. valuate payers wrongly or rightly believe that much of the tax increases are a result of wastefulness arising from bureaucracies. Government agencies are considered not only wasteful but enormously wasteful. A survey carried out revealed that Americans believe that 48 cents of every tax dollar going to bureaucracies such the Social Security plaque are wasted (Amy 2007).Amy says that investigations by the Government Accounting Office and various blue-ribbon commissions have found that waste amounts to a small fraction of that figure. 2. Myth no 2 Business is always better than bureaucracy. As per Amy, there have been many em pirical studies examining government bureaucracies versus business in many areas, including recant collection, electrical utilities, popular transportation, water supply systems and hospital administration. The findings have been mixed.Some studies of electric utilities have found that publicly owned ones were more efficient and charged unhorse prices than privately owned utilities. Several other studies found the opposite while many others found no significant difference. 3. Myth no 3 We want the government to act like a business. The main concern of the government is quality of the service not its costs unlike the business who are preoccupy with the bottom-line and hence looking for the cheapest way to make a product or deliver as service.For example it will be imprudent to spend the to the lowest degree amount of resources in the air traffic control system or to look for the cheapest workforce to take charge of security at the airports. 4. Myth no 4 Bureaucracy is major caus e of government growth. Conservatives argue that government bureaucracies have an inherent tendency to expand. However figures show that federal agencies have not been growing at an alarming rate. For example in 1970, about 2997000 civilians worked for the federal government at that time.By 2007 that figure had actually gone down to 2695000. An article in published by the Suburban Emergence Management Project (2006 home page) states that the Hurricane Katrina response by the federal, state and local anaesthetic governments in August-September 2005 caused some people to nod off faith in the bureaucratic approach used by traditional government hierarchies to organize the provision of services to users who desperately needed them. For example, at the local level, New Orleans Mayor told the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security that he could not commandeer the dozens available school buses to evacuate people because the school boards owned buses, he had no authority over the boar ds and there was no agreement for the use of the buses. At the state level, the Governor delayed use of military forces to begin reconstitution of the stricken localities until she could validate her authority to rule the troops by disallowing federal National Guards in her state.At the federal level, the President, the Homeland Security monument and Federal requirement Management Agency director could provide services to users of New Orleans during Katrina only at the discretion of the governor of Louisiana. Conclusion there are areas where government bureaucracy is more effective while in other cases it is counterproductive as evidenced during the Hurricane Katrina crisis. Works cited Amy, D. J. (2007). The case of Democracy, The government is near We the People An unapologetic Defense of vital institution.Available at accessed on April 2, 2009. Pages 1-8 Cole, G. (2004). Management Theory and Practice, 6th Edition published, by Thomson Learning 2004. 25-28. Suburban Emergenc y Management Project (2006), Government Bureaucracy and Two Newer Cultural Approaches to Provide Services Delivery to the Citizenry during Disasters, Biot Report 411 November 07, 2006. Available at http//www. semp. us/public/biot_reder. php? BiotID=411 accessed on April 3, 2009.

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell

In both The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The approximately Dangerous second by Richard Connell, the authors write to emphasize the sanctity of life through the conflicts endured by their main characters both implicitly and explicitly. Both stories deal with the topic of the taking of human being life.The Lottery implicitly delves into the thought processes and ritual of a society where the taking of a life is ceremonial. However, the subscriber is unexpended to wonder the purpose of this seemingly aeonian tradition. The Most Dangerous Game on the other hand, is much more sinister in nature.Human life is also taken in a systematic way, with rules that must be followed, but also a chance that the target may earn his freedom. In this explicit way, the reader fully comprehends the evil ring the Game and is confounded by killing as a means of entertainment.What maiden struck me as I read both stories was the similarity in the development of the characters. Both stories had an executioner and a victim that were seemingly interchangeable. In The Lottery, Mr. Summers was the presider of the ceremony and he fulfilled his duties with an aloofness that gave the reader a false guts of security throughout the story.The crowd encircled him. He knew one would die in fact he himself was not exempt. Yet, he wistfully remembered a era when the Lottery had more pomp and pageantry. General Zaroff in, The Most Dangerous Game also felt a longing for a time when the Game was more exciting.He had a crowd of contestants in his training area that he scorned for lack of skill and wisdom. Mr. Summers and the crowd felt the same way about Mrs. Hutchinson, who was so lackadaisical about the Lottery that she was late.In a matter of life and death for her family her excuse for being tardy was a sink full of dirty dishes. In The Most Dangerous Game Rainsford is also quite flippant about his situation and about taking lives as he brags to his associate about his hunt club exploit s.Rainsford dismisses the fear he is surrounded with upon the mention of dangerous waters. In this way, both authors exhibit their theme of the importance of the sanctity of life in the reactions of both victims, Mrs. Hutchinson and Rainsford when they witness that their lives are the ones in peril unexpectedly.When Rainsford finds himself washed up on what the other sailors called ship trap island the reader hears gun shots and the author creates a further reason of foreboding as he introduces Rainsford to General Zaroff. No detail is left unnoticed by the reader as the butler Ivan opens the door and Rainsford is met at gunpoint.At first Rainsford is impressed and flattered by the General who recognizes the expert hunter. Soon, however, the finery of Zaroffs compound is negated by the savagery of the Game he describes and nonchalantly intends for Rainsford to approve of and participate.Conversely, the warm springtime backdrop of The Lottery is misleading. In modern society a lot tery is a much sought after prize. People choose to play and pray to be selected for vast sums of money.However, in this story there is an undercurrent of caution and masked fear in the crowd as they take their turn to draw slips of paper. The Most Dangerous Game is much more of a thrill ride for the reader as we hide with Rainsford in the tree as he is purposefully hunted in the Game.We cheer for him as he eludes General Zaroff and changes his mind about hunting as a sport. Ironically, Rainsford can now empathize with his target area after becoming the hunted himself. The same cannot be said of The Lottery. Mrs. Hutchinsons change in demeanor is heart breaking. With her outbursts and contention that the Lottery had been run unfairly, the reader realizes that her life is soon coming to an end. The irony of her situation is that she claims to have forgotten all about the Lottery earlier that morning.Nowshe fights to challenge its outcome and the reader is left to wonder why people o f this town die at the hands of the Lottery in the first place. Though their style of writing is completely different, in both The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell, the authors engage their readers into battling along with their main characters for their very lives. We challenge the seemingly bony rituals of the Game and Lottery. Inevitably we agree with the authors that lives are not to be toyed with by an unfeeling society.

‘Tis the Season

The Season Just because we all grow up physically does not mean we have to allow ourselves to grow numb to all the things that made us feel giddy as a child. Everyone knows how exciting it can feel to conjure up on Christmas morning. alone December long, we work to ring in the Christmas spirit by giving to others, displaying festive colors of green and red, and enjoying the constant Jingle of holiday music in the background of everything we do.I personally feel like a little kid, naive and blissfully ignorant very year on December 25th. Theres something magical approximately all the traditions and events that make me feel forever young at heart on this special day. At our house, though I am a fully-grown scarcely child, my parents still enforce the mystery of Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve we all gather In the kitchen, warmed by the radiating heat of a wood-fired stove, and bake odoriferous gingersnaps that embrace every room In the house with their saccharine fragrance.We lay t hem out on a festive plate with a refreshing scum of cold milk, and as I sleepily tiptoe my way to bed I pretend that I actually believe a chubby military personnel in a crimson suit will shoot out of our chimney and joyfully gobble them up while Im asleep. Then I wake up early the next morning and peek out the window and watch puffy white flakes descend gently to the ground, and the crisp, cold air chills the palms of my work force as I touch the frosty glass.My mind says there is no such thing as magic or flying reindeer, but as I observe the delicate snowfall and notice one lonely, half-eaten gingersnap left on our plate in the kitchen, my heart starts to believe all everyplace again. Later, when Im done absorbing the simple leisure of Christmas morning in my solitary silence, I drag my feet all the way to my parents bedroom and I wake them up. They reluctantly roll out of the comfort of their warm bed Like two teenagers getting up for school on a dreary Monday morning.After t hey pour themselves a steaming hot cup of bitter, black coffee, we all congregate in the living room around the Christmas tree. Before we even consider tearing into the overplus of gifts wrapped in shiny, foil paper and topped with curly ribbons, we sit together for a while, and we are hushed by the fatigue of early iron out and the distinct elegance of the glimmering lights that dress the tall, green tree that appear like stars in a cloudless midnight sky. Eventually someone will break apart the infinite silence by saying Whiffs going to open the first one? Then we dig into the various gifts, being particular with which boxes we choose first. sometimes I shake the box like a rattle to try and guess what lies within its layers of cardboard, scotch tape, and colorful wrapping paper. We all watch from each one other, waiting eagerly for a surprised reaction. When we are done scavenging through every Inch of the ere, we enjoy each others company and sit contently on our draw up wh ile we watch a classic, the movie A Christmas Story.Christmas, Im sure, is celebrated very different from person to person. Hopefully, my family. Christmas is a time to believe, whether that be in a Jolly, old, heavy(p) man, the spirit of giving, or the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is when people should let themselves feel young again, and for me, that means baking cookies and waking up early with my parents Christmas morning so we can watch a movie together. As the wise Dry. Issues once wrote, Maybe Christmas, the Grinds thought, doesnt come from a store.

Deception Point Page 43

Norah took a final look up the incline, grateful for the illuminated pathway home. As she looked out, though, something peculiar occurred. For an instant, one of the nearest flares entirely disappeared from view. Before Norah could worry that it was dying out, the flare reappeared. If Norah didnt know better, she would assume something had passed between the flare and her location. Certainly no remains else was out here unless of course the administrator had started to feel guilty and sent a NASA team out after them. Somehow Norah doubted it. Probably nothing, she decided. A gust of wind had momentarily killed the flame.Norah returned to the GPR. All lined up?Tolland shrugged. I think so.Norah went all all over to the control device on the sledgehammer and pressed a button. A sharp roll emanated from the GPR and then stopped. Okay, she said. Done.Thats it? corky said.All the work is in setup. The actual shot takes only a second.Onboard the sled, the heat-transfer printer had a lready begun to hum and click. The printer was enclosed in a clear plastic covering and was slowly ejecting a heavy, curled paper. Norah waited until the device had completed printing, and then she reached up under the plastic and removed the printout. Theyll see, she thought, carrying the printout over to the flare so that everyone could see it. There wont be any saltwater.Everyone gathered around as Norah stood over the flare, clutching the printout tightly in her gloves. She took a deep speck and uncurled the paper to examine the data. The image on the paper made her recoil in horror.Oh, God Norah stared, otiose to believe what she was looking at. As expected, the printout revealed a clear cross section of the water-filled meteorite shaft. But what Norah had never expected to see was the hazy grayish outline of a humanoid form floating center(prenominal) wad the shaft. Her blood turned to ice. Oh God theres a body in the bloodline pit.Everyone stared in stunned silence.The g hostlike body was floating head down in the narrow shaft. Billowing around the corpse like some sort of cape was an eerie shroudlike aura. Norah now realized what the aura was. The GPR had captured a subdued trace of the victims heavy coat, what could only be a familiar, long, dense camel hair.Its Ming, she said in a whisper. He must have slipped.Norah Mangor never imagined that seeing Mings body in the extraction pit would be the lesser of the two shocks the printout would reveal, but as her eyes traced downward in the shaft, she saw something else.The ice downstairs the extraction shaftNorah stared. Her first thought was that something had gone wrong with the scan. Then, as she studied the image more closely, an unsettling realization began to grow, like the storm gathering around them. The papers edges flapped wildly in the wind as she turned and looked more intently at the printout.But thats impossibleSuddenly, the truth came crashing down. The realization felt like it was goi ng to block her. She forgot all about Ming.Norah now understood. The saltwater in the shaft She fell to her knees in the snow beside the flare. She could barely breathe. Still clutching the paper in her hands, she began thrill.My God it didnt til now occur to me.Then, with a sudden eruption of rage, she spun her head in the direction of the NASA habisphere. You bastards she screamed, her voice trailing off in the wind. You goddamned bastardsIn the darkness, only fifty dollar bill yards away, Delta-One held his CrypTalk device to his mouth and spoke only two words to his controller. They know.49Norah Mangor was still kneeling on the ice when the bewildered Michael Tolland pulled the Ground Penetrating Radars printout from her trembling hands. Shaken from seeing the floating body of Ming, Tolland tried to gather his thoughts and decipher the image before him.He saw the cross section of the meteorite shaft move from the surface down to two hundred feet into the ice. He saw Mings b ody floating in the shaft. Tollands eyes drifted lower now, and he sensed something was amiss. Directly beneath the extraction shaft, a dark column of sea ice extended downward to the open ocean below. The vertical pillar of saltwater ice was massive-the equivalent diameter as the shaft.My God Rachel yelled, looking over Tollands shoulder. It looks like the meteorite shaft continues all the way through the ice shelf into the oceanTolland stood transfixed, his brain unable to accept what he knew to be the only logical explanation. Corky looked equally alarmed.Norah shouted, soulfulness drilled up under the shelf Her eyes were wild with rage. Someone intentionally inserted that rock from underneath the iceAlthough the idealist in Tolland wanted to reject Norahs words, the scientist in him knew she could easily be right. The Milne Ice Shelf was floating over the ocean with plenty of clearance for a submersible. Because everything weighed significantly less underwater, even a small su bmersible not much bigger than Tollands one-man explore Triton easily could have transported the meteorite in its warhead arms. The sub could have approached from the ocean, submerged beneath the ice shelf, and drilled upward into the ice. Then, it could have used an extending payload arm or inflatable balloons to push the meteorite up into the shaft. Once the meteorite was in place, the ocean water that had risen into the shaft behind the meteorite would begin to freeze. As presently as the shaft closed enough to hold the meteorite in place, the sub could retract its arm and disappear, leaving Mother Nature to seal the remainder of the delve and erase all traces of the deception.But why? Rachel demanded, taking the printout from Tolland and studying it. Why would someone do that? Are you sure your GPR is working?Of course, Im sure And the printout perfectly explains the front end of phosphorescent bacteria in the waterTolland had to admit, Norahs logic was chillingly sound. Ph osphorescent dinoflagellates would have followed instinct and swum upward into the meteorite shaft, becoming trapped just beneath the meteorite and freezing into the ice. Later, when Norah het up(p) the meteorite, the ice directly beneath would have melted, releasing the plankton. Again, they would swim upward, this time reaching the surface inside the habisphere, where they would eventually die for lack of saltwater.This is crazy Corky yelled. NASA has a meteorite with extraterrestrial fossils in it. Why would they care where its found? Why would they go to the trouble to bury it under an ice shelf?Who the hell knows, Norah blast back, but GPR printouts dont lie. We were tricked. That meteorite isnt part of the Jungersol Fall. It was inserted in the ice recently. Within the last year, or the plankton would be dead She was already packing up her GPR gear on the sled and fastening it down. Weve to get back and tell someone The President is about to go public with all the wrong data NASA tricked himWait a molybdenum Rachel yelled. We should at least run another scan to make sure. None of this makes sense. Who will believe it?Everyone, Norah said, preparing her sled. When I march into the habisphere and drill another core archetype out of the bottom of the meteorite shaft and it comes up as saltwater ice, I guarantee you everyone will believe thisNorah disengaged the brakes on the equipment sled, redirected it toward the habisphere, and started back up the slope, excavation her crampons into the ice and pulling the sled behind her with surprising ease. She was a woman on a mission.

Abandoned – Creative Writing

Private Michael Thompson was at the front, holding his assault rifle which he had teach with so much, hoping it would help him against what they were fighting. They were called in for riot control, but they soon realised it was no ordinary riot. These guys took twenty bullets, and kept coming. Other soldiers who were attacked were joining them. The only woof left was to hold them in the town, until a tactical nuclear strike could be prepared.The barricades were in front of him and he looked near nervously, memorizing the faces of the other forty soldiers around him, They were nervous as well. All of them. They had just escorted one survivor to an evacuation vehicle. He was the only survivor that had heeded their calls. He was screaming, Theyre coming Theyre coming-Just blow the urban center up. You cant stop themThat hadnt helped anyones nerves. They had been given orders to shoot to kill on any target they deemed hazardous. He could hear the wind blowing, and some birds singing behind him. Worst of all, he could hear the riot, the shuffling of thousands of feet, the screams that sounded inhuman-More care groans.Suddenly there was silence. All the soldiers tensed. They readied their rifles as one. They had a man set up with tear gas to break the crowd. Everyone brocaded their rifles. Their commanding officer, began barking out orders. He heard, and moved to his assigned spot.The shuffling started again, quicker than before, and they all knew the riot was headed towards them. They waited, listening. The crowd appeared about a third of a mil down the road. The Sergeant immediately ordered the rifle man to open fire. They argued about opening fire on civilians, but not for long. They started exit into the crowd. The ones they pip didnt go down. They just kept coming, just as reported in the briefing.The police sergeant started yelling,Hit them in the head, you morons, the headThe sharpshooters adjusted their aims, and started dropping people in the crowd. They never screamed, they didnt even flinch. They just kept shuffling towards the barricade, silently. Everyone was a little afraid when the things came within easy firing range. They opened up in itsy-bitsy bursts, bringing down many another(prenominal) of the people. in that respect were so many of them. The things were beating on the steel barricade, and reaching through the slots. Michael just kept shooting like he was ordered to.One to the left, one to the right, he didnt realise he was crying with fear, until the sergeant pulled him away as the barricade toppled. They began running. The sergeant was screaming for eitherone to variety around him, but no-one listened. They were smart, they kept running. Twenty men had died at the barricade, and no-one else wanted to join them. Michael followed the Sergeant through a couple of alleyways, and out into an empty street.The sergeant pulled out his portable radio, and started radioing for backup, heavy backup. The only response he got was the one that sealed their fate,Red Wings, youre on your own on this mission.Michael looked around at the antic caricatures of humanity closing in from both sides of the street, and he began running too. The Sergeant screamed his last scream as he was pulled down and Michael came close, but he bust away from the gruesome crowd, running like he never knew he could. He ran, they were still right behind him, not the same ones, different ones. There were so many of them.He ducked down an alley to run to the next street, but it was a dead end. Nowhere else to run He hid in a bin and it was only a minute before he heard them surrounding it. They pounded on it with such ferocity he feared theyd break in, but they didnt. He sat in the bin and cried, knowing hed never leave this place. Sally, his wife would never even learn he was dead. The things had breached the borders of the city and were spilling out in every direction now. He thought back to that civilian. He understood now and he hoped to god they would nuke the town and surrounding areas. The lives sacrificed would be small compared to how many would be lost if they didntThe bin was sliding, but he knew theyd never flip it. He had plenty of bullets left, so he sighed his last sigh, climbed on top of the dumpster and began firing on them, tears clouding his vision. He mowed down more than any other soldier had and when his ammunition ran out in his assault rifle, he draw his pistol. He fired 13 shots with it, killing twelve zombies. It was the end for him and he knew it. He stood still in the street, thinking about sally and how he would never see her again. He did not scream in pain as the grotesque things attacked him, he was a true solider to his last breath.