Hydraulic Fracturing Essay Example for Free

Hydraulic Fracturing Essay Over the past few decades, the United States has become heavily reliant on using nonrenewable resources. The excessive uses of these resources, such as coal, are extremely harmful to the environment and can be considered responsible for global climate change and the destruction of a once healthy atmosphere. Some companies have claimed to find a â€Å"clean† source of energy called natural gas, found deep within the Earth’s crust. Commercials created by these companies state that natural gas is easy retrieve, cheap and clean burning. However, these commercials fail to explain that one of the processes of retrieving natural gas, or hydraulic fracturing, is extremely harmful to the environment. Hydraulic fracturing, or â€Å"fracking†, is the process of injecting millions of gallons of water into the ground to crack shale rock around a gas well. When the shale rocks around the wells are cracked, it allows natural gas, specifically methane, to flow into the wells. To fracture the shale rock, the water injected into the ground has to be at a very high pressure and is loaded with sand and about 40,000 gallons of 600 different dangerous chemicals. Once the natural gas has flown into the underground well, it can be extracted and stored in tanks above ground to later be used as an energy source. Fracking for a source of energy is occurring all over the United States. Several masses of shale rock are all over the county, such as the Mancos shale in Utah and Colorado; the New Albany shale in Illinois and Kentucky; and the largest shale in the country, the Marcellus Shale. The Marcellus Shale stretches over Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. Large portions of the Marcellus Shale are in New York and Pennsylvania, and the shale rock in these areas have started to be fractured to allow natural gas to flow into freshly drilled wells. These sites have had an extremely negative effect on the biosphere in these surrounding areas. People living near these fracturing sites have been experiencing several grievances and have been having severe problems with their well water. Many adults have been suffering from terrible headaches, a loss of smell, and have lost their ability to taste foods or drinks. Some children living near fracturing sites have even developed asthma, and can barely go outside without getting ill or struggling to breathe due to air pollution. Some people living near fracturing sites have been forced to buy bottled water or water by the gallon because their well water has become so contaminated. Water coming out of the sink is often tinted brown or yellow colors, and can even be lit on fire. Farm animals and pets drinking this water have been getting sick and have suffered hair loss. The harms that are occurring in the biosphere are due to the problems fracking has caused in the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. The lithosphere, or the Earth’s crust, has been significantly impacted by fracking. Once a fracturing job is completed, retainment ponds are dug and the contaminated water is poured into them. Often times, the toxic water in these bases are able to seep into the ground due to a lack of proper lining. Horizontal drilling in the ground to build wells leaves giant holes in the Earth’s surface, which have to be filled once a project is completed. Very specific instructions are given to workers so that the holes can be filled properly, but often only surface is covered. These giant, unfilled holes create unnatural fractures thousands of feet in the ground, allowing toxic fluids to rise up into the surface into aquifers or even distances up to a mile away from the well. Because of the retainment ponds and the unnatural fractures in the ground, the hydrosphere (or water sources) can become contaminated. These contaminated water sources harm the plants, animals and people that relied on it while it was still clean. Not only does fracking have a negative impact on the lithosphere and hydrosphere, but it also has a negative impact on the atmosphere. A common natural gas that is extracted from the ground is methane, which is often emitted into the atmosphere from the wells or from piping leaks. Also, high temperatures cause contaminated water to evaporate and disperse into the atmosphere. The chemicals released into the atmosphere hurt the animals and plants that are breathing in all of the toxins, causing illnesses such as asthma or problems such as headaches. Despite all the issues that fracking inflicts on the environment, companies are quick to say that the use of natural gas is both economically and environmentally friendly. Companies such as ConocoPhillips claim that the  use of natural gas will stimulate the US economy and help to meet the energy needs of our growing population. In some ways, these companies are correct. Hydraulic fracturing can help the US economy because it allows the US to rely on its own resources, rather than resources from other countries, such as oil in the Middle East. Also, several workers and truck drivers are needed to carry out fracking projects, creating job opportunities for people who were previously unemployed. Also, companies state that fracking and horizontal drilling combined create a relatively cheap and productive way of retrieving shale resources. An apparent environmental benefit to fracking is that it â€Å"burns cleaner† than other natural resources such as coal. Coal is used for 44% of the United States’ electricity, and it is the main cause of air pollution in the US. When coal is burned, it emits toxic materials into the air. These toxic materials contribute to global warming, and cause acid rain and smog. The natural gases that are commonly retrieved from fracking and horizontal drilling burn much cleaner than coal, but the process of retrieving natural gas is very environmentally unfriendly. The water contamination and the methane that is emitted into the atmosphere due to fracking make it equally as harmful as coal burning. Companies have also been claiming that there is an abundance of natural gases available in the masses of shale rock across the country. Although there may be an abundance of this resource, these companies have not been using natural gases sustainably. If the United States continues to use natural gases at the rate that it does now, every recoverable source of natural gas will have been used up within the next 80 years. Some even believe that the amount of natural gas the US has right now is only enough to last for 10 years, because there are only about 237,746 billion cubic feet of â€Å"proved reserves†. Proved reserves are areas that guarantee that natural gases will be retrieved if that area is drilled. The 80 year theory is much more optimistic, stating that there are other sources of natural gases readily available other than just the â€Å"proved reserves†. Although natural gas may be another nonrenewable resource that is available, it takes away from the drive that people have to find a renewable resource. Many may think that they can feel comfortable with the amount of energy that they have now, and are not concerned that the nonrenewable resources available at  the moment will run out. It is important to search for a renewable resource now, because the nonrenewable resources are not being used sustainably and will eventually run out. If we continue to expand fracking operations, the conditions in the environment will continue to worsen. Water contamination will most likely spread beyond just where the fracking is occurring, because of the unnatural fracturing in the ground and retainable basins. The conditions of the atmosphere will also continue to worsen because toxins will continue to disperse into the air, and methane will continue to leak from pipes and the wells. Many people who live near fracking sites may be forced to leave their homes on account of high levels of water and air contamination. Also, the masses of shale that are currently being used could eventually run out of natural gas, so companies will be forced to move onto another shale, creating more health hazards in other areas. As the number of fracking sites that are developed and abandoned increases, the aesthetic value of rural areas will decrease. Rather than views of trees, rivers and countrysides, there will be views of abandoned wells and trucks transporting massive amounts of chemicals. Hydraulic fracturing is undeniably a Tragedy of the Commons. It is practically impossible for the Environmental Protection Agency to place any kind of regulation on fracking. In 1975, industries managed to prevent the EPA from regulating or testing 70,000 different chemicals, including many of the chemicals that are used for fracking. For large industries, keeping the public’s health in mind is a burden and it minimizes the potential to make massive profits. Industries are able to move onto land near people’s homes and contaminate their air and water without any regulations whatsoever. In Pennsylvania, unregulated fracking is running rampant. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has done nothing with the evidence of illnesses caused by fracking, leaving the industries able to contaminate clean sources with any chemical they need. Politics are leaning towards supporting the industries rather than the public’s health because they are much more interested in stimulating the economy than they are in protecting public safety. Hydraulic fracturing is presented as an environmentally friendly way to retrieve energy, but it is has been causing contamination in previously clean air and water. Hydraulic Fracturing is even more dangerous because the EPA can’t place regulations on it, leaving innocent people at the expense of the dangerous chemicals. Overall, the negative effects that fracking has on the environment are extremely significant, and it either needs to be stopped or heavily regulated.

Zaha Hadid Is The Future Architecture Cultural Studies Essay

Zaha Hadid Is The Future Architecture Cultural Studies Essay Currently there are a lot of new buildings that have strong futuristic appearance and inspiring features, represent tomorrows skyline. The rapid development of technology like hybrid cars, slim size computers and advance communication gadgets has certainly shown us new heights of transformation. The influenced of architecture has come to its light. Imaginary arts and craft based on fictional space movies and illustrations have come a long way to introduced and to be recognized for its rare platonic solids and geometry constructions. The society is getting more positive and acceptance with the growth of new technology and high development futures. The world is evolving to a new era and by tomorrow there will be more of these buildings appearing as part of the city infrastructure. The architect Zaha Hadid or Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid who is well known for her intense de-constructivist designs and neo-modernist designs in the architecture industry. Her designs are similar to Sci-Fi movies that create forms of morph, shape change geometries and breaking the rules of space. She emphasized her work based upon the concept of de-constructivist designs on a prism shape that in-cooperates between interior and exterior influences. The overall form is based on cutting away or reshaping the surface to look like a deform prism or crystal debris. It is therefore resurrecting a historical element that had become largely absent from the square. This is how she would choose her earlier designs to look like. The rapid developments from big cities in England, America and China may have some strong appraisal for Zaha Hadids creations and attracted many to her concepts of a new city infrastructure should have and in-cooperated for the future. Previously, huge events like the Beijings Olympics and the Shanghai Expo has proven her design is necessary for a new horizon. Her works is the result of that imagination, her structures can be empathized only as a fragment of a new continuous pattern and that is finally getting paid worthy of her effort. She had introduced some alternatives and new concepts in architecture to the world and may be accepted by many who like her works but there are some may find it rather less institutional, lavishly expensive to the cost and the commissions she is getting. She only interested in the onetime wow factor as a signature creation than thinking about the effectiveness and the long run purpose of the building. Her critics mentioned her work as a design blunder for the London Aquatic Center and her success with the Cardiff Bay Opera House competition was unpleasantly re-evaluated immediately after an outrage to the idea of building it. She may be a good designer with sense of creativity for a specific culture but this culture is limited to certain things. Her works were compared with Michael Hopkins Velodrome versus the London Aquatics Centre that has drawn some attention about her design flaws. The Velodrome was developed through a near hostile approach; it synchronized slowly with the peoples input by various members in a multi level integrated design team which combined the inputs of others. Perhaps though a point where the despite disparities of architecture developments and lack of fairness for those may have some differences. Thus without claiming the full universality in design culture, I am inclined to see patterns that insist on comparison, and hence on explorations of the linkages between futuristic designs, society experience and normative mores across boundaries between their struggles and success. At least in the early modernity of this new architecture era, the connections seem to me compelling. (History) Here is a little history about her background as she would mature and be one of the many architects in the deconstructivist movement. Architect Zaha Hadid is not only the first female and a foreign Muslim woman, and also a winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize which is equivalent the Nobel Prize in architecture, an award can only takes a life time to archive for architects. She ranked 69th in the Forbes magazine and enlisted as one of The worlds 100 most powerful women. After winning the Pritzker prize she still has a lot to struggle with her own hands when it comes to some projects.   In her last 15 years, there has been some tremendous change and now it seems as normal to have women in this profession but still very difficult for women to operate in this profession because there are some worlds are limited for them to access.  She experienced resistance but she kept on her own path, her direction and her focus on her long run ambition as an architect. Zaha Hadid from Baghdad, born in the year 1950, she grew together in a very peaceful and developing Iraq, not from the one we known of today. The Iraq of her childhood days was a wonderful place, western-oriented country with a growing economy that flourished until the year 1963, Baath politics took over the government and her father was a wealthy politician, economist and industrialist and at that time, a co-founder for the National Democratic Party of Iraq. Her father taught her cultures of the world while always reminding the significance of her traditions and her heritage. He used and learned this through at the London School of Economics and joined forces with the resistant party against foreign occupation. His political views on the industrialization economy of Iraq, property issues and the nationalization of the countrys oil have influenced her thoughts of the world. Her childhood experiences brought her to belief in open communication between people, but also a conviction in Iraqis freedom. She was proud of her fathers achievements and there is no reason why she would not be equally ambitious just like her father. In the past, female role models were plenty in Iraq, but in architecture, in the Middle East, there were none in the 1950s to the 1960s. She was educated in Baghdad in a school run by French Roman Catholics, and continued part of her secondary education years in Switzerland and The Great Britain. During her elementary education, she mixed with different cultures. She attended a nun school with Christian, Jewish, and Islamic girls but this is the first indication of a cultural exchange for her. She felt separated from her traditions because of her Christianity education. She never had proper religious schooling as a Muslim. Education in Arab countries, Islam or Arab culture is the same, it is only a cultural differences. Zaha Hadid became interested in architecture at the age of eleven, although she would pursue her other academic education. A family friend was working on a housing project for her relatives and would bring models to show her. Her parents thought she would like to see more arts and craft by taking her to architecture exhibitions in her childhood days. The mixed between Arab and Western influences, she developed her personal interest towards architecture. She returned to the Middle East to continue her education at the American University in Beirut from 1968 to 1971 and studied related subjects of physics, modern mathematics, math, and philosophy, shortly before she studied architecture. She returned back to Britain and in 1977 she then received a diploma from the Architectural Association (AA) in London. The Architectural Association (AA) in London in the 70s was a good environment for young, ambitious and independent architects. This particular area becomes a very solid foundation for architects to grow and to achieve their success; this is where famous architects got their education and the place in which her academic refinement began developing from 1972 and to the next 5 years. During her years at AA she had more time to expand her ideas and creating her own architectural methods. People like Bernard Tschumi and Daniel Libeskind are big names of todays award winning architect designers. While there, she studied with Rem Koolhaas, Elia Zenghelis, Daniel Libe-skind, and Bernard Tschumi and among others. In the early 1968, optimistic modernism was abandoned and was caused by the economic uncertainty and cultural issues. The architecture industry was affected too. Rem Koolhaas founded OMA in 1975 together with others, like Elia Zenghelis, Zoe Zenghelis and (Koolhaass wife) Madelon Vriesendorp in London. After that, Koolhaas recruited his student as a partner was Zaha Hadid who would eventually achieved her own success later in life. Koolhaas offered her a job working with them in his new firm, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture or OMA. But she didnt last very long working for them. The relation Zaha Hadid with OMA was more of a fundamental level than working as a team with them. There was almost a kind of no dialogue basis between them. They did support her when she needed guidance. Koolhaas did serve as a mentor and a friend. As her former tutor, he could appreciate her style of work and the thoughts she had when she was still in AA. She obviously respects his opinions, comments and values his friendship when she was still his student. Koolhaas reviewed her as a planet orbiting in her own way. She had her thoughts about architecture and waiting for the right time to ripe. This relationship soon became too restrictive for her, although she and Koolhaas remained close friends. Soon after that, she taught at AA and until 1987 she led her own studio. She started teaching while developing her own visions of neo-modernist architecture, which referred back to modernisms times in the constructivism and suprematism from the early 20th century of architecture. Her final graduation hotel project at Londons Hungerford Bridge was motivated by Malevichs Tectonik. Written in the year 1928 after the suprematist, Kasimir Malevich wrote we only recognized space when we are separated from the ground, to a state of mind, where there is no more constraints to retain. her works were inspired by these words and from then onwards her creations become landscapes which metaphorically transformed her way of thinking design, literally this would be todays reality. She formed and founded Zaha Hadid Architects ZHA in 1980. She has gone to produce internationally acclaimed award winning designs for structure buildings and interiors around the world. Zaha Hadid was hired to teach in a number of institutions. The year 1994 she was teaching in 3 different institutions in the United States: the Kenzo Tange Chair at Harvard Universitys School of Design, University of Illinoiss School of Architecture, the Sullivan Chair, and the Master Studio at Columbia University. Since then, the prominent University for Applied Arts has appointed her as professor in Vienna, Austria in the year 2001. (Theoritical) Zaha Hadid obsession with shadows and light rooted from the Islam architecture, while its flows openly, charging forward like an ocean bed and crash to impact, deforming a metaphor tsunami, together with an unbalance of modern urban landscapes. All of this would have been impossible without the support through computer technology, architects given the endless possibility creating any shapes they want to have. Such extreme rhythm of shapes required significant investment and time, financially and engineering capabilities. Her style has been described as todays De-constructivist and Neo-modernist. In the Britains Design Museum discussed her work referring to baroque modernism. Like Francesco Borrominis Baroque classicists demolished ideas of Renaissance, using a single perception that desire for an unstable nature. Zaha Hadid against both the classically rules, modernism references from Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and the rules of architecture space. She would reconstruct the idea to what she said as a new fluid, kind of spatiality of design of multiple perspective points and fragmented mesh geometries, designed to attach the chaotic forms of modern living quarters. Perhaps her style was partially inspired by her tutors work, when Zaha Hadid graduated in 1977, Rem Koolhaas offered her a job but she didnt last long. If she got attracted to any of the tutors in her past, it was Rem Koolhaas, he was writing his books for the 1977s Delirious New York and working his neo-modernity ideas. This has set Rem Koolhaass career and he described the a desire for a change in city living: The environment is an obsessive high-tech city which is inescapable in his book. He explained the city was a group of red hot spots. He acknowledged that this method had already been proven in the Japanese Metabolist Movement from the 1960s to the 1970s. (Contextual / Asia Design Movement) The scheme for The Peak in Hong Kong 1983 marked a shift in her ability to sense certainties from her past, the resistance between the complexity of order and chaos. Her passion remains in her work, creating abstract architectures. Her works were recognized and accepted in Asia, this all started from her first encounter of a project that signaled her breakthrough in the year 1983. The Hong Kong competition project was The Peak, a sports club and she won first place for the competition entry in The Peak project. Her contest scheme was discarded by some technical reasons, but a late judge pulled it back from the disqualified submissions. The scheme was to feature a sports center with multiple floors; however it was never build because the developer went bankrupted after the incident. The building from Weil-am-Rhein in Germany, or known as the The Vitra fire station completed in the year 1993 was Zaha Hadids first project, which later converted in to a museum. In the year 2002, she designed the Hoenheim-North Terminus and Car Park at Strasbourg, France and the Bergisel Ski Jump overlooking Innsbruck in Austria. Since then, in the 2003 she was getting closer to worldwide recognition. The Expo 2010 in Shanghai China was a major World Expo in the convention of international fairs and expositions, the first since 1992. The theme for the trade fair Better City   Better Life an indication to the world, the coming of next great world city, will eventually influence the 21st century. It had the largest number of countries participating and was the priciest in record for worlds Expo trade events. In the year 2002, China will host the World Expo events and their given assignment is to rearrange Shanghai city. The Germany pavilion is one of the popular European pavilions in the expo. The theme, entitled Balancity contributes the devotion from the word, balance. The outlook of the structure is more of an asymmetrical balance, maintaining the heavy giant roof and the awkward arrangements that seem almost impossible to build. The architect Lennart Wiechell from Schmidhuber +Kaindl Gmbh Germany was the designer for this project. At first glance, every angle of the building is different, like shattered geometries stacked together in one structure. The building seems to have an awkward position of gravity; the top is heavier than the bottom, observing in different parts of the building, the whole structure given the impression of an unstable nature. As a cluster of geometries hold each other perfectly and expressing the name balancity through architecture. The building had similar resemblance of Zaha Hadids work which refers to deconstructivist appeal and defying the rules of gravity with bizarre geometries. Architects from all around the world like Zaha Hadid had set foot in to Chinas development projects and winning architectural success. Case Study (1) (Public Critic) One of her worst un-built projects that she had during the year1996 when she won the design for Cardiff Bay Opera House which was discard, it was assumed as a crucial component for the Cardiff Bay redevelopment projects in the1990s. The development was thought to be a new opera house in Cardiff but in turn out The Wales Millennium Centre was built, replacing the original plan and in the year 2004, it was completed. The Cardiff Bay Opera House Trust established an international design competition to decide on the architect project. The competition would be finalized in two rounds. In round one, the competition started with 268 international competitors and Zaha Hadid won the first round. Her avant-garde design for the main theatre was covered by a radical design glass structure. Nevertheless, her work and design was interesting enough and unique that the Cardiff Bay Opera Houses Trust, Lord Crickhowell as the chairman, requested Zaha Hadid to re-submit her work again, together with Norman Foster and Partners and Manfredi Nicoletti, who were asked to re-submit their work and revised for amendments, in round two, she won again in the second round competition. The conclusion to refuse the bid was announced on 22nd of December 1995, the lottery money is to fund the project by the Millennium Commission. The Royal Opera House in London was backup by the Millennium Commission has affected the bid to turn sour, which was seen exclusively for that. The development did not gain sufficient supports from South Glamorgan County Council or possibly the media affected Cardiff City Councils decision. The Millennium Commission and the UK National Lottery which supposedly to provide funds for the development, decline to support for the project as it measured to be a financially issue. This was not relieved by the successful submission funding for the Millennium Stadium. In due course, the project collapsed and was rumored about the provincialism and the conservatism had damaged the outcome in associate to the modern architecture and partly because the Millennium Stadium was supported by the Cardiff Council. In the event of the news conference, Virginia Bottomley, Secretary of State for National Heritage announced that the project was imperfect by some questionable issues related to its financial and development troubles that would caused reservations for the project and the building. Lord Crickhowell interrupted the news conference to condemn the refusal. He said the result was dreadful and making no sense at all, If this project was from London it would have gathered enough supports. The important projects from London will allow this to go on; however we cant get hold of this sort of effectiveness. The developers of the competition made a standpoint towards to those who they consider unconventional has affected and scared Zaha Hadids career. After she won the 1994 competition entry for the Cardiff Bay Opera House was taken off and re-evaluated, resentment at the idea of building it. They sustain creativity output up to a certain limit of production and then the project will be eliminated because the development did not win enough supports financially from the Millennium Commission, the UK National Lottery, the organization which distributes funds to the project. The Cardiff Bay Development Corporation presented the plan was to construct a long term residency for the Welsh National Opera on a location near the Inner Harbor at Cardiff Bay. The design was nicknamed the Crystal Necklace by media, considering the estimation price of this building was far fetching from their expectation. The theater was valued at  £86 million quoted by Zaha Hadid at the time and it was a tragic moment for the people of Wales and a victory for petty-mindedness. The Sun newspaper published a hate campaign and First Secretary of the Welsh Assembly Rhodri Morgan mocked the design project was disrespectful version to the Kabah in Mecca, believing that a punishment from god would fall upon Cardiff. The Cardiff Bay Opera House was neglected from the project organizer; Millennium Commission after a heated argument opposed from the local campaigner, particularly Cardiff politicians worried of such radical architecture was being forced on to Welsh city by Londons decision. The authorities were knee in the conservative political traditions and the architectural culture had emerged since the 1970s. The acceptance has come slowly for her. After the competition for the opera house for Cardiff Bay in Wales in the year 1994, her post modernism design was put down by the locals and those who criticized her work and in the end; her request to build the stadium was rejected. As the replacement for this project, the Wales Millennium Centre was built, which included a wider range of artistic offerings, keeping with the Welsh heritage and the opera traditions. The Centre opened in November 2004, on location originally planned for the Opera House. The popular design movement was slowly becoming more daring, but her ideas were far beyond their kind. It was an unexcited moment, for several years which set her back in her office, but one thing she learnt from the competition, the politics that involves her. Later, she became more philosophical, seeing it as a turning point in her career. She slowly learnt to have faith and walk again. After she won the Pritzker Prize that followed with her wild competitive attitude towards her avant-garde aesthetic nature has softened. She responded much of her current behaviors in to two undecided conclusions, living in anger over her failed Cardiff project or strained herself to insomnia. Of course it was unpleasant, she said, she mentioned her lost was an important experience after Cardiff Bay. The year 1999 was like the dark ages for her. She did not stop working and continued producing some of my best work. She said defying the rules in that early period changed the way people identify architecture. She got upset that she wasnt able to achieve her breakthrough success along with Cardiff Bay. She described her experience was traumatic and It became a cause celebrity. Everyone was getting on to something, which was never allowed outsiders to win projects that were unknown and not part of their union. They did not accept the truth I was only a woman and to consider the winner was a foreigner as well. I do not have a label or a typecast being stereotype, as a woman they would let you get off, but others will never escape that, she said. She trusted her status being a foreigner, a non- British national and working as a female architect in London, has everything to do with good fortune. In contrast, you are not their type, not a male, not a European origin, there are certain priorities that regardless for all the things you can do for them, you are still forbidden to enter. Im not close to be a member of their brotherhood. I will never be golfing with men or riding on a boat trip with them, it will not occur in any time, She complained. In America, its different, the co-existence between men and women are professionally equal and justifiedbut not so much in Britains culture. We were shamed by them who remembered the problem but they dont seem to know what happened. She mentioned the aftermath of Cardiff would have finalized her decision to resign. There isnt any purpose for me to go on like this, but I had no choice, she said. She made an awakening resolution in 1996, I made a choice, I will not let them escape with this, and I will survive. She and her 20 staff members in the office knew there was no work, distracted and yet they carried on. After several years, she felt herself and her team mates were slightly more relaxed and now driven more by trouble-free wishes to create better things. She said that she could have done things better in general. I have ideas and plenty of it and certainly, just like all things, you need to amend them first, but being an architect you only wish to accomplish better projects and spaces. Case Study (2) (Public Debate) An exhibition held at the Galerie of Gmurzynska at Zurich, a debate entitled Zaha Hadid and Suprematism. The 1920s Soviet avant-garde, as her style and method, displayed works from Kasimir Malevich and others. Zaha Hadids partner and assistant, architect Patrik Schumacher, he is also a theorist, presented his talk, A Glimpse Back into the Future. Patrik Schumacher, Zaha Hadids architectural partner (ZHA) he is also an abstract speaker for 16 years and a content writer, producing theoretical texts to go alongside in every museum and opera house. He disagreed by the next century of art and architecture will be so popular up to this frustrated decade that nothing has been done; it wasnt planned by the Soviet avant-garde, the time, the amount and value of that creative work of art, knowledge and creation was truly amazing. It was only one blink of an eye and it took 50 years spreading it to the world. He stressed the respect for this abstraction, referring to the extreme of non-referable concepts, Non-Objective World of Kasimir Malevich and Suprematist painters and architects that followed him, creating space where earthly rules were challenged.Malevich was a founder for abstraction and the first who found abstract art with architecture applying his shaping tectonics. It is exciting, however, to observe these tectonic sculptures, which were visualized as a form of a prototype architecture, where geometries being restricted like his composition paintings, too cubic and almost mathematical, leaping into this independence of oblivion. There is one person, who will never follow accordingly to the same direction. Since the early Russian avant-garde Zaha Hadid was inspired and took the first inspiration, absorbed with the works of Kasimir Malevich, reflecting this insight in to her first major project. The Project Malevichs Tektonik was a proposal for Suprematist style in replacement for Londons Hungerford Bridge The Russian avant-garde could not be completely combined with architecture, not without people like Zaha Hadid building it, into a completely non-objective space, Even now Malevich persisted to free the last ruins from this spatial of reality. From a different point of view, These projects, Schumacher wrote, in their entire radical experiments hidden a social message and a political agenda. But the social experiment from the Russian context has weakened in comparison with their artistic ingenuity and innovation. Since the early 20th century the Russian Futurist and Constructivist movements were inspirations for the deconstructivist architects using their creative architectures and graphics. Architects, deconstructivist, Zaha Hadid and many others were influenced by this idea of using graphics and geometrical forms from artist and creators like Kazimir Malevich, El Lissitzky, and those who were part of this movement. Deconstructivism and Constructivism has been associated creating abstract art sculptures with tectonic structures. As the fundamental artistic element, both were linked with this radical plainness of using geometrical objects, articulated in all related forms of graphics, architecture and sculptures. The concentration of Constructivist towards purism is because when the missing element of Deconstructivism, the situation of an object or figure is usually disfigured when construction buildings is deconstructed. *The general graphic patterns of constructivism were usually drafted and share the similar nature with technical and engineering drawings. Zaha Hadid is not theorist. In the early 1980s, people like Bernard Tschumi, Peter Eisenman, Daniel Libeskind are passionate architects, graduated from architecture schools and they are the contemporaries of deconstructivism. She has no intention to justify her forms, although she always referred the similarities of Marxian Soviet avant-garde. Daniel Libeskind gave a talk at the TED conference 2009 in America; his talk was entitled 17 words of architecture inspirations.Buildings are an important form of expression in society, and we should attempt to make them as exceptional as we can, whenever we can. Through his speech, he was stressing the words optimism, political, expression, inexplicable, emotional, hand, real, raw, communicative and democratic is about human beings. He believed architecture should be like people on an intense human level, rather than ideological or contextual level. Whether his architecture achieves that goal is another debate. Likewise, the use of words like radical, risky, complex, unexpected and space, explaining the possibilities to explore deep space rather than explaining what we have here on earth. This idea to assume architecture has similar forms like human beings or a living creature. Daniel Libeskind works as an architect, architectural theorist, a professor and a deconstructivist for many years; when he was 52 year old, his very first building was completed; the Felix Nussbaum Haus opened in the year1998. As a result, critics had rejected his impractical creations as impossible to build or excessively bold. His first design competition that he won was a typical housing project in West Berlin, the year1987, but the housing project was immediately canceled right after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the early 1990s, he entered several design competitions and winning projects of the first four. The Jewish Museum Berlin, completed in 1999, was Daniel Libeskinds first foreign achievement and it was the first designers building constructed since after the reunification. Most critics labeled his crafts are forms of deconstructivism. Like many great buildings in our time, his designs puzzle the expectations about the city and the characteristic of its furnishings. He is an abstract architect and from his talk as a supernatural-being trying to persuade the public about his ideas. Thus, the more tortured and alienating it is, the better the building. As city after city bends over for these actions, the architect takes on his ego. Daniel Libeskind defying all logic, in one incident he persuaded museum of Palestine to waste hundreds of millions of American dollars on buildings that hardly function, that leaks continuously and hated by the public. It is sad that, he was using the philistine reaction of people who doesnt know as much as he does. His undercut and belittle attitude comes across in every single part of his talk. This could be his confidence and his inner self believing that this rule of deconstructivism which is also the core concept, against every single rule of todays architecture. Since the late 1980s deconstructivism developments were part of this post-modern architecture. The concepts were referring to fragmentations, an interest of influence ideas using structures surface or skin, shapes which use the purpose to deform and disrupt various building blocks of architecture, for instance constructions and bends. The complete visual of buildings that exhibit has that development styles of deconstructivist, depicting the inspiration of controlled disorder within its unpredictability nature. The history of the deconstructivist movement started in the year 1982, from the architectural design competition of Parc de la Villette, the winning entry goes to Peter Eisenman, Bernard Tschumi and Jacques Derrida at that time. In the year of 1988 Deconstructivist Architecture made its first appearance, held an exhibition in New York at the Museum of Modern Arts and the following year of 1989, the Wexner Center building for the Arts was opened in Columbus and the building was originally designed by architect Peter Eisenman. The exhibition in New York displayed works from Frank Gehry, Daniel Libeskind, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid and others. Ever since the exhibition was held, some of the known architects who were involved with this Deconstructivism avoided themselves from this union. Some of the architects known as Deconstructivists were greatly influenced by Jacques Derridas ideas, the philosopher from Franc

Scope Definition Items Beyond Scope Project Information Technology Essay

Scope Definition Items Beyond Scope Project Information Technology Essay This Project Plan document applies to a university project on Policy Based Encrypted Content which is developed by a group of students [Stephen Obikobe Obi, Adebowale Oni, Habibat N. Yakubu, Rajarshi C. Roy, and Abdullahi Yakubu] as their final year project. It allows users to use their mobile phones to capture images and send the captured images to a blog where they can restrict the people who view these pictures based on policies they set on the pictures and the location where the picture is taken will also be attached on their page on the blog. The TourPicx blog and mobile application allows registered members to; Capture image Images can be captured and uploaded to the TourPicx-Blog with selected policy by registered members only who have the software on their mobile device either in online or offline mode. Capture Options After images are captured, they can be discarded if the user does not want to upload them to his/her page on the blog, captured images can also be saved on the users mobile phone alone without uploading them to the TourPicx-Blog, captured images can be saved on the users mobile phone alone or uploaded to the TourPicx-Blog alone without saving the captured image on the users mobile phone. Set policies on photo albums Pictures are sorted according to albums/policy for example an album named Family and friends may contain 30 pictures and only friends that belong to the family and friend policy can watch pictures in this album. Each member can have a maximum of ten policies and minimum of two policies by default i.e. private and public. Comment on pictures Friends belonging to a particular policy can comment on pictures under that policy, also comments made on a picture can be made private (i.e. only the person who made the comment and the owner of the picture can view the comment) or public (everyone can view the comment). Comments made private can only be deleted by the owner of the picture but cannot be set as public by the owner of the picture only the person who made the comment can make the comment public or delete his/her comment. Add/edit/delete friends, policies, pictures and comments (View Technical manual) Items beyond Scope Development of a Platform independent software i.e the software TourPicx-Mobile software should work on any mobile phone device. There is no requirement for advertisement of the project for commercial purpose, since we are not selling our software. There will be no need for any desktop hardware upgrade or replacement for users to make use of our software as long as there device meets all requirements stated. Protection of data other than those associated with TourPicx-Mobile on the users phone. Project Assumptions Project team members are available at all time and the project manager will take on the role as coordinator at all times to ensure the project is on schedule. Project team members will hold on strictly to the communications plan and guidelines identified within this plan, failure to do so will result in a penalty. Although the project requirements are defined, there might be changes in the Project Plan as new information and issues are discovered. In addition to their main role, every project team member will work on more than one task throughout the development process. Project design, requirements and specification will be discussed with the whole team at all times due to the small size of the team,. All project team members are required to prepare individual testing on their part, as well as draft documentation of their work. The system analyst will do the overall final performance testing at the end of the testing stage. All project deliverables will be ready before 1st of January 2011.  Ã…   Project Constraints There can only be a maximum of five (5) team members and a minimum of two (2) for this particular project. Implementation of the project must be completed within four (4) months. Computer resources/ software resources are limited i.e some project development team members cannot install some software on their system due to installation requirements. The development/ working environment is new and no project team members are totally familiar with it. Integration of individual components is hard because project team members often work seperately and the development environment is new to team members. Statistics used in preparing the estimates for completion/ delivery dates and budget are not fully reliable Meetings with the supervisor are scheduled on specific dates, other meetings will have to be through email or phone contact. The scope of the project is not strictly defined. Related Projects foursquare foursquare.com is a location-based social networking website based on software for mobile devices. This service is available to users with GPS-enabled mobile devices, such as smartphones. Users check-in at venues using a mobile website, text messaging or a device-specific application by running the application and selecting from a list of venues that the application locates nearby. Each check-in awards the user points and sometimes badges. Gowalla Gowalla.com is a web site and, more importantly, an iPhone application that allows you to check in with your social network from where ever you are. When you use your phone, Gowalla locates you through GPS, and then allows you to check in at the location, share a message about where you are and why youre there and pick up virtual items. Critical Project Barriers This involves undefeatable matters that can be destructive to progressof the project, should any of the events listed below occur, the Project Plan will become invalid. Removal of project funding for the project by project team members or close down of the college. Loss of project data and recovery data including implementation plan or project plan. Plagiarism case is not expected in the project. Complete lack of understanding regarding which team member needs what information and when they need it. Inaccurate pieces of information sent to wrong receivers e.g. sending a team member a version of the work schedule in Microsoft Project when the recipient is not familiar with the the planning tool. Cost Management Process There was no real budget plan for this project but an estimate of about $550 maximum was set aside, the whole project budget was handled by the lead programmer for the duration of the project. Below is a sample of the expense form on the costs incurred during this project development. Below is the expense summary for the project. Product Original Budget Actual Budget Description Printing cost RM500 $500 Printing cost for the project Domain cost RM280 $ Domain cost for the project Storage cost RM20 $ Storage cost for the project Software cost $ Software cost for the project Diary cost RM20 $ Diary cost for the project Tags $70 Others RM100 $ Other cost for the project Total Total cost for the project Fig. 1.2 Project Schedule Every scheduled phases could be prolong or unaccomplished at the appointed time, which could depict the success growth of the project. In order to reduce project schedule set back, at each deadline of every task will be an addition of a reasonable amount of time or day, depending on the task. No. Tasks Responsible Start End 1 Inception phase compilation System analyst 14/02/2011 15/02/2011 2 Inception phase editing Project Manager 16/02/2011 18/02/2011 3 Inception phase reviewing System analyst, Designers 19/02/2011 20/02/2011 4 Test compilation System analyst 21/02/2011 23/02/2011 5 Elaboration phase compilation Designer I II, System analyst 24/02/2011 25/02/2011 6 Elaboration phase editing System analyst 26/02/2011 28/02/2011 7 Elaboration phase reviewing Project Manager, Lead Programmer 1/03/2011 02/03/2011 8 Test compilation Designer I II 03/03/2011 06/03/2011 9 Mobile application design review Designer II 07/03/2011 12/03/2011 10 Web application design review Lead Programmer 13/03/2011 18/03/2011 11 Database design review Project Manager, Lead Programmer 19/03/2011 22/03/2011 12 Website designing Designer I 23/03/2011 29/03/2011 13 Construction phase compilation Project Manager, Lead Programmer 30/03/2011 01/04/2011 14 Construction phase editing Project Manager, Lead Programmer 03/04/2011 08/04/2011 15 Construction phase reviewing Designers 09/04/2011 13/04/2011 16 Test compilation System analyst 14/04/2011 18/04/2011 17 Transition phase testing Everyone 19/04/2011 21/04/2011 18 Test compilation System analyst 22/04/2011 29/04/2011 19 Test editing Designer I II 30/04/2011 04/05/2011 20 Test reviewing P. Manager, L. Programmer 05/05/2011 10/05/2011 21 Presentation Preparation Everyone 11/05/2011 12/05/2011

Medieval Castles Essay -- essays research papers fc

Medieval Castles and their Interior   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although it is thought that medieval times were barbaric they too enjoyed many comforts we still do today. There is much more to the castle then its’ size or the stone arches inside which are still used in many homes today. Castles today are still flocked to by millions of people every year. Sometimes you even see copies of castles right here in the U.S.A but they are not quite the same. Although they were originally built to protect the King, Castles became more and more popular among other nobles as well. Each family castle had their own special design and touch but most castles of medieval times had a lot of the same basic elements in their interior.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Within the shell keep and behind the great walls of these castles there was always one basic element: the great hall. It was often on the ground floor but sometimes it was raised to the second floor for extra security. â€Å"The great hall was a large one-room structure with a lofty ceiling†(Giess 58). This was where all the people of the castles slept (excluding the lord and the Lady). There was of course a great big curtain put up so the ladies would be separate from the men. It wasn’t until the end of the century when separate rooms were invented. The great hall was usually located in the very center of the castle and walls built out of stone surrounded the whole room. The entrance was in a sidewall near the lower end of the hall. An outside staircase would be built if the hall were on the second floor. The family would usually have its feasts in this room (Gies 60). For even more security they would have guards stand outside the great hall on all sides of the room so guests would feel safe when they were feasting (Nardo 57). Early halls were aisled like a church, with rows of wooden posts or stone pillars supporting the timber roof. Windows were equipped with wooden shutters secured by an iron bar but they were rarely glazed. It wasn’t until the13th century a king or a great baron might have white or greenish glass in the windows. Then later in the14th century that glazed windows were in every castle (Gies59).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the castle, the first floor or ground floor (it was sometimes called) was the actual earth itself. ... ...d. All that remains now are ruins that dot the countryside every where throughout England.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Even though the castle has disappeared it has not been completely forgotten. Today many decorators and homeowners borrow and try to recreate the barbaric look. A lot of people find in quite romantic. People are reminded of royalty and all the important people during this period like King Arthur and Robin Hood. In conclusion, the Medieval Castle’s interior decoration began to have importance and much of its’ innovations are still used today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   WORKS CITED Nardo, Don. The Medieval Castle. California: Lucent Books, 1997. Singman, Jeffery L. Medieval Europe. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1999. Gies, Frances, et. al. Life in a Medieval Castle. New York: Thomas Crowell Company,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1974. â€Å"Interior Design.† World Book Encyclopedia. 1995. ed. Medieval Castles. 12 Dec 2001. http://www.castles-of-britain.com

We Must Work Together to Reduce Domestic Violence Essay -- Violence Aga

Domestic violence is an act of crime which occurs in domestic household units. It is also known as as spousal abuse or family violence. Domestic violence is not only related to physical abuse but also emotional, sexual, financial, mental and verbal threats. According to ( Human Right Watch, 1995) cited from Macionis, John J., 2008. Domestic violence is defined as bodily harm, usually accompanied by verbal threats and harassment, emotional abuse or the destruction of property as means of coercion, control, revenge, or punishment on a person with whom the abuser is in intimate relationship. Besides that, according to an article by Women’s Aid, the government defines violence as any incident of threatening behavior, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality. Domestic violence can happen and may happen to any individual despite th eir gender, social class or status, life style, age, family background, race, ethnicity or place of living. Any individual can be a victim of domestic violence. Based on an article titled Physical Violence against Women the World Health Organization reported that 40 to 70 percent of women were murdered in the United States, Canada, Australia and Israel by their husbands or male partners. Domestic violence can be categorized into different categories. Firstly, is physical violence. Physical violence is physical abuse whereby the abuser will hit, kick, burn, punch, slap, smack and perform any action using body or objects that will hurt and bruise the victim’s physical health. An example of physical abuse is severe burns on the body due to cigarette burns. Secondly is emotional abuse. Emotional abuse is just opposite of physical abuse because the abuser will use harsh, vulgar and negative words to emotionally abuse the victim. The implication of verbal abuse such as yelling, isolation, name-calling and shaming also falls in the same category of emotional abuse. For example, shouting out vulgar words is a form of emotional abuse. Emotional abuse can cause severe depression and also lack of confidence. Besides that, it can also cause decrease of self worth and independence. Thirdly is financial abuse whereby the abuser will financially torture their victims who ar e usually their spouse or... ...d the news via online sources such as electronic mails (e-mail), facebook, twitter and etc. We can use these social webs to spread awareness regarding domestic violence and help public to prevent them from being a victim. The public must learn to speak up whenever they encounter domestic violence or abuse instead of keeping quiet and suffering. They should not hesitate and must be brave enough to lodge a complaint. As a conclusion, every individual must play their part in order to stop domestic violence from occurring or getting worse. Domestic violence will not only hurt and harm human beings but also affects the country and nation. We should be more cooperative and work together to overcome domestic violence and abuse. We must show more love for each other, be more concern, understand each other feelings and the rights of being a human being. Therefore, we must live together in happiness, peace and harmony. Works Cited Macionis, John J. 2008. Social problems, 3rd edition, Pearson Prentice hall: New Jersey.

Personal Strategy Card Essay

B. Carefully describe the degree to which you use each of your Learning Patterns. (Refer to the Personal Learning Profile you developed for your Week Two assignment and any feedback provided by your instructor to determine if you need to refine your responses as you complete this section.) Sequence: Sequence is something I did not realize that I use on a daily basis and how important it is to my daily life. When at work I would be lost and confused with out my daily checklist that I have set up to start my day. I tried to step out of my normal daily routine and checklist and became frustrated with the start of my day and was lost for most of the day. I can understand how this is a use as needed as I do not like to follow directions for a task. I sometimes feel that my idea or my schedule is better for a issue or given task. â€Å"What do you mean I have to follow these directions?† (Intentional Learning for College Success Page 82 Table 2.1: Sequence Pattern) Is something I ask myself on many different tasks and assignments, â€Å"I can do this my way and still get the job done.† Precision: I love knowledge; more knowledge makes me feel like I am a God.  With work, personal life and schooling, I memorize everything I can get my hands on to use at a later time within conversation and everyday life. My husband and I will talk about fundraiser ideas within our company for up coming events. I will question him is every aspect of the idea and leave no stone unturned in the idea. Within this class I know why he gets frustrated when I question or challenge the idea as his use of precision is avoid manor. Technical Reasoning: As a kid growing up I was always curious on how things worked and why they work. Growing up I was fascinated with how automatic door openers work. What causes the door to open? Is it the mat in front of the door? I took the door apart in my mind and look at all the parts of the door. By the end I figured out what the internal working was and felt very accomplished when I found out after dissecting the door in my mind. This course has shown me that I do this not only with real world items but with in statements, questions and things that I read. As in the same of taking apart the door in my mind to see how it works, I see now that I take apart what I see to find the mean, the purpose and the thought of the person that is making the statement. I feel that this works very well with my Use Frist Precision the need and the want to gather knowledge for every thing I do. Confluence: Confluence is an LCI that I use as needed. I understand why this as needed as I try to always see the big picture and I think outside the box in every task and conversations that I have but, I know I do not like when a topic or task dose not have a clear goals. I can remember a school assignment in middle school for history that required me to think out side the box. The issues with the project the assignment came when after a week of working on the project the instructions to what we where to complete changed the a few days later the deadline for the project changed. When this happened I felt I had lost control of the project and be overwhelmed with what I was doing. I did manage to keep my thought on the project. C. Identify all verbs and specific terms from the assignment instructions and describe how each Learning Pattern will be used to effectively complete the Week 5 assignment. (Critically review the Final Reflection assignment in Week Five and decode it.) Sequence: With week 5 assignment sequence is most used in paragraph 1. With instructions of review the explanations given in the textbook and compare. This instruction will require me to collect the explanations and organize the information in a readable sequence. Precision: Precision is seen in almost all of the paragraphs. With describe, identify and explain being seen a lot in the final writing assignment, this is requiring me to be on track and stick to the facts of the question that is being asked. Technical Reasoning: For Technical Reasoning of the writing assignment paragraph 4 is using verbs as, â€Å" how will you use.† This to me in the writing assignment will make me show how I plan on demonstrate my FIT patters to become a successful student at Ashford. Confluence: Confluence is something I do not see in as part of the writing assignment. I did not see any instructions that would require me to take a risk or improvise and part of the writing assignment. With the last assignment I am going to have to use confluence to brainstorm to ensure that I will pass the assignment with the best possible grade. D. Explain how you will Forge, Intensify, or Tether (FIT) your Learning Patterns to implement personal strategies so you can complete the Week Five assignment efficiently and effectively. (If you do not need to FIT a Pattern, include a description of the strategies you naturally use which help you to be successful on these types of tasks.) Sequence: With sequence I am going to intensify this learning patter to better plan my writing assignment and give myself a better feeling that I understand the instructions that are required for the last assignment. This will provide me with the best possible outcome no to get off track and to stay with in my schedule. Precision: Precision is a Use First within my learning patterns. I believe  that if I can tether my precision with sequence these will strengthen my ability to remain organized with the assignment. Also tethering my confluence with my precision will allow for ideas to come forward and not be afraid to use within the assignment. Technical Reasoning: I do not see the need of the technical reasoning for the last writing assignment. With the writing assignment I like to crate a brake down of the assignment to ensure with in the writing program. This helps me to better see what I am writing. Confluence: Confluence is something I am going to intensify with this writing assignment. To lessen the fear of the final writing assignment and also allow for me to let me brainstorm the idea that I have into the writing assignment.

The Blue Sword CHAPTER THREE

Corlath stared at his horses black-tipped ears. The Hillfolk passed through the gate of the Residency and Corlath lifted his gaze to rake angrily across the dusty station street, the little dun-colored houses and shops, the small straggly trees. At a slight shift in his rider's weight the red horse turned off the road. The harsh clatter of hooves on the packed-dirt road changed to the duller sound of struck sand. He could hear his men turning off the road behind him; he shook his head in a futile attempt to clear a little space for thought amid the anger, and leaned back in his saddle, and the horse's pace slowed. There was no sense in charging across the desert at midday; it was hard on the horses. The six riders closed up behind him; the two who came forward to ride at his side stole quick looks at him as they came near, and looked away again as quickly. Outlanders! Involuntarily his hands, resting lightly on his thighs, curled into fists. He should have known better than even to try to talk to them. His father had warned him, years ago. But that was before the Northerners had come so near. Corlath blinked. The heat of his own anger was hard to contain when there wasn't some use he could put it to; anger was splendidly useful on the battlefield, but he was not facing any regiments just now that could be tangled in their own feet and knocked over in companies. Much as he would like, for example, to set fire to the big stupid house – an absurd building for the desert: it must be the sort of thing they lived in in their own country – and watch it crash down around the ears of the big soft creature who called himself commissioner †¦ but spite was for children, and he had been king for thirteen years, and he bit down on his anger and held it. He remembered when he was young and before the full flowering of his kelar, of the terrible strength known ironically as the â€Å"Gift,† his father had told him that it would often be like this: â€Å"We aren't really much good, except as battle machines, and even there our usefulness is limited. You'll curse it, often enough, far more often than you'll be glad of it, but there you are.† He sighed, and looked wryly at his son. â€Å"They say that back in the Great Days it was different, that men were made big enough to hold it – and had wit enough to understand it. It was Lady Aerin, the story goes, that first knew her Gift and broke it to her will, but that was long ago, and we're smaller now.† Corlath had said, hesitantly: â€Å"They say also that the Gift was once good for other things: healing and calming and taming.† His father nodded sadly. â€Å"Yes; perhaps it once was; but no more. Luthe knows, if he will tell you, for he has the old kelar, and who his parents are even he has forgotten; but Luthe is himself. You and I are of duller blood. â€Å"And it is duller blood that has brought us to what we are, what we remain – what remains to us. Avoid the Outlanders, if you can. They can't, or won't, understand us; they don't recognize horses from oxen, and will try to put the yoke on you that they have hung on the rest of our land. But their strength is the strength of numbers and of stubbornness and persistence; do not underestimate it.† He could see his father standing in one of the inner courtyards of the City in the mountains, staring at one of the fountains, water running shining over the colored stones of the Hills, talking half to himself. Then the picture faded, blotted out in another swift sweep of anger; and he found himself looking at the girl again, the girl he had seen standing in front of the Outlander house. What had she to do with anything? He frowned, and his horse's ears and black mane reappeared before him. He looked up; it was still a long ride to their camp. He had not, somehow, wished to sleep too near the Outlanders; it was not that he suspected deliberate treachery, but that the air that hung over an Outlander station sent bad dreams to Hillfolk. His anger kicked him again like a spurred heel; he flinched. It had a life of its own, the Gift, damn it. What indecipherable object did it desire of him this time? He knew by now that the idiosyncrasies of kings, and others whose blood carried much kelar, were viewed with more alarm by the victims themselves than by their friends and subjects. Not that the alarm did any good. If one was king, one could not explain away one's more impenetrable actions by saying that one just couldn't help it. Woven into his anger there was a pattern. Occasionally he understood it. He waited, gritting his teeth; and he saw the girl again. This time, as long as she was there, he looked at her. When he had seen her first, at the foot of the steps, just a few minutes ago, he had been surprised into looking at her. He knew what his glance could do when he was angry, and tried to be careful about whom it rested on, and for how long. But this girl had, unfortunately for her, somehow caught his attention, and he had looked longer than he meant. She was tall, as tall as most men, tall even by Outlander standards. Her hair was yellow, the color of sun on sand, and almost as bright. His people, the Hillfolk, were usually smaller than the Outlanders, and dark of skin and hair. But it wasn't her size or her coloring that held him beyond the first startled flick of notice; nor was it her beauty. There was too much strength in that face and in the long bones of the body for beauty. Something about the quietness of her, perhaps? Or her self-contained straightness; something about the way her eyes met his, with more thought behind them than the usual half-hypnotized, half-fearful look he had learned to expect if he held anyone's gaze too long – even when his kelar was quiet. Something, he thought suddenly, like the controlled straightness he himself had learned, knowing well what could happen if he relaxed. But that was nonsense. She was an Outlander. While there were still wild sports among his own people, where a few drops of royal blood from many generations past would suddenly burst into full kelar in the veins of some quiet family's child, there had never yet been an Outlander with any Gift to contain. This train of thought took him far enough from the center of anger that he had begun to relax a little; his hands uncurled, and the black mane swept against his fingers. He looked ahead; he knew, although he could not yet see it, that his camp lay just beyond this next bit of what looked like flat bare impartial desert and was in fact a little rise in the land, enough of a buffer from sand and storm to allow a small well of sweet water, with a little grass and low scrub, to live behind a protecting shoulder. As he looked out across his desert, almost calm again, or at least finding the beginnings of calm, the kelar suddenly produced a picture of Sir Charles' foolish white face anxiously saying, â€Å"My dear sir – hmm – Your Majesty† and explaining why he could not help him. The picture was thrust before his eyes, and he took his breath in sharply between his teeth. Having caught his attention, the single-minded kelar snatched Sir Charles away and presented him with the girl again. What about her? he shouted silently, but there was no answer. It was rare that the Gift ever made it easy for him by explaining what it wanted. Sometimes he never did find out, and was left to muddle through like any other mortal – with the added disadvantage of inscrutable messages banging inside his skull. His patience gave way; he leaned forward in the saddle, and the big stallion leaped into a gallop. The six riders, who knew their king's moods, and hadn't been very happy at their reception at the Outlanders' hands themselves, let him go. He swerved away from the line that would take him directly to the camp. The man on the golden dun, who had been riding on the king's right, soothed his mount with one hand. â€Å"Nay, we do not follow him this time.† The man at his left glanced across at him and nodded briefly. â€Å"May the Just and Glorious be with him.† The youngest of the riders snorted with laughter, although it was not pleasant laughter. â€Å"May the Just and Glorious be with all of us. Damn the Outlanders!† The man on the dun frowned and said, â€Å"Innath, watch your tongue.† â€Å"I am watching it, my friend,† replied Innath. â€Å"You may be glad you cannot hear what I am thinking.† The king had disappeared in the heat glaze rising from the sand by the time the little group topped the rise and saw the pale tents of their camp before them, and resigned themselves to telling those who awaited them what had occurred during the meeting with the Outlanders. Harry blinked and recognized the boy at her elbow. â€Å"Thank you,† she said absently, and he led the pony away, looking anxiously over his shoulder at the way the desert men had gone, and evidently grateful to be leaving himself. She shaded her eyes with her hand a moment, which only served to throw the fire of her headache into greater relief. She looked up at the men on the verandah and saw them moving uncertainly, as if they were waking up, still half under the influence of unpleasant dreams. She felt the same way. Her shoulder creaked when she dropped her arm again. At least it will be a little cooler inside, she thought, and made her way up the steps. Cassie and Beth, their mounts led away after Harry's, followed her. Luncheon was a quiet meal. All those who had played a part in the morning's performance were there. Rather, Harry thought, as if we can't quite bring ourselves to separate yet, not because we have any particular reason to cling to one another's company. As if we'd just been through †¦ something †¦ together, and are afraid of the dark. Her headache began to subside with the second glass of lemonade and she thought suddenly: I don't even remember what the man looks like. I stared at him the entire time, and I can't remember – except the height of him, and the scarlet sash, and those yellow eyes. The yellow eyes reminded her of her headache, and she focused her thoughts on the food on her plate, and her gaze on the glacial paleness of the lemonade pitcher. It was after the meal had been cleared away – and still no one made any move to go – that Jack Dedham cleared his throat in a businesslike manner and said: â€Å"We didn't know what to expect, but by the way we're all sitting around and avoiding one another's eyes – † Harry raised hers, and Jack smiled at her briefly – â€Å"we don't have any idea what to do with what we've got.† Sir Charles, still without looking up, said, as if speaking his thoughts aloud: â€Å"What was it, Jack, that you said to him – just at the end?† Harry still had her eyes on Dedham, and while his voice as he answered carried just the right inflection, his face did not match it: â€Å"It's an old catch-phrase of sorts, on the let-us-be-friends-and-not-part-in-anger-even-though-we-feel-like-it order. It dates from the days of the civil war, I think – before we arrived, anyway.† â€Å"It's in the Old Tongue,† said Sir Charles. â€Å"I didn't realize you knew it.† Again Dedham's eyes suggested something other than what he said: â€Å"I don't. As I said, it's a catch-phrase. A lot of ritual greetings are in the Old Tongue, although almost nobody knows what they mean any more.† Peterson said: â€Å"Good for you, Jack. My brain wasn't functioning at all after the morning we'd spent. Perhaps you just deflected him from writing off the Outlanders altogether.† Harry, watching, saw the same something in Peterson's face that she had wondered at in Dedham's. Sir Charles shrugged and the tension was broken. â€Å"I hope so. I will clutch at any straw.† He paused. â€Å"It did not go well at all.† The slow headshakes Dedham and Peterson gave this comment said much louder than words could how great an understatement this was. â€Å"He won't be back,† continued Sir Charles. There was the grim silence of agreement, and then Peterson added: â€Å"But I don't think he is going to run to the Northerners to make an alliance, either.† Sir Charles looked up at last. â€Å"You think not?† Peterson shook his head: a quick decided jerk. â€Å"No. He would not have listened to Jack at the end, then, if he had meant to go to our enemies.† Jack said, with what Harry recognized as well-controlled impatience, â€Å"The Hillfolk will never ally with the Northerners. They consider them inimical by blood, by heritage – by everything they believe in. They would be declaring themselves not of the Hills if they went to the North.† Sir Charles ran his hand through his white hair, sighed, and said: â€Å"You know these people better than I, and I will take your word for it, since I can do nothing else.† He paused. â€Å"I will have to write a report of this meeting, of course; and I do not at all know what I will say.† Beth and Cassie and Harry were all biting their tongues to keep from asking any questions that might call attention to their interested presence and cause the conversation to be adjourned till the men retired to some official inner sanctum where the fascinating subject could be pursued in private. Therefore they were both delighted and alarmed when Lady Amelia asked: â€Å"But, Charles, what happened?† Sir Charles seemed to focus his gaze with some difficulty on the apprehensive face of his wife; then his eyes moved over the table and the girls knew that they had been noticed again. They held their breaths. â€Å"Mmm,† said Sir Charles, and there was a silence while the tips of Beth's ears turned pink with not breathing. â€Å"It hurts nothing but our pride to tell you,† Dedham said at last. â€Å"He was here less than two hours; rode up out of nowhere, as far as we could tell – we thought we were keeping watch so we'd have some warning of his arrival.† The girls' eyes were riveted on Dedham's face, or they might have exchanged glances. â€Å"He strode up to the front door as if he were walking through his own courtyard; fortunately, we had seen them when they entered the gates in front here and were more or less collected to greet him; and your man, Charles, had the sense to throw open the door before we found out whether or not he would have walked right through it. â€Å"I suppose the first calamity was that we understood each other's languages so poorly. Corlath spoke no Homelander at all – although, frankly, I don't guarantee that that means he couldn't.† Peterson grunted. â€Å"You noticed it too, did you? One of the men he had with him did the translating, such as it was; and Peterson and I tried to talk Darian – â€Å" â€Å"We did talk Darian,† Peterson put in. â€Å"I know Darian almost as well as I know Homelander – as do you, Jack, you're just more modest about it – and I've managed to make myself understood to Darians from all sorts of odd corners of this oversized administration – including a few Free Hillfolk.† Harry thought: And the Hill-king stopped dead, as angry as he was, when Dedham addressed him in the Old Tongue? â€Å"In all events,† Dedham went on, â€Å"we didn't seem able to make ourselves understood too readily to Corlath.† â€Å"And his translator translated no faster than he had to, I thought,† Peterson put in. Dedham smiled a little. â€Å"Ah, your pride's been bent out of shape. Be fair.† Peterson answered his smile, but said obstinately, â€Å"I'm sure of it.† â€Å"You may be right.† Dedham paused. â€Å"It wouldn't surprise me; it gave them time to look at us a little without seeming to.† â€Å"A little!† Sir Charles broke out. â€Å"Man, they were here less than two hours! How can they – he – conclude anything about us in so little time? He gave us no chance.† The tension returned. Dedham said cautiously: â€Å"I daresay he thought he was giving us a chance.† â€Å"I am not happy with any man so hasty,† said Sir Charles sadly; and the pompous ridiculousness of his words was belied by his tired and worried face. His wife touched his hand where she sat on his right, and he turned to her and smiled. He looked around the table; both Peterson and Dedham avoided his gaze. He said, lightly, almost gaily, â€Å"It's simple enough. He wants arms, men, companies, regiments – help to close the mountain passes. He, it would appear, does not like the idea of the Northerners pouring through his country.† â€Å"Which is reasonable,† said Dedham carefully. â€Å"His country would be turned into a battlefield, between the Northerners and †¦ us. There aren't enough Hillfolk to engage the Northerners for any length of time. His country would be overrun, perhaps destroyed, in the process. Or at least annexed by the victor,† he added under his breath. â€Å"We couldn't possibly do as he asked,† Sir Charles said, lapsing back to speaking his thoughts aloud. â€Å"We aren't even sure what the Northerners mean toward us at present.† Peterson said shortly: â€Å"The Hillfolk's attitude toward the North being what it is, I feel certain that Corlath's spy system is a good one.† â€Å"We offered cooperation,† Sir Charles said. â€Å"Capitulation, you mean,† Peterson replied in his blunt way. â€Å"His.† Sir Charles frowned. â€Å"If he would agree to put himself and his people entirely under our administration – â€Å" â€Å"Now, Bob,† Dedham said. â€Å"That's what it amounts to,† Peterson said. â€Å"He should give up his country's freedom – that they've hung on to, despite us, all these years – â€Å" â€Å"It is not unusual that a smaller country should put itself under the protection of a larger, when the situation demands it,† Sir Charles said stiffly. Before Peterson had a chance to reply, Dedham put in hastily: â€Å"What it comes down to is that he is too proud to hear our terms, and we are – er – we cannot risk giving – lending – him troops on his terms.† â€Å"The Queen and Council would be most displeased with us if we precipitated an unnecessary war,† said Sir Charles in his best commissioner's voice, and Peterson grunted. â€Å"We know nothing about the man,† Sir Charles continued plaintively. â€Å"We know that he wants to keep the Northerners out of Daria,† Peterson muttered; but Dedham moved in his chair in a gesture Harry correctly translated as bestowing a swift kick on Peterson's ankle; and Peterson subsided. â€Å"And he would not stay to parley,† Dedham finished. â€Å"And here we are, feeling as if we'd all been hit in the head.† Corlath paced up and down the length of his tent as his Riders gathered. He paused at one end of the tent and stared at the close-woven horsehair. The wall moved, for the desert wind was never still. There were so few of the Hillfolk left; in spite of the small hidden tribes who had come out of their fastnesses to pledge to Damar's black-and-white banner after generations of isolation. Corlath had worked hard to reunite the Free that remained – but for what, when one thought of the thousands of Northerners, and eventually the thousands of Outlanders who would meet them? – for the Outlanders would learn soon enough about the Northerners' plans for southern conquest. Between them they would tear his country to shreds. His people would fight; he knew with a sad sore pride that they would hold on till the last of them was killed, if it came to that. At best they would be able to continue to live in the Hills: in small secret pockets of their Hills, hiding in caves and gathe ring food in the darkness, slipping away like mice in the shadows, avoiding those who held their land, claimed it and ruled it. The old Damar, before the civil wars, before the Outlanders, was only a wistful legend to his people now; how much less it would be when there were only a few handfuls of the Free living like beggars or robbers in their own Hills. But he could not submit them to the Outlanders' †¦ practical benevolence, he called it after a moment's struggle with himself. For his army to be commanded by Outlander generals †¦ The corners of his mouth turned up. There was some bitter humor in the idea of the pragmatic Outlanders caught in a storm of kelar from both their allies and their opponents. He sighed. Even if by some miracle the Outlanders had agreed to help him, they would have refused to accept the kelar protection necessary – they didn't believe kelar existed. It was a pity there was no non-fatal way to prove to them otherwise. He thought of the man who had spoken to him last, the grey-haired man. There had almost been a belief in him – belief in the ways of the Hills, that Corlath had read in his face; they might have been able to speak together. That man spoke the Hill tongue understandably at least – although he may not have known quite what he was offering in his few words of the Old Tongue. Poor Forloy: the only one of his Riders who knew even as much of the Outlander tongue as Corlath did. As an unwelcome envoy in a state far more powerful than his own, he had felt the need of even the few minutes a translator might buy him, to watch the faces of those he wished to convince. Why wasn't there some other way? For a moment the heavy cloth before him took on a tint of gold; the gold framed what might have been a face, and pale eyes looked at him – She's nothing to do with this. He turned away abruptly and found his Riders all seated, watching him, waiting. â€Å"You already know – it is no good.† They bowed their heads once in acknowledgment, but there was no surprise on their faces. â€Å"There never was much chance – † He broke off as one of his audience dropped his head a little farther than the seriousness of the occasion demanded, and added, â€Å"Very well, Faran, there wasn't any chance.† Faran looked up, and saw the dawn of a smile on his king's face, the nearest thing to a smile anyone had seen on the king's face for days past. â€Å"No chance,† Corlath repeated. â€Å"But I felt, um, obliged to try.† He looked up at the ceiling for a minute. â€Å"At least it's all over now,† he said. Now that any chance of outside assistance had been eliminated, it was time to turn to how best to guard their mountains alone. The Northerners had tried to break through the mountains before, for they had always been greedy and fond of war; but while they were cunning, they were also treacherous, and trusted nobody because they knew they themselves were not to be trusted. For many years this had been a safeguard to the Hillfolk, because the Northerners could not band together long enough or in great enough numbers to be a major threat to their neighbors. But in the last quarter-century a strong man had arisen from the ranks of the petty generals: a strong man with a little non-human blood in him, which granted him a ruthlessness beyond even the common grain of Northern malice; and from whatever source he drew his power, he was also a great magician, with skills enough to bring all the bands that prowled the Northlands, human and non-human alike, under his command. His name was Thurra. Corlath knew, dispassionately, that Thurra's empire would not last; his son, or at most his son's son, would fail, and the Northerners break up and return to their smaller, nastier internecine quarrels. Corlath's father, and then Corlath, had watched Thurra's rise through their spies, and Corlath knew or could guess something of the cost of the power he chose to wield, and so knew that Thurra would not himself live much longer than an ordinary man. Since the Hill-kings lived long, it might be within Corlath's own lifetime that, even if the Northerners won the coming war, he would be able to lead his people in a successful rebellion; but by then there might not be enough of the country left to rebel, or to live off of after the rebellion was finished. Not much more than five hundred years ago – in Aerin's day – the desert his tent was pitched on had been meadow and forest. The last level arable land his people had left to them was the plain before the great gap in the mo untains where the Northern army would come. Sir Charles might beg off now while the Northerners had not yet attacked any Outlander-held lands. But once they had cut through the Hillfolk they would certainly try to seize what more they could. The entire Darian continent might fall into the mad eager hands of Thurra and his mob, many of them less human than he; and then the Outlanders would know more than they wished of wizardry. And if the Outlanders won? Corlath did not know how many troops the Outlanders had to throw into the battle, once the battle was engaged; they would learn, terribly, of kelar at Thurra's hands. But even kelar was limited at last; and the Outlanders were stubborn, and, in their stubbornness, courageous; often they were stupid, oftener ineffectual, and they believed nothing they could not see with their eyes. But they did try hard, by their lights, and they were often kind. If the Outlanders won, they would send doctors and farmers and seeds and plows and bricklayers, and within a generation his people would be as faceless as the rest of the Outlander Darians. And the Outlanders were very able administrators, by sheer brute persistence. What they once got their hands on, they held. There would be no rebellion that Corlath would ever see. It was not pleasant to hope for a Northern victory. His Riders knew most of this, even if they did not see it with the dire clarity Corlath was forced to; and it provided a background to Corlath's orders now. King's Riders were not given to arguing with their king; but Corlath was an informal man, except occasionally when he was in the grip of his Gift and couldn't listen very well to anything else, and usually encouraged conversation. But this afternoon the Riders were a silent group, and Corlath, when he came to the end of what he had to say, simply stopped speaking. Corlath's surprise was no less than that of his men as he heard himself say: â€Å"One last thing. I'm going back to the Outlander town. The girl – the girl with the yellow hair. She comes with us.†