Carrying a Concealed Handgun Essay Example for Free

Carrying a Concealed Handgun Essay Carrying a concealed handgun is widely argued. It is legal in 49 states. Many people think carrying a gun will increase crime and start public shootouts. This is not the case. Carrying a concealed handgun is okay. It is also a right protected by the Constitution. In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects â€Å"the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation. This meaning is strongly confirmed by the historical background of the Second Amendment. † Handguns aren’t given to just anyone that walks in. The Gun Control Act of 1968 limits who can receive a handgun. Criminals cannot receive permits to carry a concealed handgun. Law enforcement agencies do background checks to ensure they are allowing the right people to carry a handgun. The mentally ill are also included in the Gun Control Act. If someone commits a crime with a legal carry permit, they would do it whether the handgun was legal or not. This doesn’t happen often though. According to ConcealedGuns.ProCon.org, only .003 % of murders between May 2007 and March 2010 were committed by handgun permit holders. The website also shows that the â€Å"general public is 5.7 times more likely to be arrested for violent offenses and 13.5 times more likely to be arrested for non-violent offenses, than concealed carry weapon permit holders.† Concealed handgun permit holders are, for the most part, good people. Some do lose their permits but permit revocation rates are very low. The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute Report, Concealed Carry Legislation, shares this data: -In 2004, Utah had a permit revocation rate of .4% -From 1986-2003, Kentucky had a permit revocation rate of .8% -In 2001, Indiana had a permit revocation rate of .2% -From 1995 to 2005, NorthCarolina had a permit revocation rate of .1% -From 1995-2006, Virginia had a permit revocation rate of .2% -From 1994-1996, Wyoming had a permit revocation rate of .2% -From 1996-1999, Oklahoma had a permit revocation rate of .2% This data clearly shows that only a very small group of people do something to have their permit revoked. It also means that a vast majority of permit holders are responsible, law abiding citizens. The handgun itself doesn’t have to do the defending. If a criminal knows that individuals can carry handguns, they are less likely to attack, which helps the public as a whole. If someone carrying a handgun and is attacked, the attacker usually retreats when the handgun is drawn. The police do not have to protect us. According to www.nraila.org, the Warren v. District of Columbia (1981) court ruled that â€Å"official police personnel and the government employing them are not generally liable to victims of criminal acts for failure to provide adequate police protection . . . a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any particular citizen.† Also, the court ruled in Bowers v. DeVito (1982) that â€Å"[T]here is no constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered by criminals or madmen.† The government cannot guarantee the safety of everyone. Personal protection is important. Carrying a handgun also makes the carrier feel safe. Americans should not be scared going outside at night or walking through certain neighborhoods. Concealed handguns could also aid in public shooting sprees. If the individuals in the Virginia Tech or any other public shooting massacre had been armed, the spree could have ended much sooner. Some believe the massacre would have been made worse but what could be worse than a 32-victim massacre? Most of the victims were of legal age to possess a firearm. If they had been allowed a handgun on campus, could lives have been saved? I strongly believe so. With that said, this doesn’t mean people should run around as vigilantes hunting down criminals. The concealed carry permit holders are not the police. They do not have the authority to shoot just anyone. There are laws that make sure this doesn’t happen. Handguns would just be used for defense. Although you can’t run around fighting crime, your situational awareness while carrying a handgun will go up. You know that you are carrying and anyone else can be carrying too. This situational awareness can help you deal with bad situations or even prevent them. How do schools fit into this? Legally, a person with a concealed handgun cannot be within one thousand feet of a K-12 school. For the most part, concealed weapons are not allowed on college campuses either. This creates a large upset in the college community. Very few colleges have allowed students to carry concealed weapons. There have been no problems. Twelve schools, from Virginia, Colorado, and Utah, have allowed students with handgun permits to carry them on campus. Not one of these schools has had a handgun-related problem. This includes murder, suicide, threats, and handgun theft. Some believe that carrying handguns will distract students from the educational environment. These handguns are concealed. People should not know if you are carrying one or not. The students aren’t distracted in their daily lives by handgun permit holders so why should the college campus be any different? The same goes for the argument that guns and crowded schools don’t mix. Public areas are crowded too. College students are adults. A twenty one year old who is not in college can have a concealed handgun so why can’t an individual who is in college have one? They know what they are doing. They still have to follow the handgun laws like any other permit holder. College life may be defined with alcohol and drugs but the law doesn’t make exceptions for college parties. If an individual is intoxicated, they cannot be carrying their weapon. In the end, handguns are not a bad thing to carry. They can protect you in many ways. Crime rates may drop if criminals are too scared to attack. Carrying a concealed handgun is a right given to Americans. It should not be wasted. Almost all legal permit holders are law abiding. Guns can help.

Quality and Performance Management Methods in Healthcare

Quality and Performance Management Methods in Healthcare Teams and Team Building In the long-term health care industry, ongoing improvement is vital to quality patient medical attention. To achieve this goal of value improvement, a long-term health facility needs to make use of the learning, abilities, encounters, and points of view of an extensive variety of people; aka brainstorming. A quality improvement (QI) project requires critical thinking, numerous choices, and successful arrangements that include complex frameworks. Recognition of the importance of team-building practices, as well as retaining staff, play an important part in successful health care administration. An exhaustive multidisciplinary approach by a QI team is preferred over individual leaders, especially when: A project is multifaceted for example, the evolution of a traditional nursing home into a more progressive, protective-care nurturing habitat. Creativity is essential because the route to development is indistinct we must come up with non-traditional approaches that fit the lifestyles affected by todays technology. Well-organized use of resources is mandatory -projects must try to stay within allocated budget, with an eye to quality/cost. Teamwork is indispensable to implementation akin to driving a vehicle, all motion must be in the same direction; the entire team must be on the same page for success to happen. Team members are stakeholders in the result let it be common knowledge that all staff members have a stake in being associated with this highly-regarded organization; prestige as well as financial gain associated with a successful medical facility is a persuasive factor. The procedure involved is cross-functional involving people or departments who do different types of work for the same company. For example, this could include the Chief Medical Compliance Officer, the Chief Information Officer, and an internal audit. No one person has enough information to solve the problem (Improvement teams, n.d.). A health facility cannot be managed by a single individual; the expertise of persons with various talents are needed to successful run a medical organization. The brainstorming approachs advantages emerge from group collaboration and quick generation of new concepts. One of the significant focal points of the technique might be the enhanced confidence that it creates in the team, because a well-directed session ordinarily empowers the group and can improve team cohesiveness (Lighter, 2011). This approach gives people the confidence to contribute their ideas without fear of malicious criticism. Steps involved in upgrading and maintaining a top-quality long-term health care facility would: Characterize zones that require consideration with an issue statement that is clear, centered, and generally defined. Give groundwork on the issue through a short synopsis sheet or data handout for the team. Select participants according to what they are best at and most interested in, much as the selection process for any other team. Expect writers block and prepare by having some motivational questions at hand. Direct the session with the facilitator leading and recording, guaranteeing that thoughts and conversations are documented (Lighter, 2011). Ideally, my team would be as diverse as the population it serves. A varied patient base demands a multicultural health care staff to deliver relevant, quality medical attention that is received well by the public. An essential element in providing quality care is provider stability; a leader in the health care profession must provide an environment that encourages top-performing staff members to stay with the organization. A high turnover rate is counterproductive to implementation of a successful plan. This is an issue, as per a 2011 American Health Care Association study, the average nursing home turnover rate is 35 percent for all staff and 43 percent for CNAs. In dissimilarity, Fortune magazine reports that the 100 best companies to work for in 2011 had a turnover rate of 3 percent or less. Obviously, most nursing homes need staff retention strategies (Group, 2012). Teams improve the performance of healthcare organizations by collaborating to create successful clinical outcomes, patient experiences and reduce organizational costs. References: Group, V. (2012, June 4). 5 team building practices that will make your staff want to stay. Retrieved February 23, 2017, from http://www.iadvanceseniorcare.com/article/5-team-building-practices-will-make-your-staff-want-stay Improvement teams. Retrieved February 23, 2017, from https://www.hrsa.gov/quality/toolbox/methodology/improvementteams/part2.html Lighter, D. E. (2011). Advanced performance improvement in health care: Principles and methods. Sudbury, PA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Accountability for Reasonableness for Priority Setting

Accountability for Reasonableness for Priority Setting Essay Accountability for Reasonableness, for priority setting and resource allocation. INTRODUCTION Pakistan as a developing country has very limited health care resources when  considering a huge population of over 170 million. We have very few tertiary care  hospitals and they are providing services to the whole country. Majority of people in  our country are poor and they are unable to afford the expenses of private hospitals,  though private hospitals are also very few. Thousands of doctors are unemployed  and still we have shortage of doctors. Majority of BHU (Basic Health Units) are  closed as majority of doctors belong to urban areas and they don’t want to work in  remote village areas. In all these situations, it is very difficult to maintain health  care throughout country. In this essay, I will take into account four conditions of  accountability for reasonableness for priority setting and resource allocation. I will  take into account these four conditions by Norman Daniels and I will consider a  tertiary care hospital scenario where I did my house job in medicine ward last year. There were majority of patients suffering from chronic liver diseases (CLD). I will  further continue this essay in discussion. DISCUSSION Before discussing the four conditions of accountability for reasonableness, I will  briefly discuss the case scenario. In my medicine ward as I earlier said majority of  patients were of chronic liver diseases (CLD) and it includes Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C  and cirrhosis of liver. Cirrhosis is the end result of hepatocellular injury that leads  to both fibrosis and nodular regeneration throughout the liver. The clinical features  result from hepatic cell dysfunction, portosystemic shunting, and portal  hypertension. Cirrhosis may cause no symptoms for long periods. One of the major  complications is uppergastrointestinal tract bleeding which may occur from varices,  portal hypertensive gastropathy, or gastroduodenal ulcer. Hemorrhage may be  massive, resulting in fatal exsanguinations or enencephalopathy. Esophageal varices  are found in 50 % of patients with cirrhosis. There are several treatment and  management options available for esophageal varices includin g acute resuscitation  as initial management, pharmacologic therapy, balloon tube tamponade, portal  decompressive procedures and emergent endoscopy. Endoscopic techniques are also  used for prevention of Rebleeding. 1. Now, I will discuss my case scenario. In our  hospital there is one associate professor who is trained in doing endoscopy and  Wednesday is fixed for performing endoscopies. Emergent endoscopy is performed  after the patient’s hemodynamic status has been appropriately stabilized (usually  within 2-12 hours). Majority of poor patients come to hospital in end stage liver  diseases. I have taken this case series as it is a perfect example of scarce resources. Many patients faced problems as their endoscopies were not performed on time as  there was only one day fixed in a week. Now I will apply the four conditions of  accountability for reasonableness for priority setting and resource allocation. These  four conditions are publicity condition, relevance condition, revisions and appeals  condition and regulative condition. Accountability for reasonableness makes it  possible to educate all stakeholders about the substance of deliberation about fair  decisions under resource constraints. It facilitates social learning about limits. It  connects decision making in healthcare institutions to broader, more fundamental  democratic deliberative processes. 2. In my case scenario I will apply the four  conditions as follows. The first one is publicity condition. It states that decisions  regarding limits to care and their rationales must be publicly accessible to clinicians,  patients, and citizens in a publicly administered system. When the patients suffer  the complication of esophageal varices, they are informed about the limited capacity  of the ward to arrange endoscopy as it is done on only Wednesdays and surgical  ward have their own burden of patients to be done endoscopies, due to this reason  we were unable to send patients to surgical wards and the patients and their  relatives mostly agrees on this setup and if their was any emergency only then we  take help from surgical ward or send the patients to any other hospital, so the first  condition is fulfilled. In above scenario second condition is also fulfilled which isrelevance condition. It states that the reasons for limit-setting decisions will be  reasonable if it appeals to evidence, reason, and principles that are accepted as  relevant by fair-minded people who are disposed to finding mutually justifiable  terms of cooperation. In my case scenario the decision making is according to the  framework. The rationales w ere reasonable as it is evident that we had limited  facility of endoscopy and it was fairly accepted by patients and their relatives and  also by doctors and other hospital staff. In our setup priority was given to those  patients who needed emergency endoscopy rather than those who requires  endoscopy for diagnostic procedures. The third condition is revisions and appeals  condition. This condition is a very common problem in government hospitals and in  our scenario we request consultants from surgical ward to do emergency endoscopy  if we think patient is serious and he or she may die if the endoscopy is not  performed on time or in other case the other hospital is very far so that it will be late  if we send the patient to other setup and here comes the function of oncall  consultants also, the oncall consultants plays huge role in these emergency  situations. This third condition is a mechanism for challenge and dispute resolution regarding limit setting decisions, including the opportunity for revising decisions in  light of further evidence or arguments. 3. Thus we fulfill the third condition also by  revising our decisions as I explained above. The fourth and last condition is  regulative condition or enforcement. There is either voluntary or public regulation  of the process to ensure that conditions 1-3 are met. This condition is also fulfilled in  our setup as we communicate with the patient and their relatives about our limited  resources. We are able to convince patients in our case scenario. The hospital  leadership is constantly making efforts to meet the conditions of ‘accountability for  reasonableness’. 4. CONCLUSION In this essay I have discussed all four conditions of accountability for  reasonableness, for priority setting and resource allocation. ‘Accountability for  reasonableness’ is a framework that can be used to guide legitimate and fair priority  setting in health care organizations, such as hospitals. In our beloved country  Pakistan we have few government civil hospitals bearing the burden of millions of  population. We try our best to server the humanity. Iam not claiming this system a  perfect one, it needs a lot of improvement and the example is my case scenario in  which we have very limited resources. Government should establish civil hospitals in  small cities also and should increase their budget; they should recruit more doctors  and nurses as we have shortage. They should train doctors with latest equipments  and provide hospitals appropriate medicines. In addition to this all the hospitals  should be provided with computers and also be made online so that a data system  can be established and it can help the patients and also hospitals for future  reference. I will conclude by saying that in such scarce resources, government sector  hospitals are doing excellent job. REFERENCES Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 2004. 43rd edition. Norman Daniels. (2000). Accountability for reasonableness. BMJ; 321; 1300-  1301. D K Martin, P A Singer and M Bernstein. (2003). Access to intensive care  unit beds for neurosurgery patients: a qualitative case study. J. Neurol.  Neurosurg. Psychiatry; 74; 1299-1303. Jennifer AH Bell, Sylvia Hyland, Tania DePellegrin, Ross EG Upshur, Mark  Bernstein and Douglas K Martin. (2004). SARS and hospital priority setting:  a qualitative case study and evaluation. BMC Health Services Research, 4:36

Reality in Fenimore Coopers The Pioneers :: Cooper Pioneers Essays

Reality in Fenimore Cooper's The Pioneers Looking back on the mountain-view that was described as the main character's of Fenimore Cooper's The Pioneers caught sight of Templeton, their hometown, in the distance, Elizabeth, the primary female character, "felt as if all the loveliness of the mountain-view had vanished like the fancies of a dream" (59). While it may be true that during the moments that Elizabeth looked down on the scene, the scene was her reality, this reality was not an accurate portrayal of the town itself†¹the point of Elizabeth's comment. For both Elizabeth and the reader (through Cooper) in the mountain-view the reality of objects was forgotten because no detail was available from the distance at which the party stood. Once the reality was forgotten each of the objects took on qualities not implicit in the object itself. That is, the objects and the scene were idealized. Both Cooper and Elizabeth, then, seemed to take part in the "action of inventing imaginary states of things," the Oxford English D ictionary's definition for fiction. The most significant precursor to this fictive account is the change in scale of that occurs. Before the description of the mountain-view commenced Cooper tells of the horses pulling the parties sleigh: "The horses soon reached a point, where they seemed to know by instinct that the journey was nearly ended, and, bearing in the bits, as they nodded their heads, they rapidly drew the sleigh over the level land." The details of the horses movements explain the senses of the riders and the reality of the situation. Sleighs viewed during the description of the mountain-view, however, are no more than "a few dark and moving spots." This change in scale obscures all details in the objects being observed. A moment later the "habitations of man" are also called "spots of white . . . amidst the forest." Even when closer scrutiny is given to less distant "habitations," only the color is mentioned. In this scene few details of the objects that comprise the scene are given, instead the objects t hemselves are the details. There is nothing in this lack of details that is fictional, or inventive in itself. But once the details are gone Cooper is not tied down by actual elements of the objects when giving them further meaning. Cooper's primary method of ascribing further meaning to the objects is through anthropomorphism. A tree

Identifying DNA Abnormalities Through Genetic Testing Essay -- presymp

Genetic testing involves examining an individual’s DNA and identifying abnormalities within the chemical makeup of specific structures. It, essentially, maps the person’s genome and can be interpreted to predict future issues. By analyzing the chromosome, genes, and even certain proteins, physicians and researchers can find changes that lead to inheritable disorders. These changes can lead to possible diagnosis or cure for the disorder in question. In most cases, genetic testing is used to determine the probability that an individual will develop a certain disorder. It is not used to specifically diagnose a disorder, as there are no techniques that are 100% accurate. Genetic testing techniques do give good evidence to confirm a physician’s findings, but it is not the first act a physician takes to diagnose a disorder. It can narrow a search or rule out a specific disorder very confidently, but making a diagnosis based solely on genetic testing is not an action th at a qualified medical professional would consider. There are many types of genetic tests that are administered to the adult population. The more commonly used genetic tests are paternity tests, genealogical tests, and forensic testing. They are quite self-explanatory; paternity tests are to determine relatedness of 2 subjects, genealogical tests are used to formulate a heritage or ancestry, and forensic testing is used to identify or rule out a person that has been charged with a crime. Other genetic tests include presymptomatic testing, used to determine the risk someone has to developing a genetic disorder, diagnostic screening, used to rule out or identify a suspected condition, and carrier screening, used to determine if an individual carries one copy of a gene mutati... ...sts? Genetics Home Reference. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/testing/uses 2. NOVA. (2012). Cracking Your Genetic Code USA: Public Broadcasting Service. 3. Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2012, September 28). What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Sickle Cell Anemia? NHLBI, NIH. Retrieved April 30, 2014, from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sca/signs.html 4. Hamosh, A. (1999, June 13). OMIM Entry - # 603903 - SICKLE CELL ANEMIA. OMIM Entry - # 603903 - SICKLE CELL ANEMIA. Retrieved April 26, 2014, from http://www.omim.org/entry/603903?search=sickle%20cell%20anemia&highlight=cell%20anemia%20anaemia%20sickle 5. National Library of Medicine. (2014, April 28). What are the risks and limitations of genetic testing? Genetics Home Reference. Retrieved April 24, 2014, http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/testing/riskslimitations

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 24

No peck on the lips was going to satisfy Damon, Elena thought. On the other hand, Matt was going to need outright seduction before he would give in. Fortunately Elena had broken the Matt Honeycutt code long ago. And she planned to be remorseless in using what she had learned on his weakened, susceptible body. But Matt could be far too stubborn for his own good. He allowed Elena to put her soft lips against his, he allowed her to put her arms around him. But when Elena tried to do some of the things he liked most – like running her nails down his spine, or touching her tongue tip lightly to his closed lips – he clamped his teeth shut. He wouldn't put an arm around her. Elena let go of him and sighed. Then she felt a crawling sensation between her shoulder blades, as if she were being watched but a hundred times stronger. She glanced back to see Damon standing at a distance with his Virginia pine rod, but she couldn't find anything unusual. She glanced back once more – and had to cram a fist into her mouth. Damon wasthere ; right behind her; so close that you couldn't have gotten two fingers between the front of her body and the front of his. She didn't know why her arm hadn't hit him. Her whirl actually trapped her in between two male bodies. But how had he done it? There had been no time to travel the distance of the clearing from where Damon had been standing to one inch behind her in the second that she had glanced away. Nor had there been any sound as he'd walked across the pine needles toward them; like the Ferrari, he was just – there. Elena swallowed the scream that was desperately trying to get out of her lungs, and tried to breathe. Her own body was rigid with fear. Matt was trembling slightly behind her. Damon was leaning in, and all she could smell was the sweetness of pine resin. Something's wrong with him. Something's wrong. â€Å"You know what,† Damon said, leaning forward even farther so that she had to lean backward against Matt, so that, even spooned against Matt's shaking body, she was looking straight into the Ray-Bans from a distance of three inches. â€Å"That gets you a grade of a D minus.† Now Elena was shaking as well as Matt. But she had to get a grip on herself, had to meet this aggression head-on. The more passive she and Matt were, the more time Damon had to think. Elena's mind was in feverish scheming mode. He may not be reading our minds, she thought, but he can certainly tell if we're telling the truth or lying. That's normal for a vampire who drinks human blood. What can we make of that? What can we do with it? â€Å"That was a greeting kiss,† she said boldly. â€Å"It's to identify the person that you're meeting, so you'll always know them afterwards. Even – even prairie hamsters do it. Now – please – could we move just a little, Damon? I'm getting crushed.† And this is just much too provocative a position, she thought. For everybody involved. â€Å"One more chance,† Damon said, and this time he didn't smile. â€Å"I want to see a kiss – a real kiss – between you. Or else.† Elena twisted in the tight space. Her eyes searched Matt's. They had, after all, been boyfriend and girlfriend for quite a while last year. Elena saw the look in Matt's blue eyes: hewanted to kiss her, as much as he could want anything after that pain. And he realized that she'd had to go through all that fancy footwork to save him from Damon. Somehow, we'll get out, Elena thought to him. Now, will you cooperate? Some boys didn't have buttons in the selfish sensations area of their brain. Some, like Matt, had buttons labeledHONOR or GUILT . Now Matt held still as she took his face between her hands, tilting it down and going up on her toes to kiss him, because he'd grown so much. She thought of their first real kiss, in his car on the way home from a minor school dance. He'd been terrified, his hands damp, his whole interior quaking. She'd been cool, experienced, gentle. And so she was now, drawing a warm tongue tip to melt his frozen lips apart. And just in case Damon was eavesdropping on her thoughts, she kept them strictly on Matt, on his sunshiny looks and his warm friendship and on the gallantry and courtesy that he had always shown to her, even when she broke up with him. She wasn't aware when his arms went around her shoulders or when he took control of the kiss, like a person dying of thirst who's finally found water. She could see it clearly in his mind: he'd never thought he'd kiss Elena Gilbert like this again. Elena didn't know how long it lasted. Finally she unwound her arms from around Matt's neck and stepped back. And then she realized something. It was no accident that Damon had sounded like a film director. He was holding up a palm-sized video camera, staring into the viewfinder. He'd captured the whole thing. With Elena clearly visible. She had no idea what had happened to the disguising baseball cap and dark glasses. Her hair was disordered and her breathing came quickly, involuntarily. The blood had risen to the surface of her skin. Matt didn't look much more together than she felt. Damon looked up from the viewfinder. â€Å"What do you want that for?† Matt growled in tones completely unlike his normal voice. The kiss had affected him, too, Elena thought. More so than her. Damon picked up his branch again and again waved the end of it like a Japanese fan. Pine aroma wafted by Elena. He looked considering, as though he might ask for a retake, then changed his mind, smiled brilliantly at them, and tucked the video camera into a pocket. â€Å"All you need to know is that it was a perfect take.† â€Å"Then we're leaving.† The kiss seemed to have given Matt new strength, even if it was for saying the wrong type of things. â€Å"Right now.† â€Å"Oh, no, but keep that dominant, aggressive attitude. As you remove her shirt.† â€Å"What?† Damon repeated the words in the tones of a director giving an actor complicated instructions. â€Å"Undo the buttons of her shirt, please, and take it off.† â€Å"You'recrazy .† Matt turned and looked at Elena, stopped aghast to see the expression on her face, the single tear running down the eye not hidden. â€Å"Elena†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He moved around, but she moved too. He couldn't get her to look him in the face. At last, she stopped, stood with her eyes down and leaking tears. He couldfeel the heat radiating from her cheeks. â€Å"Elena, let's fight him. Don't you remember how you fought the bad things in Stefan's room?† â€Å"But this is worse, Matt. I've never felt anything this bad before. This strong. It's – pressing on me.† â€Å"You don't mean we should give in to him†¦?†That was what Mattsaid and he sounded as if he were on the verge of being ill. What his clear blue eyes said was simpler. They said:No. Not if he kills me for refusing. â€Å"I mean†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena turned suddenly back to Damon. â€Å"Let him go,† she said. â€Å"This is between you and me. Let's settle it ourselves.† She was damned well going to save Matt, even if he didn't want to be saved. I'll do what you want,she thought as hard as she could to Damon, hoping he would pick some of it up. After all, he'd bled her against her will – at least initially – before. She could live through him doing it again. â€Å"Yes, you'll doeverything I want,† Damon said, proving that he could read her thoughts even more clearly than she'd imagined. â€Å"But the question is, after how much?† He didn't say how much what. He didn't have to. â€Å"Now, I know I just gave you an order,† he added, half turning toward Matt but with his eyes still on Elena, â€Å"because I can still see you picturing it in your mind. But – â€Å" Elena saw the look in Matt's eyes then, and the flaming of his cheeks, and she knew – and immediately tried to hide the knowledge from Damon – what he was going to do. He was going to commit suicide. â€Å"If we can't talk you out of it, we can't talk you out of it,† Meredith said to Mrs. Flowers. â€Å"But – there are things out there – â€Å" â€Å"Yes, dear, I know. And the sun is going down. It's a bad time to be outside. But as my mother always said, two witches are better than one.† She gave Bonnie an absent smile. â€Å"And as you very kindly did not say before, I am very old. Why, I can remember the days before the first motorcars and airplanes. I might have knowledge that would help you in your quest for your friends – and on the other hand, I am dispensable.† â€Å"You certainly are not,† Bonnie said fervently. They were using up Elena's wardrobe now, piling on the clothes. Meredith had picked up the duffel bag with Stefan's clothes in it and dumped it on his bed, but the first time she picked up a shirt, she dropped it again. â€Å"Bonnie, you might take something of Stefan's with you as we go,† she said. â€Å"See if you get any impressions from it. Um, maybe you too, Mrs. Flowers?† she added. Bonnie understood. It was one thing to let somebody call themselves a witch; it was another thing to call someone very much your senior one. The last layer of Bonnie's wardrobe was one of Stefan's shirts, and Mrs. Flowers tucked one of his socks in her pocket. â€Å"But I won't go out the front door,† Bonnie said adamantly. She couldn't even bear to imagine the mess. â€Å"All right, so we go out the back,† Meredith said, flipping Stefan's lamp off. â€Å"Come on.† They were actually walking out the back door when the front doorbell rang. They all three exchanged glances. Then Meredith wheeled, â€Å"It could be them!† And she hastened back to the dim front of the house. Bonnie and Mrs. Flowers followed more slowly. Bonnie shut her eyes as she heard the door open. When there were no immediate exclamations about the mess, she opened them a slit. There was no sign that anything unusual had happened outside the door. No smashed insect bodies – no dead or dying bugs on the front porch. Hairs on the back of Bonnie's neck rose. Not that she wanted to see the malach. But she did want to know what had happened to them. Automatically, one hand went to her hair, to feel if a tendril had been left behind. Nothing. â€Å"I'm looking for Matthew Honeycutt.† The voice cut into Bonnie's reverie like a hot knife through butter, and Bonnie's eyes snapped all the way open. Yes, it was Sheriff Rich Mooseburger and he was all there, from shiny boots to crisp collar. Bonnie opened her mouth, but Meredith spoke first. â€Å"This is not Matt's house,† she said, her tone quiet, her voice even. â€Å"In fact I have already been to the Honeycutt house. And to the Sulez house and the McCulloughs'. Every one of them, in fact, suggested that if Matt weren't at one of those places, he might be out here with you.† Bonnie wanted to kick him in the shins. â€Å"Matt hasn't been stealing stop signs! He would never, ever,ever do something like that. And I wish to God I knew where he was, but I don't. None of us do!† She stopped, with the feeling that she might have said too much. â€Å"And your names are?† Mrs. Flowers took over. â€Å"This is Bonnie McCullough, and Meredith Sulez. I am Mrs. Flowers, the owner of this boardinghouse, and I believe I can second Bonnie's remarks about the stop signs – â€Å" â€Å"In fact this is more serious than missing road signs, ma'am. Matthew Honeycutt is under suspicion of assaulting a young woman. There is considerable physical evidence to support her story. And she claims that they have known each other since childhood, so there can be no mistake as to identity.† There was a moment of stunned silence, and then Bonnie almost shouted, â€Å"She? Shewho ?† â€Å"Miss Caroline Forbes is the complainant. And I would in fact suggest, if any of the three of you should happen to see Mr. Honeycutt, that you advise him to turn himself in. Before he is taken by force into custody.† He took a step toward them as if threatening to come through the door, but Mrs. Flowers silently barred the way. â€Å"In fact,† Meredith said, regaining her composure, â€Å"I'm sure you realize that you need a warrant to enter these premises. Do you have one?† Sheriff Mossberg didn't answer. He made a sharp little right turn, walked down the pathway to his sheriff's car, and disappeared.

Is it valid to make distinctions between ‘high’ and’ low’ or ‘popular art? Essay

What purposes do these categories serve? At one time most people would have understood , when looking at apiece of art, whether to fit it into the category of high or low art. You looked at such things as the quality of the brushwork, the exactness of the representation. Then paint in tubes was invented the mid 19th century and the Impressionists were in the vanguard of almost instant art. They were rejected at first of course, but now seem to be highly acceptable when one considers the prices that might be paid for works by Renoir or Degas – however blurry the outlines. Is abstract art high art? It is a newer form of course and many are still making up their minds about such artists as Jackson Pollack. And where do you fit the works of modern artists such as Tracy Emin. Few would consider graffiti as art, but cities such as Philadelphia are legitimising the work of graffiti artists by spending public money to promote it. Emin’s unmade bed won the Turner prize. Whatever else it did it certainly did what the artist intended – it shocked. Contemporary art such as this draws huge crowds Perhaps the distinction should rather be between good and bad art, good being art that clearly displays whatever it was the artist intended and the bad that which does not. This division would not depend upon techniques used or the insurance value of a piece, but whether it achieves what it was meant to achieve i. e. whether or no the viewer sees what they were intended to see. Art will always provoke reaction. To judge it on grounds of being either ’high’ or low’ smacks somewhat of elitism – an attitude of ‘What we like is better than what you like’. Meanwhile many would just say ‘I know what I like ’ whether that be Gainsborough or Andy Warhol. Electronic Sources Art and the power to shock, Northern Echo, 25th February 2004 http://archive. thisisthenortheast. co. uk/2004/2/25/60621. html retrieved 28th October 2007 Philadelphia Mural Arts Program found at http://www. muralarts. org/about/ retrieved 28th October 2007/.