Tuesday, January 28, 2020
The Current Climate Change Trend In Malaysia
The Current Climate Change Trend In Malaysia Climate change is rapidly increased and become very serious global issue. The emission and concentration of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases is affecting the increase in temperature, and thus leading to global warming. The world community is very concerned with the impacts of climate change and the current series of extreme weathers that could possibly affect the global climate systems. In developed countries such USA, Europe and Japan, their community are increasingly aware of and concerned about global climate change and supportive of a wide range of mitigation and adaptation policies. Unfortunately, we also still know very little about international public opinion or behavior regarding climate change, in large part because only a few multi-national surveys have included even a single question on the issue (Leiserowitz, Kates, Parris, 2005; Brechin, 2003). Large majorities worldwide believe that human activities are a significant cause of climate change, yet many continue to confuse and conflate global warming with depletion of the ozone layer, which in turn leads many to support ineffectual solutions, such as the banning of aerosol spray cans. Malaysia is one of the countries in the world which is experiencing a warming trend for the past few decades. According to IPCC in year 2001, the global land precipitation has raising about 2% since the early of the 20th century. They also reported in year 2007, the extremely hot temperature, heat waves and heavy precipitation events will contribute to become more frequent. In the past few years, the frequency of long dry period tended to be higher with significant increase in the mean and variability of the length of the dry spells. All the indices of wet in these areas show a decreasing trend. Increasing temperature with long dry periods would give variable result of weather and climate (Deni et al., 2008). According to INC, 2000; Malaysias temperature and rainfall are rapidly increasing between +0.6 to 3.4C and -1 to +32% in 60 years repetitively and the rise of sea level is about 13-94 cm within 100 years respectively. Thus, these will give impacts on water resources, coastal zone, public health, food supply, drainage, flooding, land slides, haze, typhoons, and others negative phenomenon that need national and international responses to face climate change. Realizing the importance of reducing and combating the impact of climate change and GHGs emissions, the Malaysian government has taken concerted efforts towards this issue by introducing the mitigation programs in the Ninth Malaysian Plan. 2.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT Malaysias desire to achieve the status of a developed country by the year 2020 will require rapid economic growth and expansion, especially in the urban, industrial and commercial sectors. Economic growth is guided by the principles of sustainable development. The extent to which sustainable development is achieved will ultimately depend on the ability of the country to monitor and manage the impacts of economic activities on the environment. NGOs continue to advocate national efforts to address such issues as the economics of climate change, the compilation and publication of timely data on GHG emissions, and projections of energy consumption by different end-users. Most Malaysian is not aware of the effects of global warming. Being in a hot climate country and most likely holed up in their air conditioned offices, most did not notice the changes in daily temperatures. Rising temperatures from global warming are creating violent storms in Malaysia for the past few years. A disaster caused by climate change or global warming could be defined as a serious disruption to the functioning of a community or a society causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. Prediction about impact of climate change on public health are general, there are no specific region scenarios is available. Nevertheless, Malaysia can expect significant impact mainly because of its tropical weather with high rainfall and temperatures that make dangerous combinations for air factor, food diseases, and illness due to air pollution. In Malaysia public perception on climate change is not well documented. Hence, this objectives, want to discover the perception on climate change. With such poor understanding on structure in the climate system, people are likely to rely on the intuitive wait and see strategy that works well in a range of everyday tasks. 3.0 OBJECTIVES The purpose of this survey is to assess the public opinion, perception, and understanding regarding the current climate change trend in Malaysia. The objective includes:- 1. Public perception and awareness of the seriousness of climate change 2. The extent to which public informed about climate change. 3. To determine public attitudes towards the solution to climate change. 4.0 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY Public should be taught more about GHG that are held responsible for climate change issues. Since climate change is affecting evrything all over the world, thus, by having sufficient or extra understanding or more specifica, knowledge about this issue can be the most important way to adress our attention about it and the solution towards it. This research will contribute to public understanding about the current as well as future issue on climate change by providing information about the key point that should be seriously concentrate in environmental education effort. Climate change is widely recognized as the hottest issues on the current international environmental agenda. Climate change gives implications for many events such flood and water shortage, food supplies, human health, and social and political initiatives. Public awareness of environmental issues generally, many people lack understanding of the delicate interrelationships between man, and all species of animals and plants to climate change. There is quite small number of people that able to relate their daily activities to environmental harmless whether in the short and long term effects. Most of them only concern about the impacts of climate change without knowing the exactly causes of climate change. Since people generally have very basic knowledge about climate change, it is probable that many rely on the mass media as a primary source of information about this topic. The purpose of this research also to know the effectiveness of environmental regulation in Malaysia; hence this explanatory research which is a combination of literature review, data collection and interviews can be used to encourage the responsible bodies to formulate further solutions on the issues associated with climate change. 5.0 LITERATURE REVIEW a. Climate Change Issue on climate change arises as the increasing a number of tragedies and disaster phenomenon occurred in Malaysia. Kedah and Johor are the worst states that experienced floods recently. An analysis of temperature records in Malaysia shows a warming trend. For the assessment of the impacts of climate change on agriculture, forests, water resources, coastal resources, health and energy sectors, temperature changes ranging from +0.3Ã °C to +4.5Ã °C and rainfall changes ranging from -30% to +30% were used. Several fixed sea level rise scenarios within the range of 20-90 cm in 100 years were adopted for the assessment of impacts on coastal resources (INC, 2000). Every 10C temperature rise may cause 10% reduction in rice yields and prolonged drought conditions may adversely impact the current flooded rice ecosystem, putting national food security at greater risk (MOSTI, 2000). GHG emissions from sources and removal by sinks resulting from human (anthropogenic) activities have been estimated and included in the inventory. Natural processes lie outside the scope of the inventory. The sources and sinks were grouped under five categories, namely, energy, industrial processes, agriculture, land use change and forestry, and waste. According to NAHRIM, 2006 and Wan Azli et al., 2008, modeling results estimate that temperature in Malaysia may become warmer by mid and end of the century. A substantial increase in monthly rainfall over the North East Coastal region and decrease in monthly rainfall in West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia may be expected. Future river flows in several watersheds in East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia were simulated as increases in hydrologic extremes when compared with their historical level. Generally, Malaysia is considered as a free zone from climate related disaster. However, mild climate-disasters are quite frequent to happen lately. These refer to the occurrence of floods and droughts that caused significant socio-economic impacts to the nation while the occurrence of land slides due to excessive rainfall and strong winds happened at the hilly and the latter, at the coastal areas caused minimal damage. The floods incidence happened in the southern states of Malaysia, such as Negeri Sembilan and Johor. There are many obstacles remaining, including our limited understanding of the current status of Malaysian public opinion and the unknown potential for rapid social change to dramatically reduce global greenhouse gas emissions at a rate fast enough to forestall large-scale climate disruptions. Malaysias national policy on sustainable development is based on a balanced approach such that environment and development complement each other. While the past and existing national policies and initiatives may have indirectly addressed climate change concerns under the context of sustainable development, the need to formulate a dedicated climate change policy is increasingly recognized. Therefore, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia in collaboration with the Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, had conducted the Policy Study on Climate Change. The aim of the study was to develop a national policy and strategies on climate change in fostering sustainable development in Malaysia to meet the needs of the country and respond to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).The other stakeholder consultants regarding to climate change issue are Ministry of Science Technology and Ministry of Natu ral Resources and Environment, DOE, Ministry of Health and Institute of Medical Research, Environmental Protection Society of Malaysia, SIRIM, Maritime Institute Of Malaysia and Business Council for Sustainable Development. To address climate change issues, RMK9 initiates the following mitigation programs such: 1. Increase supply and utilization of alternative fuel such Renewable Energy. 2. By 2010, about 300 MW of RE is expected to be generated and conducted to the TNB Grid in Peninsular Malaysia and 5o MW to SESB Grid in Sabah 3. RE project utilizing municipal waste will be promoted 4. Encourage energy efficiency in industrial, building, and transport sectors. 5. Protect forest areas via sustainable forest management to ensure the forest areas are maintained as sink to GHG, i.e., CO2. 6. Conduct Coastal Vulnerability Index study 7. Implement coastline protection program 8. Implement flood mitigation program such as Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) Project 9. Undertake study to identify the relationship between the impacts of climate change and vector borne diseases. 5.0 Methodology The purpose of this study is to investigate public opinion, perception, and understanding regarding the current climate change, and to reach this aim, respondents will be selected randomly to fill questionnaire form which would be used to collect the data for this study. This chapter is to presents the methods used to achieve the objectives of the study. The study will be conduct in 2 areas in Johor Darul Takzim where in urban cities (Johor Bharu) and rural area (Segamat) to gather the information on the public understanding regarding the climate changes trends in Malaysia. A survey will be conduct to assess the public awareness regarding the current climate change in Malaysia. Questionnaires will distribute and the collection data will be use as primary data to know the level of public understanding regarding to this study. Method to Analyze Data SPSS is complete statistical software packages that used for analyzing dissertation and thesis data and can bring in dissertation data from any type of file for analysis. The package is mainly aimed at those that want to research problems and features a wide range of analytical functions. SPSS is performed to make tabulated dissertation charts, reports, plots of distributions and trends, and expressive statistics, and difficult statistical analysis making use of the data. Though SPSS appears like a very user-friendly statistical package since it is the easiest method to translate the data into SPSS; this significantly reduces the preliminary work needed to explore new data.
Monday, January 20, 2020
The Marine Assault on Tinian Essay -- Battle for Tinian
Introduction Tinian is a small island in the Marianas group lying approximately 3,500 miles west of Hawaii and 1,400 miles southeast of Tokyo Japan. The island was discovered by Ferdinand Magellan who landed on the island of Guam first in 1521. The island remained under Spanish control for centuries. Tinian remained under Spanish control until the Spanish-American war of 1898, when the American cruiser USS Charleston entered the harbor in Guam to claim that island. Spain took notice at the end of the war and sold the remaining islands of the Marianas to include Tinian to Germany. Germanyââ¬â¢s regime lasted shortly when the first world war and seized the Mariana Islands except for Guam which remained under US control. The native people of the Marianas are known as Chamorros, and the native language is Chamorro. Although the original language is now mixed with Spanish, German, and Japanese, it is still thought until today. During the Second World War after the attack on Pearl Harbor Guam was also attacked and seized by the Japanese military this is when the Pacific war had begun. The United States now focused their attention on the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and the Mariana Islands. Hoping to capture Guam back from the Japanese, United States also wanted to capture the remaining islands. These islands would be in the front lines of the war in the Pacific. 1 History Why did the United States Military want to take control of Tinian? The island would be the new home of the newly created Twentieth Air Force. The United States saw Ushi Point Airfield as the perfect location to set up the air base, which would land its B-29s while en route to bomb Japan. The Marines also needed to take control of Tinian in order to prevent the Japanese ... ...n the plan of attack, and a realistic logistics plan that can keep abreast of the attack. These few principles have been the keys to victory countless times in the past and will continue to unlock the door to victory on the battlefields of the future. These are the lessons that are the heritage of the Tinian Battle, and we still use and also improve on by planning. The Battle for Tinian is one of the most successful planned amphibious operations in history.11 Works Cited Allan, May. Marine Assault on Tinian. Volume 13. July 1998. Prefer, Nathan. The Battle for Tinian. Philadelphia: United States of America and Great Britain by Casemate Publishers. 2012. LtGen William K. Jones, USMC(Ret). Marine Corps Gazette. Marine Corps Association: Marine Corps Association Jun 1988. Major Hoffman, Carl. The seizure of Tinian. Washington DC Printing: 1951
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Child Psychology Services (Part 3) Essay
Explain different types of bullying and the potential effects on children and young people. Bullying and the fear of bullying are major worries for many children and young people. The victims of bullying are usually different in some way from the bully; the differences may be as simple as a different physical characteristic or being seen as a ââ¬Ëswotââ¬â¢. Bullying can be specific. The basis for the bullying can be one or more of the following forms: ââ¬â Physical (pushing, kicking hitting, pinching and other forms of violence or threats). ââ¬â Verbal (name-calling, insults, sarcasm, spreading rumours, persistent teasing). ââ¬â Emotional (including not speaking to and excluding someone, tormenting ridicule, humiliation). ââ¬â Cyber-bullying (the use of information and communications technology particularly mobile phones and the internet, deliberately to upset someone else). Bullying can be carried out by one person against another, or by groups of people ââ¬Ëganging upââ¬â¢ on a person. Bullying is not always delivered as a personal face -to- face attack, but can also be delivered through technology. Potential effects of bullying can be; ââ¬â Threatened or attempted suicide. ââ¬â Depression. ââ¬â Running away. ââ¬â Low self esteem. ââ¬â Isolation. ââ¬â Shyness. ââ¬â Poor academic achievement. There are many reasons and possibilities as to why people bully, most of the time itââ¬â¢s because the victim is different in some way. Below are some of theà differences why someone might be bullied: ââ¬â appearance (e.g. hair colour or style, height). ââ¬â Race. ââ¬â Religion. ââ¬â Nationality. ââ¬â Sexual orientation. ââ¬â Being jealous. Both males and females are capable of carrying out a vicious attack such as bullying on others. Some bullies only do it to uphold their reputation and look ââ¬Ëhardââ¬â¢. Many bullies only bully others out of jealousy and many of the people who have been bullied go on to do great things with their life, like some famous people who have been bullied. Outline the policies and procedures that should be followed in response to concerns or evidence of bullying and explain the reasons why they are in place. All schools are required by law to have anti-bulling policies in place but these vary in how they are worded and the subsequent actions that need to be taken. Schools must also have policies to encourage good behaviour and respect for others on the part for others on the part of pupils. The Department for Education is clear that no form of bullying should be tolerated. Bullying should be taken very seriously; it is not a normal part of growing up and it can ruin lives. The current anti-bulling guidance for schools, Safe to learn: embedding anti-bulling work in schools, was launched in September 2007. Explain how to support a child or young person and/or their family when bullying is suspected or alleged. When dealing with someone who is being bullied it is important to remember that they will be very upset although they may not show it on the outside. If they have managed to get up the courage to talk to you then they need to know you will take the problem seriously. In the case of an older child, ità is a good idea to ask them to write down exactly what happened and who was there so that you can speak to other people. The more information you have, the better you will be able to deal with the problem and the faster you can sort out exactly what happened. Reassure the victim that you will be back in touch with them as soon as you have completed your investigation and that if there are any more problems in the meantime they must let you know immediately. Supporting the family Parents can find it very hard to know how to help their child if they are being bullied. Some parents will have to cope with the news that it is their child who is a bully. You need to know how to support parents in both these cases. Listen to parents; let them explain how they are feeling. Direct them to useful information so that they can start to think how to support their child. Explain how to support children and young peopleââ¬â¢s self-confidence and self-esteem. Children and young people who are: ââ¬â Assertive. ââ¬â Self-confident. ââ¬â Self-aware. ââ¬â Have high self-esteem. Are less likely to be vulnerable to abuse. A child who has high self-esteem will do better in many aspects of development. Self esteem can be supported by: ââ¬â Giving lots of praise and encouragement. ââ¬â Encouraging independence and choice, with many opportunities to try things out. ââ¬â Teaching children how to be assertive (this means having their own needs met but still respecting those of others). ââ¬â Encouraging cooperation, respect and tolerance between children, and giving a positive example yourself. Analyse the importance of supporting resilience in children and young people Resilience is the ability to deal with the ups and down of life and is based on self-esteem. The more resilient a child is the more they will be able to deal with life as they grow and develop into adulthood. Many factors can positively affect a childââ¬â¢s resilience: ââ¬â Secure early attachment. ââ¬â Confidence of being loved by family and friends. ââ¬â Good sense of self-identity. ââ¬â Ability to act independently. ââ¬â Confidence to try new things. Explain why it is important to work with the child or young person to ensure they have strategies to protect themselves and make decisions about safety. The important thing for all children to remember is that they should never feel uncomfortable about someone they are with or something being done to them. Children and young people need support to be able to keep them safe. It is important to be available to talk with children about any concerns they may have. If they are upset by a reported case of abuse, then you should be as reassuring as possible. You should stress that almost all children lead safe and happy lives and only very few adults want to hurt children in any way. Using correct anatomical language, at a level appropriate to the child, is important when you are talking about bodies. Simple, age-appropriate sessions, linked to other activities, on how the human body works help children to understand what their bodies can do and raise awareness of what is normal and what is not. Sessions on ââ¬Ëbody maintenanceââ¬â¢ should be an integral part of childrenââ¬â¢s education, not just to warn them of the danger of misus e. The Keep safe Code produced by Kidscape is an effective way of getting across the message about personal safety to young children. Older children need more detailed information such as: ââ¬â Lessons on normal sexual function, related to adult behaviour (relevant to your settingââ¬â¢s policy. ââ¬â Information about misuse of their bodies, through smoking, alcohol and illegal drugs. ââ¬â The risks of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (Chlamydia, herpes, gonorrhoea, etc.). Help from other organisations Organisations such as Kidscape, Childeline and the NSPCC can help with information and guidance on these topics. It is important to use them properly and be sure that information is accurate and used to their best effect. Explain ways of empowering children and young people to make positive and informed choices that support their well being and safety. Children and young people need to be empowered to keep themselves safe. Children will always push boundaries and take risks ââ¬â that is how we all learn. Your role is to manage those risks without taking away their independence. When they are empowered, and can make their own choices, they are able to do things alone and without supervision.
Saturday, January 4, 2020
Memorable Quotes from Camus The Plague
The Plague is a famous allegorical novel by Albert Camus, whos known for his existential works. The book was published in 1947 and is considered one of the most important works by Camus. Here are some memorable quotes from the novel. Part 1 The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits. Our citizens work hard, but solely with the object of getting rich. Their chief interest is commerce, and their chief aim in life is, as they call it, doing business. You must picture the consternation of our little town, hitherto so tranquil, and now, out of the blue, shaken to its core, like a quite healthy man who all of a sudden feels his temperature shoot up and the blood seething like wildfire in his veins. 8,000 rats had been collected, a wave of something like panic swept the town. I cant say I really know him, but ones got to help a neighbor, hasnt one? Rats died in the street; men in their homes. And newspapers are concerned only with the street. Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world, yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky. There have been as many plagues as wars in history,à yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise. We tell ourselves that pestilence is a mere bogy of the mind, a bad dream that will pass away. But it doesnt always pass away and, from one bad dream to another, it is men who pass away. They fancied themselves free, and no one will ever be free so long as there are pestilences. He knew quite well that it was plague and, needless to say, he also knew that, were this to be officially admitted, the authorities would be compelled to take very drastic steps. This was, of course, the explanation of his colleagues reluctance to face the facts. Part 2 From now on it can be said that plague was the concern of all of us. Thus, for example, a feeling normally as individual as the ache of separation from those one loves suddenly became a feeling in which all shared alike andà ââ¬âà together with fearà ââ¬âà the greatest affliction of the long period of exile that lay ahead. Thus, too, they came to know the incorrigible sorrow of all prisoners and exiles, which is to live in company with a memory that serves no purpose. Hostile to the past, impatient of the present, and cheated of the future, we were much like those whom mens justice, or hatred, forces to live behind prison bars. The plague was posting sentries at the gates and turning away ships bound for Oran. The public lacked, in short, standards of comparison. It was only as time passed and the steady rise in the death-rate could not be ignored that public opinion became alive to the truth. You cant understand. Youre using the language of reason, not of the heart; you live in a world of abstractions. Many continued hoping that the epidemic would soon die out and they and their families be spared. Thus they felt under no obligation to make any change in their habits, as yet. Plague was an unwelcome visitant, bound to take its leave one day as unexpectedly as it had come. To some, the sermon simply brought home the fact that they had been sentenced, for an unknown crime, to an indeterminate period of punishment. And while a good many people adapted themselves to confinement and carried on their humdrum lives as before, there were others who rebelled and whose one idea now was to break loose from the prison-house. I can understand this sort of fervor and find it not displeasing. At the beginning of a pestilence and when it ends, theres always a propensity for rhetoric. In the first case, habits have not yet been lost; in the second, theyre returning. It is in the thick of a calamity that one gets hardened to the truthà ââ¬âà in other words, to silence. Death means nothing to men like me. Its the event that proves them right. Whats true of all the evils in the world is true of the plague as well. It helps men to rise above themselves. All the same, when you see the misery it brings, youd need to be a madman, or a coward, or stone blind, to give in tamely to the plague. Paneloux is a man of learning, a scholar. He hasnt come in contact with death; thats why he can speak with such assurance of the truthà ââ¬âà with a capital T. But every country priest who visits his parishioners and has heard a man gasping for breath on his deathbed thinks as I do. Hed try to relieve human suffering before trying to point out its goodness. Tarrou nodded. Yes. But your victories will never be lasting; thats all. Rieuxs face darkened. Yes, I know that. But its no reason for giving up the struggle. There comes a time in history when the man who dares to say that two and two do make four is punished with death. Many fledgling moralists in those days were going about our town proclaiming there was nothing to be done about it and we should bow to the inevitable. And Tarrou, Rieux, and their friends might give one answer or another, but its conclusion was always the same, their certitude that a fight must be put up, in this way or that, and there must be no bowing down. Invariably their epical or prize-speech verbiage jarred on the doctor. Needless to say, he knew the sympathy was genuine enough. But it could be expressed only in the conventional language with which men try to express what unites them with mankind in general; a vocabulary quite unsuited, for example, to Grands small daily effort. All this time hed practically forgotten the woman he loved, so absorbed had he been in trying to find a rift in the walls that cut him off from her. But at this same moment, now that once more all ways of escape were sealed against him, he felt his longing for her blaze up again. Ive seen enough people who die for an idea. I dont believe in heroism; I know its easy and Iveà learntà it can be murderous. What interests me is living and dying for what one loves. Theres no question of heroism in all this. Its a matter of common decency. Thats an idea which may make some people smile, but the only means of fighting a plague isà ââ¬âà common decency. Part 3 No longer wereà thereà individual destinies; only a collective destiny, made of plague and emotions shared by all. By the force of things, this last remnant of decorum went by the board, and men and women were flung into the death-pits indiscriminately.à Happily,à this ultimate indignity synchronized with the plagues last ravages. So long as the epidemic lasted, there was never any lack of men for these duties. The critical moment came just before the outbreak touched the high-water mark, and the doctor hadà goodà reason for feeling anxious. There was then a real shortage of man-power both for the higher posts and for the rough work. The truth is that nothing is less sensational than pestilence, and by reason of their very duration great misfortunes are monotonous. But, really, they were asleep already; this whole period was, for them, no more than a long nights slumber. The habit of despair is worse than despair itself. Evening after evening gave its truest,à mournfulestà expression to the blind endurance that had outlasted love from all our hearts. Part 4 The one way of making people hang together is to give em a spell of the plague. Until now I always felt a stranger in this town, and that Id no concern with you people. But now that Ive seen what I have seen, I know that I belong here whether I want it or not. This business is everybodys business. No, Father.à Iveà a very different idea of love. And until my dyingà day,à I shall refuse to love a scheme of things in which children are put to torture. No, we should go forward, groping our way through the darkness, stumbling perhaps at times, and try to do what good lay in our power. As for the rest, we must hold fast, trusting in the divine goodness, even as to the deaths of little children, and not seeking personal respite. Nobody is capable of really thinking about anyone, even in the worst calamity. We cant stir a finger in this world without the risk of bringing death to somebody. Yes, Ive been ashamed ever since; I have realized that we all haveà plague, and I have lost my peace. Whats natural is the microbe. All the restà ââ¬âà health, integrity, purity (if you like)à ââ¬âà is a product of the human will, of a vigilance that must never falter. The good man, the man who infects hardly anyone, is the man who has the fewest lapses of attention. Can one be a saint without God? Thats the problem, inà factà the only problem, Im up against today. Part 5 Its energy was flagging, out of exhaustion and exasperation, and it was losing, with its self-command, the ruthless, almost mathematical efficiency that had been its trump-card hitherto. Once the faintest stirring of hope became possible, the dominion of the plague was ended. Our strategy had not changed, but whereas yesterday it had obviously failed, today it seemed triumphant. Indeed, ones chief impression was that the epidemic had called a retreat after reaching all its objectives; it had, so to speak, achieved its purpose. Yes, hed make a fresh start, once the period of abstractions was over. It was as if the pestilence, hounded away by cold, the street-lamps and the crowd, had fled from the depths of the town. So all a man could win in the conflict between plague and life was knowledge and memories. Once plague had shut the gates of the town, they had settled down to a life of separation, debarred from the living warmth that gives forgetfulness of all. If there is one thing one can always yearn for and sometimes attain, it is human love. What we learn in time of pestilence: that there are more things to admire in men than to despise. He knew that the tale he had to tell could not be one of final victory. It could be only the record of what had to be done, and what assuredly would have to be done again in the never-ending fight against terror and its relentless onslaughts.
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