Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

To: jpwiggin@gso.nc.pub, twiggin@uncg.edu
From: hgraff%educadmin@ifcom.gov
Subj: When Andrew Returns Home

Dear John Paul and Theresa Wiggin,

You understand that during the recent attempt by the Warsaw Pact to take over the International Fleet, our sole concern at EducAdmin was the safety of the children. Now we are finally able to begin working out the logistics of sending the children home.

We assure you that Andrew will be provided with continuous surveillance and an active bodyguard throughout his transfer from the I.F. to American government control. We are still negotiating the degree to which the I.F. will continue to provide protection after the transfer.

Every effort is being made by EducAdmin to assure that Andrew will be able to return to the most normal childhood possible. However, I wish your advice about whether he should be retained here in isolation until the conclusion of the inquiries into EducAdmin actions during the late campaign. It is quite likely that testimony will be offered that depicts Andrew and his actions in damaging ways, in order to attack EducAdmin through him (and the other children). Here at IFCom we can keep him from hearing the worst of it; on Earth, no such protection will be possible and it is likelier that he will be called to “testify.”

Hyrum Graff

Theresa Wiggin was sitting up in bed, holding her printout of Graff’s letter. “‘Called to “testify.”‘ Which means putting him on exhibit as — what, a hero? More likely a monster, since we already have various senators decrying the exploitation of children.”

“That’ll teach him to save the human race,” said her husband, John Paul.

“This is not a time for flippancy.”

“Theresa, be reasonable,” said John Paul. “I want Ender home as much as you do.”

“No you don’t,” said Theresa fiercely. “You don’t ache with the need for him every day.” Even as she said it she knew she was being unfair to him, and she covered her eyes and shook her head.

To his credit, he understood and didn’t argue with her about what he did and did not feel. “You can never have the years they’ve taken, Theresa. He’s not the boy we knew.”

“Then we’ll get to know the boy he is. Here. In our home.”

“Surrounded by guards.”

“That’s the part I refuse to accept. Who would want to hurt him?”

John Paul set down the book he was no longer pretending to read. “Theresa, you’re the smartest person I know.”

“He’s a child!”

“He won a war against incredibly superior forces.”

“He fired off one weapon. Which he did not design or deploy.”

“He got that weapon into firing range.”

“The formics are gone! He’s a hero, he’s not in danger.”

“All right, Theresa, he’s a hero. How is he going to go to middle school? What eighth-grade teacher is ready for him? What school dance is he going to be ready for?”

“It will take time. But here, with his family — ”

“Yes, we’re such a warm, welcoming group of people, a love nest into which he’ll fit so easily.”

“We do love each other!”

“Theresa, Colonel Graff is only trying to warn us that Ender isn’t just our son.”

“He’s nobody else’s son.”

“You know who wants to kill our son.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Every government that thinks of American military power as an obstacle to their plans.”

“But Ender isn’t going to be in the military, he’s going to be — ”

“This week he won’t be in the American military. Maybe. He won a war at the age of twelve, Theresa. What makes you think he won’t be drafted by our benevolent and democratic government the moment he gets back to Earth? Or put into protective custody? Maybe they’ll let us go with him and maybe they won’t.”

Theresa let the tears flow down her cheeks. “So you’re saying that when he left here we lost him forever.”

“I’m saying that when your child goes off to war, you will never get him back. Not as he was, not the same boy. Changed, if he comes back at all. So let me ask you. Do you want him to go where he’s in the greatest danger, or to stay where he’s relatively safe?”

“You think Graff is trying to get us to tell him to keep Ender with him out there in space.”

“I think Graff cares what happens to Ender, and he’s letting us know — without actually saying it, because every letter he sends can be used against him in court — that Ender is in terrible danger. Not ten minutes after Ender’s victory, the Russians made their brutal play for control of the I.F. Their soldiers killed thousands of fleet officers before the I.F was able to force their surrender. What would they have done if they had won? Brought Ender home and put on a big parade for him?”

Theresa knew all of this. She had known it, viscerally at least, from the moment she read Graff’s letter. No, she had known it even before, had known it with a sick dread as soon as she heard that the Formic War was over. He would not be coming home.

The above is an excerpt from the book Ender in Exile
by Orson Scott Card
Published by Tor Books;  Nov 2008;$25.95US/$28.95CAN; 978-0-7653-0496-4
Copyright © 2008 Orson Scott Card

About the Author:

Orson Scott Card is the internationally bestselling author of Ender’s Game. He lives in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Ender in Exile : Chapter 1

NYCC ‘ 08 ORSON SCOTT CARD INTERVIEW

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When does a plot finally come into view in book Next by Michael Crichton?

I’m reading the book Next by Michael Crichton, and I am on page 180. Its really good so far as far as all of the characters being really interesting and fun to read about, but so far they have not by any means connected to each other so to speak. please dont give it away or anything, but i mean, when do these freaking characters connect1?

Next is certainly the least linear of all of Crichton’s novels. I can tell you that the main plot involves Alex Burnet, and her father, Frank, and her son, Jamie. There is also a main plot with Henry Kendall and his family. There is a connection between these two plotlines, so be patient. There are many things in the book that don’t connect to anything else.

According to his official website, Crichton “modeled the structure after the genome itself, incorporating fragments of popular culture, and writing a series of stories that sometimes interconnected, and sometimes didn’t. The result was a very atypical novel.”

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It is not rare to hear a patient say…’my Botox seems to be wearing off earlier than usual’…or…’I had Botox but it didn’t seem to work’. Some few patients even suggest that they may be immune to Botox or that they are becoming resistant ot it. Many physicians and even manufacturer reps say that such immunity is impossible. But is it? Is immunity to Botox real?

First and foremost any drug, no matter what its mechanism of action, poses the potential of diminished effectiveness with repeated use. The most classic example is that of antibiotics. (although this really represents resistance of the infecting bacteria not necessarily how the body responds to it) But immunity or developing an immune response to a toxin, an unnatural molecule that the body may eventually recognize as both foreign and harmful, is particularly likely. While I hold most responses on the internet as not a source of absolute scientific information, there is too many patient responses on many different websites that claim a lack of response after injection or a dramatic dropoff in effectiveness after a period of years of successful use. (most common) While some, if not many, of these may be the result of using overdiluted or old Botox or from poor injection technique, all of them can’t be completely drug or injector-related issues. Resistance to serotype A of botulinum toxin (Botox and Dysport) has been reported in some physician series but the incidence is quite low. (usually less than 1%) The point is…it has been reported in professional medical journals in large patient series. Anectodal statements by some physicians such as ‘I have never seen it’ and the like does not count as scientific evidence. Never having seen it does not mean it doesn’t exist. Most of us have never seen a platypus in the wild either, but we know they do exist.

Once you develop Botox immunity, what can you do? There is no absolute answer to this uncommon problem. Perhaps waiting a period of time ( 6 months to a year?) before trying repeat Botox is one option to see if your immune response lessens. The other option is to use a different serotype, type B (Myobloc), and see if you get a response. In theory, different serotypes have slightly different molecules so your immune response may be quite specific to type A only.

Whether someone can be completely immune to Botox, without PRIOR injections, is a different matter. There would be no natural immunity to Botox since most of our immune systems have never seen the molecule before. When a first-time patient of mine calls and tells me they have had no response, actual examination everytime demonstrates that they actually have had a response it is just not as profound as they thought it to be. This is an issue of managing expectations and dosing, rather than some natural resistance to the drug.

By far, the most common patient experience in my practice with Botox is that patients actually develop a somewhat lesser need with Botox over time. After three or four treatments, many patients find that the Botox seems to ‘last longer’ and they may only need injections twice a year as opposed to every three or four months. This is not because the patient has developed greater sensitivity to the drug but because they have most likely ‘retrained’ their expressions. which are learned movements anyway. Once you have not moved or have less movement of any muscle for a long enough period of time, you may have inadvertently retrained your expressions to some degree.

Acquired Botox immunity is a real but uncommon event. It usually presents in the patient who has had Botox for multiple treatments, after a year or two, with a diminished response to a proven dose or sometimes as no response at all. Botox resistance without prior exposure is more likely an issue of expectations and proper dosing rather than a natural immunity.

About the Author:

Dr Barry Eppley, board-certified plastic surgeon of Indianapolis, operates a private practice at Clarian North and West Medical Centers in suburban Indianapolis. He writes a daily blogs on topics and trends in plastic surgery at http://www.exploreplasticsurgery.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Immunity to Botox – Fact or Fiction?

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