Safety Health and Occupational Hazards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Safety Health and Occupational Hazards - Essay Example Welding, a major industrial process is concerned with joining metals by using a filler material. This filler material, known as the consumable is usually a coated electrode or wire. The process of melting this and the parent metal releases particulate fumes and gases, majority of which is produced from the consumable. The four most common welds are the tungsten inert gas (TIG), metal inert gas (MIG), metal active gas (MAG), and manual metal arc (MMA). (Pires et al, 2006) Some of these emissions are toxic in nature which can prove hazardous on prolonged exposure. Presently, 1-2% of workers from different professional backgrounds (some 3 million persons) are subjected to welding fume and gas action (Pires, 1996). In confined spaces, welding can be deadly, as without proper ventilation, toxic fumes and gases can be much more intense, and possibly over the respective limits for toxic substances. . In the recent years, occupational health hazards have formed the locus of intense academic study and research. The harmful effects of welding fumes have also been studied in great detail. The potency of the gas emissions depends on a number of factors like the nature of electrodes employed, the type of welding, filter metals, and also the ventilation facilities in the welding area. The emissions include metal oxide particles, gases, solvents, coatings and residues. Most of these are air borne and thus are constantly inhaled by workers. Harmful Effects of different Metals Compounds The welding fumes also contain compounds of metals like hexavalent chromium, nickel, manganese, zinc etc. It is difficult to find out the respective effects of different metals as most of tem are interrelated. (Hilton & Plumridge, 1991). But technological advancements have made it possible to draw a rough idea about each element's effect on the human body. It has been medically proven than nickel and chromium cause nausea, headaches, dizziness, thirst, fever, muscle ache, chest soreness and respiratory illnesses on short term exposure. Short term usually implies 12-24 hours, and these short term effects are generic for nearly all emissions. These effects also include gastrointestinal ailments, such as appetite loss, vomiting, cramps, and slow digestion. Nickel and Chromium fumes can also cause skin rashness and dermatitis. Nickel is also known to cause asthma, while chromium may cause sinusitis. The chronic, long term effects of fumes containing nickel and chromium still remain ambiguous, but there are vague indications that they might be carcinogenic in nature i.e. they might act as cancer causing agents. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has declared that some forms of hexavalent chromium, nickel and their inorganic compounds be considered carcinogenic.(American Welding Society, 2003) As a matter of fact, the long term effects of welding smoke in general remain disputes. Though there are reasons to believe that prolonged exposure might lead to immunosuppression, lung cancer development,

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Essay Example for Free

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Essay Soldiers involved in a war are faced with many difficult situations, which they can mostly not avoid. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a common phenomenon among the soldiers since while in the war, they face some life threatening experiences. Many of the American soldiers who return from the war are faced with serious mental disorders that not only affects them, but their family members as well. The individuals suffering from PTSD can experience cases of nightmares and flashbacking on the events that happened in the war. Frequent flashbacks and nightmares can make it look so realistic that its effect is that the individual may withdraw from the family members and friends. Such an individual may also become less concerned with the daily activities (Moon, n. d). There are other diseases that are associated with the PTSD that can have severe effect on a soldier. For instance, a veteran may experience such cases as depression, face physical or even mental problems. At some instances, the veterans turn to drug and substance abuse so that they can relieve their problems. It is usually the joy of every family to have their members back after participating in a war. However, after the celebration, and things turn back to normal, it is when the family members can realize a different in the way the veteran behaves which might be completely different from the behaviors before deployment. These can be directly linked to the trauma the veteran faced during the war. Apart from having nightmares and flashbacks of what happened during the war, the veteran might feel a lot of anxiety and panic. They might as well have some very distressing thoughts and emotional numbing, which might contribute to abusing drugs. In essence, when a family member changes the usual behavior, it will either positively or negatively affect the other family members (Moon, n. d). With PTSD, when the symptoms are severe, they might cause the family members to be disrupted in the way they carry out their normal activities. This can mostly be experienced when the family members in one way or another react to how the veteran is behaving. Different family members can react differently on the way their loved one is affected by PTSD. If there is no good measure that is undertaken to deal with the traumatized veteran, then it is possible that the trauma might be spread to other family members. Family members are the first to provide support, love and caring for the veterans experiencing PTSD. This can help to keep in check some reactions such as drug and substance abuse. Furthermore, it is necessary that the family members monitor the behaviors among themselves to ensure that none is affected by the PTSD that is being experienced by the veteran. However, it might occur that at a time, the symptoms either to the veteran or the other affected family members are apparent, hence calling for treatment (Tull, 2008). To treat the veteran, the present problems have to be first of all assessed. It is advisable that the family members participate in the treatment exercise, especially if some members have been affected by the symptoms. In creating the treatment, family members, the therapist and the affected veteran should be involved. The aim of the treatment plan is to help the victim and the family members learn to cope with the situation.

The Story of Saint Catherine’s Prison :: Saint Catherine

The Story of Saint Catherine’s Prison â€Å"Near Famagusta is another city called Salamis, set on the seashore, where there was once a noble and wealthy city. It is there that St. Catherine was born and her tomb remains still.† ~ German priest Ludolf von Suchen of Westphalia In the 12th century, the story of the beloved St. Catherine was brought to Europe by the Crusaders returning from their battles in the East. She was from a noble blood line of Roman emperors and her father was Constantine, King of Salamis. In 290 A.D. Constantine was appointed the new ruler of Egypt. When Constantine left to rule Egypt, he decided to leave his brother in charge of the Salamis kingdom. Unexpectedly, Constantine died in Alexandria, Egypt. During this time, Catherine converted to Christianity and her conversion sent her uncle, the interim king, into a rage. He had Catherine imprisoned in Salamis, later in Paphos, and finally Alexandria, Egypt. She was brought before the new Alexandrian emperor, Emperor Maxentius, who had replaced her deceased father. Emperor Maxentius was persecuting Christians. Catherine reprimanded him for this cruelty and asked him to stop. Insulted and astounded at Catherine’s boldness, the Emperor held Catherine prisoner at his palace. He ca lled his scholars in to try to trick her into committing heresy against the Roman religion so she could be put to death. However, she converted many of the Emperor’s scholars to Christianity with her eloquence and knowledge of religion and science. The Emperor became so outraged he had his scholars put to death and Catherine was tortured and thrown into the palace’s dungeon. The Empress, Maxentius’ wife, had heard of this extraordinary young woman. The Empress and the Emperor’s military general secretly snuck into the prison to meet and talk with Catherine. They listened to Catherine and were converted and baptized into Christianity. The Emperor discovered their secret encounter and had them, the Empress and his general, put to death. The Emperor ordered Catherine to be broken on the torturer’s wheel, yet when she touched it, it was miraculous destroyed. Distraught and infuriated, Emperor Maxentius ordered Catherine to be beheaded. After her death, her body was carried to Mount Sinai by angels and the place where Catherine’s body was found is also believed to be the site of the burning bush seen by Moses.

Antropologia de Lain Entralgo Segun sus Escritos :: Spanish Essays

RESUMEN: Se define como cuerpo a la totalidad de acciones, potencias, posibilidades, constituyentes...que al actuar como un todo integra las actividades que mediante el cuerpo somà ¡tico se realizan: la historia, la percepcià ³n, las emociones, la conducta, la amistad, el encuentro, y la relacià ³n mà ©dico enfermo. Se considera que el hombre esta vertido en la realidad, porque la versià ³n (desde el interior hacia afuera) es desde el cuerpo, por ser el hombre un ser de realidades, y por existir un mecanismo de versià ³n. La unidad psico-orgà ¡nica que constituye el hombre presenta varios momentos, unos constitutivos (basados en và ­a de fundamentacià ³n): estructural (sistema de notas psico-orgà ¡nicas), conducta (conducta humana) y personal, otros moduladores: eutà ­mico (salud) y el patolà ³gico (patologà ­a como afeccià ³n). El animal vive entre està ­mulos, mientras que el hombre al inteligir los està ­mulos los aprehende y los convierte er realidad. El mecanismo de la versià ³n es la aprehensià ³n sentiente de los està ­mulos y la inteleccià ³n de estos como reales. La persona se encuentra indigentemente arrojado en la realidad. Caracterizacià ³n del pensamiento lainiano. Laà ­n Entralgo nace en Urrea de Gaen (Teruel) en 1908, realizà ³ los estudios de Medicina y ejercià ³ como psiquiatra. Obtuvo la plaza de Catedrà ¡tico de Historia de la Medicina en la Universidad Complutense, donde ejercià ³ hasta 1978 (fecha en la que se jubilà ³). Nombrado Rector de la Universidad Complutense hasta 1956. Pertenece a las Academias de Medicina, Historia y Lengua Espaà ±ola. La antropologà ­a de Laà ­n depende del tema en concreto que se estudie, y esta basada fundamentalmente en el empirismo y en fenomenologà ­a de Merleau-Ponty. (1) Respecto a la mente humana establece una serie de teorà ­as desde el punto de vista sociolà ³gico, filosà ³fico y estructural. Dependiendo de donde parta en el estudio del hombre, es posible afirmar: La esencia del hombre esta constituida por el espà ­ritu, tal y como Max Scheller establece, (2) y que Laà ­n sigue con matizaciones. Parece inclinarse por admitir lo establecido por el pensamiento de Unamuno en el que existe alma, espà ­ritu y cuerpo, que originariamente tomà ³ de San Pablo, San Agustà ­n y Tertuliano. El hombre es capaz de simbolizacià ³n. Se determina que el hombre es capaz de utilizar los sà ­mbolos, tal y como establece Cassirer, (3) pero que en Laà ­n es mà ¡s amplio ya que afirma que no es sà ³lo Animal symbolicum, sino que es capaz de crear los sà ­mbolos (Animal symbolizans). El hombre es parte de la historia, basado inicialmente en los trabajos de Dilthey, (4) y de cuyo pensamiento llegarà ¡ a establecer Laà ­n que el hombre es desde su origen animal histà ³rico, pero que debido a ello, y por su conducta es tambien: animal racional, proyectivo o capaz de proyectar al futuro (animal proiectivum), creador (a.

Faulty Organizational Behavior in Tyco International Ltd

Most employees travel to and from the workplace each day with the ultimate goal to successfully perform their assigned job according to company standards. These company standards may include agendas, mission statements, professional conduct guidelines and even a code of ethics. How employees choose to follow company standards may govern their overall progress or success. While some may deviate from standards and fail, others may find themselves slipping through cracks unnoticed. Either way, the rules were broken. This paper will examine the failure suffered by Tyco International Ltd where leadership, management, and organizational structures were compromised. Let us start with the aftermath. According to MSNBC (2005), â€Å"Kozlowski and Swartz were accused of giving themselves more than $150 million in illegal bonuses and forgiving loans to themselves, besides manipulating the company’s stock price† (Corporate Scandals, para 14). Clearly, a scandal had hit Tyco International Ltd. Not only did former top executives slip themselves extra money, but they also toyed around with the stock prices. These actions had made the powerful men very wealthy. They also affected the lives of other individuals. During the trial, Kozlowski and Swartz pointed out that unlike WorldCom and Enron, Tyco continued to thrive as a company after the scandal (MSNBC, 2005). While this may have been a valid point, we cannot dismiss the fact that stealing, fraud, and self-indulgence had been present in the company. Now we will examine how the management, leadership, and organizational structure of Tyco International Ltd contributed to this failure. Robbins and Judge (2007) explain how managers coordinate social units of an organization in order to achieve common goals. Management performs several functions in a company that may include: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (Robbins & Judge, 2007). As mentioned above, these functions are performed within social units to achieve common goals set by the company. Should deviation occur, it becomes the manager’s responsibility to get the employees back on track. The management at Tyco International Ltd strayed off course. Instead of performing tasks for the greater good of all members of the company, top xecutives allowed self-interest to govern decision-making. While managerial functions may have remained in place, the goals of these functions became malicious. Top executives began to plan, organize, lead and control in a fashion that was not in the best interest of all company members. An important managerial function is leading. â€Å"When managers motivate employees, direct the activities of others, select the most effective communication channels, or resolve conflicts among members, they’re engaging in leading† (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p. ). Tyco experienced a lack of honest leadership. While some of the normal leadership was maintained to ensure the overall success of the company, there were areas that were intentionally pointed in the wrong direction. The corrupt executives started to make decisions that resulted in large sums of money directed their way. Stock price adjustment and illegal bonuses represented leadership that was no longer in the best interest of the company. These leaders chose to use power in a self-gratifying way. As a result, Kozlowski and Swartz entered a case that â€Å"exposed the executive’s extravagant lifestyle after they pilfered some $600 million from the company including a $2 million toga party for Kozlowski’s wife on a Mediterranean island and an $18 million Manhattan apartment with a $6,000 shower curtain† (MSNBC, 2005). These men were making decisions that did not reflect the company’s overall goal for success. The unlawful actions represented the misuse of leadership. Tyco International Ltd experienced a disruption in organizational behavior as a result of this scandal. Organizational behavior is concerned with actions of people and how these specific actions and behaviors affect the overall performance of the company (Robbins & Judge, 2007). Kozlowski and Swartz exhibited corrupt behavior and illegal actions for their benefit. Their actions caused a scandal that changed the way that the public and company members viewed Tyco International Ltd. Unethical practices led to fraud, stealing, and eventually perjury (MSNBC, 2005). Overall, these men undermined the values and standards of the company. They were prosecuted and Tyco International Ltd was able to move forward. Today, Tyco International Ltd has an ethical standard in place. According to Verschoor (2006), â€Å"Against a dismal backdrop of corrupted ethics and failed governance, Ed Breen, Tyco chairman and CEO, began the process of ethical reform when he joined the company in the middle of 2002† (p. 15). Tyco now has four core values that include: integrity, excellence, teamwork, and accountability. These values are listed and explained in the 40-page booklet titled The Tyco Guide to Ethical Conduct: Doing the Right Thing (Verschoor, 2006). Employees are urged to report any unethical actions and must remain compliant with all standards. Unlike other businesses faced with scandal, Tyco survived. Managers realized the need for installing strict rules and standards that would require enforcement. As a result, the organizational behavior of Tyco became more stable. New standards make it more difficult for unethical behavior to slip by and cause scandal. Tyco International Ltd turned a negative situation into a learning experience. References MSNBC.  (2005).  Ex-Tyco executives get up to 25 years in prison.  Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9399803/ns/business-corporate_scandals Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2007). Organizational Behavior (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Verschoor, C. C. (2006,  April). Tyco: An Ethical Metamorphosis. Strategic Finance, 87(10), 15-16.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Superstition essays

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Superstition essays The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Superstition In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there is a lot of superstition. Some examples of superstition in the book are Huck killing a spider which is bad luck, the hairball used to tell fortunes, and the rattlesnake skin Huck touches that brings Huck and Jim good and bad luck. Superstition plays an important role in the book Huck Finn. Huck sees a spider crawling up his shoulder, so he flipped it off and it went into the flame of the candle. Before he could get it out, it was already dead. Huck knew it was a bad sign and it would give him bad luck. Huck got scared and shook his clothes off, and turned in his tracks three times. He then tied a lock of his hair with a thread to keep the witches away. "You do that when you've lost a horseshoe that you've found, instead of nailing it up over the door, but I hadn't ever heard anybody say it was any way to keep of bad luck when you'd killed a spider." Huck sees Pap's footprints in the snow. So Huck goes to Jim to ask him why Pap is here. Jim gets a hairball that is the size of a fist that he took from an ox's stomach. Jim asks the hairball why is Pap here? But the hairball didnt answer. Jim said it needs money, so Huck gives Jim a fake quarter. Jim puts the quarter under the hairball. The hairball talks to Jim and Jim tells Huck that it says. "Yo'ole father doan' know yit what he's a-gwyne to do. Sometimes he spec he'll go 'way, en den ag'in he spec he'll stay. De bes' way is tores' easy en let de ole man take his own way. Dey's two angles hoverin' roun' 'bout him. One uv'em is white en shiny, en t'other one is black. De white one gits him to go right a little while, den de black one sil in en gust it all up. A body can't tell yit which one gwyne to fetch him at de las'. But you is all right. You gwyne to have considable trouble in yo' life, en considable joy. Sometimes you gwyne to git hurt, en sometimes you gwyne to git ...

Timeline of Major Events in the History of Persia

Timeline of Major Events in the History of Persia This Persia timeline of major events is based on a Library of Congress Persia timeline. For an introduction to this area now generally known as Iran see Extent of the Persian Empire: An Introduction to Ancient Persia and the Persian Empire. Iran (Persia) Timeline of Important Events Early Historyc. 3400 B.C.Elamite kingdom emerges in southwestern Iran and Mesopotamia.c. 2000 B.C.Nomadic peoples Scythians, Medes, and Persians move from Central Asia to Iranian plateau. [See Tribes of the Ancient Steppes.]6th Century B.C.c. 553-550 B.C. Cyrus II (Cyrus the Great) overthrows Median king; becomes ruler of Persia and Media; founds Achaemenid Empire.539 B.C.Cyrus captures Babylon, releases Jews from captivity.525 B.C.Cyruss son Cambyses II conquers Egypt.522 B.C.Darius I becomes king; re-establishes and extends empire, carries out administrative reorganization.5th Century B.C.490 B.C. Darius invades Greek mainland; defeated at the Battle of Marathon.4th Century B.C.334 B.C. Alexander the Great begins Persian campaign; completes conquest of Persia and Mesoptamia, 330 B.C.323 B.C.Death of Alexander; division of empire among generals; Seleucids emerge as principal heirs in Iran.3rd Century B.C.247 B.C. Parthians overthrow Seleucids; establish own dynasty.3rd Century A.D .A.D. 224 Ardeshir overthrows last Parthian ruler; establishes Sassanian dynasty with capital at Ctesiphon.A.D. 260Shahpur I wages campaign against Romans, takes emperor Valerian captive. 7th Century637 Muslim armies capture Ctesiphon, Sassanian Empire begins to crumble.641-42 Sassanian army defeated at Nahavand; Iran comes under Muslim rule. Related AchaemenidsSeleucidsThe Parthian EmpireThe SassanidsProblems of Historical Evidence About Ancient PersiaTimeline of the Greco-Persian Wars

Jimmy Carter- Facts on the 39th President

Jimmy Carter- Facts on the 39th President Here is a quick list of fast facts for Jimmy Carter. For more in depth information, you can also read the Jimmy Carter Biography. Birth: October 1, 1924 Death: Term of Office: January 20, 1977 - January 20, 1981 Number of Terms Elected: 1 Term First Lady: Eleanor Rosalynn Smith Chart of the First Ladies Jimmy Carter Quote: Human rights is the soul of our foreign policy, because human rights is the very soul of our sense of nationhood.Additional Jimmy Carter Quotes Election of 1976: Carter ran against incumbent Gerald Ford against the backdrop of the United States Bicentennial. The fact that Ford had pardoned Richard Nixon of all wrongdoing after he had resigned from the presidency caused his approval rating to severely drop. Carters outsider status worked in his favor. Further, while Ford performed well in their first presidential debate, he committed a gaffe in the second concerning Poland and the Soviet Union that continued to haunt him through the rest of the campaign.   The election ended up being very close. Carter won the popular vote by two percentage points.  The electoral vote was very close. Carter held 23 states with 297 electoral votes. On the other hand, Ford won 27 states and 240 electoral votes. There was one faithless elector representing Washington who voted for Ronald Reagan instead of Ford.   Major Events While in Office: Vietnam War era draft evaders pardoned (1977)Panama Canal Treaty (1977)Camp David Accords (1978)US officially recognizes Peoples Republic of China (1979)Three Mile Island incident (1979)Iran Hostage Crisis (1979-81) States Entering Union While in Office: None Significance of Jimmy Carters Presidency: One of the big issues that Carter dealt with during his administration was energy. He created the Department of Energy and named its first Secretary. In addition, after the Three Mile Island incident, he oversaw stricter regulations for Nuclear Energy plants.   In 1978,  Carter  held peace talks at Camp David between Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin which ended in a formal peace treaty between the two countries in 1979. In addition, America formally established diplomatic relations between China and the U.S.   On November 4, 1979, 60 Americans were taken hostage when the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran was taken. 52 of these hostages were held for longer than a year. Oil imports were halted and economic sanctions were imposed. Carter staged a rescue attempt in 1980. Unfortunately, three of the helicopters used in the rescue malfunctioned, and they were unable to proceed. The Ayatollah Khomeini finally agreed to let the hostages go if the US would unfreeze Iranian assets. However, he did not complete the release until Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as president.   Related Jimmy Carter Resources: These additional resources on Jimmy Carter can provide you with further information about the president and his times. Chart of Presidents and Vice PresidentsThis informative chart gives quick reference information on the presidents, vice-presidents, their terms of office, and their political parties. Other Presidential Fast Facts: Gerald FordRonald ReaganList of American Presidents

Security and Loss Prevention Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Security and Loss Prevention - Assignment Example This would be through keeping their databases safe and ensuring that they are the only persons with the passwords or access to the most sensitive information. My plan of action would involve giving them maximum security and ensuring that no one else can access the data they have except them. I would buy for them modern machines which would detect automatically any person trying to access the information. I would implement my measures by ensuring that the organization or the company buys the machines with immediate effect. I would also take my managers for training on how to keep sensitive and confidential information that belongs to the company safe. I would ensure that the executives familiarize themselves with the systems. If the managers or the executives are unable to operate the systems, I would employ more staff to assist the and still ensure there is no fraud or loss in the company (Sennewald and Christman 2008). I would follow the formal procedures in creating the loss prevention education workshop for the corporate executives. I would ensure that all the executives attend the workshop and even the other staff in the superior levels should attend. I would ensure that the topics taught in the workshop are related to the topic and they fully cover the topic of loss prevention. I would relieve the executives their duties for the days they would spend in the workshop their formal duties. I would also ensure that the workshop have objectives which should met by the end of the training. I would also involve the executives of the corporation in the creating of the loss prevention plan. I would use the following mechanisms to ensure that the lessons being learnt in the workshop work toward loss prevention. One I would be monitoring the executives on weekly basis to ensure that they apply the mechanisms taught. I would also correct information on regular basis from the executives on the

Beethoven Interpretations Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Beethoven Interpretations - Research Paper Example Beethoven was showing signs of romanticism in his middle period. Beethoven left the sonata form but the freedom he gave each movement is typically Romantic. The Piano Sonata N ° 27 is a beautiful piece of music which has been interpreted in many different ways. The Sonata has three movements: adagio sostenuto, allegretto and presto. It can take anywhere from 12 minutes to 15 minutes to perform depending on the interpretation. Beethoven composed it in 1801. He personally put the title as Quasia una fantasia or almost a fantasy. This means that it can be played as the artist sees fit. In listening to the difference of performance, it can be said that Beethoven's title is more accurate than Moonlight Sonata. A fantasy gives more freedom to perform the music as the performer wants. The name "Moonlight Sonata" was given as a publishing trick. Some say it was given after Beethoven's death. Others say Beethoven gave it as a tribute to his student, Guicciardi. Beethoven had fallen in love with her, a countess. He knew he could never marry someone of that social class. It is unlike him to have been so open as to name a sonata after someone who was paying the bills. This sonata was composed in his middle period. He was not composing romantic music. The title was misplaced (5). His music was steadily leaving the classical form (Waltz). In this Sonata, you see a difference between each performer, which is contrasting. Beethoven would have been heavy in his interpretation. He was already affected by his deafness. The loud pounding of the keys in the last movement enabled Beethoven to hear the vibrations. I listened to many different interpretations in order to get the right feeling for the Sonata. In my research, I saw that the Moonlight Sonata was one of his most famous sonatas. I was surprised at seeing that it could be played so differently by such artist. I chose two artists to explain the three movements (the whole Sonata) in order to have a comprehensive feeling of the dynamics and tempo: Bareboim and Gould. Their interpretation is so different. Then I chose two other artists in order to compare their first movement: Horowitz and Brendel in addition to Bareboim and Gould. I think my favorite of them all was Gould because I felt he was the closest to how Beethoven would have liked the Sonata to be played. In terms of the first movement, I felt it was a classic to hear Horowitz. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpOb5NxtG-w   Baremboim played the first movement with emotion and slowly. He was sad or pensive. His expression was sad. The dynamics were softly played piano. There was, too, much of a difference with the two hands. The bass continued to have the same level of sound during the whole movement and the treble would have crescendos and be too loud. He used a little bit of the rubatto effect. The timing of the first movement was 6.55. Only towards the end did the two hands converse with each other. The end was slow. There was too much confli ct between the three note motif and the left hand. His left hand dominated the right only one time during the movement. Towards the end of the movement, he increased in volume and there was a slight crescendo of the left hand which tapered off in the final measure. His bass and treble were blended and not articulate. The Allegretto of the 2nd movement was still slow. It was happy.  

The Price System Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Price System - Assignment Example The cigarettes packed in packets were essential for large transactions because they attracted good offers from the smokers. However, the cigarettes were also not convenient for a currency because people smoked them during the low supply seasons (Radford 1945, p. 190). The other disadvantage is that some prisoners reduced the tobacco contents in the cigarettes to make their own hand-rolled cigarettes for resale. British households devise arrangements to share their washing machines because of the high demand that the machines attract in the neighbourhoods. It is apparent that most British do not like washing their clothes because of time limitations and the high prices charged at the laundries. As a result, they enjoy spending money on expensive durable goods that they use for a few hours each week, which are cheaper than acquiring the services of the launders. During the alcohol beverages prohibition in the US between 1920 and ‘33, whisky and gin were plentiful because the clients were willing to use the substitutes. It is apparent that the shortage of a product will increase the demand of the substitute commodities. This is because the clients were willing to consume any alcoholic drink that could help them overcome the thirst or enjoy their time. Price control is government’s intervention in the liberal markets in a bid to set the maximum and minimum charges for commodities. An example of the price control is the price ceiling, which the highest price to charge, while the price floor is the lowest cost to implement. In this regard, prices set by the government can cause either a shortage or a surplus in the economy. The property rights of people are the privileges to control the way in which particular resources will be used. This does not consider the owner of the property, whether it is possessed by an individual or the

Oil Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Oil Market - Essay Example In case the price of oil went down, then the price of such commodities were also stable, and if the price of this commodities went down, then these products also follows such occurrences. If we are to analyze this, one might ask, what is with oil that it has the power to control different scenario On the second thought, analysts particularly economists suggests that it is not only the oil that can have such a trend, but almost every product that is available to the market. This kind of occurrences is dictated by the demand of the customers and the availability of the product. In this case, the law if supply and demand comes into picture. Therefore, what is the law of supply and demand Before analyzing such a law let us first scrutinize the meaning of demand and supply with regards to economics perspective. The Columbia encyclopaedia (2005) described supply and demand as, 'Supply refers to the varying amounts of a good that producers will supply at different prices; in general, and a higher price yields a greater supply. Demand refers to the quantity of a good that is demanded by consumers at any given price. According to the law of demand, demand decreases as the price rises.' Upon analyzing this premise we can now have a clearer picture of what supply and demand has something to do with the oil market. It is now clear that oil will be regarded as the supply and the wanting of the consumers to get the oil to compensate their needs is the demand. Upon looking into this scenario, one might conclude that the oil as a commodity has the power to dictate its price regarding to the demand of world market. As stated on the first page that almost every human activities on earth needs the consumption of oil, therefore, it would be safe to conclude that there is a huge amount of demand for oil. From cooking meals, generating electricity and running automobiles, this kind of activities consumes oil. If we are to base such things with the aforementioned premises, the price of oils would tend to go up and it is due to the law of demand. The law of demand is defined as " a microeconomic law that states that, all other factors being equal, as the price of a good or service increases, consumer demand for the good or service will decrease and vice versa (answers.com 2006)." In this regard, the flow of the prices of oil would tend to go up if we are to base this phenomenon to the worldwide demand of oil. All over the world, oil is a necessity in life. On the second thought, one might ask that why it is that oil can dictate the flow of economics of some countries in the world Why is it expensive than other necessities The answer would be, it is because of the availability of the product. If we are to compare oil's prices in the majority of Middle East countries where oil is abundant against distant countries such as the Philippines where there is a minimal source of the said product, there is a huge amount of difference with regards to the amount of oil. In countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and the likes, oil prices ranges from $20-$30 centavos per liter to judge against $1.2 per liter. This is due to the following reasons: 1) the fact that oil production is limited, then the priorities of the distribution of oil would be in the countries were it was extracted and therefore, counties

Review of litterature Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Review of litterature - Term Paper Example As it progresses, the study informs the reader that the only reliable method of actually measuring the level to which medical care is available to segments of society is to measure it in a qualitative way (Morse, 1992). Therefore, the study also states that the many quantitative studies that have gone before are lacking with respect to the actual data they have attempted to measure or the lack thereof. Therefore, the study sets itself apart as a unique way in which the researches can know and understand the research question and work to draw inference to the greater problem at hand – access to healthcare in society. It is without question that this study is helpful in understanding the overall trends that currently exist with relation to healthcare access. However, both qualitative and quantitative research have their unique drawbacks with respect to being able to fully engage and answer the research question that is presented. In this case, the study begins by laying out the drawbacks that qualitative research has experienced in trying to answer this same research question; however, one could just as easily point out but a few of the drawbacks of using a quantitative approach for such a varied and personal issue as that of healthcare access among the disenfranchised (Siding, 2010). If anything, using a quantitative approach in such a situation risks dehumanizing the effects of non-access. However, on the flip side, over-emphasizing a qualitative approach might have the effect of focusing on one or two problem areas alone without understanding the root problem as it might apply to the society a s a whole. With respect to whether or not this research could be used to inform the development of a quantitative study, the answer is yes and no. As part of a literature review process, the study absolutely can be helpful for the researcher to understand many of the issues that underlie the research

Oil Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Oil Market - Essay Example In case the price of oil went down, then the price of such commodities were also stable, and if the price of this commodities went down, then these products also follows such occurrences. If we are to analyze this, one might ask, what is with oil that it has the power to control different scenario On the second thought, analysts particularly economists suggests that it is not only the oil that can have such a trend, but almost every product that is available to the market. This kind of occurrences is dictated by the demand of the customers and the availability of the product. In this case, the law if supply and demand comes into picture. Therefore, what is the law of supply and demand Before analyzing such a law let us first scrutinize the meaning of demand and supply with regards to economics perspective. The Columbia encyclopaedia (2005) described supply and demand as, 'Supply refers to the varying amounts of a good that producers will supply at different prices; in general, and a higher price yields a greater supply. Demand refers to the quantity of a good that is demanded by consumers at any given price. According to the law of demand, demand decreases as the price rises.' Upon analyzing this premise we can now have a clearer picture of what supply and demand has something to do with the oil market. It is now clear that oil will be regarded as the supply and the wanting of the consumers to get the oil to compensate their needs is the demand. Upon looking into this scenario, one might conclude that the oil as a commodity has the power to dictate its price regarding to the demand of world market. As stated on the first page that almost every human activities on earth needs the consumption of oil, therefore, it would be safe to conclude that there is a huge amount of demand for oil. From cooking meals, generating electricity and running automobiles, this kind of activities consumes oil. If we are to base such things with the aforementioned premises, the price of oils would tend to go up and it is due to the law of demand. The law of demand is defined as " a microeconomic law that states that, all other factors being equal, as the price of a good or service increases, consumer demand for the good or service will decrease and vice versa (answers.com 2006)." In this regard, the flow of the prices of oil would tend to go up if we are to base this phenomenon to the worldwide demand of oil. All over the world, oil is a necessity in life. On the second thought, one might ask that why it is that oil can dictate the flow of economics of some countries in the world Why is it expensive than other necessities The answer would be, it is because of the availability of the product. If we are to compare oil's prices in the majority of Middle East countries where oil is abundant against distant countries such as the Philippines where there is a minimal source of the said product, there is a huge amount of difference with regards to the amount of oil. In countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and the likes, oil prices ranges from $20-$30 centavos per liter to judge against $1.2 per liter. This is due to the following reasons: 1) the fact that oil production is limited, then the priorities of the distribution of oil would be in the countries were it was extracted and therefore, counties

Relationships between soldiers in The Thin Red Line (1998, Malick) Essay

Relationships between soldiers in The Thin Red Line (1998, Malick) - Essay Example This war movie consists of both cruelties and kindness. The first level of kindness that this takes place is with regards to the brotherly relations that are evident between the men of the company and platoon. On a second level, the relationships within the movie are related to the viewer with regards to the means by which father-son elements unfold also represent bright side of humanity. On the other side of spectrum we face tensions between people that result into conflicts in the movie. When seeking to understand these relationships within the context of the film, the following analysis will attempt to draw a level of focus upon the brother-brother, father-son, and exemplification of tensions between the men as they are exhibited by the actions that take place. As such, this particular analysis will seek to understand whether or not a familial level of relationships exist within the film, the type and definition of these familial relationships and some of the causal factors that h elp to encourage and develop these features. Firstly, with regards to the brother-brother relationships that are exhibited within the film, the viewer can see direct evidence of this to the type of behavior that is exhibited during their leave. Even though it may be assumed that the brotherly relations would most be exemplified during the combat scenes of the film, this is not necessarily the case. Rather, the dynamics of brotherly relations between the battle-weary men is most exhibited with regards to how the men spend their free time once they are on leave or before and after the combat. After weeks of stress and integrating with the deaths of their comrades within gruesome battles, the men settle into an uneasy, still stressful, rest that is only punctuated and made uniform by the level to which these men appreciate their own camaraderie and seek to make a communal sense of their current lives. The Narrator says the following about Witt’s realization of friendship:  "he feels the mysterious quality of deep, manly friendship which can exist between men who share the pain and death, the fear and sadness of combat—the happiness, too† (02:40). This of course helps to underscore the understanding of how the men involved within the film are defined by the conflict they are in. If such hardships did not exist within Guadalcanal, it is unlikely that the brotherly relationship exhibited during leave would have ever developed at all. Hardships bring people together, since they are fighting together for one cause against one evil enemy. Likewise, the father-son relationship that exists within the film is most adequately exposed by how Captain Staros interacts with the company commander. Captain Staros, a father figure for the men under his command, takes his role as guardian and protector of his men’s lives very seriously. Therefore, he takes full responsibility for all of the members of his platoon. Although his responsibility as an o fficer also includes implementing the orders of the officers above him, this primary motive to provide for the safety and wellbeing of the men under his command serves as something of a guiding precept by which Staros defines his role as captain. Staros right before the leave home has a warm and memorable talk with some members of his platoon. He says, â€Å"

A historical perspective on the Western civilization Essay Example for Free

A historical perspective on the Western civilization Essay In our day, we instinctively associate Western Civilization with liberty, individualism and reason. However, liberal democracy is more recent phenomena. Many crucial aspects of the civilization of Western countries of today developed from the time of French and American revolutions. The nineteenth century laid a strong foundation to the twentieth century Western civilization. Before 1800 CE, however, the modern Western civilization was in many ways in formative stages. For example, the radical belief in human equality, under the premise that all men are born equal, was framed in the American constitution only in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. From its origins in the aftermath of the fall of Roman Empire to the beginning of the nineteenth century, Western Civilization had experienced two radically different phases, the one preceding Renaissance, and the one during and following Renaissance. The beginnings of the age of Renaissance mark a clear break from the Dark Ages in the thinking, attitudes and world-view of the people. The gradual emergence of logical and analytical thought, the blossoming of rational and a rigorously scientific world-view is a most unique phenomenon in the whole history of humanity. It is this most fundamental characteristic of the Western vivilization that has paved the way for technology and progress, creating the modern world. The outburst of rational thinking in Europe during the four hundred years from 1400–1800 CE is chiefly responsible for taking humanity to the next stage of evolution. It was the most defining period not only of Western vivilization, but of human civilization as such. Although there is a tremendous contrast between the Medieval Ages and the Age of Renaissance, it has come to the light of modern scholarship that the cultural achievements of the so-called Dark Ages in Europe, lasting for roughly thousand years between 400 1400 CE, have been many and varied. This period, particularly during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, has witnessed great cultural flourishing in its own right. Those times were not lacking in significant events and meaningful and though-enriching contributions to Western civilization. It is nevertheless justifiable to call them the Dark Ages, because, despite an interesting measure of cultural efflorescence, those periods were not marked by the freedom of the human mind, something that has become the quintessential characteristic of the Western civilization in more recent centuries. Most civilizations all the world over have witnessed an outburst of art and creativity at some period or other. However, except for Athens in the 5th century BC, Alexandria just before the commencement of Dark Ages, and Baghdad during 8th and 9th centuries A. D. , all of which had been stifled enterprises, no civilization in history of mankind launched a systematic and sustained quest into the reality of man and the natural world. It is this Socratic quest for knowledge, truth and meaning of human life that lies at the heart of the precious and unique phenomenon that the Western civilization is.

Romeo and Juliet True Love Essay

Romeo and Juliet True Love Essay Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, has many techniques such as iambic pentameter and sonnets to show the how strong love can be between two young people; caught in between a family feud which kept them from truly experiencing free will to love who they desired. Although the play is about the love affair of Romeo and Juliet, there are many other parts which show the two lovers being tied into other relationships like Juliet with Paris; where there is a traditional arranged marriage for more power and allies. Also lusting over somebody else, like Romeo with Roseline, this can be seen as more physical love and attraction. Both these key elements play a crucial part in the meeting between Romeo and Juliet. The prologue is imperative as it introduces the themes; love, trust, power and social status, to the audience. These all are shown through a sonnet which shows the love within the play; traditionally in the Elizabethan era, men would try to win the respect of the woman they desired, by either fighting for her or romantically proposing gifts, like sonnets, and publically demonstrating his desire. Within the prologue, the scene of the play is established; the audience become familiar with the ancient grudge of the Montagues and Capulets- there were so many problems that even the servants and grounds keepers would have disputes with each other. There are many types of love which can be seen throughout the play, of which include; sexual love, unrequited love, courtly love true love and love at first sight. The sexual love can be directly seen from Mercutio, he talks about experiences with women and what he assumes Romeo should be taking part in at his age. Mercutio uses crude and coarse language to describe women O Romeo that she were, O that she were/An open-arse, thou a poprin pear! which shows he does not take love seriously; it also suggests that he could have had a painful relationship. This has an impact on Romeo as he looks up to Mercutio as a role model, and therefore takes in his pain, this reflects upon his views about relationships. The nurse has the same views on love as Mercutio; she thinks of it as mostly physical- describing the physical features that are meant to attract Juliet to Paris. She talks about sexual innuendo with Juliet, about Paris, in a very forward way lady, such a man / As all the world Why, h es a man of wax. This shows that the nurse thinks of Paris as perfect wax suggests he can be made to suit all of Juliets needs as a husband, but also providing allies with the same dignity as the Capulets. Juliet and Paris relationship is unrequited and courtly love; its true from his side but not from hers. At first, before she has the meeting with Romeo and, Juliet was content with marrying Paris although she was still very young. As the only daughter of a powerful family Juliet would have been kept under supervision at all times, except for when she visited the church for confession- because of this meeting people her own age would be limited. The head of the family- her father- would have been in control of her future; selecting who she married and for the reasons she married- courtly love. Paris love for Juliet is very strong; he admires her from afar and proposes to her father about the marriage many times before he accepts for his daughter. Juliet probably would have married Paris if she had not have met Romeo at the Capulets masquerade ball; which Mercutio had convinced Romeo to attend secretly with him- he allowed Romeo to think that Roseline would be impressed with this gestu re of breaking rules for her. The connection between Romeo and Roseline is also unrequited love- he thinks that he loves her when in fact, the way he talks about her shows he is indeed, just lusting Is the day so young? / Ay me, sad hours seem long the tone of his expression when saying this can be perceived as a sad teenage boy who takes a liking to the popular girl who he knows he cannot have- In addition this sets a comparison for later in the play. Roseline plans on becoming a nun, which means she cannot have a relationship with a man; this still doesnt stop Romeo from being fond of her and loving her from afar; he says things like Aye me sad hours seem long, In sadness, cousin, I love a woman. The expression of this can be seen as sad because he states he has nothing better to do then wait for her; additionally this can be pictured as pathetic as he never informs Roseline of his infatuation for her. In act one scene one Romeo uses paradoxes to describe his feelings for Roseline O brawling love, O loving hate O heavy lightness which shows he is indecisive about his feelings for her; this illustrates to the audience how he is not truly in love with her as he cannot make his mind up. We may never know what the ancient feud is about between the Capulets and Montagues; whether it be a political difference or an eventful marriage between the two families before this generation; consequently the love connecting Romeo and Juliet is stronger, more powerful and- to an extent- purer. Under any other circumstances: Romeo not lusting for Roseline, Juliet not preparing to marry Paris and Mercutio not only thinking about physical love- the two lovers would have never have met. This is evident to the audience as the youth of the Montagues approach the Capulet household; Mercutio is struggling to break the love sickness of Romeo If love be rough with you, be rough with love rough implies if Romeo isnt receiving love from Roseline, he should seek out ways to make her love him, even though this wouldnt be true- as love in all respects isnt meant to be rough but soft. As we now know about the other relationships the young lovers are tied into; Shakespeare introduces the new relationship between Romeo and Juliet themselves to the audience. In act one scene five Shakespeare uses hyperbole to demonstrate the difference of feelings compared to earlier in the play- Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! Romeo is shown here metaphorically lifting Juliet up at first glance; he insinuates his true sincerity by using such words as beauty in comparison to talking about Roseline- who he has completely forgotten about by this point. This shows he could not have been truly in love with her. At the same time, Juliet captures the image of Romeo standing across the room looking at her; this causes her to lose her breath in surprise which could be seen as love at first sight. The fact that Romeo mirrors Juliets movements as she moves around the room, reveals that hes taking her lead- he does not know how to approach the situation as he has not experienced th is before. Shakespeare does this to show the innocence of the two characters- making it evident that this is a special, one in a lifetime experience. Had the feelings between them just been lust they would have not been so eager to find each other. At the point where Romeo is no longer visible, it is evident in Juliets face that the hope is lost; Shakespeare uses this expression to his advantage, by showing the audience the contrast between her facial appearance when Romeo is hidden and when he caresses her hand softly. This contrast shows true feelings she has- from hope to a feeling of loss and self hate for not finding him in time. The first thing Romeo says to Juliet is If I profane with my unworthiest hand- unworthiest reveals he does not think he is valuable for her; he is putting himself down to elevate her status, as with holy shrine and saints which are biblical references. During the Elizabethan times, religion played a significant part in everyday life- Shakespeare uses religious imagery and language to show Romeos true feelings for Juliet and the sincerity of them. Romeo refers to himself as a pilgrim which is inferior to his actual status; this confirms that he believes Juliet is too valuable and worthy for himself . So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows Shakespeare uses oxymorons to compare Juliet with the other females in the room; he refers to her as a dove among the crows, stating she is pure and beautiful this shows his genuine appreciation for her appearance. Romeo questions the love he thought he had for Roseline and love itself- did my heart love till now? this shows he is maturing and questioning what he feels truly; heart suggests that he didnt love Roseline with this in the first place as it could be a different feeling. Shakespeare also uses iambic pentameter as Romeo speaks about Juliet to show his desire and sincerity of words- this establishes trust in his feelings from the audience. Comparing the way Romeo talks about his love for Juliet, and how the nurse talks about love- in free verse- Shakespeare builds trust from the audience in Romeos judgements about his feelings of lust towards Roseline, and the true love he feels for Juliet, thus constructing the audiences perspectives that the feelings are genuine. Deeper into the play Romeo is seen devoting his ever growing love for Juliet-Act Two Scene Two is set on the Capulets land in their orchard behind Juliets quarters. Shakespeare chose this location to show the extent of the love Romeo has for Juliet, as this is exceedingly risky for an foe to be doing. O blessed, blessed night I am feared, being in the night, all this is but a dream Romeo knows it is reality, but still he refers to it as a dream- he continuously believes Juliet is a goddess; too good for him. Juliet is willing to give up everything for Romeo Deny thy father and refuse thy name she is even prepared to give up her family name and her family itself for him. Shakespeare uses things which the audience can relate to; family and the bloodline of the family were exceptionally important in the Elizabethan era, so Juliet declaring she would not be reluctant to leave her family and the comforts of her home to run away proves how much she cares for Romeo. Tis but thy name that is my enemy- Juliet refers to her own name to be her enemy and her curse- she questions why he has to be a Montague and proposes he changes his name. She also states that if he will not change his name, he should marry her; meaning she would change hers so that they no longer be feuding by name. Juliet worries about Romeo as he devotes his love to her; she contemplates what might happen if the Capulets guards find him- she is more practical within her love for him. Shakespeare uses soliloquy to show the audience Juliets true feelings for Romeo when on the balcony; the language used is that of a teenage girl writing in her diary- she talks about marrying him like in a fairytale, where everybody lives happily ever after even though she understands that this will never be the case. Half way through the couple devoting there love- by stating they will ignore the family names- the nurse calls for Juliet- the way the lovers pull back together and say how they love eac h other can be seen as the same as couples on the phone in modern times; you hang up this shows they do not feel able to be parted and jut want to hear each others voices longer. As the scene progresses the love between the young couple develops to true romantic love; this is evident as Shakespeare starts to use sincerer language and further fluent iambic pentameter. And Ill still stay, to have thee still forget, Forgetting any other home but this Romeo refers to Juliets home as his home in iambic pentameter; this shows he believes with her he is home. A home is meant to be safe and comforting; somewhere a person can be themselves with nobody to impress- by saying this Romeo is stating he feels completely at ease with Juliet even after such a short period of time with her. During this era, marriages where three quarters of the time for money and power; the people involved would gradually, if at all love each other not truly but because they had. Shakespeare uses this to his advantage within the play, as some- if not most- people in the audience would have been involved in an arranged marriage. Shakespeare uses many ways of showing the sincerity of Romeo and Juliets true feelings for each other; the iambic pentameter plays a crucial role in showing the contrast in feelings they each feel each other and for Roseline and Paris and how different people view love, such as Mercutio and the nurse. They talk about love in free verse; they speak about the physical side of love rather than the emotional- which in comparison to the love Romeo and Juliet talks about; shows the sincerity of the love between them. The prologue informs the audience of the love between the two lovers before they even know each other exist, this shows that the relationship is what the play revolves around. The way Shakespeare has subtly used religion within the descriptions of Juliet from Romeos point of view assists in showing the pureness of his feeling towards her. The way enjambment has been used- when Romeo speaks about Juliet- shows how much he cares for her; he speaks as if it is a poem dedicated to her and its essential that he is able to convey all his thoughts and feelings before she stops listening.

Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt Essay -- American History Presidents E

Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt Throughout the ages there have been many great leaders. These leaders are powerful in many ways, with a strong control over the people, and a place in history. But who would have guessed that two cousins would be some of the greatest government figures ever? Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt, both American presidents, both American Heroes. Without these dignitaries, the American advancement into the present day would be incomplete and/or impossible. They gave people hope through hard times and the spirit to protect their country and one another. â€Å" S p e a k s o f t l y†¦ C a r r y a b i g s t i c k † Theodore â€Å"Teddy† Roosevelt was born into a rich New York family in 1858. His childhood was filled with sickness. He soon became interested in wildlife and nature. In 1880 he graduated Harvard. Happy with his new accomplishments he took on a wife, Alice Lee Roosevelt. Unfortunately, his mother passed away on the same day as the marriage. Heartbroken, Roosevelt moved west to the Dakota territories to hunt and explore. His first marriage was over soon afterwards. A few years later he ventured to Paris, France were he met his second wife. Back in America the Spanish- American War for the Southwest was in formation. Roosevelt, wife and all, headed back home. Enlisted and prepared, Roosevelt headed South. On the path to victory, Roosevelt met up with Leonard Wood, together the created the Rough Riders Regiment (RRR). In 1898,the RRR, under the control of Roosevelt and Wood, lead the battle against San Juan, Puerto Rico to come out victorious. Both men returned home to a hero’s welcome happy to be alive. It was the dawning of the 20th century. William McKinley was President and Roosevelt: Vice President. Under McKinley, he learned about the responsibilities of being a president. Suddenly without warning McKinley was shot and killed. In 1901, at 42 Roosevelt became the youngest president to serve office. He disagreed with how the nation’s economy was being controlled by Big Business. In his term he set about â€Å"trust busting† by initiating some 40 lawsuits against big businesses. It was said once that while hunting, Roosevelt came upon a bear cub. Despite the demands of his hunting partners, Roosevelt refused to kill the cub. This story touched the heart of millions. Soon cartoon strips, newspape... ...ld War II. During the war years he had not appeared often in public, but during his campaign for a fourth term in 1944 many who saw him said that he looked pale, thin, and old. The election, which resulted in his victory over New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, was a strain on the president. In the early spring of 1945 he went to Warm Springs, Georgia, in an effort to recapture his flagging energy. There he died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945. In conclusion I believe that Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a greater impact on the American Society than his cousin, Theodore Roosevelt. FDR did so much in his lifetime as president that without someone like him to get us through hard times like the Depression or World War 2, and supply new improvements in the way life is conditioned. We wouldn’t be as successful as we are today. Theodore Roosevelt was also a great man, I am not saying otherwise. But FDR has the addition of four presidential terms. In fact being the only president to carry out four terms he created the cause for the 22nd amendment even after death. In turn with the addition of these two men in history we have not only changed the world but ourselves.

Literary Analysis of Audre Lordes Power Essay example -- Poem Poet Po

Literary Analysis of Audre Lorde's Power Audre Lorde uses her poetic prose to express her feelings of anger and fury over an unfortunate incident which occurred in New York City in the late 1970's. She shares her outrage and disgust at a racist society that can allow a child's death to be buried with no true justice found to help resolve the loss of a innocent child. Audre Lorde adopted an African name at the end of her life, Gamba Adisa, which means "Warrior-She Who Makes Her Meaning Known." (1404) This name she chose can help explain the role as a woman poet and writer she felt she had to play and why she wrote the various works that she produced throughout her life. Lorde was brought up in Harlem and probably understood the difficulties people can encounter when race is involved. In the poem the "Power" she is trying to use her poetic gift to stand up for these racial injustices and to try to make a conscience difference. Lorde wants to be heard, instead of just using rhetoric and the art of effective writing, she is searching for the power she has as a African-American woman poet to make people hear and think about racial injustices. "Power" (1030) is a poem that has two different levels of meaning, literal and nonliteral. The first being a narrative poem literally about Clifford Glover, a ten-year-old African-American Queens boy who was shot by a Caucasian police officer that was acquitted by a jury. The second being the nonliteral, more poetic intent, Audre Lorde's reaction and feelings of fury and disgust over this incident. She entangles this racial injustice with her own furious and unsatisfied feelings in this piece. The first two stanzas are about Lorde's feelings and images she sees due to ... ...over and jot down her thoughts. If these were the thoughts running through my head that were making my whole being ill - I too would need to write them down and get them out of my head. Her harsh images ands racial digs in this piece do prompt an individual to stop and think, even get angry. Lorde probably meant to point out this problem in its ugly light so to help avoid such tragic loses from happening again. To ensure that not everyone will just step aside when it is their turn to protect and serve our youth of today. Audre Lorde truly appears to be a "warrior' and she certainly has "made her meaning known" as her name, so appropriately means and her poetry so appropriately reflects to its audience. Works Cited Abcarian, Richard, and Marvin Klotz, eds. Literature: Reading and Writing the Human Experience. 7th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1998.

Brave New World Essay

In the book â€Å"Brave New World† the advancement of science that is concerned is not affected by the lead character, John the Savage. Instead it is the advancement of science itself. It is show to affects individuals and it is show to be used against humanity which frightens alienated guests that are in a control within the plot and their ideal environment. On one hand John is interested to find out the world where his roots come from. However what he sees he doesn’t understand because it is not how he imagined it would be. On the other hand the heroine of â€Å"Heroes and Villains†, Marianne, adapts to new primitive society quite well however her compressed emotions would not show her actual joy and delight to someone less intellectual. This gives her privilege in a barbarian society. This difference between the characters is important because it shows how individuals can change the environment around them regardless of their position and status in society. Angela Carter must have used this idea to make a female leader because of her personal beliefs; bearing a feminist attitude. She is interested in creating magic realism. However Huxley on the other hand presents an unsuccessful male individual who attempts to change the world. Unsuccessful in his pursuit, he demonstrates a character that may convey a resulted view that the writer obtained due to the time when novel was written. Huxley came from a highly educated family of scientist and had knowledge about future technological advances. After authors trip to America he was concerned about wastefulness of American society. He didn’t like how American people spent their spare time in worthless things and did not try to improve their intellect. Therefore his opinion developed to believing that â€Å"Nowhere, perhaps, is there so little conversation†¦ It is all movement and noise†¦ †. Experience in the United States made him pessimistic about the cultural future of Europe. He said: â€Å"The thing which is happening in America is a revaluation of values, a radical alteration of established standards. † Advancement of technology, science, and psychology can change humans into a kind of standardized beings, if control over their genes was possible, as it was described in â€Å"Brave New World†. If Government morals would reach certain level they would be capable of performing these changes now. World is getting closer to a position where these things can be achieved. It is important to understand this and prevent this from happening. Huxley intention seems to be to pass this message over to people and to make readers recognise what the minority can do. Also people might have had small hope for a happy future at the time of this crisis of upcoming war, so attitude must have been quite cynical. This is effectively presented in the novel by Huxley which is also not long before the government notices exotic infection of individualism which causes John the Savage to elimination imperfection from society. This seems to be the only option for controllers which insures civilisation continues to existence. After Bernard Marx discovers John, he uses him to improve his reputation in his society because he is so desperate to be popular and to fit with others. Because John is a loner in the reservation he is very excited about escaping. However John is very idealistic character that becomes a loner in both societies that lives in his own Shakespeare’s tale based world. ‘O brave new world! ‘ It was a challenge, a command†, this quote originally fromMiranda’s speech in Shakespeare’s â€Å"The Tempest†, Act V, Scene I. John’s understanding of everything is quite old fashioned but his character is sympathetic for the readers, because it must be quite hard for our society to change believes and adapt to rules like â€Å"Every one belongs to every one else†. The heroine in â€Å"Heroes and Villains† presented to the reader from her childhood when her characteristics started to develop. After series of unfortunate events in Marianne’s life her life seems to make no sense to her and she seeks for adventures and excitement. Marianne’s father comments to Marianne’s attitude that her escape from boring professor society may lead to danger, â€Å"opposite of boredom is chaos†. This is ironic because this quote predicts future events. But Marianne is a very brave and strong character. She is not afraid. Series of incidents like being bit by a snake or even being raped by an individual whose life she saved on many occasions doesn’t bring her to tears. Her bizarre morals and unique mind-set wouldn’t let her act in a normal way, because she wouldn’t be special any longer. In Huxley’s dystopia world, everyone in Brave new world use the drug that helps to keep people from experiencing stress and all other negative emotions. Also this is the way to prevent all the conflicts. Pain, stress, grief, humiliation and disappointment are very unique emotions but it does come up occasionally due to technological flaws that are caused by an accident. Lenina is another character that got isolated and withdrawn from her original society and moved unintentionally to the reservation. She soon experienced all the differences and difficulties in new environment. She had no access to the drug that she was dependent on. â€Å"A gramme is better than a damn. † Her immune system weakened and her organism was affected. She gained weight, plus abuse of alcohol probably affected her brain as well as other organs too. The books title, â€Å"Heroes and Villains†, portrays the role of labelled characters in creating the social perception of difference and conditioning children to hate the other. It comes from the name of the game that Professors’ children play. The Co plays imaginative character roles of heroic Soldiers who always win over evil Barbarians. It is ironic, that Marianne refuses to play the game, but also questions the rules of the game by denying permanent victory of professor’s soldiers as well as rejecting the idea of good and bad, when she says that she does not know â€Å"which is which any more, nor who is who†. While in brave new world there are five strict social classes with special characteristics created for specific reasons to perform different types of work as well as specific intelligence level and suitable colouring cloths to be easily identifiable by others. Children are conditioned to like what they are and to hate to be someone else from the other class using Pavlov’s technique of classical conditioning. Techniques like using electric shock to make children dislike roses that represent nature the powerful farce of imagination and ideas as well as book the source of knowledge, which must be limited for performance of specific semi skilled job.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 21

Chapter 21 â€Å"You make a very attractive woman,† Rumi said from the comfort of his pit. â€Å"Did I tell you that my wife has passed on to her next incarnation and that I am alone?† â€Å"Yeah, you mentioned that.† He seemed to have given up on us getting his daughter back. â€Å"What happened to the rest of your family, anyway?† â€Å"They drowned.† â€Å"I'm sorry. In the Ganges?† â€Å"No, at home. It was the monsoon season. Little Vitra and I had gone to the market to buy some swill, and there was a sudden downpour. When we returned†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He shrugged. â€Å"I don't mean to sound insensitive, Rumi, but there is a chance that your loss could have been caused by – oh, I don't know – perhaps the fact that you LIVE IN A FUCKING PIT!† â€Å"That's not helping, Biff,† Joshua said. â€Å"You said you had a plan?† â€Å"Right. Rumi, am I correct in assuming that these pits, when someone is not living in them, are used for tanning hides?† â€Å"Yes, it is work that only Untouchables may do.† â€Å"That would account for the lovely smell. I assume you use urine in the tanning process, right?† â€Å"Yes, urine, mashed brains, and tea are the main ingredients.† â€Å"Show me the pit where the urine is condensed.† â€Å"The Rajneesh family is living there.† â€Å"That's okay, we'll bring them a present. Josh, do you have any lint in the bottom of your satchel?† â€Å"What are you up to?† â€Å"Alchemy,† I said. â€Å"The subtle manipulation of the elements. Watch and learn.† When it was not being used, the urine pit was the home of the Rajneesh family, and they were more than happy to give us loads of the white crystals that covered the floor of their home. There were six in the family, father, mother, an almost grown daughter, and three little ones. Another little son had been taken for sacrifice at the festival of Kali. Like Rumi, and all the other Untouchables, the Rajneesh family looked more like skeletons mummified in brown leather than people. The Untouchable men went about the pits naked or wearing only a loincloth, and even the women were dressed in tatters that barely covered them – nothing as nice as the stylish sari that I had purchased in the marketplace. Mr. Rajneesh commented that I was a very attractive woman and encouraged me to drop by after the next monsoon. Joshua pounded chunks of the crystallized mineral into a fine white powder while Rumi and I collected charcoal from under the heated dying pit (a firebox had been gouged out of the stone under the pit) which the Untouchables used to render the flowers from the indigo shrub into fabric dye. â€Å"I need brimstone, Rumi. Do you know what that is? A yellow stone that burns with a blue flame and gives off a smoke that smells like rotten eggs?† â€Å"Oh yes, they sell it in the market as some sort of medicine.† I handed the Untouchable a silver coin. Go buy as much of it as you can carry.† â€Å"Oh my, this will be more than enough money. May I buy some salt with what is left?† â€Å"Buy what you need with what's left over, just go.† Rumi skulked away and I went to help Joshua process the saltpeter. The concept of abundance was an abstract one to the Untouchables, except as it pertained to two categories, suffering and animal parts. If you wanted decent food, shelter, or clean water, you would be sorely disappointed among the Untouchables, but if you were in the market for beaks, bones, teeth, hides, sinew, hooves, hair, gallstones, fins, feathers, ears, antlers, eyeballs, bladders, lips, nostrils, poop chutes, or any other inedible part of virtually any creature that walked on, swam under, or flew over the subcontinent of India, then the Untouchables were likely to have what you wanted lying around, conveniently stored beneath a thick blanket of black flies. In order to fashion the equipment I needed for my plan, I had to think in terms of animal parts. Fine unless you need, say, a dozen short swords, bows and arrows, and chain mail for thirty soldiers and all you have to work with is a stack of nostrils and three mismatched poop chutes. It was a challenge, but I made do. As Jo shua moved among the Untouchables, surreptitiously healing their maladies, I barked out my orders. â€Å"I need eight sheep bladders – fairly dry – two handfuls of crocodile teeth, two pieces of rawhide as long as my arms and half again as wide. No, I don't care what kind of animal, just not too ripe, if you can manage it. I need hair from an elephant's tail. I need firewood, or dried dung if you must, eight oxtails, a basket of wool, and a bucket of rendered fat.† And a hundred scrawny Untouchables stood there, eyes as big as saucers, just staring at me while Joshua moved among them, healing their wounds, sicknesses, and insanities, without any of them suspecting what was happening. (We'd agreed that this was the wisest tack to take, as we didn't want a bunch of healthy Untouchables athletically bounding through Kalighat proclaiming that they had been cured of all ills by a strange foreigner, thus attracting attention to us and spoiling my plan. On the other hand, neither could we stand there and watch these people suffer, knowing that we – well, Joshua – had the power to help them.) He'd also taken to poking one of them in the arm with his finger anytime anyone said the word â€Å"Untouchable.† Later he told me that he just hated passing up the opportunity for palpable irony. I cringed when I saw Joshua touching the lepers among them, as if after all these years away from Israel a tiny Pharisee stood on my shoulder and sc reamed, â€Å"Unclean!† â€Å"Well?† I said after I'd finished my orders. â€Å"Do you want your children back or not?† â€Å"We don't have a bucket,† said one woman. â€Å"Or a basket,† said another. â€Å"Okay, fill some of the sheep bladders with rendered fat, and bundle the wool in some kind of hide. Now go, we don't have a lot of time.† And they all stood and looked at me. Big eyes. Sores healed. Parasites purged. They just looked at me. â€Å"Look, I know my Sanskrit isn't great, but you do know what I am asking?† A young man stepped forward. â€Å"We do not want to anger Kali by depriving her of her sacrifices.† â€Å"You're kidding, right?† â€Å"Kali is the bringer of destruction, without which there can be no rebirth. She is the remover of the bondage that ties us to the material world. If we anger her, she will deprive us of her divine destruction.† I looked at Joshua across the crowd. â€Å"Do you understand this?† â€Å"Fear?† he said. â€Å"Can you help?† I asked in Aramaic. â€Å"I'm not good at fear,† Joshua said in Hebrew. I thought for a second as two hundred eyes pinned me to the sandstone on which I stood. I remembered the red-stained gashes on the wooden elephant statues at the altar of Kali. Death was their deliverance, was it? â€Å"What is your name?† I asked the man who had stepped out of the crowd. â€Å"Nagesh,† he said. â€Å"Stick out your tongue, Nagesh.† He did, and I threw back the cloth that covered my head and loosened it around my neck. Then I touched his tongue. â€Å"Destruction is a gift you value?† â€Å"Yes,† said Nagesh. â€Å"Then I shall be the instrument of the goddess's gift.† With that I pulled the black glass dagger from the sheath in my sash, held it up before the crowd. While Nagesh stood, passive, wide-eyed, I drove my thumb under his jaw, pushed his head back, and brought the dagger down across his throat. I lowered him to the ground as the red liquid spurted over the sandstone. I stood and faced the crowd again, holding the dripping blade over my head. â€Å"You owe me, you ungrateful fucks! I have brought to your people the gift of Kali, now bring me what I ask for.† They moved really quickly for people who were on the edge of starvation. After the Untouchables scattered to do my bidding, Joshua and I stood over the bloodstained body of Nagesh. â€Å"That was fantastic,† Joshua said. â€Å"Absolutely perfect.† â€Å"Thanks.† â€Å"Had you been practicing all that time we were in the monastery?† â€Å"You didn't see me push the pressure point in his neck then?† â€Å"No, not at all.† â€Å"Gaspar's kung fu training. The rest, of course, was from Joy and Balthasar.† I bent over and opened Nagesh's mouth, then took the ying-yang vial from around my neck and put a drop of the antidote on the Untouchable's tongue. â€Å"So he can hear us now, like when Joy poisoned you?† Joshua asked. I pulled back one of Nagesh's eyelids and watched the pupil contract slowly in the sunlight. â€Å"No, I think he's still unconscious from me holding the pressure point. I didn't think the poison would work quickly enough. I could only get a drop of poison on my finger when I loosened my sari. I knew it would keep him down, I just wasn't sure it would put him down.† â€Å"Well, you are truly a magus, now, Biff. I'm impressed.† â€Å"Joshua, you healed a hundred people today. Half of them were probably dying. I did some sleight of hand.† My friend's enthusiasm was undeterred. â€Å"What's the red stuff, pomegranate juice? I can't figure out where you concealed it.† â€Å"No, actually I was going to ask you about that.† â€Å"What?† I held my arm up and showed Joshua where I had slashed my own wrist (the source of blood for the show). I had been holding it against my leg and as soon as I removed the pressure the blood started spurting again. I sat down hard on the sandstone and my vision began to tunnel down to a pinpoint. â€Å"I was hoping you could help me out with this,† I said before I fainted. â€Å"You need to work on that part of the trick,† Joshua said when I came to. â€Å"I might not always be around to fix your wrist.† He was speaking Hebrew – that meant for my ears only. I saw Joshua kneeling above me, then beyond him the sky was blotted out by curious brown faces. The recently murdered Nagesh was in the front of the crowd. â€Å"Hey, Nagesh, how'd the rebirth go?† I asked in Sanskrit. â€Å"I must have strayed from my dharma in my last life,† Nagesh said. â€Å"I have been reincarnated, once again, as an Untouchable. And I have the same ugly wife.† â€Å"You challenged master Levi who is called Biff,† I said, â€Å"of course you didn't move up. You're lucky you're not a stink bug or something. See, destruction isn't the big favor you all thought it was.† â€Å"We brought the things you asked for.† I hopped to my feet feeling incredibly rested and energized. â€Å"Nice,† I said to Joshua. â€Å"I feel like I just had one of those strong coffees you used to make at Balthasar's.† â€Å"I miss coffee,† said Josh. I looked at Nagesh, â€Å"I don't suppose you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"We have swill.† â€Å"Never mind,† I said. Then I said one of those things that as a boy growing up in Galilee, you never think you'll hear yourself say: â€Å"Okay, Untouchables, bring me the sheep bladders!† Rumi said that the goddess Kali was served by a host of black-skinned female demons, who sometimes during the feast would bring men to corners of the altar and copulate with them as blood rained down from the goddess's saw-tooth maw above. â€Å"Okay, Josh, you're one of them,† I said. â€Å"What are you gonna be?† â€Å"The goddess Kali, of course. You got to be God last time.† â€Å"What last time?† â€Å"All of the last times.† I turned to my intrepid minions. â€Å"Untouchables, paint him up!† â€Å"They're not going to buy that a burr-headed Jewish kid is their goddess of destruction.† â€Å"O ye of little faith,† I said. Three hours later we were again crouched beneath a tree near the temple of Kali. We were both dressed as women, covered from head to toe by our saris, but I was looking much lumpier under mine due to Kali's extra arms and garland of severed heads, played tonight by painted sheep bladders filled with explosives and suspended around my neck by long strands of elephant tail hair. Any observers who might get close enough to notice my protrusions were quickly deterred by the smell coming off of Joshua and me. We had used the goo from the bottom of Rumi's pit to paint our bodies black. I didn't have the courage to ask what the substance had been in life, but if there was a place where they allowed vultures to ripen in the sun before pounding them into a smooth paste and mixing it with just the right amount of buffalo squat, then Rumi called it home. The Untouchables had also painted huge red rings around Joshua's eyes, fitted him with a ropey wig of oxtails, and affixed to his torso six pe rt little breasts fashioned from pitch. â€Å"Stay away from any open flame. Your tits will go up like volcanos.† â€Å"Why did I have to have six and you only had to have two.† â€Å"Because I am the goddess and have to wear the garland of skulls and the extra arms.† We'd made my arms from rawhide, using my primary arms as models, then drying the molded arms in place over the fire. The women made a harness that held the extra arms in place under my own, then we painted the arms black with the same black goo. They were a little wobbly, but they were light and would look realistic enough in the dark. It was still hours from the height of the ceremony at midnight, when the children would be hacked to death, but we wanted to be there in time to stop the revelers from cutting off the children's fingers if we could. Now, the wooden elephants were empty on their turntables, but the altar of Kali was already filling with gruesome tribute. The heads of a thousand goats had been laid on the altar before the goddess, and the blood ran slick over the stones and in the grooves that channeled it into large brass pots at the corners of the altar. Female acolytes carried the pots up a narrow ladder at the back of the great statue of Kali, then dumped them through some sort of reservoir that fed it through the goddess's jaws. Below, by torchlight, worshipers danced in the sticky shower as the blood flowed down upon them. â€Å"Look, those women are dressed like me,† Joshua said. â€Å"Except they only have two breasts each.† â€Å"Technically, they're not dressed, they're painted. You make a very attractive female demon, Josh. Did I tell you that?† â€Å"This isn't going to work.† â€Å"Of course it's going to work.† I guessed that there were already ten thousand worshipers in the temple square, dancing, chanting, and beating drums. A procession of thirty men came down the main boulevard, each carrying a basket under his arm. As they reached the altar, each man dumped the contents of the basket over the rows of bloody goat heads. â€Å"What are those?† Joshua asked. â€Å"Those are exactly what you think they are.† â€Å"They're not the heads of the children?† â€Å"No, I think those are the heads of strangers who happened down the road we were on before Rumi came along to pull us into the grass.† After the severed heads were dispersed across the altar, the female acolytes came out of the crowd dragging the headless corpse of a man, which they laid on the steps leading to the altar. Each one mimed having intercourse with the corpse, then rubbed their genitalia against the bloody stump of its neck before dancing away, blood and ochre dripping down the insides of their thighs. â€Å"There's sort of a theme developing here,† I said. â€Å"I think I'm going to be sick,† Joshua said. â€Å"Mindful breath,† I said, using one of the phrases that Gaspar was always barking at us when we were learning meditation. I knew that if Joshua could stay with the yeti for days at a time without freezing to death, he could certainly conjure up the bodily control to keep from throwing up. The sheer magnitude of the carnage was all that was keeping me from vomiting. It was as if the atrocity of the whole scene couldn't fit in my mind all at once, so I could only see just enough for my sanity and my stomach to remain intact. A shout went up in the crowd now and I could see a torch-lit sedan chair being carried above the heads of the worshipers. On it reclined a half-naked man with a tiger skin wrapped around his hips, his skin painted light gray with ashes. His hair was plaited with grease and he wore the bones of a human hand as a skullcap. Around his neck hung a necklace of human skulls. â€Å"High priest,† I said. â€Å"They aren't even going to notice you, Biff. How can you even get their attention after they've seen all this?† â€Å"They haven't seen what I'm going to show them.† As the sedan chair emerged from the crowd in front of the altar, we could see a procession following it: tied to the back of the sedan chair was a line of naked children, most of them not more than five or six, their hands tied together, a less ornately dressed priest on either side of them to steady them. The priests began to untie the children and take them to the great wooden elephants lining the boulevard. Here and there in the crowd I could see people beginning to brandish edged weapons: short swords, axes, and the long-bladed spears Joshua and I had seen over the elephant grass. The high priest was sitting on the headless corpse, shouting a poem about the divine release of Kali's destruction or something. â€Å"Here we go,† I said, pulling the black glass dagger from under my sari. â€Å"Take this.† Joshua looked at the blade shimmering in the torchlight. â€Å"I won't kill anyone,† he said. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, drawing long red lines through the black and if anything making him look more fierce. â€Å"That's fine, but you'll need to cut them loose.† â€Å"Right.† He took the knife from me. â€Å"Josh, you know what's coming. You've seen it before. Nobody else here has, especially those kids. You can't carry all of them, so they have to have enough of their wits about them to follow you. I know you can keep them from being afraid. Put your teeth in.† Joshua nodded and slipped the row of crocodile teeth attached to a piece of rawhide under his upper lip, leaving the teeth to protrude like fangs. I put in my own false fangs, then ran into the dark to circle the crowd. As I approached the rear of the altar I pulled the special torch I'd made from under my girdle of human hands. (Actually my girdle of human hands was made of dried goat's udders stuffed with straw, but the Untouchable women had done a pretty good job as long as no one bothered to count fingers.) Through Kali's stone legs I could see the priests tying each of the children on the trunk of a wooden elephant. As soon as the bonds were tight, each priest drew a bronze blade and held it aloft, ready to strike off a finger as soon as the high priest gave the signal. I struck the tip of my torch on the edge of the altar, screamed for all I was worth, then threw my sari off and ran up the steps as the torch burst into dazzling blue flame that trailed sparks behind me as I ran. I hopped across the array of goat heads and stood between the legs of the statue of Kali, my torch held aloft in one hand, one of my severed heads swinging by the hair in the other. â€Å"I am Kali,† I screamed. â€Å"Fear me!† It came out sort of mumbled through my fake teeth. Some of the drums stopped and the high priest turned around and looked at me, more because of the bright light of the torch than my fierce proclamation. â€Å"I am Kali,† I shouted again. â€Å"Goddess of destruction and all this disgusting crap you have here!† They weren't getting it. The priest signaled for the other priests to come around me from the sides. Some of the female acolytes were already trying to make their way across the dance floor of decapitations toward me. â€Å"I mean it. Bow down to me!† The priests charged on. I did have the crowd's attention, though unfortunately they weren't cowering in fear at my angry goddessness. I could see Joshua moving around the wooden elephants, the guarding priests having left their posts to come after me. â€Å"Really! I mean it!† Maybe it was the teeth. I spit them out toward the nearest of my attackers. Running across a sea of slick, bloody heads is evidently a pretty difficult task. Not if you've spent the last six years of your life hopping from the top of one post to another, even in ice and snow, but for the run-of-the-mill homicidal priest, it's a tough row to hoe. The priests and acolytes were slipping and sliding among the goat and human heads, falling over each other, smacking into the feet of the statue, one even impaling himself on a goat's horn when he fell. One of the priests was only a few feet away from me now, trying not to fall on his own blade as he crawled over the mess. â€Å"I will bring destruction†¦oh, fuck it,† I said. I lit the fuse on the severed head I held in my hand, then swung it between my legs and tossed it in a steep arch over my head. It trailed sparks on its way into the black goddess's open maw, then disappeared. I kicked the approaching priest in the jaw, then danced across the goat heads, leapt over the head of the high priest, and was halfway to Joshua at the first wooden elephant when Kali, with a deafening report, breathed fire out over the crowd and the top of her head blew off. Finally, I had the crowd's attention. They were trampling each other to get away, but I had their attention. I stood in the middle of the boulevard, swinging my second severed head in a circle, waiting for the fuse to burn down before I let it sail over the heads of the receding crowd. It exploded in the air, sending a circle of flame across the sky and no doubt deafening some of the worshipers who were close. Joshua had seven of the children around him, clinging to his legs as he moved to the next elephant. Several of the priests had recovered and were storming down the steps of the altar toward me, knives in hand. I pulled another head from my garland, lit the fuse, and held it out to them. â€Å"Ah, ah, ah,† I cautioned. â€Å"Kali. Goddess of destruction. Wrath et cetera.† At the sight of the sparking fuse they stopped and began to backpedal. â€Å"Now that's the sort of respect you should have shown before.† I started whirling the head by the hair and the priests lost all semblance of courage and turned and ran. I hurled the head back up the boulevard onto the altar, where it exploded, sending a spray of real severed goat heads in all directions. â€Å"Josh! Duck! Goat heads!† Joshua pushed the children to the ground and fell over them until the pieces settled. He glared at me a second, then went on to free the other children. I hurled three more heads into different directions and now the entire temple square was nearly deserted but for Joshua, the children, a few injured worshipers, and the dead. I had built the bombs without any shrapnel in them, so those who had been injured had been trampled in the panic and the dead were those who had already been sacrificed to Kali. I think we pulled it off without killing anyone. As Joshua led the children down the wide boulevard and out of the temple square, I covered our exit, backing down the boulevard, my last explosive head swinging in one hand, my torch in the other. Once I saw that Joshua and the children were safely away, I lit the fuse, whirled the head around and let it fly toward the black goddess. â€Å"Bitch,† I said. I was out of sight when it exploded. Joshua and I got as far as a limestone cliff overlooking the Ganges before we had to stop to let the children rest. They were tired and hungry, but mostly they were hungry, and we had brought nothing for them to eat. At least, after Joshua's touch, they weren't afraid, and that gave them some peace. Josh and I were too jangled to sleep, so we sat up as the children lay down on the rocks around us and snored like kittens. Joshua held Rumi's little daughter, Vitra, and before long her face was smeared with black paint from nuzzling his shoulder. All through the night, as he rocked the child, all I heard Joshua say was, â€Å"No more blood. No more blood.† At first light we could see thousands, no, tens of thousands of people gathering at the banks of the river, all dressed in white, except for a few old men who were naked. They moved into the water and stood facing east, heads raised in anticipation, dotting the river as far as the eye could see. As the sun became a molten fingernail of light on the horizon, the muddy surface of the river turned golden. The gold light reflected off its surface onto the buildings, the shanties, the trees, the palaces, making everything in sight, including the worshipers, appear to have been gilded. And worshipers they were, for we could hear their songs from where we sat, and although we could not discern the words, we could hear that these were the songs of God. â€Å"Are those the same people from last night?† I said. â€Å"They would have to be, wouldn't they?† â€Å"I don't understand these people. I don't understand their religion. I don't understand how they think.† Joshua stood and watched the Indians bowing and singing to the dawn, looking occasionally to the face of the child that slept on his shoulder. â€Å"This is testament to the glory of God's creation, whether these people know it or not.† â€Å"How can you say that? The sacrifices to Kali, the way the Untouchables are treated. Whatever they might believe, in practice their religion is hideous.† â€Å"You're right. It's not right to condemn this child because she was not born a Brahman?† â€Å"Of course not.† â€Å"Then is it right to condemn her because she is not born a Jew?† â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"A man who is born a gentile may not see the kingdom of God. Are we, as Hebrews, any different from them? The lambs at the temple on Passover? The wealth and power of the Sadducees while others go hungry? At least the Untouchables can reach their reward eventually, through karma and rebirth. We don't allow any gentile to do so.† â€Å"You can't compare what they do to God's law. We don't sacrifice human beings. We feed our poor, we take care of the sick.† â€Å"Unless the sick are unclean,† Joshua said. â€Å"But, Josh, we're the chosen. It's God's will.† â€Å"But is it right? He won't tell me what to do. So I'll say. And I say, no more.† â€Å"You're not just talking about eating bacon, are you?† â€Å"Gautama the Buddha gave the way to people of all births to find the hand of God. With no blood sacrifice. Our doors have been marked with blood for too long, Biff.† â€Å"So that's what you think you're going to do? Bring God to everyone?† â€Å"Yes. After a nap.† â€Å"Of course, I meant after a nap.† Joshua held the little girl so I could see her face as she slept on his shoulder. When the children awoke we led them back to their families at the pits, handing them into the arms of their mothers, who snatched each child away from us as if we were devils incarnate; they glared over their shoulders as they carried the babies back to their pits. â€Å"Grateful bunch,† I said. â€Å"They are afraid that we've angered Kali. And we've brought them another hungry mouth.† â€Å"Still. Why did they help us if they didn't want their children back?† â€Å"Because we told them what to do. That's what they do. What they are told. That's how the Brahmans keep them in line. If they do what they are told, then perhaps they will not be Untouchables next life.† â€Å"That's depressing.† Joshua nodded. We only had little Vitra to return to her father now, and I was sure that Rumi would be happy to see his daughter. His distress over losing her had basically been the reason he had saved our lives. As we came over the sandstone rise we could see that Rumi was not alone in his pit. Rumi stood on his sitting rock, stark naked, sprinkling salt on his erect member as a large humpbacked cow, which nearly filled the rest of the pit, licked at the salt. Joshua held Vitra so she faced away from the pit, then backed away, as if he didn't want to disturb the moment of beefy intimacy. â€Å"A cow, Rumi?† I exclaimed. â€Å"I thought you people had beliefs.† â€Å"That's not a cow, that's a bull,† Joshua said. â€Å"Oh, that's got to be your super-bonus abomination there. Where we come from whole cities get destroyed for that kind of thing, Rumi.† I reached over and put my hand over Vitra's eyes. â€Å"Stay away from Daddy, honey, or you'll turn into a pillar of salt.† â€Å"But this is my wife, reincarnated.† â€Å"Oh, don't try that one on me, Rumi. For six years I lived in a Buddhist monastery where the only female company was a wild yak. I know from desperate.† Joshua grabbed my arm. â€Å"You didn't?† â€Å"Relax, I'm just making a point. You're the Messiah here, Josh. What do you think?† â€Å"I think we need to go to Tamil and find the third magus.† He set Vitra down and Rumi quickly pulled up his loincloth as the child ran to him. â€Å"Go with God, Rumi,† Joshua said. â€Å"May Shiva watch over you, you heretics. Thank you for returning my daughter.† Joshua and I gathered up our clothes and satchels, then bought some rice in the market and set out for Tamil. We followed the Ganges south until we came to the sea, where Joshua and I washed the gore of Kali from our bodies. We sat on the beach, letting the sun dry our skin as we picked pitch out of our chest hairs. â€Å"You know, Josh,† I said, as I fought a particularly stubborn gob of tar that had stuck in my armpit, â€Å"when you were leading those kids out of the temple square, and they were so little and weak, but none of them seemed afraid†¦well, it was sort of heartwarming.† â€Å"Yep, I love all the little children of the world, you know?† â€Å"Really?† He nodded. â€Å"Green and yellow, black and white.† â€Å"Good to know – Wait, green?† â€Å"No, not green. I was just fuckin' with you.†