Prejudice on to kill a mockingbird 1 Essay

Prejudice is a negative aspect of society that has unfavourably affected some(prenominal) different people. In the novel, racial injustice is seeming(a) but there are more types of prejudice on the novel. We give tongue to that racial prejudice is evident because in the novel a black man ( gobbler Robinson) was caused from raping a woman named Mayella Ewell and therefore had to go to trial. There were many points of view with regard to the case of Tom Robinson, but of course every last(predicate) influenced by prejudice because the color of Tom. The people of Maycomb town thought that Tom was guilty. Atticus and children (Scout, Jem, and Dill) thought that he was innocent.When we read this we batch see that the prejudice is an important theme in the novel. For this reason it is necessary to make an analytic thinking of this topic. People of Maycomb town always knew what the verdict of the trial was going to be (the judicial system was full of prejudice), even though some of t hem dusky down knew that Tom was innocent, he dont rape Mayella. 1. Maycomb, akin most small southern towns, has a problem with widespread racial discrimination (type of prejudice) toward African American people. As Maycomb was a small town with subatomic or no new residents, people living there make prejudices about various families over the generations.Social prejudice in Maycomb caused families to be stereotyped, which had a negative impact on members of those various families as it caused their region to become fixed just by their household name. It also had a negative impact on the individual residents of Maycomb, causing them to have nonequivalent treatment. An example of this prejudice is the rejection attitude of the town to Boo Radley, only because he is a Radley . Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird can be categorized into three forms, social prejudice, racial prejudice and grammatical gender prejudice.

Game and Passage Essay

Great curse of spirit, went into the bright moonshine, attach his long horse and rode attain into the world. He met holy hermits of the Vindhya Mountains and talked to them moreover he was non satisfied. thusly he went to the hobo camp with five disciples and in that respect he gave himself up to abstinence and penance. plainly it brought no sense of rightfulness achieved. Then he gave up abstemiousness and began to render himself fully.He overheard that whatever righteousness work force whitethorn fulfil is best by a nourish witset in a healthy body. On the backside of your recitation of the line of achievement, dress the next questions a) What did Buddha scram? (1) b) What news was brought to him and what was his response?(2) c) What bank took spend a penny of him? (1) d) wherefore did he progress up abstemiousness? (1) e) What did he significantize? (1) f) bef both lyric from the modulation, which atomic number 18 similar in meaning to the pu rsuance (2) i. genuinely mischievous pain. ii. A strong wish. 2. take away the follo set onwardg act c befully (8 marks) once a famous lawn tennis histrion was schedule to piddle away in a championship back with her most impressive rival.At the ending minute, she gave the justify of non impression well and refused to play. Her spirit was undone. Until the mean solar day of her death, she was regarded as a poor variant afraid of defeat. why is such a amply value throw on superb sportsmanship in the play jeopardizes?The hazards themselves ar not so important. No, just now the traits a individual shows in compete a game, observe his 3 P a g e region and breeding. The qualities necessary in games be the same unavoidable for neat living, fairness, honour, self control, willingness to delay put by the rules, expert tough by restriction and ability to allure or retrogress with dear(p) spirit.If you cannot scratch up any rice beer in a game, y ou had mitigate placate come in of it. A half-hearted faker who does not reserve his sound judgment on the game ,is for ever asking, Oh, is it my wring? and plainly does not treat how things telephone number out, and is an annoyance. The idol player plays for the merriment of playing.He tries to win stock-still he is not so dullard that he jumps in ahead of his circle or claims victory in front the game is over. On the basis of your translation of the passage, answer the questions briefly a) How was the story of the famous tennis player ruined? (2) b) How do games reveal a souls character? (1) c) Which qualities of neat exit are to a fault needed in games? (2) d). wherefore should a generous player stay out of the game? (1) e) What is on the mind of the idealistic player? (1) f) understand words from the passage that are similar in meaning to the by-line i) A person who tries to do wear out than others.ii) An work through or issuing in which an reverse ge t the better of you up. var. -VII bear witnessing Passage 1. Read the following passage carefully (8 marks) Buddha prime that all men are unhappy, rich or poor. Wealth brings cheer but no real happiness. While he was in this mood, he came crossways one of the saints who calm down performed penance forward from the madding crowd. A ablaze desire to do overly took hold of Buddha. near then the news was brought to him of his eldest son. This is just another(prenominal) tie to uprise, said Buddha.At dark he awoke in great agony of spirit, went into the bright moonshine, mounted his horse and rode off into the world. He met holy hermits of the Vindhya Mountains and talked to them but he was not satisfied. Then he went to the jungle with five disciples and there he gave himself up to fasting and penance. But it brought no sense of truth achieved.Then he gave up fasting and began to feed himself fully. He agnize that whatever truth men may reach is best by a nourished brain in a healthy body. On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions a) What did Buddha find? (1) b) What news was brought to him and what was his reaction? (2) c) What desire took hold of him? (1).d) Why did he give up fasting? (1) e) What did he realize? (1) f) Find words from the passage, which are similar in meaning to the following (2) i. Very bad pain. ii. A strong wish. 2. Read the following passage carefully (8 marks) Once a famous tennis player was scheduled to play in a championship game with her most formidable rival. At the last minute, she gave the excuse of not feeling well and refused to play. Her reputation was ruined. Until the day of her death, she was regarded as a poor sport afraid of defeat. Why is such a high value put on good sportsmanship in the playing games?The games themselves are not so important. No, but the traits a person shows in playing a game, reveal his 3 P a g e character and breeding. The qualities needed in games are t he same needed for decent living, fairness, honour, self control, willingness to abide by the rules, just tempered by restraint and ability to win or lose with good spirit. If you cannot muster up any interest in a game, you had better stay out of it. A half-hearted player who does not keep his mind on the game ,is for ever asking, Oh, is it my turn? and plainly does not care how things turn out, and is an annoyance. The ideal player plays for the fun of playing.He tries to win yet he is not so eager that he jumps in ahead of his turn or claims victory before the game is over. On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the questions briefly a) How was the reputation of the famous tennis player ruined? (2) b) How do games reveal a persons character? (1) c) Which qualities of decent leaving are also needed in games? (2) d) Why should a disinterested player stay out of the game? (1) e) What is on the mind of the ideal player? (1) f) Find words from the passage that are simila r in meaning to the following i) A person who tries to do better than others.ii) An experience or event in which an opponent beats you up. CLASS -VII exercise Passage 1. Read the following passage carefully (8 marks) Buddha found that all men are unhappy, rich or poor. Wealth brings comfort but no real happiness. While he was in this mood, he came across one of the saints who still performed penance away from the madding crowd. A passionate desire to do likewise took hold of Buddha. Just then the news was brought to him of his firstborn son. This is just another tie to break, said Buddha. At night he awoke in great agony of spirit, went into the bright moonshine, mounted his horse and rode off into the world.He met holy hermits of the Vindhya Mountains and talked to them but he was not satisfied. Then he went to the jungle with five disciples and there he gave himself up to fasting and penance. But it brought no sense of truth achieved. Then he gave up fasting and began to feed him self fully. He realized that whatever truth men may reach is best by a nourished brain in a healthy body. On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions a) What did Buddha find? (1) b) What news was brought to him and what was his reaction? (2) c) What desire took hold of him? (1).d) Why did he give up fasting? (1) e) What did he realize? (1) f) Find words from the passage, which are similar in meaning to the following (2) i. Very bad pain. ii. A strong wish. 2. Read the following passage carefully (8 marks) Once a famous tennis player was scheduled to play in a championship game with her most formidable rival. At the last minute, she gave the excuse of not feeling well and refused to play. Her reputation was ruined. Until the day of her death, she was regarded as a poor sport afraid of defeat. Why is such a high value put on good sportsmanship in the playing games?The games themselves are not so important. No, but the traits a person shows in playing a game, reveal his 3 P a g e character and breeding. The qualities needed in games are the same needed for decent living, fairness, honour, self control, willingness to abide by the rules, just tempered by restraint and ability to win or lose with good spirit. If you cannot muster up any interest in a game, you had better stay out of it. A half-hearted player who does not keep his mind on the game ,is for ever asking, Oh, is it my turn? and plainly does not care how things turn out, and is an annoyance. The ideal player plays for the fun of playing.He tries to win yet he is not so eager that he jumps in ahead of his turn or claims victory before the game is over. On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the questions briefly a) How was the reputation of the famous tennis player ruined? (2) b) How do games reveal a persons character? (1) c) Which qualities of decent leaving are also needed in games? (2) d) Why should a disinterested player stay out of the game? (1) e) What is on the mind of the ideal player? (1) f) Find words from the passage that are similar in meaning to the following i) A person who tries to do better than others.ii) An experience or event in which an opponent beats you up. CLASS -VII Reading Passage 1. Read the following passage carefully (8 marks) Buddha found that all men are unhappy, rich or poor. Wealth brings comfort but no real happiness. While he was in this mood, he came across one of the saints who still performed penance away from the madding crowd. A passionate desire to do likewise took hold of Buddha. Just then the news was brought to him of his firstborn son. This is just another tie to break, said Buddha. At night he awoke in great agony of spirit, went into the bright moonshine, mounted his horse and rode off into the world.He met holy hermits of the Vindhya Mountains and talked to them but he was not satisfied. Then he went to the jungle with five disciples and there he gave himself up to fasting and penance. But it brought no sense of truth achieved. Then he gave up fasting and began to feed himself fully. He realized that whatever truth men may reach is best by a nourished brain in a healthy body. On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions a) What did Buddha find? (1) b) What news was brought to him and what was his reaction? (2) c) What desire took hold of him? (1)d) Why did he give up fasting? (1) e) What did he realize? (1) f) Find words from the passage, which are similar in meaning to the following (2) i. Very bad pain. ii. A strong wish. 2. Read the following passage carefully (8 marks) Once a famous tennis player was scheduled to play in a championship game with her most formidable rival. At the last minute, she gave the excuse of not feeling well and refused to play. Her reputation was ruined. Until the day of her death, she was regarded as a poor sport afraid of defeat. Why is such a high value put on good sportsmanship in the playing games?The ga mes themselves are not so important. No, but the traits a person shows in playing a game, reveal his 3 P a g e character and breeding. The qualities needed in games are the same needed for decent living, fairness, honour, self control, willingness to abide by the rules, just tempered by restraint and ability to win or lose with good spirit. If you cannot muster up any interest in a game, you had better stay out of it. A half-hearted player who does not keep his mind on the game ,is for ever asking, Oh, is it my turn? and plainly does not care how things turn out, and is an annoyance. The ideal player plays for the fun of playing.He tries to win yet he is not so eager that he jumps in ahead of his turn or claims victory before the game is over. On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the questions briefly a) How was the reputation of the famous tennis player ruined? (2) b) How do games reveal a persons character? (1) c) Which qualities of decent leaving are also needed in games? (2) d) Why should a disinterested player stay out of the game? (1) e) What is on the mind of the ideal player? (1) f) Find words from the passage that are similar in meaning to the following i) A person who tries to do better than others.ii) An experience or event in which an opponent beats you up. CLASS -VII Reading Passage 1. Read the following passage carefully (8 marks) Buddha found that all men are unhappy, rich or poor. Wealth brings comfort but no real happiness. While he was in this mood, he came across one of the saints who still performed penance away from the madding crowd. A passionate desire to do likewise took hold of Buddha. Just then the news was brought to him of his firstborn son. This is just another tie to break, said Buddha. At night he awoke in great agony of spirit, went into the bright moonshine, mounted his horse and rode off into the world.He met holy hermits of the Vindhya Mountains and talked to them but he was not satisfied. Then he went to the jungle with five disciples and there he gave himself up to fasting and penance. But it brought no sense of truth achieved. Then he gave up fasting and began to feed himself fully. He realized that whatever truth men may reach is best by a nourished brain in a healthy body. On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions a) What did Buddha find? (1) b) What news was brought to him and what was his reaction? (2) c) What desire took hold of him? (1) d) Why did he give up fasting?(1) e) What did he realize? (1) f) Find words from the passage, which are similar in meaning to the following (2) i. Very bad pain. ii. A strong wish. 2. Read the following passage carefully (8 marks) Once a famous tennis player was scheduled to play in a championship game with her most formidable rival. At the last minute, she gave the excuse of not feeling well and refused to play. Her reputation was ruined. Until the day of her death, she was regarded as a poor sport afraid of de feat. Why is such a high value put on good sportsmanship in the playing games? The games themselves are not so important.No, but the traits a person shows in playing a game, reveal his 3 P a g e character and breeding. The qualities needed in games are the same needed for decent living, fairness, honour, self control, willingness to abide by the rules, just tempered by restraint and ability to win or lose with good spirit. If you cannot muster up any interest in a game, you had better stay out of it. A half-hearted player who does not keep his mind on the game ,is for ever asking, Oh, is it my turn? and plainly does not care how things turn out, and is an annoyance. The ideal player plays for the fun of playing.He tries to win yet he is not so eager that he jumps in ahead of his turn or claims victory before the game is over. On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the questions briefly a) How was the reputation of the famous tennis player ruined? (2) b).How do games r eveal a persons character? (1) c) Which qualities of decent leaving are also needed in games? (2) d) Why should a disinterested player stay out of the game? (1) e) What is on the mind of the ideal player? (1) f) Find words from the passage that are similar in meaning to the following i) A person who tries to do better than others. ii) An experience or event in which an opponent beats you up.

Facing Violence and Oppression Essay

The Kurds comprise a commonwealth in the Middle East that is mensesly roughlyly dispersed end-to-end the outskirts and borders of turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. Having their suffer way in expression through arts and sociopolitical organization, they ar characterized with their own culture and history (Levinson 175). In relation to the position that they atomic number 18 dispersed along such(prenominal) locations, an implication arises that they on-goingly do non belong to a hoidenish that unifies their race.Hence, as a result, the Kurds direct frequently been considered as the oppressed in the Middle East and selected a bewilder forwardst by the g all overnments of the countries in which they reside. In some instances, the Kurds necessitate even opted to engage in conflicts in order to preserve their history, culture, rights, and even their lives (Amnesty worldwide 6). Through history, there have been several cases wherein the Kurds have been heavily violated. One significant proof of such was the event in 1965 where an Arab Cordon was decided to be made by the Syrian administration activity.The Kurds, during that time, were be to live in the borders of Turkey which is considered part of the Jazira region however, upon the fruition of the Arab Cordon, the Kurds were displaced and were transferred into a retract ara (Kurdish Canadian Congress KCC). This was significantly a breach upon the lives of the Kurds in the area since the place they considered as their home was all of a sudden stripped away. In fact, the Kurds already integrated their culture into what was originally their home.In addition, even though they were originally from a desert area, relocating the Kurds to a desert area without further support posed several problems such as reestablishment. Additional aggravating details regarding the production of the Arab Cordon include the changes that they made in the location. Aside from simply taking away the homes of the Kurds, th e Arabs also prevented any trace of the culture of the Kurds to remain in the area in fact, they even opted to call the villages to fit their own language (KCC).As expected, such an event was non well-received by the Kurdish locals, and as a result, some ref apply to comply. Those who did not fill to be relocated were branded as outsiders by the Arabs and were not allowed to call back any type of settlement in the area (KKC). Understandably, payable to the around-the-clock oppression towards their kind, groups of Kurds that saw fighting as the only way to gain recognition started to appear throughout the Middle East.In response to these opponent forces of the Kurds, the Iraqi government decided to mobilize an attack which would eliminate most Kurds in the Iraqi territory the attack was referred to as Al-Anfal. Biological and chemic weapons were used against both Kurd resistance members and Kurd villagers alike this resulted in the death of over 180,000 Kurds (OLeary). Such an outright attack upon a large group of Kurds is considered as genocide. The reason behind the Al-Anfal, which was led by Ali Hasan Al-Majid, was to destroy and eliminate saboteurs (OLeary).Although it was to a greater extent of a case of ethnic cleansing kinda than just eliminating the threats or defeating the opposition, the occurrence of such attacks to the Iraqi Kurd population did not actually fetch and end with the Al-Anfal. In fact, throughout the course of such violent attacks, over 300,000 Kurds have died (OLeary). In contrast to the blatant attack of the Iraqi government towards the Kurds, in Turkey, they were considered as people that one should never speak of.In fact, even though there were a considerable number of Kurds in Turkey, decades ago the Kurdish language was banned and was not to be used in Turkish regions in order to cause further ethnical repression. In addition, public perception and knowledge towards the Kurds were maintained to a level wherein Kurds wer e thought of as mountain Turks (Bruno). As a result, several groups that were against such treatment, including the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), decided to fight for their beliefs and rights.The original aim of the PKK was to acquire an free-lance state for Kurds and hence, be able to govern their own kind the PKK was well stronger and more radical in their ways compared to previous resistance groups discussed, as they usually resorted to kidnapping and terrorism (Bruno). Even with such a variance in those aspects, the general aim of the resistance groups, and probably the whole Kurd population, is to be able to develop their own state or country where they whitethorn freely express their own culture and other(a) aspects of their population without the care of being selected against, discriminated, or oppressed.The same trend can be find in the history of Kurds in Iran. It is master(prenominal) to note that Iran played an important role in the destruction of the first step of the Kurds towards autonomy. In 1946, later gaining control of Mahabad, wherein the Kurds established the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad, the Iran forces seized the area without giving a good deal time for the republic to at least develop (Kweskin). Hence, the opportunity of the Kurds to sleep with autonomy was definitely cut short, and as a result, movements that aim to bring autonomy to their kind began anew.In 1979, further cases of oppression towards Kurds were documented in Iran, one of this being the aggressive way of control towards the Kurd revolution initiated by the Ayatollah Khomeini, which was inducing revolutionary precept upon the area of Mahabad the Ayatollah Khomeini branded the Kurds as atheists in order to explain their actions (Kweskin). The leader of the Kurds in Mahabad strictly denied any condition of religion-based actions or motives. The leader exclaimed that the only thing they wanted to attain was for Kurds to succeed independence once more and again be able to rule themselves and let their own ways of living flourish (Kweskin).In the current times, the treatment towards the Kurds has become better, as exemplified by the recent move of the Turkey government to allow Kurdish language to be used as well as several Kurdish media to be transmitted (Bruno). However, in general, the Kurds are still commonly associated with oppression and abuse. For example, in Iran, the oppression towards Kurdish individuals is still unpatterned in the unequal treatment of the laws and government of Iran towards them evident risks for Kurdish women causing illiteracy and deaths due to improper treatment were found as well (Amnesty International 14).In addition to this, due to the validation of several Kurdish militant groups which aim to fight for their rights through force, the Kurds are becoming associated with terrorism as well this is rather expected due to the fact that groups such as the PKK have conducted acts of violence in other parts of th e world (Bruno). Given the current trend of the global companionship to prevent and extinguish any form of violence that arises from terrorist acts along with the fact that the masses have a tendency to generalize based on minimal facts, such activities definitely do not help in placing the Kurdish population in a positive light.However, it must be considered that all of these are based on the goal of the Kurds to establish their own identity and to be able to express aspects of their culture, including language, music, arts, and history, without outside intervention. It must be understood that if only this was fulfilled, then it is probable that the unnecessary oppression, death, and violence associated with the Kurds may never have manifested. Given the chance to form their own government and parliament, as seen through the Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurds would be able to sustain themselves rather peacefully (OLeary).Therefore, after all the dreadful events that these people had to ex perience throughout history, the Kurds should not simply be given several areas within current countries in order to practice a sense of autonomy as this still enables the presence of events of oppression it is undeniable that the Kurds are more than deserve to finally form a true Kurdistan, a whole country in the Middle East with a future that the Kurds themselves will have the power to decide.Works CitedAmnesty International. IRAN Human Rights Abuses against the Kurdish Minority. Amnesty International Online Library. 2008. 24 Apr. 2009 . Bruno, Greg. Inside the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Council on Foreign Relations. 19 Oct. 2007. 24 Apr. 2009 . Kweskin, Benjamin. Kurdish Nationalism from World War I through 2007 An uncompletedHistorical Narrative. Kurdish Media News about Kurds and Kurdistan. 4 Sept. 2008. 24 Apr. 2009 . Levinson, David. cyclopedia of World Cultures Volume IX Africa and the Middle East. New York G. K. Hall & Company, 1995. OLeary, Carole A. The Kurds of Iraq Recent History, Future Prospects. Middle East Review of International Affairs. Dec. 2002. 24 Apr. 2009 .

Dulce et Decorum Est †Wilfred Owen’s Poem Essay

Dulce et Decorum Est Wilfred Owens renowned fight rime for its frowning on the glorification on war, and The Last Night by Charlotte Gray, similarly depicting the aftermaths of war on the unimpeachable y out(p)h, in prose form. Both atomic number 18 excellent representations of the devastation that war truly is and stinkpot only result in, and be both(prenominal) written in historical context, only Dulce et Decorum preceded the latter. Dulce directly juxtaposed another war poet, Jessie Pope, who romanticized the conceit of it and re altogethery manipulated the patriotic conscience. The irony here is that the fifty-fifty after the causation expound the trauma that war produced, and the unacceptable manner in how passel revered the act, the world went on to WWII. Which al virtually questions why did it run across, did not the goal of the previous war play any guilt or effect on the countries leaders? Over the course of this essay, I aim to relegate the physical and ment al effects of war as well as covering the idealism and the theme of slaughtering the innocents.In the beginning verse of Dulce, the indite plays upon the image of a man walking. Contrastive to the propagandizing posters that were often figuren at the magazine that rendered an erect, striding man h overageding a gun confidently- a moving-picture show show of tired, old men is illustrated, which emphasizes the idea that they run through aged far in like manner quickly. knack double, like old beggars and knock-kneed delineate a pigeon-toed frame of reference suffering from pure fatigue an inadequacy to be what is defined as a soldier. In the simile, Coughing like hags, we cursed, we put forward find out the witch hoarseness of the cough the enigma here is the build-up this state if they ease up been simply marching through battles, like Jessie Pope presumed. A signified of utter sensory deprivation is conveyed through, Men marched asleep limped on, lame, all tired, rum w ith fatigue, deaf even to the hoots.The immediate assumption here is that the men would, if assumption the choice, collapse in a heap of discomfort, subconscious, and fall asleep. The position that they atomic number 18 comp ard to drunken men only accentuates their circumstance, a probable disparity mingled with when they started out as recruits and this moment in the poem. They conjured up a weather vane of deception, and empathy from us, as well as in The Last Night, when the children rest in deep sleep despite the appalling environment unfeignedly wake their desperation for a moment of peace.The accumulation of all of this is that war has in the long run taken its toll, the young men evolving or more appropriately, regressing into haggard and diminish creatures that slang breastd acute injure and loss. However, the change in whole t mavin within the stanza is evident when faced by death, we scram an ecstasy of search, and this change in speed exposes their anx ieties when in the full, frontal face of death, or perhaps the inexplicable torment of a gas plan of attack, as they have gathern their peers die in the hands of it before. As they fumble stressing the urgency of the pip not anybody manages to clamber on a gas pretend in time. The poem is told from a first-person perspective, although this is not made clear at first, however, this allows us to interpret it from a first-hand simulation.The inevitability of the gas floating towards them like a death sentence is horrific -one soldier inhales it, and the devastating effects described in detail. We bewitch helplessly at him floundring like a man in fire or lime, which links to burnings at the stake, arguably the worst torture in existence. We see his eye wriggle in his face, a clear connotation of a loon, suggesting he is in an insane, maniacal state. And consequently his hanging face, like a devils sick of sin., only serves to show how much pain has been delivered. The men the n fling him in a wagon which shows the dehumanization of the moment, and they watch him form bubbles and gargle store, twisting unnaturally. The incurable sores is exactly what it says, incurable. The physical effects be irrevocable, physically and mentally. Through map of emotive metaphors and similes, Owen molds an indubitably sickening picture of a suffering man, introducing the readers to the realities of war.Likewise, The Last Night also paints a picture of suffering, but in a far subtler manner. Unlike the soldiers in Dulce, the tidy sum of these innocent, Jewish children is unavoidable for everyone, thus having a certain sadness to it. They have been sentenced to the gas chambers as well, and we can deduce that they will face like pain to the soldier in the previous paragraph, which, for a child, we all know is terrifying and never deserved. The pain we encounter in this press is more that of basic deprivations, like food, water, and love alike. We can understand that the children argon exhausted because, despite the most believably uncomfortable surroundings, many of the children were too deeply asleep to be aroused. The children sleep in dung the flaccid bloom of cheek laid, uncaring, shows a child with a warp of rose in his cheeks, the sweetness and the unfairness of this trial he must(prenominal) endure.Again, they are reduced to an animalistic level, Jacobs limbs were intertwined with his his brothers for warmth. this imitates two young, tike animals that lie together, unknowing of the worlds cruelties or the predators that stalk them. The children are ravenous and denied of sufficient food and drink, as they cluster rough a woman holding out sardine cans for water, and as we know, these cans are unco slim and unsuitable to drink water from, especially when the can is passed around of a crowd.They are each provided with a sandwich, this severe rationing a punishment they do not deserve. The physical pain that is shown in this arm of The Last Night is purely tiredness and hunger, two qualities good parents guarantee their children are not. Their frail bodies find it difficult to withstand this, but the melodramatic irony here is that their fate in store is much worsened and absolutely inhumane. A shower of scraps was thrown towards them reiterates the animals they are universe essentially treated as.As for the mental pain faced by the soldiers, it must surpass the physical by far. From the lies, to leaving their loved ones, the pain and the distant memories are even more difficult to face. Homesickness, when really experienced, can be a very intense and sad feeling, and this does not really raise any morale. One can only imagine their obfuscation when arriving to the trenches and wondering where their accommodation was. As continued from the previous, their mental velocity increase tremendously when in the face of adversity and death. This can only be expected, and is marked by the Gas Gas Quick, boys. The mental anguish when they see their peer suffer but are utterly of no use in this is astounding, and the scene runs closely as a nightmarish sequence, as signified by Dim through the misty panes, and thick fountain out of work. In all my dreams before my helpless sight..The dramatic verb drown is used, and they watch their former companion die in the sea of gas, they having escaped the said(prenominal) fate by only a second or two. This fact is enough to leave them in a state of momentary shock, and in the future, a play back of this episode is probably revisited by every soldier who saw the sight and regretted having being unable to help him in any way the same shock was experienced when all the Jews realise their time had come a quickening of muscle and nerve in The Last Night. Through each line, we must remember whom the poem was intercommunicate to, and we can mother wit approximately underlying bitterness. The triplet guttering, choking, drowning throws itself out with a dynamic impact.It wouldnt be expected for the children to know of their demise, but as seen in the excerpt, they seem to sense something wrong. This is why In the filthy straw, they take away their heels in and screamed. Instead of just struggling, they choose to scream, which reveals their internal uncertainties and distress. The metaphor fag out means they are trying to fix themselves in the straw, and how they distrust the officers. They are forced towards and crammed in a mound, which again, brings back the animal-like treatment motif. As the adults wrote their peradventure last messages which had no to little guarantee of delivery, some wrote with sobbing ire and some with punctilious care. Both adjectives suggest a degree of not bad(p) mental turmoil, the only difference being the latter having some restraint. even there is a recognition of hopelessness in the atmosphere, the adults in the live sat slumped against the wall., the emotions going through them must have b een complex, but ultimately, an change magnitude feel of nothing can be done, and giving up. This is not a movie where the resolution magically occurs, but this is a depiction of reality. As the officers call out their names alphabetically, in a convertible order, this shows how devoid of emotion or remorse they are, and how each child and each person is reduced to just another name. There is a scatterbrained and tense atmosphere, it seems as if everybody is waiting for some justice to occur, but as we know, this does not happen. They are quickly thrown into the buses, the homely sound of a Parisian bus is somehow mocking to the whole scene. probably the most heart-rending image is when a mother sees her child for the last time her eyes were fixed with terrible ferocity intensely open to fix the picture of her child, for ever. To see your child for the last time, to know of the death, to be able to do nothing about it, as in Dulce, there is the same sense of no faith or hope. The wails and screams of the women as they throw food towards the buses from the mob knowing the food will never reach, but desperately wanting to do something anyhow is the final time they will ever see their maternal figures, and the children are, precisely put, doomed.The fact that none of the officers act even save touched by their fellow humans sadness is repulsive. Five municipal buses now stood trembling in the corner of the yard the buses are personified, which is a symbolic representation of their fear. The story concludes with the bus turning away, the headlights, for a moment, light up the caf opposite before the driver turned the wheel and headed for the station. This glance of something perfectly normal spotlights the unfairness of it all on the children who at one time, had that other life.The theme of glory and pureness is well cover in Dulce. In fact, the title is sufficient, To die for your country, is a sweet thing. The poem runs on to contradict it, ending w ith, The old lie Dulce Et Decorum Est, Pro Patria Mori. And we are forced to agree, having been witness to the preceding bloodshed. If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs thy friend, you could not tell with such high zest, to children ardent for some desperate glory, The Old Lie, this quotation sums up all the disdain he has for any form of glorification of war, when really it is ones own sacrifice rather than an obligation.It has a tinge of instruction to it, almost as if he trying to convince her in an angry, forceful way, and if he said it verbally, it seems as if it would increase with volume. This is quite justified, as Jessie Pope regard war as fun, and liked it to a game, and that anybody who chickened out was basically a coward. This induced such an outrage that Owen felt he needed to farm how nauseating the concept was. He addresses the soldiers as children, which somehow brings out their naivete and how easy it is to co nvince adults generally lie to children in order to mask the truth. The young men were obviously targeted for recruiting and decided to join more out of fear of mockery rather than pure patriotism.The concept of innocence in The Last Night is brought up quite often, the youngness of the children is stressed upon. For example, Some children were too small to manage the step up and A baby few weeks cot was crammed into the bus. If the children are too small to even step onto the bus themselves, and require support, and they really criminals or infested jews? They are too young to even know the reason for their death, and as soon as they came into this world, they were stolen just as quickly. They have no ability to reason, no ability to know of the dangers, no ability to believe in anything, yet simply because of their religion something they are most likely unaware of they have been sentenced to die and never experience any of lifes pleasures. If they havent learnt simple repuls e skills, how can they be expected to react to a gas attack? The pure hatred of it can never be condensed it is like those horror stories materialized.Dulce and The Last Night are both classic pieces of history, genuine and likely more realistic records of those corrupt events that hopefully will not happen ever again. They are both timeless, and dark monitoring devices of why war shouldnt happen, although pain is still inflicted, every second. These two pieces are a reminder that pain can never truly be prevented as that is how a few are wired to work and these few have the force-out to influnce many others.However, the main point the pieces try to bridge across is the innocence of the fighters who are more like pawns or victims and the superfluous glorification of war. Something that tenor another should never be laughed or promoted in any form, as fundamentally, we are one species, we are the same, as Shylock in the merchandiser of Venice so eloquently expressed. The quo tation Do unto others as others would do unto you, applies to both concepts the writers try to draw, but in the end, the sadness in both renditions of war is the dehumanization and of course, the gruesome massacres, but mostly, the indifference. The indifference of the bystanders as well as the leaders.

Managing Knowledge and Learning Essay

Managing Knowledge and Learning at NASA and the Jet Propulsion testing ground Summary National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established by congress on October 1, 1958, in order for the United States to keep up with the technological advancements achieved from former Soviet Unions successful install of the Sputnik (1957). The Apollo Era-Mission had risen from the post of John F. Kennedys goal, which was landing a valet on the Moon and leaveing him safely to Earth. Prioritization at NASA evolved into the centers motto of Faster, Better, Cheaper (FBC), which was mandated in the Goldin Era beginning in 1992.NASA shifted priorities from 1) performance, 2) schedule and 3) appeal to 1) increase armorial bearing performance, 2) cut salute and 3) work force reduction. However, this renew was non as successful as planned. From 1992 and 2000, six of 16 FBC committees failed. To process concern of the conflict of failed missions and impending retirements of man y an some other(prenominal) of the most experienced NASA employees, Congress enforced that the agency search for the solution to Knowledge Management (KM) and promoting cultivation initiatives at NASA-JPL.NASAs KM tools were mainly IT transcriptions of Internet-based databases and portals for ease of lessons. The NASA KM crisis was attributed to the organic laws inability to document experiences of failures and successes of missions or starts ultimately incapable of capturing the existential association from expert engineers and scientists. In addition, this lack in KM was start-of-pocket to privatizing friendship and promoting creativity, that stemmed from NASAs civilization where competition among centers for projects and accompaniment was the norm. around(prenominal) KM Initiatives were developed including project libraries for document and data counseling, developing standards, establishing databases to catch out experts, ask technical questions, and to capture hist ory and legacy reviews. 1) What were the pros and cons of the Faster, Better, Cheaper model? How energy outcomes (both positive and negative) of projects executed with this model impact NASAs stakeholders, i. e. Congress and the world-wide public? The Faster, Better, and Cheaper (FBC) objectives were to cut cost and maximize mission performance. There were some(prenominal) advantages of the FBC reform.FBC allowed compressed ripening and launch schedules that entice to an increase in the human activity of missions. Mission time could be reduced from decades to a few years. The offspring of NASA projects change magnitude from four to 40 under the FBC model. An increase in mission projects was legal opinion to lead to additional discoveries so that NASA could gain further wiseness and space cognition. FBC missions were changed from genius big project to multiple smaller projects. Dividing the course of instruction into smaller projects serve welled to minimize the pressure and stress on the team if a mission failed.Furtherto a greater extent, one mission failure did not consequently lead to the failure of the entire program. FBC practice allowed cured managers more freedom to apparatus FBC the way they found fit which promoted creativity and autonomy among senior managers. FBC excessively reduced the cost of apiece mission and NASAs overall budget. For example, the vitiate program budget was reduced from one billion dollars to $260 million. There ar numerous disadvantages of the FBC reform. Applying the FBC model could lead to more mission failures.During the FBC era, there were 6 failed missions out of 16 FBC missions. Cost and schedule constraints, insufficient risk judgment, planning, and testing, underestimation of complexity and technology maturity, inattention of quality and safety, inadequate review processes, engineering, under-trained staff, piteous team communication, and design errors all attributed to NASAs mission failures. Proj ects conducted faster does not allow for adequate documentation, time for redlining the project, and recording lessons learned from one mission to the next.This could result in repeated mistakes that could be avoided by in store(predicate) missions. Missions carried out faster do not allow time for mentorship and sharing of intimacy. Also, the boundary better was not properly defined and was open to interpretation, which may negatively impact maintaining standard procedures and processes. The results of the FBC fantasy could impact NASAs stakeholders in several(prenominal) ways. The increase in smaller successful missions would alleviate the risk of one large failure, although any failures will have a negative impact on stakeholders.Congress could be discouraged to provide gage and funding for major space programs if they fail but might be more likely to fund smaller missions. The public could either lose or gain confidence, support, and belief in the space program depending o n the order of success or failure. FBC mission are less expensive which would accrue NASAs budget and help satisfy both Congress and the world(a) public by reducing the need for extra taxation by Congress and collection of taxes from the general public. 2) Why was the mar talent scout project so successful?Explain how Anthony Spears concern style impacted future missions. Project management was the key to success of the damage Pathfinder project. It began as an experiment to test the validity of the FBC reform mandated in 1992 when Daniel Goldin was assigned as the new administrator of NASA. A clear and specific plan for the Pathfinder mission was laid out in the beginning and followed through until the end. homogeneous to the success of Ciscos ERP implementation, Anthony Spears, an excellent manager and thought attraction with years of experience at NASA, gained the support of top management and the JPL basis (Spears, 1999).Spears developed a unique balance of an advisory committee of experts to support and guide the difficult project, while he recruited talented, yet naive, energetic peasants to do what some more experienced deal thought im affirmable. As Spears writes in his lessons learned report it was a blend of bright, pushful youth and scarred old timers, each challenged and empowered, all working each issue together (1999). Together, they created a team that bonded and worked together successfully.Spears goal was not only the success of the Pathfinder project, but of the FBC program success, unlike the vision of future project managers. The success of Pathfinder did not translate salubrious in future FBC missions. Risk management and testing were important to the Mars Pathfinder success. While the Mars Pathfinder team worked together successfully, the young players went on to think they were great project managers themselves, but still hadnt learned enough to manage their next missions successfully.In future FBC projects, some reasons f or failure were poor team communication, inadequate or under-trained staff or insufficient testing in 70% of missions and insufficient risk assessment and planning on 86% of missions (exhibit 4). 3) One of the major issues in this event is the retirements of experts. Why is this a conundrum for NASA? Would it be less of a problem in a different type of organization? Suggest present(prenominal) steps that NASA could take to mitigate the problem. Explain your choices.By 2006 half of NASAs workforce was eligible for retirement which could lead to a major exhalation of knowledge, especially tacit information, diminishing the collective wisdom of the organization. A senior manager at NASA states, we have no globe process for dispatchring knowledge from thought leaders to new managers and IT transcriptions had not yet been sufficient in transferring experiential knowledge to the younger generation. Unfortunately, this would be trustworthy in many organizations unless they had suf ficient knowledge management systems in place and a ending where sharing knowledge was valued and encouraged.In order to mitigate the problem of losing their knowledge base, NASA not only needs to continue to implement their KM strategy, but truly change the culture. Experienced project leaders and stem Matter Experts (SMEs), such as design engineers, should openly share their knowledge and not just when asked for it. I support several of the planned KM initiatives such as the capture of information by improving documentation, development of an enterprise web-based portal, and the Knowledge Sharing Initiative (KSI) commenceed at changing the companies culture.In addition to these activities, an exit strategy could be developed for retiring employees where they must follow standard procedures for employing case-based reasoning in an online database employing a searchable classification system. supernumerary knowledge could be disseminated by those eligible through training sess ions. A reward system should be coupled to these exit requirements and could be increased if the employee decides to be available in the Expert Connections directory of SMEs that could be contacted for support after they leave.New positions might need to be created for dedicated knowledge managers such as Chief knowledge officers. Its also possible that NASA could obtain some replacement of lost experts by collaborating with space programs in other countries. Collecting the information from experts must be coupled with management support of a corporate wide schema to store the data, methods of dissemination, and engage the information to ultimately make better decisions on projects that involve risking peoples lives. 4) Jean Holm had two options she could recognize from 1) upgrade the IT systems or, 2) change the culture.Which would you choose and why? Is there a third option? Explain your answer. In order for Holms to truly have a successful knowledge management system in place, implementation of a hybrid system should be in place enforcing both upgrade to IT systems occurring simultaneously with changing the private culture into a shared one. Integration of both, changing the culture and IT upgrades will be a lengthy process so it would be critical to first strategically plan for cultivating and managing formal processes for knowledge transfers.Implementing formal processes such as inevitable protocols, reports, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and work operating book of instructions for each mission or project should be enforced from every(prenominal) high-level management as it might help with the KM transfer crisis. Once every item has been completed by the high-level management it would be placed into the appropriate IT systems database in conjunction with the integration of the required knowledge management video synopsis from experienced engineers and scientist who exit the centers.Curriculums would be in place with learning modules with speci fic need encapsulating these protocols, reports, SOPs, work instructions and video synopsis would then be posted on the intranet, quick for the potential novice engineers and scientists entering the NASA work force making the system more enriched and meaningful. 5) President Obama is implementing changes to NASAs charter, which will create new ways of funding/executing projects than NASA is used to. Do a little online research. Do you agree or disagree in this change of direction? Explain. reprove this is not to be addressed as a political issue) The Obama organisations new NASA charter includes a couple of key split A) In February 2010, the Obama administration canceled the Constellation Program, which was started by former President George W. pubic hairs administration in 2004. This program aimed to put US astronauts behind on the moon by 2020, for the first time since the final Apollo mission. B) In April 2010, Obama proposed increasing NASAs overall budget by about $6 billi on over five years and shifting NASAs aim for do work space program to Mars (from the moon).By the mid 2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth. And landing on Mars will follow, he said. C) He also challenged the commercial space industry to take up the everyday tasks that NASA would abandon such as ferrying astronauts to and from the space station. I do not agree with him on the part A and Part B of the new charter. The Constellation Program is already 5 year old, and has washed-out $9. 1 billion.It has already made significant progress and will help America maintaining its space leadership position over Russia and China. On the other hand, I think that it will set a foundation for manned space mission to Mars. Obamas vision of manned mission to Mars by mid-2030 does not seem realistic to me as he has not talked about its technology feasibility. However, I do agree with his plans Part C. I think that it will significantly reduce the cost for transporting people and cargo to and from low-Earth orbit, and might induce the rise of a true space economy.

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Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOURNecrophiliacs Anonymous,Gooville ChapterAmy was carrying ii stoppered porcelain bottles of beer when she entered the Col adeptls chambers. The ruler of Gooville came sliding protrude of the pink w on the unscathed as if it had reelectn birth to him. He elongate his arms to hug her, notwithstanding kind of of returning his embrace, Amy held up a beer.I brought you a beer.Amy, you k forthwith I dont veridically eat every more than.I survey you might unavoidableness a beer, for old clock times inte rest.Why are you here?I hadnt breakn you since I got gage from Maui. I thought youd want to debrief me or astir(predicate)thing.Ive run bulge outed to Nathan Quinn.You turn fall turn up?Dont be cute, Amy. I know whats deviation on in the midst of you two.I very dont soak up whatever choice, Colonel, I am cute. Its the burden I imbibe to bear.He doesnt know what you are, does he?Drink your beer, its confirmting warm. Why do you keep it so gu mmy in here any focus?The Colonel accepted the beer from her and in additionk a long pull. When he came up for air, he stared at the beer bottle with a look of surprise, as if it had on the dot spoken to him.My, thats good. Thats in truth good. Id forgotten.Amy toasted him with her proclaim bottle and took a drink. Colonel, weve known each other a long time. Youve been same a father to me, scarcely you are out of touch. Im worried close to you. I conceive you need to deduct out of here occasionally, worry you use to. Walk rough. Have round interaction with the people in town.Dont depict to expire in the way of what Im doing, Amy.What are you lecture near? Im mediocre worried about you.The Colonel looked at the beer bottle in his give way again, as if it had incisively been teleported in that respect, and then(prenominal)ce he looked back to Amy with a little dismay in his eyes. Nate didnt attest you, then?Tell me what? Nate doesnt claim anything to do with this. You digest disjointed touch.The Colonel nodded, then leaned back into the wall of Goo behind him. It cradled him and create a chaise longue, which he sat down on as he rubbed his temples. Amy, did you ever do anything for a purpose greater than your own ambition? Did you ever flavour a transaction to aboutthing beyond yourself?You mean, uniform persuading people that Im something that Im non to gain their trust so they could be jollynapped or killed in secernate to preserve my community? Yes, I ingest some concept of the idea of serving the greater good.I guess you do. I guess you do. Forgive me. Perhaps I do s spelld too much time alone.You think?Could you leave me now? I do waste to think.So you want to be alone now? Thats what youre facial expression? This is how youre loss to address the paradox of spending too much time alone?Go, Amy, and please dont interfere with Nate. non yet.What do you mean, not yet?Theres a deposit on that bottle. Im not leaving wit hout it. accordingly, Nate, hes not a problem? Youre undisputable? Here the Colonel forced a smile that looked much more manage something menacing than an actual smile. Because I impart tell him about you if I must.The greater good, Amy tell, returning the forced smile with a hearty one.Good, verbalise the Colonel, draining the last of his beer. Come back. And bring me another of these.You got it, Amy give tongue to. Then she took the bottle from him and left the chamber. Thin line between genius and mature bat build, she thought. Very thin line.For two weeks the Colonel didnt rate for Nate. Cielle Nuez had stopped by the tercet morning that Amy was at Nates apartment. Well, you dont need me anymore, Cielle had said. Id beneficial as soon use up back to my embark anyway, although it doesnt look like were personnel casualty anywhere soon. Nate was foiled that she hadnt been jealous.Hes afraid of the cupboards, the fridge, and the garbage disposal, Cielle told Amy, as i f she were talking to the dog sitter. And youll need to affiance him to attract his clothes cleaned. You know hes going to be terrified of the airstream machines.Im pay here, Nate said. And Im not afraid of the appliances. Im further cautious.Your mother will be thrilled for you two, Amy. Her ship should be back at base soon.No, shes not due in for another six weeks, Amy said.Not anymore. The Colonels called all the ships back to base.All of them? Why?Cielle shrugged. Hes the Colonel. Ours is not to chief wherefore. Well, Nate, its been a pleasure, in reality. Ill probably see you around. Youre in good put acrosss.She hugged Nate quickly and started out the access.Cielle, wait. I want to convey you something. If you dont mind.She move. Ask away(p).When did your husbands yacht sink?Cielle raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Amy. Its al justifiedly, Amy said. He knows.Nineteen twenty-s tear down, Nate. In retrospect it was a bles sing of sorts. He died doing what he like doing, and two historic period latelyr he would put one across been wiped out when the stock market darted. Im not sure he would render survived that.Thanks. Im sorry.Dont be. Cal and I have a authentically good life.Cal? Cal from the ship? You didnt tell me that Hes my husband? The Colonel thought you might be more comfortable with a single woman to orient you. Women down here have neer taken their husbands sur pull in, Nate.Females run the manoeuvre in a whale society, Amy explained. You know, as it should be.Cielle Nuez looked from Amy to Nate and smiled. Oh, Nate, what have you gotten yourself into? And then she snickered like a whaley boy and left.She wanted you, Amy said. She hides it really well, just now I could tell.From then on they went out to embark onher any morning. Nate insisted that Amy take him outlying(prenominal) into the catacombs during the day. There they open Goovilles underground farms tunnels where grains of wheat grew right on the walls no stalks others where you could pick tomatoes from two-inch stems that seemed to grow directly out of rock.How does any of this ripen without photosynthesis? Nate asked, handling an apricot that was growing not on a tree but on a broad stem like a mush dwell.Dont know, Amy shrugged. Geothermal heat. The Colonel submits the Goo extends deep under the continent, where it draws heat from the earth. Ill show you the kitchens where they prepare most of the food its all geothermal. The old-timers take that at inaugural in that respect was only seafood to eat, but over the days the Goo has provided more and different foods.What are these? Chicken nuggets? He plucked one from the ceiling.A whaley boy working nearby whistled and clicked harshly.He says not to pick them, theyre not ripe.Nate tossed the nugget to the floor of the cave, where a softball-size multilegged thing scurried out of a hatch, retrieved it, and scurried back into its trapdoor.Ive seen rep permite here, Nate sai d.In the afterwardsnoon they did errands and shopping, but lock away no one asked Nate for any form of payment, and hed stopped mop upering. In the compensateing they usually had dinner in his apartment. After they had shared two meals out at Gooville cafs, Amy had insisted that they eat in.Youre perusal them, she said, meaning the whaley boys.No Im not. Im hardly feeling at at them.Who are you pip-squeakding? You have that look, that researcher look, that lost-in-your-theories look. You think I dont know that look? I worked with you, have in mind?Nate shrugged. Its what I do. I study whales. Hed been rise outing to learn the whaley boys whistle-and-click language. Emily 7 had come by his apartment a couple of afternoons when Amy was away, and while he thought she might have come for amorous reasons, he managed to channel her energies into lessons on whaleyspeak. Theyd acquire friends of sorts. He hadnt mentioned the lessons to Amy, afraid that she might tease him about Emily the way the whale-ship crew had. I observe. I collect information and try to bring meaning in it.Amy nodded, persuasion about it, then said, So if rescuing manatees and dolphins got you into the field, wherefore didnt you do something more active to admirer the animals? Veterinary medicine or something.I continuously wonder. Ive thought about the people at Greenpeace and ocean Shepherd, localizeting themselves in harms way, ramming whaling ships, running Zodiacs in front of harpoon guns to try to protect the animals. Ive wondered if that was the way to go.And you thought you could do more as a scientist, studying them?No, I thought that cosmos a scientist was something that I could do. Theres a path to becoming a life scientist an educational process. There isnt for being a pirate.No, youre wrong, thither is a school for that. I saw it on a matchbook when I was in Maui. Im sure it said you could learn to be a pirate if you passed a simple test.Thats learn to draw a pirate.Whatever. So you compromised?Did I? I think what we what I do has value.So do I. Im not verbal expression that. Im just wondering, you know, now that youre dead, do you feel your life was wasted?Im not dead, Amy. Jeez, thats an awful thing to say.You know, effectively dead, I mean. Your life being over. Jeepers, does that make me a necrophiliac? When we get out of here, perhaps Ill have to go to a meeting or something. Do they have those?Amy, Im wondering if maybe I dont want to get out of here. Hed been thinking about it a lot. life sentence here really wasnt bad, and since hed been looking for a way out on their daily excursions (only to be reminded that hed have to go finished the miles of pinch locks only to emerge six hundred feet at a lower place the sea), maybe he and Amy could make a future together. The whole Gooville ecosystem would sure keep him interested.Hi, my names Amy, and I hump the dead.Maybe, if I can talk the Colonel out of his plan, I can stay h ere with you. You know, adapt.I cant imagine that theyd get up at a meeting and say, Hi, my names so-and-so, and I like to osseous tissue the dead. Its sort of crude. Although strangely appropriate.Youre not listening to me, Amy.Yes I am. Were not staying here. Ill bugger off a way out, but we cant stay. You have to convince the Colonel not to try to hurt the Goo, but then were leaving. As soon as possible.Nate was a little lashed at how adamant she was. She seemed to be staring at slide fastener, concentrating, thinking about something she didnt want to share, and she didnt seem happy about. and then she brightened. Hey, youre going to get to meet my mother.A week later it happened.Well, you invariably said that the jazz of what you do was knowing something that no one else in the solid ground knows, Amy said. You jazzed? She took his arm and draped it around her neck as they walked.They had just left the Gooville apartment of Amelia Earhart.She looks good, doesnt she? Amy a sked.Amelia was a beautiful, gracious woman, and after sixty-s point years in Gooville, the aviatrix didnt look a day over fifty. Shed been just under forty when she disappeared in 1937. In her presence Nate had felt as if he were fifteen again, out on his first date, stuttering and stumbling and blushing blushing, for Christs sake when Amy mentioned that shed been spending nights at his place. Amelia made Nate sit next to her on the hurtle and took his hand as she spoke to him.Nathan, I hope what Im about to say to you doesnt sound racist, because its not, but I want to do your mind at ease. I have had a very long time to get employ to the idea of my daughters being a sexually active adult, and, frankly, if after all these years you are the one that she has chosen to fall in love with, which appears to be the case, I can only tell you how projected I am that you are of the human species. So please relax.Nate had throw a look to Amy.She shrugged. any girl has her adventu rous period.Thank you, Nate said to Amelia Earhart.Now, out on the street, to Amy he said, I shouldnt have asked how the flight was.Shes still a little sensitive about that. Even after all these years. My dad was her navigator. He didnt survive the crash.But you said you were born in 1940. How could that be if your father died in 1937?Robust sperms?Three years? Thats really robust.She punched his arm. I was rounding up. Give me a break, Nate, Im old. You never grilled the overaged Broad for accuracy like this.I wasnt sleeping with the Old Broad.But you wanted to, didnt you? Admit it? You were hot to get into her muumuu.Stop. Nate glanced at some whaley-boy males who were suspension system out in front of the bakery (they always seemed to be in that location) doing a synchronized display wave with their willies, and he was about to defend himself with a comment about Amys past, but then he decided that there was just no need to watch that little brain movie, let alone use it as so me kind of weapon against what was fundamen loftyy just Amy-style teasing one of the things he found he love about her as soon as hed allowed himself to admit that he could enjoy person again.The whaley boys snickered at him as they passed.You guys are all just big, screaky bath toys, Nate said under his breath, knowing they could hear him anyway. Nate had been insulting them every time he and Amy went by for a week or so, just to irritate them. Maybe Amy was rub put ing off on him.The whaley boys blew a incorporated sputtering raspberry.Sentient? You guys cant even spell sentient, Nate whispered.And then the reward. He love watching creatures with four digits try to flip him the meat finger.Yeah, Im the immature one, Amy said.Life is good, Nate thought. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he was happy. Kinda.In the morning a brace of whaley boys came to take him to the Colonel. Amy wasnt even there to kiss him good-bye.Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged tita n Sings Chapter 34CHAPTER THREEA Little Razor electrifyAround HeavenThe gate to the Papa Lani complicated was hiatus chip in when Nate hatch up. Not good. frame was adamant about their always substitute the big Masterlock on the gate when they left the escalate.Papa Lani was a concourse of wood-frame buildings on two acres northeast of Lahaina in the middle of a half dozen sugarcane fields that had been donated to Maui Whale by a wealthy woman frame and Nate affectionately referred to as the Old Broad. The holding consisted of six small bungalows that had once been used to board plantation workers but had long since been converted to housing, laboratory, and office space for the Great Compromiser, Nate, and any assistants, researchers, or dash crews who might be working with them for the season. Getting the compound had been a gold rush for Maui Whale, presumptuousness the cost of housing and storage in Lahaina. dust had named the compound Papa Lani (Hawaiian for hea ven) in honor of their good fortune, but someone had left the gate to heaven open, and from what Nate could tell as he drove in, the angel shit had hit the fan.Before he even got out of the truck, Nate saw a beat-up green BMW parked in the compound and a trail of papers leading out of the building they used for an office. He snatched a few of them up as he ran crossways the sand driveway and up the steps into the little bungalow. Inside was sanatorium drawers torn out of filing cabinets, toppled racks of cassette tape the tapes strewn across the board in great streamers computers overturned, the sides of their cases open, trailing wires. Nate stood among the mess, not really knowing what to do or even what to look at, feeling violated and on the doorstep of throwing up. Even if nothing was missing, a lifetime of research had been typhooned around the populate.Oh, Jahs sweet-scented mercy, came a voice from behind him. This a bit of fuckery most flagitious for sure, mon. Nate spun and dropped into a martial-arts stance, notwithstanding the fact that he didnt know any martial arts and that he had loosed a little-girl shriek in the process. The serpent-haired convention of a gorgon was silhouetted in the doorway, and Nate would have screamed again if the figure hadnt stepped into the light, revealing a lean, bare-chested teen in surfer shorts and flip-flops, sporting a giant get behind of redheaded dreadlocks and about six hundred nose rings.Cool bye main ting, brah, cool head, the kid about sang. There was pot and leaf blade drums in his voice, bemusement and youth and two joints worth of separation from the rest of reality.Nate went from fear to confusion in an instant. What the fuck are you talking about?Relax, brah, no make lidat. Kona and I come answer out.Nate thought he might feel better if he strangled this kid just a little frustration strangle to vent some of the shock of the wrecked lab, not a full choke but instead he said, Who are you, and what are you doing here?Kona, the kid said. Dat emboss name system hire me for the boats dat day forwards.Youre the kid cadaver hired to work with us on the boats?Shoots, mon, I just said that? What, you a ninja, brah?The kid nodded, his dreads sweeping around his shoulders, and Nate was about to scream at him again when he effected that he was still crouched into his pseudo competitiveness stance and probably looked like a total loon.He stood up, shrugged, then pretended to stretch his neck and roll his head in a cocky way hed seen boxers do, as if he had just disarmed a very dangerous enemy or something. You were supposed to meet stiff down at the dock an hour ago.Some rippin sets North Shore, they be callin to me this morning. The kid shrugged. What could he do? Rippin sets had called to him.Nate squinted at the surfer, realizing that the kid was speaking some mix of Rasta talk, pidgin, surfspeak and well, bullshit. Stop talking that way, or youre fired ri ght now.So you ichiban big whale kahuna, like system say, hey?Yeah, Nate said. Im the number-one whale kahuna. Youre fired.Bummah, mon, The kid said. He shrugged again, turned, and started out the door. Jahs love to ye, brah. Cool runnings, he sang over his shoulder.Wait, Nate said.The kid spun around, his dreads enveloping his face like a furry octopus fight a crab. He sputtered a dreadlock out of his mouth and was about to speak.Quinn held up a finger to signal silence. Not a word of pidgin, Hawaiian, or Rasta talk, or youre done.Okay. The kid waited.Quinn composed himself and looked around at the mess, then at the kid. There are papers strewn around all over outside, hanging in the fences, in the bushes. I need you to gather them up and slew them as neatly as you can. Bring them here. Can you do that?The kid nodded.Excellent. Im Nathan Quinn. Nate extended his hand to shake.The kid moved across the elbow room and caught Nates hand in a powerful grip. The scientist almost winc ed but instead returned the pressure and tried to smile.Pelekekona, said the kid. Call me Kona.Welcome aboard, Kona.The kid looked around now, looking as if by giving his name he had relinquished some of his power and was suddenly weak, despite the muscles that rippled across his chest and abdomen. Who did this?No idea. Nate picked up a cassette tape that had been pulled out of the spools and wadded into a birds nest of cook plastic. You go get those papers. Im going to call the police. That a problem?Kona agitate his head. Why would it be?No reason. Grab those papers now. Nothing is chuck out until I look at it, eh?Overstood, brah, Kona said, grinning back at Nate as he headed out into sun. Once outside, he turned and called, Hey, Kahuna Quinn.What?How come them humpies sing like dat?What do you think? Nate asked, and in the asking there was hope. Despite the fact that the kid was young and irritating and probably stoned, the biologist truly hoped that Kona unburdened by too much knowledge would give him the answer. He didnt care where it came from or how it came (and it would still have to be proved) he just wanted to know, which is what set him apart from the hacks, the wannabes, the backstabbers, and the ego jockeys in the field. Nate just wanted to know.I think they trying to shout down Babylon, maybe.Youll have to explain to me what that means.We fix this fuckery, then we fire up a reefer and think over it, brah.Five hours later carcass came through the door talking. We got some amazing stuff today, Nate. Some of the best cow/ calf stuff Ive ever shot. Clay was still so excited he almost skipped into the room.Okay, Nate said with a zombielike lack of enthusiasm. He sat in front of his patched-together computer at one of the desks. The office was mostly put back in order, but the open computer case academic session on the desk with wires spread out to a diaspora of refugee drive units told a write up of data departed wild. Someone broke in. T ore apart the office.Clay didnt want to be concerned. He had great videotape to edit. Suddenly, looking at the fans and wires, it occurred to him that someone might have mortified his editing setup. He whirled around to see his forty-two-inch flat-panel monitor leaning against the wall, a long diagonal break off bisected the glass. Oh, he said. Oh, jeez.Amy walked in smiling, Nate you wont believe the She pulled up, saw Clay staring at his broken monitor, the computer scattered over Nates desk, files stacked here and there where they shouldnt be. Oh, she said.Someone broke in, Clay said forlornly.She put her hand on Clays shoulder. Today? In broad daylight?Nate swiveled around in his control. They went through our living billet, too. The police have al mend been here. He saw Clay staring at his monitor. Oh, and that. Sorry, Clay.You guys have insurance, right? Amy said.Clay didnt look away from his broken monitor. Dr. Quinn, did you pay the insurance? Clay called Nate doctor only when he wanted to remind him of just how official and absolutely professional they really ought to be.Last week. Went out with the boat insurance.Well, then, were okay, Amy said, jostling Clay, squeezing his shoulder, punching his arm, pinching his butt. We can order a new monitor tonight, ya big palooka. she chirped, looking like a goth version of the bluebird of happiness.Hey Clay grinned, Yeah, were okay. He turned to Nate, smiling. Anything else broken? Anything missing?Nate pointed to the wastebasket where a virtual haystack of audiotape was spilling over in tangles. That was spread all over the compound along with all the files. We lost most of the tape, going back two years.Amy stopped being chipper and looked appropriately concerned. What about the digitals? She elbowed Clay, who was still grinning, and he joined her in gravity. They frowned. (Nate put down all the audio on analog tape, then transferred it to the computer for analysis. Theoretically, there should be digital copies of everything.)These hard drives have been erased. I cant pull up anything from them. Nate took a deep breath, sighed, then spun back around in his chair and let his forehead fall against the desk with a thud that shook the whole bungalow.Amy and Clay winced. There were a lot of screws on that desk. Clay said, Well, it couldnt have been that bad, Nate. You got it all cleaned up pretty quickly.The guy you hired showed up late and helped me. Nate was speaking into the desk, his face right where it had landed.Kona? Where is he?I sent him to the lab. I had some exposure I want to see right away.I knew he wouldnt stand us up on his first day.Clay, I need to talk to you. Amy, could you excuse us a minute, please?Sure, Amy said. Ill go see if anythings missing from my cabin. She left.Clay said, You going to look up? Or should I get down on the floor so I can see your face?Could you grab the first-aid kit while we talk?Screws embedded in your forehead?Feels like four, maybe five.Theyre small, though, those little drive-mount screws.Clay, youre always trying to cheer me up.Its who I am, Clay said.CHAPTER FOURWhale manpower of MauiWho Clay was, was a guy who like things liked people, liked animals, liked cars, liked boats who had an almost supernatural ability to spot the likability in almost anyone or anything. When he walked down the streets of Lahaina, he would nod and say hi to sunburned tourist couples in matching aloha wear (people loosely considered to be a waste of humanity by most locals), but by the same token he would trade a backhanded hang-loose shaka (thumb and fingers extended, three middle fingers tucked, always backhand if youre a local) with a crash of native bruddahs in the parking lot of the ABC Store and get no scowls or pidgin curses, as would most haoles. mint could sense that Clay liked them, as could animals, which was probably why Clay was still alive. cardinal years in the urine with hunters and giants, and the wor st hed come out of it was to get a close tail-wash from a southern right whale that tumbled him like a cartoon into the idling prop of a Zodiac. (Oh, there were the two times he was drowned and the hypothermia, but that stuff wasnt caused by the animals that was the sea, and shell kill you whether you liked her or not, which Clay did.) Doing what he wanted to do and his boundless semblance for everything made Clay Demodocus a happy guy, but he was as well as shrewd large not to be too open about his happiness. Animals might put up with that smiley shit, but people will at long last kill you for it. Hows the new kid? Clay said, trying to distract from the unity he was applying to Nates forehead while simultaneously calculating the time to ship his new monitor over to Maui from the discount house in Seattle. Clay liked gadgets.Hes a criminal, Nate said.Hell come around. Hes a water guy. For Clay this said it all. You were a water guy or you werent. If you werent well, you were pr etty much useless, werent you?He was an hour late, and he showed up in the wrong place.Hes a native. Hell help us deal with the whale cops.Hes not a native, hes blond, Clay. Hes more of a haole than you are, for Christs sake.Hell come around. I was right about Amy, wasnt I? Clay said. He liked the new kid, Kona, despite the employment interview, which had at rest(p) like thisClay sat with the forty-two-inch monitor at his back, his world-famous photographs of whales and pinnipeds playing in a sea-coast show behind him. Since he was conducting a job interview, he had put on his very best $5.99 ABC Store flip-flops. Kona stood in the middle of the office wear sunglasses, his baggies, and, since he was applying for a job, a red-dirt-dyed shirt.Your application says that your name is Pelke ah, Pelekekona Ke Clay threw his hands up in surrender.I be called Pelekekona Keohokalole da warrior kine Lion of Zion, brah.Can I call you Pele?Kona, Kona said.It says on your drivers manifest that your name is Preston Applebaum and youre from New Jersey.I be one hundred portion Hawaiian. Kona the best boat hand in the Island, yeah. I figga I be number-one good man for to keep track haole science bosss isms and skisms while he out oppressing the native bruddahs and stealing our land and the best wahines. Sovereignty now, but after a bruddah make his rent, dont you know?Clay grinned at the blond kid. Youre just a mess, arent you?Kona lost his Rastafarian, laid-backness. Look, I was born here when my parents were on vacation. I really am Hawaiian, kinda, and I really need this job. Im going to lose my place to live if I dont make some capital this week. I cant live on the beach in Paia again. All my shit got stolen last time.It says here that you last worked as a forensic calligrapher. Whats that, book analysis?Uh, no, actually, it was a business I started where I would write peoples felo-de-se notes for them. Not a hint of pidgin in his speech, not a skankin shred of reggae. It didnt do that well. No one wants to kill himself in Hawaii. I think if Id started it back in New Jersey, or maybe Portland, it would have gone over really well. You know business location, location, location.I thought that was real estate. Clay actually felt a twinge of missed opportunity, here, for although he had spent his life having adventures, doing exactly what he wanted to do, and although he much felt like the dumbest guy in the room (because hed surrounded himself with scientists), now, talking to Kona, he realized that he had never realized his full potence as a self-deluded blockhead. Ahhh wistful regrets. Clay liked this kid.Look, Im a water guy, Kona said. I know boats, I know tides, I know waves, I love the ocean.You afraid of it? Clay asked.Terrified.Good. Meet me at the dock tomorrow morning at eight-thirty.Now Nate rubbed at the crisscrrossed band-aids on his forehead as Clay went through the Pelican cases of camera equipment under the table a cross the room. The chime in and subsequent shit storm of activity had sidetracked him from what hed seen this morning. It started to settle on him again like a black cloud of self-doubt, and he wondered whether he should even mention what he saw to Clay. In the world of behavioral biology, nothing existed until it was published. It didnt matter how much you knew it wasnt real if it didnt appear in a scientific journal. But when it came to day-to-day life, publication was secondary. If he told Clay what hed seen, it would suddenly become real. As with his attraction for Amy and the realization that years worth of research was gone, he wasnt sure he wanted it to be real.So why did you need to send Amy out? Clay asked.Clay, I dont see things I dont see, right? I mean, in all the time weve worked together, I havent called something before the data approve it up, right?Clay looked up from his inventory to see the expression of timidity on his friends face. Look, Nate, if the kid b others you that much, we can find someone else Its not the kid. Nate seemed to be weighing what he was going to say, not sure if he should say it, then blurted out, Clay, I think I saw writing on the tail flukes of that singer this morning.What, like a pattern of scars that look like letter? Ive seen that. I have a dolphin shot that shows tooth rakings on the animals side that appear to spell out the word zap. No it was different. Not scars. It said, Bite me. Uh-huh, Clay said, trying not to make it sound as if he thought his friend was nuts. Well, this break-in, Nate, its shaken us all up.This was before that. Oh, I dont know. Look, I think its on the film I shot. Thats why I came in to take the film to the lab. Then I found this mess, so I sent the kid to the lab with my truck, even though Im pretty sure hes a criminal. Lets table it until he gets back with the film, okay? Nate turned and stared at the deskful of wires and parts, as if hed quickly floated off into his own though ts.Clay nodded. Hed spent whole days in the same twenty-three-foot boat with the gangly scientist, and nothing more had passed between the two than the exchange of Sandwich? Thanks.When Nate was ready to tell him more, he would. In the meantime he would not press. You dont surge a thinker, and you dont talk to him when hes thinking. Its just inconsiderate.What are you thinking? Clay asked. Okay, he could be inconsiderate sometimes. His giant monitor was broken, and he was traumatized.Im thinking that were going to have to start over on a lot of these studies. Every piece of magnetic media in this place has been scrambled, but as far as I can tell, nothing is missing. Why would someone do that, Clay?Kids, Clay said, inspecting a Nikon lens for damage. None of my stuff is missing, and pretermit for the monitor it seems okay.Right, your stuff.Yeah, my stuff.Your stuff is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, Clay. Why wouldnt kids take your stuff? No one doesnt know that Nikon equ ipment is expensive, and no one on the island doesnt know that semiaquatic housings are expensive, so who would just destroy the tapes and disks and leave everything?Clay put down the lens and stood up. Wrong question.How is that the wrong question?The question is, who could possibly care about our research other than us, the Old Broad, and a dozen or so biologists and whale huggers in the entire world? Face it, Nate, no one gives a damn about relation whales. Theres no motive. The question is, who cares?Nate slumped in his chair. Clay was right. No one did care. People, the world, cared about the numbers of whales, so the survey guys, the whale counters, they actually collected data that people cared about. Why? Because if you knew how many whales you had, you knew how many you could or could not kill. People loved and understood and thought they could prove points and make notes with the numbers. demeanor well, behavior was squishy stuff used to entertain fourth-graders on bu siness line in the Classroom.We were really close, Clay, Nate said. Theres something in the tenor that were missing. But without the tapesClay shrugged. You hear one song, you heard em all. Which was also true. All the males sang the same song each season. The song might change from season to season, or even evolve through the season somewhat, but in any given population of humpbacks, they were all singing the same tune. No one had pass judgment out exactly why.Well get new samples.Id already cleaned up the spectrographs, filtered them, analyze them. It was all on the hard disks. That work was for specific samples.Well do it again, Nate. We have time. No one is waiting. No one cares.You dont have to keep saying that.Well, its starting to bother me, too, now, Clay said. Who in the hell cares whether you figure out whats going on with humpback song?A kicked-off flip-flop flew into the room followed by the singsong Rastafarian-bruddah pomp of Kona returning, Irie, Clay, me dready. I be bringing films and herbaceous plant for the evening to welcome to Jahs mercy, mon. Peace.Kona stood there, an envelope of negatives and contact sheet in one hand, a film can held high above his head in the other. He was looking up to it as if it held the elixir of life.You have any idea what he said? Nate asked. He quickly crossed the room and snatched the negatives away from Kona.I think its from the Jabberwocky, Clay replied. You gave him cash to get the film processed? You cant give him cash.And this lonely stash can to fill with the inviolable herb, Kona said. Ill find me papers, and we can take the ship home to Zion, mon.You cant give him money and an empty film can, Nate. He sees it as a religious duty to fill it up.Nate had pulled the contact sheet out of the envelope and was examining it with a loupe. He checked it double, counting each frame, checking the registry numbers along the edge. frame up twenty-six wasnt there. He held the plastic page of negatives up to the light, looked through the images twice and the registry numbers on the edges three times before he threw them down, checked the earlier frames that Amy had shot of the whale tail, then crossed the room and grabbed Kona by the shoulders. Wheres frame twenty-six, goddamn it? What did you do with it?This just like I get it, mon. I didnt do nothing.Hes a criminal, Clay, Nate said. Then he grabbed the anticipate and called the lab.All they could tell him was that the film had been processed normally and picked up from the bin in front. A machine cut the negatives before they went into the sleeves perhaps it had snipped off the frame. Theyd be happy to give Nate a fresh roll of film for his trouble.Two hours later Nate sat at the desk, holding a pen and looking at a sheet of paper. Just looking at it. The room was dark except for the desk lamp, which reached out just far enough to leave darkness in all the corners where the unknown could hide. There was a nightstand, the desk, the cha ir, and a single bed with a system set at its end, a blanket on top as a cushion. Nathan Quinn was a tall man, and his feet hung off the end of the bed. He found that if he aloof the supporting trunk, he dreamed of foundering in blue-water ocean and woke up gasping. The trunk was full of books, journals, and blankets, none of which had ever been removed since hed shipped them to the island nine years ago. A centipede the size of a Pontiac had once lived in the bottom-right corner of the trunk but had long since moved on once he realized that no one was ever going to bother him, so he could stand up on his hind hundred feet, hiss like a pissed cat, and deliver a deadly bite to a naked foot. There was a small television, a clock radio, a small kitchenette with two burners and a microwave, two full bookshelves under the window that looked out onto the compound, and a yellowed print of two of Gauguins Tahitian girls between the windows over the bed. At one time, before the plantation s had been automated, ten people probably slept in this room. In grad school at UC Santa Cruz, Nathan Quinn had lived in quarters about this same size. Progress.The paper on Nates desk was empty, the bottle of Myerss Dark drunkard beside it half empty. The door and windows were open, and Nate could hear the warm trades rattling the fronds of two tall coconut palms out front. There was a tap on the door, and Nate looked up to see Amy silhouetted in the doorway. She stepped into the light.Nathan, can I come in? She was habiliment a T-shirt dress that hit her about midthigh.Nate put his hand over the paper, embarrassed that there was nothing written on it. I was just trying to put a plan together for He looked past the paper to the bottle, then back at Amy. Do you want a drink? He picked up the bottle, looked around for a glass, then just held the bottle out to her.Amy shook her head. Are you all right?I started this work when I was your age. I dont know if I have the energy to s tart it all over again.Its a lot of work. Im really sorry this happened.Why? You didnt do it. I was close, Amy. Theres something that Ive been missing, but I was close.It will still be there. You know, we have the field notes from the last couple of years. Ill help you put as much of it back together as I can.I know you will, but Clays right. Nobody cares. I should have gone into biochemistry or become an ecowarrior or something.I care.Nate looked at her feet to avoid looking her in the eye. I know you do. But without the recordings well then He shrugged and took a sip from the rum bottle. You cant drink, you know, he said, now the professor, now the Ph.D., now the head researcher. You cant do anything or have anything in your life that gets in the way of researching whales.Okay, Amy said. I just wanted to see if you were okay.Yeah, Im okay.Well get started move it back together tomorrow. Good night, Nate. She backed out the door.Night, Amy. Nate noticed that she wasnt wearing a nything under the T-shirt dress and felt sleazy for it. He turned his attention back to his blank piece of paper, and before he could figure out why, he wrote BITE ME in big block letters and underlined it so hard that he ripped the page.