Emergence of Modern Political Ideologies Research Paper

Emergence of Modern Political Ideologies - Research Paper Example Karl Marx argues for the uprising of a group he calls the proletariat, which is essentially the working class, and which is against the factory owners, a group he calls the bourgeoisie. This group also consists of the industrialists and the landlords who, through regulations of both the prices of commodities and rent, continually oppressed the laborers. According to Marx, this problem was not one that was compatible with capitalism and that the only way it could be solved was through communism (Marx 14). Marx postulates that the bourgeoisie has exploited the proletariats in search of cheap labor that denies the country self-sufficiency. The bourgeoisie will then look for labor from other poorer countries so that they can lower production cost. The increased demand for raw materials in the foreign countries brings about industrialization in that country which in turn nurtures a breed of both the bourgeoisie and proletariat as the rich want to exploit the poor for profits (Marx 13). Li beralization This is a very common ideology that sprouted after the industrial revolution. It was supposedly about the enjoyment of individual freedom of every individual in the society and the fact that the minority were free to air their ideas without being coerced (Mill 6). They would be allowed to speak out of their thoughts, speech, and even take or participate in the action, as long as they brought no harm to other people. After industrialization, people engaged in numerous economic activities.

Economic and Environmental Advantage through sustainable Real Estate Thesis

Economic and Environmental Advantage through sustainable Real Estate Development - Thesis Example As human beings were created on earth as the prime form of living specie their actions towards their survival started to effect the earth’s environment. The actions of the human species are collectively known as anthropocentric movements. In its initial days of survival the actions of human beings were environment benign, as they opted to live by initially through hunting, then through grazing and after that through cultivating. Though all these specially cultivation did put pressure on the environment mainly through cutting of trees in order to extract more cultivable lands to support the ever growing population but it was nothing in comparison to what did actually happen after industrial revolution. Industrial revolution initiated an unprecedented level of deforestation towards clearing of areas for industrial setups and to provide more and more wood as fuel to the industries as well as a raw material for industrial, commercial and residential setup. After the initiation of the industrial revolution miles after miles of land were cleared of through cutting of trees and buildings either for industries, office or residence were set up. Unlike the rural buildings that were mostly made up of materials taken from the environment1; these buildings were made out of concrete and other man made materials that are far more durable but had a tendency to heat up the surrounding environment and initiate other environmental maladies. The industrial revolution also started migration from village to towns and cities in search of jobs in industries. Urbanization led to congestion in cities through increased numbers of un-zoned buildings, too high of a person to room ratio and to a biomass that was far from the permissible level on a given piece of land. Commercialization of agriculture; lead to the shifting of technology from conventional environment friendly to energy intensive and chemical prone farming2. Apart from deforestation, and its associated environmental

Romanticism And Realism Art And Literature English Literature Essay

Romanticism And Realism Art And Literature English Literature Essay The history of art and literature was developed under the influence of different intellectual movement, the most prominent and important of which are Romanticism and Realism. Romanticism was a complex artistic, literary and intellectual movement of 18th-19th century that appeared in Europe and was spread all over the world. It appeared as a reaction to rationalism and mechanistic aesthetics of classicism and the Enlightenment. It was one of the most complex and internally contradictory phenomena in the history of culture. Disappointment in the ideals of the Enlightenment, in the results of the French Revolution, the denial of utilitarianism of modern reality, the principles of bourgeois practicality, whose victims was human individuality, a pessimistic view of prospects for social development were combined in romanticism with the desire of harmony and spiritual integrity of the individual with a tendency towards infinity, the search for new, absolute and unconditional ideals. Sharp d iscord between the ideals and oppressive reality made romantics feel the morbidly fatalistic sense of indignation, bitter mockery of the discrepancy between dreams and reality. Specific of the romantic art is the problem of two worlds; writers of that time compared and contrasted the real and imaginary worlds. And the reality, the prose of life with their utilitarianism and lack of spirituality were understood as subhuman empty sense, which opposed the true world of values. Representatives of Romanticism sharply condemned urban culture and left it for description of the Middle Ages or nature. In the quiet life of countryside and simplicity they looked for the salvation from social problems of urban life, opposing it to a simple uncorrupted life of the province. Simple way of life was their ideal, and for example, William Wordsworth showed it in fiction. He set a rule to take a creative material from everyday life, to make out it in ordinary manner, using an ordinary language(Sutherland 125). In his Preface to Lyrical Ballads, he said that the chose an ordinary life because all components of it are natural and truthful, simple life does not contradict the beautiful and sustainable forms of nature (Wordsworth 6). As a real romantic writer, Wordsworth wrote a lot about people and nature. Conventional farmers are well represented in the ballad We Are Seven, and for example his Excursion Book is an example of magnificent descriptions of nature. At the same time, another outstanding representative of English Romanticism, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the author of Ancient Mariner, Christabel and other novels, showed the strange mix of reality and fiction. He was the representative of English Romanticism, oriented on desire for the miraculous. Coleridge chose the area of events and characters of fiction and romantic genre, giving them human interest and a semblance of reality, which attracts readers. Such gradual transition from reality to pure fantasy is the main reception of Coleridge; it magically works in the Ancient Mariner, where incidents of an ordinary voyage transform to the area of wonders, where the natural and the supernatural merge into an indivisible unit. American Romanticism differed from European. In America, romantic ideas have contributed to the spiritual and aesthetic knowledge. Romantics argued that art more than science was able to express the truth. Romantics underscored the importance of art for people and the whole society. For example, in the essay The Poet, written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of the most influential writers of Romanticism, the author stated: All men live under the laws of truth and need a way to express their thoughts. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The man is only a half of himself; the second half of him is thats how he expresses his feelings (Emerson 109). Representatives of Romanticism criticized the reality, for example the works of American novelist William Howells The Lady of the Aroostook, Chance meeting show the strong influence of romanticism on the author. The novels of William Howells contain criticism of American reality, which increases and in later works even socialist ideas appear (Through the Eye of the Needle). Thus, the features of Romanticism in varying degrees are common for many artists. Romanticism is inherent in paintings and drawings of Swiss Henry Fuseli. In his works, grim sophisticated grotesque breaks in through the classical clarity of images. Also romantism is inherent in mystical visionary works of poet and artist William Blake and works of the late Francisco Goya, full of unbridled fantasy, tragic pathos, and passionate protest against the national humiliation in Spain. In France, it is inherent in created during the revolutionary years heroic portraits by Jacques-Louis David, early dramatic compositions and portraits by Antoine-Jean Gros, dreamy and lyrical works of Pierre-Paul Prudhon and also in the works by Francois P. Gerard, who combines romantic tendencies with the academic methods. The works of many later Western romantics are imbued with pessimism in towards society. The heroes of many romantic works (Franà §ois-Renà © de Chateaubriand, Alfred de Musset, George Byron, Alfred de Vigny, Alphonse de Lamartine, Heinrich Heine, etc.) were influenced by the mood of hopelessness and despair, which acquired the common human nature. The main themes of works sounded like: the perfection is lost forever, the world is ruled evil, the ancient chaos is resurrecting. The theme of terrible world was inherent to all romantic literature, and the most clearly it was embodied in the so-called black genre (in Gothic novel Ann Radcliffe, Charles Maturin; in the drama of fate or tragedy of fate Heinrich von Kleist, Franz Grillparzer), and also in the works of George Byron, Clemens Brentano, Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann, Edgar Allan Poe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Realism was an intellectual movement, characterized by truthful and objective reflection of reality by specific means that were peculiar to various forms of art. During the historical development of art realism there were formed concrete forms of some creative methods, such as educational, critical, and socialist. Various realistic trends were expressed in different types and genres of art. Hence, there were two opposite directions in the theory, one realism the desire of the art to reproduce, to show the reality truly; and the other idealism the desire of the art to complete the reality, to create new forms. And the starting point doesnt consist of real facts, but of ideal representation. The first American writer, who has fully realized the idea of realism in art, was Mark Twain. His work was developed under the influence of critical realism, which objectively reflected the American reality first in comic and later in satiric way (Licentiousness of Print, Running For Governor). The authors later works, such as pamphlets and satirical short stories (The man who seduced Gedliberg, The United States of Lyncherdom, Monologue of the king) show the true face of American imperialism. Henry James was also one of the brightest representatives of realism; he was one of the first in American literature, who spoke against the bourgeois banality of reality. Dissatisfaction of American way of life forced him to move to Europe, so many characters of his works were the Americans who emigrated from the United States (Roderick Hudson, The American). In the novel, The Bostonians he sharply and uncompromisingly criticized the U.S. reality that is the essence of realism. Many realists wrote prose narrative stories about the fate of ordinary people, the epic of private life. The most important realist novel of the 18th century were written in the UK (Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Tobias George Smollett, Laurence Sterne), in France (Antoine Franà §ois Prà ©vost, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau), in Germany (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe). The most interesting fact is that very often the heroes of novels were not monarchs and nobles, but people of middle class the merchants, townspeople, soldiers, sailors, etc., showing them in everyday family life. There is also a need to mention that in the middle of the 19th century Realism changed. If the main characters of Stendhal, Balzac and Dickens could withstand adverse conditions, then European Realism of the 2nd half of the century represents mainly the alienation of personality, its leveling, the loss of character, will, the resilience of environment. It is particularly expressive shown by William Thackeray and Gustave Flaubert. However, this kind of alienation, partly in the UK (George Eliot), but particularly in Russia (Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy) resisted adoption of high humanity and the struggle for humane ideals. The depth of philosophical problems in the works of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, the widest coverage of social reality, compassion for the fate of the insulted and injured, the subtlety of psychological analysis made these writers famous. Summarizing, it is possible to say that Realism in literature and art was characterized by the wish of artists to depict, represent the reality as it was. Artists of Realism represented the life in the way the person actually sees it, using the forms of the life itself. At the same time, Romanticism is characterized by denial of current reality, the criticism of capitalist civilization, new forms of subjugation of the masses, reproof of philistine stagnant and limited parties of the bourgeois culture and spiritual life. Most representatives of Romanticism criticized the reality; they were unsatisfied with it and couldnt accept it. Artists of both, Romanticism and Realism left a great heritage their wonderful works of art.

Weaponry during the Elizabethan Period Essay -- History, Long Distance

The weaponry during the Elizabethan period was the most advance weaponry known to the world. The most common weapons used were crossbows, longbows, war hammers, spears, early forms of pistol and cannons. With all this weaponry Europeans also needed armor, like chainmail and plate armor. Different types of weapons and the different kinds of armor were a key component to warfare during the Elizabethan period, in Europe. Long distance weapons were essential to European combat. The main long distance weapons used by Europeans during that time were the longbow and the crossbow. Each form of weaponry had its unique advantages and their pejorative. The long bow (shown in figure 1) was the original form of distance weapons. The term ‘bow’ means to be made from wood, iron or steel. The Welsh, who inhabited England, were the first people to use longbows. Longbows were 6-7 feet long and had a range of 250 yards, and still had the ability to pierce a knight’s armor (Byam 12). A well trained archer could shot 10- 12 arrows in a single minute. Despite these pro’s the longbow had a lot of disadvantages as well. One draw back was only skilled archers, who were costly to train, could use a longbow. Another disadvantage was it didn’t have a ready loaded arrow (Edge 34). The crossbow (shown in figure 2) on the other had been emphatically different. The crossbow had a span of 2-3 f eet and could kill a knight on horseback with one shot, because of good aim (Byam 30). Crossbows had ready loaded projectiles, while the longbow didn’t and the crossbow could be used by anyone since it didn’t require any skill. The crossbow did have a down side though, it had slow reloaded because of a crank and it was expensive. Crossbows were also used for other thi... ...n in her book â€Å"WEAPONS†, â€Å"Gold plating, or gilding, was sometimes used to embellish borders or bands of decorations and, in some cases, entire armors.† By the 15th century, knights were protecting themselves with full suits of plate armor† (Byam 41). His armor usually represented his class or authority. Each knight’s coat of arms had a different personality ranging from different helmets to different metals to different emblems. During the Elizabethan period Europeans mainly focused on warfare. War required long range weapons to slow down the approaching enemy and short range weapons were needed for combat. This era started the usage of combustion and developed cannons and pistols. The advancements of weaponry also lead to the advancements in armor from chainmail to plate armor. Various weapons and armor’s were needed for warfare during the Elizabethan period.

Pmr in Hypnosis

PMR When you’re ready make yourself comfortable, take a deep breath and close your eyes. All you can hear is the sound of my voice, any other sounds you hear will start to fade as you listen to the sound of my voice. You will start to feel relaxed. More relaxed than you have been before. This is just for you, there is no one who needs anything from you and you can start to feel at ease with yourself. Feel your body start to relax. Feel the hair on the top of your head start to feel loose and free. Start to feel the muscles around your forehead relax and smoothen. Feel the tiny muscles in your eyebrows relax, move down to your eyelids and let them feel loose and relaxed. If you feel your eyelids twitching, don’t worry try and let them relax as much as you can. Relax your cheeks and feel the tiny muscles in your mouth loosen and relax. Moving down now to your neck, feel those muscles relax, feel the relaxation run down your spin. Feel all the weight being lifted off your shoulders and notice how comfortable and relaxed you feel. Move down now to your Arms, relax the muscles in your arms, your arms feel loose and heavy. Feel the relaxation go slowly through your arms to your hands and right to finger tips. You are now starting to feel more deeply relaxed. Notice how safe and peaceful you feel. Moving down now to your thighs and hips, notice how they feel comfortable and relaxed. Let that relaxation slowly tipple through your muscles down your legs and to the tips of your toes. You are feeling totally relaxed. Enjoy the feeling of being totally relaxed. Now I want you to picture in your mind a special place. A place you can go to when it is safe to do so, that makes you feel happy and relaxed. A place where you feel free as a bird to do what makes you happy. Try picturing the sounds of the sea slowly reaching the shore, all you can hear is the sound of the sea and the singing birds above you. Picture yourself lying on the beach and feel the soft sand running through your fingers, feel the sand in-between your toes now. And notice the warm sea breeze slowly working itself around your body like a blanket. While you listen to the sounds of the sea and feel the sand between your fingers and toes, you see a butterfly that lands on your knee. The butterfly has long colourful wings and you feel happy to be near it. You watch this butterfly for a moment before it flies off into the distance there is no one to bother you right now, you feel totally relaxed, safe and free to be wherever you want to be and do which ever you want to do. I am going to be quite for a moment and let you enjoy your special thoughts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Now you have found your special place I want you to remember to come here when it is safe to do so and relax. Relax and feel the peacefulness around you. Now I am going to count to five. After the count of five I want to you open your eyes, and when you do you will awaken feeling relaxed. 1. you are starting to become more aware of the chair beneath you 2. The everyday noises around you us are now coming back to you 3. half way there now feeling refreshed and relax 4. Nearly there now and 5. Open your eyes.

Home Depot Essay

Organizational talent is where the organization has the best of the best personnel in as its staff. This covers all the departments of the organization from subordinate staff, production staff as well as the technical staff. Having such a staff base can be advantageous to the organization in terms of efficiency and quality service delivery. The Home Depot Company is one such organization that has the very best personnel as members of its staff. According to Bullard (2010), there are a few basic tactics in which and organization can make maximum of use of its organizational talent and they are: Remove your Constant Underperformers: It is a waste of resources to pay an employee whose performance is not worthy talking about. Therefore in order to remain with employees who can perform, it is wise to get rid of the nonperformers. This is one strategy that the Home Depot uses to improve its service delivery. Bad apples: There are many obstacles that an organization encounters in the day to day running of its activities; therefore for there to be smooth running of the business, the organization should get rid of these internal and external obstacles. Hidden gems: Each organization has the â€Å"silent performer†. This is the employee who is never in the limelight but delivers the best services for the company. Discovering this employee and nurturing him through motivation is the best way that an organization can use to ensure that the organizations talent is maximized. High-quality outside hires: Short term outsourcing can be beneficial for the company especially in technical areas. The human resource department should always be on the look out for those potential employees who can add value to the business and hire them when need arises. The Home Depot as an international brand intends to use the following management techniques to gain a competitive advantage in the Do It Yourself industry (Hewitt, 2007). Performance Management: The performance management allows the company to evaluate the individual performance of its employees and as such it can able to tell which employee fits in which department and how to ensure they deliver the best service for the company. Compensation Management: Nothing can be more motivation an employee as being rewarded for good performance. The Home Depot Company is one such company that ensures that its best performers are recognized and rewarded. This gives them more moral to perform and deliver quality work for the company. Learning Management: Employee training forums help them to be able to learn about new production as well as sales and marketing and as such they can be able to diversify and produce more quality goods. The Home Depot intends to use this management feature to ensure that their staffs especially in the production sector are well trained and conversant with the latest market trends and designs. Social Networking: Social networking can also be referred to as team building, even thou this concept is not new at the Home Depot company, it seeks to improve it and come up with diverse methods of networking and team building. Discuss the Key Channels that Home Depot Developed for Recruiting Talent By recruiting talent, the Home Depot has been able to build the following key basic channels of organization management as well as customer relationship management. The Home Depot has been able to discover capabilities that can be used to determine the success of the customer experience as well as the customer relationship management (Hewitt, 2007). Some of the capabilities include the design and implementation of viable customer relationship management (CRM). This will be used to ensure that clients’ needs are well taken care of. Another key channel that the Home Depot developed by recruiting talent is that it has been able to determine the most productive channel for each department. This has ensured that the level of production in the organization is on steady upward progress in each and every department (Hewitt, 2007). The last key channel of development that the Home Depot develops by talent recruit is that it has been able to build a mutual relationship between itself and its various business partners and associates. This has helped it to ensure that there is smooth running of businesses it the various franchises that it operates in and outside America. Discuss the Critical Programs used by Home Depot to Keep Talent in their Pipeline  The Home Depot has put in place a few programs / strategies that are meant to ensure that the staff it hires are not tempted to jump ship and search for greener pastures but they stay committed to their work. For the new recruits, they are first guided on the various functions of the department they will assigned to, after which they are given a challenge to undertake (Hewitt, 2007). The talent will feel â€Å"empowered† by the challenge given to him / her and will strive to deliver the best, however the management is always on the standby to ensure that they are given any support that they may require. In addition to that, the skilled talents are allowed to try out a variety of roles before they can be advised on the best carrier choice to take. Finally the talents are given an opportunity to try out new innovations and ideas that they might have, by so doing the talents will feel appreciated and as such it will hard for them to leave the organization (Hewitt, 2007). Discuss Three Lessons Learned by Home Depot related to Talent Management. Some of the lessons that the Home Depot learned in relation to talent management are: Investing in talent, give programs time to work, listen and respond to naysayers. Listen and Respond to Naysayers: In every organization, there is always positive and negative criticism coming in from all quarters. The Home Depot has learnt to use the public relation skills by always giving a positive and promising feed back to any criticism that is raise against it. In so doing the company has been able to draw admirers from different regions of the world. Youth Investment: The youths can be used to determine the future of an organization, this is because of their willingness to work, learn and deliver. The youths are also innovative and filled with creative ideas. The Home Depot extensively invests in the youths in all sectors and departments. The youth are then given the responsibility of delivering quality serviced for the organization. Time: The rush by most organizations to have instant results is what makes the programs the implement fail, however when it comes to Home Depot, it has learnt to give time for the programs it implements to develop, mature before the results trickle in. y so doing, the company has been able to reap maximum inputs from the output it gives. Summation / Conclusion The Home Depot Company is a sure that with good planning and implementation, any business can grow into an empire in the shortest time possible. In addition to that investing in youth talent is another way for a company to expand rapidly. The Home Depot should spread its customer base to other untapped market like Africa where there is a lot of potential.

The Swimmer By John Cheever English Literature Essay Essays

The Swimmer By John Cheever English Literature Essay Essays The Swimmer By John Cheever English Literature Essay Paper The Swimmer By John Cheever English Literature Essay Paper Cheever provides readers with a elaborate description of the futility of recognizing a end without clear focal point because, when Neddy begins to swim across the pool, there is a storm that compactly indicates that something is incorrect. Despite being in-between aged, Neddy still wants to retain his young person which is evidenced in his attitude. He believes that he is a vivacious person and that following the handiness of several pools in his vicinity, he can swim place. Sooner or subsequently, Cheever describes how Neddy go haunted with swimming in the flush pools until he reaches in a suburb and finds a dry pool ( Cheever 202 ) . Apparently, after waiting for a storm to go through in a porch, Neddy begins experiencing disillusioned and tired with the whole thought of swimming. Obviously, Neddy is determined to travel on but he does non retrieve the exhilaration he had art foremost in Westerhazy. He so becomes disquieted to happen that another pool is dry. By the terminal of th e narrative ; Neddy reaches his place and surprisingly admirations why his house is locked and place deserted. He marvels why his household is non at that place and where they are gone ( Cheever 205 ) . The experiences of John Cheever have been the footing on which his narrative The Swimmer is built. With respect to this, Cheever attended a private academy but could no alumnus due to ejection. He subsequently embarked on a authorship calling where he contributed to a figure of publications that have apparently influenced his attack to composing The Swimmer . Consequently, during this period, he worked as a author with assorted publications and supported himself with other uneven occupations by fundamentally composing outlines for the Metro Goldwyn movie studio, an experience that guides the semblance, world and surrealism that is characterized with his narrative The Swimmer . Later on in life, Cheever served in the ground forces during the World War 1 and it is at this clip that he realized a strong passion for composing. His diversified work experience as a book author basically left him to compose in this absorbing manner of utilizing myths and symbolism in a clear point of position ( Fogelman 465-469 ) . Flatly, Donaldson ( 395-399 ) postulates that The Swimmer was written within a historical context. This was at a clip when center and upper category Americans were sing great prosperity. It is plausible to reason that holding survived the World War 1 every bit good as the Korean War around 1945 and 1950 severally, many Americans particularly of the white descent, enjoyed the richness of the postwar epoch. During this clip, historical literatures underscore that the American suburbs grew quickly ; a factor that Cheever used as the scene for his narrative The Swimmer ( Fogelman 468-470 ) . Consequently, the universe of Neddy as he appears at the beginning of the narrative is characterized to affluence every bit precisely as it was during the station war epoch. The universe of Neddy was in no manner the one in which many American in the suburbs could entree. The civil rights motion was highly active but basic autonomies were still issues of great concern. The Swimmer is based on t he events of the World War 1 and Cheever constructs his secret plan around this historical context. The Swimmer is a representative of Cheever s suburban narratives which explore vividly the luster and sorrow of Americans and other nationalities populating within the jobs of a somewhat American suburban area. He brings about this capturing contrast by including swimming pools and cocktail parties in his narrative to significantly lucubrate the trademark of the relaxing and at leisure universe that his characters inhabit. This component portrays The Swimmer as one of the finest plants of Cheever which he uses to intermix myth and world as evidenced in Neddy s long journey as attempts to swim across the pools of Westchester County. Arguably, Neddy tries to recover his apparent lost vernal life through the physical enterprises ( Donaldson 236-241 ) . The mythic analogue in The Swimmer dignifies and enhances the narrative that may hold otherwise been another societal parable focus oning on the darker side of the American dream. Ultimately, this literary piece contains in a great length the societal pragmatism of the writer as pertains to the American experience. Credibly, one could reason that The Swimmer is a eldritch narrative that transforms a comedy of mode into a fantastical racket every bit good as incubus. Throughout the narrative, the reader is left doubtful of the ambiguity of clip in the plot line because ; an afternoon can apparently go months or old ages and the decision of the narrative presents either the confrontation of Neddy with a glance into the hereafter or still the existent nowadays ( Cheever 206 ) . In The Swimmer , Cheever achieves a religious transcendency by uniting the mundane with the mythic. A comparative expression at The Swimmer with other fables like The Holy Grail or Dante s Inferno, Cheever demonstrates his ability to do the ordinary lives of suburbanites like Neddy to look more religious, fantastical and cosmopolitan ( Fogelman 470-472 ) . These attributes warrants the comparing of The Swimmer with other fables. In so making, Cheever articulates the belief that literature is a coherent and uninterrupted history to be a minute of aspiration, our battle to be celebrated and an chance for a huge pilgrims journey. The darker tone of Cheever s The Swimmer and his more experimental technique has made this short narrative to captivatingly and successfully transform the realistic inside informations, the myths every bit good as the personal experiences of the writer as respects frights of fiscal and emotional ruin into a chef-doeuvre of the 20 first century short nar ratives. To be successful in the modern-day society, it is imperative that one remain focused on their ends but unluckily, clip becomes grim and unforgiving in its forward trudge. In other words, there does non look to be adequate clip for human existences to run into their demands of wining with one individual end. The instance is even true with keeping friendly relationships with households and friends allow entirely all that one cherishes. Therefore, this is the cardinal inquiry that Cheever addresses in the short narrative The Swimmer . Neddy has one mission in life which is to swim. However, the singles in intent comes with a manifold of effects. These are the effects that Cheever adept explores by utilizing Neddy s mission and the annihilating advancement of clip ( Cheever 205 ) . In add-on, The Swimmer is regarded as an fable that is about the aging procedure, the diminution and the overall rhythm of life. Fogelman ( 468-470 ) points out that within the precincts of an fable, The Swimmer appear like a symbolic representation of success and ends through Neddy, events of truth and the generalisation about human being. To compactly suit the categorizations of an fable, The Swimmer has people, topographic points, an events incorporating more than one significance. As such, the narrative focuses on the sociological facet of the futility of the American dream in the wakes of World War 1 and economic reorganization. This allegorical significance is farther construed to make with the inevitableness of clip as evidenced in aging, physical diminution, the lip service of the upper category and the rhythm of life. In visible radiation of the mythic nature of The Swimmer, the extended usage of societal fables every bit good as fabrications, characterizes Cheever s The Swimmer to be a concise fable. The patterned images in The Swimmer are one of the most challenging facets of the literary facet that the writer has used to heighten this short narrative. As a consequence, these patterned conflations of cardinal images such as swimming, the storm and the journey across pools is symbolic to traveling towards a vision through darkness. For case, The Swimmer starts of reasonably with Neddy lounging about the swimming pool at a place of a friend. A thought work stoppages him. He realizes that there are several swimming pools between where he is and his ain place. As he resolves to swim across place, the writer uses this image to expose us to the capricious exercising that subsequently becomes troublesome and calls for tremendous battle to win ( Cheever 206 ) . Furthermore, the rubric of the narrative demonstrates the diverseness of ends and the nostalgic attempts of the swimmer. This image mostly shows the ephemeral accomplishment of Neddy when he manages to swim to his place but the success of life in entirety, as divided by the moral beauty of life is markedly absent in this character because, all his friends, household and other cherish able ownership are all lost. Although there is some confederation between pleasance and societal convention, The Swimmer out justly warns us against excess therefore ordering that the lone sober attack to life is making things in moderatenesss good stipulated by Aristotle. The nature of human experience spells out the cardinal struggle in this narrative. Significantly, the worlds of life are associated with Cheever usage of images of visible radiation and storm. For illustration, when Neddy reaches at Levy s pool, a sudden storm interruptions through with its full furry. Neddy is therefore forced to take screen in Levy s summerhouse as he watches the storm lash the trees. Somehow, when the rain subsides, Neddy notices that the storm had striped of a tree of its yellow and ruddy foliages dispersing them over the grass and H2O ( Cheever 204 ) . Decidedly, Cheever uses the image of storm to convey about the component of interruptions in life. Ideally, we need interruptions from our day-to-day activities. These interruptions are in signifier of vacations or fundamentally holding certain leisure as we relax from our modus operandi. The image of the storm is therefore a system of cheques and balances to avoid human existences from exhaustion or inordinate weariness. To recap, the comprehensiveness of life dictates that we live a balanced life and avoid over indulgence on one individual facet of our mission. From the waiving treatment, it is apparent that Cheever has used The Swimmer excessively critically and aesthetically remarks on the richness, lip service and the relationship between wealth and felicity. Through the usage of symbolism and myth, the compulsion that Cheever high spots is the acquisitive and selfish nature of humanity. Neddy concentrates about swimming and forgets approximately everything as respects life-his household, friends and other ownerships. This acquisitive nature is selfish which is today manifested in the individualistic compulsion for power, wealth and even celebrity. Harmonizing to Cheever, if attention is non taken, this compulsion may take to destruction as evidenced in Neddy s loss of household, friends and hoarded wealth. The quality of this narrative as a short narrative is that it is set in the blend of pra gmatism and surrealism therefore, it is surreal and pathos facets compounded with is thematic geographic expedition of the life rhythm and the suburban America.

Discuss the evidence that supports the contention Essay Example

Discuss the evidence that supports the contention Essay Example Discuss the evidence that supports the contention Essay Discuss the evidence that supports the contention Essay Research workers have long been seeking for the neurobiological footing of memory. Where are memories stored? How are they encoded? What systems underlie the puting down and retrieval of memories? The hunt for this neurobiological footing for memory has frequently concentrated on the hunt for the engram , literally the physical hint of memory in the encephalon. As the encephalon is composed of one million millions of nerve cells, it must be here that the neurobiological hints of memory are to be found. But in analyzing how memory is formed by the construction of memory traces in the encephalon, two different kinds of analysis have sometimes been used. The first involves concentrating on the construction of the nerve cells in the encephalon in other words concentrating on how the nerve cells are arranged in relation to each other. The 2nd involves the neurochemical activity between the nerve cells how each nerve cell communicates with other relevant nerve cells. It is this supposed duality that this essay examines. To make so it is utile to reexamine some of the history of how this duality has been researched. A innovator in the field of the physiological psychology of memory was Karl Lashley. Lashley ( 1950 ) developed a technique for destructing parts of the encephalons of mice and so experimenting on them to measure their acquisition and memory capablenesss. What was found was that there was a correlational relationship between the sum of encephalon harm given to the mice and the figure of mistakes they made in a maze trial. One of import determination of Lashley s was that there seemed to be no importance attached to the existent portion of the mouse s encephalon which was damaged. This led him to suggest that the encephalon was non specialised in its parts for peculiar types of activities and in fact all of the different parts of the encephalon could be used for all the different maps. This happening tends to back up the thought that it is the activity in the encephalon that is most responsible for memory, instead than its construction. However, these findings have since been question ed by a batch of subsequent research. A really of import part to the apprehension of how memory might be encoded was made by Donald Hebb. Hebb ( 1949 ) argued that the manner in which memories might be encoded in the encephalon was by the proliferation of neural connexions. This theory posits that nerve cells that are repeatedly stimulated in unison develop a connexion which so facilitates their joint stimulation in the hereafter. As nerve cells become activated together they form a cell assembly this provides the footing for the find of the memory memory trace. The activity hint is hence prima to a structural memory hint. This theory tends to propose that the activation between nerve cells has a direct consequence on the structural connexions between them. What, though, does the grounds from the research state us about how memory is stored? In the 1950s and 1960s research workers began analyzing encephalon cells for the physical manifestations of acquisition and memory. Hyden and Egyhazi ( 1962 ) for illustration used a paradigm which involved the preparation of rats to transport out a equilibrating undertaking. The nerve cells in the rat s vestibular system, chiefly involved in balance, were examined and it was found that one peculiar karyon was peculiarly big. This was some of the earliest grounds for how memory can hold structural effects on the encephalon now known as neuroplasticity. Similar to these early surveies, more recent work such as Bailey A ; Kandel ( 1993 ) has found farther structural alterations to nerve cells have been seen as the consequence of encoding memories. Bailey ( 1993, 1996 ) examined how the encephalons of Marine snails responded to simple associatory acquisition undertakings. Bailey, Bartsch A ; Kandel ( 1996 ) found that after larning and hence puting down of memories had taken topographic point, there was a alteration in the balance of neurotransmitters so as to beef up communicating in the parts of the snail s encephalon responsible for the gill backdown physiological reaction. This was found to be the instance for the puting down of short-run memories. For long term memories, nevertheless, a different procedure was seen. Adjustments in the manner the web of synapses are organised is changed as clip goes on familial alterations suggest that a alterations in the synaptic constellation is of import in puting down long-run memories. A unfavorable judgment of these surveies is that they were carried out in non-mammalian encephalons and so there may be a inquiry as to how generalisable these findings are. Further surveies have been carried out, nevertheless, into mammalian species. Bliss A ; Collingridge ( 1993 ) examined nervous tracts within the hippocampus. These were stimulated and it was found that after a short clip there was an addition in the efficiency of synaptic communicating. In the same manner as the old research, this has been proposed as a mechanism for memory. It is known as Long Term Potentiation ( LTP ) and it is the thought that as one synapse communicates with another, the connexion between the two of them is strengthened. These sort of findings tend to back up the importance of activity-dependant mechanisms in memory storage. However, unfavorable judgments of this type of happening are that this mechanism could non be chiefly related to memory and may, in fact, be a secondary feature. The portion of the encephalon thought to be most of import in memory, the hippocampus, has been extensively researched in relation to memory. Recent research has begun to happen farther grounds of structural alterations in the hippocampus ensuing from puting down new memories. Leuner, Falduto A ; Shors ( 2003 ) examined the hippocampi of rats after they had been involved in associatory acquisition undertaking based on eye-blinks. The research workers found that dendritic spinal columns increased in denseness after the preparation. As dendritic spinal columns are the most of import method by which neural communicating is facilitated, this is of import grounds of how the encephalon is altering is construction. Kleim, Freeman, Bruneau, Nolan, Cooper, Zook A ; Walters ( 2002 ) examined synaptic growing in rats utilizing the same eye-blink paradigm as antecedently discussed. In contrast though the figure of synapses in the cerebellum the portion of the encephalon thought to be of impor t in the keeping of a conditioned response was examined. Trained rats were compared with those who had non been trained. The writers found that the trained rats had significantly more synapses connected to each nerve cell than the untrained rats. This research was specifically aimed at turn toing inquiries from old research that had non been able to tie in larning with an rush in synaptic connexions. This research claimed to battle old jobs by utilizing a simple learned behavior. Lamprecht A ; LeDoux ( 2004 ) in reexamining the grounds on how memories are formed at the neural degree, explain that it is the alterations in synaptic transmittal which are glutamate-dependent that are most of import. The nexus has been shown between the LTP and structural alterations in the synapses and dendrites. It is this incentive by LTP of the alteration of construction that causes memories to be laid down. One challenge to the thought that long-run memories are laid down in the construction of synapses is the cognition that these synapses are capable to continued debasement over the life-time. If synapses are on a regular basis interrupting down and disappearance, so how are memories maintained for the long-run? Horn, Levy A ; Ruppin ( 1998 ) propose the reply that at the neural degree there are regulative mechanisms that guarantee that neural activity is maintained at the coveted degree to maintain memories alive. This system relies on the fact that memories will be indiscriminately activated over a period of clip and it is this activation which forms portion of the mechanism for guaranting its continuity. Other statements that Horn, Levy A ; Ruppin ( 1998 ) reappraisal rely to a great extent on neural construction. For illustration Bailey, Montarolo, Chen, Kandel A ; Schacher ( 1992 ) argue that long-run memory is facilitated by the alterations in the genome. This thought is based on research that has found the puting down of long-run memory is inhibited by decelerating or halting protein synthesis. New research, nevertheless, has shown that protein synthesis is non required for long-run memory storage ( Lisman, 1994 ) , which is a job for this theory. Horn, Levy A ; Ruppin ( 1998 ) therefore assert that their theory provides a better mechanism for how long-run memory might be maintained. It is clear that this theory relies more to a great extent on the activation of nerve cells to really keep the structural unity. From the grounds reviewed here it can be seen that activity-dependent and structural memories have different functions to play in the procedure of memory formation. The research suggests that the activity-dependent memories are more associated with short-run alterations to memory hints or memory traces, and structural alterations are more associated with long-run memory storage. This supports the prescient work done by Hebb ( 1949 ) which linked short-run and long-run memory creative activity in a similar manner, with continued activation of a cell-assembly leading to structural alterations. The research has tended to keep this differentiation, although recent inquiries of how long-run memories are maintained have highlighted the ever-narrowing differentiation between activity-dependent and structural signifiers of memory at the neural degree. Mentions Bailey, C. H. , Montarolo, P. G. , Chen, M. , Kandel, E. R. A ; Schacher, S. ( 1992 ) Neuron 9, 749-758 Bailey, C. H. , Kandel, E. R. ( 1993 ) . Structural alterations attach toing memory storage. Annual Review of Physiology, 55:397-426. Bailey, C. H. , Bartsch, D. , Kandel, E.R. ( 1996 ) . Toward a molecular definition of long-run memory storage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 93: 13445-13452. Bliss, T. V. P. , Collingridge, G. L. ( 1993 ) . A synaptic theoretical account of memory: long-run potentiation in the hippocampus. Nature 361, 31-39 Dolley, D.H. ( 1913 ) . Journal of Medical Research, 29:65. Hebb, D. O. ( 1949 ) . The Administration of Behaviour. New York: Wiley. Horn, D. Levy, N. Ruppin, E. ( 1998 ) Memory Maintenance via Neuronal Regulation Neural Computation, Vol 10, 1-18 Hyden, H. , Egyhazi, E. ( 1962 ) . Nuclear RNA alterations in nervus cells during a learning experiment in rats. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 48:1366-1373. Kleim, J. A. , Freeman, J. F. , Bruneau, R. , Nolan, B. C. , Cooper, N. R. , Zook, A. , Walters, D. ( 2002 ) Synapse formation is associated with memory storage in the cerebellum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 99:13228-13231 Lamprecht, R. , LeDoux, J. ( 2004 ) Nature Reviews Neuroscience 5, 45-54 Lashley, K.S. ( 1950 ) . In hunt of the memory trace. In Danielli, J.F. and Brown, R. ( Eds. ) , Symposia of the Society for Experimental Biology, 4 Physiological Mechanisms in Animal Behaviour. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Leuner, B. , Falduto, J. , Shors, T. J. ( 2003 ) Associative Memory Formation Increases the Observation of Dendritic Spines in the Hippocampus. The Journal of Neuroscience, 23 ( 2 ) 659-665 Lisman, J. , ( 1994 ) The CaM kinase II hypothesis for the storage of synaptic memory. Tendencies in Neuroscience, 17, 406-412

Heart-rending and Gut-wrenching

Heart-rending and Gut-wrenching Heart-rending and Gut-wrenching Heart-rending and Gut-wrenching By Maeve Maddox Although widely used by a great many speakers, an expression that makes me cringe is heart-wrenching. Gut-wrenching is fine. Guts twist, both literally and figuratively. And in the bad old days people had their innards pulled out as a form of torture and execution, hence the verb to disembowel and the expression to draw and quarter. To me, something described as gut-wrenching is frightening, the way its used in this readers comment: In a mystery the reader is trying to figure out what is going on and the puzzle is more of a brain teaser, but not a gut-wrenching life and death struggle. Heart-wrenching, on the other hand, always strikes my ears as mistake for heart-rending. I suppose that an argument could be made for either heart-rending or heart-wrenching, but it seems to me that when someone says, The sight of the displaced earthquake victims was heart-rending, the emotion felt is probably more gentle than the violent word wrench would suggest. wrench: trans. To twist or turn (a thing) forcibly or with effort; to jerk or pull with a violent twist A strong argument against heart-wrenching is that neither the OED nor Merriam-Webster includes it, while both the British and American dictionaries have entries for heart-rending/heartrending. OED: heart-rending: That rends the heart; terribly distressing. So heart-rending vbl. n., terrible distress, pangs of anguish; ï ¿ ¼heart-rendingly adv. Merriam-Webster: heartrending: causing intense grief, anguish, or pain I suggest reserving wrenching attached to gut for things that cause fear, and rending with heart to describe emotional pain caused by the sight of something truly piteous. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:35 Synonyms for â€Å"Look†50 Latin Phrases You Should Know50 Tips on How to Write Good

Being and Nothingness according to Jean-Paul Sartre Essay

Being and Nothingness according to Jean-Paul Sartre - Essay Example Sartre explains that our perception of the external world is absolute and pure. He also suggests that our perception of objects is of finite nature, and our self perceives them with the help of the senses. He is of the idea that what we see in the outside world is what we know and what we get. In his philosophical theory argues that the being – in –itself and being- for- itself are distinct aspects of this real world. Here being – in –itself are the unconscious beings and being- for -itself is the conscious being. As per Jean-Paul Sartre, being –in -itself is stable and isn’t aware of its existence, whereas being – for- itself is aware of its own consciousness. These both beings are distinct from each other and constitute the existence of the universe.Being – in– itself cannot change its form with its own will as it does not have will or consciousness. However being – for – itself has free will, awareness an d chooses to act right or wrong. Anyway, Jean-Paul Sartre sees the being – for –itself as incomplete and indefinite, as it can go to any limit with its dynamic consciousness. This is what makes a man undetermined, indefinable and conscious creature. Since for – itself or a man in other terms is absent of a predetermined essence, it is intimidated or forced to create itself from nothingness or voidness. According to Sartre voidness or nothingness is the very explainable characteristic of a human being.For example, a rock is a rock and can do nothing to change its shape or form. But in case of being – for – itself can change its shape, form and even decide what he wants to do or not do. A man has the power to act in this world, and also can interact with physical objects which are being – in – itself. We can see that a man is not simply being here in this world, but also is actuating himself with the power of consciousness and awareness . A man or a self can create a whole dynamic world of himself by perceiving the objects of the universe. His consciousness is of infinite power and this gives him the ability to perceive being – in – itself in a dynamic way.

Altmans Z-Score Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Altmans Z-Score - Research Paper Example Altman’s Z-Score This is the same treatment used on the financial trends. The application of the Altman’s Z-Score rationale in the banking sector is based on the assumption that the loan applicants will experience a rejection in their loan status. This is a decline from the loan application. The loan applicants may also experience a thorough scrutiny in case the value observed from the Z-Score falls below the minimal critical value. The applicability of the model goes to private companies, emerging markets and to non-manufacturing firms. The discriminant resulting function illustrates itself by us of the formulae below Z=1.2X1+1.4X2+2.3X3+0.64+0.999X5 If the computation reveals a lower value e.g. of 1.81, it can be inferred to be a failed firm. An upper value of 2.99 is a successful firm and will therefore be more attractive for investment. The value of scores that forms below the successful and the failing firm forms the ignorance zone. The predictability of any model depends upon the standard deviation of the group being small. The ideology behind the multiple discriminant analysis engages on principles set to enable maximization of the group between differences while at the same time minimizing the group within differences. The process itself involves variables that can be inclusive or exclusive on an analytical criterion. The determination of the result must involve a set of guidelines that involve the observation of the data giving importance as well as the determination of the contribution. This contribution is geared towards independent variable.

Are you a Collaborative Leader Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Are you a Collaborative Leader - Article Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that there are diverse learning takeaways that include acknowledging that there are four skills areas that collaborative leaders manifest, to wit: â€Å"playing the role of connector, attracting diverse talent, modeling collaboration at the top, and showing a strong hand to keep teams from getting mired in debate†. Likewise, the authors presented the kinds of results that collaborative leaders generate. In sum, these results center on: (1) making global connections; (2) engaging and harnessing diverse talents; (3) pioneering collaborative efforts at an apex of the organizational hierarchy; and (4) taking control in decision-making. It was likewise differentiated in the article the distinguishing features of the three leadership styles: command and control, consensus, and collaborative through expounding on their disparities in organizational structure, access to information, final authority for decision-making, bas is for accountability and control, and applicability. Through the experiences shared by executive officers such as Marc Benioff, CEO of Saleforce.com; David Kenny, President of Akamai Technologies; Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer of General Electric; Bart Bechtm, soon to retire CEO of Reckitt Benckiser; Vineet Nayar, CEO of India’s HCL; and Natura Cosmà ©ticos’s CEO Alessandro Carlucci; have all attested to the remarkable and significant positive transformation accorded with a collaborative leadership style. The authors’ aptly concluded that this particular leadership style is most applicable given the contemporary global setting and emphasized that â€Å"the world has become One firmly believes that there are immense strength and power to that a collaborative leadership style could accord people in organizations.

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 84

History - Essay Example The Continental Congress comprised of 13 American colonies and after some time the United States. The external pressures from France, England, and Spain played an integral role in the making of the United States in the sense that they were challenged by their success, as they were free from colonies. Therefore, the United States came up with the articles of confederation, which served as the first constitution. The Articles of Confederation even when they were not yet ratified provided international and domestic legitimacy to direct the American Revolutionary war by the Continental Congress (Berkin, 2012). Although ratified by the thirteen states the Articles were not sufficient, which led to the making of the United States Constitution that would govern all the states. However, Antifederalists opposed the ratification of the Constitution. They did not succeed as the Constitution was ratified in 1789 and was established as supreme law. The constitution was not sufficient enough as it was amended twenty-seven times where the first ten amendments are the bill of rights that are gi ven to every citizen in the United

Assigment 3 and 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assigment 3 and 4 - Assignment Example The high demand for the free goods affects the demand that the markets are able to supply. Non payers are not able to be prohibited in using the goods. Market failures are common in provision of public goods. When there is no payment of goods, revenues are not earned from the goods that are produced hence the market is not able to produce more. Government distortion is common in production of public goods through production subsidizing and protection of intellectual property inadequately (Hubbard and Anthony, 51). When the interference occurs, the market is not able to earn revenues and profits from the goods produced. This leads to market failure. Government intervention leads to protection of goods in a market and other firms are not able to enter easily into the markets. 5. Free rider problem occurs when a consumer is in a position of enjoying a good or service without paying for it. Marketers providing public goods have successfully used a number of techniques to encourage those who use the products to contribute to them (Hubbard and Anthony, 67). In the techniques used, they give contributors private goods, arrange matching contribution for them and appeal to the sense of civil and moral responsibility. Solutions are as follows: Common in public and beautiful sceneries those citizens are ready to access through payments. Limiting entrance for such areas may make them private. This is common in sectors that are on high demand in an economy in general. Citizens are beneficiaries of services from the government such as defense. They pay for this indirectly through taxation. Though some taxpayers complain, this remains one of the best ways of making the economy of a country flow steadily. 6. Poverty trap is a mechanism that forces people to remain below the poverty line. It is common in under-developed and developing countries (Hubbard and Anthony, 83). The main causes of the poverty trap are inadequate credit to citizens and

Pursing Criminal Justice - Law Enforcement Essay - 1

Pursing Criminal Justice - Law Enforcement - Essay Example Several strict regulations in law enforcement were introduced because of which similar terrorist attacks could be avoided after 2001. Though law enforcement brought numerous positive changes, it also resulted in inconvenience to public in terms of free movement and employment and government could successfully handled the public resistance. In future, the big challenges for law enforcement would be in the form of terrorism, regionalism and drug trafficking. The coordination of US Police department with the law enforcement agencies of other nations like Mexico and Columbia would certainly help in reducing the crime rate including drug trafficking. It is predicted that the law enforcement would be highly flexible and dynamic in nature for successfully handing these challenges. Key words : law enforcement, criminal justice, terrorism, drug trafficking a. What is your definition of justice as it relates to the law enforcement? Explain the origins of law enforcement. Discuss how you intend to promote your definition of justice in your intended criminal justice career. Equal treatment of persons in the circumstances of unfair means is most important for any welfare society. Justice is needed to be provided to the people when they are subjected to ill treatment in the society. Hence, justice can be defined as any type of practice which helps the people to get reasonable compensation or treatment so that fair means of utilities and services would be guaranteed. In other words, justice means the process of facilitating and doing right things (Sandel, 2009). This holds more relevance when criminal acts are committed in the society. We regularly come across different incidents in the world related to forceful killings, rape, sabotage and drug trafficking etc. and the persons who are affected due to this must be provided with the sufficient justice and at he same time, the other people in the society should be provided with right and safe environment for dignified way of li fe. The justice can be provided by various measures like framing rules in the form of legislation, enforcing the same through police or any other parallel law control system and through thorough judicial review and through corrections in the form jail reforms (Mays and Ruddell, 2007). In other words, the justice can be ensured only by establishing these three different components of criminal justice system i.e. law enforcement through police, law adjudication through courts and corrections in the form of jails and parole (Siegel and Senna, 2007). Since time immemorial, the people were subjected through various criminal justice procedures and irrespective of the region, the Kings used to appoint some specific experienced noble persons for providing the justice based on case to case. One common principle in all these types of criminal justice procedures is to apply the element of truth finding and analysis after going through all the related parties of the incident and delivering judg ment in favor of the affected persons or victims. While delivering the judgment, the emphasis was always given to create an element of fear among other people that they would be punished strictly if indulged in illegal activities and this helped the society to find less criminal rate. This has given foundation for the modern courts and their legal principles through out the world. At the same time, in some of the cases based on the merit, the opportunity was

Assigment 3 and 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assigment 3 and 4 - Assignment Example The high demand for the free goods affects the demand that the markets are able to supply. Non payers are not able to be prohibited in using the goods. Market failures are common in provision of public goods. When there is no payment of goods, revenues are not earned from the goods that are produced hence the market is not able to produce more. Government distortion is common in production of public goods through production subsidizing and protection of intellectual property inadequately (Hubbard and Anthony, 51). When the interference occurs, the market is not able to earn revenues and profits from the goods produced. This leads to market failure. Government intervention leads to protection of goods in a market and other firms are not able to enter easily into the markets. 5. Free rider problem occurs when a consumer is in a position of enjoying a good or service without paying for it. Marketers providing public goods have successfully used a number of techniques to encourage those who use the products to contribute to them (Hubbard and Anthony, 67). In the techniques used, they give contributors private goods, arrange matching contribution for them and appeal to the sense of civil and moral responsibility. Solutions are as follows: Common in public and beautiful sceneries those citizens are ready to access through payments. Limiting entrance for such areas may make them private. This is common in sectors that are on high demand in an economy in general. Citizens are beneficiaries of services from the government such as defense. They pay for this indirectly through taxation. Though some taxpayers complain, this remains one of the best ways of making the economy of a country flow steadily. 6. Poverty trap is a mechanism that forces people to remain below the poverty line. It is common in under-developed and developing countries (Hubbard and Anthony, 83). The main causes of the poverty trap are inadequate credit to citizens and

Introduction to Computer Application & Systems Essay Example for Free

Introduction to Computer Application Systems Essay Introduction to Computer Application Systems March 6, 2012 Dr. Xuan Yu ? Technology has gone from the days of the pony express to advancing at a rate of a mile a minute to now evolving to what seems like the speed of light or faster. With such a fast paced environment of change in technology, policies and laws must adapt to be compatible to those advancements in order to provide the best method to govern the laws and policies and protect its people. This paper will explore how technological advancements have influenced crucial changes in two essential policies: the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA). The Electronic Communications Privacy Act, an extension of the Federal Wiretap Statute, was endorsed in 1986 (Justice Information Sharing, 2010). This was a necessary implementation with how technology was diversifying ways to communicate and share information. In order to oversee and safeguard technological advancements such as email, cordless and cell phone communications, and electronically stored data the federal government had to amend and sometimes put into operation new policies. These policies, like the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, minimize many ethical issues that came along with the development of these advancements. As technology experimented with ideals such as wireless connection, it gave way to many unethical and at times illegal practices. Ethical issues that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act had to address included accessibility and privacy; information could be shared outside the confinement of a person’s home or business. The government needed to find a way that would control and guard how this information was access, collected and stored. Implementing the Electronic Communications Privacy Act allowed government officials to include devices outside the scope of the Federal Wiretap Statute. Eight years before the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, financial businesses latched on to this idea of transferring information which cause governmental official to step in and implement the Electronic Funds Transfer Act. This ct is intended to protect people who engage in transferring and sharing private financial information such as bank account numbers and personal information through devices such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and point-of-sale terminals

Effects Pine Beetles Have on the Forests

Effects Pine Beetles Have on the Forests Climate change and the effects pine beetles have on the forests. Introduction The ever growing effects of natural and man-made climate change are having a wide-spread effect on many mixed and coniferous forest ecosystems. Particularly as average annual temperatures increase, the habitat for the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosa, has expanded, because the beetle is able to occupy new habitats at higher elevations, which were previously too cold for it. The mountain pine beetle habitat extends from Mexico through the Western United States and up to Canada. The damage caused to cone-bearing trees by the mountain pine beetle is threatening the strength of the North American mixed and coniferous ecosystems at every trophic level, as well as affecting the mountain forest carbon cycle and watershed hydrology. This damage has combined with the effects of human logging practices in the coniferous forest to drastically alter these ecosystems. Though these areas have been severely degraded, there are solutions that can slow or reverse the damage that has alrea dy been done. Background Human-caused climate change is having a pronounced effect on many different ecosystems. One of these effects is the spread of mountain pine beetles through the forests of the Western United States and Canada. Mountain pine beetles inhabit many species of coniferous trees such as jack pine, whitebark, lodgepole, Scotch, ponderosa, and limber pines. Pine beetles typically attack and inhabit trees at lower elevations, but the effects of climate change have allowed them to inhabit ever higher elevations. With mild winters and warmer summers, the pine beetles have been able to infest mature pine trees that could resist the beetles before the change in average temperature (Carroll et al. 2003). There were many pine beetle outbreaks in Canada and the U.S. Rockies since the 1940’s but they are considered mild compared to the more recent outbreaks. The earlier outbreaks were partly contained by human intervention and were ultimately ended by severe winter conditions, the natural regula tor of pine beetle populations. As climate change undermines this natural regulation system, the current infestations are much larger in scope and much harder to contain through human intervention (Ono. 2003). Mountain pine beetles spend their life cycle in four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. In the summer the adults migrate and infest new trees. During the stages of their life they live under the tree bark where they feed and lay their eggs (Carroll et al. 2003). The mountain pine beetles’ life cycle and survival rate is regulated by the temperature of their habitat. Temperature at a particular time of year helps regulate the life cycle stage of the beetles, determining in part when eggs are laid, when the pupas become adults, when they migrate, and ultimately when the beetles die. A rapid decrease in temperature can kill an entire population of beetles. Other factors for survival include the dryness of the tree and the amount of snow insulation, but mainly the change (drop) in temperature is what keeps beetle populations in control (Creeden et al. 2013). Effects on the Ecosystem Changing climate and weather conditions in the higher elevations and their forest ecosystems are expanding the survivable habitat for the mountain pine beetle. The climate change occurring in these areas is weakening the overall strength of mixed and coniferous forest ecosystems. Hotter summers with less rainfall have caused many tree species to lose their natural defenses. Drought conditions have long been an indicator of previous outbreaks and are now a predictor of new pine beetle outbreaks. In turn, extended drought can also have a negative effect on the pine beetles if the drought lasts too long and the number of available hosts drops. Rising temperatures creates tree loss from drought and fires that hinders pine beetle migration (Creeden et al. 2013). At the same time, climate change exposes beetle infested conifers to a greater risk of fire and drought, reduces their resistance to both, and threatens both the beetles and the trees. Climate change is not only affecting the pine beetles, but species at every trophic level. One of the biggest food sources in the forest is new tree growth and seeds from mature trees. With changing climate conditions trees are not able to reproduce at the pre-climate-change rates. This is especially true in drought areas where the mountain pine beetle has infested the trees. The pine beetles weaken and destroy trees and reduce the rate of seed production and new tree growth, which affects small mammals such as squirrels that rely on the seeds pines produce. Decreasing food supply for smaller animals affects the population size of these species, which in turn affects their larger predators on higher trophic levels (Bartos et al. 1990). Climate change and the spread of pine beetle habitat are having such large effects on mountain ecosystems that it can change the diversity of species in the forests. The mountain pine beetle is no longer just an important species in the forest ecosystems they normally in habitat, they have becom e an important indicator species for ecological problems areas they normally do not inhabit. The expansion of their habitat demonstrates that climate change is having an effect on the entire ecosystem. Moreover, climate change is having an immediate effect on biodiversity and the ecosystem of conifer forests, which is increasing and accelerating (Logan et al. 2003). This is why it is important to keep track of the health of the ecosystem and make quick decisions when detrimental changes are observed. Effects on the Carbon Cycle Climate change and pine beetle outbreaks are also having an adverse effect on the carbon feedback cycle. Currently in British Columbia, Canada the outbreak of mountain pine beetles is so large that Canadian conifer forests have turned from carbon sinks to sources of carbon. Because of the combined effects of mountain pine beetle infestation, logging, and forest fires, large sections of forest are being damaged, which increases the amount of carbon dioxide. It is estimated that 435 million trees have been lost to the combined effects of climate change. This is having a big economic effect on the timber industry. The industry has responded by increasing the rate of harvesting and moving into areas that have not previously been logged. (Kurz et al. 2008). In these area loggers are stripping the biomass of the forest and turning it into, among other things, wood pellets as an energy source for Europe. Combining the damage from the mountain pine beetles, increased forest fires, drought, a nd all the commercial uses, these forests will release more carbon dioxide than they absorbs. This will increase both the causes and effects of climate change and worsen the situation years from now (Lamers et al. 2014). Kurtz modeled the effects of the mountain pine beetle in a test area of 374,000 km ² during the years 2000 to 2020. The study estimated that 270 megatons of carbon would be released during the pine beetle outbreaks in the test area. The model showed that if an area was untouched by pine beetle infestation but had moderate timber harvesting and fires, then the test area was a slight carbon sink; in the control scenario the area averaged 1 to 5 megatons of carbon release per year between 2007 and 2020. Two test scenarios were modeled, one in which the forest was infested with mountain pine beetles and one that included both infestation and additional timber harvesting. The scenario with mountain pine beetle infestation and normal harvesting showed the forest to be a net carbon source ranging from 10 to 20 megatons of carbon per year during 2007-2020. The scenario with the section of forest infested with mountain pine beetles and having additional harvesting due to timber damage showed that the forest was a net source ranging from 10 to 25 megatons of carbon per year for the years 2007 to 2020 (Kurz et al. 2008). This model shows that in the forests of British Columbia mountain pine beetle infestation combines with natural disasters and timber harvesting to help drive climate change (See fig 1). Effects on Watershed Hydrology Increased destruction of forests by the mountain pine beetle is causing a large effect on the hydrology of pines forests and the watershed. The increase in dead trees is having an effect on evapotranspiration as less of the sunlight evaporates water from live trees and instead heats the surrounding surface, raising local temperatures. This is turn is causing a change in hydrology locally and in areas downstream. The damage to the trees is also having an effect on the water quality and the biochemistry of the area (Mikkelson et al. 2013). The snow packs are also being affected; there has been an increase in canopy transmittance and a decrease in the amount of snow that is stored in the canopy. As more trees die solar radiation has been able to penetrate farther causing an increase in evaporation and a change in albedo (Winkler et al. 2012). Once an area of forest is affected, it takes several years for the changes in the canopy cover to effect a complete change. It takes an average of two to three years for the needles of the pine trees to change from green to red. During this time only a small portion of the canopy cover is lost and results in only a small change in interception. A few years after the needles turn red is when the trees turns gray and the majority of the needles are lost to the forest floor. During this stage pine needles and branches fall to the forest floor and eventually the entire tree falls and decays. This increases the amount of nutrients in the soil such as carbon, phosphorus, and nitrogen, which leads to nitrification of the water supply (Mikkelson et al. 2013). These changes alone will cause noticeable changes in the quantity and quality of the water. Adding more numerous forest fires and increased timber harvesting can have a drastic effect on the local watershed (See Fig. 2). Rita Winkler and her colleagues studied the effects of snow accumulation, forest structure, and snow surface albedo in the Rocky Mountains after a mountain pine beetle infestation. Over a seven-year period they studied these effects in areas that were clear cut, mixed, or young pine forests. Their study showed that areas that were primarily infested young pines completely lost their canopy within six years. Due to the loss of their canopy the snow accumulation decreased while transmittance and snow surface albedo increased when trees turned from green to gray. The study found that as trees turned from green to gray the rate of snow water melt increased. In areas that had mixed species of trees the effects were not as drastic as the areas with only young pines. The primary reason that snow accumulation and surface snow albedo were not as affected was due to a large diversity of tree species. In these areas there was also a more developed understory that reduced the effects seen in areas that were primarily young pine. Moreover, while the effects increased from mixed species areas to young pine areas, the affects in neither area compared to the far greater affects in areas that were clear cut (Winkler et al. 2012). It is easy to see from this study that the type of forest, level of beetle infestation, and timber harvesting practices will have a significant or large effect on the water cycle and the hydrology of the surrounding watershed. In the Rocky Mountains this can have a particularly extreme effect on the quality and quantity of river flow in this region since the Colorado River is supplied largely by snow melt. If this trend continues, the amount of water coming out of the Colorado River will decrease, which could lead to increased water shortages in the Southwest. Managing Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreaks As the population and habitat of the mountain pine beetle continues to expand several types of management practices have been tried. Currently Western Canada is experiencing one of the largest expansions of mountain pine beetles, with estimates that over 13 million hectares of conifer and mixed forest have been affected. There are two main methods to manage pine beetle outbreaks, or at least slow their expansion. The indirect control is a preventative method that tries to limit host trees through prescribed burning and forest thinning. The direct method tries to limit the population and growth rate of the beetle by destroying infected trees before the beetles emerge to migrate and attack new hosts (Wulder et al. 2009). There have also been studies done using chemicals on non-infected trees to try and limit the expansion of beetles to these areas. While this type of managing technique is effective, it is too costly to use on a large area of affected trees (Fettig et al. 2007). Coggins and his colleagues completed a study in Western Canada to test which management practices were the most effective. In their study, they used two different areas and selected 28 sites with each plot of trees having a radius of 30 meters. Each plot was selected due to the age of the trees, elevation, and the severity of beetle infestation. They broke their plots into two groups. Eighteen of the plots were not managed while management practices were implemented on the other ten plots. For the ten plots that were selected for mitigation they used tree removal techniques to remove the infected trees before beetle migration. In their study, they calculated that at the beginning of their study, the average expansion rate was 0.29 for non-managed plots and 0.12 for managed plots. Over a ten-year period they showed that the plots of unmanaged areas grew exponentially. While during this same period the managed plots went to zero infected trees after ten years with a 43% detection rate. The s tudy found that the time to reach zero infected trees would be shorter if the detection rate was increased (Coggins et al. 2010). It can be concluded that managing practices will have an effect on the migration of the mountain pine beetle. The main problem with controlling their migration is detecting infected green trees. The problem is that they cannot be detected from the sky, so people have to actively go into the field to detect them. This causes a problem because some areas are inaccessible for a variety of reasons. Even with all of the problems associated with managing the mountain pine beetle, it is vital for the forest ecosystems of North America that these practices continue. Conclusion While the mountain pine beetles will continue to expand and inhabit new areas management practices need to be put into place. The main cause of the mountain pine beetle expansion is primarily due to climate change, particularly drier, hotter summers and shorter, warmer, drier winters. These insects in turn are also contributing to climate change. As their habitat expands, they are turning forests that were once net carbon sinks into net carbon sources. When infected trees die and decay, they release carbon dioxide and increase the amount of phosphorus and nitrogen in the ground. The damage the beetle is causing to forests is also changing the watershed in negative ways. Both the quality and quantity of water is being degraded, which affects the health of the ecosystem. All of these changes combined are having an extreme effect on the ecosystem and negatively affecting every species in it. At every trophic level there is some kind of effect as the mountain pine beetle expands and dest roys the forests. More studies must be done to help mitigate mountain pine beetle expansion and more money needs to be invested in managing them. As a society we will take a major economic hit if the timber we need is destroyed by the mountain pine beetle. Also, if their expansion continues in the Rocky Mountains and damages the watershed there, it could affect a large portion of the drinking water for the Western United States. We need to manage the mountain pine beetle as we reduce carbon dioxide emissions to curb the effects of global warming. Figure 1 Figure 2 Works Cited Bartos, D. L. and K. E. Gibson. Insects of whitebark pine with emphasis on mountain pine beetle. UT 84321. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Montana, United States. Carroll, A. L., S. W. Taylor, J. Regniere and L. Safranyik. Effects of climate change on range expansion by the mountain pine beetle in British Columbia. BC-V8Z-1M5. Canadian Forest Service, Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Coggins, S. B., N. C. Coops, M. A. Wulder and C.W. Bater. 2011. Comparing the impacts of mitigation and non-mitigation on mountain pine beetle populations. Journal of environmental management 92: 112-120. Creeden, E. P., J. A. Hicke and P. C. Buotte. 2013. Climate, weather, and recent mountain pine beetle outbreaks in the western United States. Forest Ecology and Management 312: 239-251. Fettig, C. J., K. D. Klepzig, R. F. Billings, A. S. Munson, T. E. Nebeker, J. F. Negron and J. T. Nowak. 2007. The effectiveness of vegetation management practices for prevention and control of bark beetle infestations in coniferous forests of the western and southern United States. Forest ecology and management 238: 24-53. Lamers, P., M. Junginger, C. C. Dymond and A. Faaij. 2014. Damaged forest provide an opportunity to mitigate climate change. Bioenegy 6: 44-60. Logan, J. A., J. Regniere and J. A. Powell. 2003. Assessing the impacts of global warming on forest pest dynamics. Frontiers in ecology and the environment 1: 130-137. Mikkelson, K. M., L. A. Bearup, R. M. Maxwell, J. D. Stednick, J. E. McCray and J. O. Sharp. 2013. Bark beetle infestation impacts on nutrient cycling, water quality and interdependent hydrological effects. Biogeochemistry 115: 1-21. Ono Hideji. 2003. The mountain pine beetle: Scope of the problem and key issues in Alberta. BC-X-399. Canadian Forest Service, Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Kurz, W. A., C. C. Dymond, G. Stinson, G. J. Rampley, E. T. Neilson, A. L. Carroll, T. Ebata and L. Safranyik. 2008. Mountain pine beetle and forest carbon feedback to climate change. Nature 452: 987-990. Winkler, R., S. Boon, B. Zimonick and D. Spittlehouse. 2009. Snow accumulation and ablation response to changes in forest structure and snow surface albedo after attack by mountain pine beetle. Hydrological Processes 28: 197-209. Wulder, M. A., S. M. Ortlepp, J. C. White, N. C. Coops and S. B. Coggins. 2009. Monitoring the impacts of mountain pine beetle mitigation. Forest ecology and management 258: 1181-1187.

The Key of Reflexivity :: Ethnography Anthropology Essays

The Key of Reflexivity What gives me the right to judge? As a studying anthropologist, what constitutes me the right to study â€Å"Others† and proclaim my perception of the â€Å"studied† is correct? Since the development of writing, authors have fell victim to their own misconceptions of a studied group or culture. Even I, right now as I type away at this keyboard am judging and studying the works of other authors. Whether I take a critical or a supportive view of the writings is obsolete, what matters is how my personal life experiences as a studying anthropologist can lead to legitimate findings. Is this possible? Authors may take their own personal hang-ups of society and implement them into their writings. An example would be an angry painter asked to sketch a picture of a happy family seated in front of him. Is the picture accurate if the final creation portrays the family hugging each other but not smiling? Without reflexivity the author/painter will not know why his creation turned out the way it did. Anthropologists are similar to painters. Mainly because their pictures are text drawn with pens, pencils, or keyboards. However, self- reflexivity provides an awareness that allows for personal reflection, aiding in the process of the understanding. It also emphasizes the point of theoretical and practical questioning changing the ethnographer’s view of themselves and their work. To understand how anthropologists can study a group of people successfully, we must first understand their rationale. Kondo states â€Å" I felt every effort necessary in order to blend in and avoid being unmasked as a foreigner.† (Pg., 76) As a foreigner she is admitting to being different than the people she is studying. However, by doing so she is conveying that psyche and thoughts are what separate people, not just their physical traits. I believe this will benefit Kondo in her studies. Realizing that her linguistic and cultural skills will help her to assimilate into the culture and study truly as a participant observer. A misconception may present itself while analyzing a case as diverse as Kondo’s. To conclude that a Japanese woman with American culture, can add perspective for both instances, would be immature. Rather, a Japanese woman with American culture can only provide a legitimate stance for a Japanese woman, raised in a American culture. Malinowski on the other hand feels as though studying every little detail will provide you with the necessary components for a good anthropologist to construct a sound and rational ethnography.

Identity in the Works of Eavan Boland and Seamus Heaney Essay -- Lava

Identity in the Works of Eavan Boland and Seamus Heaney Many times poetry is reflective of the author’s past as well as their personal struggles. One struggle that poets write about is of identity and the creation, as well as loss, of individual identities. Using a passage from the essay Lava Cameo by Eavan Boland, I will show how two poets use their craft to describe their struggle with identity. Eavan Boland and Seamus Heaney both write poems which express an internal struggle with roles of identity and how they recreate their roles to fit their needs. Through retrospection and reflection, both poets come to realize that the roles they led as well as those they reinvented have created their own personal identities. Boland, in her essay Lava Cameo, touches on several emotions (loss, despair, etc) and episodes in her life which capture the essence of her identity. It is this notion of individual identity that is a central theme throughout Boland’s essay and some of her poems. Boland, through retrospection and hindsight, has been able to recognize the roles that society has dictated that she follow. These roles were not necessarily created for any rational reason (ex: female role as subordinate and even as marital property). One passage in particular captures the internal struggles Boland has endured. This passage runs from pages 27 to 29 in Boland’s Object Lessons. It begins by saying, "It may not be that women poets of another generation†¦" and ends with "†¦but because of poetry." The passage begins by discussing how Boland may be experiencing some unease that female poets before her time may not have experienced nor have even considered for a fleeting moment. Boland claims that she had stumbled upon a realization, one tha... ...s the possibility of reinvention of those roles for self betterment. Both Boland and Heaney show internal struggles with identity, particularly in feeling like a follower and then reinventing themselves into the role of a leader. Although Heaney chose to be a follower whereas Boland felt she was forced to be, their struggles are similar as are their resolutions. Works Cited Boland, Eavan. "Object Lessons: the life of the woman and the poet of our time." Lava Cameo. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 1995. 3-34. Boland, Eavan. "An Origin Like Water." An Irish Child in England: 1951. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. 190-191. Boland, Eavan. "An Origin Like Water." Fond Memory. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. 192. Heaney, Seamus. "Opened Ground, Selected Poems 1966-1996." Follower. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. 10.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 28

Chapter 28 Joshua's ministry was three years of preaching, sometimes three times a day, and although there were some high and low points, I could never remember the sermons word for word, but here's the gist of almost every sermon I ever heard Joshua give. You should be nice to people, even creeps. And if you: a) believed that Joshua was the Son of God (and) b) he had come to save you from sin (and) c) acknowledged the Holy Spirit within you (became as a little child, he would say)(and) d) didn't blaspheme the Holy Ghost (see c), then you would: e) live forever f) someplace nice g) probably heaven. However, if you: h) sinned (and/or) i) were a hypocrite (and/or) j) valued things over people (and) k) didn't do a, b, c, and d, then you were: l) fucked Which is the message that Joshua's father had given him so many years ago, and which seemed, at the time, succinct to the point of rudeness, but made more sense after you listened to a few hundred sermons. That's what he taught, that's what we learned, that's what we passed on to the people in the towns of Galilee. Not everybody was good at it, however, and some seemed to miss the point altogether. One day Joshua, Maggie, and I returned from preaching in Cana to find Bartholomew sitting by the synagogue at Capernaum, preaching the Gospel to a semicircle of dogs that sat around him. The dogs seemed spellbound, but then, Bart was wearing a flank steak as a hat, so I'm not sure it was his speaking skills that held their attention. Joshua snatched the steak off of Bartholomew's head and tossed it into the street, where a dozen dogs suddenly found their faith. â€Å"Bart, Bart, Bart,† Josh said as he shook the big man by the shoulders, â€Å"don't give what's holy to dogs. Don't cast your pearls before swine. You're wasting the Word.† â€Å"I don't have any pearls. I am slave to no possessions.† â€Å"It's a metaphor, Bart,† Joshua said, deadpan. â€Å"It means don't give the Word to those who aren't ready to receive it.† â€Å"You mean like when you drowned the swine in Decapolis? They weren't ready for it?† Joshua looked at me for help. I shrugged. Maggie said, â€Å"That's exactly right, Bart. You got it.† â€Å"Oh, why didn't you say so?† Bart said. â€Å"Okay guys, we're off to preach the Word in Magdala.† He climbed to his feet and led his pack of disciples toward the lake. Joshua looked at Maggie. â€Å"That's not what I meant at all.† â€Å"Yes it is,† she said, then she took off to find Johanna and Susanna, two women who had joined us and were learning to preach the gospel. â€Å"That's not what I meant,† Joshua said to me. â€Å"Have you ever won an argument with her?† He shook his head. â€Å"Then say amen and let's go see what Peter's wife has cooked up.† The disciples were gathered around outside of Peter's house, sitting on the logs we had arranged in a circle around a fire pit. They were all looking down and seemed to be caught in some glum prayer. Even Matthew was there, when he should have been at his job collecting taxes in Magdala. â€Å"What's wrong?† asked Joshua. â€Å"John the Baptist is dead,† said Philip. â€Å"What?† Joshua sat down on the log next to Peter and leaned against him. â€Å"We just saw Bartholomew,† I said. â€Å"He didn't say anything about it.† â€Å"We just found out,† said Andrew. â€Å"Matthew just brought the news from Tiberius.† It was the first time since he'd joined us that I'd seen Matthew without the light of enthusiasm in his face. He might have aged ten years in the last few hours. â€Å"Herod had him beheaded,† he said. â€Å"I thought Herod was afraid of John,† I said. It was rumored that Herod had kept John alive because he actually believed him to be the Messiah and was afraid of the wrath of God should the holy man perish. â€Å"It was at the request of his stepdaughter,† said Matthew. â€Å"John was killed at the behest of a teenage slut.† â€Å"Well, jeez, if he wasn't dead already, the irony would have killed him,† I said. Joshua stared into the dirt before him, thinking or praying, I couldn't tell. Finally he said, â€Å"John's followers will be like babes in the wilderness.† â€Å"Thirsty?† guessed Nathaniel. â€Å"Hungry?† guessed Peter. â€Å"Horny?† guessed Thomas. â€Å"No, you dumbfucks, lost. They'll be lost!† I said. â€Å"Jeez.† Joshua stood. â€Å"Philip, Thaddeus, go to Judea, tell John's followers that they are welcome here. Tell them that John's work is not lost. Bring them here.† â€Å"But master,† Judas said, â€Å"John has thousands of followers. If they come here, how will we feed them?† â€Å"He's new,† I explained. The next day was the Sabbath, and in the morning as we all headed to the synagogue, an old man in fine clothes ran out of the bushes and threw himself at Joshua's feet. â€Å"Oh, Rabbi,† he wailed, â€Å"I am the mayor of Magdala. My youngest daughter has died. People say that you can heal the sick and raise the dead, will you help me?† Joshua looked around. A half-dozen local Pharisees watched us from different points around the village. Joshua turned to Peter. â€Å"Take the Word to the synagogue today. I am going to help this man.† â€Å"Thank you, Rabbi,† the rich man gushed. He hurried off and waved for us to follow. â€Å"Where are you taking us?† I asked. â€Å"Only as far as Magdala,† he said. To Joshua I said, â€Å"That's farther than a Sabbath's journey allows.† â€Å"I know,† Joshua said. As we passed through all of the small villages along the coast on the way to Magdala, people came out of their houses and followed us for as long as they dared on a Sabbath, but I could also see the elders, the Pharisees, watching as we went. The mayor's house was large for Magdala, and his daughter had her own sleeping room. He led Joshua into the bedchamber where the girl lay. â€Å"Please save her, Rabbi.† Joshua bent down and examined the girl. â€Å"Go out of here,† he said to the old man. â€Å"Out of the house.† When the mayor was gone Joshua looked at me. â€Å"She's not dead.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"This girl is sleeping. Maybe they've given her some strong wine, or some sleeping powder, but she is not dead.† â€Å"So this is a trap?† â€Å"I didn't see this one coming either,† Joshua said. â€Å"They expect me to claim that I raised her from the dead, healed her, when she's only sleeping. Blasphemy and healing on the Sabbath.† â€Å"Let me raise her from the dead, then. I mean, I can do this one if she's only sleeping.† â€Å"They'll blame me for whatever you do as well. You may be their target too. The local Pharisees didn't devise this themselves.† â€Å"Jakan?† Josh nodded. â€Å"Go get the old man, and gather as many witnesses as you can, Pharisees as well. Make a ruckus.† When I had about fifty people gathered in and around the house, Joshua announced, â€Å"This girl isn't dead, she's sleeping, you foolish old man.† Joshua shook the girl and she sat up rubbing her eyes. â€Å"Keep watch on your strong wine, old man. Rejoice that you have not lost your daughter, but grieve that you have broken the Sabbath for your ignorance.† Then Joshua stormed out and I followed him. When we were a ways down the street he said, â€Å"Do you think they bought it?† â€Å"Nope,† I said. â€Å"Me either,† Joshua said. In the morning a Roman soldier came to Peter's house with messages. I was still sleeping when I heard the shouting. â€Å"I can only speak to Joshua of Nazareth,† someone said in Latin. â€Å"You'll speak to me or you'll never speak again,† I heard someone else say. (Obviously someone who had no desire to live a long life.) I was up and running in an instant, my tunic waving unbelted behind me. I rounded the corner at Peter's house to see Judas facing down a legionnaire. The soldier had partially drawn his short sword. â€Å"Judas!† I barked. â€Å"Back down.† I put myself between them. I knew I could disarm the soldier easily, but not the legion that would follow him if I did. â€Å"Who sends you, soldier?† â€Å"I have a message from Gaius Justus Gallicus, commander of the Sixth Legion, for Joshua bar Joseph of Nazareth.† He glared at Judas over my shoulder. â€Å"But there is nothing in my orders to keep me from killing this dog while delivering it.† I turned to face Judas, whose face was on fire with anger. I knew he carried a dagger in his sash, although I hadn't told Joshua about it. â€Å"Justus is a friend, Judas.† â€Å"No Roman is the friend of a Jew,† said Judas, making no effort whatever to whisper. And at that point, realizing that Joshua hadn't reached our new Zealot recruit with the message of forgiveness for all men, and that he was going to get himself killed, I quickly reached up under Judas' tunic, clamped onto his scrotum, squeezed once, rapidly and extremely hard, and after he blasted a mouthful of slobber on my chest, his eyes rolled in his head and he slumped to his knees, unconscious. I caught him and lowered him to the ground so he didn't hit his head. Then I turned to the Roman. â€Å"Fainting spells,† I said. â€Å"Let's go find Joshua.† Justus had sent us three messages from Jerusalem: Jakan had indeed divorced Maggie; the Pharisees' full council had met and they were plotting to kill Joshua; and Herod Antipas had heard of Joshua's miracles and was afraid that he might be the reincarnation of John the Baptist. Justus' only personal note was one word: Careful. â€Å"Joshua, you need to hide,† said Maggie. â€Å"Leave Herod's territory until things settle down. Go to Decapolis, preach to the gentiles. Herod Philip has no love for his brother, his soldiers won't bother you.† Maggie had become a fiercely dedicated preacher herself. It was as if she had channeled her personal passion for Joshua into a passion for the Word. â€Å"Not yet,† said Joshua. â€Å"Not until Philip and Thaddeus return with John's followers. I will not leave them lost. I need a sermon, one that can serve as if it was my last, one that will sustain the lost while I'm gone. Once I deliver it to Galilee, I'll go to Philip's territory.† I looked at Maggie and she nodded, as if to say, Do what you have to, but protect him. â€Å"Let's write it then,† I said. Like any great speech, the Sermon on the Mount sounds as if it just happened spontaneously, but actually Joshua and I worked on it for over a week – Joshua dictating and me taking notes on parchment. (I had invented a way of sandwiching a thin piece of charcoal between two pieces of olive wood so that I could write without carrying a quill and inkwell.) We worked in front of Peter's house, out in the boat, even on the mountainside where he would deliver the sermon. Joshua wanted to devote a long section of the sermon to adultery, largely, I realize now, motivated by my relationship with Maggie. Even though Maggie had resolved to stay celibate and preach the Word, I think Joshua wanted to drive the point home. Joshua said, â€Å"Put in ‘If a man even looks at a woman with lust in his heart, he has committed adultery.'† â€Å"Really, you want to go with that? And this ‘If a divorced woman remarries she commits adultery'?† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"Seems a little harsh. A little Pharisee-ish.† â€Å"I had some people in mind. What do you have?† â€Å"‘Verily I say unto you' – I know you like to say ‘verily' when you're talking about adultery – anyway, ‘Verily I say unto you, that should a man put oil upon a woman's naked body, and make her go upon all fours and bark like a dog, while knowing her, if you know what I mean, then he has committed adultery, and surely if a woman do the same thing right back, well she has jumped on the adultery donkey cart herownself. And if a woman should pretend to be a powerful queen, and a man a lowly slave boy, and if she should call him humiliating names and make him lick upon her body, then surely they have sinned like big dogs – and woe unto the man if he pretends to be a powerful queen, and – ‘† â€Å"That's enough, Biff.† â€Å"But you want to be specific, don't you. You don't want people to walk around wondering, ‘Hey, is this adultery, or what? Maybe you should roll over.'† â€Å"I'm not sure that being that specific is a good idea.† â€Å"Okay, how 'bout this: ‘Should a man or a woman have any goings-on with their mutual naughty bits, then it is more than likely they are committing adultery, or at least they should consider it.'† â€Å"Well, maybe more specific than that.† â€Å"Come on, Josh, this isn't an easy one like ‘Thou shalt not kill.' Basically, there you got a corpse, you got a sin, right?† â€Å"Yes, adultery can be sticky.† â€Å"Well, yes†¦Look, a seagull!† â€Å"Biff, I appreciate that you feel obliged to be an advocate for your favorite sins, but that's not what I need here. What I need is help writing this sermon. How we doing on the Beatitudes?† â€Å"Pardon me?† â€Å"The blesseds.† â€Å"We've got: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness; blessed are the poor in spirit, the pure in heart, the whiners, the meek, the – â€Å" â€Å"Wait, what are we giving the meek?† â€Å"Let's see, uh, here: Blessed are the meek, for to them we shall say, ‘attaboy.'† â€Å"A little weak.† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"Let's let the meek inherit the earth.† â€Å"Can't you give the earth to the whiners?† â€Å"Well then, cut the whiners and give the earth to the meek.† â€Å"Okay. Earth to the meek. Here we go. Blessed are the peacemakers, the mourners, and that's it.† â€Å"How many is that?† â€Å"Seven.† â€Å"Not enough. We need one more. How about the dumbfucks?† â€Å"No, Josh, not the dumbfucks. You've done enough for the dumbfucks. Nathaniel, Thomas – â€Å" â€Å"Blessed are the dumbfucks for they, uh – I don't know – they shall never be disappointed.† â€Å"No, I'm drawing the line at dumbfucks. Come on, Josh, why can't we have any powerful guys on our team? Why do we have to have the meek, and the poor, the oppressed, and the pissed on? Why can't we, for once, have blessed are the big powerful rich guys with swords?† â€Å"Because they don't need us.† â€Å"Okay, but no ‘Blessed are the dumbfucks.'† â€Å"Who then?† â€Å"Sluts?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"How about the wankers? I can think of five or six disciples that would be really blessed.† â€Å"No wankers. I've got it: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake.† â€Å"Okay, better. What are you going to give them?† â€Å"A fruit basket.† â€Å"You can't give the meek the whole earth and these guys a fruit basket.† â€Å"Give them the kingdom of heaven.† â€Å"The poor in spirit got that.† â€Å"Everybody gets some.† â€Å"Okay then, ‘share the Kingdom of Heaven.'† I wrote it down. â€Å"We could give the fruit basket to the dumbfucks.† â€Å"NO DUMBFUCKS!† â€Å"Sorry, I just feel for them.† â€Å"You feel for everyone, Josh. It's your job.† â€Å"Oh yeah. I forgot.† We finished writing the sermon only a few hours before Philip and Thaddeus returned from Judea leading three thousand of John's followers. Joshua had them gather on a hillside above Capernaum, then sent the disciples into the crowd to find the sick and bring them to him. He performed miracles of healing all morning, then coming into the afternoon he gathered us together at the spring below the mountain. Peter said, â€Å"There's at least another thousand people from Galilee on the hill, Joshua, and they are hungry.† â€Å"How much food do we have?† Joshua asked. Judas came forward with a basket. â€Å"Five loaves and two fish.† â€Å"That will do, but you'll need more baskets. And about a hundred volunteers to help distribute the food. Nathaniel, you, Bartholomew, and Thomas go into the crowd and find me fifty to a hundred people who have their own baskets. Bring them here. By the time you get back we'll have the food for them.† Judas threw down his basket. â€Å"We have five loaves, how do you think – â€Å" Joshua held up his hand for silence and the Zealot clammed up. â€Å"Judas, today you've seen the lame walk, the blind see, and the deaf hear.† â€Å"Not to mention the blind hear and the deaf see,† I added. Joshua scowled at me. â€Å"It will take little more to feed a few of the faithful.† â€Å"There are but five loaves!† shouted Judas. â€Å"Judas, once there was a rich man, who built great barns and granaries so he could save all of the fruits of his wealth long into his old age. But on the very day his barns were finished, the Lord said, â€Å"Hey, we need you up here.† And the rich man did say, â€Å"Oh shit, I'm dead.† So what good did his stuff do him?† â€Å"Huh?† â€Å"Don't worry about what you're going to eat.† Nathaniel, Bart, and Thomas started off to their assigned duty, but Maggie grabbed Nathaniel and held him fast. â€Å"No,† she said. â€Å"No one does anything until you promise us that you'll go into hiding after this sermon.† Joshua smiled. â€Å"How can I hide, Maggie? Who will spread the Word? Who will heal the sick?† â€Å"We will,† Maggie continued. â€Å"Now promise. Go into the land of the gentiles, out of Herod's reach, just until things calm down. Promise or we don't move.† Peter and Andrew stepped up behind Maggie to show their support. John and James were nodding as she spoke. â€Å"So be it,† said Joshua. â€Å"But now we have hungry people to feed.† And we fed them. The loaves and the fish were multiplied, jars were brought in from the surrounding villages and filled with water, which was carried to the mountainside, and all the while the local Pharisees watched and growled and spied, but they hadn't missed the healings, and they didn't miss the Sermon on the Mount, and word of it went back to Jerusalem with their poison reports. Afterward, at the spring by the shore, I gathered up the last of the pieces of bread to take home with us. Joshua came down the shore with a basket over his head, then pulled it off when he got to me. â€Å"When we said we wanted you to hide we meant something a little less obvious, Joshua. Great sermon, by the way.† Joshua started helping me gather up the bread that was strewn around on the ground. â€Å"I wanted to talk to you and I couldn't get away from the crowd without hiding under the basket. I'm having a little trouble preaching humility.† â€Å"You're so good at that one. People line up to hear the humility sermon.† â€Å"How can I preach that the humble will be exalted and the exalted will be humbled at the same time I'm being exalted by four thousand people?† â€Å"Bodhisattva, Josh. Remember what Gaspar taught you about being a bodhisattva. You don't have to be humble, because you are denying your own ascension by bringing the good news to other people. You're out of the humility flow, so to speak.† â€Å"Oh yeah.† He smiled. â€Å"But now that you mention it,† I said, â€Å"it does seem a little hypocritical.† â€Å"I'm not proud of that.† â€Å"Then you're okay.† That evening, when we had all gathered again in Capernaum, Joshua called us to the fire ring in front of Peter's house and we watched the last gold of the sunlight reflecting on the lake as Joshua led us in a prayer of thanks. Then he made the call: â€Å"Okay, who wants to be an apostle?† â€Å"I do, I do,† said Nathaniel. â€Å"What's an apostle?† â€Å"That's a guy who makes drugs,† I said. â€Å"Me, me,† said Nathaniel. â€Å"I want to make drugs.† â€Å"I'll try that,† said John. â€Å"That's an apothecary,† said Matthew. â€Å"An apothecary mixes powders and makes drugs. Apostle means ‘to send off.'† â€Å"Is this kid a whiz, or what,† I said, pointing a thumb at Matthew. â€Å"That's right,† said Joshua, â€Å"messengers. You'll be sent off to spread the message that the kingdom has come.† â€Å"Isn't that what we're doing now?† asked Peter. â€Å"No, now you're disciples, but I want to appoint apostles who will take the Word into the land. There will be twelve, for the twelve tribes of Israel. I'll give you power to heal, and power over devils. You'll be like me, only in a different outfit. You'll take nothing with you except your clothes. You'll live only off the charity of those you preach to. You'll be on your own, like sheep among wolves. People will persecute you and spit on you, and maybe beat you, and if that happens, well, it happens. Shake off the dust and move on. Now, who's with me?† And there was a roaring silence among the disciples. â€Å"How about you, Maggie?† â€Å"I'm not much of a traveler, Josh. Makes me nauseous. Disciple's fine with me.† â€Å"How 'bout you, Biff?† â€Å"I'm good. Thanks.† Joshua stood up and just counted them off. â€Å"Nathaniel, Peter, Andrew, Philip, James, John, Thaddeus, Judas, Matthew, Thomas, Bartholomew, and Simon. You're the apostles. Now get out there and apostilize.† And they all looked at each other. â€Å"Spread the good news, the son of man is here! The kingdom is coming. Go! Go! Go!† They got up and sort of milled around. â€Å"Can we take our wives?† asked James. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Or one of the women disciples?† asked Matthew. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Can Thomas Two go too?† â€Å"Yes, Thomas Two can go.† Their questions answered, they milled around some more. â€Å"Biff,† Joshua said. â€Å"Will you assign territories for everybody and send them out?† â€Å"Okey-dokey,† I said. â€Å"Who wants Samaria? No one? Good. Peter, it's yours. Give 'em hell. Caesarea? Come on, you weenies, step up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Thus were the twelve appointed to their sacred mission. The next morning seventy of the people who we'd recruited to help feed the multitude came to Joshua when they heard about the appointing of the apostles. â€Å"Why only twelve?† one man asked. â€Å"You all want to cast off what you own, leave your families, and risk persecution and death to spread the good news?† Joshua asked. â€Å"Yes,† they all shouted. Joshua looked at me as if he himself couldn't believe it. â€Å"It was a really good sermon,† I said. â€Å"So be it,† said Joshua. â€Å"Biff, you and Matthew assign territories. Send no one to his hometown. That doesn't seem to work very well.† And so the twelve and the seventy were sent out, and Joshua, Maggie, and I went into Decapolis, which was the territory of Herod's brother, Philip, and camped and fished and basically hid out. Joshua preached a little, but only to small groups, and although he did heal the sick, he asked them not to tell anyone about the miracles. After three months hiding in Philip's territory, word came by boat from across the lake that someone had intervened on Joshua's behalf with the Pharisees and that the death warrant, which had never really been formal, had been lifted. We went home to Capernaum and waited for the apostles to return. Their enthusiasm had waned some after months in the field. â€Å"It sucks.† â€Å"People are mean.† â€Å"Lepers are creepy.† Matthew came out of Judea with more news of Joshua's mysterious benefactor from Jerusalem. â€Å"His name is Joseph of Arimathea,† said Matthew. â€Å"He's a wealthy merchant, and he owns ships and vineyards and olive presses. He seems to have the ear of the Pharisees, but he is not one of them. His wealth has given him some influence with the Romans as well. They are considering making him a citizen, I hear.† â€Å"What makes him want to help us?† I asked. â€Å"I talked to him for a long time about the kingdom, and about the Holy Ghost and the rest of Joshua's message. He believes.† Matthew smiled broadly, obviously proud of his powerful convert. â€Å"He wants you to come to his house for dinner, Joshua. In Jerusalem.† â€Å"Are you sure it's safe for Joshua there?† asked Maggie. â€Å"Joseph has sent this letter guaranteeing Joshua's safety along with all who accompany him to Jerusalem.† Matthew held out the letter. Maggie took the scroll and unrolled it. â€Å"My name is on this too. And Biff's.† â€Å"Joseph knew you would be coming, and I told him that Biff sticks to Joshua like a leech.† â€Å"Excuse me?† â€Å"I mean, that you accompany the master wherever he travels,† Matthew added quickly. â€Å"But why me?† Maggie asked. â€Å"Your brother Simon who is called Lazarus, he is very sick. Dying. He's asked for you. Joseph wanted you to know that you would have safe passage.† Josh grabbed his satchel and started walking that moment. â€Å"Let's go,† he said. â€Å"Peter, you are in charge until I return. Biff, Maggie, we need to make Tiberius before dark. I'm going to see if I can borrow some camels there. Matthew, you come too, you know this Joseph. And Thomas, you come along, I want to talk to you.† So off we went, into what I was sure were the jaws of a trap. Along the way Joshua called Thomas to walk beside him. Maggie and I walked behind them only a few paces, so we could hear their conversation. Thomas kept stopping to make sure that Thomas Two could keep up with them. â€Å"They all think I'm mad,† Thomas said. â€Å"They laugh at me behind my back. Thomas Two has told me.† â€Å"Thomas, you know I can lay my hands upon you and you will be cured. Thomas Two will no longer speak to you. The others won't laugh at you.† Thomas walked along for a while without saying anything, but when he looked back at Joshua I could see tears streaking his cheeks. â€Å"If Thomas Two goes away, then I'll be alone.† â€Å"You won't be alone. You'll have me.† â€Å"Not for long. You don't have long with us.† â€Å"How do you know that?† â€Å"Thomas Two told me.† â€Å"We won't tell the others quite yet, all right, Thomas?† â€Å"Not if you don't want me to. But you won't cure me, will you? You won't make Thomas Two go away?† â€Å"No,† Joshua said. â€Å"We may both need an extra friend soon.† He patted Thomas on the shoulder, then turned to walk on ahead to catch up with Matthew. â€Å"Well, don't step on him!† Thomas shouted. â€Å"Sorry,† said Joshua. I looked at Maggie. â€Å"Did you hear that?† She nodded. â€Å"You can't let it happen, Biff. He doesn't seem to care about his own life, but I do, and you do, and if you let harm come to him I'll never forgive you.† â€Å"But Maggie, everyone is supposed to be forgiven.† â€Å"Not you. Not if something happens to Josh.† â€Å"So be it. So, hey, once Joshua heals your brother, you want to go do something, get some pomegranate juice, or a falafel, or get married or something?† She stopped in her tracks, so I stopped too. â€Å"Are you ever paying attention to anything that goes on around you?† â€Å"I'm sorry, I was overcome by faith there for a moment. What did you say?† When we got to Bethany, Martha was waiting for us in the street in front of Simon's house. She went right to Joshua and he held out his arms to embrace her, but when she got to him she pushed him away. â€Å"My brother is dead,† she said. â€Å"Where were you?† â€Å"I came as soon as I heard.† Maggie went to Martha and held her as they both cried. The rest of us stood around feeling awkward. The two old blind guys, Crustus and Abel, whom Joshua had once healed, came over from across the street. â€Å"Dead, dead and buried four days,† said Crustus. â€Å"He turned a sort of chartreuse at the end.† â€Å"Emerald, it was emerald, not chartreuse,† said Abel. â€Å"My friend Simon truly sleeps, then,† Joshua said. Thomas came up and put his hand on Joshua's shoulder. â€Å"No, master, he's dead. Thomas Two thinks it may have been a hairball. Simon was a leopard, you know?† I couldn't stand it. â€Å"He was a LEPER, you idiot! Not a leopard.† â€Å"Well, he IS dead!† shouted Thomas back. â€Å"Not sleeping.† â€Å"Joshua was being figurative, he knows he's dead.† â€Å"Do you guys think you could be just a little more insensitive?† said Matthew, pointing to the weeping sisters. â€Å"Look, tax collector, when I want your two shekels I'll ask – â€Å" â€Å"Where is he?† Joshua asked, his voice booming over the sobs and protests. Martha pushed out of her sister's embrace and looked at Joshua. â€Å"He bought a tomb in Kidron,† said Martha. â€Å"Take me there, I need to wake my friend.† â€Å"Dead,† said Thomas. â€Å"Dead, dead, dead.† There was a sparkle of hope amid the tears in Martha's eyes. â€Å"Wake him?† â€Å"Dead as a doornail. Dead as Moses. Mmmph†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Matthew clamped his hand over Thomas's mouth, which saved me having to render the twin unconscious with a brick. â€Å"You believe that Simon will rise from the dead, don't you?† asked Joshua. â€Å"In the end, when the kingdom comes, and everyone is raised, yes, I believe.† â€Å"Do you believe I am who I say I am?† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"Then show me where my friend lies sleeping.† Martha moved like a sleepwalker, her exhaustion and grief driven back just enough for her to lead us up the road to the Mount of Olives and down into the Kidron Valley. Maggie had been deeply shaken by the news of her brother's death as well, so Thomas and Matthew helped her along while I walked with Joshua. â€Å"Four days dead, Josh. Four days. Divine Spark or not, the flesh is empty.† â€Å"Simon will walk again if he is but bone,† said Joshua. â€Å"Okey-dokey. But this has never been one of your better miracles.† When we got to the tomb there was a tall, thin, aristocratic man sitting outside eating a fig. He was clean-shaven and his gray hair was cut short like a Roman's. If he hadn't worn the two-striped tunic of a Jew I would have thought him a Roman citizen. â€Å"I thought you would come here,† he said. He knelt before Joshua. â€Å"Rabbi, I'm Joseph of Arimathea. I sent word through your disciple Matthew that I wanted to meet with you. How may I serve?† â€Å"Stand up, Joseph. Help roll away this stone.† As with many of the larger tombs carved into the side of the mountain, there was a large flat stone covering the doorway. Joshua put his arms around Maggie and Martha while the rest of us wrestled with the stone. As soon as the seal was broken I was hit with a stench that gagged me and Thomas actually lost his supper in the dirt. â€Å"He stinks,† said Matthew. â€Å"I thought he would smell more like a cat,† said Thomas. â€Å"Don't make me come over there, Thomas,† I said. We pushed the stone as far as it would go, then we ran away gasping for fresh air. Joshua held his arms out as if waiting to embrace his friend. â€Å"Come out, Simon Lazarus, come out into the light.† Nothing but stench came out of the tomb. â€Å"Come forth, Simon. Come out of that tomb,† Joshua commanded. And absolutely nothing happened. Joseph of Arimathea shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. â€Å"I wanted to talk to you about the dinner at my house before you got there, Joshua.† Joshua held up his hand for silence. â€Å"Simon, dammit, come out of there.† And ever so weakly, there came a voice from inside the tomb. â€Å"No.† â€Å"What do you mean, ‘no'? You have risen from the dead, now come forth. Show these unbelievers that you have risen.† â€Å"I believe,† I said. â€Å"Convinced me,† said Matthew. â€Å"A no is as good as a personal appearance, as far as I'm concerned,† said Joseph of Arimathea. I'm not sure any of us who had smelled the stench of rotting flesh really wanted to see the source. Even Maggie and Martha seemed a little dubious about their brother's coming out. â€Å"Simon, get your leprous ass out here,† Joshua commanded. â€Å"But I'm†¦I'm all icky.† â€Å"We've all seen icky before,† said Joshua. â€Å"Now come out into the light.† â€Å"My skin is all green, like an unripe olive.† â€Å"Olive green!† declared Crustus, who had followed us into Kidron. â€Å"I told you it wasn't chartreuse.† â€Å"What the hell does he know? He's dead,† said Abel. Finally Joshua lowered his arms and stormed into the tomb. â€Å"I can't believe that you bring a guy back from the dead and he doesn't even have the courtesy to come out – WHOA! HOLY MOLY!† Joshua came backing out of the tomb, stiff-legged. Very calmly and quietly, he said, â€Å"We need clean clothes, and some water to wash with, and bandages, lots of bandages. I can heal him, but we have to sort of get all of his parts stuck back together first.† â€Å"Hold on, Simon,† Joshua shouted to the tomb, â€Å"we're getting some supplies, then I'll come in and heal your affliction.† â€Å"What affliction?† asked Simon.