The Civil War In Sri Lanka

The Civil War In Sri Lanka The Sri Lankan civil war by definition started in 1983 when two pronounced groups began to rival, the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam, a separatist group that was formed seeking to represent the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka (Clarance, 2002). However civil war on an emotional level between the two ethnic groups, Sinhalese and Tamils started in 1948, when Sri Lanka was granted independence from the British (Clarance, 2002). Sri Lanka first encountered colonialism in 1505 when the Portuguese arrived in search of valuable natural resources such as cinnamon, tea, and the most valuable, land (Clarance, 2002). The Portuguese conquered regions of Kotte, Sitavaka and Jaffna. They also aimed to conquer Kandy as well but failed through several attempts (Clarance, 2002). Next were the Dutch, in 1638 King Rajsinha who ruled Kandy at that time turned to the Dutch to fight over the Portuguese, the Dutch conquered everything except Kandy (Clarance, 2002). Last to colonize Sri Lanka was the British, they set foot in 1796 when the Dutch rule gave away to the British (Clarance, 2002). The British conquered the entire island, and built coffee and tea plantations and imported laborers from India mainly Tamils to work in these plantations (Clarance, 2002). In 1947 Sri Lanka requested to become an independent nation, and in 1948 Sri Lanka gained independence (Clarance, 2002). On the surface, colonialism can be viewed as har mless and in most areas beneficial as it guided Sri Lanka into development. Even though colonialism brought forth an identity for Sri Lanka in relation to trade and international exporting, it also brought separation, discrimination, and a hunger for dominance amongst the citizens of Sri Lanka. Being a Canadian born Sri Lankan Tamil this topic brings great importance and relevance to me. My Canadian birth is a result of this civil war in which my parents found the desperate need to emigrate from their greatly loved motherland. This topic is extremely important to me because I believe in peace and safety for the innocent and vulnerable, violence and death for the individuals who choose to fight is equally remorseful however inevitable. I lost both my grandfathers as innocent civilians to the civil war in Sri Lanka likewise many Sinhalese families were destroyed. All due to the separation caused by language, as everything else between a Tamil and a Sinhalese was identical. There are great faults on both sides, with regards to the actions of both opposition parties. However when pinpointed, the foundation for this violent desire for domination, can be seen as colonization as the main cause if not the only cause for this fight for power and equality. Theoretical Backing: Colonialism has given Sri Lanka a negative impact rather than the positive outcomes it has provided the global north with. Through what can be seen as an immature rivalry between European states to gain land, and other valued goods, it is proven that lack of structure and democracy when granting independence to a colony can shatter an entire nation. The development theory that supports the argument of colonialism being the main cause of the civil war in Sri Lanka would be the post-development theory. The post-development theory believes that only with relation to the global south, colonialism has been destructive on several levels: culturally, economically, socially, and psychologically. Sri Lanka is not the only former European colony that is facing the aftermaths of colonialism; several other countries in Asia have been robbed of their full potential to run as a developed nation, especially in the Middle East. Another prime example would be in Africa, where even in the present day, systems that were brought in by the European states are still being used, such as monarchy. Another more specific theory that would back up this argument would be the postcolonial theory, the postcolonial theory investigates the effective and legacy of European invasion on global south. Postcolonial theorist, Franz Fanon states And it is clear that in the colonial countries the peasants alone are revolutionary, for they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The starving peasant, outside the class system is the first among the exploited to discover that only violence pays. For him there is no compromise, no possible coming to terms; colonization and decolonization a simply a question of relative strength. Fanon pinpoints the exact fate that Sri Lanka has overcome with its decades long civil war, the need for violence to achieve goals, in this case justice and equality. Research and Analysis: Colonialism is the leading cause for the now silent, yet on-going civil war in Sri Lanka. When the British left Sri Lanka in 1948, they built a government and left power to mainly the wealthy Sinhalese landowners (Lange, 2009). These powerful Sinhalese landowners had nothing in common with the rural areas or the minorities in Sri Lanka. Thus, taking rule and advantage of the nation to their liking. They made Sinhala as the official national language and also making Buddhism as the official national religion in Sri Lanka. This created great tension amongst the Tamil community as opportunities were not made equal, Tamils were not permitted nor able to obtain a higher level education or work for the government due to the fact they were not able to speak the national language (Lange, 2009). This created massive riots and rage throughout the Tamil community, which eventually ended in the creation of a separatist group the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam seeking to gain land separate from the Sinhalese population for the Tamils called Tamil Eelam. This was the beginning of a two-decade civil war for the Tamils to both gain equal rights and dignity or to gain a separate Tamil region. Histories of Sri Lanka prior to British colonization are important aspects when examining cause of conflict, in this case the cause of civil war in Sri Lanka. According to research of DeVotta (2000) archeological analysis can prove that Sri Lanka was physically part of India, and was separated through plate movement caused by slow, natural causes. The southern regions of India, specifically Tamil Nadu, are concentrated with a Tamil population, and the northern regions of Sri Lanka are also concentrated with Tamils. Such relations and connections cannot only be seen through language but also through religion and way of life. Clarance (2002) states that reoccurring enslavement caused by colonialism creates a need for finally holding the dominant, leading post. Both the Tamils and the Sinhalese were faced with great amounts of mental and physical damage when the Portuguese, Dutch, and the British colonized Sri Lanka, however the Sinhalese were faced with a greater level of damage becaus e it was mainly Sinhalese regions that were fought for, such as Katte, Kandy, Sitavaka, Colombo and Anuradhapura (Clarance, 2002). Therefore the Sinhalese psychologically developed the need for control, power, domination (Duncan, 2002). Wickramasinghe (2006) expands on the roles that each colonizing groups had. The Portuguese conquered Colombo on arrival which caused the Sinhalese population to move into the Kandy region of Sri Lanka. The Portuguese also forced religious conversion, Christianity, Buddhists and Moors a term used for Sri Lankan Muslims were impeached. Wickramasinghe (2006) argues that such invasion of the Sinhalese caused them to make Buddhism as their national religion when independence was gained. Clarance (2002) makes a diverse point in stating that with the colonization of the Dutch it was greatly the fault of the Sinhalese. Rajasinghe II who was the king of Kandy in 1638 requested the help of the Dutch to fight against the Portuguese, the Dutch however defeated t he Portuguese and overruled what Portuguese had conquered and everything else on the island except Kandy. They also promoted protestant views and demoted Catholicism, and to keep their legacy they mixed themselves with the Sinhalese, now known as Burgher peoples. This later on was a another major cause of great discrimination and violence. The British were the last rulers in Sri Lanka they take the majority of the blame for the current effects of colonization and the civil war in Sri Lanka today. According to Lange (2009) the Tamils and the Sinhalese were in peace living together, reason being that different regions were ruled by Kings that were associated with the citizens of that particular region, therefore conflict with other regions were minimal. When the British entered Sri Lanka in fear of the French gaining power of Sri Lanka in 1796, they started off by merely occupying the coastal areas, to remove the Dutch from the picture, through the Treaty of Amiens, the Dutch ruled areas of Sri Lanka was conceded to the British. Since the Dutch had conquered the entire island excluding the Kandy region, the British only had to fight for Kandy. Jones (2008) states that there were two Kandyan wars in which both were defeated by the Kandy. Jones (2008) clarifies that this was the real cause of independence in Sri Lanka, lac k of British gaining the most resourceful region in Sri Lanka. However Duncan (2002) elaborates on the beneficial aspects of the British rule in Sri Lanka, the British despite failing to conquer Kandy, built massive, national standard plantations for coffee which later became tea production, which was the money making resource in Sri Lanka at the time. The Sinhalese were reluctant to work on tea plantation as they were used to the working on the paddy farm. Wanting to expand the industry thousands of Tamils were shipped from India into Sri Lanka to work on these plantations. Duncan (2002) states that this was also a great cause in the separation between the Tamils and the Sinhalese. As working on a plantation was considered a job of the members of the lower castes, because the desperate and the poor were eager to gain a job at the these plantations for a fraction of what was considered a minimum wage back then. And since thousands of Tamils were imported from India by the British, t his caste was automatically generalized for the Tamils, creating a hierarchy between the Tamils and the Sinhalese. Winslow (2001) expands on the final gestures of the British that caused a long term effect on the future of the nation. When Sri Lanka was granted independence the British unconcerned and naively transferred most if not all the power to the Sinhalese, maybe not intentionally by ethnicity but intentionally by who held the most power, the Sinhalese at the time had most of the islands land, business, and wealth, in comparison to the Tamils. According to Erritiouni (2010) it was this particular mistake that is until today the leading cause of the civil war between the Tamils and the Sinhalese. Effects of colonialism in Sri Lanka still take in effect today. Errotiouni (2010) proceeds to state the following occurrences that fed this hunger for war. When the Sinhalese gained power for the entire island they omitted the existence and importance of the Tamils, they made the Sinhala the national language of Sri Lanka, and they made Buddhism the national religion of Sri Lanka. This as a result lead to the discrimination of the Tamil population, not being granted access to a higher level of education such as university or college, and not being granted to opportunity to hold a government job, therefore forbidden to gain a position in the government to have a say in the rights that Tamils are given. Jacoby (2006) elaborates on the separatist group Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam that was formed, as a result of discrimination this group that represented a majority but not the entire Tamil population demanded a separate region for the Tamils, namely, Tamil Eelam. The quest for T amil Eelam was at a cost of hundreds of thousands of lives over the past two and a half decades. A member of the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam was the convicted suicide bomber in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Indias Prime Minister at the time, in a deadly, sinful quest to gain international attention on Indias partnership with Sri Lankas war against the Tamils. Sri Lanka has lost a great deal as result of this war, the most important, innocent lives. Effects of colonialism are causing major issues in the present time. The recent crisis that occurred in Egypt where nearly the entire population of Egypt protested against the presidency of former President Mubarak. The fight to start a democratic government, and to end a monarch government (Pakistan article warns against struggle for power after Egypt unrest, 2011). According to Burke (1998) Europeans set up boundaries around Africa that split up tribal areas and groups of Africans, so Africans who spoke the same dialect or practiced the same traditions would be split between two different European territories. This also was the cause of monarchies that continue today within countries in Africa. This has caused many civil wars across Africa, and more importantly the mass level of poverty that was caused that even until this day is unsolvable. Power is a vital tool that needs to be transferred and received wisely. Colonialism is a prime example of how power should not be gained and withdrawn from. Sri Lanka has been greatly victimized by colonialism and has been ripped from its great potential as a nation. Through the unprofessional use of power by the European states power was distributed unequally to the people in Sri Lanka at the time of decolonization, which has caused a great deal of destruction and death for tens of thousands of people. Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians lost their lives due to the crossfire between the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan government, they were slaughtered, shot, molested, violated, and tortured solely because they were born either Tamil or Sinhalese. As there were positive effects to colonization in Sri Lanka, they will never out weight the negative effects that have caused a greatly unstable nation even today. Power at any level is a position with immeas urable value especially when it is in relation to people. The Europeans help immense power, but childishly overthrew that power to distribute power in a nation. They thought for the better of themselves and failed to think for the better good of the nations people. Their decisions that were made carelessly have caused great damage and will continue to cause difficulty in the far future.

History of Music Essay

I. Introduction Music—sounds arranged into meaningful— expressive patterns. The composing and playing of music is both a science and an art. Musicology is the study of music as a field of knowledge, with emphasis on history and theory. The raw materials of any kind of music are certain characteristics of sound—pitch (highness or lowness), timbre (tone color), intensity (loudness), and duration. These raw materials are organized by means of the basic elements of rhythm (the pulse, or beat), melody (the tune), and harmony (the blending of tones). Music is often called the universal language because its meaning and appeal are largely the same for people everywhere. It has almost limitless variety. Music can express the widest range of human experience and feeling—joy, and grief, love and hate, amusement and reverence. It may be vocal or instrumental, and may be performed by soloist or by orchestra, band, or chorus. Moreover, Jazz is a form of music that developed in the United States between 1900 and 1915. The origin of the word is uncertain. The music was created originally by the American Negro, but within 40 years it was being performed and created by people of every national and racial background. By the 1940’s no phase of contemporary American music, serious as well as popular, remained untouched by jazz. Jazz bands, magazines, and festivals are found in Japan, in South America, in North Africa, and throughout Europe (O’Meally, 2002). Jazz is difficult to define, and not even jazz musicians and critics agree on a definition. It is a performer’s art, a way of playing. Jazz cannot be written down to show the precise manner in which it is played. It is most accurately preserved not in published scores but on phonograph records. This paper discusses a brief history of the development of some â€Å"mechanical† aspects of music such as musical styles, particular instruments, the recording industry, growth of jazz, etc. II. Discussion A. The Nature of jazz Rhythm. The infectious, compelling rhythms of jazz are based mainly on the 4/4 march tempo. In conventional music, the first and third beats of a four-beat measure are accented. In jazz, however, the second and fourth are accented, producing a syncopated rhythm.   Additional complex contrasting rhythms are built upon the simultaneous use of another form of syncopation in which a tone is held through a beat stringer than the one in which it began. Underlying these multiple rhythms is a regularly accented basic rhythm called â€Å"the beat,† or â€Å"swing†Ã¢â‚¬â€a pulsating, rhythmic feeling that is hard to define and cannot be represented in writing by notes (Lopes, 2002). Improvisation is the composing of music while in actual performance without previous rehearsal. It is a basic element of jazz. The improvising musician may compose a new theme, or melody, or may create new variations and patterns on an existing melody. While one member of a band develops a theme another will expand it. Each musician in the band adds something of his own and several musicians improvise on the same theme at the same time. Jazz is not entirely improvisational, however. Although jazz cannot be notated exactly, much of it is written down, or arranged.   Some passages are left unwritten for solo improvisation. This improvisation and the overall rhythmic interpretation of the music make an arranged piece into jazz (Jones, 2000). Instruments. Another characteristic of jazz is the way musical instruments are played. Brass instruments, such as the trumpet, often take on the tone colors of a singing or speaking voice. Mutes are used to give different sounds to the trumpet, trombone, and other instruments. The rhythm section of a jazz band is not limited to drums. The piano, guitar, and string bass are also used as percussive instruments (Jones, 2000). B. History of Jazz A blending of African and European musical traditions, jazz goes back many years. Revival hymns of the Western frontier, Negro work songs, and minstrel shows are among its many sources. From them came the blues and ragtime. The blues, a vocal music, developed in rural areas; ragtime, a piano music, developed in the cities. After the Civil War many blacks began playing brass-band instruments, and brass marching bands developed. Blues, ragtime, and brass-band music, by the end of the 19th century, blended into a music that today would be classified as jazz. While no one city can be called the birth-place of jazz, New Orleans was one of the most colorful centers of early jazz (Jones, 2000). New Orleans. Around 1898 a brass band led by the cornetist Buddy Bolden played what would probably be recognized as jazz. Bolden’s band, Kid Ory’s Creole Band, and others marched in parades, played for funerals, weddings, and dances, and performed while riding in advertising wagons. These early bands consisted of one or two cornets, a clarinet, a banjo, and drums. About 1910 the bands began playing in the brothels and gambling houses of the notorious Storyville section in New Orleans (Jones, 2000). Dixieland. Many white musicians, influenced by the Negro bands, organized their own bands. Jack â€Å"Papa† Laine, with his Ragtime Band and his Reliance Brass Band, was one of the first white jazzmen. The musicians in these bands read music, and all their pieces were written out. Although they could not capture the bittersweet mood of the blues, they played an orchestral type of ragtime that was later called Dixieland (Benford, 2004). The Jazz Age. In 1917, the federal government closed down Storyville. King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and other New Orleans-born musicians went North and helped spread jazz across the country. By the early 1920’s, the center of jazz had shifted to Chicago, where it flourished in dance halls and speakeasies. Eddie Condon, Gene Krupa, and other Chicago musicians played an intense, driving variation of Dixieland that became known as â€Å"Chicago style† (Benford, 2004). During the Jazz Age, jazz bands became larger, the saxophone was added, and new jazz styles evolved. Virtuoso soloists and new jazz styles evolved. Virtuoso soloists, such as Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke, became more important as the improvised breaks grew longer. Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and other blues singers performed and recorded with jazz bands (Lopes, 2002). III. Conclusion Jazz, however, was not yet considered respectable, mainly because of the places in which it was played. The general public heard, instead of true jazz, carefully rehearsed arrangements of jazz-like pieces. Paul Whiteman, called the â€Å"King of Jazz,† was a pioneer in such music. Furthermore, modern jazz is not a single movement or school. Various schools with distinctive styles have developed (Lopes, 2002). Jazz continued undergoing many changes in the 1970’s. Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea helped popularize jazz-fusion (or jazz-rock), a style that uses electronic synthesizers and electronically amplified instruments.

Betrayal in the Great Gatsby Essay - 766 Words

Betrayal in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s â€Å"The Great Gatsby† The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. It is recognized as the â€Å"Great American Novel† as it shows great wealth, partying, jazz music and many other aspects of the â€Å"American Dream†. In his novel, he displays a lot of symbols, and themes including wealth, greed, and the most vivid, betrayal. Betrayal can upset many people and ruin many people. Betrayal was demonstrated throughout the entire novel with a lot of connections. Three situations will be examined, and they will be: Gatsby betrayed by Daisy, Tom cheats on Daisy with Myrtle and no one attends Gatsby’s funeral. The entrance of betrayal in the novel comes from Tom Buchanan’s love affair with â€Å"some†¦show more content†¦Daisy then left with Gatsby to his house. On their way to the house, they hit Myrtle with a Gatsby’s car and drove off. Daisy then settles her differences with Tom and they get back together, leaving Gatsby alone and ignites his downfall: â€Å"Daisy and Tom were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table†¦ He was talking intently across the table at her, and in his earnestness his hand had fallen upon and covered her own. Once in a while she looked up at him and nodded in agreement.† -Fitzgerald, 146 The end of chapter eight details the tragic events that ended Gatsby’s life. George Wilson, manipulated by Tom, kills Gatsby to seek justice. News spread about Gatsby’s death which caused a lot of traffic at his house; they weren’t people that knew him from a personal level, but were journalists, photographers, police officers and other media positions. Everyone except Nick believed Gatsby was the killer of Myrtle and Wilson was â€Å"deranged by grief† (Fitzgerald, 164). Further investigation ended and then the funeral took place. Gatsby’s body demanded Nick to call everyone that regularly attended the party to join him as he couldn’t do it alone: â€Å"Look here, old sport, you’ve got to get somebody for me. You’ve got to try hard. I can’t go through this alone.† (Fitzgerald, 166) No one from theShow MoreRelatedBetrayal In The Great Gatsby Analysis1225 Words   |  5 PagesThe definition of Betrayal is- To be unfaithful, or to disappoint the hopes or expectations of someone. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, you encounter varying degrees of betrayal. From a forbidden love affair, Daisy and Gatsby fight for their lost love until a huge sacrifice has to be made. While Myrtle is unhappy with her lower class life and hard working husband George, she admires Daisy’s lavish life, more specifically her husband Tom. Lastly, we come to Tom and Daisy; they areRead MoreBetrayal and Deception in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald1501 Words   |  6 PagesBetrayal, a deception of a presumption which then produces conflict between a relationship. Friends and family m embers have the power to betray us any second. We view them as an extension of ourselves; someone we can confide in. Your notion about them could be completely false for the betrayal they are capable of. Betrayal could be hidden in the shadows of a relationship between you and a friend, a special bond, or even a family member. Betrayal could be found within a nonfictional or fictional novelRead MoreThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald756 Words   |  3 Pages Abuse! Betrayal! Deception! These words read like a headline in The National Enquirer. However, the words denote connotations woven through the pages of Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. The voice of Nick Carraway, chronicles the summer of 1922 that transpires in the vicinity of Long Island, New York. This locale is divided into the East Egg, populated by those with old money and the West Egg, inhabited by those with new money. The pursuit of money and pleasure markRead MoreTheme Of Desire In The Great Gatsby1342 Words   |  6 PagesThe Great Gatsby is a well written novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald where a midwesterner named Nick Carraway gets lured into the lavish and elegant lifestyle of his enigmatic neighbor, Jay Gatsby. As the story unravels, Nick Carraway begins to see through Gatsbys suave facade, only to find a desperate, heartbroken and lonely man who just wanted to relive the past with his one and only desire. This sensational love story takes place during the well knownâ€Å"Roaring Twenties† in New York City. The genreRead More Feminist Criticism of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby810 Words à ‚  |  4 PagesFeminist Criticism of The Great Gatsby The pervasive male bias in American literature leads the reader to equate the experience of being American with the experience of being male. In F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, the background for the experience of disillusionment and betrayal revealed in the novel is the discovery of America. Daisys failure of Gatsby is symbolic of the failure of America to live up to the expectations in the imagination of the men who discovered it. AmericaRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald983 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"The Great Gatsby† and â€Å"Washington Square† are both novels that greatly depicted their time period and how society viewed men and women. â€Å"The Great Gatsby† is about a young man named Gatsby who tries to reignite an old relationship with his new found wealth. Gatsby essentially dedicates his entire life to get Daisy back while she has long moved on. â€Å"Washington Square† is about a young girl named Catherine who tries to fi nd love with a man named Morris, but has to deal with the strict control ofRead MoreThe Ending of the American Dream1200 Words   |  5 Pages20th century. The indication of success soon became focused on wealth and luxury. The Great Gatsby is a story focused on the deterioration of the American dream. Throughout the novel, Jay Gatsby is shown with a desire to achieve his dream by all means. Utilizing the Roaring Twenties as part of his satire, Fitzgerald criticizes the values of the American dream, and the effects of materialism on one’s dream. Gatsby can be characterized as being ignorant. He assumes that wealth and possession equatesRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1356 Words   |  6 PagesThe Tragedy that is The Great Gatsby In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tragic story of the roaring twenties, he demonstrates different aspects of the 20s metaphorically through his main characters including Nick Carraway, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Jay Gatsby, George and Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker. He relates each person to different aspects to further their personal characterization and give them motives to each of the choices they make, resulting in how the book ends. This furthers his development andRead MoreTheme Of Morality In The Great Gatsby1541 Words   |  7 PagesThe Webster dictionary defines morality as a moral discourse, statement or lesson. In this novel, The Great Gatsby many of the characters could not be classified as truly moral people who exhibit goodness or correctness in their character and behavior. Tom, Daisy, and George all come to mind as the characters that have done the most moral damage throughout the novel. In the end, these individuals show characteristics of moral degradation in society because they cause corruption and lies, which isRead MoreDeath of a Salesman Compared to the Great Gatsby Essay613 Words   |  3 PagesComparing Death of a Salesman to The Great Gatsby In the search for the American dream many things can be lost, this is reflected in the novel The Great Gatsby and the movie Death of a Salesman. Both of these works demonstrate the lengths that some people will go to in order to achieve the stereotypical life of a rich, successful and powerful American, which is often referred to as the American dream. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller illustrates how the character Willy will stop at nothing to

Genetic Control Of Immune Response And Susceptibility Of...

Through studies of immunogenetics it has been demonstrated that our bodies respond obediently to infectious diseases by succumbing to their every need. This creates a situation where our genes as well as the environment around us influence our body s own immune system (Genetic Control of Immune Response and Susceptibility to Infectious Diseases, 2013). The genetic variation within a number of many individuals causes natural selection to occur. With this natural selection we are susceptible to the chance of risk that can ultimately cause our immune systems to alter antagonist genes, a structure that changes the way our body normally operates. This variation as individuals evolve over time changes the way our immune system reacts and defends against diseases (Genetic Control of Immune Response and Susceptibility to Infectious Diseases, 2013). Scientists have demonstrated that the variations of our immune systems are contributed to the many diverse white blood cells that are circulating throughout our entire body. Not only do our genes play a key factor in our immune system, but the environment plays a vital role as well. Furthermore, each day we are unprotected to the enviroment around us, the more we come face to face with new pathogens and vaccines (Conover, 2015). Since there are dissimilarities and diversities among everyone s immune system, each body reacts differently to the many vaccinations and to the environment around them. This is due partly because of ourShow MoreRelatedSymptoms And Treatment Of Crohn s Disease986 Words   |  4 PagesCrohn’s disease is an inflammatory condition that is immunologically mediated. Even though the etiology of the disease is not yet determined, results from different researches such as human genetics, clinical tests and basic science have given significant insights in the inflammatory disease pathogenesis. In addition, the studies reports that Crohn’s disease is heterogeneous disease that is characterized by different genetic abnormalities that results to T cells responses. The research paper hasRead MoreSystemic Lupus Erythematosus ( Sle )1591 Words   |  7 Pageserythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that affects multiple tissues and systems and with significant variable clinical features and organ involvement (Cava, 2010). It is characterized by a chronic, relapsing, inflammatory and often febrile multisystemic disorder of connective tissue with wide spectrum of involvement of skin, joints, kidneys and serosal membranes. The exact etiology is noknown, but it represents failure of the regulatory mechanisms of immune system in which body s own defensesRead MoreThe Nature Of Infectious Disease2542 Words   |  11 PagesThe nature of infectious disease remains a far-reaching catalyst of poor public health. The inflation of new diseases, re-emergence of diseases and antimicrobial resistance to drugs is the result of changes in society and the microorganisms themselves (Cohen, 2000). The employment of drugs to prevent and combat disease often leads to drug resistance, as determined in the current antibiotic crisis. New ways of combating disease will and are being set up, such as the new budding theory of cross-reactingRead MoreSymptoms and Treatment of Mononucle osis1261 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Mononucleosis Description of the Disease Mononucleosis is often caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) but may also be caused by other viruses such as cytomegalovirus. Kissing, coughing, and sneezing are common ways of spreading mononucleosis (DeMoranville, 2002). The disease usually develops several weeks to 2 months after exposure to the virus, which spreads primarily through exchanges of saliva. The incubation period of the EB virus is 2 to 8 weeks followed by an acute phase of 2 to 8 weeksRead MoreHuman Immunodeficiency Virus ( Hiv ) Weakens The Immune System Essay1281 Words   |  6 PagesBenchmark Assignment: Epidemiology Paper Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) weakens the immune system and makes people vulnerable to infections and some types of cancer (HIV/AIDS, 2016). HIV various vague symptoms that are flu like. These symptoms are vague and can last from a few days to several weeks. HIV is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) from one person to another via the mucus membranes (About HIV/AIDS, 2016). HIV can lead to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) if undiagnosed orRead MoreEffective Methods For Infection Prevention1960 Words   |  8 Pagesusing the restroom and exercising. How disgusting is that? To think about shaking hands with individuals who do not wash their hands correctly or at all is quite disturbing. Every day, individuals are becoming ill and/or dying due to infections and disease. Infections are constantly being spread and it is impossible to eliminate them one hundred percent. However, there are a variety of simple ways people can prevent them from further spreading. It is vita l to educate young people about what infectionRead MoreQuestions On Epidemiology Paper : Epidemiology1549 Words   |  7 PagesEpidemiology Paper Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Benchmark Assignment: Epidemiology Paper There are considerable numbers of various communicable diseases that jeopardize every individual worldwide. Dangerous viruses and pathogen bacteria, harmful microorganisms and fungus can trigger around 200 infectious diseases, and influenza is a dominative one in this group. This paper will provide an accurate overview of influenza including clinical descriptions, the determinants of healthRead MoreThe Demand And Production Of Atlantic Salmon Essay1100 Words   |  5 Pagesdemand and production of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) has increased substantially, having grown over six-fold in the last two decades worldwide (Howard, 2014; Murray, 2014). Increased emergence of parasitism and disease has met this expansion, particularly in areas where disease-control strategies are not yet locally coordinated (Murray, 2014). Salmon lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) have significantly impacted the salmonid farming industry since the 1970s, affecting economic costs and fish welfareRead MoreHuman Im munodeficiency Virus: Causes, Symptoms, Modes of Transmission, Demographics, and Health Statistics1454 Words   |  6 Pagespaper analyzes a description of a communicable disease Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), its symptoms, mode of transmission, demographic and health statistics. It also summarizes the role of the community health nurse in response to the disease as well as, identifying a national agency or an organization that tries to address the issue of HIV as they give ways of resolving or reducing its impact in the economy. A communicable disease is a diseases transmitted when one gets contact of microorganismsRead MoreCurrent Mechanism And Concepts Of Pathogenesis Of Atherosclerosis1890 Words   |  8 PagesAtherosclerosis is classified as a chronic, progressive, and multifactorial disease of moderate and large sized arteries categorised by intimal lesions called atheroma plaques that pushes into the vessel lumens. Atherosclerosis leading to coronary artery is the main cause of coronary artery disease (CAD). It is vital to appreciate the central mechanisms of atherogenesis in order to understand the adverse clinical results of Coronary Artery Disease and their ensuing management. The progression of atheroma consist

Domestic Terrorism Term paper - 702 Words

Excelsior College CJ 352 Domestic Terrorism Term Paper What are some of the arguments for or against the use of the internet as an intelligence-gathering tool? The internet is serving as virtual meeting for billions of users. The intelligence-gathering is leveraging the internet using hard data for online links. The social networking sites are the main complementary link to any information. The social networking sites provide the most important information for communication with anyone and joining different groups. It can identify terror-threats and incipient plots. The internet can provide quantum and quality of information by any member of the group. The internet penetration of†¦show more content†¦2. As a vast majority of past terrorist incidents in the United States have involved conventional weapons, why should the US government spend billions of dollars on WMD? The government of United States has spent millions of dollar on the countering of perceived danger and discussions are made by the government concerning the topic of vulnerabilities of United States including WMD. The WMD has two levels: first is to appraise the threat and to find the countermeasures in mass destructive terrorism. The WMD is intended to be protected by the US Domestic Preparedness Program. In section 1403, it is said that any weapon or device has the capability to cause any serious risk, death or seriously bodily injury to a large number of people through highly toxic chemical. The details about how large the number of people and how can the capability of weapon be known? None of such questions is answered and no explanation is given. The US is spending millions on WMD due to two conclusions: the WMD supports for the attacks using deadly weapons because these weapons are lethal and destructive. Other conclusion can state that the results of an attack are more focused rather than how attack is done. The terrorists can use non-conventional weapons are not important in WMD terrorism. 3. How does intelligence gathering and counter terrorism measures strengthen US policy against domestic terrorists? Explain in detail. TheShow MoreRelatedThe Difference between Terrorism and Domestic Terrorism Essay1104 Words   |  5 PagesThe terms terrorism and domestic terrorism are very similar concepts. There are, however, slight differences in each. Entities that are apart of the Government have slightly different ways of explaining what they believe to be the correct definition of terrorism and domestic terrorism. In this paper the author will offer definitions of the two terms and state which one they agree with the most. The author will also state how the two terms are best differentiated. The Federal Bureau of InvestigationRead MoreFree Movement Policy1318 Words   |  6 PagesEmpirical Research Question Has the implementation of the European Union’s free movement policies led to a rise in domestic terrorism throughout its member states? Why In game theory, one of the more fascinating parts of current research is on how people make decisions that are sometimes against their own long-term interests if it gives a positive initial reaction. Sometimes, this can be extended to when an actor cannot reasonably determine their situation or its variables. This is an attemptRead MoreRed Cell Analysis Of Right Wing Extremist Militias1638 Words   |  7 PagesRed Cell Analysis of Right Wing Extremist Militias in the United States Christopher A Caley HLSS230 Intelligence Homeland Security 13 August 2015 Right wing miliita groups represent a danger to the domestic security of the United States. Their ideology of violence or the threat of violence is consistent with the laws and values of the American people as a whole. From their perspective, they believe they are defending their liberty, property, and their lives from an oppressive governmentRead MoreOutline Of The Oklahoma City Bombing1665 Words   |  4 PagesMuskan  Hossain     American  Terror:  The  Oklahoma  City  Bombing  cements  terrorism  into  the  minds  of   citizens  Ã‚      Thesis:   Due  to  the  Oklahoma  City  Bombing,  U.S.  citizens  are  corrected  of  their  stereotypical   thoughts  towards  terrorism;  Terrorists  aren’t  commonly  Muslims  or  foreign  enemies.      I. Overview      II. The  significance  of  the  Oklahoma  City  Bombing   A. Controversies  that  arose   B. Questions  thought  and  asked  by  the  citizens   C. Impact  towards  the  Federal  Government   D.   How  it  shook  the  ilRead MoreEvents Of 9 / 11 : An Era Of New Terrorism 893 Words   |  4 Pagesthe events of 9/11 presaged an era of ‘new terrorism’. The attacks created a change to the perceived level of vulnerability to terrorist attacks in North America given that 9/11 was the first time there was an act of terrorism on such a significant scale within the United States. While the evidence for both sides is very compelling it is difficult to label the era as â€Å"new† therefore the essay will conclude that the attacks lead to an evolution in terrorism and thus in the way Canada deals with terroristRead MoreThe Basic Foundation Of Classical Realism996 Words   |  4 Pageswhat they can and the weak suffer what they must,† doesn’t apply in the 21st century international sphere. This paper will explain the essential tenets of Thucydides’s balance of power theory especially those found in the Melian Dialogue. Furthermore, the paper will isolate examples of the failure of his system to apply to contemporary issues including international trade and terrorism. Each example illustrates the constrains on American power to dictate the actions of weaker states. The PeloponnesianRead MoreTerrorism, Employment, and Education1357 Words   |  6 PagesThis paper attempts to explain whether economic depravity in a region leads to support for terrorism using the case of the Israel/Palestine conflict in the Gaza strip. I will present and analyse quantitative data from a public opinion poll conducted in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which queried participants about their support for militant and terrorist attacks against Israel. The presented data will be supplemented by statistics from the data that Alan B. Krueger of Princeton University thatRead MoreThe Threat Of Boko Haram Essay1595 Words   |  7 PagesNigeria’s political framework since colonial times. The region is characterized by systematic human under-development and socio-political decay. By draining resources from development, terrorism creates an additional burden on the society and interferes with development opportunities. According to Aghedo Osumah (2012) the term national security has been boarded to encompass both state and human security. While state security is analogous to the dominant notion of national security, human security, onRead MoreThe United States Patriot Act1533 Words   |  7 PagesKaylyn Dailey 11/27/16 Professor Carter American Gov. Term Paper Patriot Act On September 11, 2001, the Unites States suffered massive destruction caused by terrorism. Four planes were hijacked by terrorist. Nearly, three thousand lives were lost when two planes crashed into the World Trade Towers, one crashed into the Pentagon, and the final plane crashed in Pennsylvania before it could reach its final destination. An immense fear spread across the country and out of this fear came the UnitingRead MoreList Of Definitions Of Terrorism Essay969 Words   |  4 Pagesthroughout the literature reviewed. These themes are: defining terrorism, the terrorist mindset, methods of identifying a potential terrorist, ways to detect terrorist activities prior to execution, and developing means to combat future acts of terrorism. Although the literature presents these main themes in a variety of perspectives, this paper will primarily focus on their applicability to the terrorist lifecycle. Defining Terrorism What is a terrorist? Before we can determine the likelihood

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

string(89) " some of the sheep bladders with rendered fat, and bundle the wool in some kind of hide\." Chapter 21 â€Å"You make a very attractive woman,† Rumi said from the comfort of his pit. â€Å"Did I tell you that my wife has passed on to her next incarnation and that I am alone?† â€Å"Yeah, you mentioned that.† He seemed to have given up on us getting his daughter back. We will write a custom essay sample on Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 21 or any similar topic only for you Order Now â€Å"What happened to the rest of your family, anyway?† â€Å"They drowned.† â€Å"I’m sorry. In the Ganges?† â€Å"No, at home. It was the monsoon season. Little Vitra and I had gone to the market to buy some swill, and there was a sudden downpour. When we returned†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He shrugged. â€Å"I don’t mean to sound insensitive, Rumi, but there is a chance that your loss could have been caused by – oh, I don’t know – perhaps the fact that you LIVE IN A FUCKING PIT!† â€Å"That’s not helping, Biff,† Joshua said. â€Å"You said you had a plan?† â€Å"Right. Rumi, am I correct in assuming that these pits, when someone is not living in them, are used for tanning hides?† â€Å"Yes, it is work that only Untouchables may do.† â€Å"That would account for the lovely smell. I assume you use urine in the tanning process, right?† â€Å"Yes, urine, mashed brains, and tea are the main ingredients.† â€Å"Show me the pit where the urine is condensed.† â€Å"The Rajneesh family is living there.† â€Å"That’s okay, we’ll bring them a present. Josh, do you have any lint in the bottom of your satchel?† â€Å"What are you up to?† â€Å"Alchemy,† I said. â€Å"The subtle manipulation of the elements. Watch and learn.† When it was not being used, the urine pit was the home of the Rajneesh family, and they were more than happy to give us loads of the white crystals that covered the floor of their home. There were six in the family, father, mother, an almost grown daughter, and three little ones. Another little son had been taken for sacrifice at the festival of Kali. Like Rumi, and all the other Untouchables, the Rajneesh family looked more like skeletons mummified in brown leather than people. The Untouchable men went about the pits naked or wearing only a loincloth, and even the women were dressed in tatters that barely covered them – nothing as nice as the stylish sari that I had purchased in the marketplace. Mr. Rajneesh commented that I was a very attractive woman and encouraged me to drop by after the next monsoon. Joshua pounded chunks of the crystallized mineral into a fine white powder while Rumi and I collected charcoal from under the heated dying pit (a firebox had been gouged out of the stone under the pit) which the Untouchables used to render the flowers from the indigo shrub into fabric dye. â€Å"I need brimstone, Rumi. Do you know what that is? A yellow stone that burns with a blue flame and gives off a smoke that smells like rotten eggs?† â€Å"Oh yes, they sell it in the market as some sort of medicine.† I handed the Untouchable a silver coin. Go buy as much of it as you can carry.† â€Å"Oh my, this will be more than enough money. May I buy some salt with what is left?† â€Å"Buy what you need with what’s left over, just go.† Rumi skulked away and I went to help Joshua process the saltpeter. The concept of abundance was an abstract one to the Untouchables, except as it pertained to two categories, suffering and animal parts. If you wanted decent food, shelter, or clean water, you would be sorely disappointed among the Untouchables, but if you were in the market for beaks, bones, teeth, hides, sinew, hooves, hair, gallstones, fins, feathers, ears, antlers, eyeballs, bladders, lips, nostrils, poop chutes, or any other inedible part of virtually any creature that walked on, swam under, or flew over the subcontinent of India, then the Untouchables were likely to have what you wanted lying around, conveniently stored beneath a thick blanket of black flies. In order to fashion the equipment I needed for my plan, I had to think in terms of animal parts. Fine unless you need, say, a dozen short swords, bows and arrows, and chain mail for thirty soldiers and all you have to work with is a stack of nostrils and three mismatched poop chutes. It was a challenge, but I made do. As Jo shua moved among the Untouchables, surreptitiously healing their maladies, I barked out my orders. â€Å"I need eight sheep bladders – fairly dry – two handfuls of crocodile teeth, two pieces of rawhide as long as my arms and half again as wide. No, I don’t care what kind of animal, just not too ripe, if you can manage it. I need hair from an elephant’s tail. I need firewood, or dried dung if you must, eight oxtails, a basket of wool, and a bucket of rendered fat.† And a hundred scrawny Untouchables stood there, eyes as big as saucers, just staring at me while Joshua moved among them, healing their wounds, sicknesses, and insanities, without any of them suspecting what was happening. (We’d agreed that this was the wisest tack to take, as we didn’t want a bunch of healthy Untouchables athletically bounding through Kalighat proclaiming that they had been cured of all ills by a strange foreigner, thus attracting attention to us and spoiling my plan. On the other hand, neither could we stand there and watch these people suffer, knowing that we – well, Joshua – had the power to help them.) He’d also taken to poking one of them in the arm with his finger anytime anyone said the word â€Å"Untouchable.† Later he told me that he just hated passing up the opportunity for palpable irony. I cringed when I saw Joshua touching the lepers among them, as if after all these years away from Israel a tiny Pharisee stood on my shoulder and screamed, â€Å"Unclean!† â€Å"Well?† I said after I’d finished my orders. â€Å"Do you want your children back or not?† â€Å"We don’t have a bucket,† said one woman. â€Å"Or a basket,† said another. â€Å"Okay, fill some of the sheep bladders with rendered fat, and bundle the wool in some kind of hide. You read "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 21" in category "Essay examples" Now go, we don’t have a lot of time.† And they all stood and looked at me. Big eyes. Sores healed. Parasites purged. They just looked at me. â€Å"Look, I know my Sanskrit isn’t great, but you do know what I am asking?† A young man stepped forward. â€Å"We do not want to anger Kali by depriving her of her sacrifices.† â€Å"You’re kidding, right?† â€Å"Kali is the bringer of destruction, without which there can be no rebirth. She is the remover of the bondage that ties us to the material world. If we anger her, she will deprive us of her divine destruction.† I looked at Joshua across the crowd. â€Å"Do you understand this?† â€Å"Fear?† he said. â€Å"Can you help?† I asked in Aramaic. â€Å"I’m not good at fear,† Joshua said in Hebrew. I thought for a second as two hundred eyes pinned me to the sandstone on which I stood. I remembered the red-stained gashes on the wooden elephant statues at the altar of Kali. Death was their deliverance, was it? â€Å"What is your name?† I asked the man who had stepped out of the crowd. â€Å"Nagesh,† he said. â€Å"Stick out your tongue, Nagesh.† He did, and I threw back the cloth that covered my head and loosened it around my neck. Then I touched his tongue. â€Å"Destruction is a gift you value?† â€Å"Yes,† said Nagesh. â€Å"Then I shall be the instrument of the goddess’s gift.† With that I pulled the black glass dagger from the sheath in my sash, held it up before the crowd. While Nagesh stood, passive, wide-eyed, I drove my thumb under his jaw, pushed his head back, and brought the dagger down across his throat. I lowered him to the ground as the red liquid spurted over the sandstone. I stood and faced the crowd again, holding the dripping blade over my head. â€Å"You owe me, you ungrateful fucks! I have brought to your people the gift of Kali, now bring me what I ask for.† They moved really quickly for people who were on the edge of starvation. After the Untouchables scattered to do my bidding, Joshua and I stood over the bloodstained body of Nagesh. â€Å"That was fantastic,† Joshua said. â€Å"Absolutely perfect.† â€Å"Thanks.† â€Å"Had you been practicing all that time we were in the monastery?† â€Å"You didn’t see me push the pressure point in his neck then?† â€Å"No, not at all.† â€Å"Gaspar’s kung fu training. The rest, of course, was from Joy and Balthasar.† I bent over and opened Nagesh’s mouth, then took the ying-yang vial from around my neck and put a drop of the antidote on the Untouchable’s tongue. â€Å"So he can hear us now, like when Joy poisoned you?† Joshua asked. I pulled back one of Nagesh’s eyelids and watched the pupil contract slowly in the sunlight. â€Å"No, I think he’s still unconscious from me holding the pressure point. I didn’t think the poison would work quickly enough. I could only get a drop of poison on my finger when I loosened my sari. I knew it would keep him down, I just wasn’t sure it would put him down.† â€Å"Well, you are truly a magus, now, Biff. I’m impressed.† â€Å"Joshua, you healed a hundred people today. Half of them were probably dying. I did some sleight of hand.† My friend’s enthusiasm was undeterred. â€Å"What’s the red stuff, pomegranate juice? I can’t figure out where you concealed it.† â€Å"No, actually I was going to ask you about that.† â€Å"What?† I held my arm up and showed Joshua where I had slashed my own wrist (the source of blood for the show). I had been holding it against my leg and as soon as I removed the pressure the blood started spurting again. I sat down hard on the sandstone and my vision began to tunnel down to a pinpoint. â€Å"I was hoping you could help me out with this,† I said before I fainted. â€Å"You need to work on that part of the trick,† Joshua said when I came to. â€Å"I might not always be around to fix your wrist.† He was speaking Hebrew – that meant for my ears only. I saw Joshua kneeling above me, then beyond him the sky was blotted out by curious brown faces. The recently murdered Nagesh was in the front of the crowd. â€Å"Hey, Nagesh, how’d the rebirth go?† I asked in Sanskrit. â€Å"I must have strayed from my dharma in my last life,† Nagesh said. â€Å"I have been reincarnated, once again, as an Untouchable. And I have the same ugly wife.† â€Å"You challenged master Levi who is called Biff,† I said, â€Å"of course you didn’t move up. You’re lucky you’re not a stink bug or something. See, destruction isn’t the big favor you all thought it was.† â€Å"We brought the things you asked for.† I hopped to my feet feeling incredibly rested and energized. â€Å"Nice,† I said to Joshua. â€Å"I feel like I just had one of those strong coffees you used to make at Balthasar’s.† â€Å"I miss coffee,† said Josh. I looked at Nagesh, â€Å"I don’t suppose you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"We have swill.† â€Å"Never mind,† I said. Then I said one of those things that as a boy growing up in Galilee, you never think you’ll hear yourself say: â€Å"Okay, Untouchables, bring me the sheep bladders!† Rumi said that the goddess Kali was served by a host of black-skinned female demons, who sometimes during the feast would bring men to corners of the altar and copulate with them as blood rained down from the goddess’s saw-tooth maw above. â€Å"Okay, Josh, you’re one of them,† I said. â€Å"What are you gonna be?† â€Å"The goddess Kali, of course. You got to be God last time.† â€Å"What last time?† â€Å"All of the last times.† I turned to my intrepid minions. â€Å"Untouchables, paint him up!† â€Å"They’re not going to buy that a burr-headed Jewish kid is their goddess of destruction.† â€Å"O ye of little faith,† I said. Three hours later we were again crouched beneath a tree near the temple of Kali. We were both dressed as women, covered from head to toe by our saris, but I was looking much lumpier under mine due to Kali’s extra arms and garland of severed heads, played tonight by painted sheep bladders filled with explosives and suspended around my neck by long strands of elephant tail hair. Any observers who might get close enough to notice my protrusions were quickly deterred by the smell coming off of Joshua and me. We had used the goo from the bottom of Rumi’s pit to paint our bodies black. I didn’t have the courage to ask what the substance had been in life, but if there was a place where they allowed vultures to ripen in the sun before pounding them into a smooth paste and mixing it with just the right amount of buffalo squat, then Rumi called it home. The Untouchables had also painted huge red rings around Joshua’s eyes, fitted him with a ropey wig of oxtails, and affixed to his torso six pert little breasts fashioned from pitch. â€Å"Stay away from any open flame. Your tits will go up like volcanos.† â€Å"Why did I have to have six and you only had to have two.† â€Å"Because I am the goddess and have to wear the garland of skulls and the extra arms.† We’d made my arms from rawhide, using my primary arms as models, then drying the molded arms in place over the fire. The women made a harness that held the extra arms in place under my own, then we painted the arms black with the same black goo. They were a little wobbly, but they were light and would look realistic enough in the dark. It was still hours from the height of the ceremony at midnight, when the children would be hacked to death, but we wanted to be there in time to stop the revelers from cutting off the children’s fingers if we could. Now, the wooden elephants were empty on their turntables, but the altar of Kali was already filling with gruesome tribute. The heads of a thousand goats had been laid on the altar before the goddess, and the blood ran slick over the stones and in the grooves that channeled it into large brass pots at the corners of the altar. Female acolytes carried the pots up a narrow ladder at the back of the great statue of Kali, then dumped them through some sort of reservoir that fed it through the goddess’s jaws. Below, by torchlight, worshipers danced in the sticky shower as the blood flowed down upon them. â€Å"Look, those women are dressed like me,† Joshua said. â€Å"Except they only have two breasts each.† â€Å"Technically, they’re not dressed, they’re painted. You make a very attractive female demon, Josh. Did I tell you that?† â€Å"This isn’t going to work.† â€Å"Of course it’s going to work.† I guessed that there were already ten thousand worshipers in the temple square, dancing, chanting, and beating drums. A procession of thirty men came down the main boulevard, each carrying a basket under his arm. As they reached the altar, each man dumped the contents of the basket over the rows of bloody goat heads. â€Å"What are those?† Joshua asked. â€Å"Those are exactly what you think they are.† â€Å"They’re not the heads of the children?† â€Å"No, I think those are the heads of strangers who happened down the road we were on before Rumi came along to pull us into the grass.† After the severed heads were dispersed across the altar, the female acolytes came out of the crowd dragging the headless corpse of a man, which they laid on the steps leading to the altar. Each one mimed having intercourse with the corpse, then rubbed their genitalia against the bloody stump of its neck before dancing away, blood and ochre dripping down the insides of their thighs. â€Å"There’s sort of a theme developing here,† I said. â€Å"I think I’m going to be sick,† Joshua said. â€Å"Mindful breath,† I said, using one of the phrases that Gaspar was always barking at us when we were learning meditation. I knew that if Joshua could stay with the yeti for days at a time without freezing to death, he could certainly conjure up the bodily control to keep from throwing up. The sheer magnitude of the carnage was all that was keeping me from vomiting. It was as if the atrocity of the whole scene couldn’t fit in my mind all at once, so I could only see just enough for my sanity and my stomach to remain intact. A shout went up in the crowd now and I could see a torch-lit sedan chair being carried above the heads of the worshipers. On it reclined a half-naked man with a tiger skin wrapped around his hips, his skin painted light gray with ashes. His hair was plaited with grease and he wore the bones of a human hand as a skullcap. Around his neck hung a necklace of human skulls. â€Å"High priest,† I said. â€Å"They aren’t even going to notice you, Biff. How can you even get their attention after they’ve seen all this?† â€Å"They haven’t seen what I’m going to show them.† As the sedan chair emerged from the crowd in front of the altar, we could see a procession following it: tied to the back of the sedan chair was a line of naked children, most of them not more than five or six, their hands tied together, a less ornately dressed priest on either side of them to steady them. The priests began to untie the children and take them to the great wooden elephants lining the boulevard. Here and there in the crowd I could see people beginning to brandish edged weapons: short swords, axes, and the long-bladed spears Joshua and I had seen over the elephant grass. The high priest was sitting on the headless corpse, shouting a poem about the divine release of Kali’s destruction or something. â€Å"Here we go,† I said, pulling the black glass dagger from under my sari. â€Å"Take this.† Joshua looked at the blade shimmering in the torchlight. â€Å"I won’t kill anyone,† he said. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, drawing long red lines through the black and if anything making him look more fierce. â€Å"That’s fine, but you’ll need to cut them loose.† â€Å"Right.† He took the knife from me. â€Å"Josh, you know what’s coming. You’ve seen it before. Nobody else here has, especially those kids. You can’t carry all of them, so they have to have enough of their wits about them to follow you. I know you can keep them from being afraid. Put your teeth in.† Joshua nodded and slipped the row of crocodile teeth attached to a piece of rawhide under his upper lip, leaving the teeth to protrude like fangs. I put in my own false fangs, then ran into the dark to circle the crowd. As I approached the rear of the altar I pulled the special torch I’d made from under my girdle of human hands. (Actually my girdle of human hands was made of dried goat’s udders stuffed with straw, but the Untouchable women had done a pretty good job as long as no one bothered to count fingers.) Through Kali’s stone legs I could see the priests tying each of the children on the trunk of a wooden elephant. As soon as the bonds were tight, each priest drew a bronze blade and held it aloft, ready to strike off a finger as soon as the high priest gave the signal. I struck the tip of my torch on the edge of the altar, screamed for all I was worth, then threw my sari off and ran up the steps as the torch burst into dazzling blue flame that trailed sparks behind me as I ran. I hopped across the array of goat heads and stood between the legs of the statue of Kali, my torch held aloft in one hand, one of my severed heads swinging by the hair in the other. â€Å"I am Kali,† I screamed. â€Å"Fear me!† It came out sort of mumbled through my fake teeth. Some of the drums stopped and the high priest turned around and looked at me, more because of the bright light of the torch than my fierce proclamation. â€Å"I am Kali,† I shouted again. â€Å"Goddess of destruction and all this disgusting crap you have here!† They weren’t getting it. The priest signaled for the other priests to come around me from the sides. Some of the female acolytes were already trying to make their way across the dance floor of decapitations toward me. â€Å"I mean it. Bow down to me!† The priests charged on. I did have the crowd’s attention, though unfortunately they weren’t cowering in fear at my angry goddessness. I could see Joshua moving around the wooden elephants, the guarding priests having left their posts to come after me. â€Å"Really! I mean it!† Maybe it was the teeth. I spit them out toward the nearest of my attackers. Running across a sea of slick, bloody heads is evidently a pretty difficult task. Not if you’ve spent the last six years of your life hopping from the top of one post to another, even in ice and snow, but for the run-of-the-mill homicidal priest, it’s a tough row to hoe. The priests and acolytes were slipping and sliding among the goat and human heads, falling over each other, smacking into the feet of the statue, one even impaling himself on a goat’s horn when he fell. One of the priests was only a few feet away from me now, trying not to fall on his own blade as he crawled over the mess. â€Å"I will bring destruction†¦oh, fuck it,† I said. I lit the fuse on the severed head I held in my hand, then swung it between my legs and tossed it in a steep arch over my head. It trailed sparks on its way into the black goddess’s open maw, then disappeared. I kicked the approaching priest in the jaw, then danced across the goat heads, leapt over the head of the high priest, and was halfway to Joshua at the first wooden elephant when Kali, with a deafening report, breathed fire out over the crowd and the top of her head blew off. Finally, I had the crowd’s attention. They were trampling each other to get away, but I had their attention. I stood in the middle of the boulevard, swinging my second severed head in a circle, waiting for the fuse to burn down before I let it sail over the heads of the receding crowd. It exploded in the air, sending a circle of flame across the sky and no doubt deafening some of the worshipers who were close. Joshua had seven of the children around him, clinging to his legs as he moved to the next elephant. Several of the priests had recovered and were storming down the steps of the altar toward me, knives in hand. I pulled another head from my garland, lit the fuse, and held it out to them. â€Å"Ah, ah, ah,† I cautioned. â€Å"Kali. Goddess of destruction. Wrath et cetera.† At the sight of the sparking fuse they stopped and began to backpedal. â€Å"Now that’s the sort of respect you should have shown before.† I started whirling the head by the hair and the priests lost all semblance of courage and turned and ran. I hurled the head back up the boulevard onto the altar, where it exploded, sending a spray of real severed goat heads in all directions. â€Å"Josh! Duck! Goat heads!† Joshua pushed the children to the ground and fell over them until the pieces settled. He glared at me a second, then went on to free the other children. I hurled three more heads into different directions and now the entire temple square was nearly deserted but for Joshua, the children, a few injured worshipers, and the dead. I had built the bombs without any shrapnel in them, so those who had been injured had been trampled in the panic and the dead were those who had already been sacrificed to Kali. I think we pulled it off without killing anyone. As Joshua led the children down the wide boulevard and out of the temple square, I covered our exit, backing down the boulevard, my last explosive head swinging in one hand, my torch in the other. Once I saw that Joshua and the children were safely away, I lit the fuse, whirled the head around and let it fly toward the black goddess. â€Å"Bitch,† I said. I was out of sight when it exploded. Joshua and I got as far as a limestone cliff overlooking the Ganges before we had to stop to let the children rest. They were tired and hungry, but mostly they were hungry, and we had brought nothing for them to eat. At least, after Joshua’s touch, they weren’t afraid, and that gave them some peace. Josh and I were too jangled to sleep, so we sat up as the children lay down on the rocks around us and snored like kittens. Joshua held Rumi’s little daughter, Vitra, and before long her face was smeared with black paint from nuzzling his shoulder. All through the night, as he rocked the child, all I heard Joshua say was, â€Å"No more blood. No more blood.† At first light we could see thousands, no, tens of thousands of people gathering at the banks of the river, all dressed in white, except for a few old men who were naked. They moved into the water and stood facing east, heads raised in anticipation, dotting the river as far as the eye could see. As the sun became a molten fingernail of light on the horizon, the muddy surface of the river turned golden. The gold light reflected off its surface onto the buildings, the shanties, the trees, the palaces, making everything in sight, including the worshipers, appear to have been gilded. And worshipers they were, for we could hear their songs from where we sat, and although we could not discern the words, we could hear that these were the songs of God. â€Å"Are those the same people from last night?† I said. â€Å"They would have to be, wouldn’t they?† â€Å"I don’t understand these people. I don’t understand their religion. I don’t understand how they think.† Joshua stood and watched the Indians bowing and singing to the dawn, looking occasionally to the face of the child that slept on his shoulder. â€Å"This is testament to the glory of God’s creation, whether these people know it or not.† â€Å"How can you say that? The sacrifices to Kali, the way the Untouchables are treated. Whatever they might believe, in practice their religion is hideous.† â€Å"You’re right. It’s not right to condemn this child because she was not born a Brahman?† â€Å"Of course not.† â€Å"Then is it right to condemn her because she is not born a Jew?† â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"A man who is born a gentile may not see the kingdom of God. Are we, as Hebrews, any different from them? The lambs at the temple on Passover? The wealth and power of the Sadducees while others go hungry? At least the Untouchables can reach their reward eventually, through karma and rebirth. We don’t allow any gentile to do so.† â€Å"You can’t compare what they do to God’s law. We don’t sacrifice human beings. We feed our poor, we take care of the sick.† â€Å"Unless the sick are unclean,† Joshua said. â€Å"But, Josh, we’re the chosen. It’s God’s will.† â€Å"But is it right? He won’t tell me what to do. So I’ll say. And I say, no more.† â€Å"You’re not just talking about eating bacon, are you?† â€Å"Gautama the Buddha gave the way to people of all births to find the hand of God. With no blood sacrifice. Our doors have been marked with blood for too long, Biff.† â€Å"So that’s what you think you’re going to do? Bring God to everyone?† â€Å"Yes. After a nap.† â€Å"Of course, I meant after a nap.† Joshua held the little girl so I could see her face as she slept on his shoulder. When the children awoke we led them back to their families at the pits, handing them into the arms of their mothers, who snatched each child away from us as if we were devils incarnate; they glared over their shoulders as they carried the babies back to their pits. â€Å"Grateful bunch,† I said. â€Å"They are afraid that we’ve angered Kali. And we’ve brought them another hungry mouth.† â€Å"Still. Why did they help us if they didn’t want their children back?† â€Å"Because we told them what to do. That’s what they do. What they are told. That’s how the Brahmans keep them in line. If they do what they are told, then perhaps they will not be Untouchables next life.† â€Å"That’s depressing.† Joshua nodded. We only had little Vitra to return to her father now, and I was sure that Rumi would be happy to see his daughter. His distress over losing her had basically been the reason he had saved our lives. As we came over the sandstone rise we could see that Rumi was not alone in his pit. Rumi stood on his sitting rock, stark naked, sprinkling salt on his erect member as a large humpbacked cow, which nearly filled the rest of the pit, licked at the salt. Joshua held Vitra so she faced away from the pit, then backed away, as if he didn’t want to disturb the moment of beefy intimacy. â€Å"A cow, Rumi?† I exclaimed. â€Å"I thought you people had beliefs.† â€Å"That’s not a cow, that’s a bull,† Joshua said. â€Å"Oh, that’s got to be your super-bonus abomination there. Where we come from whole cities get destroyed for that kind of thing, Rumi.† I reached over and put my hand over Vitra’s eyes. â€Å"Stay away from Daddy, honey, or you’ll turn into a pillar of salt.† â€Å"But this is my wife, reincarnated.† â€Å"Oh, don’t try that one on me, Rumi. For six years I lived in a Buddhist monastery where the only female company was a wild yak. I know from desperate.† Joshua grabbed my arm. â€Å"You didn’t?† â€Å"Relax, I’m just making a point. You’re the Messiah here, Josh. What do you think?† â€Å"I think we need to go to Tamil and find the third magus.† He set Vitra down and Rumi quickly pulled up his loincloth as the child ran to him. â€Å"Go with God, Rumi,† Joshua said. â€Å"May Shiva watch over you, you heretics. Thank you for returning my daughter.† Joshua and I gathered up our clothes and satchels, then bought some rice in the market and set out for Tamil. We followed the Ganges south until we came to the sea, where Joshua and I washed the gore of Kali from our bodies. We sat on the beach, letting the sun dry our skin as we picked pitch out of our chest hairs. â€Å"You know, Josh,† I said, as I fought a particularly stubborn gob of tar that had stuck in my armpit, â€Å"when you were leading those kids out of the temple square, and they were so little and weak, but none of them seemed afraid†¦well, it was sort of heartwarming.† â€Å"Yep, I love all the little children of the world, you know?† â€Å"Really?† He nodded. â€Å"Green and yellow, black and white.† â€Å"Good to know – Wait, green?† â€Å"No, not green. I was just fuckin’ with you.† How to cite Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 21, Essay examples

Global Warming Trend Without the Contributions

Question: Descrbe about the Global Warming Trend Without the Contributions? Answer: Using of Meteorological Data of Arctic Region It has been observed that there is a noteworthy seasonality in the climate of the Arctic region like some of the great rivers of Russia and North America almost stops its flow in the winter season. Besides, in the May, it can be seen that the frozen ice in the rivers starts to break gradually and in the month of June hurried downpour of fresh water can be observed (Banerjee, 2012). This is sometimes followed by the fall in flow and this process continues up to November as in November it stars to freeze. Figure 1.1: Yearly Cycle of Arctic Region Recording the Temparature of Arctic Region Name and General Location Date Temparature EUMETNET Arctic Ocean 3rd February, 2015 -24.0 C NPEO Station 5th February, 2015 -28.0 C IABP Station 7th February, 2015 -21.0 C UpTempO Station 9th February, 2015 -23.0 C Table 2.1 Arctic Temparature Data, February, 2015 It has been observed that the temparatre of Arctic Region has been recorded in the month of February, 2015 from the for different geostations. 3rd February, the tremparatre of this region was recorded as -24.0 C while from NPEO Station te temparatre was noted as -28.0 C. From IABP station, the temparatre was -21.0 C on 7th Febraary and on 9th Febrar te temparatre was recorded as -23.0 C. Terefore, it ca be said that the minimum teprature was recored on 5th Febrary from NPEO Station while maximum temparatre was noted on 7th Febrary from IABP station (Mahlstein and Knutti, 2012). Elaboration of Data received from the Stations Here the temparatre has been recorded in the month of February. In this time, Sun is in the southern part of the world and thus in northern part it is winter solistice. In this time peroid, the Arctic region faces 24 hours of night. Chilling weather accompanied by thunder storm can be observed and this is the most common scenarion of this time period (Nagato and Tanaka, 2012). At this point of time, the Sun sheds its maximum heat in the south region and this affects the weather of Arctic in such a way that most of the time heavy thunder storm make the situation worst. As we all know the Equinoxes are on 22nd September and 20th March, therefore, the temparature statrs to rise in the month of February comparaed to the other winter months of the year. In the first part of February, the temparature tends to be low but at the end of this month, the temparature starts to rise gradually as the Equinox comes close that is in March (Perry and Andersen, 2012). Comparing the Temparature of Arctic Region in normal time and in the specified year In this report, the reseracher has selected the month of February, 2015 and has compared this data with data received from 2010, February (Showstack, 2012). Here the weather data of February, 2010 has been given for the better evaluation of the data. Name and General Location Date Temparature Eumetnet Arctic Ocean 3rd February, 2010 -24.0 C NPEO Station 5th February, 2010 -30.0 C IABP Station 7th February, 2010 -22.0 C UpTempO Station 9th February, 2010 -19.0 C Table 4.1: Arctic Temparature Data, February, 2010 It can be seen from the above table that the temparature of these stations in the year 2010 was recorded and this has differed from the temparature recorded in the month of February of 2015. the lowest temparature has been recorded as -30.0 C in NPEO station on 5th February and the highest temparature was recorded -19.0 C on 9th February, 2015 in UpTempO Station. Therefore, from the noted data it can be said that for the last 5 years the trend of temparature has changed and this is perhaps due to the global warming (Roberts, 2012). Comparing the Observed data Arctic Climate Impact Assessment focuses on the four regions of Arctic regions and this is considered as the first comprehensive as well as integrated assessment of the climatic change along with the ultra violet radiation throughout the whole arctic region (Showstack, 2012). It has been noted that middling sea ice extent for August 2015 was recorded as 5.61 million square kilometers. The rapid change of weather has been notoced here as many geographers argue that Antartic and Arctic are two vulnarable places of the world. It can be said that there is a large rate of daily ice loss since late July of 2015 and this has slowed down in August (Roberts, 2012). The ice is presently tracking poorer than the two standard deviations underneath the 1981 to 2010 long term standard. References Banerjee, S. (2012). Arctic voices. New York: Seven Stories Press. Mahlstein, I. and Knutti, R. (2012). September Arctic sea ice predicted to disappear near 2C Global Warming Above Present. J. Geophys. Res., 117(D6). Nagato, Y. and Tanaka, H. (2012). Global warming trend without the contributions from decadal variability of the Arctic Oscillation. Polar Science, 6(1), pp.15-22. Perry, C. and Andersen, B. (2012). New strategic dynamics in the Arctic region. [Cambridge: Institute for Foreign policy Analysis. Roberts, T. (2012). Arctic contaminants and climate change. Nature Climate Change, 2(12), pp.829-829. Showstack, R. (2012). Arctic region mapping tool. Eos Trans. AGU, 93(33), p.319.