Islam Studies Jahiliyyah Essay

The essay shall explore the concept of the jahiliyyah and demonstrate the importance and impact it has to understand the origins and development of Islam. The Jahiliyyah is a core and critical part of the foundations of Islam, that certain elements of the jahiliyyah were borrowed, adopted and developed; whilst other elements were discarded as Islam evolved. It is important as aspects of the jahiliyyah period continues to have an influence after the advent of Islam. Elements of the jahiliyyah such as the geographical location; the political, social and religious life; pre-islamic literature, rituals of the Ka’ba and the role of Women have shaped the understanding of Islam. The term ‘Jahiliyyah’ means the period of ignorance or barbarism; reflecting the Arabian culture before the birth of Muhammad(Mvumbi, 2010). The concept reflects the period in which Arabia had no dispensation, no knowledge of Allah or one God and no revealed sacred text (Hitti, 1987). The Jahiliy yah represents a cultural milestone, as Muslims believe they transitioned from an period of ignorance to the period of knowledge and enlightenment (Armstrong, 1991). The religious situation of Jahiliyyah is important to examine in order to understand Islamic monotheism. The religious situation of pre-Islamic shapes one’s understanding of the origins and developments of Islam, as Islam is a civilization, culture and religion. The importance of the concept is because Islam developed and built on a previous Arabian religion. Firstly the understanding the geographical location and characteristics of that period would inform and shape one’s understanding of Islam and culture. The Arabian peninsula is covered with desert and divided in two sectors: the north and the south(Mvumbi, 2010). The geographical characteristics influences the cultural and religious situation.The northern part were a pastoral society and the southern part had permanent settlements such as Yemen and th e Bedouin lifestyle (Mvumbi, 2010). Areas such as Yemen were important because of its advanced civilizations, fertile land and rich agriculture. Most areas were hospitable, rich in food and water, and trades such as spice trades (Hoyland, 2001). The desert created a harsh environment with extreme conditions, the climate varied from north to south influencing people of the time to be nomadic (Brockelman, 1960). The nomadic lifestyle created sub-cultures which led to the diversity of languages. The trade, agriculture and linguistics are central notions that have had significant importance to Islam religion and culture (Goodman, 1999). . For example, it is believed that Muhammad was a trader who stimulated the growth of trade in Mecca (Goodman, 1999). It is strongly believed that Islam and arabian’s spiritual consciousness was born the vastness of the desert, this strongly emphasise why it is important to understand Jahiliyyah as the roots of Islam begin in this period (Mvumbi, 2010). The Arabians within that period believed in religion, were more polytheism focus than the monotheism perspective of today. They believed in deities, these deities were the daughters of Allah, the supreme God (Husayn, 1982). They built temples for their idols in particular at Makka it was the most religious place. These notions of Jahiliyyah reflect Islam; as the Islamic faith was first revealed in Makka and the fact that Arabians had the notion of a supreme one and only God prior to the rise of Islam (Mvumbi, 2010). The surrounding religion such as Judaism and Christianity whom had a monotheistic faith influenced the Arabians and Islam of today. This reinforces that Arabia prior to Islam shared unity of God before Muhammad (Mvumbi, 2010). These key principles demonstrate that Islam was a revival and continuation of Jahiliyyah and this stresses the importance of that concept. Another element of the Jahiliyyah period was the political and social life, such as the Bedouin society. The political structure was tribal based, that consisted of individuals who participated in larger groups (Weissleder, 1978). This tribal aspect reflects the adopted leadership of Muhammad; as tribal rulers were seen as an arbitrator than a ruler (Weissleder, 1978). This political structure influenced the Shura system. The legal system of this period was based on tribal or customary law which influenced the Islamic communities of today(Weissleder, 1978). This element reinforces why Jahiliyyah period shaped the origins and understanding of Islam. Similarly the social integration of pre-Islamic shapes our understanding of Islam. The no tion of social integration developed within the Byzantine and Sassanic period (Hoyland, 2001). The Sassanic dynasty influenced the Islamic administrative system, it was also the aftermath of the competition dwelling between the two dynasties (Hoyland, 2001). Although these dynasties were competitive they shared a common values such as being imperialists and harmony (Hoyland, 2001). The imperial commercial network meant that the leaders had to negotiate and political rapports were created with the empires and harmony prevailed. The Bedouins became the foundational symbol of Arab nationhood identity (Hoyland, 2001). They became the nationhood identity through their significant oral transmitted poetry and written Arabic literature, which became the basis and core language and humanity of Islam (Hoyland, 2001). The pre-Islamic poetry was very fine and unique, it became the linguistic standard of the interpretations of the Qu’ran. It is noted that the pre-Islamic poetry was a central aspect of tribal humanism and in a sense contributed to Islamic humanism (Hoyland, 2001). This once again support that the pre-Islamic period intertwines with key principles of Islam and shapes one’s understanding that Islam adopted foundational principles. Along with the highly praise Arabic poetry and language, is the adopted style of language such as Saj of Kuhhan. The rhyming structure a distinguishing feature of Saj became Arabic prose (Hoyland, 2001). The style of Saj is evident within the Qu’ran, by understanding the style one may understand the socio-cultural context that this emerged from; as well as how the pre-Islamic language has been adopted by Islam. Another adopted principle of the pre-Islamic period was the role of the Ka’ba and religious practices. It is important to explore the rituals of the Jahiliyyah concept to notice the similarities, adoptations and continuation of principles that is reflected in Islam. For example, during the Jahiliyyah, there was sacred truce period to the Ka’ba which occurred for three months, the annual pilgramage which is now the ritual of the Hajj for Muslims (Armstrong, 1999). The only other difference of the role of the Ka’ba was during that time within the Ka’ba there was three hundred and sixty idols of worship within the Ka’ba (Armstrong, 1999). The practice of Islam such as fasting could be reflected in the pre-Islamic practices however it was the exclusion of hunting and sexual activity (Armstrong, 1999). So rituals that were practiced throughout the pre-Islamic period were adopted and integrated into Islam. By examining these rituals it reinforces the importance of understanding the pre-Islamic period. By understanding the concept of Jahiliyyah one would understand the continuity, the improvements and changes of principles demonstrated within Islam. These changes, adaptation can be viewed through the ideals of women and marriage within the pre-islamic period and the ideals of women and marriage in Islam. For example, pre-Islamic period; endogamy, polygamy and polyandry were common. Whereas, Qu’ranic revelations indicates the focus on polygamy rather than polyandry; however it was revealed at the time where the socio-context had increased numbers of widows. Similarly, the idea of an temporary marriage, this within pre-Islamic period was instigated by a woman; however in the Shiite practice it is only permissible by the man. This notion parallels with divorce, women were allowed to dismiss their husbands; however with the Shari’s women are disadvantaged when in attempt to divorce. The gender inequality is reflect in women’s roles as well. Women in pre-Islamic period were given a status, they were involved in divination and had a religious function; they also had the status of entertaining. However, Orthodox Islam has rejected the principle of giving women status and equality. The role of women within the pre-Islamic period reflects how Islam does not always adopt the principles of pre-Islamic period, but rather rejects some notions. As the essay demon strated the period of Jahiliyyah has significantly contributed to the success of the Prophet Muhammad’s mission. Significant features of the Jahiliyyah such geographical location; the political, social and religious life; pre-islamic literature, rituals of the Ka’ba and the role of Women have shaped the understanding of Islam. These features have demonstrated the Islamic religion within context of it’s origins and development. By understanding the concept of the Jahiliyyah one can understand which features are adopted, integrated, improved and rejected as Islam evolved. References Armstrong, K, 1991. ‘Jahiliyah’ in Muhammad: A Western Attempt to Understand Islam. 1st ed. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd. Brockelman, C, 1960. History of the Islamic peoples. New York: Capricorn books. Goodman, D, 1999. Pre-industrial Cities and Technology. London: Routledge Hoyland, R, 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. 1st ed. London: Routledge. Husayn, M, 1982. The life of Muhammad. Lagos: Academy Press. Mvumbi. 2010. Introduction to Islamic theology: A study of some major theological issues . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cuea.edu/mvumbi/images/stories/PDF/ClassNotes/INTRODUCTION%20TO%20ISLAMIC%20THEOLOGY.pdf. [Accessed 14 May 13]. Schuon, F, 1976. Understanding Islam. 1st ed.London: Unwin Paperbacks Weissleder, W, 1978. The Nomadic Alternative. Chicago: Mouton Publishers

Islam and Religious Group Essay

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Critically analyse the impact of the 1870, 1902 & 1918 Education Acts Essay

Critically analyse the impact of the 1870, 1902 & 1918 Education Acts on society and education with particular reference to linkage of policy between the three acts - Essay Example Educations Acts of 1870, 1902, and 1918, and examines their complex interaction with the social and political concerns of the culture in which they emerged. The British educational system was traditionally reserved for members of the social elite. In the middle ages, universities were largely the domain of ruling class boys, although a small number of boys of lower social classes were included. In the fifth century, some grammar schools offered teaching to the poor, but again, education was largely reserved for upper class males. By the seventeenth century, schools had begun to resemble the modern system, but many people did not approve of educating the lower classes, fearing that it would "make the working poor discontented with their lot" (Chitty 2004, cited in Gillard), and education for the poor consisted largely of moral, rather than intellectual, teachings. The Industrial Revolution saw a great change in the national education system, as industry needed workers with more advance reading skills. (Davin 1996) Even then, opposition to educating the poor was intense. Thus Tory MP Davies Giddy famously noted "giving education to the la boring classes of the poor ... would teach them to despise their lot in life, instead of making them good servants in agriculture and other laborious employments to which their rank in society has destined them; instead of teaching them the virtue of subordination, it would render them factious and refactory (sic)... it would enable them to read seditious pamphlets, vicious books and publications against Christianity" (cited in Gillard). In addition, attempts at mass education for the poor were stymied by conflict between religious and social groups. In the mid-1800s, education in England was divided by class structure, and students were schooled according to whether they belonged to the masses, the middle class, or the higher classes. The 1870 Elementary Education Act, however, demanded universal education for all children from

Tree in a field Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tree in a field - Essay Example At the age of 15, Walter Kuhn sold the first drawing to a certain magazine; it is at this point that he began to sign his name as Walt. He would later enroll for evening art classes at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1893. Later, Kuhn lost interest on becoming artist and instead chose to sell bicycles in a shop at Brooklyn. He had a very dedicative personality and yet he would also be regarded as impulsive. By 1899, Kuhn was overwhelmed with the ideas from the American West. Though he only $60, he decided to move to California. In San Francisco, Kuhn began to draw cartoons to WASP magazine. He later moved to Paris in 1901and then enrolled in the formal class of the Academy Colarossi. He never got much exited with the learning and chose to move to Munich where he got opportunity to study under Barbizon Painter Heinrich von Zugel After 2 years, Kuhn returned to New York and found himself immersed in the booming art scene in New York. He helped manage the Kit Kat Club while at the same time he continued to work as an illustrator for local journals. The Kit Club was an organization which had a responsibility of raising funds for the scholarship at the Academy of Design. Kuhn staged his first exhibition in 1905 at Salmagundi Club, presenting himself both as a serious painter and a cartoonist. In the same year, Kuhn submitted his first illustration of the LIFE magazine. (Meally, Robert G., and Romare Bearden, 19) Kuhn in most of his time spent his summer in Fort Lee in New Jersey. This area provided him with a good environment for creativity which he needed to thrive in the industry. Kuhn would later join the New York School of art when they moved to the area as a member of the faculty. He later moved to New York where he got married to Vera Spier. They got one child Brenda Kuhn. At the point when his home life blossomed, his career too became better and better. In 1909, he spent the

The trend of agricultural expansion in the US South and its relation Research Paper

The trend of agricultural expansion in the US South and its relation to the slave movement from 1850 to 1860 - Research Paper Example This is critical since the agricultural items help individuals to acquire the energy that allows them to perform productively. The products especially cotton helps in improving trade and production of clothes that are basic needs (Mudlak 989). This means that agriculture contributed to the wellbeing of individuals in the southern state in the early years of 1860s in the United States. Agriculture is the economic backbone of a nation making it fundamental to embrace creative and innovative ideals. This enhances quality, quantity and effective processing of the produce to allow consumers to attain value. It is also critical to ensure that the agricultural produce exudes great nutritional value to boost an individual’s wellbeing. Nations that seek to develop vibrant economies as apparent in economic growth, expansion, developing an appropriate work force and healthy setting should upgrade agricultural practices. They should adopt the conventional farming practices that are technological driven. This increases the magnitude and quality of agricultural produce as evident in early days of 1860s in US. Poor understanding on how agricultural practices were enhanced in the southern part of US impedes growth in several settings. Poor knowledge has affected food safety and production of crops. Lack of knowledge hinders production of quality agricultural products with appropriate nutritional content (Boyer 2). This study equips various stakeholders with information on the expansion trends of agricultural production in the southern part of US in the period between 1850s - 1860s, and its relationship with slavery. The research allows people to understand the significance of agriculture to the economy and societal process. This is critical because agriculture contributes to food security, job creation, interdependence and development of effective health standards from 1860s. It played

Digital Journalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Digital Journalism - Essay Example The changing face of journalism and mass communication is the rise of web 2.0. This is the rise of a new form of technology that allows people to not only read information online, but they can also contribute to the subject of discussion. The main characteristic is that he pages are not static, such that one reads information and contributes her opinion on the topic of discussion. The user can also store information, and social bookmarking abilities. This is the example of facebook and other social networking sites that allow for users to share information and share ideas (Fuchs 2011). Web 2.0 has an audience. The audience comprises of those who read the information on the sites and contribute. The rise of blogging has given a different dimension to the practice of web 2.0. The sites have their own audience comprising of people who visit the sites and share information. Those who participate in the blogging sites and other commentary sites comprise the audience of the sites. This platform has an impact on mainstream media as bloggers and other users can gather information and share it on these platforms, making the role of main stream media greatly diminished. Additionally, the users of web 2.0 can use the platform to confirm or deny the information carried on mainstream media, making it essential for journalists to always confirm their work before sharing (Dahlberg & Siapera 2007). It thus, increases accountability. The web 2.0 media are also cheaper ways of advertising and can carry more advertising messages as opposed to mainstream media. This means that the business that is the main source of revenue for mainstream media is being diverted. The use of the web 2.0 platform can also allow users to post information that is targeted at a specific audience based on the target audience of the blog. This increases precision of the message and

Overview of Immanuel Kants Grounding for the metaphysics of morals Essay

Overview of Immanuel Kants Grounding for the metaphysics of morals - Essay Example Kant uses Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals to help people obtain a better grasp at what moral principles really are. Kant provides a description of some of the general principles surrounding moral duties. He states that actions can only be considered moral if they are undergone for the sole purpose of being moral and without an underlying purpose. The next principle is that the quality of an action is judged for its morality based on the motive that produced the action, as opposed to the consequence of the action. The final principle declares that actions are only considered to be moral if they are undergone purely out of respect for the law of morality. These three principles reveal that to be considered an act of morality, everything must be done for the purpose of being moral. As there are many situations and circumstances to be taken into consideration, but cannot be due to their quantity, Kant points out that there must be a universal formula that can be applied to every situation to determine if what was undergone was done purely out of morality. This formula is as follows: â€Å"we must be able to will that a maxim of our action should be a universal law.† While this law may be considered intuition to most people, Kant still found it important to remind people of its existence and its purpose.

QUESTION What issues of the convention of ministerial responsibility Essay

QUESTION What issues of the convention of ministerial responsibility do the facts of the above scenario raise - Essay Example The office bearers are answerable to the parliament in general and the constitution of UK is strong enough to keep a check on everyone who has power and who is holding the offices in various ministries. To ensure the departments and governing bodies work properly, the government has a set of rules, and the responsibilities of these ministries are known to the general public. Thus if anyone goes against the norm, it is noticed and pointed out by the general public. The scenario created in the case is a very interesting one. First, the family minister who is supposed to protect the family unit and its respect is having an extra marital affair. Then the minister of social welfare is not willing to accept her fault and as a result lots of people are kept waiting for their social welfare funds. Thirdly, the prime minister simply finds it easy to ignore the no confidence vote!!! If for a moment one believes that this could happen in the UK government and House of Commons, it means that there practically would be no constitution to stop the powerful from destroying those who are powerless against them. Well, thanks heavens, this is not the case in general. The case is a piece of fiction which is too far fetched. In the past we do have examples of ministers who have abided by the rules and legislations provided to them by the constitution. Constitution for any elected government is the supreme authority. With the constitution in place, the ministers have the guideline for them to work upon. The Crichel Down Affair (1954) is one case that proves the importance of ministerial responsibility. : "Crichel Down was a piece of farmland in Dorset compulsorily bought by the government for defence use. Commander George Martin, son of the original farmer, wanted to buy the land back in the 1950s now that it was no longer used by the MoD. However the Ministry of Agriculture resisted, wanting to use the land for experimental farming in a time of rationing and agricultural development. However, Martin, a former equerry in the Royal Family, had very influential friends and stirred up much trouble in the local Conservative Party and government backbenches. There followed a public inquiry which criticized the department's decision and civil servants, especially their methods. It was seen as an example of an over-powerful state. Finally Dugdale announced that Martin could buy the land back and told the House of Commons he was resigning." Dugdale's resignation went down in history as an h onourable, even heroic, one: a minister taking responsibility for civil servant's actions. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministerial_responsibility) The issues raised by the scenario: Keeping this incident in view, the question that comes to my mind to carry forward this debate is that what are the measures taken by the government to ensure that the ministers are able to meet their responsibilities Is it just natural that the personal affairs of a minister can be a real concern in the dispensation of his or her public duties What are the ministerial ethics we are looking for Do the media have any role in pointing the faults of ministers out to them Also, we need to know if collective Ministerial Responsibility myth or a reality With reference to the scenario stated, an extra marital affair, which is specifically in the personal interest of the

MICROECONOMIC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

MICROECONOMIC - Essay Example What is the marginal cost and marginal benefit of another hour’s ticket inspecting? ? PAY/?HOURS=0. However, the marginal benefit for the first hour is high, while the marginal cost is low. In the second hour, the marginal benefit is high but lower than the marginal benefit obtained in the first hour (Heijdra and Ploeg, 2002, p.124). On the other hand, the marginal cost for the second hour is higher than the marginal cost of the first hour. This trend continues as the number of hours progresses. Thus, parking inspectors can only increase or decrease the number of checks depending on their levels of satisfactions. c) What would happen to Deakin’s revenue from parking (income from permits and fines) and to Deakin’s costs of enforcing parking restrictions if the likelihood of being fined if you don’t have a permit is 100%? What about if it is 0%? The revenues of the company are likely to increase if a fine for lack of permits is 100%. However, people may beco me vigilant and decide to obtain the permits. In such a case, the revenues would only depend on individuals found without permits. The costs would still remain the same since the company would have finances for its operations. In case the fine for not having permits is 0%, the revenues of the company would decline. It would depend on other revenue streams. Additionally, costs for offering parking services would use up the finances of the company. d) Minimizing the costs of parking Daily fees =$ 6 Total number of days =96. Total cost of parking for the student = cost of daily fees x number of days attended =6 x96= $596. The student is better off not buying daily permits because it will cost higher than the inclusive triple Tri-semester parking fee which is =$125. On the other hand, the student will be better of buying the yearly permit which costs $250. This is because in a year, Tri-semester fees will cost 125 x3= 375. Question 2: Prices and revenue a) Draw demand and supply diagram s to illustrate these two different markets. Make sure you label your diagrams, their axes and all relevant points. Price/charge supply curve y P2 P1 x Original dd curve 0 A2 A1 Number of car park permits According to the advice by the economists, reducing the number of permits from A1 to A2 would result in to more revenues. At A1 number of permits, the revenues that Deakin collects is represented by area A1 0 P1 X. When the number of permits is reduced to the level A2, t he price/charge increases from P1 to P2. The revenue collected after the change in number of permits is represented by A2 0 P2 Y. The economists estimates that the area A2 0 P2 Y will be larger than A1 0 P1 X. If it is larger, then the Deakin’s can increase revenues by reducing the number of permits. In other words, incase the recommendations by the economists is implemented, the quantity of permits will reduce, the prices charged will increase and the revenues will increase. b) Why does restricting the numb er of permits increase revenue for Deakin, but reduce it for the council? Explain what factors might bring about the different results in the two markets. According to the advice given to the local council, reduction in the number of permits will result in to reduction of revenues. This means that, if the council reduces the number of per

Discussion- Ch11 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion- Ch11 - Coursework Example The product life cycle and development strategies are checked so as to meet the consumer’s satisfaction needs. Price is a term used to refer to a value that is placed on an object to allow exchange between a seller and a buyer. When the buyer is satisfied with the product’s utility, they exchange their purchasing power. This, therefore, implies that any adjustments to the price has an impact on marketing and hence will influence the demand and sales of the product. Price is usually important as it determines the profits of the company. Promotion is a method used to persuade consumers to accept goods, services and even ideas. This is done through advertisements, public relations, publicity and sales promotion. Since digital advertisement is rapidly growing, it is the most applied forms of communication through social media and websites. Lastly, distribution is the provision of the product to the consumers in the right place and in desired quantities. Liang brings out the fact that marketing is a paramount tool for any business in the sense the company gets the publicity of its products and understands the needs of its consumers. He believes it is a systematic process whereby the company does a consumer based research and obtains information on an efficient way to reach out and sell their products and services. Liang covers the role of marketing for a business

Human resource management Essay Example for Free

Human resource management Essay Contemporary organizations are more focused on improving its organizational culture and work arrangement structure to gain competitive advantage in rapidly changing business markets. Change management is a biggest concern for contemporary firms to effectively manage its operations. Basis of success classified on human resource capital involvement in business decision making provide an opportunity to organization to move away from traditional practices of human resource towards employee equity participation in setting and achieving organization goals. Human resource management has undergone many changes in last few decades to improve the functionality of business processes; stabilizing the corporate culture and identifying the opportunity factors which enables organization to grow based on its human resource competency and skills. Traditionally, human resource was concern with only recruiting the employees as per the job demands and requirement. This restricted the HRM only to selective portion of organization processes management. Conversely, in last few decades when information technology has unfold great revolution pertaining to business industries HRM role has been reshaped concerning towards management of organizational culture and goals by involvement of employees. It now is not limited to recruitment and selection of employees but also place emphasis on training and development, managing employee communication, addressing ways to stabilize the organization culture, identifying the factors for growth of organization in changing market conditions, and is also providing solutions to human resource capital management and forming a policy structure to regulate and encourage employee participation in consideration with organization commitment and employee performance related factors management. Strategic operations of HR has enabled the organizations to set higher level of objectives and expand its operations successfully in international markets; devising new structures related to management hierarchy and work arrangement, such as management by objective structure formation as per contemporary need of flexible and rapidly changing business environment. HR roles in technologically integrated business markets has been shifted towards higher concentration work activities for employee management and effective organizational culture establishment; this enabled the organization to focus on employee involvement in business decision and setting of corporate culture consider employees as capital asset to organization. In general terms, HRM is expanding its capacity for organization development by effective utilization of employees’ skills. Persistent to objective of organization strengthening HR roles now require active concentration by management on employee empowerment issues that address decision making, hierarchy, information communication, employee appraisal for compensation and rewards, and employee involvement in goal setting based on equity based approach that also involve workplace diversity and managing cross-cultural business operations. HR practices now address many managing issues of organization for employee and organizational culture management. In order to reduce the cost, many private specialized institutions appeared in the industry that provided an opportunity to organizations for outsourcing HR administration activities, decreasing the overall cost. There are many HR practices which are being outsourced such as recruitment and selection, employee training and development, HR payroll, and HR legal work. Since organizations are diverting its human capital assets management to outsourcing organization therefore, duplication of activities can be avoided. HR outsourcing services helps in considerable cutting in cost while reduction in time for activities management. Integration of technology in HR practices provided extreme time saving measures as e-HR software can now perform many HR management activities such as employee information and data record management, provide payroll solution, helps conduct appraisal on online user interface, proper communication between inter-departments of an organization due to secured network. This helps organizations to move towards shared service centers for its corporate services; many firms have been utilizing shared service centre as a channel to manage its call centre operations by giving access to selective portion in e-HR related to purpose of service being outsourced. Establishment of shared service center is a demanding challenge for organizations as it needs to focus on normalizing the HR practices by addressing HR processes routine in nature. Shared service centre are more customer focused and receptive to contemporary business demand thus enabling firms to lower their operational cost for routine HR activities by involving shared service centre in developing and managing the controlled HR practices. This offers conglomerate advantages to firms due to increased performance and successful accomplishment of organizational goals even at international level operations. Strategically assessing the contemporary HR expose the potential challenges handling ability enabling the organization to diverge its attention on core processes related to human skills deployment at places demanding higher performance. Objective based strategic HR role through amendment in policy structure is giving autonomy to employee in work setting and goal accomplishment strategy formulation; protecting the shared values of organization culture and enabling the higher involvement of employees in business decision. Focus on rewards and compensation packages as factors to enhance employee motivation and organization commitment provides opportunity to attain higher level of employee performance and get positive results irrespective of organizational environment challenges. Globalization has created a dramatic change in the organizational structure and operational flow of business information. Human resource now focus on strategic components of employee performance in various dimension that offer unique advantages to firms in competitive market situations and enable organizations to manage its operations while maintaining discipline in organizational culture. International expansion of business requires addressing various components that form the basis of success in competitive markets for an organization through effectively utilizing human resource skills.

The Main Critiques Of Liberal Democratic Model

The Main Critiques Of Liberal Democratic Model One of the most important political ideologies used in the modern era especially by the Western countries is liberal democracy. A liberal democratic state involves of the goals of both liberalism and democracy. This essay will talk about the critiques of liberal democracy explaining the four criteria of liberal democracy and why it works or does not work in the context to the case study countries. In a liberal democratic model, it is necessary to have some basic criteria on liberal democracy. The four criteria that will be explored in relation to the case study countries are multiple distinct political parties, separation of power into different branches of government, an idea of equality and lastly secularism. According to Gordon Smith political parties are, the summation of pluralist tradition. This means political parties are very important because of the role they play in society. Pluralists debate that there should be multiple contenders in opposing centres of power as the power should not rest in one group rather be divided and diffused (Schwarzmantel, 1994:51). Political parties represent the public interests. Likewise, multi- party system creates diversity and competition in turn parties makes efforts and try out to reach to a larger group of people making their policies relevant. It emphasises different groups of interests within the liberal democratic state which prevents any one group from dominating. As each human being have different perspective of looking at the world, similarly each party might have a different interpretation on a policy because of the different ideals and values. The main aim of political parties is to capture state power. This pluralist view applies to a co untry like Russia where they have multi-party system. It is practically accurate to argue that at the national level Russia has attained at least a semi-pluralistic political system, with number of national parties and the strong influence of business interests. On the other hand Elite theory rejects the pluralist theory that power can be diffused and can be divided and spread among different groups of society. Elite theory argues that the power rests in the hands of few, who are wealthy. They assert that the average person cannot be heard because the power is usually concentrated in a few at the top. Democratic elite theorists argued that the decrease in internal party democracy and meeting process did not matter much, so long as competition between parties still give voters the final power. Elite theory says that two-party or multi-party system is usually dominated by an elite. For example in a country like USA elite theory works more than the pluralist theory. United States has two parties unlike the other countries that have multi-party system. In a multi-party system, political parties usually have specialised agenda which in turn represents their interests like environment, labor or business. But in America with a more generalised syst em, the two parties have to please a wider range of people to be elected. Consequently, both parties act neither too liberal nor too conservative. Many people agree that United States has a two-party system but there have been few cases where third party candidate won an election. Third party candidates have to struggle to get elected. The last time when the country saw a third party presented elected was in 1860 when Abraham Lincoln became President. In the view of elite theory they agree with the two-party system in United States as campaigns costs a fortune in this country. In their view the wealth buys the political power by recruiting capable individuals to serve the interests of the ruling class, and by financing the campaigns of politicians and the operation of political parties'(Module guide).Political parties are important for keeping the check and balance of power through peaceful means and are thus important in a liberal democracy. Without having any form of competition t hen from an elitist, then there would be only one outcome and that is whatever the elite considers the best then that will be the decision. In a country to be liberal democratic state power should be divided among different groups so that state cannot rule the masses on their own and the power is distributed among different factions of government. Pluralism critique of the state suggests a solution to how democracies can be realised in large and complex societies and how to achieve popular power and at the same time limit the power of the state. Pluralism is strictly against the totalitarian government. A pluralist society is on in which the decisions are taken by associations of citizens, acting independently of state. They assume state as a neutral actor which helps control conflicts and negotiations among groups. As all groups do not have equal resources or influence as some of the other groups in society, state does not favour any of the group rather remain neutral. Pluralism prefers a federal system of government in which power is divided among executive, legislature and judiciary. So that there is checks and balanc es and no one can misuse the power. Madison advocated a simple logic stating that, grant independent power to the different branches of government, and each member of that branch will have a personal interest in maintaining that power and preventing the other branches from carrying out their repressive designs. It means if the power is distributed among different bodies in the government, no person will be able to impose his or her will. Pluralist theory can apply to a country like France where there is a federal system of government although the executive is body is slightly stronger than that of legislature. However all the power does not rest with the executive, power also lies within the two remaining branches of government, the legislative, and the judiciary. The second critique which describes the state is elite theory. In their view, the separation of power is unimportant within the state because in the end unified elite hold the power. They assert that the elites will always hold power in the society in different forms and their nature will directly determine the properties of society in which they live. The post- war elite theory critique C. Wright Mills argued that important decisions made in United States policy making were most of the times made by unelected power elite. For example, Unites States has a federal system of government in which power is evenly distributed among the 3 bodies of government , namely legislature, executive and judiciary but there certain cases where there are power elite makes the decisions. For instance the head of a big American business corporation or even the President or his appointed staff. On the contrary, Marxist theory argues that economy is the most important element in the society and that the s ociety should grow towards a classless structure with an equal distribution of power. Each citizen should be treated equally irrespective of gender, cast and religion to live in peace. Thus, idea of equality should be present in every country which makes it an important aspect of a liberal democratic country. Marxist Theory can best explain that why there is inequality among countries. Marxists states that unequal distribution of wealth is caused by exploitation in production as well as distribution of wealth. Capitalism and notion of private property creates class differences and unequal distribution of power. Private property maximises the gap between rich and poor. For instance if a person owns a property, he gets to exploit people who dont which leads to other people working for the person who owns the property and can provide them with money. This form of organisation develops two classes, the bourgeoisie or ruling class who control and profit from the system and the working class who are much more numerous. In Marxist view wealth should be equally distributed am ong people. Rejecting this theory of Marxism, elite critiques argue that economic or social class forces do not determine what happens in society rather elites do. Italian writer Vilfredo Pareto criticises Marxists for overlooking the control of elite. For example in a country like America and Nigeria there is a huge income gap between rich and poor due to capitalism. The wealth is concentrated in the hands of elites which gives an adverse effect on the welfare of citizens. Utter poverty for a large percentage of the people of Nigeria is because of the mismanagement of the economy and widespread corruption by political elites. Therefore both the theories can be applied in the countries like Nigeria and United States. All the liberal democratic countries should accept that citizens should not be prevented from practicing their religion and the state is no one to interfere with the religious decisions of citizens or their institutions. Marxist sees religion as a feature only of a class-divided society. The theory argues that whichever class controls the economic production also controls the production and distribution of ideas in society via institutions such as church, education system and the media. For example, France has declared herself as a secular country having divided church and state during the French Revolution. However, over 80% of her citizens claim to be Roman Catholics, on the other hand 10% claim to be Muslim (CIA).In spite of being a secular state France does not allow manifestation of religion in public sphere. In 2004, an anti-religious law passed through legislature that banned the wearing of headscarves, turban, skullcaps, or large crosses in the public schools as (Graham, 109) .Therefore looking at this example of France it can be said that the Marxist theory can describe secularism in France as the person who is ruling is passing all the laws which controls all the power in the government and can influence any law in his favour. Moreover this law in the end can lead to divisions in society. Similarly, Pluralism accepts all the religions in the society and rejects the notion that there can be a single belief in religion or culture. That is, pluralism is a simple recognition of the fact that there are many different faith groups active in the country. Pluralist theory works well in the liberal democratic countries as they demonstrate well about secularism. Pluralist theory works well in religious country like United States which is a multi-cultural society consisting of many religious groups such as Christians, Muslims, Hindus.

Financial Analysis of Coles Ltd

Financial Analysis of Coles Ltd 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose In this report my purpose is to do a financial analysis of Coles Ltd which provides a basis, on which the valuation of company can be done. 1.2 Scope This report conducts a financial analysis for Coles by performing a trend analysis of financial ratios using the data given for past 5 years. It also includes a cash flow analysis which along with financial ratios helps compare coles with its industry counterparts, Woolworths and Metcash; and finally this analysis would help in price valuation to calculate a fair price for coles share. 1.3 Methodology This report is based on primary data available from Coles website as well as secondary data such as research paper, electronic database and other publications. 1.4 Limitation Although all efforts have been made to use as much available information as possible but there were some constricting factors such as lack of available data of past financial information which restricted this research. Reliability of data and time constraints were also hurdle in performing this analysis. The biggest shortcoming was that current data was based on AIFR and data for years before 2005 was based on AGAAP, which made comparative trend analysis very difficult. 2. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS In this we will be evaluating the firms financial ratios and cash flow measures of the operating, financing, and investing performance of a company in relation to key competitors historical performance. Given the firms strategy and goals, together these tools allow the analyst to investigate and examine a firms performance and its financial condition. Ratio analysis is the tool which involves assessing the firms income statement and balance sheet data. On the other side, the cash flow analysis relies on firms cash flow statement. 2.1 Ratio analysis The ratio analysis deals with evaluation of the performance of Coles in perspective of its mentioned strategies and goals. In order to achieve this objective a combination of cross sectional analysis and time series analysis is performed. Workings of Ratios for 2006 are mentioned in APPENDIX 4. 2.1.1 Profitability analysis If we look at the return on equity (ROE) of Coles, for a period of 5 years, it is being observed that ROE has increased in 2006 as compared to 2002. Although ROE has fallen in 2006 (15. 30%) as compared to 2005 (18.30 %) but it can be seen that on an average Coles ROE has been stable or increased over last 5 years. Return on asset (ROA) has also been stable around 10% during the last 3 years and increasing from 7.17% in 2002 to 9.54% in 2006.The main reason for stable ROE and ROA are better performance delivered by the management and as well as the mature characteristic of the industry, that produces stable return as well as stable growth seeing population demographics in the country. Table 1 Profitability Ratio of Coles Ltd Source: Coles financial statement after adjustment Gross profit has been quite stable and good for the last 5 years but the concerned part is the net profit margin. Net profit margin has been very low, it had been increasing from 2002 to 2005 but it again fell in 2002 to 1.57% from 2.08%. Coles need to reduce its operating and interest expenses so as to increase its net profit margin. Table 2 Profitability Ratio Comparison within the industry in 2006 On comparing the performance of Coles with its industry counterparts we can conclude that Coles Ltd is way behind its major competitor, Woolworths, in terms of ROE and ROA which might be attributable to lower net profit margin and lower financial leverage. Coles has higher financial leverage as compared to Woolworths and metcash, which means it, has greater financial risk. But despite of high leverage it has low ROE which confirms the fact that Coles has low net profit margin asset turnover ratio. 2.1.2 Activity Analysis A firms operating activities require investments in both short-term (inventory and accounts receivable) and long term assets. Activity ratios describe the relationship between the firms level of operations and assets needed to sustain operating activities. Asset turnover is important in determining firms ROA; it also formulates reasons of how it will affect firms ROE. Evaluating the effectiveness of asset management is the purpose of asset turnover analysis. 2.1.2.1 Short term activity ratios Working capital is our main concern while evaluating a company. It can clearly be observed that since Coles has high turnover ratios it uses cash basis in its sales. It can be clearly being seen that it took only 4.48 days on an average for Coles to convert its inventory investment back in to cash. From the figures last 5 years we can clearly interpret that Coles has drastically improved its cash conversion cycle from 23 days in 2002 to 4.48 days in 2006. Table 3 Short-term Activity Ratios for Coles Ltd Table 4 Short-term activity ratio comparison, 2006 Now, if we compare Coles with its competitors we can see that Woolworths has lower cash conversion cycle and metcash has higher cash conversion cycle. Woolworths has lower cash conversion cycle because it keeps inventory in stock for shorter duration and stock is converted in to good sold in less span of time. On the other hand Metcash keeps inventory in stock for lower no. of days but it provides more no. of days to its receivables for payment due to which it has higher cash conversion cycle. Seeing the industry it can be concluded that Coles has good cash conversion cycle but it can improve on it by reducing the Average number of days for which inventory is in stock. 2.1.2.2 Long term activity ratios In the analysis of long term activity ratios, long-term asset turnover and property, plant and equipment turnover have been utilized. Table 5 Long term activity ratios for Coles Ltd On the whole both ratios moved in the same pattern during these periods. Relatively, this pattern shows that asset utilization has improved uniformly for the period ranging from 2002 (310.12%) to 2006(372.70%). This helps to conclude that company is continuously improving its utilization of assets to increase its production. Table 6 Long term activity ratios comparison, 2006 While comparing to its competitors it can be seen that Coles total asset turnover ratio is approximately 30% higher than its competitors. It helps to analyze that Coles is more efficiently utilizing its resources to increase its production as compared to its competitors. Metcashs high PPE turnover ratio can be contributed to the fact that PPE forms a very small part of Metcashs total assets. If compare Coles with its major competitor Woolworth on PPE Turnover Ratio we can conclude that Coles has been utilizing its fixed asset better than Woolworths. 2.1.3 Liquidity Analysis Liquidity is referred to a firms ability to have sufficient funds when needed and convert its non-cash assets in to cash easily. Liquidity Ratios are employed to determine the firms ability to pay its short-term liabilities. Liquidity analysis enables us to determine Coles ability to cover its liquidity risk. Liquidity risk may arise due to shortfall or over liquidity within the firm and this in turn lead to firms disability of fulfilling its liquidity needs. In order to determine firm liquidity level, Current ratio, quick ratio and cash ratio are short- term liquidity ratios which have been employed. Table 7 Coles Short-term Liquidity Ratios On doing the trend analysis for last 5 years it can be observed that Coles current ratio has been consistently falling, which increases the possibility that Coles will not be able to meet up its short term liabilities. Current ratio has fallen from 1.37 in 2002 to 0.98 in 2006 which is of major concern, as a current ratio of less than 1 means that company has negative working capital and is probably facing a liquidity crisis. The more stringent measure of liquidity is quick ratio and cash ratio which have also been falling uniformly in last 5 years. It seems Coles is falling in to liquidity crunch and might need short term funds to meet its current liabilities. There has been lot of volatility in the cash ratio of the firm as they have been rising and again falling, so we can conclude that Coles is not able to maintain stable liquidity. Table 8 Short term liquidity ratios comparisons, 2006 As compared to its competitors Coles has better current ratio than Woolworths but has current ratio less than Metcash. Comparing Coles with its major competitor in retail sector, Woolworth, we can clearly see Coles has better current cash ratio but is behind on quick ratio. On comparing with metcash we see that Coles is behind on all the short term liquidity ratios by a very high margin. Metcash has twice the cash ratio as compared to Coles, which makes Coles ability to meet its short term liabilities questionable. 2.1.4 Long term Debt and solvency Analysis The analysis of a firms capital structure is essential to evaluate its long term risk and return prospects. The long term debt and solvency ratios which we are going to use here are debt to equity, debt to capital and interest coverage ratio. Table 9 Coles long term Debt and Solvency ratios As indicated by Coles debt and long term solvency ratios, it denotes that firm is not a solvent company and relies heavily on debt financing. The firms debt to equity and debt to capital ratios are consistently above 1.00 which shows that Coles employed more debt than equity as its source of financing. Debt to total capital has also been consistently been around 0.55-0.60 during the 5 year period. This shows that firm has been stable with its financing policy and has not done much change with its debt and equity mix. Since it relies so heavily on debt financing, issues can be raised regarding its ability to pay off the interest arising due to long term debt financing but we see that company has EBIT 7 times more than the interest charges it has to pay, so that should concern much. It can be observed interest coverage ratio has declined in 2006, as compared to 2005 2004, but it is still able to meet industry benchmarks. Table 10 Debt and Solvency ratios Comparison 2006 Compared to its competitors, long term solvency ratios of Coles seem to be performing optimally. Woolworths has got the highest debt to equity, debt to capital interest coverage ratio. Historically a debt to equity ratio of 2:1 is considered optimal so Coles can still rely on debt to finance its future undertaking rather then issuing new shares. It can be observed that Coles has interest coverage ratio greater than Metcash but less than Woolworths but that can be attributable to its low profit margin as compared to Woolworths. It seems Coles is at par with its competitors in terms of debt and solvency ratios. 2.2 Cash Flow Analysis Cash flow analysis is essential to understand that whether the firms cash flow have the ability to sustain the business, to meet unexpected obligations and to meet its short term liabilities. This also helps to understand whether firm will be requiring additional financing and firm can take advantage of new business opportunities as they arise. In cash flow analysis we will evaluate 3 ratios; Operating cash flow to current liabilities, Interest coverage (cash flow basis) operating cash flow to dividend payment. Methodology for calculation of cash flow ratios is shown in APPENDIX 5 Table 11 Cash flow ratios for Coles Ltd Based on the table above, we can say that Coles has the ability to service its debts which can be seen in firms interest coverage ratio from cash flow basis. Moreover, we observe that Op. cash flow to dividend payment has fallen over the time span from 2002 to 2006 which could be an area of concern. Operating cash flow to current liabilities has also fallen a bit, which means it can be a problem for the firm if certain unexpected obligation come up due to which it might require additional financing. Table 12 Cash flow ratios Comparison, 2006 If we compare Coles to its competitors in the industry which it operates we observe that Coles has got better interest coverage ratio (cash flow basis) as compared to Woolworths Metcash which means that Coles has better ability to service its debts than its counterparts. Coles also has a shortcoming in operating cash flow to dividend payment ratio, as it can be seen it has the lowest operating cash flow to dividend payment ratio. It can be attributable to the fact that it pays more dividends than it should pay. So it can be concluded that Coles needs to reduce dividend payment as it might lead Coles in to financial difficulties if some unexpected obligations turn up. In terms of operating cash flow to current liabilities we see that although it has fallen substantially for Coles in last 5 years but it is at par with its biggest competitor Woolworths greater than Metcash. 3. Prospective analysis Prospective analysis enables us to determine future performance of the firm based on historical performance of the company. Here will be determining the mean return for sales and earning before interest taxes (EBIT) . Using those mean returns we will be making a sales forecast and EBIT forecast. 3.1 Sales and EBIT forecast In determining the sales growth, I have considered the following assumptions- Past trend of sales is going to continue in the following years. Firm is not going to bring a major change in its pricing policy. The foundation for sales EBIT growth is historical sales EBIT growth and I have used mean reverting model to determine the future sales growth, in which future sales EBIT growth will be mean return of last 4 years sales growth. I have not taken the 5 year sales EBIT growth because EBIT growth rate is to high in 2002 (73%) which could adversely effect the mean return considering present situation of Coles. Table 13 Sales EBIT Growth Rate for Coles Ltd Using the mean reverting model we are able to find out a growth rate of sales for 7.64% EBIT growth rate of 11.87%. Using these growth rates we will be able to make a sales forecast EBIT forecast. This forecast will help in proper valuation of Coles on the basis of its predicted future performance. Figure 1 Line chart for sales EBIT growth Table 14 Sales EBIT Forecast for Coles LTD Using the growth rates we can forecast the sales and EBIT for Coles which helps an analyst in a fair valuation of the company. The main reason we use the sales growth as a base for forecasting, is that the majority of firm income is derived from its supermarket business. This forecast suffers from one serious shortcoming that EBIT growth has fallen from 34.31% in 2004 to 11.16% in 2005 and then to -17.07% in 2006 but we are still predicting a growth in EBIT of 11.87% in 2007 and thereafter. 4. Conclusion I have gone through the multi-step process of ratio analysis, cash flow analysis and prospective analysis to present a report on financial analysis of Coles ltd. During the process, I have identified that Coles is operating in a mature industry with small profit margins. I have performed ratio analysis, cash flow analysis prospective analysis which would help a great deal in valuation of Coles based on its current market situation. During the Ratio analysis I was able to conclude that Coles has got good activity liquidity ratios but the major area of concern is profitability ratios. Coles needs to improve its net profitability so as survive in this competitive environment. Cash flow analysis helped us to depict that Coles has cash flow ratios at par with its competitor, Woolworths, but Coles need to reduce its dividend payout as it is too high as compared to industry counterparts. By doing a prospective analysis I am able to forecast the future sales EBIT for Coles for next 4 years. Growth rate for forecast has been calculated using the mean return for past 4 years. This helps us to understand future growth of the company. I would like to conclude by saying that although Coles is competing in a low profit margin industry but it is the 2nd biggest company in the retail industry, therefore if it brings about certain petite changes in its financing and operating activities it can add a great deal to its shareholders value.

Essay --

In Sophocles’ work, Oedipus the King, Oedipus definitely fits Aristotle’s meaning of a tragic hero which is a man of honorable importance. He is not a usual man, but a man with outstanding superiority and immensity about himself. A man of his own ruins goes for a greater cause or principle. Oedipus conveys many mistakes. In the play Oedipus the King, things really had taken a turn from good to bad. Using Aristotle’s meaning defines will be proven that Oedipus is a 1main example of a tragic hero Nobleness, Tragic flaw, and Hardship are all characteristics that Aristotle described as to what a tragic hero really define as. These are also four features Oedipus proves his well- being of a catastrophic hero. Oedipus’ nobility and asset is responsible for his first strategic to success as a tragic hero. The nature of Oedipus ‘noble position as son of a king, earns him veneration from not only people of Thebes, but the audience also. The audience must respect a tragic hero as someone superior and more control below themselves. In line 13 of Oedipus the King play, Oedipus states, â€Å"tell me, and never doubt me that I will help you in every way I can†. By saying this he means no matter what it takes, he is willing to sacrifice whatnot for his people, the individuals of Thebes. A kingly courage is something he had and held it high over his head, so high over his head he made a sacrifice to flee away from his own city. Oedipus exiled from the city to die out the plague, so citizens of Thebes wouldn’t harm any longer. He had taken things in his own matters. Oedipus felt he was a problem and things would only be right if it was he who left. Doing this great deed Oed ipus shows that he is far from being self-regarding and closer to a leader. His ... ...g something bad that he was told he would do and ended up doing it any. Tragedy does not always mean death. It’s just something good gone bad. Oedipus is perfect for the statement. He's a hero because he saves his hometown from the sphinx and becomes king. He's tragic because he kills his father unintentionally and marries (and has children) with his mother. Oedipus realizes that if he had not successfully avoided the oracle in order to save himself. At some point tragic heroes realize there flaws and learn how to deal with the situation as Oedipus had done. Oedipus was unhappy because he was a good person with some bad habits and habituated to making bad decisions. He tragic hero of a tragedy is a needed element to stir shame and fear of the audience to complete the emotional purgation. Sophocles character Oedipus the King is a proven explanation of a Tragic Hero. Essay -- In Sophocles’ work, Oedipus the King, Oedipus definitely fits Aristotle’s meaning of a tragic hero which is a man of honorable importance. He is not a usual man, but a man with outstanding superiority and immensity about himself. A man of his own ruins goes for a greater cause or principle. Oedipus conveys many mistakes. In the play Oedipus the King, things really had taken a turn from good to bad. Using Aristotle’s meaning defines will be proven that Oedipus is a 1main example of a tragic hero Nobleness, Tragic flaw, and Hardship are all characteristics that Aristotle described as to what a tragic hero really define as. These are also four features Oedipus proves his well- being of a catastrophic hero. Oedipus’ nobility and asset is responsible for his first strategic to success as a tragic hero. The nature of Oedipus ‘noble position as son of a king, earns him veneration from not only people of Thebes, but the audience also. The audience must respect a tragic hero as someone superior and more control below themselves. In line 13 of Oedipus the King play, Oedipus states, â€Å"tell me, and never doubt me that I will help you in every way I can†. By saying this he means no matter what it takes, he is willing to sacrifice whatnot for his people, the individuals of Thebes. A kingly courage is something he had and held it high over his head, so high over his head he made a sacrifice to flee away from his own city. Oedipus exiled from the city to die out the plague, so citizens of Thebes wouldn’t harm any longer. He had taken things in his own matters. Oedipus felt he was a problem and things would only be right if it was he who left. Doing this great deed Oed ipus shows that he is far from being self-regarding and closer to a leader. His ... ...g something bad that he was told he would do and ended up doing it any. Tragedy does not always mean death. It’s just something good gone bad. Oedipus is perfect for the statement. He's a hero because he saves his hometown from the sphinx and becomes king. He's tragic because he kills his father unintentionally and marries (and has children) with his mother. Oedipus realizes that if he had not successfully avoided the oracle in order to save himself. At some point tragic heroes realize there flaws and learn how to deal with the situation as Oedipus had done. Oedipus was unhappy because he was a good person with some bad habits and habituated to making bad decisions. He tragic hero of a tragedy is a needed element to stir shame and fear of the audience to complete the emotional purgation. Sophocles character Oedipus the King is a proven explanation of a Tragic Hero.

Essay --

Introduction Today, there are many different types of mental illnesses known throughout the world; i.e. bipolar disease, schizophrenia, paranoia, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, ect.; and many people who are able to diagnose such illnesses when symptoms are shown throughout a person [Webmd.com]. What about back in the 1600’s though, when such illnesses weren’t even known yet? In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, for example, Macbeth showed many signs of what today would be diagnosed as symptoms of schizophrenia, but he had no idea, nor did anyone around him, they just thought he was going insane. What is schizophrenia one might ask? â€Å"Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder that distorts the way a person thinks, acts, expresses emotions, perceives reality, and relates to others† (Joseph Goldberg). Symptoms Medline plus tells us that there are three major symptoms of the disorder; not being able to distinguish the difference between fantasy and reality, incoherent conversations, and withdrawal physically and emotionally. The most common and most well-known symptom of schizophrenia is when people cannot distinguish between what is real and what is not [Medlineplus.com]. Schizophrenics often suffer from delusions and hallucinations. A delusion is a belief that is not true and a hallucination is seeing, hearing, or sensing something that is not really there [Schizophrenia.com]. Macbeth is considered a schizophrenic because he possesses all of the symptoms said above. Background information According to Schizophrenia.com, schizophrenia can be traced to the old Pharaonic Egypt, as far back as the second millennium before Christ. At one point in history, all people who were considered "abnormal," whether due to mental illn... ... of her womb before she could actually give birth, Macbeth then comes out of his delusional state, and we realize that everything he did was because of the witches, and that they made him go crazy and become a schizophrenic (Shakespeare 213). Conclusion Apparitions, eternally bloody hands, and ghosts all sound like key elements to a nightmarish dream. Imagine not being able to tell if these things were real or just a figment of your imagination and you’ll know the position that Macbeth was in. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth show signs of what would today be diagnosed as symptoms of schizophrenia. He became detached from reality and spoke in crazy incoherent sentence fragments. Though they were not able to identify Macbeth’s mental illness during Shakespeare’s time, now after many years of research, it seems very certain that he was most likely a schizophrenic.

Personal Strengths Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Personal Strengths and Weaknesses While many people tend to listen to family, friends, or co-workers about their own strengths and weaknesses, it will often come down to the individual’s own personal assessment of themselves as to what improvements or adjustments one must make. As with any subject, there are pro’s and con’s, or in this case strengths and weaknesses, in each and every one of us. Unfortunately, only a few care to relish on the weaknesses, and instead focus only on their strengths. When I think of strengths or weaknesses, I often try to think of weaknesses first. I am not a negative person nor am I always thinking of the worst possible scenario, but rather focus on faults first. Due to that thinking style or habit, let me start this paper with what I perceive to be my weaknesses. This essay may not include all of my strengths or weaknesses, but I feel it is a major portion of them. First I wish to mention a weakness. While at work or at home I tend to get sidetracked, or become one-track minded, when working on a problem. For instance, while at work if I am in the middle of a report or gathering information for an aircraft issue we are having, I tend to get so focused that I completely lose track of any other issues that may arise or inadvertently ignore anyone or anything that may come up to discuss another issue with me. Maybe it would be called becoming â€Å"overfocused† to give a definition to the s... Personal Strengths Essay -- essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Personal Strengths and Weaknesses While many people tend to listen to family, friends, or co-workers about their own strengths and weaknesses, it will often come down to the individual’s own personal assessment of themselves as to what improvements or adjustments one must make. As with any subject, there are pro’s and con’s, or in this case strengths and weaknesses, in each and every one of us. Unfortunately, only a few care to relish on the weaknesses, and instead focus only on their strengths. When I think of strengths or weaknesses, I often try to think of weaknesses first. I am not a negative person nor am I always thinking of the worst possible scenario, but rather focus on faults first. Due to that thinking style or habit, let me start this paper with what I perceive to be my weaknesses. This essay may not include all of my strengths or weaknesses, but I feel it is a major portion of them. First I wish to mention a weakness. While at work or at home I tend to get sidetracked, or become one-track minded, when working on a problem. For instance, while at work if I am in the middle of a report or gathering information for an aircraft issue we are having, I tend to get so focused that I completely lose track of any other issues that may arise or inadvertently ignore anyone or anything that may come up to discuss another issue with me. Maybe it would be called becoming â€Å"overfocused† to give a definition to the s...

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These picturesque geographical feature's boundaries delineat a low lying plain of about 47,570 sq. km. criss-crossed by innumerable brooks, rivulets and streams and rivers like the Padma[Ganges],the Megna,the Karnaphuli. Description : Physiography is the science which treats the Earth's exterior physical features, climate, life and the physical movements or changes on the Earth's surface, such as the currents of the atmosphere and ocean, the secular variations in heat, moisture,magnetism, i. e. physical geography. Sunderban is the most preciouse and wealthy area tor Bangladesn. nerban suituated in Khulna Division and it's gives protection to Bangladesh from outside enemies. There lives lot of different kinds of animals and these animals make our Sunderban beautiful and welthy. Mammals are a clade of endothermic amniotes. Among the features that distinguish them from the other amniotes, the reptiles and the birds, are hair, three middle ear bones, mammary glands infemales, and a neoco rtex (a region of the brain). The mammalian brain regulates body temperature and the circulatory system, including the four- chambered heart.The mammals include the largest animals on the planet, the rorqual whales, as well as some of the most intelligent, such as elephants, some primates and some cetaceans. The basic body type is a four-legged land-borne animal, but some mammals are adapted for life at sea, in the air, in the trees, or on two legs. The largest group of mammals, the placentals, have a placenta which feeds the offspring during pregnancy. Mammals range in size from the 30-40 mm (1. 2-1. 6 in) bumblebee bat to the 33-meter (108 ft) blue whale.Birds (class Aves or clade Avialae) are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic warm-blooded), egg-laying, vertebrate animals. With around 10,000 living species, they are the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. All present species belong to the subclass Neornithes, and inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from the 5 cm (2 in) Bee Hummingbird to the 2. 75 m (9 ft) Ostrich. The fossil record indicates that birds emerged within theropod dinosaurs during the Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago.Birds are the only members of the clade originating with the earliest dinosaurs to have urvived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago. Modern birds are characterised by feathers, a beak with no teeth, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a lightweight but strong skeleton. All living species of birds have wings; the most recent species without wings was the moa, which is generally considered to have become extinct in the 16th century. Wings are evolved forelimbs, and most bird species can fly.Flightless birds include ratites, penguins, and a number of diverse endemic island species. Some pecies of birds, particularly penguins and members of the Anatidae family, are adapted t o swim. Birds also have unique digestive and respiratory systems that are highly adapted for flight. Some birds, especially corvids and parrots, are among the most intelligent animal species; a number of bird species have been observed manufacturing and using tools, and many social species exhibit cultural transmission of knowledge across generations.Some marine reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs and mosasaurs, rarely ventured onto land and gave birth in the water. Others, such as sea turtles and saltwater crocodiles, eturn to shore to lay their eggs. Some marine reptiles also occasionally rest and bask on land. Tigers in Bangladesh are now relegated to the forests of the Sundarbans and the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Chittagong forest is contiguous with tiger habitat in India and Myanmar, but the tiger population is ot unknown status.In another study, home ranges of adult female tigers were recorded comprising between 12 and 14 km2 (4. 6 and 5. 4 sq mi). , which would indicate an appro ximate carrying capacity of 150 adult females. The small home range of adult female tigers (and consequent high density f tigers) in this habitat type relative to other areas may be related to both the high density of prey and the small size of the Sundarbans tigers. Present Condition Of Bangladesh : In present time Bangladesh environmental situation is in big risk.Lot of disaster were happened in past and present time also running. our animals are also in big risk due to people are destroying trees and lands for making dewellings and mutistoried commercial complexes. For these reasons our animals are losing their foods and living places for survive. How Can We Protect Our Wild Life : To save our wild life we have to take lot of steps to and to take care of them and we have to deocrate our environment to make survival of our wilf life. My Favourite Book For years, teachers and parents have been worried about comics, the cinema, television, and now the Internet. They all stop children reading, they say. However, it now seems that children are reading more than ever. Reading habits have changed, because there is now lots of competition from other media, but I think that reading is still popular. The reading is very important for me because book is cognitive. When I read a book I recognize something interesting, I get to know new hero and heroine. I like to read classical literature. It is my dream to become a student of the department of foreign languages and to be able to read the books by my favourite English and American writers in origin. What is my favourite book? This question is very interesting for me. Nowadays there are many different genres of literatures. And it is very difficult to chouse one of them. I read many different books. So in every book I always find thing, which I like very much. I like to read William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Robert Burns, Oscar Wilde, Jerome K. Jerome, Charlotte Bronte, Mark Twain, Jack London, Conan Doyle, James Aldridge, Jules Verne, Lewis Carroll, etc. I want to tell you about the book, which I like very much. This book is â€Å"Gone with the Wind†. The author of the book â€Å"Gone with the Wind† is Margaret Mitchell. She was born in Atlanta in 1900. All the family were interested in American history and she grew up in an atmosphere of stories about the Civil War and of stories of staggering events of recent epoch, because her father was a chairman of local historical society. War is one of the biggest misfortunes in the life of people. Now let’s revise some historic facts. Civil War began as the result of economy fight between northern and southern states. Northern states had preponderance – about 20 million of people against of 10 million of people and powerful industrial potential. But southern states had more talented generals and centered direction. After graduating from college Margaret Mitchell worked a little time for the Atlanta Journal. She wrote articles and stories for this journal. In 1925 she got married. In the following ten years she put on paper all the stories she had heard about Civil War. The result was â€Å"Gone with the Wind†. It was first published in 1936. In 1939 it was made into a highly successful film. Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable played the leading roles. Vivien Leigh won the Oscar. â€Å"Gone with the Wind† is the story about Civil War. Margaret Mitchell tells about life of people at the time of this war and about all burdens, which people outlived these years. In the text we can find the description of soldiers’ live. There we can read how cried mothers and wives then they dispatched their children and husbands on the War. â€Å"Gone with the Wind† is also about a love triangle. While Scarlett loves the quiet gentleman Ashley Wilkes, the wild and decidedly ungentlemanly Rhett Butler is in love with her. Ashley married Melanie Hamilton. After many adventures of her own, Scarlett married Rhett – but only for money. The marriage is stormly. That is why eventually Rhett walks out on her, but by the time Scarlett has realized that she loves him after all. Scarlett thinks of some way of getting him back, but we never know if she does because Margaret Mitchell died in 1949 in a car crash. After reading this production I find that it is very expressive and logical because Margaret Mitchell was a good narrator of real life’s stories. It is evidently because she dedicated lots of theme of her tales for real life. Style of this story is particular, spontaneous, and slightly natural. I can say that author tried to comment the actions of personages, and conveyed the senses. I find out that Margaret Mitchell had a good style of the true and delicate sense when she is telling about her heroes. I consider that her mix of fantasy and truth is excellent and unforgettable. I think that there is a splendid style of small drams of our life and society. Simplicity, precision and clarity are the main qualities of her style. The main heroine is Scarlett. This is a person with powerful and pointed mind and furious thirst of life. This is a person who Ã' Ã ¾uld menage all the problems came across successfully. She was able to stand up for herself; she found a way out of unpredictable situation. It she could make much, she has proved to herself, that she can all. Being selfish on her character, she had an indestructible carriage, which was specific feature of her background. After death of mother, on her hands there was all house and members of her family. She took care of her relatives even she had to starve. The only object which helped her to survive was her Tara, her native land. Tara was a fortress where she could not think of anything. When she stumbled into difficult situations, she recollected Tara. She saw the white house which is affably appeared through reddish autumn foliage. She felt silence of rural twilight. She remembered this shrill red ground, and gloomy dark beauty of pines on the hills. Memories of this landscape avoided her from dismal inner thought. In conclusion I would strongly recommend everybody to read this book. Such books as Margaret Mitchell’s â€Å"Gone with the Wind† can be the first step for everybody to get a good hobby of reading. My Favourite Book For years, teachers and parents have been worried about comics, the cinema, television, and now the Internet. They all stop children reading, they say. However, it now seems that children are reading more than ever. Reading habits have changed, because there is now lots of competition from other media, but I think that reading is still popular. The reading is very important for me because book is cognitive. When I read a book I recognize something interesting, I get to know new hero and heroine. I like to read classical literature. It is my dream to become a student of the department of foreign languages and to be able to read the books by my favourite English and American writers in origin. What is my favourite book? This question is very interesting for me. Nowadays there are many different genres of literatures. And it is very difficult to chouse one of them. I read many different books. So in every book I always find thing, which I like very much. I like to read William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Robert Burns, Oscar Wilde, Jerome K. Jerome, Charlotte Bronte, Mark Twain, Jack London, Conan Doyle, James Aldridge, Jules Verne, Lewis Carroll, etc. I want to tell you about the book, which I like very much. This book is â€Å"Gone with the Wind†. The author of the book â€Å"Gone with the Wind† is Margaret Mitchell. She was born in Atlanta in 1900. All the family were interested in American history and she grew up in an atmosphere of stories about the Civil War and of stories of staggering events of recent epoch, because her father was a chairman of local historical society. War is one of the biggest misfortunes in the life of people. Now let’s revise some historic facts. Civil War began as the result of economy fight between northern and southern states. Northern states had preponderance – about 20 million of people against of 10 million of people and powerful industrial potential. But southern states had more talented generals and centered direction. After graduating from college Margaret Mitchell worked a little time for the Atlanta Journal. She wrote articles and stories for this journal. In 1925 she got married. In the following ten years she put on paper all the stories she had heard about Civil War. The result was â€Å"Gone with the Wind†. It was first published in 1936. In 1939 it was made into a highly successful film. Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable played the leading roles. Vivien Leigh won the Oscar. â€Å"Gone with the Wind† is the story about Civil War. Margaret Mitchell tells about life of people at the time of this war and about all burdens, which people outlived these years. In the text we can find the description of soldiers’ live. There we can read how cried mothers and wives then they dispatched their children and husbands on the War. â€Å"Gone with the Wind† is also about a love triangle. While Scarlett loves the quiet gentleman Ashley Wilkes, the wild and decidedly ungentlemanly Rhett Butler is in love with her. Ashley married Melanie Hamilton. After many adventures of her own, Scarlett married Rhett – but only for money. The marriage is stormly. That is why eventually Rhett walks out on her, but by the time Scarlett has realized that she loves him after all. Scarlett thinks of some way of getting him back, but we never know if she does because Margaret Mitchell died in 1949 in a car crash. After reading this production I find that it is very expressive and logical because Margaret Mitchell was a good narrator of real life’s stories. It is evidently because she dedicated lots of theme of her tales for real life. Style of this story is particular, spontaneous, and slightly natural. I can say that author tried to comment the actions of personages, and conveyed the senses. I find out that Margaret Mitchell had a good style of the true and delicate sense when she is telling about her heroes. I consider that her mix of fantasy and truth is excellent and unforgettable. I think that there is a splendid style of small drams of our life and society. Simplicity, precision and clarity are the main qualities of her style. The main heroine is Scarlett. This is a person with powerful and pointed mind and furious thirst of life. This is a person who Ã' Ã ¾uld menage all the problems came across successfully. She was able to stand up for herself; she found a way out of unpredictable situation. It she could make much, she has proved to herself, that she can all. Being selfish on her character, she had an indestructible carriage, which was specific feature of her background. After death of mother, on her hands there was all house and members of her family. She took care of her relatives even she had to starve. The only object which helped her to survive was her Tara, her native land. Tara was a fortress where she could not think of anything. When she stumbled into difficult situations, she recollected Tara. She saw the white house which is affably appeared through reddish autumn foliage. She felt silence of rural twilight. She remembered this shrill red ground, and gloomy dark beauty of pines on the hills. Memories of this landscape avoided her from dismal inner thought. In conclusion I would strongly recommend everybody to read this book. Such books as Margaret Mitchell’s â€Å"Gone with the Wind† can be the first step for everybody to get a good hobby of reading.

Frued and Modern Psychoanalysis Essay

â€Å"Modern psychoanalysis† is a term coined by Hyman Spotnitz. â€Å"Influenced by the works of Sigmund Freud, Dr. Spotnitz believed that the principles of psychoanalysis could be extended to cure the severe narcissistic disorders that Freud had deemed untreatable. † (Sara Sheftel, 1991) Dr. Spotnitz and his colleagues described it as a â€Å"body of theoretical and clinical approaches† that could be used to envelop the full spectrum of emotional disorders and broaden the potential for treatment to pathologies thought to be untreatable by conventional methods. Modern psychoanalysis and other forms of psychotherapy are significantly different when compared to Freud’s concept of psychoanalysis back then. However, the popularity of the â€Å"talking cure† has remained present and people today actually realize that therapy works. When Freud first started treating patients this way, most people did not believe that simply talking about their problems would somehow fix physical issues too. Modern psychoanalysis takes Freud’s basic theory of human psyche and use it as its starting point. Modern psychoanalysis differs from other methods of psychoanalysis by following Freud’s later work and the work of Melanie Klein in stressing the importance of dealing with destructive behaviors as well as sexual motivation in order for the human psyche to evolve. (Pickren, 2010) Like all psychoanalysts, modern psychoanalysts emphasize the unconscious nature of much of human motivation, the impact of the early development of mental functioning on later functioning, and the tendency of people to repeat patterns of handling emotional arousal states. Also similar to other schools of psychoanalysis, modern psychoanalytic treatment emphasizes helping the patient talk progressively, working on resolving resistance to putting everything into words and on analyzing the transference of repetitive emotional patterns experienced with the analyst. (New England Association Schools and Colleges, 2010) But we cannot deny the influence Freud has had upon thinking in the 20th and 21st centuries. This has spread throughout Western culture and into the international creative arts. His thoughts can be observed in art, literature, cinema and the stage. Notions of identity, memory, childhood, sexuality, and of meaning have been shaped in relation to – and often in opposition to – Freud’s work. No doubt this influence will continue into the future. Psychoanalysis gained more popularity after Freud’s death, but then decreased in popularity again in the modern world. People today are looking for a type of â€Å"fast food, drive-thru† style of treatment. Therapy using psychoanalysis requires using a much longer amount of time than our society today have the patience for. Less lengthy forms of psychotherapy is preferred today, such as psycho-dynamics, family therapy, and cognitive-behaviorism. Sigmund Freud completely changed how the Western world thinks of the mind and human behavior, by using and developing techniques such as dream interpretation and free association. Freud has been universally acclaimed as well as he was deeply disliked by many who knew him for his personal views and his curt and deceptive personality. But for better or worse we live with a profound influence of Freud’s style of psychoanalysis.

Memorable Moment Essay

Intro: My experience entering University Kuala Lumpur when I arrived on campus Body: 1. Feeling of emotions 2. The place of building 3. Meet friends Conclusion: Hard moment to say goodbye to family One of the most memorable moments is the first time that I had through on January 09, 2013. It was the first day of my new life, the life that I was going to spend 3 years at University Kuala Lumpur Business School that formerly known as International School of Entrepreneurship (ISE). As people said, college life is a life of freedom but for me college is starting of a new life. For the first time, I felt so many emotions in my heart that makes my heart beat so fast. I was no longer being a girl but a woman who had to stay far away from home and family. I had begun to think myself to be a woman with lots of spirit to end of my study without any problem. When I entered my college for the first day, I looked around with a much more of various feeling. The stately building is what people always talked a campus in the middle of city. I entered the college with my best friend Nurulikma that I meet from old college when I take Diploma. Firstly I was going to Malaysian Institute of Information Technology (MIIT) University City Campus for registration. We need to fill up a few of letter form to get our dorm key. But finally after everything was taken care of we got to go to set up my belongings in my dorm. Never the less, when my family and I finally got up to the room and opened the door, I was very excited, I met my roommates, they are really friendly. We introduced ourselves. Unfortunately my roommates were from different states but for me it was okay even though we had some problem in communication. The room looks nice that I got to spend my first semester. I chose my bed near the plug as I need to use electricity sometimes. After I was settled in, my family and I had a nice lunch and wish them goodbye. That was the saddest moment because I need to live far from my family. (348 words) Read more: Proud Moments in Life

Island of the Sequined Love Nun Chapter 10~14

10 Coconut Telegraph Jefferson Pardee dialed the island communications center and asked them to connect him to a friend of his in the governor's office on Yap. While he waited for the connection, he looked down from his office above the Food Store on the Truk public market: women selling bananas, coconuts, and banana leaf bundles of taro out of plywood sheds; children with bandannas on their faces against the rising street dust; drunk men languishing red-eyed in the shade. Across the street lay a stand of coconut palms and the vibrant blue-green water of the lagoon dotted with outboards and floating pieces of Styrofoam coolers. Another day in paradise, Pardee thought. Pardee had been out here for thirty years now. He'd come fresh out of Northwestern School of Journalism full of passion to save the world, to help those less fortunate than himself, and to avoid the draft. After his two years in the Peace Corps were up – his main achievement was teaching the islanders to boil water – he'd stayed. First he worked for the budding island governments, helping to write the charters, the constitutions, and the re-quests for aid from the United States. That work finished, he found himself afraid to go home. He'd gone to fat on breadfruit and beer and become accustomed to dollar whores, fifty-cent taxis, and a two-hour workday. The idea of returning to the States, where he would have to live up to his potential or face being called a failure, terrified him. He wrote and received a grant to start the Truk Star. It was the last significant thing that he'd done for twenty-five years. Covering the news in Truk was akin to taking a penguin census in the Mojave Desert. Still, deep inside, he hoped that something would happen so that he could flex his atrophied journalistic muscles. Something he could get passionate about. Why couldn't the United States nuke a nearby island? The French did it in Polynesia all the time. But no, the United States nukes one little atoll in Micronesia (Bikini) and they go away, saying, â€Å"Well, I guess that ought to do for twenty-five thousand years or so.† Wimps. Then again, maybe there was something going on out on Alualu. Something clandestine and dirty. Jefferson Pardee had lost his ambition, but he still had hope. â€Å"Go ahead,† the operator said. â€Å"Ignatho, how you doing, man?† Ignatho Malongo, governor's assistant for outer island affairs, was not in the mood to chat. It was lunchtime and he was out of cigarettes and betel nut and no one had come to relieve him on the radio so he could leave. His office was in a bright blue corrugated steel shed tucked behind the offices of the governor. It housed a military-style steel desk, a shortwave radio, a new IBM computer, and a wastebasket full of tractor-feed paper stained with red betel nut spit under a sign that emphatically declared NO SPITTING. He was round, brown, and wore only a loincloth, a Casio watch, and a Bic pen on a string around his neck. He was sweating into a puddle that darkened the concrete floor around his desk. â€Å"Pardee, what do you need?† â€Å"I was wondering if you've heard anything going on out on Alualu?† â€Å"Just the same. Occasionally the doctor radios for supplies to be sent out on the Micro Trader. They're not officially in Yap state, so they don't go through my office. Why?† â€Å"You hear any rumors, maybe from the Micro Trader crew?† â€Å"Like what? The Shark People don't have contact with anyone since I can remember. Just that Dr. Curtis.† Pardee didn't want to be in the business of starting rumors. More than once he'd had to track down a story to find out that it had started with a drunken lie he'd told in a bar that had circulated through the islands, changed enough to sound credible, and landed back on his desk. Still, Malongo wasn't giving anything today. â€Å"I hear they have a new aircraft out there. A Learjet.† Malongo laughed. â€Å"Where did you hear that?† â€Å"I've heard it twice now. A couple of months ago from a guy who said he was going out there to fly it for them and just now from another pilot on his way.† â€Å"Maybe they're starting a new airline. Be serious, Jeff. Are you that desperate for a story? I've got some grants you can write if you need the work.† Pardee was a little embarrassed. Still, he had no doubt that Tucker Case had been contacted by Dr. Curtis. Something was up. He said, â€Å"Well, maybe you can ask the guys on the Trader to keep an eye out. Ask around and call me if you hear anything.† Suddenly Pardee had a flash of motivational inspiration. â€Å"If someone's buying jet airplanes, there might be some untapped government money out there that you guys don't know about.† He could almost hear Malongo snap to attention. Malongo was thinking air conditioner, laser printer, a new chair. â€Å"Look, I'll ask out at the airport. If someone's flying a jet off of Alualu, then they have to use the radio, right?† â€Å"I suppose,† Pardee said. â€Å"I'll call you.† Malongo hung up. Pardee sighed. â€Å"And once again,† he said to himself, â€Å"we lead with the ‘Pig Thief Still at Large' story.† A half hour later the phone rang. The phone never rang. Pardee picked it up and could tell by the clicking that he was being connected off-island. Ignatho Malongo came on the line. He sounded like he was in a better mood. Pardee guessed that he was in a state of foreign aid arousal. â€Å"Jeff, the Trader is in the harbor. Some of the crew was having lunch at the marina and I asked them about your Learjet.† Malongo was smoking a Benson & Hedges and chewing a big cud of betel nut. He was in a better mood now. â€Å"And?† â€Å"No one's seen it, but they did see some Japanese on the island the last time they were there.† â€Å"Japanese? Tourists?† â€Å"They were carrying machine guns.† â€Å"No shit.† â€Å"Do you think this means there's some military money coming our way?† Malongo was thinking air-conditioning, a case of Spam, a ticket to Hawaii to go shopping. Pardee scratched his two-day growth of beard. â€Å"Probably the crew off of a tuna boat. They've been threatening to shoot some of the islanders off Ulithi if they keep stealing their net floats. I'll check with the Australian Navy, see if they know about a Japanese boat fishing those waters. Meantime, I owe you a bag of betel nut.† Malongo laughed. â€Å"You owe me about ten bags by now. How you going to pay if you never leave that shithole of an island?† â€Å"You'll see me soon enough.† Pardee hung up. 11 Paging the Goddess The Shark men had been beating drums and marching with bamboo rifles since dawn, while the Shark women prepared the feast for the appearance of the High Priestess. In her bed chamber the High Priestess was doing her nails. The Sorcerer entered through a beaded curtain, moved up behind her, and cupped her naked breasts. Without looking up, she said, â€Å"You know, I used to get a pretty good buzz doing this in my studio apartment. Close the windows and let the fumes build up. Want a whiff?† She held the polish bottle out behind her. He shook his head. He was in his mid-fifties, tall, thin, with short gray hair and ice blue eyes. He wore a green lab coat over Bermuda shorts. â€Å"Missionary Air just radioed. Their Beech is broken. They're waiting for a part from the States and won't have it fixed for a month. Our pilot's stuck on Truk.† The High Priestess fired a glare over her shoulder and he could feel himself going to slime, changing, melting into the lowest form of sea slug. She could do that to him. Her breasts felt like chilled river rocks in his hands. He stepped away. â€Å"It's all right,† he said. â€Å"I've sent him a message to fly to Yap. He can catch the Micro Trader there tomorrow and he'll be here two days later.† She was not impressed. â€Å"Don't you think it might be a good idea for me to meet this one before he gets here? It took long enough to find him.† The Sorcerer had backed all the way to the beaded curtain. â€Å"You were the one that didn't want any more military types.† â€Å"Because it worked so well last time. It's bad enough I have to be surrounded by ninjas. I don't like it.† The Sorcerer couldn't believe anyone could walk that slowly and still express so much; it was positively symphonic. He said, â€Å"They're not ninjas. They're just guards. This will all be over soon and you can live in a palace in France if you want.† He held his arms out to receive her embrace. She turned on a red spiked heel and quickstepped back to the vanity. â€Å"We'll talk about this later. I have to go on in an hour.† Feeling stupid, he dropped his arms and backed through the beaded curtain. In the distance the Shark People began the chant to call forth the Priestess of the Sky. 12 Friendly Advice Tuck was sweating through a slow-motion dream rerun of the crash. The end of the runway was coming up too quickly. Meadow Malackovitch was bouncing off of various consoles in the cockpit. Someone in the copilot seat was screaming at him, calling him a â€Å"fuckin' mook.† He turned to see who it was and was awakened by a knock on the door. â€Å"Mr. Case. Message for you.† â€Å"Just a second.† Tucker scrambled in the darkness until he found his khakis on the floor, shook them to evict any insect visitors, then pulled them on and stumbled to the door. Rindi, the driver-rapper, stood outside holding a slip of paper. â€Å"This just come for you from the telecom center.† He reached past Tuck and clicked the light switch. A bare bulb went on over the desk. Tuck took the note, dug in his pants pocket for a tip, and came up with a dollar, but Rindi had already shuffled off. The note, on waxy fax paper, was covered with greasy fingerprints. Tuck guessed it had probably passed through a dozen hands before getting to him. He unfolded it and read. To: Tucker Case c/o Paradise Hotel From: Dr. Sebastian Curtis Mr. Case, I deeply regret that my wife will not be able to meet you on Truk as planned. We have reserved a seat for you on tomorrow's Air Micronesia flight to Yap, where we have arranged transport aboard the supply ship, Micro Trader, to Alualu. Your plane will arrive at 11:00 A.M. and the Micro Trader is scheduled to sail at noon, so it will be necessary for you to take a taxi to the dock as soon as you clear customs. I apologize for the inconvenience and would ask that you refrain from discussing the purpose of your visit with the crew of the Micro Trader – or with anyone else, for that matter. It would be unfortunate if this research reached the FAA before it had been thoroughly investigated. Rumors travel quickly in these islands. I look forward to discussing the intricacies of the particular strain of sta-phylococci with you. Sincerely, Sebastian Curtis, M.D. Staphylococci? Germs? He wants to discuss germs? Tuck couldn't have been more confused if the message had been in Eskimo. He folded it and looked again at the fingerprints. That was it. He knew that other people would be reading the note. The germ thing was just a red herring to confuse nosy natives. The bit about the FAA obviously referred to Tuck's revoked pilot's license. In a way, it was a threat. Maybe he ought to find out a little more about this doctor before he went running out to this remote island. Maybe the reporter, Pardee, knew something. Tuck dressed quickly and went down to the desk, where Rindi was listening to a transistor radio with a speaker that sounded like it had been fashioned from wax paper. Someone was singing a Garth Brooks song in nasal Trukese accompanied by an accordion. â€Å"It sounds like someone's hurting animals.† Tuck grinned. Rindi did not smile. â€Å"You going out?† Rindi was eager to get into Tuck's room and go through his luggage. â€Å"I need to find that reporter, Jefferson Pardee.† Rindi looked as if he was going to spit. He said, â€Å"He at Yumi Bar all the time. That way.† He pointed up the road toward town. â€Å"You need ride?† â€Å"How far is it?† â€Å"Maybe a mile. How long you be gone?† Rindi wanted to take his time, make sure he didn't miss any of Tuck's valuables. â€Å"I'm not sure. Do you lock the door at midnight or something?† â€Å"No, I come get you if you drunk.† â€Å"I'll be fine. I'll be checking out in the morning. Can I get an eight o'clock wake-up call?† â€Å"No. No phone in room.† â€Å"How about a wake-up knock?† â€Å"No problem.† â€Å"Thanks.† Tucker went out the front door and was nearly thrown back by the thickness of the air. The temperature had dropped to the mid-80s, but it felt as if it had gotten more humid. Everything dripped. The air carried the scent of rotting flowers. Tuck set off down the road and was soaked with sweat by the time he reached a rusted metal Quonset hut with a hand-painted sign that read YUMI BAR. The dirt parking lot was filled with Japanese beaters parked freestyle. A skeletal dog with open running sores, a crossbreed of dingo and sewer rat, cowered in the half-light coming through the door and looked at him as if pleading to be run over. Tuck's stomach lurched. He made a wide path around the dog, who looked down and resumed concen-tration on its suffering. â€Å"Hey, kid, you're not going in there, are you?† Tuck looked up. There was a cigarette glowing in the dark at the corner of the building. Tuck could just make out the form of a man standing there. He wore some kind of uniform – Tuck could see the silhouette of a captain's hat. Anywhere else Tuck might have ignored a voice in the dark, but the accent was American, and out here he was drawn to the familiarity of it. He'd heard it before. He said, â€Å"I thought I'd get a beer. I'm looking for an American named Pardee.† The guy in the dark blew out a long stream of cigarette smoke. â€Å"He's in there. But you don't want to go in there right now. Wait a few minutes.† Tuck was about to ask why when two men came crashing through the door and landed in the dirt at his feet. They were islanders, both screaming incomprehensibly as they punched and gouged at one another. The one on the top held a bush knife, a short machete, which he drew back and slammed into the other man's head, severing an ear. Blood sprayed on the dust. A stream of shouting natives spilled out of the bar, waving beer bottles and kicking at the fighters. Earless leaped to his feet and backed off to get a running attack at Bush Knife, who was rising to his feet. Earless hit him with a flying tackle as Bush Knife hacked at his ribs. A pickup truck full of policemen pulled into the parking lot and the crowd scattered into the dark and back into the bar, leaving the fighters rolling in the dirt. Six policemen stood over the fighters, slamming them with riot batons until they both lay still. The police threw the fighters into the bed of their truck, climbed in after them, and drove off. Tuck stood stunned. He'd never seen violence that sudden and raw in his life. Ten more seconds and he would have been in the middle of it instead of backpedaling across the parking lot. â€Å"Should be okay to go in now,† said the voice from the dark. Tuck looked up, but he couldn't even see the cigarette glowing now. â€Å"Thanks,† he said. â€Å"You sure it's okay?† â€Å"Watch your ass, kid,† said the voice, and this time it seemed to come from above him. Tucker spun around, nearly wrenching his neck, but he couldn't see anyone. He shook off the confusion and headed into the bar. The skeletal dog crawled from under a truck, seized the severed ear from the dust, and slunk into the shadows. â€Å"Good dog,† said the voice out of the dark. The dog growled, ready to protect its prize. A young man, perhaps twenty-four, dark and sharp-featured, dressed in a gray flight suit, stepped out of the shadows and bent to the dog, who lowered its head in submission. The young man reached out as if to pet the dog, then grabbed its head and quickly snapped its neck. â€Å"Now, that's better, ain't it, ya little mook?† The bar was as dingy inside as it was out. Yellow bug bulbs gave off just enough light to navigate around drunken islanders and a beat-up pool table. An old Wurlitzer bounced American country western songs off the metal walls. A khaki-wrapped hulk, Jefferson Pardee, sweated over a Budweiser at the bar. Tucker slid in next to him. Pardee looked up with red-rimmed eyes. â€Å"You just missed all the excitement.† â€Å"No, I saw it. I was outside.† Pardee signaled for two more beers. â€Å"I thought I told you not to go out at night.† â€Å"I'm leaving for Yap in the morning and I need to ask you some questions.† Pardee grinned like a child given a surprise favor. â€Å"I'm at your service, Mr. Tucker.† Tuck weighed his need for information against the ignominy of telling Pardee about the crash. He pulled the crumpled fax paper from his pants pocket and set it on the bar before the reporter. Pardee lit a cigarette as he read. He finished reading and handed the fax back to Tucker. â€Å"It's not unusual to have changes in travel plans out here. But what's this about bacteria? I thought you were a pilot.† Tucker took Pardee though the crash and the mysterious invitation from the doctor, including Jake's theories about drug smuggling. â€Å"I think the bacteria stuff was just to throw off anyone who got hold of the fax.† â€Å"You're right there. But it's not drugs. There aren't any drugs produced in these islands except kava and betel nut, and nobody wants those except the islanders. Oh, they grow a little pot here and there, but it's consumed here by the gangsta wanna-bes.† â€Å"Gangsta wanna-bes?† Tuck asked. â€Å"A few of the islanders have satellite TV. The people who look like them on TV are gangsta rappers. The old rundown buildings they see in the hood look like the buildings here. Except here they're new and run-down. It's a Coke and a smile and baby formula their babies can't digest. It's packaged junk food shipped here without expiration dates.† â€Å"What in the hell are you talking about, Pardee?† â€Å"They buy into the advertising bullshit that Americans have become immune to. It's like the entire Micronesian crescent is one big cargo cult. They buy the worst of American culture.† â€Å"Are you saying I'm the worst America has to offer?† Pardee patted his shoulder and leaned in close. Tuck could smell the sour beer sweat coming off the big man. â€Å"No, that's not what I'm saying. I don't know what's going on out on Alualu, but I'm sure it's no big deal. Evil tends to grow in proportion to the profit potential, and there's just nothing out there that's worth a shit. Go to your island, kid. And get in touch with me when you figure out what's going on. In the meantime, I'll do some checking.† Tuck shook the reporter's hand. â€Å"I will.† He threw some money on the bar and started to leave. Pardee called to him as he reached the door. â€Å"One more thing. I checked around. I heard that there's some armed men on Alualu. And there was another pilot that came through here a few months ago. Nobody's seen him. Be careful, Tucker.† â€Å"And you weren't going to tell me that?† â€Å"I had to be sure that you weren't part of it.† 13 Out of the Frying Pan Tuck's first thought of the new morning was I've got to catch a plane. His second was, My dick's broke. It happens that way. One has a â€Å"private† irritation – hemorrhoids, menstrual cramps, swollen prostate, yeast infection, venereal disease, bladder infection – and no matter how hard the mind tries to escape the gravity of the affliction, it is inexorably pulled back into a doomed orbit of circular thought. Anything that distracts from the irritation is an irritation. Life is an irritation. Inside Tuck's head sounded like this: I have to catch a plane. I'm pissing fire. I need a shower. Check the stitches. No water. It looks infected. Probably lep-rosy. I hate this place. I'm sure it's infected. When does the water come on? It's going to turn black and fall off. Whoever heard of a place with satellite TV but no running water? I'll never fly again. I'm thirty years old and I have no job. And no dick. And who in the hell was that guy in the parking lot last night? I smell like rancid goat meat. Probably the infection. Gangrene. I can't believe there's no running water. I'm going to die. Die, die, die. Not a pleasant place to be: inside Tuck's head. Outside Tuck's head the shower came on; brown, tepid water ran down his body in gutless streams; pipes shuddered and trumpeted as if trying to extrude a vibrating moose. The soap, a brown minibar made from local copra, lathered like slate and smelled of hibiscus flowers and suffering dog. Tuck dried himself on a translucent swath of balding terry cloth and slipped into his clothes, three days saturated with tropical travel funk. He shouldered his pack, noticing that the zippered pockets had been tampered with and not giving a good goddamn, then trudged down to the front desk. Rindi was sleeping on the desk. Tuck woke him, made sure that the room had been paid by the doctor as promised, then stood in the tropical sun and waited as Rindi brought the car around. It seemed like a very long ride to the airport. Rindi ran over a chicken, then got out and fought an old woman who claimed the chicken, each tugging on a leg, testing the tensile strength of poultry to its limit before Rindi busted a kung fu move that secured his dinner and left the old woman sitting in the dust with a sacred chicken foot in her hand. (The old woman was from the island of Tonoas, where magic chickens were once called up by a sorcerer to level a mountain for a temple, the Hall of the Magic Chickens.) At the airport Tuck gave Rindi a dollar for the cab ride, which was twice the going rate, and waved off the bloody handshake the aspiring gangsta offered. â€Å"Keep the peace, home boy,† Tuck said. 14 Espionage and Intrigue Yap was cleaner than Truk and hotter, if that was possible. Here the beat-up taxis actually had radio antennas to identify them. The roads were paved as well. The airport, another tin roof over concrete pylons, was filled with natives: men in loincloths and topless women in hand-woven wraparound skirts. Tuck caught a cab at the airport and told the driver to take him to the dock. The driver spat out the window and said, â€Å"The ship gone.† â€Å"It can't be gone.† What had moments ago been a pleasant drunk from four airline martinis turned instantly to a headache. â€Å"Maybe it was another ship that left.† The driver smiled. His teeth were black, his lips bright red. â€Å"Ship gone. You want to go to town?† â€Å"How much?† Tuck asked, as if he had a choice. â€Å"Fourteen dollar.† â€Å"Fourteen dollars? It's only fifty cents on Truk!† â€Å"Okay, fifty cents,† the driver said. â€Å"That's your counteroffer?† Tuck asked. He was thinking about what Pardee had said about these islanders absorbing the worst of American culture. This was his chance to help, if only in a small way. â€Å"That's the most helpless bargaining I've ever heard. How do you ever expect your country to get out of the Third World with that weak shit?† â€Å"Sorry,† the driver said. â€Å"One dollar.† â€Å"Seventy-five cents,† Tuck said. â€Å"You find another taxi,† the driver said, digging in his fiscal heels. â€Å"That's better,† said Tuck. â€Å"A dollar it is. And there's another one in it for you if you don't run over any chickens.† The driver put the car in gear and started off. They passed though several miles of jungle before breaking into a brightly lit, surprisingly modern-looking town with concrete streets. Occasionally, they passed a tin house with stone wheels leaning against the walls. The stones ranged from the size of a small tire to seven feet in diameter and were covered with varying degrees of green moss. â€Å"What are those millstone-looking things?† Tuck asked the driver. â€Å"Fei,† the driver said. â€Å"Stone money. Very valuable.† â€Å"No shit, money?† Tuck looked at a piece of fei standing in a yard as they passed. It was five feet tall and nearly two feet thick. â€Å"What do your pay phones look like?† Tuck asked with a grin. The driver didn't find it funny. He let Tucker out at the dock, which was suspiciously shipless. Tuck saw a bearded, red-faced white man sitting in the shade of a forklift, smoking a cigarette. â€Å"G'day,† the man said. He was about thirty. In good shape. â€Å"Impela my tribe?† â€Å"Huh?† Tuck said. â€Å"American, then?† Tuck nodded. â€Å"You Australian?† â€Å"Royal Navy,† the man said. He pulled a hat from behind him and tapped on it. â€Å"Join me?† He motioned for Tuck to sit next to him on the concrete. Tuck dragged his pack into the shade, dropped it, and extended his hand to the Australian. â€Å"Tucker Case.† The Australian took his hand and nearly crushed it. â€Å"Commander Brion Frick. Have a seat, mate. Looks like you been on the piss for a fortnight, if you don't mind my saying.† He handed Tucker a business card. It bore the seal of the Royal Australian Navy, Frick's name and rank, and the designation NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. Tuck looked again at the scruffy Australian, then back at the card. â€Å"Naval Intelligence, huh? What do you do?† â€Å"I'm a spy, mate. You know, secret stuff. Very hush-hush.† Tuck wondered just how secret a spy could be who had his status printed on a business card. â€Å"Espionage, huh?† â€Å"Well, right now we're watching the Yapese Navy don't make a move.† â€Å"Yap has a navy?† â€Å"Only one patrol boat, and she's broken right now. Yapese put gas in the diesel engine. But you can't be too careful, lest the little buggers get it in their mind to launch a surprise attack. That's her over there.† He nodded down the wharf. Tuck spotted a rusted boat designed like a Chinese junk with the word YAP stenciled on the side in flaking orange Rust-Oleum. A half-dozen Yapese, thin brown men with high cheekbones and potbellies, were lounging on the deck in loincloths, drinking beer. Tuck said, â€Å"I guess an attack would be a surprise.† â€Å"Ain't as easy a job as it looks. Yapese can lull you into a false sense of security. They might sit there without moving for two, three weeks, then just when you start to relax, wham, they make their move.† â€Å"Right,† Tucker said. The only damage the patrol boat looked capable of inflicting was a case of tetanus for the crew. A mile past the Yapese Navy waves crashed on the reef, just a line of white against the turquoise sea. Cottony clouds rose out of the sea into shining columns. Tuck scanned the horizon for a ship. â€Å"Is the Micro Trader in yet?† â€Å"Been in and gone,† Frick said. â€Å"She'll be back around in six weeks or so.† â€Å"Dammit,† Tuck said. â€Å"I can't fucking believe it. I need to get to Alualu.† â€Å"Why'd you want to go out there?† â€Å"I'm a pilot. I'm supposed to be flying for a missionary out there.† â€Å"Boys and I were out there in the patrol boat last week. Godforsaken place.† Tuck lit up at the mention of the patrol boat. Maybe he could catch a ride. â€Å"You have a patrol boat?† â€Å"Seventy-footer. Some of the boys are out with it now, tuna fishin' with the CIA. Don't mention it, though. Secret, you know.† â€Å"What's the CIA doing down here?† Frick raised a blond eyebrow. â€Å"Keepin' an eye on the Yapese Navy.† â€Å"I thought you were doing that.† â€Å"Well, I am, ain't I? And when they come back, it's my turn to go fishin'. Lovely, us bein' allies and all. Cuts the work in half. Want to suck some piss?† â€Å"Pardon?† Tuck wasn't ready for any kind of bizarre native customs. â€Å"Drink some beers, mate. If you keep an eye on the Yappies, I'll run down to the store and grab some beers.† â€Å"Sounds good.† Tuck was ready to take the edge off his headache. Besides, there was still a chance for a ride out to the island. Frick put his hat on Tuck's head. â€Å"Right then. By the power invested in me by the Australian Royal Navy, et cetera, et cetera, I hearby deputize you as official intelligence officer until I get back. Do you swear?† â€Å"Swear what?† â€Å"Just swear.† â€Å"Sure.† â€Å"There it is.† Frick started walking off. â€Å"What do I do if they make a move?† â€Å"How the bloody hell should I know?† Tuck watched the Yapese Navy for an hour before they all stood up and left the boat. He was pretty sure that this did not constitute a defense emergency, but just in case he decided to walk up the street to see what had happened to Frick. The pack felt even heavier now, and he guessed that it was the responsibility for Australian people that weighed him down. (A woman had once offered Tucker a goldfish in a bowl, and Tuck had graciously declined it on the basis that it was too much responsibility and would probably die anyway. He felt the same way about the Australians.) The concrete streets of Colonia were bleached white and stained with three-foot red strips of betel nut spit on either side and lined with thick jungle vegetation. Off the streets Tuck could see tin hovels, children playing in the mud, women passing the hottest part of the day combing lice from each other's hair in the shade of a tin-roofed porch. The women wore wraparound skirts, black with brightly colored stripes, and went topless. All but the youngest of them were enormously fat by Western standards, and Tuck felt his idealized picture of the beautiful island girls fade to a lice-infested, rotund reality. Still, there was something in their gentle grooming and in the quiet concentration of the children that made him feel sad and a little lonely. If only he could run into a woman he could talk to. A Western woman – she wouldn't have to know he was a eunuch. He broke out of the jungle into the open street of Colonia's main â€Å"business district.† On one side was a marina with a restaurant and bar (or so the sign said), on the other a two-story, stucco minimall of shops and snack bars. Around it, in the shade of the modern portico, stood perhaps a hundred Yapese, mostly women, some young men in bright blue loincloths, all shirtless. The islanders all had bright red lips and teeth from chewing betel nut. Even the little children were chewing the narcotic cud and spitting periodically into the street. Tuck walked in among them, hoping to find someone to ask about Frick's whereabouts, but none made eye contact. The women and girls turned their backs to him. The men just looked away or pretended to pay attention to sprinkling powdered coral on to a split green betel nut before beginning a chew. He went into a surprisingly modern grocery store and was relieved to see that the prices were in American dollars, the signs in English. He picked up a quart of bottled water and took it to the checkout counter, where a woman in a lavalava and a blue polyester smock rang up his purchase and held out her hand for the money. â€Å"Do you know where I can find Commander Brion Frick?† Tuck asked her. She took his money, turned to the cash drawer, and turned back to him with his change without uttering a word. Tuck repeated his question and the woman turned away from him. Finally he left, thinking, She must not speak English. He ran into Frick coming out of the store. The spy had a six-pack tucked under his arm. â€Å"I was looking for you,† Tuck said. â€Å"The Yapese Navy took off.† â€Å"You could have asked inside. They knew where I was.† â€Å"I did. The woman wouldn't talk to me.† â€Å"Not allowed to,† Frick said. â€Å"It's bad manners to make eye contact. Yapese women aren't allowed to talk to a man unless he's a relative. If a woman and a man are seen speaking in public, they're considered married on the spot. Shame too. Ever seen so many bare titties in all your life? Tough grabbin' a snog if you can't talk to them.† Tucker didn't want to talk about it. â€Å"You were supposed to come back to the wharf.† Frick looked affronted. â€Å"I was on my way. Didn't think you'd desert your post. I hope you're a better pilot than you are a spy. Letting them sneak off like that.† â€Å"Look, Frick, I need to get to Alualu right away. Can you take me in your patrol boat?† â€Å"Love to, mate, but we've got a mission as soon as the boys get back from fishin'. We've got to tow the Yapese patrol boat down to Darwin for repairs. Won't be back for a fortnight at least.† â€Å"Doesn't it make more sense to leave it broken? I mean, in the interest of watching them?† The spy raised an eyebrow. â€Å"What threat are they with a broken boat?† â€Å"Exactly,† Tuck said. â€Å"You obviously don't know a wit about maintaining job security. Mis-sionary Air might take you out, but I hear their plane is down for a while. Fishing boats are all Chinese. Buggers wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire. You might charter a dingy, but I doubt that you'll find anyone willing to take you across four hundred kilometers of open sea in an out-board. There's fellows do it off Perth, but the West Coast is full of loonies anyway. Get yourself a room and wait. We'll take you out when we get back.† â€Å"I don't know if I can wait that long.† Tuck stood up. â€Å"Where should I go to charter a boat?† Frick pointed to a large Mobil oil tank at the edge of the harbor. â€Å"Try heading down to the fueling station. Should be able to find someone down there who needs the gas money.† â€Å"Thanks, Frick, I appreciate it.† Tucker shook the spy's hand. â€Å"No worries, mate. You watch yourself out there. I hear that doctor's a bedbug.† â€Å"Good to know.† He waved over his shoulder as he walked down to the edge of the harbor. A group of women chewing betel nut in the shade of a hibiscus tree turned away from him as he passed. He walked along the bank and looked into the cloudy green water at the harbor's edge. Tiny multicolored fish darted in and out of the shallows, feeding on some kind of shrimp. Brown mud skippers, their eyes atop their heads like a frog's, walked on their pectoral fins across a small mudflat that had formed around the roots of a mangrove tree. Tucker stopped and watched them. They were fish, yet they spent most of their time on land. It was as if they had evolved to a certain point, then just couldn't make a decision to leave the water, grow into mammals, and finally invent personal stereos. For sixty million years they had been hanging out on the mudflats, looking at each other with periscope eyes and goofy froggy grins and say-ing: â€Å"What do you want do?† â€Å"I don't know. What do you want to do?† â€Å"I don't know. Want to go up on the land or stay in the water?† â€Å"I don't know. Let's hang out on the mudflat a little longer.† Tuck completely understood. Although if he had been a mud skipper, after a couple of million years of dragging himself around the mudflat, he would have lost his patience and yelled, â€Å"Hey, can I get some feet over here!†, thus moving evolution along. He was enjoying the superiority of the Monday morning quarterback (And in a world created in six days, what day but Monday could it be?), feeling a little smarter, a little more worldly than the mud skippers, when it occurred to him that he had no idea how to proceed. He could find the telecom center, if there was one, and contact the doctor, but then what would he do? Sit for two weeks on Yap until the Australians returned? Maybe they were wrong. Maybe there was a privately owned plane on the island. What about a dingy? How bad could it be. The sea looked calm enough. That's it, take to the sea. Or perhaps he should just stay on Yap and find a sympathetic woman to take his mind off the problem. It had always worked before, not to pos-itive results, but it had worked, dammit. Women made him feel better. He ached for a Mary Jean Cosmetics consultant. A cool, thin, married woman, armored in pantyhose and a bulletproof bouffant. A sweet, shocked, backsliding Born Again on a one-time sin quest to remind her of why re-demption was so so good. Mud skipper thinking. He was reeling with the heat and the lack of possibilities when he saw her, up ahead, walking by the water's edge, her back to him: a thin blonde in a flowered dress with a swing to her walk like a welcome home parade.