Sears Auto Center Scandal - 1475 Words

LGST001 Ââ€" Ethics and Social Responsibility Sears Auto Center Scandal Managing Business Ethics Text (pp.207 - 210) Ethical Decision-making Issue: Should Sears remove its commission-based compensation scheme? Group Stand: The majority of the group believes that Ellen should be removed from the team. Support for Motion: Rawls theory/Egalitarianism The underlying inequality is that car owners are paying for repair services they do not require while Sears benefits by earning higher profits. This is a result of information asymmetry given that the repair advisors are in a more knowledgeable position regarding the available and required services, and clients act upon their advice. Thus, there is an opportunity for advisors†¦show more content†¦Objection against inequality There is no inequality in the case because customers have the rights to refuse any recommended services by the Sears mechanics. Being the paying parties, they are in the position to demand for specific services and not accept any other types of repairs and checks. Even if inequality exists, the inequality is fair since there is no information asymmetry which can render it otherwise. Consumers can always increase their understanding of their cars by researching, seeking advice from other auto repair companies, or learning from peers. Furthermore, the inequality is just if it increases utility in society. Using Utilitarianism theory for Distributive Justice, the compensation plan maximizes profits which in turn affects the economy positively. With the additional profits, Sears is hence able to expand and hire more employees, and this will benefit shareholders in terms of dividend growth and increase share prices. More workers will be employed. This benefits economy and society altogeth er, thus the inequality is just. Ethical Egoism Following the argument for ethical egoism, everyone will do what is to their best interest first. Ultimately, this will achieve utilitarianism since problems regarding wastage and inefficiency will be tackled. The compensation scheme supports ethical egoism and society will be able to benefit as aShow MoreRelatedSears, Roebuck, and Co. the Auto Center Scandal2644 Words   |  11 PagesSEARS, ROEBUCK, AND CO. THE AUTO CENTER SCANDAL History and Introduction of Sear, Roebuck, and Co. Sears, Roebuck and Co began in the 19th century and sold farm supplies and consumer items as a small mail order company. The first Sears retail store opened up in Chicago on the 2nd February 1925 in the building named the Merchandise. This store had included a soda fountain and an optical shop. The first detached and separate retail store opened up on the 5th October 1925 in a city called EvansvilleRead MoreAnalysis of Sears, Roebuck Co, the Auto Center Scandal1367 Words   |  6 PagesStudy Sears, Roebuck Co, the Auto Center Scandal Ethical Issues 1. The first issue that presents itself is the aggressive, Profit seeking approach been taken by Sears in their implementation of an extremely tight incentive system within their Auto centers to increase productivity and reduce cost. 2. Sears was acting very unethical as they disregarded stake holders such as employees, customers and partners in their efforts to reel in profits. 3. Sear president andRead MoreBusiness Analysis: Sears, Roebuck, and Co. Essay1052 Words   |  5 PagesSears, Roebuck, and Co. seemed to have the right idea when beginning their business in the late 1800s. Instead of just opening up one type of company, Sears, Roebuck, and Co. expanded from retail to insurance, real estate, securities, and credit cards (Nelson, 2007, p. 207). Until the early 1990s, the company seemed to be doing very well considering the revenue and earnings reported that equaled up to billions of dollars. Then, the company began to experience financial difficulties due to the factRead MoreOrganizational Ethics934 Words   |  4 Pagesfollowing case studies from Managing Business Ethics as assigned by your facilitator. The case studies are found in the text near the end of the given chapter. o Merck and River Blindness in Ch. 2 o Pinto Fires in Ch. 4 o Sears, Roebuck, and Co.: The Auto Center Scandal in Ch. 7 o Videotek Corporation in Ch. 9 o Culture Change at Texaco in Ch. 9 o An Unethical Culture in Need of Change: Tap Pharmaceuticals in Ch. 9 6. Learning Team Assignment: Current Ethical Issue in Business Paper Read MoreMotivation by Commission Based Pay4502 Words   |  19 Pagessued or face regulatory sanctions incuuding loss of business licence ( Inderst Ottaviani, 2009). Fraud accucatsion over auto repair sales staff on commissions cost Sears $15 million in refunds and other legal costs. Sear’s auto repairs were accused of padding their commissions by falsesly diagnosing brake and alignment problems. As a result after the errupted scandal, Sears has stopped paying commissions and elimated the job of the service adviser. Their new compensation plan is now based 60% baseRead MoreMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 Pagesotherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, website www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, (201)748-6011Read MoreInternational Management67196 Words   |  269 Pagessimulations on the Online Learning Center complete the package. To help instructors teach international management, this text is accompanied by a revised and expanded Instructor’s Resource Manual, Test Bank, and PowerPoint Slides, all of which are available password protected on the Online Learning Center at www.mhhe. com/luthans8e. Two other innovations new to the eighth edition are an additional case, Nokia Targets the Base of the Pyramid, available on the Online Learning Center (www.mhhe. com/luthans8e)Read MoreTeaching Notes Robert Grant - Strategy 4th Edition51665 Words   |  207 Pagestheir impact on competition and proï ¬ tability. Analyzing market segments. Key success factors. Reading: Case: Grant, Chaps. 3 and 4 DaimlerChrysler and the World Automobile Industry Discussion questions: 1. What changes in the structure of the world auto industry between 1970 and 2001 caused industry proï ¬ tability to decline? 2. How is the industry likely to evolve over the next ten years and will it be more or less proï ¬ table than the past ï ¬ ve years? 3. Which companies will be most successful over theRead MoreManagement and Rolls Access Code14663 Words   |  59 Pagespeople and materials to do it, lead and direct the workers, and impose some controls to ensure that everything was done as planned. Another example of early management can be seen during the 1400s in the city of Venice, a major economic and trade center. The Venetians developed an early form of business enterprise and engaged in many activities common to today’s organizations. For instance, at the arsenal of Venice, warships were floated along the canals and at each stop, materials and riggings wereRead MoreAn Assessment of the Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Nige rian Society: the Examples of Banking and Communication Industries18990 Words   |  76 Pageslibrary. Julius Rosenwald fathered the country farm agent system and adopted the infant 4-H CLUBS. Carnegie was already retired from business and one of the world’s richest men. Rosenwald who had recently bought a near bankrupt mail order firm called Sear Roebuck and Company, was only beginning to build both his business and fortune. The two held basically different philosophies. Carnegie believed that the sole purpose of being rich is to be a philanthropist, that is, the â€Å"social responsibility of wealth†

Affordable Care Act Improving Quality Of Care - 1481 Words

affordable care act was developed to improve quality of care by reducing cost and the way care was being delivered to its consumers. The strictly mandated that each stated would provide and establish health homes for individuals especially those who are suffering from chronic diseases and illness’s. â€Å"I the law require the development of a core set of health quality and performance measures for adults to determine the quality of care provided to enrollees. It also provides Federal funding to increase primary care payment rates and for States that provide recommended adult preventive services and vaccinations† (Medicaid .gov, 2014). These mandates also require that some establishments provide customers with a good outcome and experience while at their facilities. There are also incentives provided to doctors who correctly diagnose their patients for the very first time reducing the rates of readmission this also applied to those that provided outstanding follow up ca re for patients â€Å"The new law provides incentives for physicians to join together to form â€Å"Accountable Care Organizations.† These groups allow doctors to better coordinate patient care and improve the quality, help prevent disease and illness and reduce unnecessary hospital admissions. If Accountable Care Organizations provide high quality care and reduce costs to the health care system, they can keep some of the money that they have helped save. Effective January 1, 2012† ( HHSGOV). With all these incentive beingShow MoreRelatedHealth Care Of The United States1594 Words   |  7 Pagesfew decades, health care industry in the United States is facing three major problems related to quality, costs, and access. The healthcare expenditure in the United States has increased drastically over the years and the United States still rank top in health care spending when compared to other top nations in the world. Despite having high healthcare expenditure, Americans have limited access to health care, spends higher costs for the procedures and getting poor health care outcomes. In a recentRead MoreHealthcare And Health Care Industry824 Words   |  4 Pagespast few decades health care industry in United States is facing three major problems related to quality, costs and access. The health care expenditure in United States has increasing drastically over the years and United states still ranks top in health care spending when compared to other top nations in the world. Despite of having high health care expenditure, Americans have limited access to health care, spends higher costs for the procedures and getting poor health care outcomes. In a recentRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act And How It Affects My Personal Nursing Practice1236 Words   |  5 Pagesallotted. By initiating the Affordable Care Act, the government is attempting to realign the balance between the insurance companies and Medicare, and to provide millions of uninsured Americans the opportunity to have medical insurance (King, 2011). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Affordable Care Act, and how it affects my personal nursing practice. Introduction of the Affordable Care Act On March 23, 2010, President Barak Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into affect in orderRead MorePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Ppaca)1014 Words   |  5 PagesProtection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010 and to discuss its potential impact on healthcare access, costs and quality, and insurance companies. . II. Healthcare Reform Timeline The PPACA includes comprehensive reforms that will take place over the next four years. It is intended to hold insurance companies more accountable, protect consumers, lower health care costs, increase the quality of care and provide more health care choicesRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act Of The United States1232 Words   |  5 Pagesin the United State to have affordable health care and if they were seriously poor then he wanted them to have health care for free. On March 23rd, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act. Many politicians were feeling a variety of feelings from happy for the bill to angry for the bill. What affect does the Affordable Care Act have on the US economy, US healthcare system, private insurers, and physicians? The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obama Care, is a newly established healthcareRead MoreThe Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act1272 Words   |  6 Pagesand Affordable Care Act In this paper I plan to discuss an increasingly difficult topic of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. I will go over the basics of the act including who founded it, when, what it states as well as what its purpose is. I will also discuss the nine titles of the Affordable Care Act. I will then go over how four of the nine titles have affected how nurses provide care. I will finalize my paper by reflecting upon what I have learned from the Affordable Care Act. IntroductionRead MorePatient Protection And Affordable Care Act1041 Words   |  5 PagesPatient protection and affordable care act was enacted in 2010 with the main purpose of minimizing the cost, improving the obtainability and affordability of health insurance. Uninsured rate will decreased at a faster rate.. It will achieve healthcare reachability to as many people as by extending public and private insurance. The Affordable act has included following: any one with pre-existing condition can not be denied of coverage, children under 26 may be eligible for coverage under their parentsRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act ( Aca )890 Words   |  4 PagesOn March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act which is an Obamacare, is the United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) experienced many challenges, debates, and objections until the Supreme Court rendered a final decision on individual mandate healthcare insurance to uphold the health care law on June 28, 2012. The mandate healthcare insurance for workers by employers’ obligation through a regulated marketplace of health maintenance organizationsRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act And Provides A Nice Knowledge Information And Summary1350 Words   |  6 Pagesa keen research on the Affordable Care Act and seeks to provide a nice knowledge information and summary. There is a wide base of research on the act and also of the nine titles of the act. The reader is also able to understand how the Act relates to health professionals in America. A description of Affordable Care Act The US healthcare team of professionals keeps on looking for ways of improving health services offered to citizens. In 1965, the Medicaid and Medicare Acts were enacted; PresidentRead MoreThe Patient Affordable Care Act1100 Words   |  5 PagesThe Patient Affordable Care Act also known as the Obamacare was created on March 23, 2012. The Affordable Care Act is a health care law that aims to ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable healthcare by increasing access to health coverage for Americans and introducing new protections for people who already have health insurance this law will hopefully create the transformation within the health care system necessary to contain cost. The ACA law puts in place comprehensive health

Gulliver’s Travels Free Essays

In order to fully understand Jonathan Swift’s central message in Gulliver’s Travels, one must examine in detail the book’s introduction, and its conclusion. While the second and third books of the adventure are not unimportant, it is the first and final volumes which, when compared with one another, offer the clearest representation of Swift’s thinking. The first book subtly reveals some the ideas which fuel the novel’s satirical aspect while the same concepts are lucidly communicated to the reader with great poignancy in the fourth book. We will write a custom essay sample on Gulliver’s Travels or any similar topic only for you Order Now One of the novel’s central themes is the methods man uses to resolve his disputes. The first component of this issue is an examination of how trivial some of man’s quarrels are. During his voyage to Lilliput, Gulliver discovers that the Empires of Lilliputia and Blefuscu are embroiled in a major war simply because their ancestors could not agree on which end an egg should be broken: â€Å"It is computed that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered death, rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end.† (36) Swift wants the reader to be shocked not only by the absurdity of the conflict, but by its scale as well. The idea that many wars are started for foolish reasons is humorously conveyed to the reader in book one. In book four, Swift takes another look at the same issue with much more serious intentions in mind. While describing the Yahoos (who represent humanity’s basic instincts), the author points out that humans have a natural inclination toward violence. Though humans have the gift of reason just like the morally judicious Houyhnhnms, they always seem to be fighting each other as a method of resolving disputes. For example, when there is a more than sufficient amount of meat for a group of Yahoos, they will fight each other in hopes of acquiring the excess meat. The image of long haired barbarians, rolling around in the mud, wildly struggling for every last morsel of flesh is an evocative one. It stands in sharp contrast to the toy soldier-like humanoids of book one, who, clad in replete military uniform, are fighting each other like the pieces of a chess game. Swift now has us observing a much more visceral scene in which man’s primal instincts are on display. Swift’s aim of lightly satirizing humanity’s tendency towards conflict in book one becomes a much more powerful and memorable message when it is taken to the extreme in book four. Another issue which Swift explores in Gulliver’s Travels is the nature of woman. Although the author viciously attacks women in the second book, the first and fourth books also include criticism of what was thought to be the weaker gender during the seventeenth century. The writer’s critical analysis of women begins in book one when the palace in Lilliput is on fire. Gulliver, seeing that the humongous palace is in danger of burning to the ground with members of the royal family still stuck inside, begins to urinate on the flaming structure. He successfully puts out the fire, rescuing all those inside. Though Gulliver saved the Empresses’ life, she has held a grudge against the giant since he came to Lilliput and thus remains ungrateful. Even though her dignity was dealt a minor blow, it is short sighted of the Empress to be unable to look beyond that and show Gulliver the gratitude he deserves. This is the first example of a woman using Gulliver for her own purposes and not giving him anything in return. Once again, the same idea is carried into the fourth book, and taken to a greater extreme. In the eighth chapter, Gulliver is bathing. A female Yahoo is stricken with desire and leaps at him: â€Å"The nag was grazing at some distance, not suspecting any harm. She embraced me after a most fulsome manner. I roared as loud as I could, and the nag came galloping towards me, whereupon she quitted her grasp, with the utmost reluctancy, and leaped upon the opposite bank, where she stood gazing and howling all the time I was putting on my clothes.† (259) In the above event, a female acts on instinct and desire and does not think of the consequences of her actions. She does what she does solely for selfish reasons. Both the Empress and the Yahoo got something from Gulliver but give nothing back in return. Swift once again introduces the reader to an idea in the first book, and increases his argument’s potency in the fourth book. In all four books of Gulliver’s Travels, Swift makes a mockery of the politics of his day. The author satirizes not only the politicians who lived during his time, but their methods of achieving political power, and the governmental structure of the British monarchy. The first book is the most political in nature. At a memorable point during the first book, the Emperor of Lilliput is trying to find new officials to occupy government positions. Rather than placing the men whose political aptitude is high in government, the Emperor of Lilliput stages an elaborate festival in which games of dexterity and agility are played. Any sane monarch who has the best interests of his nation in mind would never choose his ministers in such a foolish manner. Here, Swift humorously depicts how administrative decisions are made at the highest level. In book four, the staid tone of Swift’s message is far more poignant. In Yahoo society, each herd has a ruler. Every herd’s ruler has his own henchman or favourite. He typically gives this position to a good friend of his, or someone who is very similar to himself. The emotional Yahoos become very jealous of the leader’s second in command, and thus they take a great deal of pleasure in undermining him at every opportunity. Eventually, the favourite is discarded and replaced with someone else like him. This description of Yahoo politics serves to make a number of important points. Firstly, administrative political decisions are not typically based on candidates’ merit; often irrelevant criteria are considered. Secondly, any political system which fails to take into account even the basic needs of its people and angers them to the point of continuous violence is a great failure in Swift’s eyes. The fact that the Yahoos are constantly trying to undermine those who are in positions of power and who are supposed to represent them means that their political system is valueless. The author’s description of what is done to those who have been removed from political office only serves to shock and disgust the reader to a greater extent: â€Å"He usually continues in office till a worse can be found; but the very moment he is discarded, his successor, at the head of all the YAHOOS in that district, young and old, male and female, come in a body, and discharge their excrements upon him from head to foot.† Not only does this quotation indicate the disgust Swift, and the Yahoos have with their respective political systems, but it once again makes the point that in many cases, humans hate each other and are thus prone to conflict or other methods of expressing that hatred. As a neo-classicist, one the most vital piece of information Swift hoped to convey to the readers of Gulliver’s Travels is that human beings have a tendency to rely on their emotions rather than their reason when attempting to solve problems. Similarly, when humans do have the presence of mind to use their reason, they employ logic in order to accomplish immoral objectives. Illogical or immoral actions by human characters suggest this point in book one, and reinforce it in book four. After Gulliver captures the entire Blefuscian navy for Lilliput, he is met by an adoring populace in the Lilliputian capital. Even so, the Lilliputian high council decides that Gulliver should have massacred the entire helpless Blefuscian population and his failure to do so will result in his eyes being gouged out. The fact that he is their greatest weapon and has saved them from a likely defeat against their sworn enemies would suggest that torturing him is both illogical and immoral. This is yet another example of Swift using book one to insert humour into his novel while still conveying a serious message. In book four, the comedic element of tiny men believing they control a giant who could destroy them in one fell swoop is removed. All that remains is the harsh reality of Yahoo life. Instead of working together to improve their quality of life, the Yahoos use their ingenuity against each other, destroying each other’s quality of life. The logical course of action, in order to solve a complex problem, is to use all your resources. In book one and book four, humanity narrow-mindedly chooses to ignore chances to solve their many difficulties. At first glance, books one and four of Gulliver’s Travels exist simply to begin and conclude the book respectively. Following closer examination of both books, a parallel between them can be discovered: Swift subtly brings forth an idea or thought in the first book and disguises it with a layer of comedy. In the fourth and final book, Swift peels off the mask and the reader has the opportunity to view the idea in its entirety and is thus exposed to what is in Swift’s view, the harsh reality of what the human race really is, or is capable of being. 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Breezing Up Winslow Homer Essay Example For Students

Breezing Up Winslow Homer Essay The 1873 masterpiece Breezing Up, by Winslow Homer located in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC is an oil on canvas painting that measures 23 3/13 X 38 1/6 in.. The primary subject of this painting is a man with three boys in a small wooden sail boat that is moving along with what appears to be a fairly choppy sea. At the center of this painting is the stern of the sail boat. The oldest of the boys is sitting on the high end of the stern with his knees up and his bare feet planted flat on the deck in order to keep him from slipping down into the water. This image forms a powerful triangle in the center of the painting. The boyÃÆ'†¢s use of only one hand on the tiller line combined with his relaxed posture suggest that he is very much at ease with his responsibility of steering the boat. His face is only visible in a semi-profile view which exposes his chin, left cheek, and eye socket. These features are well defined against thick layers of puffy clouds which are lingering over the water. Like the others in the boat he is facing away from the setting sun which causes the light to reflect off the back of his long sleeved shirt and hat. Just to the boyÃÆ'†¢s right is the man in the boat who is presumably the father of the boys. His seated position below the deck allows the viewer only to see his face shoulders, arms, and hands. His red long sleeved shirt is the brightest color in the painting, and his calloused hands show strength as he holds the halyard firm in the cleat with a fully extended arm. Of the four people in the boat he is the only one with a troubled look on his face. According to David Prown this is a very common characteristic in HomerÃÆ'†¢s work. He says: Although the adults of HomerÃÆ'†¢s world seem isolated, his children frolic together in a cheerful world of laughter and mutuality. For Homer, growing up seems to imply a loss, a fall from paradise, removal from happy, carefree innocence and high spirits to a serious, lonely existence in which each man is an island unto himself. Prown 86 This is the perfect description of the expressions of the people in this painting. The children are clearly relaxed and content, but the father has an expression that suggests that he has something weighing heavy on his mind, and that he is receiving only temporary relief as he relaxes on the water with his sons. The other two boys are relaxing up towards the bow of the boat. The older of the two is stretched out across the deck covering the width of the bow with his leather shoes hovering inches over the water. The youngest of the boys is sitting up right on the deck with his feet resting inside the boat and he has a pleasant look of deep thought on his face. Clearly all of these boys are relaxed and content with their surroundings. Numerous fish inside of the boat suggest that this group has had an afternoon of fishing and recreation. They are not dressed for serious fishing, so there is a good chance they are out there strictly for leisure. A building off the bow on the distant shore is barely visible, and combined with the long shadows of the setting sun, it seems that they are heading home. Homers soft blue sky and puffy white clouds take up 2/3 of the canvas, leaving only the bottom third for the water and the horizon. The sky is completely empty except for a lone gull whoÃÆ'†¢s wings are lit up by the sun as is hovers directly in line with what appears to be a tiny illuminated sail of another boat on the very distant horizon. .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294 , .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294 .postImageUrl , .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294 , .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294:hover , .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294:visited , .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294:active { border:0!important; } .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294:active , .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294 .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uea53c21a64a7c270a16f01af92864294:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Painting Paper: Ballet School by Edgar Degas EssayHomer also has an uncommon ability to recreate curves just as they would appear in nature. He uses this ability to capture the shape and form of the rolling waves in the sea, by even more than that he uses it to capture the human experience. The use of the sunlight as it reflects off the cloths of the people in the boat adds to the realistic nature of this painting. The wrinkles of white cotton shirts of the boyÃÆ'†¢s are accented brilliantly as the sun illuminates and caused shadows on different parts of their arms. The four people in this painting express more with their body language that they do with their facial expressions. Particularly the curve of their backs is evidence of their state of relaxation. In the children there is no evidence of tension in their bodies. This is in contrast with the fathers posture where tension is quite evident. The viewers position directly off the stern of the sailboat is a privileged one. It allows Homers style of American realism to be truly revealed. The exact details of the small wooden boat are astonishing. He captures everything from the stitches in the sail to the twist of the lines. Even the grain of the wood in the the early part of Homers painting career, and this is apparent by the look and shape of the water. As his life progressed, Homer began to focus on the power of the water in the sea, and he earned a reputation for being one of the best painters of his time in regards to his ability to capture the motion and and power of waves. In this painting there is less attention given to the water causing it to have very general and undefined characteristic. This neutral aspect of the water gives the painting an over all feel of relaxation and comfort. Prown gives an interesting description to this painting in in his book American Painting From its Beginnings to the Armory Show. In this book he states: Breezing Up is a seagoing version of Snap the Whip. The boys exert a mutual effort for their common delight. One adult is present, briefly privileged to share their pleasure. The day is sunny; the air and water are alive. Wind fills the sails, and the boat fairly shudders as it drives through the choppy sea. The thrust of air against the canvas pulls every line taut, and hands work to hold this living machine, quick with the breath of nature under control. Prown 87. This is a nice description of the work. It seems that one of this paintings main focuses is the pleasure and beauty of children in nature. hull and the mast are perfectly visible. The attention to detail is magnificent. The use of light and shadows across the sail form a drastic contrast. This contrast gives the viewer a real feel for the way the sun is shinning across the water. The spray of water that washes over the bow as the boat bounces through the choppy water is another example of HomerÃÆ'†¢s close attention to detail. There is also a merchant ship on the horizon on the right side of the canvas that though distant still retains a great deal of detail. The sense of comfort and serenity on the boyÃÆ'†¢s faces is an interesting contrast to the expression of worry on their fathers face, but this worry clearly is not related to their situation on the water. This work was completed towards

Animal Farm Quotes Essays

Animal Farm Quotes Essays Animal Farm Quotes Essay Animal Farm Quotes Essay Napoleons own creation. Why, then, asked somebody, had he spoken so strongly against it? Here Squealer looked very sly. That, he said, was Comrade Napoleons cunning. He had seemed to oppose the windmill, simply as a maneuver to get rid of Snowball, who WA s a dangerous character and a bad influence. 22 From now onwards Animal Farm would engage in trade with the neighbor g farms: not, of course, for any commercial purpose, but simply in order to obtain certain mat aerials which were urgently necessary. The needs of the windmill must override everything else 25 It was about this time that the pigs suddenly moved into the farmhouse and t k up their residence there. Again the animals seemed to remember that a resolution gag insist this had been passed in the early days, and again Squealer was able to convince them that this was 5 not the case. It was absolutely necessary, he said, that the pigs, who were the brains Of the farm, should have a quiet place to work in. It was also more suited to the digging itty of the Leader (for of late he had taken to speaking of Napoleon under the title of Leader) to live inn house than in a mere sty. Nevertheless, some of the animals were disturbed when t hey heard that he pigs not only took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawings a s a recreation room, but also slept in the beds 26 It says, No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets, she announced finally. Cue rigorously enough, Clover had not remembered that the Fourth Commandment mention Ned sheets; but as it was there on the wall, it must have done so. And Squealer, who happen d to be passing at this moment, attended by two or three dogs, was able to put the whole ma utter in its proper perspective 27 but it was cruel work, and the animals could not feel so hopeful about it as the eye had felt before. They were always cold, and usually hungry as well. Only Boxer and Cool ever never lost heart. Squealer made excellent speeches on the joy of service and the dignity of labor, but the other animals found more inspiration in Boxers strength and his universal inning cry of l will work harder! In January food fell short. The corn ration was drastically reduce d, and it was announced that an extra potato ration would be issued to make up for it. The n it was discovered that the greater part of the potato crop had been frosted in the cal MSP, which had not been covered thickly enough. The potatoes had become soft and disclose red, and only a fewer edible. For days at a time the animals had nothing to eat but chaff a ND mangles. Starvation s eemed to stare them in the face 28 When the hens heard this, they raised a terrible outcry. They had been Warner d earlier that this sacrifice might be necessary, but had not believed that it would really hap pen. They were just getting their clutches ready for the spring sitting and they protested that to take the eggs away now was murder. For the first time since the expulsion of Jones, there w as something resembling a rebellion. Led by three young Black Minor pullets, the hens m dad a determined effort to thwart Napoleons wishes. Their method was to fly up to the rafters and there lay their eggs, which smashed to pieces on the floor. Napoleon acted SW fitly and ruthlessly. He ordered the hens rations to be stopped, and decreed that any animal giving so much as a grain of corn to a hen should be punished by death. The dogs saw t o it that these orders were carried out. For five days the hens held out, then they capitulated and went back to their nesting boxes. Nine hens had died in the meantime. Their bodies were e buried in the orchard, and it was given out that they had died of acidosis. Whimper hear d nothing of this affair, and the eggs Were duly delivered, a grocers Van driving up to the farm once a week to take them 30 Suddenly, early in the spring, an alarming thing was discovered. Snowball was secretly frequenting the farm by night! 30 6 Comrades! cried Squealer, making little nervous skips, a most terrible thing h as been discovered. Snowball has sold himself to Frederick Of Pinched Farm, who is even now plotting to attack us and take our farm away from us! Snowball is to act as his guide when the attack begins. But there is worse than that. We had thought that Snowballs re billion was caused simply by his vanity and ambition. But we were wrong, comrades. Do you know what the real reason was? Snowball was in league with Jones from the very start! H e was Joneses secret agent all the time 31 Since Jones had left the farm, until today, no animal had killed another animal 33 If she herself had had any picture Of the future, it had been Of a society Of ann. malls set free from hunger and the whip, all equal, each working according to his capacity, t e strong protecting the weak, as she had protected the lost brood of ducklings with he r foreleg on the night of Majors speech. 34 Ifs no longer needed, comrade, said Squealer stiffly. Beasts of England was t he song of the Rebellion. But the Rebellion is now completed. The execution of the traitors the is afternoon was the final act. The enemy both external and internal has been defeated. In Beasts of England we expressed our longing for a better society in days to come. But the at society has now been established. Clearly this song has no longer any purpose. 34 A few days later, when the terror caused by the executions had died down, so me of the animals remembered ; or thought they remembered ; that the Sixth Com amendment decreed No animal shall kill any other animal. And though no one cared to m mention it in the hearing of the pigs or the dogs, it was felt that the killings which had taken plan CE did not square with this. Clover asked Benjamin to read her the Sixth Commandment, and when Benjamin, as usual, said that he refused to meddle in such matters, she fetch De Muriel. Muriel read the Commandment for her. It ran: No animal shall kill any other animal thou cause. Somehow or Other, the last two words h ad slipped out Of the animals memory y. But they saw now that the Commandment had not been violated; for clearly there was go d reason for killing the traitors who had leagued themselves with Snowball. 35 All relations with Boxwood had been broken off; insulting messages had been sent to Piloting. The pigeons had been told to avoid Pinched Farm and to alter the Eire slogan from Death to Frederick to Death to Piloting. At the same time Napoleon assure d the animals that the stories of an impending attack on Animal Farm were completely unit e, and that the tales about Fredericks cruelty to his own animals had been greatly exaggerate De. All these rumors had probably originated with Snowball and his agents. It now appear De that Snowball was not, after all, hiding on Pinched Farm, and in fact had never been there in his life: he was living ; in considerable luxury, so it was said ; at Boxwood, and had in r laity been a pensioner of Piloting for years past. 38 About this time there occurred a strange incident which hardly anyone was a blew to understand. One night at about twelve oclock there was a loud crash in the y rd, and the 7 animals rushed out of their stalls. It was a moonlit night. At the foot of the en d wall of the big barn, where the Seven Commandments were written, there lay a ladder brook en in two pieces. Squealer, temporarily stunned, was sprawling beside it, and near at hand there e lay a lantern, a paintbrush, and an overturned pot of white paint. The dogs immediately ma De a ring round Squealer, and escorted him back to the farmhouse as soon as he was able to walk. None of the animals could form any idea as to what this meant, except old Benjamin, who nodded his guzzle with a knowing air, and seemed to understand, but would say nothing . But a few days later Muriel, reading over the Seven Commandments to herself, noticed that t here was yet another of them which the animals had 42 Meanwhile life was hard. The winter was as cold as the last one had been, and food was even shorter. Once again all rations were reduced, except those of the pigs and the dogs.

Free Essays on Federalism

Federalism is a basic provision of the U.S. Constitution. The founding fathers included this principal in their outline for the nation’s government in order to prevent a single centralized power from becoming overbearing. However, although at the time the Constitution was written federalism seemed like the answer to a number of problems, it does not always work in today’s modern world. Federalism, which come from the Latin foedus or â€Å"covenant†, is: one, the philosophy that describes the governmental system created by the Framers, and two, the sharing of power between the states and the national government (Marshall, 2). When the government was formed in 1787, the Constitution delegated limited or enumerated powers to the national government. Some of these enumerated powers granted included the right to coin money, conduct foreign relations and declare war. The Necessary and Proper clause also reserved any additional â€Å"implied powers† that the national government may deem necessary to carry out its enumerated powers. Four years later when the bill of rights was ratified, all remaining powers were granted to the states. Such state responsibilities include police power, managing budgets and enforcing laws in policy areas (Marshall 2). Other powers, such as taxation, establishing courts and chartering banks and corporations are powers shared by both powers. Ultimately, due to the way that the Framers designed the government, both the state and national powers are directly accountable to the people. Worldwide, government has been divided into three basic types: unitary, confederate and federal. Unitary is the most prevalent. In this system, the vast majority of power is held at the national level and very little is left to the small political subdivisions. An obvious example of a unitary government system is that of Great Britain. Confederations are the least popular type of government. In a confederation, all st... Free Essays on Federalism Free Essays on Federalism After the Revolutionary War the United States of America was a new nation free of the power of the British King. The country’s leader wanted a government whose powers rested in the hands of the people and not the national government. They did not want to live in a country where one ruler dictated what the nation was going to do and how they were going to do it. They decided that a federal government based on federalism would be the government for their new country. Federalism is a two level, or more government that specific powers are specified in the constitution for each level. # Federalism has been through changes since the Constitution of the United States was written in 1787. Our forefathers started this country on a dual federalism, in which the state and national governments have separate areas of authority. Under this type of federalism the national government had only the powers enumerated to them by the Constitution. The powers to coin money, regulate foreign and interstate commerce, establish a post office, declare war, and to spend the money necessary to promote the common good of the people of the United States were all stated in the Constitution.# The State government’s powers were strictly written in the Constitution under the Tenth Amendment , which reserved all other powers â€Å" to the states respectively or to the people.† These reserved powers written in the Constitution allow the States to have more powers on the general welfare of the citizens of this country. The States have the Power to administer the election process, conduct most court trials, operate the public school systems, and to maintain most of the public services in America. # # Harrigan, John J. & Nice, David C. Politics and Policy in States and Communities. Eighth Edition. Pearson and Longman, 2004. # Keefe, William J. Parties, Politics, and Public Policy in America. Eighth Edition. Congressional Qu... Free Essays on Federalism Federalism is a basic provision of the U.S. Constitution. The founding fathers included this principal in their outline for the nation’s government in order to prevent a single centralized power from becoming overbearing. However, although at the time the Constitution was written federalism seemed like the answer to a number of problems, it does not always work in today’s modern world. Federalism, which come from the Latin foedus or â€Å"covenant†, is: one, the philosophy that describes the governmental system created by the Framers, and two, the sharing of power between the states and the national government (Marshall, 2). When the government was formed in 1787, the Constitution delegated limited or enumerated powers to the national government. Some of these enumerated powers granted included the right to coin money, conduct foreign relations and declare war. The Necessary and Proper clause also reserved any additional â€Å"implied powers† that the national government may deem necessary to carry out its enumerated powers. Four years later when the bill of rights was ratified, all remaining powers were granted to the states. Such state responsibilities include police power, managing budgets and enforcing laws in policy areas (Marshall 2). Other powers, such as taxation, establishing courts and chartering banks and corporations are powers shared by both powers. Ultimately, due to the way that the Framers designed the government, both the state and national powers are directly accountable to the people. Worldwide, government has been divided into three basic types: unitary, confederate and federal. Unitary is the most prevalent. In this system, the vast majority of power is held at the national level and very little is left to the small political subdivisions. An obvious example of a unitary government system is that of Great Britain. Confederations are the least popular type of government. In a confederation, all st...

Organization behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organization behavior - Essay Example The planning was so poor that they could not even produce the final product in time as they wanted to. While Igor and Roman, the musicians, were busy brainstorming to create the product, all the other works relating to organization and finance fell on Sasha's shoulders. There was too much work to be done and too little resources to help accomplish that. Making use of external talent would have helped reduce the burden on the founders, but outsiders either didn't get along with the founders or they were not able to visualize the project the way the founders did. In any case, working with outsiders didn't seem to be effective and by looking at the initial conversation between Igor and Henry, it didn't look like the founders did anything about analyzing as to why it wasn't effective. The founders were from the same ethnical background and so could relate to each other well. They ended up forming a comfortable zone which wasn't open enough for the outsiders. This resulted in a serious sh ortage of experience and resources required to effectively market and distribute their product. By avoiding flow of ideas from outsiders, the founders narrowed their view of the directions in which the project could have been taken. Moreover, the founders lacked the knowledge pertaining to the music industry. Though Sasha had prior experience and the educational background required in the business world, it was only general management skill that he had developed all this while, and not an experience in the music industry. All in all, the project was too big for just the three of them to handle considering the limited knowledge and experience they had. (2) The greatest strength that the MGI team had was their high level of commitment towards the project as well as the team. There were many disagreements and misunderstandings between Sasha and Roman, but they somehow seemed to get past it. There was an unspoken implied commitment among the three that they would never walk away from the team. The next strength that is evident in the team is the combination of the three. Roman is the one with the creative ideas, Igor is able to relate to Roman's creative ideas and keeps the company together by acting as a moderator between Sasha and Roman, and Sasha organizes and manages the finance. Most importantly, they were creative and hence, were able to come up with a unique product. Their product was a critical success and was appreciated for its high quality and originality. If I had to evaluate the MGI team 'on paper', I would give them a perfect ten for their degree of creativity and innovation. So would be the case even with respect to the potential of the business to create value. The product would be helpful in educating children and teenagers, and in promoting good music. However, I would not be equally generous when it came to other aspects. There was no proper strategy that the team adopted to exploit the opportunity. They stunted their thoughts when it came to the market they should be aiming at; they limited themselves to just the teenagers. Also, when it came to the finances of the team, they were not reasonable. They never planned it well and as a result, they ended up broke with no money to take the project any further. The team's ability to actually implement the proposal was poor. A lot of time was spent on creation of the product, but they never spent time on implementing their plans with respect to

Project management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Project management - Case Study Example Utilisation Utilization = Actual output/ Design capacity In this case the actual output is 12,000kg and designed capacity of 20,000kg. Utilization will be; 12,000/20,000*100%= 60%. 60% utilization determine the effective capacity since if the plant is not turned on, then the effective capacity is zero. Ultimately, the dry cleaner designs will have some redundancies which lead to simple de-bottlenecking "adding" to capacity.   v. Efficiency Efficiency is the actual output as determined through a percent of effective capacity. Hence, it is given as; actual output / effective capacity. In this case study, efficiency will be; (12,000/16,000) * 100% = 75%. (b) Managing Actual Output, Utilisation and Efficiency of the resources available The concern in the dry cleaning business is more on productivity that relates to competitiveness. The business will not be able to earn greater profit or charge a lower price. There is need for the business to increase its efficiency from 75% to over 80% to boost operational efficiency whenever probable. Utilization as well is at 60% which is low. The solutions to increasing utilization is through keeping the dry cleaning equipment in proper operational conditions, correcting quality problems, reducing bottlenecks and training of employees (Krajewski & Ritzman 2005). In order to increase the actual output, the company must use a benchmarking method which measures capacity from choice of one not requiring adjustment or constant updates. The dry cleaning company can benchmark the existing operational efficiency against other efficient dry cleaners in the locality whether in emerging or mature markets. The next step is to evaluate the efficiency of work process to point out areas requiring improvement. Finally, the company can develop solutions meant to increase performance in these areas. This can include checking the speed of receipt of garments, sorting, cleaning, drying and packaging of cleaned clothes. Increasing the hours worked for each employee is one input which should be increased to over 70% but by not increasing the number of employees to run the dry cleaning business (Krajewski & Ritzman 2005). The gains or losses must be tracked and performance standards established. The company should also create worksheets capturing weekly, monthly and yearly data. Question 2 Devise and implement a brief project management plan to include; a) Scope Management Scope management ensures clarity of project guidelines drawn from the triple constraints such as cost, quality and time or schedule. For instance, a construction project synchronises the triple constraints to drive stakeholders’ perceptions of the success of the project. The scope of the project plan is monitored for probable changes if the scope of the project changes (Carly 2004). Agreeing on the scope ensures minimal rework which commits extra resources, time and cost overruns. In the case of the construction project, the prefabs will take 45 days to complete 4 houses. The expected project cost will be $4500. This project is anticipated to be made of cedar, cemented floor and Gall sheet roofing. The project will involve a sufficient amount of work, only necessary work is carried out and work completed contributes to success of the construction project. The project will use existing technology since it is conventional (Thieraus et al 2009). The scope is clearly defined and the design

Historical Development of Graphic Design and Animation Theories Essay

Historical Development of Graphic Design and Animation Theories - Essay Example From the research it is clear that early specimen of graphics manifested in the form of symbols, signs and writings on any surface. A myriad of graphic designs were developed through time applying different techniques to capture the attention of the admiring audience. It was not until the 1920s when a group of German psychologists namely: Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka, devised a systematic approach in graphical design perception. They based their interpretation of graphical design on the notion of completion, where audiences sub-consciously view separately arranged entities as a single item. According to the paper finding colors were incorporated into graphics. This was so because colors were able to convey emotions and moods unlike previous monotonous colors (black and white). From the latter events, it can be presumed that colors breathed life into graphics. Most people’s initial knowledge on color, seem to suggest that all colors are simple mixture of three primary colors; green, red and blue. The color theory vehemently disputes this notion. It is crucial to understand the basics of color formation so as to accurately utilize those (colors) in graphic design to imply various moods. The contentious issue of color formation dates back to the 15th century where a number of disciplines were used in explaining the concept, namely; chemistry, mathematics and physics. Not all yielded to viable conclusion.

Effects Of London Riots Criminology Essay

Effects Of London Riots Criminology Essay In august 2011 between 6th and 10th thousands of people in United Kingdom start rioting in several boroughs in London and many cities and towns even. This was began due to protest against the death of a local who was shot dead by police. There were many violence began with policing, destroyed many police vehicles, homes and business of civilians and even magistrates court of London. The results generated were arson, lootings and mass deployment of police. It was said this London riots were organised through mobile devises and other social media, so this is also called as the BlackBerry Riots. This report is based on the London Riots took place in 2011 in UK and this is addressed by a government advisor as his new assignment. Under this study it was discussed the background of the London riots, the real issue, solutions for the problem and finally provided recommendations for future activities to avoid such violence in London. London Riots Background of the London riots Several areas of London in August 2011 experienced episodes of large-scale disorder, comprising rioting, violence and looting. The riots spread to other parts of England including Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and Birmingham. After the end of the riots, around 3100 people were arrested by the police where 1000 were charged. It is still remains unclear about the real reason and rational was grounded for these attacks, acts of arson, vandalism and cause death for five people. But it is clearly provide evidence of the power to challenging the authority and mobilized collective effort of people. As per Ryde (2013: p.119) this is a best example of a decline in deference but not one it would seem that has been accompanied by the aspirations, creative consequences or political believes associated with many other uprising or rebellions. As per Guardians (2013), the London School of Economies says in its report of Reading the Riots, the reason for these riots is a combination of poor treatments and engagement by the police of communities as well as harsh circumstances in economy and high rates of unemployment. Some interviews of the rioters explained that they were engaged in the riots due to the removal of the education maintenance allowance and the increase in tuition fees. Likewise different people have different reasons for the riots but still they gathered collectively to protest against the authority of England. Who engaged in riots? Based on the findings of Riots Communities and Victims Panel (2012) it was estimated that 13,000-15,000 people were actually involved in the riots, police was arrested nearly 4,000 people where nine out of ten are known by the police with their previous crime records. A total of 945 of the 1483 found guilty and sentenced for average of 14.2 months into jail. During this riots, in total more than 5,000 crimes were committed including 1860 incidents of arson and criminal damages, 141 incidence of disorder, 1649 burglaries, 366 incidents of violence and 5 fatalist deaths. Records indicate the followings; Majority of those who brought before court were male with previous conviction records. When it comes to the children, brought before court, tow third of them have special education needs and they are more likely to live in the 10% lowest income areas. Those children are receiving free meal at schools. It seems that there is a link between deprivation and the rioting as research findings indicate that 70% of those who brought before court were live in the 30% most deprived areas in the country. Figure 1.1 shows the number of riot-related crimes and deprivation levels in riot-affected local areas and figure 1.2 illustrates the deprivation areas where suspected rioter live. And also when it comes to unemployment who seek jobs is high among 16-24 years of ages and in riots postcodes the percentage is 7.5 and 6% in non-riot areas. Figure 1.3 illustrates the comparison of age distribution of suspected rioters and the age distribution of the population of England. C:UserspcDesktopUntitled.jpg Figure 1.1: The number of riot-related crimes and deprivation levels in riot-affected areas Source: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk C:UserspcDesktop11.jpg Figure 1.2: The deprivation areas where suspected rioter live Source: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk C:UserspcDesktop22.jpg Figure 1.3: The age distribution of suspected rioters and the age distribution of the population of England Source: Office of National Statistics (2010) Reasons for riots According to the report of Riots Communities and Victims Panel (2012) rioters were not a homogenous group of individuals that all were acting towards a same reason and particular rational. They have different reasons and they acted differently depending on what they want to gain. Based on the research findings this Panel breakdown the people who are presented at the riots as follows; Organised criminals these people were often come for the riots from outside the areas where riots occurred. Late night shoppers this was categorised the people who deliberately travelled to the sites where riots were taking place in order to burgle Violent aggressors these are the individuals who often committed most serious crimes including violent attacks of the police and arson. Opportunists people who are drawn into the riots areas with their sense of excitements Spectators there are some other category as spectators, people who just came to watch the rioting Following reasons can be outlines as basic reasons for the riots; Poor relationship between communities and the police, especially where a stop and search occurred Some are deliberately engages in the riots to loot without any consequences Some engaged deliberately to attack the police Researches indicate the basic reason for the riots was the feeling of people who expressed the view that tension between local communities and the police. This is due to the poor relationship and understandings between both the parties about their requirements. There are some other general causes too were outlined by the Riots Communities and Victims Panel (2012) as bellow; Poor parenting relationship between children and parents Feeling of hopelessness by the young generation in many areas The lack of ambitions, dreams and hopes among people These studies show some statistical evidence which support for the reasons and major causes of the riots. But, while it has been possible to quickly establish an accurate timeline of the riots as they spread from Tottenham to all other areas of London, and then into number of other cities in England as well, it is much more needed to have more independence concentration on the causes of the community. As indicated by Whitehead and Crawshaw (2012: p.121) the areas where the riots were occurred are not only among the hardest hit by the ongoing economic crisis but also they possess a long record of economic hardships, unemployment and poverty. All of them are large ethnic minority communities who always experience the economic disadvantages and also they have a severe tension with the police and the criminal justice system of the country. As per Riots Communities and Victims Panel (2012) many of the young people who were involved with the riots in 2011, were found that the lack of their hopes and dreams for the future. It is obvious that the unemployment puts them into much more tension and they feel that they do not have a clear path to work and to develop themselves through a career. Riots areas were relatively poor and suffered from higher crimes and lower level of employment than the average. Records indicate that the rioters came for the riots were ranked 69th most deprived by employment, 60th by income. As per London Centre for Social Impact (2013) residents in riots areas also have been expressed their views on the riots and they told that there are too many people who are leading chaotic lives for their neighbours. They also need to see this riots are been punished but meantime they believe that the government should take necessary actions to correct them and ensure that this individuals also take a positive r ole in society in the future. The reasons that will lead for a poor life outcomes and their relationship can be shown as figure 1.4. C:UserspcDesktop333.jpg Figure 1.4: Link between factors that can lead to poor life outcomes Source: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk Suggestions To avoid future riots, it can be suggested following activities to ensure and establish community that work; Where everyone feels that they have a stake in the society Ensure that everyone respect each other and also the places where they live Public service should work together with the help of some volunteers to stop those who are struggling at an early stage and assist them to overcome their problems Employment opportunities should be available adequately to all the people especially for the young generation The crime justice system also ensure to punish those who are engaged with crimes but meantime they must take steps to correct them to not to do the crimes again Establish a proper understanding among community and the police where the people and police work together to support the maintenance of the civil and criminal laws, regulations and orders Ensure a great relationship between parents and children and also schools and children to make sure that the children are developing not only their academic knowledge but also developing skills, values and character behaviours to make right decisions and choices at critical situations. Recommendations It was said that the ground reason for this riots was the death of local named Mark Duggan. The problem was with the police in handling this case and also how they communicated the death message to his family which indicated the breakdown of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) protocols. Rumours were rapidly spread telling that the shooting were not conducted effectively and causes for a huge violence among the country. It is recommended to the police to review their existing protocols to ensure the deliberate false rumours and unintendended inaccuracies do not happens in the future. Another major cause for the riots was the poor live conditions of the people of the areas where the riots were happened. Government should take necessary actions to up fill the lives of them. They can take part with business organisations where the young people are provided with employment opportunities. This is the main duty, that to provide employment opportunities for the people. As per Riots Communities and Victims Panel (2012) the links with the local employers are very poor. It is recommended for the entrepreneurs and businesses that they should work closely with the local schools, volunteers and public to promote youth employment. Another problem that was raised by the Riots Communities and Victims Panel (2012) that 85% of the people feel that the advertising puts a much more pressure on young people to own latest products and services which actually unaffordable. It recommended for the government and Advertising Standard Authority to conduct some programmes in schools to make children aware about the impact on advertisements and some branding techniques. The major cause for the riots in 2011 was the lack of trust and understanding of people about the police. Trust in police is very important for a community and it helps by; Leading them getting more involved with police Ensure the police can understand the needs of community and vice versa. Help to break down the cultural barriers Community is willing to support police by reporting crimes. It is recommended that the police should engage proactively with the community regarding the issues that might impact on integrity. And also they should improve the quality of minority to improve the relationship with community. Conclusion Riots happened in London in 2011 was a major issue that cause many damages to public, businesses, police and local government. This brief report was based on the 2011 London riots to address the overall picture of what has been happened and what the impacts for the society. Records indicate that many who involved with the riots are for areas who suffered long term by the economic disadvantages and unemployment issues. This may caused for a poor life style of those communities and caused for a huge riots which occurred for 5 days in England. This report discussed the reasons for the riot, parties involved with the riots and provide some solutions for the issues identified through Panel reports and other survey researches. Finally recommendations were made for the government and other local parties based on the findings and observations to overcome the issues and for the future actions.

Review of Sublime video :: essays research papers

The music video that I chose to write my paper on, is called "Date Rape" and it is performed by Sublime. I've seen the video plenty of times and I taped it back in 1993 when I first got their album 40 oz. to Freedom. The song is about a man that picks up a lady in a bar and rapes her. He winds up going to court and the judge finds that, "he was full of shit, and he gave him twenty-five years." Then it talks about the man going to jail and even getting "butt raped by a large inmate." The video is much like a movie in the way that it is displayed. As the song goes on and on the video accompanies the lyrics by showing what the man looked like (which in the song was with "a double chin and a plastic smile"). At the beginning, the video shows the man go into the bar and getting the attention of the lady. He convinces her to take a ride in his van and forces her to succumb to his will by saying, "if it wasn't for date rape I'd never get laid." After he is finished he lets her out and she files a police report and then "she took the guy's ass to court." She goes to court and low and behold, the judge is the great Ron Jeremy (of porn fame). Ron sentences the man to twenty-five years of imprisonment and later it shows a depiction of the guy being raped in prison. The video says a great deal for women and actually won a couple of awards for their "anti-rape message." Although Sublime's lead singer, Brad, claims that it was just a song he wrote when he was high, it received a rather large acceptance by many women's groups. The video sends this message out to the viewer as well. Any man that will rape a woman will almost definitely hate getting butt slammed in jail by a large Review of Sublime video :: essays research papers The music video that I chose to write my paper on, is called "Date Rape" and it is performed by Sublime. I've seen the video plenty of times and I taped it back in 1993 when I first got their album 40 oz. to Freedom. The song is about a man that picks up a lady in a bar and rapes her. He winds up going to court and the judge finds that, "he was full of shit, and he gave him twenty-five years." Then it talks about the man going to jail and even getting "butt raped by a large inmate." The video is much like a movie in the way that it is displayed. As the song goes on and on the video accompanies the lyrics by showing what the man looked like (which in the song was with "a double chin and a plastic smile"). At the beginning, the video shows the man go into the bar and getting the attention of the lady. He convinces her to take a ride in his van and forces her to succumb to his will by saying, "if it wasn't for date rape I'd never get laid." After he is finished he lets her out and she files a police report and then "she took the guy's ass to court." She goes to court and low and behold, the judge is the great Ron Jeremy (of porn fame). Ron sentences the man to twenty-five years of imprisonment and later it shows a depiction of the guy being raped in prison. The video says a great deal for women and actually won a couple of awards for their "anti-rape message." Although Sublime's lead singer, Brad, claims that it was just a song he wrote when he was high, it received a rather large acceptance by many women's groups. The video sends this message out to the viewer as well. Any man that will rape a woman will almost definitely hate getting butt slammed in jail by a large

African American Literature Essay

This process, wherein the reading of a text becomes a vehicle for self-realization and self-transformation is emphasized in the slave narratives of African American Literature. These narratives present us with accounts of individual self-transformation evident in the process wherein the individual writes his or her self into a being recognized by the dominant society. Within such works, the authors portray the process in which he or she overcomes the slaveholding society’s continuous attempts to deny or eradicate his or her identity. Despite of this, it is important to note that although such a process involves the creation of a referent, which is tantamount to the creation of an identity, such a process also involves the assimilation of the dominant culture’s norms. In this sense, slave narratives may be seen as depicting the conflict involved in the creation of an African American identity. The conflict is evident if one considers that the aforementioned assimilation of values involved in the creation of an African American identity stands in direct conflict to the individual’s experiences during and after slavery. African-American slave narratives, in this sense, provide a dramatic model of the textual construction and development of African-American identity. Such a process, on the other hand, mirrors the correlation between literature and politics and thereby allows us to consider the theoretical and ethical implications of a literary work. This is evident if one considers that African American slave narratives aide in the construction of an African American identity by raising issues regarding the comportment and formation of the self within an inscrutable literary form. In lieu of this, this paper opts to present an analysis of the textual, social, and political conditions that affect the creation of the African American identity. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part of the paper aims to explicate the aforementioned relation of the textual construction of identity evident within literary texts. The necessity of such is evident if one considers that the process sets the contextual background for the analysis of literary texts. The second part of the paper, on the other hand, opts to explicate the manner in which certain forms of slave narratives may aide in the creation of an African American identity. Such an explication involves the analysis of Frederick Douglass’ Narratives of the Life of Frederick Douglass as well as Harriet Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. The following texts will be used due to the autobiographical character of the aforementioned texts. It is important to note that the aforementioned genre provides a form of discursive control both as an authorial choice and as a privileged aesthetic and ethical discourse. This stems from the presumed unitary character of the narratives within the genre (Gilligan 89). Such a character, on the other hand, enables the promotion and presentation of a self that shares confessional discourse and an assumed interiority with an attached moral law in the examination of an individual and in the creation of the author’s individuality. In this sense, the inclusion of the aforementioned works within the genre of autobiography may be seen as political act, which mirrors the same conflicts evident in the political construction of the self that African American’s experience in the creation or formation of an identity. In this part of the paper, I will also argue that the aforementioned works enable the act of transformative recognition, which is necessary in the creation of an African American identity. The third part of the paper, on the other hand, involves the setting of the power relations that enables the conflict of identity formation amongst African Americans within the current American society. The third part of the paper thereby provides a social analysis of the aforementioned conflict in identity formation. In the last part of the paper, I will argue that such a conflict continually pervades the current American society and that the reason for such lies in the continuation of African American slavery within the 21st Century America. It is important to note that the continuation of such is enabled by the continuous perception of the African American as a slave. The continuation of slavery thereby is enabled by the continuation of the â€Å"perceived status characteristic† of the African American as a slave (Levin 227). Let us now proceed with the initial part of the paper. Due to the interconnectedness of the text and the individual, discussions of African American Literature can be placed within a theoretical and ethical arena. It becomes possible to conjoin the effects of the ethical and aesthetic character of a work in the realization of a self-identity and political identity in the reader. At the same time, this view allows us to posit the individual reading a text as someone whose ethical problematization necessitates a theoretical problematization. Through this, it also becomes possible for us to ask whether the predisposed reading of texts is in itself a mode of exercising power over the ethical predispositions of individuals and not necessarily a theory, which opts to pave the way for human emancipation. All of these will show that the spontaneous and habitual orientation of attention is inimical to the maintenance of reality. Therefore, the event of ascribing an identity towards one’s self is a reorientation of attention and a kind of ontological conversion, which affects the aesthetic, ethical, and political perceptions of the individual. In order for literature to be considered as a form of social practice, there are factors that need to exist. These are the writer, the reader, and the text. Spatiotemporal and material conditions may affect the relationship between the three. For example, not all authors know their readers and the meaning ascribed to a text is dependent upon the conditions within the society in which the text is located. There are other complexities in the relationship between the three. For example, by looking at the material conditions closely, we will see that writers normally write for a specific audience whose inclinations and attitudes they consider in the process of writing their stories. This leads to the creation of genres, which dictate how a particular form of literature will be read and considered. Of course, genre formation is not this simple but what I would like to emphasize here is that in the process of genre formation abstractions are being created and established within a system, which leads to the creation of a new set of categories and a new paradigm for assessing a literary text. Since writing occurs within a specific logonomic system, which constrains and determines the meaning of a text, it becomes important to consider whether what is being written and produced will not disrupt the dominant paradigm. That is why, within a patriarchal society, any form of literature that questions or presents another alternative to the normative form of existence becomes marginalized and silenced. True enough, there are instances wherein a space is provided for the existence of deviant perspectives. However, it should be noted that no dominant social discourse includes or exhausts all human practice, energy, and intention. On the contrary, it is a fact of all modes of domination that they select from and consequently exclude the full range of human practice. Therefore, when an excluded and marginalized discourse becomes incorporated or is allowed to exist within the dominant paradigm, it has already been reinterpreted to suit the dominant paradigm’s perspective. Such is the case of African American slave narratives. Acceptance of the aforementioned narratives within the literary sphere involves recognition of the African American existence as individual entities with their own ontology. It is important to note, that early slave narratives took the form of â€Å"spiritual autobiography, the providential tale, criminal confession, Indian captivity narrative, sea adventure story, and the picaresque novel† (Fisch 13). The religious character of such slave narratives accounts for the process of liberation [spiritual and then political] character of the aforementioned forms evident within the genre. Acceptance of the genre thereby involves a predetermined creation of an ontology for those who are depicted within the genre itself. Such an ontology is provided by the religious conversion associated with the narratives of the self evident within the aforementioned genre. According to Fisch, the acceptance of the genre was characterized by a form of â€Å"racial condescension that often takes the form of romantic primitivism† wherein the African American ex-slave is portrayed as a â€Å"’native people’ who were more virtuous since they were removed from the corrupting influences of society† (25). From this, we can see that African Literature faces the problems of categorization. Knowing that recognition will only be achieved when one is accepted within the dominant paradigm, there is a considerable desire to be a part of the canon. However, working with the knowledge that acceptance is tantamount to the loss of the subversive and revolutionary character of their writings; African American Literature strives for a form of recognition, which erases all forms of domination wherein the literary works from the centre, periphery, and the middle all possess equal ground. This is possible if we perceive African American Literature as a form of â€Å"minor literature†. Minor literature does not designate a specific literature but it refers to the recognition that all forms of literature have been placed in â€Å"revolutionary conditions†¦within the heart of what are called great (or established) literature† (Deleuze and Guattari 18). However, this recognition that all forms of literature once held a revolutionary position against the canon does not erase the dominance of a particular mode of perceiving texts. Drawing a boundary of what is or what is not African American Literature is a problematic exercise since the talk of African American writing aims to raise issues of difference by implying the presence and the absence of something that is not yet fully defined [African American identity]. Furthermore, the answer to the question is dependent upon the establishment of meaning in relation to the text. Within this perspective, meaning may exist in the identity apparent in the writer, the reader, or the text itself. However, there are problems with this viewpoint. If what is necessary for a text to be considered as African American Literature is the race of its writer, it becomes problematic when we consider a text written by a African American who has not yet identified himself with the struggles of the class and the race. Second, not all the texts produced by African American writers pertain to experiences of racism and slavery. Third, contrary to the constructivist’s account of the fluidity of identity, such a perspective is based upon the assumed fixity of identity of the writer.

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 7~9

CHAPTER SEVEN Sanctuary, Sanctuary, Cried the Humpback When a visitor first drives into the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Sanctuary – five baby blue shiplap buildings trimmed out in cobalt, crouching on the edge of the huge Maalaea Bay and overlooking the ruins of an ancient saltwater fish pond – his first reaction is usually â€Å"Hey, not much of a sanctuary. You could get maybe three whales in those buildings, tops.† Soon, however, he realizes that these buildings are simply the offices and visitor centers. The sanctuary itself covers the channels that run from Molokai to the Big Island of Hawaii, between Maui, Lanai, and Kahoolawe, as well as the north shores of Oahu and Kauai, in which there is plenty of room for a whole bunch of whales, which is why they are kept there. There were about a hundred people milling around outside the lecture hall when Nate and Amy pulled into the parking lot in the pickup. â€Å"Looks like a good turnout?† Amy said. She'd attended only one of the sanctuary's weekly lectures, and that one had been given by Gilbert Box, an ill-tempered biologist doing survey work under a grant for the International Whaling Commission, who droned through numbers and graphs until the ten people in attendance would have killed a whale themselves just to shut him up. â€Å"It's about average for us. Behavior always draws more than survey. We're the sexy ones,† Nate said with a grin. Amy snorted. â€Å"Oh, yeah, you guys are the Mae Wests of the nerd world.† â€Å"We're action nerds,† Nate said. â€Å"Adventure nerds. Nerds of romance.† â€Å"Nerds,† Amy said. Nate could see the skeletal Gilbert Box standing off to the side of the crowd under a straw hat whose brim was so wide it could have afforded shade for three additional people and behind a pair of enormous wraparound sunglasses suitable for welding or as a shield from nuclear flash. His gaunt face was still smeared with residue of the white zinc oxide he used for sun protection when out on the water. He wore a long-sleeved khaki shirt and trousers and leaned on a white sun umbrella that he was never seen without. It was a half hour before sunset, a warm breeze was coming off Maalaea Bay, and Gilbert Box looked like Death out for his after-dinner stroll before a busy night of e-mailing heart attacks and tumors to a few million lucky winners. Nate had given Box the nickname â€Å"the Count,† after the Sesame Street vampire with the obsessive-compulsive need to count things. (Nate had been too old for Sesame Street as a preschooler, but he'd watched it through grade ten while baby-sitting his younger brother, Sam.) People agreed that the Count was the perfect name for a survey guy with an aversion to water and sunlight, and the name had caught on even outside Nate and Clay's immediate sphere of influence. Panic rattled up Nate's spine. â€Å"They're going to know we're faking it. The Count will call us on it the first time I say something that we don't have the data to back up.† â€Å"How's he going to know? You had the data a week ago. Besides, what's this ‘we'? I'm just running the projector.† â€Å"Thanks.† â€Å"There's Tarwater,† Amy said. â€Å"Who are those women he's talking to?† â€Å"Probably just some whale huggers,† Nate said, pretending that all of his mental faculties were required for him to squeeze the pickup into the four adjacent empty parking spaces. The women Tarwater was talking to were Margaret Painborne, Ph.D., and Elizabeth  «Libby » Quinn, Ph.D. They worked together with a couple of very butch young women studying cow/calf behavior and social vocalizations. They were doing good work, Nate thought, even if it appeared to have a gender-based agenda. Margaret was in her late forties, short and round, with long gray hair that she kept perpetually tied back in a braid. Libby was almost a decade younger, long-legged and lean, blond hair going gray, cut short, and she had once, not too long ago, been Nathan Quinn's third wife. A second and totally different wave of anxiety swept over Quinn. This was the first time he'd encountered Libby since Amy joined the team. â€Å"They don't look like whale huggers,† Amy said. â€Å"They look like researchers.† â€Å"How is that?† â€Å"They look like action nerds.† Amy snorted again and crawled out of the truck. â€Å"That's not very professional,† Nate said, â€Å"that snorting-laugh thing you do.† But Amy had already walked off toward the lecture hall, a carousel of slides under her arm. Nate counted more than thirty researchers in the crowd as he walked up. And those were just the ones he was acquainted with. New people would be coming back and forth from the mainland all season – grad students, film crews, reporters, National Fisheries people, patrons – all hitchhiking on the very few research permits that were issued for the sanctuary. For some reason Amy made a beeline for Cliff Hyland and his navy watchdog, Tarwater, who was out of uniform in Dockers and a Tommy Bahama shirt, but still out of place because his clothes were ironed to razor creases – his Topsiders had been spit-shined, and he stood as if there were a cold length of rebar wired to his spine. â€Å"Hey, Amy,† Cliff said. â€Å"Sorry to hear about the break-in. Bad?† â€Å"We'll be all right,† Amy said. Nate strolled up behind Amy. â€Å"Hey, Cliff. Captain.† He nodded to each. â€Å"Sorry to hear about the break-in, Nate,† Cliff said again. â€Å"Hope you guys didn't lose anything important.† â€Å"We're fucked,† Nate said. And Tarwater smiled – for the first time ever, Nate thought. â€Å"We're fine.† Amy grinned and brandished her carousel of slides like a talisman of power. â€Å"I'm thinking about getting a job at Starbucks,† Nate said. â€Å"Hey, Cliff, what are you guys working on?† Amy asked, having somehow moved close enough into Cliff Hyland's personal space to have to look up at him with big, girly-blue eyes and the aspect of a fascinated child. Nate cringed. It was†¦ well, it was just not done. You didn't ask, not outright like that. â€Å"Just some stuff for the navy,† Cliff said, obviously wanting to back away from Amy, but knowing that if he did, somehow he'd lose face. Nate watched while Amy grated his friend's middle-aged irrelevance against his male ego merely by stepping a foot closer. There, too, was a reaction from Tarwater, as the younger man seemed to be irritated by the fact that Amy was paying attention to Cliff. Or maybe he was just irritated with Amy because she was irritating. Sometimes Nate had to remind himself not to think like a biologist. â€Å"You know, Cliff,† Amy said, â€Å"I was looking at a map the other day – and I want you to brace yourself, because this may come as a shock – but there's no coastline in Iowa. I mean, doesn't that get in the way of studying marine mammals?† â€Å"Sure, now you bring that up,† Cliff said. â€Å"Where were you ten years ago when I accepted the position?† â€Å"Middle school,† Amy said. â€Å"What's in the big case on your boat? Sonar array? You guys doing another LFA study?† Tarwater coughed. â€Å"Amy,† Nate interrupted, â€Å"we'd better get set up.† â€Å"Right,† Amy said. â€Å"Nice seeing you guys.† She moved on. Nate grinned, just for a second. â€Å"Sorry, you know how it is?† â€Å"Yeah.† Cliff Hyland smiled. â€Å"We've got two grad students working with us this season.† â€Å"But we left our grommets at home, to analyze data,† Tarwater added. Nate and Cliff looked at each other like two old broken-toothed lions long driven from the pride – tired, but secure in the knowledge that if they teamed up, they could eat the younger male alive. Cliff shrugged, almost imperceptibly, that small gesture communicating, Sorry, Nate, I know he's an asshole, but what am I going to do? It's funding. â€Å"I'd better go in,† Nate said, patting the notes in his shirt pocket. He passed a couple more acquaintances, saying hello as he went by, then inside the door ran right into a minor nightmare: Amy talking to his ex-wife, Libby, and her partner, Margaret. It had been like this: They'd met ten years ago, summer in Alaska, a remote lodge on Baranof Island on the Chatham Strait, where scientists were given access to a couple of rigid-hulled Zodiacs and all the canned beans, smoked salmon, and Russian vodka they could consume. Nate had come to observe the feeding behavior of his beloved humpbacks and record social sounds that might help him to interpret the song they sang when in Hawaii. Libby was doing biopsies on the population of resident (fish-eating) killer whales to prove that all the different pods were indeed part of one clan related by blood. He was two years divorced from his second wife. Libby, at thirty, was two months from finishing her doctoral dissertation in cetacean biology. Consequently, since high school she hadn't had time for anything but research – seasonal affairs with boat skippers, senior researchers, grad students, fishermen, and the occasional photographer or documentary filmmaker. She wasn't particular ly promiscuous, but there was a sea of men you were set adrift in if you were going to study whales, and if you didn't want to spend your life alone, you pulled into a convenient, if scruffy, port from time to time. The transience of the work drove a lot of women out of the field. On the other hand, Nate tried to solve the male side of the equation by marrying other whale researchers, reasoning that only someone who was equally obsessed, distracted, and single-minded would be able to tolerate those qualities in a mate. That sort of reasoning, of course, was testament to the victory of romanticism over reason, irony over rationality, and pure foolishness over common sense. The only thing that being married to another scientist had gotten Nate was a reprieve from being asked what he was thinking about while lying in bed in a postcoital cuddle. They knew what he was thinking about, because they were thinking about the same thing: whales. They were both lean and blond and weather-beaten, and one evening, as they were portaging gear from their respective Zodiacs, Libby unzipped her survival suit and tied the sleeves around her waist so she could move more freely. Nate said, â€Å"You look good in that.† No one, absolutely no one, looks good in a survival suit (unless a Day-Glo orange marshmallow man is your idea of a hot date), but Libby didn't even make the effort to roll her eyes. â€Å"I have vodka and a shower in my cabin,† she said. â€Å"I have a shower in my cabin, too,† Nate said. Libby just shook her head and trudged up the path to the lodge. Over her shoulder she called, â€Å"In five minutes there's going to be a naked woman in my shower. You got one of those?† â€Å"Oh,† said Nate. They were both still lean, but no longer blond. Nate was completely gray, and Libby was getting there. She smiled when he approached. â€Å"We heard about the break-in, Nate. I meant to call you.† â€Å"That's okay,† he said. â€Å"Not much you can do.† â€Å"That's what you think,† Amy said. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet as if she were going to explode or Tigger off across the room any second. â€Å"I think these might mitigate the loss a little,† Libby said. She slung her day pack off her shoulder, reached in, and came out with a handful of CDs in paper sleeves. â€Å"You forgot about these, I'll bet? You loaned them to us last season so we could pull off any social noises in the background.† â€Å"It's all the singer recordings from the last ten years,† Amy said. â€Å"Isn't that great!† Nate felt as if he might faint. To lose ten years' work, then reconcile the loss, only to have it handed back to him. He put his hand on Libby's shoulder to steady himself. â€Å"I don't know what to say. I thought you gave those back.† â€Å"We made copies.† Margaret stepped over to Quinn and in doing so got a foot between him and his ex-wife. â€Å"You said it would be okay. We were only using them for comparison to our own samples.† â€Å"No, it's okay,† Nate said. He almost patted her shoulder, but as he moved in that direction she flinched and he let his hand drop. â€Å"Thank you, Margaret.† Margaret had interposed herself completely between Nate and Libby, making a barrier of her own body (behavior she'd obviously picked up from her cow/calf studies – a humpback mother did the same thing when boats or amorous males approached her calf). Amy snatched the handful of CDs from Libby. â€Å"I'd better go through these. I can probably come up with a few relevant samples to play along with the slides if I hurry.† â€Å"I'll go with you,† Margaret said, eyeing Amy. â€Å"My handwriting on the catalog numbers leaves something to be desired.† And off they went toward the projection station in the middle of the hall, leaving Nate standing with Libby, wondering exactly what had just transpired. â€Å"She really does have an extraordinary ass, Nate,† Libby said as she watched Amy walk away. â€Å"Yep,† Nate said, not wanting to have this conversation. â€Å"She's very bright, too.† Sometime in the last week a tiny voice in his head had started asking, Could this get any weirder? In two minutes he'd gone from anxiety to embarrassment to anxiety to relief to gratitude to scoping chicks with his ex-wife. Oh, yes, little voice, it can always get weirder. â€Å"I think Margaret may be on a recruiting mission,† Libby said. â€Å"I hope she checked our budget before she left.† â€Å"Amy's working for free,† Nate said. Libby leaned up on tiptoes and whispered, â€Å"I believe that a starting position on the all-girl team has just opened up.† Then she kissed his cheek. â€Å"You knock 'em dead tonight, Nate.† And she was off after Amy and Margaret. Clay and Kona arrived just as Libby walked away, and, irritatingly, Kona was checking out Libby from behind. â€Å"Irie, Boss Nate. Who's the biscuit auntie suckin' face with ya?† (Like many authentic Hawaiians, Kona called any woman a generation older â€Å"auntie,† even if he was horning after her.) â€Å"You brought him here,† Nate said to Clay without turning to face him. â€Å"He's got to learn,† Clay said. â€Å"Libby seemed friendly.† â€Å"She's chasing Amy.† â€Å"Oh, she a blackheart thief that would take a man's Snowy Biscuit to have a punaani nosh. That Snowy Biscuit belong our tribe.† â€Å"Libby was Nate's third wife,† Clay volunteered, as if that would somehow immediately illuminate why the blackheart Libby was trying to steal the Snowy Biscuit from their tribe. â€Å"Truth?† Kona said, shaking his great gorgonation of dreadlocks in rag-doll confusion. â€Å"You married a lesbian?† â€Å"Whale willies,† said Clay, adding neither insight nor illumination. â€Å"I should go over my notes,† Nate said. CHAPTER EIGHT A Rippin' Talk â€Å"Biology,† said the pseudo Hawaiian, â€Å"dat bitch make sex puppets of everyone.† Clay had just told him the story. The story was this: Five years into her marriage to Nathan Quinn, Libby had gone for the summer to the Bering Sea to put satellite-tracking tags on female right whales. She had already begun working with Margaret Painborne, who was at the time trying to find out more about the mating and gestation behavior of right whales. The best way to do that was to keep constant tabs on the females. Now, sexing whales can be an incredibly difficult task, as their genitalia, for hydrodynamic reasons, are all internal. Without a biopsy or without being in the water with the animal (which means death in three minutes in the Bering Sea), about the only way to determine sex is to catch a female when she is with her calf or while the animals are mating. Libby and Margaret had decided to tag the animals while they were mating. Their base ship was an eighty-foot schooner loaned to the project by Scripps, but to do the actually tagging they used a nimble twelve-foot Zodiac with a forty-horse engine. They'd spotted a female trying to evade the advances of two giant males. The right whale is one of the few animals in the world that uses a washout strategy for mating. That is, the females mate with several males, but the one who can wash out the others' seed most efficiently will pass his genes on to the next generation. Consequently, the guy with the largest tackle often wins, and male right whales have the biggest tackle in the world, with testes that weigh up to a ton and ten-foot penises that are not only long but prehensile, able to reach around a female from the side and introduce themselves on the sly. Libby took the front of the boat, where she braced herself with a fifteen-foot fiberglass pole tipped with a barbed stainless point attached to the satellite unit. Margaret steered the outboard, maneuvering over frigid seven-foot seas, into the position where Libby could set the tag. Right whales are not particularly fast (whalers caught them in rowboats, for Christ's sake), but they are big and broad, and in the frenzy of a mating chase, a small Zodiac provides about as much protection from their thrashing, sixty-ton bodies as would wearing aluminum-foil armor to a joust. And noble Libby, action-girl nerd that she was, did look somewhat like a gallant knight in Day-Glo orange, her lance ready to strike as her trusty warhorse, Evinrude, powered her over the waves. And as they approached the big female, a male on either side of her, the two sandwiching her so she could not escape, she rolled over onto her back, presenting her genitals to the sky. At that she slowed, and Margaret steered between the two tails of the males so Libby could set the tag. The female stopped then and floated up under the Zodiac. Margaret powered down the motor so as not to rake the animal with the prop. â€Å"Shit!† Libby screamed. â€Å"Get us off! Get us off!† A swipe from the flukes of any of the animals would put them in the water, minutes from hypothermia and death. Libby had rolled her survival suit down so she could maneuver the harpoon. She'd be pulled under in seconds. Suddenly, out of the water on either side of them came two huge penises, the males searching for their mark, moving closer to the female, producing waves that knocked the two women into the floor of the boat. Above them the two pink towers curved around looking for their target, feeling the edges of the boat, running slime across the rubber, over the biologists, poking, beating about, and generally abusing the women. The female now had the Zodiac centered exactly over her genitals, using the rubber boat as an ad hoc diaphragm. Then the two giant whale willies encountered one another in the middle of the Zodiac, and each evidently thinking that the other had found his target and not wanting to be left out, they let loose with great gushing gouts of sticky whale semen, filling the boat, covering the equipment, the scientists, washing the gunwales, swamping the motor, generally leaving everything but the gal whale completely and disgustingly jizzed. Mission accomplished, off they swam t o strain a little postcoital krill out of the fray. Margaret suffered a concussion and a partially detached retina, Libby a dislocated shoulder and various scrapes and bruises, but the real trauma could not be assuaged with snaps, slings, and Betadine. Several weeks later Libby rejoined Nate, who was down at the Chatham Strait with Clay filming feeding behavior. She walked into his cabin, hugged him, then stepped back and said, â€Å"Nate, I don't think I want to be married anymore.† But what she really meant was â€Å"I'm done with penises forever, Nate, and pleasant as you are, I know that you are still attached to one. I've had my fill, so to speak. I'm moving on.† â€Å"Okay,† Nate said. He told Clay later that for hours he had been feeling hungry and kept telling himself that he should stop working and go eat, but after Libby showed up, then left, he realized that he hadn't been hungry at all. The emptiness inside was from feeling lonesome. And Nate had stayed relatively lonesome and mostly heartbroken since that day (although he didn't whine about it, he just wore it). Clay didn't tell Kona this part. Confessions made over whiskey and campfires were privileged communication. Loyalty. â€Å"So,† said Nate, â€Å"Since the song appears, in most cases, to actually draw the attention of other males, who often join up with the singer, it would seem that the song cannot be directly connected to mating activity, other than it happens in the mating season. And since no one has actually observed humpbacks mating, even this assumption could be in error. If, indeed, the song is the male attempting to define his territory, it would seem ineffective, since other males tend to join singers, even those escorting cow/calf pairs. The study recommends that more studies be done to find out if there is, as previously thought, any direct correlation between humpback song and mating activity. Thank you. I'll take your questions.† Hands went up. Here it came: the crystal gazers, the whale buggers, the hippies, the hunters, the tourists, the developers, the wackos, the researchers (God help us, the researchers), and the idly curious. Nate didn't mind the curious. They were the only ones without an agenda. Everyone else was looking for confirmations, not answers. Should he go to a researcher first? Get it out of the way? Might as well go right to the dark side. â€Å"Yes, Gilbert.† He pointed to the Count. The tall researcher had taken off his sunglasses but had pulled down the brim of his hat as if to conceal the glowing red coals of his eyes. Or maybe Nate was just imagining that. The Count said, â€Å"So with these small samplings – what was it, five instances of interactions among singers and others? – there's no real conclusion that you can reach about the relation to breeding or the robustness of the population? Correct?† Nate sighed. Fuckwad, he thought. He spoke to the strange faces in the audience, the nonprofessionals. â€Å"As you know, Dr. Box, samples for whale-behavior studies are usually very small. It's understood that we have to extrapolate more from the data with whales than with other animals who are more easily observed. Small samples are an accepted limitation of the field.† â€Å"So what you are saying,† Box continued, â€Å"is that you are trying to extrapolate the behavior of an animal that spends less than three percent of its time on the surface from observing its behavior on the surface. Isn't that akin to trying to extrapolate all of human civilization from looking at people's legs underwater at the beach? I mean, I don't see how you could possibly do it.† Nate looked around the room, hoping that one of the other behavior researchers might jump in, help him out, throw a bone to the podium, but apparently they were all finding the displays on the bulletin boards, the ceiling fans, or the wooden floor planks irresistibly interesting. â€Å"Lately we've been spending more and more time observing the animals under the water. Clay Demodocus has over six hundred hours of videotape of humpback behavior underwater. But it's only recently, with digital videotape and rebreather technology, that underwater observation has become practical to do to any extent. And we still have the problem of propulsion. No diver can swim fast enough to keep up with the humpbacks when they're traveling. I think all the researchers in this room understand the value of observing the animals in the water, and it goes without saying that any research without consideration of underwater behavior is incomplete. You understand that, I'm sure, Dr. Box.† There were a few stifled snickers around the room. Nathan Quinn smiled. The Count would not go into the water, under any circumstances. He was either terrified of it or allergic to it, but it was obvious from watching him on his boat that he wanted no contact whatsoever with the water. Still, if he was going to get his funding from the International Whaling Commission, he had to get out there and count whales. On the water, never in it. Quinn believed that Box did bad science, and because of that he had gone into consulting, the â€Å"dark side.† He performed studies and provided data for the highest bidder, and Nate had no doubt that the data was skewed to the agenda of the funding. Some nations in the IWC wanted to lift the moratorium on hunting whales, but first they had to prove that the populations had recovered enough to sustain hunting. Gilbert Box was getting them their numbers. Nate was happy to have embarrassed Box. He waited for the gaunt scientist to nod before he took the next question. â€Å"Yes, Margaret.† â€Å"Your study seems to focus on the perspective of the male animals, without consideration for the female's role in the behavior. Could you speak to that?† Jeez, what a surprise, thought Nate. â€Å"Well, I think there's good work being done on the cow/calf behavior, as well as on surface-active groups, which we assume is mating-related activity, but since my work concerns singers and as far as we know, all singers are males, I tend to observe more male behavior.† There, that should do it. â€Å"So you can't say definitively that the females are not the ones controlling the behavior?† â€Å"Margaret, as my research assistant has repeatedly pointed out to me, the only thing I can say definitively about humpbacks is that they are big and wet.† Everyone laughed. Quinn looked at Amy and she winked at him, then, when he looked back to Margaret, he saw Libby beside her, winking at him as well. But at least the tension among the researchers was broken, and Quinn noticed that Captain Tarwater and Jon Thomas Fuller and his entourage were no longer raising their hands to ask questions. Perhaps they realized that they weren't going to learn anything, and they certainly didn't want to try to pursue their own agendas in front of a crowd and be slapped down the way Gilbert Box had. Quinn took the questions from the nonscientists. â€Å"Could they just be saying hi?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"If they don't eat here, and it's not for mating, then why do they sing?† â€Å"That's a good question.† â€Å"Do you think they know that we've been contacted by aliens and are trying to contact the mother ship?† Ah, always good to hear from the wacko fringe, Nate thought. â€Å"No, I don't think that.† â€Å"Maybe they're using their sonar to find other whales.† â€Å"As far as we know, baleen whales, toothless whales like the humpbacks who strain their food from the sea through sheets of baleen, don't echolocate the way toothed whales do.† â€Å"Why do they jump all the time? Other whales don't jump like that.† â€Å"Some think that they are sloughing skin or trying to knock off parasites, but after years of watching them, I think that they just like making a splash – the sensation of air on their skin. The way you might like to dangle your feet in a fountain. I think they're just goofing off.† â€Å"I heard that someone broke into your office and destroyed all of your research. Who do you think would want to do that?† Nate paused. The woman who had asked the question was holding a reporter's steno pad. Maui Times, he guessed. She had stood to ask her question, as if she were attending a press conference rather than a casual lecture. â€Å"What you have to ask yourself,† said Nate, â€Å"is who could possibly care about research on singers?† â€Å"And who would that be?† â€Å"Me, a few people in this room, and perhaps a dozen or so researchers around the world. At least for now. Perhaps as we find out more, more people will be interested.† â€Å"So you're saying that someone in this room broke into your offices and destroyed all your research?† â€Å"No. As a biologist, one of the things you have to guard against is applying motives where there are none and reading more into a behavior than the data actually support. Sort of like the answer to the ‘why do they jump? question. You could say that it's part of an incredibly complex system of communication, and you might be right, but the obvious answer, and probably the correct one, is that the whales are goofing off. I think the break-in was just a random act of vandalism that has the appearance of motive.† Bullshit, Quinn thought. â€Å"Thank you, Dr. Quinn,† said the reporter. She sat down. â€Å"Thank you all for coming,† said Nate. Applause. Nate arranged his notes as people gathered around the podium. â€Å"That was bullshit,† Amy said. â€Å"Complete bullshit,† said Libby Quinn. â€Å"What a load of crap,† said Cliff Hyland. â€Å"Rippin' talk, Doc,† Kona said, â€Å"Marley's ghost was in ye.† CHAPTER NINE Relativity Leathery bar girls worked the charter booths at the harbor, smoking Basic 100s and talking in voices that sounded like 151 rum poured into hot grease – a jigger of friendly to the liter of harsh. They were thirty-five or sixty-five, the color of mahogany, skinny and strong from living on boats, liquor, fish, and disappointment. They'd come here from a dozen coastal towns, some sailing from the mainland in small craft but forgetting to save enough courage for the trip home. Marooned. Man to man, boat to boat, year to year – salt and sun and drinking had left them dry enough to cough dust. If they lasted a hundred years – and some would – then one moonless night a great hooded wraith would swoop into the harbor and take them off to their own craggy island – uncharted and unseen more than once by any living man – and there they would keep the enchantment of the sea alive: lure lost sailors to the shore, suck out all of their fluids, and leave their desiccated husks crumbling on the rocks for the crabs and the black gulls. Thus were the sea hags born†¦ but that's another story. Today they were just razzing Clay for leading two girls down the dock. â€Å"Just like outboards, Clay, you gotta have two to make sure one's always running,† called Margie, who had once, after ten mai-tais, tried to go down on the wooden sea captain who guarded the doorway of the Pioneer Inn. Debbie, who had a secret source for little-boy pee that she put in the ears of the black-coral divers when they got ear infections, said, â€Å"You give that young one the first watch, Clay. Let her rest up a bit.† â€Å"Morning, ladies,† Clay tossed over his shoulder. He was grinning and blushing, his ears showing red even where they weren't sunburned. Fifty years old, he'd dived every sea, been attacked by sharks, survived malaria and Malaysian pirates, ridden in a titanium ball with a window five miles down into the Tonga Trench, and still he blushed. Clair, Clay's girlfriend of four years, a forty-year-old Japanese-Hawaiian schoolteacher who moved like she was doing the hula to a Sousa march (strange mix of regal order and island breeze), backhanded a hang-loose shaka at the cronettes and said, grinning, â€Å"She just along to pour buckets on his reels girls, keep him from burning up.† â€Å"Oh, you guys are so friggin' nautical,† said Amy, who was wrestling with a huge Pelican case that held the rebreather. The case slipped out of her grip and barked her shin before she caught it. â€Å"Ouch. Damn it. Oh yeah, everyone loves your salty friggin' charm.† A chorus of cackles from the charter booths wheezed into coughing fits. Back to the cats, the cauldrons, the coconut oil, the sacred Jimmy Buffett songs sung at midnight into the ear of drunken, white-bearded Hemingway wannabes to make that rum-soaked member rise from the dead just this one last time. The leathery bar girls turned back to their business as Kona passed by. â€Å"Irie, Sistah Amy. Give up ye burden,† said Kona, bounding down the dock to sweep the heavy rebreather out of Amy's grip and up onto his shoulder. Amy rubbed her arm. â€Å"Thanks. Where's Nate?† â€Å"He go to the fuel dock to get coffee for the whole tribe. A lion, him.† â€Å"Yeah, he's a good guy. You'll be going out with him today. I have to go along with Clay and Clair as a safety diver.† â€Å"Slippers off in the boat,† Clay said to Clair for the hundredth time. She rolled her eyes and kicked off her flip-flops before stepping down into the Always Confused. She offered Clay a hand, and he steadied her as if escorting a lady from the king's court to the ballroom floor. Kona handed the rebreather down to Clay. â€Å"I can safety-dive.† â€Å"You'll never be able to clear your ears. You can't pinch your nostrils shut with those nose rings in.† â€Å"They come out. Look, out they come.† He tossed the rings to Amy and she deftly sidestepped, letting them plop into the water. â€Å"Oops.† â€Å"Amy's a certified diver, kid. Sorry. You're with Nate today.† â€Å"He know that?† â€Å"Yeah, does he know that?† asked Clair. â€Å"He will soon. Get those lines, would you, Amy.† â€Å"I can drive the boat.† Kona was on the edge of pleading. â€Å"No one but me drives the boat,† said Clay. â€Å"I'm driving the boat,† corrected Clair. â€Å"You have to sleep with Clay to drive the boat,† said Amy. â€Å"You just do what Nate tells you,† Clay said. â€Å"You'll be fine.† â€Å"If I sleep with Amy can I drive the boat?† â€Å"Nobody drives the boat,† Clay said. â€Å"I drive the boat,† Clair said. â€Å"Nobody sleeps with Amy,† Amy said. â€Å"I sleep with Amy,† Clair said. And everyone stopped and looked at Clair. â€Å"Who wants cream?† asked Nate, arriving at that moment with a paper tray of coffee cups. â€Å"You can do your own sugar.† â€Å"That's what I'm saying,† said Clair. â€Å"Sisters are doing it for themselves.† And Nate hung there in space, holding a cup and a sugar packet, a wooden stir stick, a baffled expression. Clair grinned. â€Å"Kidding. Jeez, you guys.† Everyone breathed. Coffee was distributed, gear was loaded, Clay drove the Always Confused out of the harbor, pausing to wave to the Count and his crew, who were loading gear into a thirty-foot rigid-hull Zodiac normally used for parasailing. The Count pulled down the brim of his hat and stood in the bow of the Zodiac, his sun umbrella at port arms, looking like a skeletal statue of Washington crossing the Lethe. The crew waved, Gilbert Box scowled. â€Å"I like him,† Clay said. â€Å"He's predictable.† But Amy and Clair missed the comment. They were applying sunscreen and indulging in girl talk in the bow. â€Å"You can talk like such a floozy sometimes,† said Amy. â€Å"I wish I could be floozish.† Clair poked her in the leg with a long, red-lacquered fingernail. â€Å"Don't sell yourself short, pumpkin.† The ersatz Hawaiian stood on the bow rail like he was hanging ten off the twenty-two-foot Mako, waving to the Zodiac crew as they passed. â€Å"Irie, science dreadies! We be research jammin' now!† But when the Count ignored his greeting, Kona gave the traditional island response: â€Å"What, I owe you money?† â€Å"Settle, Kona,† Nate said. â€Å"And get down off of there.† Kona made his way back to the console. â€Å"Old white jacket givin' you the stink-eye. Why, he think you an agent of Babylon?† â€Å"He does bad science. People come to me to ask me about him, I tell them he does bad science.† â€Å"And we do the good science?† â€Å"We don't change our numbers to please the people who fund us. The Japanese want numbers that show recovery of the humpback population to levels where the IWC will let them start hunting them again. Gilbert tries to give them those numbers.† â€Å"Kill these humpies? No.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"No. Why?† â€Å"To eat.† â€Å"No,† said the blond Rastaman, shaking his head as if to clear the evil from his ears – his dreads fanning out into nappy spokes. Quinn smiled to himself. The moratorium had been in effect since before Kona was born. As far as the kid knew, whales had been and always would be safe from hunters. Quinn knew better. â€Å"Eating whale is very traditional in Japan. It sort of has the ritual of our Thanksgiving. But it's dying out.† â€Å"Then it's all good.† â€Å"No. There are a lot of old men who want to bring back whale hunting as a tradition. The Japanese whaling industry is subsidized by the government. It's not even a viable business. They serve whale meat in the school-lunch program so kids will develop a taste for it.† â€Å"No. No one eats the whale.† â€Å"The IWC allows them to kill five hundred minke whales a year, but they kill more. And biologists have found whale meat from half a dozen endangered whale species in Japanese markets. They try to pass it off as minke whale, but the DNA doesn't lie.† â€Å"Minke? That devil in the white war paint killing our minke?† â€Å"We don't have any minkes here in Hawaii.† â€Å"Course not, the Count killing them. We going to chant down this evil fuckery.† Kona dug into his red, gold, and green fanny pack. Out came an extraordinarily complex network of plastic, brass, and stainless-steel tubing, which in seconds Kona had assembled into what Quinn thought was either a very small and elegant linear particle accelerator or, more likely, the most complex bong ever constructed. â€Å"Slow de boat, brah. I got to spark up for freedom. Chant down Babylon, go into battle for Jah's glory, mon. Slow de boat.† â€Å"Put that away.† Kona paused, his Bic lighter poised over the bowl. â€Å"Take de ship home to Zion, brah?† â€Å"No, we have work to do.† Nate slowed the boat and killed the motor. They were about a mile off Lahaina. â€Å"Chant down Babylon?† Kona raised the lighter. â€Å"No. Put that away. I'll show you how to drop the hydrophone.† Quinn checked the tape in the recorder on the console. â€Å"Save our minkes?† Kona waved the lighter, unlit, in circles over the bowl. â€Å"Did Clay show you how to take an ID photo?† Nate pulled the hydrophone and the coil of cord out of its case. â€Å"Ride Jah's herb into the mystic?† â€Å"No! Put that away and get the camera out of that cabinet in the bow.† Kona broke down the bong with a series of whirs and clicks and put it back in his fanny pack. â€Å"All right, brah, but when they have eated all your minkes, will not be Jah's fault.† An hour later, after listening, and moving, and listening again, they had found their singer. Kona stood balanced on the gunwale of the boat staring down in wonder at the big male, who was parked under the boat making a sound approximating that of a kidnap victim trying to scream through duct tape. Kona would look from the whale to Nate, grin, then look back to the whale again, the whole time perched and balanced on the gunwale like a gargoyle on the parapet of a building. Nate guessed that he would be able to hold that position for about two minutes before his knees locked permanently and he'd be forced to finish life in a toadish squat. Still, he envied Kona the enthusiasm of discovery, the fascination and excitement of being around these great animals for the first time. He envied him his youth and his strength. And, listening to the song in the headphones, the song that seemed so clearly to be a statement of mating and yet refused to give up any direct evidence that it was, Nate felt a profound irrelevance. Sexually, socially, intellectually, fiscally, scientifically irrelevant – a sack of borrowed atoms lumpily arranged in a Nate shape. No effect, purpose, or stability. He tried to listen more closely to what the whale was doing, to lose himself in analyzing what exactly was going on below, but that merely seemed to underscore the suspicion that not only was he getting old, he might be going crazy. This was the first time he'd been out since the â€Å"bite me† incident, and since then he had convinced himself that it must have been some sort of hallucination. Still, he cringed a bit every time the whale humped its tail to dive, expecting to see a message scrawled across the flukes. â€Å"He's making them up noises, boss.† Nate nodded. The kid was learning fast. â€Å"Get your camera ready, Kona. He'll breathe three, maybe four times before he dives, so be ready.† Abruptly the singing in the headphones stopped. Nate pulled up the hydrophone and started the engine. They waited. â€Å"He went that way, boss,† Kona said, pointing off to the starboard side. Nate turned the boat slowly in place and waited. They were looking in the direction in which Kona had seen the whale moving underwater when he surfaced behind them, not ten feet away from the boat, the blow making both of them jump, the spray wafting across them in a rainbow cloud. â€Å"Ho! Dat buggah up, boss!† â€Å"Thank you, Captain Obvious,† Nate said under his breath. He pulled down the throttle and came in behind the whale. On its next breath the whale rolled and slapped a long pectoral fin on the surface, soaking Kona and throwing heavy spray over the console. At least the kid had had the sense to use his body to shield the camera from the splash. â€Å"I love this whale!† Kona said, his Rastaspeak melting, leaving behind a middle-class Jersey accent. â€Å"I want to take this whale home and put him in a box with grass and rocks. Buy him squeaky toys.† â€Å"Get ready for your ID shot,† Nate instructed. â€Å"When we're done with him, can I keep him? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeze!† â€Å"Here he goes, Kona. Focus.† The whale humped, then fluked, and Kona fired off four quick frames with the motor drive. â€Å"You get it?† â€Å"Rippin' pics. Rippin'!† Kona put the camera down on the seat in front of the console and covered it with a towel. Nate pointed the boat toward the last fluke print, a twenty-foot lens of smooth water formed on the surface by the turbulence of the whale's tail. These lenses would hold on the surface sometimes for as long as two minutes, serving as windows through which the researchers could watch the whales. In the old whaling days the hunters believed that fluke prints had been caused by oil excreted by the whale. Nate cut the engine and let the boat coast over the fluke print. They could hear the whale song coming up from below and could feel the boat vibrating under their feet. Nate dropped the hydrophones, hit the ;record; button, and put on the headphones. Kona was recording the frame numbers and GPS coordinates in the notebook as Nate had taught him. A monkey can do my job, Nate thought. An hour's experience and this stoner is already doing it. This kid is younger, stronger, and faster than I am, and I'm not even sure that I'm smarter, as if that matters. I'm totally irrelevant. But maybe it did matter. Maybe it wasn't all about strength. Culture and language completely screwed up normal biological evolution. Why would we humans have developed such big brains if mating was always predicated on strength and size? Women must have chosen their mates based on intelligence as well. Perhaps early smart guys would say something like â€Å"There, right behind those rocks, there's a tasty sloth ripe for the spearing. Go get him, guys.† Then, after he'd sent the stronger, dumber guys running off a cliff after the imaginary sloth, he'd settle down with the best of the Cro-Magnon cuties to mix some genes. â€Å"That's right, bite my brow ridge. Bite it!† Nate smiled. Kona was looking over the side at the singer, whose tail was only twenty feet below the boat (although his head was forty feet deeper). He was only a couple of minutes into his song. He'd be down at least ten minutes more. â€Å"Kona, we need to get a DNA sample.† â€Å"How we do that?† Nate pulled a set of flippers out of the console and handed them and an empty coffee cup out to the surfer. â€Å"You're going to need to go get a semen sample.† The surfer gulped. Looked at the whale, looked at the cup, looked over the side at the whale again. â€Å"No lid?†